Demonland

6 Dees in the squad.

What's the Crown complex like?

I've of course had a look at the apps but sometimes a little local knowledge helps.

I have one of those light weight jackets that keep me warm enough at the G on a cold day or night and not too hot even if the sun is shining as long as it's not too warm. I will of course be bringing a scarf which can be concealed easily inside the jacket if things go south.

Can I get a weather report from the locals for Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday? Will help if you are familiar with Melbourne weather at this time of year as a comparison. I just want to know what type of clothing I need to pack. Also need to know how cool it gets at night at this time of year. Thanks in advance.

Hopefully I make it back alive. Too soon?

Did we really need a new thread for this? Kidding. They're not wrong.

Clarrie has a big lead at this stage. We need to make the finals to add some interest into this battle. 195. Clayton OIiver 169. Max Gawn 118. Angus Brayshaw 109. Jesse Hogan 70. Nathan Jones 67. James Harmes Tom McDonald 56. Christian Salem 51. Christian Petracca 49. Jake Melksham 47. Neville Jetta 39. Bayley Fritsch 38. Jack Viney 32. Jordan Lewis 31. Michael Hibberd Oscar McDonald 29. Jake Lever 18. Jeff Garlett 14. Alex Neal-Bullen 12. Dom Tyson 6. Tom Bugg 4. Joel Smith 3. Sam Frost 2. Dean Kent 1. Bernie Vince Josh Wagner

When we could win against top 8 sides even when there was a wide discrepancy in free kicks paid to the opposition over us ... THE TEAMS WEST COAST EAGLES B: Shannon Hurn, Eric Mackenzie, Will Schofield HB: Thomas Cole, Tom Barrass, Brad Sheppard C: Andrew Gaff, Matt Priddis, Elliot Yeo HF: Lewis Jetta, Jack Darling, Dom Sheed F: Liam Duggan, Jeremy McGovern, Drew Petrie FOLL: Nathan Vardy, Sam Mitchell, Luke Shuey I/C: Jamie Cripps, Josh Hill, Mark Hutchings, Malcolm Karpany EMG: Chris Masten, Jack Redden, Sharrod Wellingham IN: Josh Hill, Malcolm Karpany OUT: Mark LeCras (hip), Jackson Nelson (hamstring) MELBOURNE B: Neville Jetta, Oscar McDonald, Michael Hibberd HB: Jayden Hunt, Sam Frost, Jordan Lewis C: Jake Melksham, Clayton Oliver, Christian Salem HF: Christian Petracca, Cam Pedersen, James Harmes F: Jeff Garlett, Tom McDonald, Mitch Hannan FOLL: Max Gawn, Bernie Vince, Jack Viney I/C: Tomas Bugg, Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch, Dom Tyson EMG: Ben Kennedy, Josh Wagner, Sam Weideman IN: Max Gawn, Billy Stretch OUT: Nathan Jones (quadriceps), Jack Watts (hamstring)

