Demonland

Thanks to the large injury list at Melbourne, the Casey Demons went into their fifth round clash with Footscray VFL as the underdogs and despite a courageous showing up to half time after conceding the game’s first four goals, their third quarter fade out saw them fall short against quality opposition for the second time in a week. Casey went into the game with only 9 AFL listers after Declan Keilty was called up to make his debut when Tim Smith was forced to pull out of the Melbourne team with back issues. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead of 25 points with the breeze before Casey skipper Mitch White scored his team’s first goal and another by Kade Chandler brought the Demons to within two goals at the first break. Corey Wagner was superb throughout but his contribution in the first quarter was exceptional and kept his team in the game. The Demons applied great pressure early in the second term and took control of the game with the wind at their backs and three goals by the 15 minute mark saw them in the lead by 9 points at one stage. The Bulldogs slowed the pace of the game down and scored a vital goal in the shadows of half time to lay the foundations for a big third quarter with the wind. Casey fought back after conceding the first goal of the final term but they were unable to match their efforts of last week when they nearly stole the game from the Tigers. Sam Weideman reacted strongly to his axing from the Melbourne team and was always dangerous whether up forward or giving a chop out to Liam Wale-Buxton in the ruck. Oskar Baker played his best game since suffering a bad hamstring injury late last year and chimed in with a couple of goals in the second quarter. There were also encouraging signs from two young South Australians Tom Sparrow, again hard at the ball and developing key defender Harry Petty. Casey’s Jimmy Munro was hard at it as usual in his 100th game and youngsters Tom Freeman and Aidan Quigley were excellent contributors on the day. Things don’t get any easier with a trip to Windy Hill against the top placed Bombers. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Demons 2.2.14 5.7.37 5.8.38 8.11.59 Footscray VFL 4.2.26 5.4.34 9.9.63 11.10.76 Goals Casey Demons Baker Weideman 2 Chandler Munro Quigley White Footscray VFL Boyd 3 Cavarra Gardner 2 Barnett Lipinski Nash West Best Casey Demons C Wagner Sparrow Petty T Freeman Baker Quigley Footscray VFL Williams Young West Smith Scott Boyd Statistics Oskar Baker 2 goals 1 behind 15 kicks 5 handballs 20 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 99 dream team points Toby Bedford 1 kick 2 handballs 3 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 15 dream team points Jaxon Briggs 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 34 dream team points Kade Chandler 1 goal 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 44 dream team points Wayne Collis 4 kicks 1 handball 5 disposals 1 mark 7 tackles 1 hit out 44 dream team points Jake Di Pasquale 9 kicks 11 handballs 20 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 75 dream team points Tom Freeman 12 kicks 4 handballs 16 disposals 7 marks 1 tackles 70 dream team points Mitch Gent 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 48 dream team points Jack Hutchins 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 28 dream team points James Jordon 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 81 dream team points Mykelti Lefau 1 behind 8 kicks 3 handballs 11 disposals 1 marks 4 tackles 4 hit outs 55 dream team points Mitchell Lewis 1 behind 8 kicks 7 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 60 dream team points Nick Lowden 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 33 dream team points James Munro 1 goal 9 kicks 12 handballs 21 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 88 dream team points Harrison Petty 10 kicks 6 handballs 16 disposals 8 marks 2 tackles 71 dream team points Aidan Quigley 1 goal 9 kicks 8 handballs 17 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 74 dream team points Charlie Spargo 8 kicks 7 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 59 dream team points Tom Sparrow 1 behind 14 kicks 7 handballs 21 disposals 1 marks 6 tackles 82 dream team points Cory Stockdale 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 47 dream team points Corey Wagner 16 kicks 9 handballs 25 disposals 6 marks 5 tackles 104 dream team points Liam Wale-Buxton 1 behind 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 22 hit outs 48 dream team points Sam Weideman 2 goals 3 behinds 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 6 hit outs 108 dream team points Mitchell White 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 3 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 55 dream team points

Maxy consolidates his lead as Clarrie and Salem move into second and third spots respectively. Harmes consolidates fifth spot putting daylight between him and sixth and making it a 5 horse race. PLAYER VOTES 1 Max Gawn 72 2 Clayton Oliver 62 3 Christian Salem 59 4 Angus Brayshaw 57 5 James Harmes 54 6 Jake Melksham 22 7 Sam Frost 18 7 Marty Hore 18 9 Nathan Jones 15 9 Jack Viney 15 11 Jayden Hunt 12 12 Michael Hibberd 10 13 Jay Lockhart 6 14 Bayley Fritsch 4 14 Tom McDoanld 4 14 Braydon Preuss 4 17 Corey Wagner 3 18 Alex Neal-Bullen 2 18 Christian Petracca 2 20 Neville Jetta 1 20 Billy Stretch 1

