Demonland

There should be the same semi circle behind the man on the mark.

Geelong were doing it to us in Round 1. We would have learned from that.

The battle at the top is close ... Progressive voting 43. Clayton OIiver 42. Jesse Hogan 41. Max Gawn 35. Nathan Jones 26. Christian Petracca 16. Jeff Garlett 15. Christian Salem 14. Oscar McDonald 6. Tom Bugg Jordan Lewis 3. Bayley Fritsch 2. Dean Kent 1. James Harmes Bernie Vince Josh Wagner

Twelve months ago, we nearly beat them with 19 fit men on the ground. This week ... THE TEAMS RICHMOND B: Alex Rance, David Astbury, Dylan Grimes HB: Reece Conca, Bachar Houli, Brandon. Ellis C: Kamdyn McIntosh, Dion Prestia, Trent Cotchin HF: Dustin Martin, Daniel Rioli, Jason Castagna F: Jack Riewoldt, Todd Elton, Daniel Butler FOLL: Toby Nankervis, Shaun Grigg, Josh Caddy I/C: Kane Lambert, Olen Markov, Conor Menadue, Jayden Short EMG: Sam Lloyd, Anthony Miles, Jacob Townsend IN: Oleg Markov OUT: Nick Vlastuin (concussion) MELBOURNE B: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Jake Melksham HB: Jayden Hunt, Sam Frost, Bernie Vince C: Billy Stretch, Nathan Jones, Christian Salem HF: Christian Petracca, Jesse Hogan, Alex Neal-Bullen F: James Harmes, Jack Watts, Jeff Garlett FOLL: Jake Spencer, Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver I/C: I/C: Michael Hibberd, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Tim Smith, Dom Tyson EMG: Tom Bugg, Mitch Hannan, Oscar McDonald IN: Michael Hibberd, Jesse Hogan, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Tim Smith OUT: Tom Bugg, Dean Kent, Mitch Hannan, Sam Weideman

We’re changing the narrative said the coach over the past couple of weeks. So is there another word that can be used instead of “cr..p” to describe the performance of the MFC against Hawthorn? Every one of the traditional criticisms of how this Club plays football was brought to the fore as the players simply gave up trying in the last quarter. There was simply no excuse for allowing Hawthorn to waltz in seven goals, no matter how badly you have played. Teams that stop trying will NEVER be any influence in Finals, leave alone the possibility of even getting to September action. And this was after Melbourne had allowed Hawthorn to kick 16 goals to 1 from mid way through the first quarter, despite it leading at quarter time. Just to top it off, Hawthorn had lost Rioli and Puopolo at ¾ time, and were forced to bring Frawley back on the ground, despite being him being injured in the first quarter, and sitting on the pine for nearly a ½ of football. And it is not a new narrative needed for a whole raft of players currently playing ( if that’s the word) in the side. A relocation to Casey is all that is required. Tom Bugg was simply shocking, yet again, and his inability to kick the ball straight from 20 metres from goal or to another player in the open was repeated again and again. No point getting possessions if they are meaningless or cause turnovers by handpassing to teammates already under pressure. It just kills any momentum that has come from hard work up the field, when this happens. Jake Melksham has not had any impact in any game this season, Jeff Garlett only five touches for the whole game, while Jordan Lewis continues to stumble and fumble when needed. James Harmes, nine touches while playing in the middle is simply insufficient output. Yet there was some real fortitude shown by a few. Max Gawn in the ruck overpowered McEvoy, but his good work was undone by the shocking coaching inaction in the game. Hawthorn had 8 players at the back of the square at centre bounces, while we continued to have solitary isolated wingers. Hawthorn numbers stormed from their backline, skirted the pack, and overwhelmed the Melbourne mids. No wonder Max won the hitouts 66 to 27, but the clearances were lost by a margin of 17! The coaching decision to once again not have a back-up ruck proved to be disastrous, as we saw Harmes up against McEvoy at times, when the rotations were messed up. Then he had to ruck against Roughead or O’Brien, both of who stand well above him. But the single faiing from the coaching box was the inability to change the way the game was played in wet and slippery conditions. Sticking to the quick movement and slick handball type play doesn’t work, when simple grunt is required. Hawthorn stacked the backline and waited for the turnover, which invariably came. The rebound saw Melbourne players hopelessly behind the ball, and length of the field goals came easily and regularly. Where was the change? Where were the extra bodies sent back to stop the rot? No, we finished with Jesse Hogan playing up the field, and a forward line of Bugg, Bayley Fritsch and Garlett hoping to outmark and out-position bigger opponents on a wet day! Nathan Jones was magnificent, yet again, as he held Tom Mitchell to 24 touches, while he himself racked up 20. Considering Mitchell’s record setting disposals in the previous 3 games, it was a sterling performance, but Jones had only Clayton Oliver assisting him to actually get the ball, or Christian Petracca, when he was rotated through the middle. Given the regularity with which the ball came into the Hawthorn forward line, the backs did a fairly good job. O Mac was solid and while Roughead kicked 3, one was from a free and another in junk time. The real worry is the lack of composure among Michael Hibberd, Sam Frost and Jake Lever when the pressure is on, so we saw the Hawks time and time again craft goals from scrubby kicks out of packs or soccered through after the ball was allowed to bobble around in the goal mouth, instead of being killed by the defenders. Lewis is supposedly in the side for leadership in the backline, but there needs to be another narrative for his performance. The game against Richmond now looms as a horror prospect. A depleted Hawthorn side (without Burgoyne as well) with 2 injured on the bench and another injure on the field, gave Melbourne a first class walloping. With the Tigers in full flight and a full fit side to put on the field, there may be a new narrative needed for the carnage which threatens this Melbourne side. Melbourne 5.5.35 5.9.39 5.11.41 6.12.48 Hawthorn 3.5.23 7.5.47 11.7.73 18.7.115 Goals Melbourne Kent 3 Hogan Neal-Bullen Salem Hawthorn Breust 4 O'Brien Roughead 3 Gunston O'Meara Smith 2 Henderson Puopolo Best Melbourne Oliver McDonald Hogan N Jones Kent Hawthorn Shiels, Gunston, O'Meara, Smith, Breust, Sicily, Mitchell Injuries Melbourne Jetta (leg) Hawthorn Frawley (migraine & hand), Rioli (medial ligament), Puopolo (hamstring) Reports Nil Umpires Foot, Margetts, Chamberlain Official crowd 41,973 at the MCG