There it was ... the chance to cement a spot in the Finals for 2018. The BCNA ladies had shown the way with their own courage in the face of adversity, and came out in their thousands to show they cared. Hawthorn had removed Geelong from the equation for us. Shortly after the start, the Bulldogs put North out of reach from us as well. All we needed to do was beat Sydney and the Demons were to experience September action ... and they choked! They choked in front of goal in the first quarter kicking 2 goals 6 to 1.1 for the Swans. Most from set shots, and like we should have learned from other gettable games during the year, you nail those opportunities, and the game is over. But we choked. We choked even further in front of goal in the 2nd term kicking 1 goal 6, to allow Sydney to stay in the game. It is something you cannot do given the older experienced heads that they have. And it came when they piled on 6 straight goals in 15 minutes. By now the Demons were well and truly choking, as they watched their finals chances fade away ... surely the story couldn’t finish the same way as it did in 2017? And all of this was happening while Sydney were 2 down on the interchange after losing Johnson to another knee injury and Smith as well for the game. It didn’t get much better in the 3rd and by the final change Melbourne were nearly 5 goals in arrears. But they managed to stage a sort of come-back and within 15 minutes of the final siren were barely 2 kicks behind. All that was needed was someone to stand up and take command. All that was needed was for someone to take on the responsibility of finishing the work of others. Instead Melbourne continued to try to pass the ball off, and missed even the simplest of kicks. And again they choked. Chance after chance was fluffed, fumbled, or straight out given directly to Sydney opponents. ANB and Jones with 8 and 7 clangers for the game set the stage. All that was needed was the Benny Hill music to be played over the MCG speakers to complete the scene. In the end the Demons went down by 9 points. Another game that should have been won and wasn’t. How costly those chokes we will find in the next 2 weeks. The pity about the loss is that once again it demonstrated the gulf that exists between our bottom 6 players or so, and the rest of the side. We have shuttled players back and forth through Casey, and while they show plenty in the VFL competition, they cannot perform on the big stage. Today Garlett had 3 kicks for the game and zero tackles! Without forward pressure, the ball rebounds down the other end too quickly and he provided nothing for the team. Jayden Hunt, brought back in to provide run and carry on his first game back from Casey managed only 10 touches. A late injury will probably mean he will avoid the ignominy of being dropped next week. Charlie Spargo also only 10 touches and unfortunately has to provide something special when as small as he is. Maybe he has a future in the middle, but that won’t be this year. Cam Pedersen fought his way back from Casey, and took a couple of good marks, but then failed to finish the work with 4 clangers from his 10 touches. With Melksham and Hibberd back next week and Bugg, Kent and Hannan showing something at Casey, there are almost easy changes. In contrast the backs were fantastic. Frost completely “owned” Franklin and used his superior pace to provide run and chances from the backline in the absence of others. Oscar was unbeaten the whole day, and Neville provided his usual stoic surety, despite being cleaned up again. Surely he is the most battered of our players at the moment, and it is a credit to him that he fronts up each week. Salem was reliable with his kicking, but is sometimes too unselfish. Just go for goals when inside 50 ... you are the best kick in the side! The mids fought a classic battle with the Sydney opposition. Tellingly, 4 of the 6 goals that Sydney scored in the 2nd quarter happened while Brayshaw was off the ground for 10 minutes. Pity was that the umpires failed to reward HTB decisions and one umpire in particular paid a solitary free to Melbourne in the whole match. But then Sydney are masters at holding the ball in and making it look like they are trying to get it out. Oliver was magnificent again to top the disposals, with Brayshaw not far behind. Harmes held Kennedy for most of the game but Kennedy just started to get the better in the second half. Still 26 touches off his own bat was a fine effort. The wingers in Tyson and Jones, despite lots of touches themselves, simply had no defensive side. Hannebury, Newman and Heeney were allowed to run free and they did much more damage with their possessions. The Melbourne forwards were crucified by their own players. After the 1st quarter Tom McDonald was finally moved onto Aliir Aliir to stop his aerial dominance caused by Melbourne players kicking the ball to his area. Of all the players he was the one not to kick it to, but we did. The delivery was simply shocking. It was bad enough seeing plenty of the high balls coming in, but worse was the inaccuracy giving Hogan and McDonald little chance time and time again. The forwards had good reason to choke on that sort of service. vandenBerg popped up for 3 majors and it was good to see him get some reward for his work this week. He can only get better, and will be given the chance in the next 2 weeks. Hogan unfortunately is playing injured, and his condition isn’t helped by the rubbish coming his way, when the ball gets set on top of his head or out wide or he has to double back. We are now a game and % above 9th spot. We must win 1 more game to get into the Finals action. Other results have set it up for us. Next week we face West coast in Perth. We won’t get any help from the umpires, and probably a handicap from them, given the history of their home ground advantage for frees. But they are without Natinui, Gaff and Kennedy. Yet they beat Port without them this week. Once again it is ALL up to us. Will we do it, or choke yet again? Melbourne 2.6.18 3.12.30 7.14.56 10.18.78 Sydney 1.1.7 7.2.44 13.6.84 13.9.87 Goals Melbourne vandenBerg 3 T McDonald 2 Garlett Hogan Jones Pedersen Petracca Sydney Papley 3 Franklin Heeney 2 Cunningham Dawson Hannebery Hayward Kennedy McCartin Best Melbourne Brayshaw Tyson Harmes Oliver Salem Frost Sydney Lloyd Heeney Newman Aliir Franklin Kennedy Hewett Injuries Melbourne Hunt (ankle), Jetta (nose), Hogan (foot) Sydney Johnson (knee) Smith (back) Reports Melbourne Nil Sydney Nil Umpires Dalgleish, Nicholls, Fleer Official crowd 51,424 at the MCG

