Demonland

I say a little prayer everytime I open Facebook or Twitter to ward off evil spirits. I keep expecting the worst. Lucky we were all kept in the dark about Clarry's surgery or Demonland (the website and the poster) would have had a meltdown.

I'll post the audio when it's ready.

What do you make of our, fingers crossed, lack of injuries in 2018 so far. Luck or good preparation from our high performance fitness & medical staff? Or is it the lack of a preseason camp? Kidding. Too soon?

I've never purchased my reserved seat because of the guaranteed Grand Final ticket. I buy it for the reserved seat. I've only got to use the guaranteed GF ticket once in 21 years. Not a great return on investment.

Site is definitely loading faster. Telstra Bigpond still hasn't caught up with the new server yet. My phone's 4G can access the site but not my home or work Telstra Bigpond accounts. Propagation can usually take 24 to 48 hours and Telstra is always the slowest of the ISPs. Also the most expensive. Go figure.

PLAYER VOTES 1 Max Gawn 96 2 Clayton Oliver 77 3 Nathan Jones 63 4 Jesse Hogan 60 5 Jake Melksham 31 5 Christian Salem 31 7 Oscar McDoanld 29 8 Christian Petracca 26 9 Tom McDoanld 24 10 Angus Brayshaw 21 11 Jake Lever 20 12 Jeff Garlett 16 12 James Harmes 16 14 Michael Hibberd 14 14 Jordan Lewis 14 16 Bayley Fritsch 12 17 Tomas Bugg 6 17 Neville Jetta 6 19 Dean Kent 2 20 Alex Neal-Bullen 1 20 Bernie Vince 1 20 Josh Wagner 1

Max strengthens his hold on the trophy ... Progressive 96. Max Gawn 77. Clayton OIiver 63. Nathan Jones 60. Jesse Hogan 31. Jake Melksham Christian Salem 29. Oscar McDonald 26. Christian Petracca 24. Tom McDonald 21. Angus Brayshaw 20. Jake Lever 16. Jeff Garlett James Harmes 14. Michael Hibberd Jordan Lewis 12. Bayley Fritsch 6. Tom Bugg Neville Jetta 2. Dean Kent 1. Alex Neal-Bullen Bernie Vince Josh Wagner

It was a real dog of a night in Darwin with Jayden Hunt’s booming goal to end the third quarter one of the only highlights. But will Hunty be in Alice Springs this time? THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Michael Hibberd, Oscar McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Josh Wagner, Sam Frost, Bernie Vince ? Alex Neal-Bullen, Jordan Lewis, Mitch Hannan HF: Christian Petracca, Tom McDonald, Jayden Hunt F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Cameron Pedersen FOLL: Max Gawn, Jake Melksham, Clayton Oliver I/C: James Harmes, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Dean Kent, Joel Smith EMG: Billy Stretch, Jack Trengove, Sam Weideman IN: Jay Kennedy-Harris OUT: Billy Stretch (omitted) ADELAIDE CROWS B: Rory Laird, Jake Lever, Andy Otten HB: Luke Brown, Daniel Talia, Jake Kelly ? Rory Sloane, Richard Douglas, Brodie Smith HF: Riley Knight, Taylor Walker, Charlie Cameron F: Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins, Mitch McGovern FOLL: Sam Jacobs, Matt Crouch, Brad Crouch  I/C: Rory Atkins, Hugh Greenwood, Tom Lynch, David Mackay EMG: Jonathon Beech, Jordan Gallucci, Paul Seedsman IN: Hugh Greenwood, Tom Lynch OUT: Wayne Milera (calf), Scott Thompson (omitted)

As another poster mentioned Cripps is very good overhead. Having said that, in that instance Lever should have punched. Other than that he had a stellar game and this is a reminder of why we chased him hard and just a glimpse of the player he will be for us. Bring on the Crows.