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE by George on The Outer We’re changing the narrative said the coach over the past couple of weeks. So is there another word that can be used instead of “cr..p” to describe the performance of the MFC against Hawthorn? Every one of the traditional criticisms of how this Club plays football was brought to the fore as the players simply gave up trying in the last quarter. There was simply no excuse for allowing Hawthorn to waltz in seven goals, no matter how badly you have played. Teams that stop trying will NEVER be any influence in Finals, leave alone the possibility of even getting to September action. And this was after Melbourne had allowed Hawthorn to kick 16 goals to 1 from mid way through the first quarter, despite it leading at quarter time. Just to top it off, Hawthorn had lost Rioli and Puopolo at ¾ time, and were forced to bring Frawley back on the ground, despite being him being injured in the first quarter, and sitting on the pine for nearly a ½ of football. And it is not a new narrative needed for a whole raft of players currently playing ( if that’s the word) in the side. A relocation to Casey is all that is required. Tom Bugg was simply shocking, yet again, and his inability to kick the ball straight from 20 metres from goal or to another player in the open was repeated again and again. No point getting possessions if they are meaningless or cause turnovers by handpassing to teammates already under pressure. It just kills any momentum that has come from hard work up the field, when this happens. Jake Melksham has not had any impact in any game this season, Jeff Garlett only five touches for the whole game, while Jordan Lewis continues to stumble and fumble when needed. James Harmes, nine touches while playing in the middle is simply insufficient output. Yet there was some real fortitude shown by a few. Max Gawn in the ruck overpowered McEvoy, but his good work was undone by the shocking coaching inaction in the game. Hawthorn had 8 players at the back of the square at centre bounces, while we continued to have solitary isolated wingers. Hawthorn numbers stormed from their backline, skirted the pack, and overwhelmed the Melbourne mids. No wonder Max won the hitouts 66 to 27, but the clearances were lost by a margin of 17! The coaching decision to once again not have a back-up ruck proved to be disastrous, as we saw Harmes up against McEvoy at times, when the rotations were messed up. Then he had to ruck against Roughead or O’Brien, both of who stand well above him. But the single faiing from the coaching box was the inability to change the way the game was played in wet and slippery conditions. Sticking to the quick movement and slick handball type play doesn’t work, when simple grunt is required. Hawthorn stacked the backline and waited for the turnover, which invariably came. The rebound saw Melbourne players hopelessly behind the ball, and length of the field goals came easily and regularly. Where was the change? Where were the extra bodies sent back to stop the rot? No, we finished with Jesse Hogan playing up the field, and a forward line of Bugg, Bayley Fritsch and Garlett hoping to outmark and out-position bigger opponents on a wet day! Nathan Jones was magnificent, yet again, as he held Tom Mitchell to 24 touches, while he himself racked up 20. Considering Mitchell’s record setting disposals in the previous 3 games, it was a sterling performance, but Jones had only Clayton Oliver assisting him to actually get the ball, or Christian Petracca, when he was rotated through the middle. Given the regularity with which the ball came into the Hawthorn forward line, the backs did a fairly good job. O Mac was solid and while Roughead kicked 3, one was from a free and another in junk time. The real worry is the lack of composure among Michael Hibberd, Sam Frost and Jake Lever when the pressure is on, so we saw the Hawks time and time again craft goals from scrubby kicks out of packs or soccered through after the ball was allowed to bobble around in the goal mouth, instead of being killed by the defenders. Lewis is supposedly in the side for leadership in the backline, but there needs to be another narrative for his performance. The game against Richmond now looms as a horror prospect. A depleted Hawthorn side (without Burgoyne as well) with 2 injured on the bench and another injure on the field, gave Melbourne an first class walloping. With the Tigers in full flight and a full fit side to put on the field, there may be a new narrative needed for the carnage which threatens this Melbourne side. Melbourne 5.5.35 5.9.39 5.11.41 6.12.48 Hawthorn 3.5.23 7.5.47 11.7.73 18.7.115 Goals Melbourne Kent 3 Hogan Neal-Bullen Salem Hawthorn Breust 4 O'Brien Roughead 3 Gunston O'Meara Smith 2 Henderson Puopolo, Best Melbourne Oliver McDonald Hogan N Jones Kent Hawthorn Shiels, Gunston, O'Meara, Smith, Breust, Sicily, Mitchell Injuries Melbourne Jetta (leg) Hawthorn Frawley (migraine & hand), Rioli (medial ligament), Puopolo (hamstring) Reports Nil Umpires Foot, Margetts, Chamberlain Official crowd 41,973 at the MCG