He did. “Melbourne don’t right now. They didn’t handle the occasion, they haven’t handled the occasion and they’ve got two weeks to try and handle an occasion. “The bottom line is they just don’t handle big occasions.”

He's not wrong.

CHOKERS by George On The Outer There it was ... the chance to cement a spot in the Finals for 2018. The BCNA ladies had shown the way with their own courage in the face of adversity, and came out in their thousands to show they cared. Hawthorn had removed Geelong from the equation for us. Shortly after the start, the Bulldogs put North out of reach from us as well. All we needed to do was beat Sydney and the Demons were to experience September action ... and they choked! They choked in front of goal in the first quarter kicking 2 goals 6 to 1.1 for the Swans. Most from set shots, and like we should have learned from other gettable games during the year, you nail those opportunities, and the game is over. But we choked. We choked even further in front of goal in the 2nd term kicking 1 goal 6, to allow Sydney to stay in the game. It is something you cannot do given the older experienced heads that they have. And it came when they piled on 6 straight goals in 15 minutes. By now the Demons were well and truly choking, as they watched their finals chances fade away ... surely the story couldn’t finish the same way as it did in 2017? And all of this was happening while Sydney were 2 down on the interchange after losing Johnson to another knee injury and Smith as well for the game. It didn’t get much better in the 3rd and by the final change Melbourne were nearly 5 goals in arrears. But they managed to stage a sort of come-back and within 15 minutes of the final siren were barely 2 kicks behind. All that was needed was someone to stand up and take command. All that was needed was for someone to take on the responsibility of finishing the work of others. Instead Melbourne continued to try to pass the ball off, and missed even the simplest of kicks. And again they choked. Chance after chance was fluffed, fumbled, or straight out given directly to Sydney opponents. ANB and Jones with 8 and 7 clangers for the game set the stage. All that was needed was the Benny Hill music to be played over the MCG speakers to complete the scene. In the end the Demons went down by 9 points. Another game that should have been won and wasn’t. How costly those chokes we will find in the next 2 weeks. The pity about the loss is that once again it demonstrated the gulf that exists between our bottom 6 players or so, and the rest of the side. We have shuttled players back and forth through Casey, and while they show plenty in the VFL competition, they cannot perform on the big stage. Today Garlett had 3 kicks for the game and zero tackles! Without forward pressure, the ball rebounds down the other end too quickly and he provided nothing for the team. Jayden Hunt, brought back in to provide run and carry on his first game back from Casey managed only 10 touches. A late injury will probably mean he will avoid the ignominy of being dropped next week. Charlie Spargo also only 10 touches and unfortunately has to provide something special when as small as he is. Maybe he has a future in the middle, but that won’t be this year. Cam Pedersen fought his way back from Casey, and took a couple of good marks, but then failed to finish the work with 4 clangers from his 10 touches. With