A five point victory against the eternal nemesis in Hawthorn, didn’t put the Demons back in the black for the 2019 season ... but rather, it added a touch of pink to their fortunes, now showing some sign of life after an underwhelming start to the year. And pink was the most appropriate colour for the side and the supporters, given this game was the annual “Pink Ladies” match. And none more so than this proud Demon fan who turned up to add his support to the cause and his team at the same time ... By the end of the game there were many more Demons fans a little flushed, not just with this small success, but having missed numerous heartbeats in the final minutes as the game held in the balance. The first quarter saw a very ordinary show of football from both sides. Hawthorn’s lead was simply because it was less atrocious than Melbourne. The fans were seeing a repeat of previous weeks with only five shots at goal while the opposition nearly doubled that. It was a familiar story in every statistic flashed up on the screet at ¼ time. Contested possessions, marks, disposals - the list went on. The Hawks essentially doubled the Demons on all those markers and it was looking like another long, unenjoyable afternoon. Then after the first bell, slowly began to change. James Harmes went to O’Meara who had 12 touches in the first quarter, but then was held to a mere seven for the rest of the game. Harmes doubled up on this shut-down effort with 31 touches of his own and a goal which was to be the winner for his side. But this was still not a display of AFL football which could promote the game, as both teams fumbled, dropped marks, kicked directly to the opposition and turned the ball over again and again. By half time the Demons were back in the game, but still nine points adrift. Based on previous games, the third quarter was when the Melbourne supporters were expecting the familiar “goal-less term”, but this game was different. The Demons piled on five goals five behinds to really put the game back in their favour. Led by Max Gawn with an enormous 46 hitouts, importantly around the ground and with six telling marks, he showed the way for the others. Clayton Oliver chimed in with a mere 30 touches of his own, but it was the old stager, Nathan Jones who, once again, put his body on the line when necessary to ensure possession was either kept or gained. Michael Hibberd returned to form in the backline, and his long raking kicks set up opportunities which weren’t there in previous weeks. Christian Salem was, as usual, magnificent with his precise kicking, vision and skills. Jay Lockhart put in another performance which will keep him in the side for the future, and his coolness in the dying minutes of the game to “milk” the clock to ensure a win was vital and impressive in someone so new to the game. Declan Keilty in his first game showed more than his statistics would indicate, as he was to fill the second ruck role and as another big body in the forward line. He was mis-matched against McEvoy a couple of times, but on each occasion actually beat him to the ball, and provided a telling centre clearance in the final term. In the end, the Demons got across the line, despite some truly appalling umpiring decisions in the dying minutes. Tom McDonald should have been awarded a 50 metre penalty when the Hawthorn player kicked the ball away after very plainly being penalised. A “non decision” of incorrect disposal against Roughead was another telling clanger, again to Hawthorn’s advantage and ultimately a score. But the Demons held on. Jeff Garlett and Sam Frost in the dying minutes performed miracles to give Lockhart a chance. Christian Petracca and Frost again threw their bodies in furiously to deny Hawthorn in the dying seconds. And when the final bell sounded with Jayden Hunt streaming forward the noise from the fans was enormous. Make no mistake, while the Demons won the game, it was truly an ugly win. Still too many players are getting a game, simply because we have no other option at the moment due to injuries. Alex Neal-Bullen with 4 disposals to ¾ time wasn’t enough. Lewis with three direct turnovers resulting in Hawthorn goals is a sign of the game going past him. Garlett, despite his last quarter cameo could only manage nine touches and 2 tackles. Petracca likewise, simply is not doing enough when the ball is not close and, like Garlett, has to provide much more defensive work to stop the ball rebounding from the forward line. Still a win is a win is a win, and the flush of pink that returned to the cheeks of the Demon fans was welcomed. Perhaps the sign of life could become stronger next week against the Suns in Queensland, but we don’t want the colour to be the result of sunburn, unless we put in a similarly gutsy effort. Melbourne 2.3.15 4.5.29 9.10.64 11.13.79 Hawthorn 4.5.29 5.8.38 7.8.50 11.8.74 Goals Melbourne Hunt 2 Brayshaw Fritsch Garlett Harmes Jones Lockhart T McDonald Neal-Bullen Stretch Hawthorn Breust 4 Gunston 3 Lewis O'Meara Roughead Shiels Best Melbourne Harmes Gawn Hibberd Salem Oliver Lockhart Hawthorn Gunston Shiels O'Meara Hardwick Worpel Injuries Melbourne Nil Hawthorn Nil Reports Nil Umpires Dalgleish Gianfagna McInerney Official crowd 40,864 at the MCG

Could you please cast your votes? 6,5,4,3,2,1 ...

If you're posting from the ground then it's the 4G networks fault.

Zero confidence this year.

@Drunkn167 are your family standing between section N52 & N53?

When are they going to turn the heat on at the G?

Tommy Mac having shots for goal. Forward? Dec back?

Hi @Drunkn167

Congrats to Dec, you and the family. Thankfully you don't have to trek out to Casey for once. Who will give us the 2s report this week?

Chalk Tim Smith into the injury prone/vandenberg/Maynard category.