Eight days is a long time ...

Can we find six players please?

The Casey Demons spoiled the Werribee Tigers’ party last night when they came away from the newly refurbished Avalon Airport Oval with a hard fought 17 point victory. The home side was returning to their millions of dollars state-of-the-art home after 18 long months and was hoping to mark the historic occasion with a win. And that definitely seemed to be on the cards after ten minutes into the third term when the Tigers opened up a three goal lead in what was up until then a dour, low scoring affair. The Tigers had made all the running in a truly gutsy performance for the club which is now completely stand-alone after North Melbourne severed ties with it at the end of last year. With several of their “unknown” brigade combining well together under the lights, keeping a tight rein over the opposition and their key position players dominating the marking duels at either end, the prospects of a boilover win were as high as the Tiger spirits. Enter Cam Pedersen and the Demon runners whose superior fitness turned the situation on its head when they finally managed to open up the game. The next 15 minutes saw a complete change of direction as Casey piled on three quick goals to get themselves back into the game and eventually, they took the lead by two points at the final break and went on to win by 16 at the end of the day. Such was their dominance that in the last quarter and a half they scored 7.5.47 to 2.1.13 with the majority of play constantly in the Demons’ forward line. Pedersen directed proceedings and Jayden Hunt returned to form and with Billy Stretch revelling on the wing, provided run and fed the Casey forwards enough of the ball to stop Werribee in its tracks. Play was congested all night and, as a consequence, the Demons were constantly prevented from playing the attacking style of game evident last week at Coburg. Later in the game however, the tiring Tigers were never going to win the game with their defensive tactics despite a very honest performance from their players. Max King put in his best game in the ruck and around the ground and he had good support on the ball from Lachlan Filipovic, Sam Weideman and occasionally, Pedersen. Jay Lockhart showed class in defence and Corey Wagner gave great support. Earlier in the game, Angus Scott was the danger man up forward with two of his team’s first half goals. Casey’s next assignment will be much tougher - a trip to Richmond’s Swinburne Centre at Punt Road next Sunday and more Tigers to tame await. Peter Jackson VFL 2018 Casey Demons 2.1.13 3.5.23 7.8.50 10.11.72 Werribee Tigers 3.1.19 5.4.34 7.6.48 8.7.55 Goals Casey Demons Pedersen Scott 2 Balic Hunt King Maynard T Smith Weideman Werribee Tigers Corbett 3 Barrack Gribble Hooper Munro Robinson Best Casey Demons Hunt White King Lockhart Stretch T Smith Werribee Tigers Gribble Moloney Corbett Nott Hanson McFarlane Statistics Oskar Baker 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 46 dream team points Harley Balic 1 goal 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 64 dream team points Jaxon Briggs 5 kicks 1 handballs 6disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 45 dream team points Lachlan Filipovic 1 kicks 3 handballs 4 disposals 1 tackle 16 hit outs dream team points Mitch Gent 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 67 dream team points Jayden Hunt 1 goal 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 73 dream team points Dion Johnstone 1 behind 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 1 mark 7 tackles 48 dream team points Declan Keilty 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 26 dream team points Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 behind 12 kicks 8 handballs 20 disposals 3 tackles 60 dream team points Mitch King 1 goal 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 35 hit outs 93 dream team points Mitchell Lewis 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 29 dream team points Jay Lockhart 7 kicks 4 handballs 11 disposals 2 tackles 35 dream team points Corey Maynard 1 goal 1 behind 14 kicks 7 handballs 21 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 85 dream team points James Munro 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 1 mark 11 tackles 70 dream team points Cameron Pedersen 2 goals 4 kicks 6 handballs 10 disposals 4 tackles 49 dream team points Harrison Petty 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 15 dream team points Angus Scott 2 goals 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 55 dream team points Joel Smith 7 kicks 7 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 49 dream team points Timothy Smith 1 goal 1 behind 10 kicks 2 handballs 12 disposals 9 tackles 74 dream team points Billy Stretch 13 kicks 9 handballs 22 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 82 dream team points Corey Wagner 11 kicks 2 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 1 hit out 77 dream team points Samuel Weideman 1 goal 1 behind 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 13 hit outs 65 dream team points Mitchell White 9 kicks 7 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 54 dream team points

