Demonland

With only 3 games to go, all against Top 8 fancies, the Demons face a daunting task as they return to the MCG when they play the Western Bulldogs. Who comes in and who goes out?

Your questions please

Captain Max Gawn has a unassailable lead in the Demonland Player of the Year Award from Kozzy Pickett, Christian Petracca, Jake Bowey & Clayton Oliver. Your votes please; 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

The Demons return to town fresh off a thumping win over the back-to-back wooden spooners, the West Coast Eagles, played in front of a sparse crowd at Marvel Stadium, the same venue that hosted last week's heartbreaking loss.

It’s Game Day and the Demons return to the scene of the crime to take on the wooden spooners.

It was bad enough that the Melbourne Football Club created yet another humiliating scenario inside its wretched season at Marvel Stadium last Sunday, but the final insult is that it has been commanded to return to the scene of the crime to inflict further punishment on its fans this week. Incidentally, if this match preview, of a game that promises to be one of the most unattractive fixtures in the history of the game, happens to cut out of your computer screen three quarters of the way through, it’s no coincidence. I’ll be mirroring the Demons’ lacklustre effort against St Kilda from last Sunday when they conceded the largest last quarter turnaround for victory in the history of the game. The game bears some resemblance to the last encounter between these two sides at the same venue (then known as Etihad Stadium) in 2011, when the Demons suffered an eight-goal defeat in the absence of current President Brad Green, who withdrew prior to the game and was replaced by Dan Nicholson. He's a great Melbourne man, Brad Green, but I have a feeling that he might be wishing someone else would put up their hand to replace him for presidential duties for this week because more embarrassment for the club awaits. The game is being billed as the “Battle of the Broken” because both sides are at a low ebb. In that 2011 game, they attracted a paltry 15,000 spectators and the AFL will likely be hoping for a similar or better attendance, but this is unlikely due to a lack of interest regarding the outcome from Melbourne fans and any West Coast fans who might be living here or visiting. I’m expecting a crowd of embarrassingly low proportions. I would never want to encourage anyone to gamble but I was surprised to see the Sportsbet odds that had Melbourne a firm favourite at odds of $1.08 to win. That’s extraordinary considering it scored four points to 9 goals 2 behinds in the last quarter of its last appearance at the same venue against a team normally considered staid and lacking in the spirit of adventure. So how poor must the West Coast be if they’re not capable of enticing me to accept the $8.00 offered for a win? Their most promising player and potential dynamic matchwinner is Harley Reid, but he is not comparable to Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. In any event, young Harley has been ruled out of this contest and will miss the remainder of the season due to an ankle injury. The Eagles have lost their last nine consecutive games, with their sole victory this season coming against … er, um, St Kilda, when they kicked six goals in the final quarter. I’m selecting Melbourne due to their dominant ruckman and captain in Max Gawn and the fact that his teammates owe him a lot given what they did last week. Despite struggling with the 6-6-6 formation last week, Max is a proud individual. If his teammates possess any pride at all, they will exert maximum effort and go full throttle throughout the entire game this week to start the long journey towards winning back some self-respect. And if not, they deserve to be hung, drawn and three quartered. Melbourne by 46 points. THE GAME West Coast Eagles vs Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, Saturday 2 August 2025 at 1.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 22 wins West Coast Eagles 38 wins At Marvel Stadium Melbourne 1 win West Coast Eagles win Past five meetings Melbourne 4 wins West Coast Eagles 1 win The Coaches Goodwin 1 win McQualter 0 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.12.108 defeated West Coast Eagles 11.10.76 at Optus Stadium in Round , 2025 The Demons required more than half of the game to overcome the Eagles, courtesy of a dominant 7-goal third quarter, but when presented with the opportunity to seal the victory in the final quarter, their performance was unimpressive and rather pedestrian. The standout players for the Demons were Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, and Harvey Langford. THE TEAMS (to be loaded when available) MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, T. McDonald, J. McVee HB C. Windsor, D. Turner, B. Howes C K. Chandler, C. Petracca, H. Langford HF J. Viney, B. Fritsch, T. Sparrow F J. Melksham, H. Petty, K. Pickett FOLL M. Gawn, T. Rivers, E. Langdon I/C J. Culley, C. Oliver, C. Salem, H. Sharp, J. van Rooyen EMG,J. Adams, T. Campbell, X. Lindsay IN J. Culley H. Sharp OUT X. Lindsay (managed) C. Spargo (omitted) WEST COAST B R. Ginbey, H. Edwards, T. Cole HB L. Duggan, R. Bazzo, T. McCarthy C R. Maric, B. Hough, C. Hall HF J. Cripps, J. Shanahan, E. Hewett F T. Brockman, A. Reid, L. Ryan FOLL B. Williams, T. Kelly, L. Baker I/C C. Chesser, H. Davis, T. Dewar, T. Gross, M. Owies EMG M. Flynn, J. Petruccelle, L. Rawlinson IN C.Chesser H.Davis H. Edwards T.Gross OUT S.Brock (omitted) M. Flynn (omitted) J. Hutchinson (omitted), H. Reid (ankle) Injury and Suspension List: Round 21 Jack Henderson — groin / Test Steven May — concussion, suspension / 2 weeks Oliver Sestan — face / 3 weeks Jake Lever — ankle/ TBC Marty Hore — knee, shoulder / season Shane McAdam — Achilles / season Andy Moniz-Wakefield — knee / season

Has the season not ended yet?

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 The Demons took more than half of the game to shake off the Eagles with a dominant 7 goal third quarter but weren’t all that impressive in the final term when they could easily have put them away. MELBOURNE 2.2.14 3.7.25 10.12.72 16.12.108 WEST COAST EAGLES 0.5.5 4.7.41 6.7.43 11.10.76 GOALS MELBOURNE Turner 3 Fritsch Langdon 2 Chandler Gawn Melksham Petracca Pickett Sharp Spargo Viney Windsor WEST COAST EAGLES Hewett Waterman 3 Cripps 2 Brockman Hunt Williams BEST MELBOURNE Gawn Petracca Langford Turner Chandler Viney WEST COAST EAGLES Waterman Ginbey Hewett Allan Maric Baker THE TEAMS WEST COAST EAGLES B R. Maric, J. McGovern, L. Baker HB L. Duggan, O. Allen, J. Hunt C B Hough, T. Kelly, B. Allen HF M. Owies, J. Waterman, J. Graham F J. Cripps, A. Reid, L. Ryan FOLL M. Flynn, J. Hutchinson, H. Reid I/C T. Brockman, R. Ginbey, E. Hewitt, J. Williams SUB T. Cole EMG H. Davis, T. Gross, J. Williams IN B.Allan, T.Brockman, T. Kelly OUT H. Davis (omitted), T. Dewar (omitted), N. Long (omitted) MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers HB J. McVee, T. McDonald, C. Windsor C T. Sparrow, J. Viney, X. Lindsay HF K. Tholstrup, J. Melksham, E. Langdon F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, K. Pickett FOLL M. Gawn, C. Petracca, H. Langford I/C H. Petty, C. Salem, C Spargo, D. Turner SUB H. Sharp EMG B. Howes, B. Laurie, J. van Rooyen IN: J. Melksham, D. Turner OUT: T. Fullarton (omitted), C. Oliver (personal)