Take a month off for ignoring my general warning and a private warning about personal attacks. You're not the only one doing it but you are the only one who I've warned privately that has ignored the warning. I don't usually make moderating public but I hope this serves as a warning to others who think that they can blatantly disregard the rules. I get no pleasure out of this and this isn't a power trip. I let many things go through to the keeper but let that be a warning.

Hard to front up each week and talk about something I haven't enjoyed watching.

Let's all just stop with the name calling. You can disagree and argue all you like but don't make it personal. Last warning.

Braydon Preuss to miss another week.

Jayden Hunt leaves the track early.

Not 10 years. Only until end of 2021.

There is no way of getting around the fact that Melbourne is the disappointment team of the AFL competition and, because it came into the season as a big top four fancy and now sits stone motherless last with a 1-5 win-loss record, it is fast becoming a laughing stock. The only way in which the Demons can restore any sense of pride, let alone its rapidly diminishing hopes of making the finals is for it to overcome Hawthorn on Saturday in the replay of last year’s preliminary final. There can be no further excuses for the Demons; no claims of a lost pre season, complaints of a long and deep injury list or talk of players in the doldrums having lost the form that got the team ever so close to top billing in 2018. The club needs to put all those things behind it and start winning games and, in that respect, the fact that they face the Hawks should not present itself as a daunting task any more than facing up to the scars and the mental demons of the past month or so. Hawthorn’s form, after all, hasn’t been all that flash either given it has had a draw that has so far included one outing against a top eight team from 2018. The Hawks have lost to St Kilda and Hawthorn and struggled in their wins against Adelaide, North Melbourne and Carlton against who they were very lucky winners. For all of Al Clarkson’s genius, he is barely papering over the cracks in his team’s makeup which means they are vulnerable this week if his counterpart, Simon Goodwin, can get his team up and running and in the right frame of mind. That’s easier said than done as we’ve seen on a few occasions already this season but, with the with readjustment that we are starting to witness in terms of the way the team was able to tighten up their defensive efforts against Richmond, it might not be all that far away. It’s hard to fathom that a team that was able to dominate centre clearances and inside 50 entries and turn them into such a potent attack in one season, can continue to lag so badly in the next. The Demons look like bolstering their attacking forces this week and I’m tipping them to turn things around against a very shaky Hawks. Melbourne by 28 points. THE GAME Hawthorn v Melbourne at the MCG Saturday 4 May 2019 at 1.45pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 76 wins Hawthorn 87 wins At MCG Melbourne 37 wins Hawthorn 46 wins Last 5 meetings Melbourne 2 wins Hawthorn 3 wins The Coaches Goodwin 1 win Clarkson 2 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel Live at 1.30pm RADIO - Triple M ABC 3AW THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.8.104 defeated Hawthorn 10.11.71 in Semi Final, 2018 at the MCG The Demons earned a berth in the Preliminary Final against the Eagles with a resounding 33-point victory on the MCG against Hawthorn in front of 90,152 fans. Jack Viney was in sparkling form on the ball picking up 27 touches and Tom McDonald booted four goals. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B Jordan Lewis Sam Frost Oscar McDonald HB Nathan Jones Tom McDonald Jayden Hunt C James Harmes Christian Salem Billy Stretch HF Bayley Fritsch Christian Petracca Jeff Garlett F Alex Neal-Bullen Declan Keilty Jake Melksham FOLL Max Gawn Clayton Oliver Angus Brayshaw I/C Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Jay Lockhart Josh Wagner EMG Harry Petty Tom Sparrow Corey Wagner Sam Weideman IN Oscar McDonald Josh Wagner OUT Jack Viney (shoulder) Tim Smith (back) Sam Weideman (omitted) HAWTHORN B Blake Hardwick Kaiden Brand Jarman Impey HB Tom Scully Ben Stratton Jack Gunston C Isaac Smith Jaeger O'Meara Daniel Howe HF Paul Puopolo Tim O'Brien James Sicily F Luke Breust Chad Wingard Jarryd Roughead FOLL Ben McEvoy James Worpel Ricky Henderson I/C Shaun Burgoyne Mitchell Lewis Dylan Moore Liam Shiels EMG Jonathon Ceglar Harry Morrison Conor Nash Jack Scrimshaw IN Shaun Burgoyne Dylan Moore OUT James Cousins (suspended) Jack Scrimshaw (managed) Round 7: Injury List Alex Neal-Bullen (hamstring) – available Braydon Preuss (shoulder) – 1 week Tim Smith (back) - 1 week Jack Viney (shoulder) – 2 weeks Mitch Hannan (knee) – 3-4 weeks Jake Lever (knee) – 3-4 weeks Steven May (groin) – 3-4 weeks Corey Maynard (hip) – 3-4 weeks Jay Kennedy Harris (knee) – 3-5 weeks Aaron vandenBerg (foot) – TBA Joel Smith (groin) – 6-8 weeks Neville Jetta (knee) – 10-12 weeks Kade Kolodjashnij (concussion) – TBA Guy Walker (shoulder) – indefinite Aaron Nietschke (knee) – season