TAMING THE TIGERS - PART ONE by KC from Casey The Casey Demons spoiled the Werribee Tigers’ party last night when they came away from the newly refurbished Avalon Airport Oval with a hard fought 17 point victory. The home side was returning to their millions of dollars state-of-the-art home after 18 long months and was hoping to mark the historic occasion with a win. And that definitely seemed to be on the cards after ten minutes into the third term when the Tigers opened up a three goal lead in what was up until then a dour, low scoring affair. The Tigers had made all the running in a truly gutsy performance for the club which is now completely stand-alone after North Melbourne severed ties with it at the end of last year. With several of their “unknown” brigade combining well together under the lights, keeping a tight rein over the opposition and their key position players dominating the marking duels at either end, the prospects of a boilover win were as high as the Tiger spirits. Enter Cam Pedersen and the Demon runners whose superior fitness turned the situation on its head when they finally managed to open up the game. The next 15 minutes saw a complete change of direction as Casey piled on three quick goals to get themselves back into the game and eventually, they took the lead by two points at the final break and went on to win by 16 at the end of the day. Such was their dominance that in the last quarter and a half they scored 7.5.47 to 2.1.13 with the majority of play constantly in the Demons’ forward line. Pedersen directed proceedings and Jayden Hunt returned to form and with Billy Stretch revelling on the wing, provided run and fed the Casey forwards enough of the ball to stop Werribee in its tracks. Play was congested all night and, as a consequence, the Demons were constantly prevented from playing the attacking style of game evident last week at Coburg. Later in the game however, the tiring Tigers were never going to win the game with their defensive tactics despite a very honest performance from their players. Max King put in his best game in the ruck and around the ground and he had good support on the ball from Lachlan Filipovic, Sam Weideman and occasionally, Pedersen. Jay Lockhart showed class in defence and Corey Wagner gave great support. Earlier in the game, Angus Scott was the danger man up forward with two of his team’s first half goals. Casey’s next assignment will be much tougher - a trip to Richmond’s Swinburne Centre at Punt Road next Sunday and more Tigers to tame await. Peter Jackson VFL 2018 Casey Demons 2.1.13 3.5.23 7.8.50 10.11.72 Werribee Tigers 3.1.19 5.4.34 7.6.48 8.7.55 Goals Casey Demons Pedersen Scott 2 Balic Hunt King Maynard T Smith Weideman Werribee Tigers Corbett 3 Barrack Gribble Hooper Munro Robinson Best Casey Demons Hunt White King Lockhart Stretch T Smith Werribee Gribble Moloney Corbett Nott Hanson McFarlane

Any news on Balic's hamstring?