In recognition of this weekend’s Royal Wedding, the Demons donned their royal blue away strip against Carlton, and then had one enormous celebration at the expense of the Navy Blues. The 109 point victory was the highest winning score for the club since 1993, the greatest winning margin against Carlton and its eighth biggest win ever. This was the way to celebrate, and the supporters whose MFCSS was well and truly alive at the first break when Melbourne had only managed to hold a three point lead, wondered just what happened, and whether the syndrome has finally been cured. At the end of the round they found their team sitting in third spot on the ladder, with a now massive 127 percentage and the fans were searching the record books again to find out when they were last in that position at this stage in a season. While Melbourne has yet to come up against the majority of those clubs considered the benchmark for 2018, you can only beat who the opposition presented to you. The difference between this season and the past is that it has not only beaten those teams below them, but it has beaten them comprehensively. The first quarter was a genuine arm wrestle and the three point margin probably understated the dominance which Melbourne were showing. The inside 50 count was already in favour of the Demons, and not unlike previous weeks, they had not converted to the scoreboard. Then the dam wall broke again, with Melbourne piling on seven goals to two in the second term with Tom McDonald having four before the main break. The dominance began in the middle as Max Gawn overcame Kreuzer and though hit outs were relatively even, they were heavily to the advantage of Max. And that advantage was taken fully by the likes of Nathan Jones, Angus Brayshaw, Clayton Oliver and James Harmes with Jones leading magnificently with 31 touches of which 17 were contested. Clarrie was playing with a finger which had been broken last week and only set last Monday, managed 26 possessions with 15 contested. The midfield assassination was finished of by Harmes (25) and Brayshaw (24), and, just for good measure the Demons were able to bring on a bloke named Viney for a cameo here and there as he returned after an extended period cruelled by injury. It is worth remembering that last year, Melbourne lost the likes of Gawn, Hogan, Jones, Brayshaw and Viney for extended periods, and their presence today showed the value of sheer talent in the end results. Last year the Demons fell over the line by 8 points against the Blues, with an after the siren goal to make up that total. What a difference the injection of these players makes? It is hard after such and emphatic victory to express how well the team played. It was probably the first four quarter performance this year, and hardly any player put a foot wrong. Jake Melksham, like Neville Jetta and Michael Hibberd had a slow start to the year, but he absolutely blew the game wide open with five goals by doing exactly what he does best around the packs up forward. Jesse Hogan may not have troubled the goal umpire much this week, but it was his work up the ground that caused the opportunities for Alex Neal-Bullen (4 goals), Mitch Hannan and Bayley Fritsch (2 each). It took until the last quarter before Hogan registered a major for himself, thus retaining his record of a goal in every game this season. The backs had an excellent day, but really it was more like watching an U11s game where one team sets up a wall and keeps sending the ball back in the other direction. Jake Lever has stepped up into his finest intercepting role, similar to that he played in Adelaide, with a best on ground eight marks alongside 27 disposals. The supporters now know why the recruiting staff were so keen to get his name on a contract at Melbourne. Having said that, we need to see similar signatures from the McDonald brothers, and no doubt their value has increased considerably since season began, but when the team has wins like today, perhaps that decision is a lot easier to make - in particular for Tom, whose size and running ability simply cuts the opposition wingers to pieces when it comes to the one on one scenario. It is no surprise that the change in Melbourne’s fortunes this year have coincided with his presence on the field. Simon Goodwin must be fairly pleased with what he has seen the past few weeks. The relentless style that we now see is similar to that which Richmond and the Bulldogs employed in their successful years, but the difference is he now has to players who are prepared to implement it. And with 7, 8 and 7 goal quarters in succession, as we saw in this game, it shows the players are no longer prepared to take the foot off the accelerator, which was always a criticism in past years. When the club and the team play like they did in this game, then they truly look like royalty. Royalty is something that stays around for a long time, and next week against last year’s Grand Finalist, in Adelaide, we will indeed discover whether they are really Princes or Paupers. Melbourne 3.4.22 10.4.64 18.6.114 25.9.159 Carlton 3.1.19 5.3.33 7.6.48 7.8.50 Goals Melbourne Melksham 5 T McDonald Neal-Bullen 4 Fritsch Hannan 2 Gawn Harmes Hogan Jones Oliver Petracca Viney Carlton Lamb McKay 2, Cripps Fisher Murphy Best Melbourne T McDonald, Melksham N Jones Brayshaw Gawn Lever Neal-Bullen Carlton Cripps Graham Fisher Murphy Rowe Injuries Melbourne Nil Carlton Murphy (foot) Reports Nil Umpires Gavine, Hosking, Ryan Official crowd 44,142 at the MCG