Melksham and Hibberd back next week and Bugg, Kent and Hannan showing something at Casey, there are almost easy changes. In contrast the backs were fantastic. Frost completely “owned” Franklin and used his superior pace to provide run and chances from the backline in the absence of others. Oscar was unbeaten the whole day, and Neville provided his usual stoic surety, despite being cleaned up again. Surely he is the most battered of our players at the moment, and it is a credit to him that he fronts up each week. Salem was reliable with his kicking, but is sometimes too unselfish. Just go for goals when inside 50 ... you are the best kick in the side! The mids fought a classic battle with the Sydney opposition. Tellingly, 4 of the 6 goals that Sydney scored in the 2nd quarter happened while Brayshaw was off the ground for 10 minutes. Pity was that the umpires failed to reward HTB decisions and one umpire in particular paid a solitary free to Melbourne in the whole match. But then Sydney are masters at holding the ball in and making it look like they are trying to get it out. Oliver was magnificent again to top the disposals, with Brayshaw not far behind. Harmes held Kennedy for most of the game but Kennedy just started to get the better in the second half. Still 26 touches off his own bat was a fine effort. The wingers in Tyson and Jones, despite lots of touches themselves, simply had no defensive side. Hannebury, Newman and Heeney were allowed to run free and they did much more damage with their possessions. The Melbourne forwards were crucified by their own players. After the 1st quarter Tom McDonald was finally moved onto Aliir Aliir to stop his aerial dominance caused by Melbourne players kicking the ball to his area. Of all the players he was the one not to kick it to, but we did. The delivery was simply shocking. It was bad enough seeing plenty of the high balls coming in, but worse was the inaccuracy giving Hogan and McDonald little chance time and time again. The forwards had good reason to choke on that sort of service. vandenBerg popped up for 3 majors and it was good to see him get some reward for his work this week. He can only get better, and will be given the chance in the next 2 weeks. Hogan unfortunately is playing injured, and his condition isn’t helped by the rubbish coming his way, when the ball gets set on top of his head or out wide or he has to double back. We are now a game and % above 9th spot. We must win 1 more game to get into the Finals action. Other results have set it up for us. Next week we face West coast in Perth. We won’t get any help from the umpires, and probably a handicap from them, given the history of their home ground advantage for frees. But they are without Natinui, Gaff and Kennedy. Yet they beat Port without them this week. Once again it is ALL up to us. Will we do it, or choke yet again? Melbourne 2.6.18 3.12.30 7.14.56 10.18.78 Sydney 1.1.7 7.2.44 13.6.84 13.9.87 Goals Melbourne vandenBerg 3 T McDonald 2 Garlett Hogan Jones Pedersen Petracca Sydney Papley 3 Franklin Heeney 2 Cunningham Dawson Hannebery Hayward Kennedy McCartin Best Melbourne Brayshaw Tyson Harmes Oliver Salem Frost Sydney Lloyd Heeney Newman Aliir Franklin Kennedy Hewett Injuries Melbourne Hunt (ankle), Jetta (nose), Hogan (foot) Sydney Johnson (knee) Smith (back) Reports Melbourne Nil Sydney Nil Umpires Dalgleish, Nicholls, Fleer Official crowd 51,424 at the MCG