A RIGHT ROYAL BLUE CELEBRATION by George on The Outer In recognition of this weekend’s Royal Wedding, the Demons donned their royal blue away strip against Carlton, and then had one enormous celebration at the expense of the Navy Blues. The 109 point victory was the highest winning score for the club since 1993, the greatest winning margin against Carlton and its eighth biggest win ever. This was the way to celebrate, and the supporters whose MFCSS was well and truly alive at the first break when Melbourne had only managed to hold a three point lead, wondered just what happened, and whether the syndrome has finally been cured. At the end of the round they found their team sitting in third spot on the ladder, with a now massive 127 percentage and the fans were searching the record books again to find out when they were last in that position at this stage in a season. While Melbourne has yet to come up against the majority of those clubs considered the benchmark for 2018, you can only beat who the opposition presented to you. The difference between this season and the past is that it has not only beaten those teams below them, but it has beaten them comprehensively. The first quarter was a genuine arm wrestle and the three point margin probably understated the dominance which Melbourne were showing. The inside 50 count was already in favour of the Demons, and not unlike previous weeks, they had not converted to the scoreboard. Then the dam wall broke again, with Melbourne piling on seven goals to two in the second term with Tom McDonald having four before the main break. The dominance began in the middle as Max Gawn overcame Kreuzer and though hit outs were relatively even, they were heavily to the advantage of Max. And that advantage was taken fully by the likes of Nathan Jones, Angus Brayshaw, Clayton Oliver and James Harmes with Jones leading magnificently with 31 touches of which 17 were contested. Clarrie was playing with a finger which had been broken last week and only set last Monday, managed 26 possessions with 15 contested. The midfield assassination was finished of by Harmes (25) and Brayshaw (24), and, just for good measure the Demons were able to bring on a bloke named Viney for a cameo here and there as he returned after an extended period cruelled by injury. It is worth remembering that last year, Melbourne lost the likes of Gawn, Hogan, Jones, Brayshaw and Viney for extended periods, and their presence today showed the value of sheer talent in the end results. Last year the Demons fell over the line by 8 points against the Blues, with an after the siren goal to make up that total. What a difference the injection of these players makes? It is hard after such and emphatic victory to express how well the team played. It was probably the first four quarter performance this year, and hardly any player put a foot wrong. Jake Melksham, like Neville Jetta and Michael Hibberd had a slow start to the year, but he absolutely blew the game wide open with five goals by doing exactly what he does best around the packs up forward. Jesse Hogan may not have troubled the goal umpire much this week, but it was his work up the ground that caused the opportunities for Alex Neal-Bullen (4 goals), Mitch Hannan and Bayley Fritsch (2 each). It took until the last quarter before Hogan registered a major for himself, thus retaining his record of a goal in every game this season. The backs had an excellent day, but really it was more like watching an U11s game where one team sets up a wall and keeps sending the ball back in the other direction. Jake Lever has stepped up into his finest intercepting role, similar to that he played in Adelaide, with a best on ground eight marks alongside 27 disposals. The supporters now know why the recruiting staff were so keen to get his name on a contract at Melbourne. Having said that, we need to see similar signatures from the McDonald brothers, and no doubt their value has increased considerably since season began, but when the team has wins like today, perhaps that decision is a lot easier to make - in particular for Tom, whose size and running ability simply cuts the opposition wingers to pieces when it comes to the one on one scenario. It is no surprise that the change in Melbourne’s fortunes this year have coincided with his presence on the field. Simon Goodwin must be fairly pleased with what he has seen the past few weeks. The relentless style that we now see is similar to that which Richmond and the Bulldogs employed in their successful years, but the difference is he now has to players who are prepared to implement it. And with 7, 8 and 7 goal quarters in succession, as we saw in this game, it shows the players are no longer prepared to take the foot off the accelerator, which was always a criticism in past years. When the club and the team play like they did in this game, then they truly look like royalty. Royalty is something that stays around for a long time, and next week against last year’s Grand Finalist, in Adelaide, we will indeed discover whether they are really Princes or Paupers. Melbourne 3.4.22 10.4.64 18.6.114 25.9.159 Carlton 3.1.19 5.3.33 7.6.48 7.8.50 Goals Melbourne Melksham 5 T McDonald Neal-Bullen 4 Fritsch Hannan 2 Gawn Harmes Hogan Jones Oliver Petracca Viney Carlton Lamb McKay 2, Cripps Fisher Murphy Best Melbourne T McDonald, Melksham N Jones Brayshaw Gawn Lever Neal-Bullen Carlton Cripps Graham Fisher Murphy Rowe Injuries Melbourne Nil Carlton Murphy (foot) Reports Nil Umpires Gavine, Hosking, Ryan Official crowd 44,142 at the MCG

Enough? No, of course not! Go to post match discussion...

How did we win it?

Cast those votes please 6,5,4,3,2,1 ...

Oliver wearing glove on left hand.

The honour of tossing the coin to start the much anticipated Round 7 match up at between VFL neighbours Frankston and Casey at SkyBus Stadium was given to former Melbourne star Brett Lovett who coached at both clubs and whose son Jake played with Casey before joining the Dolphins this year. And for the game's opening 15 minutes, it seemed as if Lovett had put a magical spell on the home team which played as if inspired by the occasion. The Dolphins were back in the competition after a year’s recess, they were winning games having already taken scalps in North Melbourne and Coburg and they were running rings around the Demons. But for their inaccuracy – they led 1.6.12 to 0.1.1 with a slight breeze at their backs – they were seemingly in control of the game and on course for one of the season’s biggest upsets to date. It was at this point however, that Casey’s strong marking forward, Cam Pedersen, stepped up to the plate and, with two goals in the space of a little over two minutes, the Demon train was back on the rails and the Dolphin resistance was over for the day. Frankston fought manfully but it simply didn’t have the fire power. The stand alone team was virtually cobbled together in the off season and even contains a handful of former Casey listed players who moved across to Kars Street in search of a senior game after the abolishment of the Development League at the end of last year. They were always going to struggle against a Demons' team with 15 AFL listed players, and that’s exactly what happened with Casey kicking 19 goals to three after quarter time. The win was set up by a seven goal unanswered second term in which Pedersen and Tom Bugg were dominant and the rampage continued into the second half, rounded off with an eight goal last quarter that ended with Pedersen (6), Bugg (5) and Angus Scott (3) as Casey’s multiple goal kickers. Frankston was held to its lowest score of the season and even that was helped by a late goal in junk time just seconds before the final siren. Pederson was simply unstoppable, booting 6.1, taking ten marks, effecting eight crunching tackles, picking up 21 disposals and labouring as a backup in a losing ruck. It was a dominant display, almost matched by partner in crime Bugg who had the same number of touches and booted five majors. Despite the weak opposition on the day, Casey can point to a team performance in achieving its big win. When the team was under pressure early in the game, the defence stood firm and hustled the Dolphin forwards into error, contributing to their inaccuracy. There were winners everywhere with Sam Frost, Jayden Hunt and Jeff Garlett shining and youngsters Oskar Baker and Harry Petty showing great promise for the future. Mitch White, Jay Lockhart and the ever-reliable Angus Scott were all major contributors on the day with the former relishing his role around the ground and finishing off the game with a goal. After two wins in a row, Casey is back in the running for a top four placing and have a big game coming up against Port Melbourne at Fortburn Stadium on Saturday afternoon. PETER JACKSON VFL 2018 Casey Demons 2.2.14 9.7.61 13.8.86 21.13.139 Frankston Dolphins 1.6.12 1.7.13 3.8.26 4.9.33 Goals Casey Demons Pedersen 6 Bugg 5 Scott 3 Baker Balic Garlett Lewis, Lockhart Munro White Frankston Dolphins Fordham Grace Rich Williams Best Casey Demons Pedersen Frost Lockhart White Garlett Hunt Frankston Dolphins Fordham Pierce Scagliarini Gill-Renouf McCarthy Mock Statistics Oskar Baker 1 goal 7 kicks 14 handballs 21 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 80 dream team points Harley Balic 1 goal 1 behind 8 kicks 7 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 65 dream team points Tomas Bugg 5 goals 12 kicks 9 handballs 21 disposals 5 marks 9 tackles 139 dream team points Jake Di Pasquale 1 behind 4 kicks 1 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 26 dream team points Lachlan Filipovic 1 kicks 5 handballs 6 disposals 2 tackles 11 hit outs 27 dream team points Sam Frost 7 kicks 4 handballs 11 disposals 5 marks 44 dream team points Jeff Garlett 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 11 handballs 18 disposals 4 tackles 63 dream team points Jayden Hunt 18 kicks 6 handballs 24 disposals 7 marks 81 dream team points Dion Johnstone 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 20 dream team points Declan Keilty 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 5 marks 1 tackles 41 dream team points Jay Kennedy Harris 1 behind 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 10 tackles 99 dream team points Mitchell Lewis 1 goal 7 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 69 dream team points Jay Lockhart 1 goal 4 kicks 10 handballs 14 disposals 5 tackles 55 dream team points Goy Lok 2 behinds 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 70 dream team points James Munro 1 goal 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 7 tackles 79 dream team points Cameron Pedersen 6 goals 1 behinds 15 kicks 6 handballs 21 disposals 10 marks 8 tackles 8 hit outs 165 dream team points Harrison Petty 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 57 dream team points Angus Scott 3 goals 1 behinds 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 12 marks 4 tackles 120 dream team points Joel Smith 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 73 dream team points Billy Stretch 1 behind 4 kicks 13 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 63 dream team points Corey Wagner 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 7 tackles 75 dream team points Josh Wagner 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 1 marks 4 tackles 71 dream team points Mitchell White 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 3 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 5 hit outs 92 dream team points

Possibly. We definitely wore the royal blue in a retro Round but I couldn't tell you who it was against.

1986 but did we wear it once for a retro Round?

The cheque is in the mail.

? It should be a Demon jumper logo but I'll check it out. Could you send a screenshot if possible?

So I should ignore those PMs from @Gorgoroth claiming to be Nigerian prince?