Any travel tips? Restaurant advise. Pre-match/aftermatch functions?

6,5,4,3,2,1 ...

Ugh

Scoreline says Bulldogs kicking the kangaroos to victory.

FIFTY MINUTES by KC from Casey The Casey Demons made it 12 wins on end with yet another come-from-behind victory at home against Sandringham on Saturday night. The lowly Zebras jumped the Demons and took the lead at the two minute mark of the opening term and kicked the game’s first four goals to hold a game high 23-point lead just before quarter time. By then, the home side was one man down after Bernie Vince hurt his AC joint in a collision with an opponent. He immediately left the field and ended the day in hospital. His season is over. Casey’s first goal came early in the second term with a free kick to the diminutive Will Stephenson. They ground their way back into the game with four goals to one during this period to go into the sheds at half time only three points in arrears. During the main break, the consensus among the crowd was that the Demons would overrun their opposition in the second half but it was Sandringham that came out firing and booted the first two goals of the third term to retake the initiative. Casey fought back with a goal to Mitch King but when the Zebras immediately responded, they led 8.6.54 to 5.8.38. The goal to Sandy’s Ray Connellan came at the 10 minute mark and was to be the visitors’ last score for the game. The next 20 minutes or so were spent by Casey clawing back the deficit as they added goals to Corey Machaya and Dean Kent and four behinds to draw to level by the final break. The Demons finally hit the lead with a behind five minutes into the last quarter but the arm wrestle continued for what seemed an eternity but it took until the 13 minute mark for Sam Weideman to break the impasse with his second goal which gave his team a 7 point lead. There would be another two goals later in the term but the Zebras were cooked as the Demons pushed their lead out to 21 points at the finish. In the last 50 minutes of play, Casey scored 5.7.37 to nothing. The win put it on top of the VFL ladder after Richmond lost its second game in a row. The nature of this contest saw to it that very few players were on top throughout but special accolades must go to defenders Declan Kielty who admirably filled the large void left by Cam Pedersen in the key defensive post with his strong marking and attack on the football and skipper Jack Hutchins whose strength in the clinches was instrumental in holding back the tide early and then in shutting down the Zebras in the latter part of the game. They were very capably assisted by youngsters Dion Johnstone and Harry Petty who returned to the field after injuring his finger in the second term. Josh Wagner and Jay Lockwood were very solid as well in a strong defensive effort. Mitch Gent and Angus Scott were busy all day and Corey Wagner maintained his consistent high standard of play. With the loss of Vince, Tom Bugg stepped up to the plate with 31 disposals for the day and Dean Kent was excellent up forward with three telling goals when they were needed. Mitch King and Sam Weideman combined well in a game that saw a rare Casey win in the overall ruck duels. The latter also contributed two goals while up forward. Young rookie ruckman Lachie Filipovic spent much of the game on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. The Casey juggernaut moves on to Box Hill City Oval for what promises to be a hard fought tussle between two teams that will fight out the finals next month. Peter Jackson VFL 2018 Casey Demons 0.3.3 4.8.32 7.12.54 10.15.75 Sandringham 4.1.25 5.5.35 8.6.54 8.6.54 Goals Casey Demons Kent 3 Weideman 2 Freeman King Machaya T Smith Stephenson Sandringham Connellan 3 Haidon 2 Clavarino Langlands Weller Best Casey Demons Hutchins Bugg Lockhart Keilty Weideman Kent Sandringham Goddard Gilbert Mclean Dunstan Clavarino Seccull Statistics Tomas Bugg 21 kicks 10 handballs 31 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 115 dream team points Lachlan Filipovic 1 kick 3 handballs 4 disposals 9 dream team points James Freeman 1 goal 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 30 dream team points Mitch Gent 15 kicks 7 handballs 22 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 79 dream team points Jack Hutchins 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 62 dream team points Dion Johnstone 13 kicks 4 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 66 dream team points Declan Keilty 12 kicks 9 handballs 21 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 79 dream team points Dean Kent 3 goals 3 behinds 17 kicks 4 handballs 21 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 117 dream team points Mitch King 1 goal 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 26 hit outs 67 dream team points Jay Lockhart 2 behinds 13 kicks 1 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 79 dream team points Pat McKenna 2 kicks 3 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 26 dream team points Cory Machaya 1 goal 1 behind 8 kicks 9 handballs 17 disposals 3 marks 7 tackles 89 dream team points James Munro 4 kicks 3 handballs 7 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 26 dream team points Harry Petty 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 6 marks 2 tackles 75 dream team points Tim Smith 1 goal 3 behinds 10 kicks 5 handballs 15 disposals 8 marks 4 tackles 6 hit outs 91 dream team points Angus Scott 16 kicks 4 handballs 20 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 70 dream team points Will Stephenson 1 goal 3 behinds 9 kicks 1 handball 10 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 76 dream team points Cory Stockdale 11 kicks 6 handballs 17 disposals 3 marks 54 dream team points Bernie Vince 4 kicks 1 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 20 dream team points Corey Wagner 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 7 tackles 91 dream team points Josh Wagner 19 kicks 3 handballs 22 disposals 8 marks 4 tackles 102 dream team points Sam Weideman 2 goals 1 behind kicks handballs disposals marks tackles 12 hit outs 76 dream team points Mitch White 9 kicks 1 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 49 dream team points