Looks like The Age [censored] up.

Surely this is an oversight? If not he should be stripped of his media credentials. ?

? Don't get me wrong I love love love Jets but ..... ?

Melbourne takes on Hawthorn in a crucial match up on Sunday afternoon at the MCG. Both teams are sitting on a 2/1 record so, even at this early stage of the season, a win is crucial because the victor gets a little separation from the main pack challenging for a berth in the competition’s top echelon. The Demons, who have in the past year or so, made an art form out of letting opportunity slip from their grasp, badly need the win because it has an appointment with reigning premier Richmond coming up on Anzac Eve. Win both games and they are in a rarefied atmosphere for this football the club and off to their best start since 2005. And, in a similar vein to last week when Melbourne broke a long-standing losing streak against North Melbourne, the club is aiming to overturn a huge disparity between wins and losses in its recent history against Hawthorn. The Hawks have won 14 out of 15 against the Demons, the only exception being their Round 20, 2016 contest when they were top of the ladder and went down in a surprise loss that sent them hurtling from premiership favouritism for what would have been a fourth consecutive flag. Hawthorn bottomed out remarkably quickly last year and seem to be on the up and up just as quickly off the back mainly of their master stroke in the recruiting of midfielders Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara but Melbourne’s midfield is more multifaceted and adaptable including a wide range of players with varying degrees of size and experience. One of those midfielders is in form Christian Petracca to who I look for both inspiration and an omen in this game. The omen is drawn from Petracca’s former basketballing teammate Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons who has been creating a storm in NBA circles. The 76ers were a struggling team until Simmons made his debut late last year. They began their season slowly but suddenly moved into play off contention and now, after their 15th consecutive win yesterday, they are nicely placed in third place on the Eastern Conference ladder. Their latest victim? The Atlanta Hawks. THE GAME Hawthorn v Melbourne at the MCG Sunday 15 April 2018 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Hawthorn 86 wins Melbourne 75 wins At MCG Hawthorn 45 wins Melbourne 36 wins Last 5 meetings Hawthorn 4 wins Melbourne 1 win The Coaches Clarkson 1 win Goodwin 0 win MEDIA TV - Fox Sports3, Seven Mate live at 3.00pm RADIO - Triple M 3AW THE LAST TIME THEY MET Hawthorn 14.10.94 defeated Melbourne 14.7.91 in Round 7, 2017 at the MCG The Hawks skipped away to an early lead and were never headed although the Demons made a desperate lunge in the latter stages of the game. After Jeff Garlett’s third goal close to the three quarter time reduced the margin to 1 point, the teams traded goals until Jordan Lewis goaled with less than a minute remaining to reduce the margin to 3 points, but it was all too late. THE TEAMS HAWTHORN B: Conor Glass, James Frawley, Blake Hardwick HB: Taylor Duryea, Ben Stratton, James Sicily C: Ricky Henderson, Jarman Impey, Isaac Smith HF: Luke Breust, Jack Gunston, Tim O’Brien F: Paul Puopolo, Jarryd Roughead, Cyril Rioli Foll: Ben McEvoy, Tom Mitchell, Liam Shiels I/C: Daniel Howe, David Mirra, Harry Morrison, Jaeger O’Meara Emg: Ryan Burton, James Cousins, Mitchell Lewis, Brendan Whitecross In: Conor Glass, David Mirra, James Sicily Out: Kaiden Brand (omitted), Ryan Burton (omitted), Will Langford (omitted) New: David Mirra (Box Hill Hawks) MELBOURNE B: Christian Petracca, Oscar McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Michael Hibberd, Jake Lever, Bernie Vince C: James Harmes, Nathan Jones, Jordan Lewis HF: Alex Neal-Bullen, Sam Frost, Tom Bugg F: Jake Melksham, Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent Foll: Max Gawn, Christian Salem, Clayton Oliver I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Bayley Fritsch, Jeff Garlett, Josh Wagner, Emg: Mitch Hannan, Jayden Hunt, Billy Stretch, Sam Weideman In: Angus Brayshaw Out: Dom Tyson (ill) The Hawks caused an upset when these two teams met but, in a way, it was on the cards. In the absence of injured big men Max Gawn and Jake Spencer and before Simon Goodwin could work on his ruck plan B, Ben McEvoy dominated the ruck with 53 hit-outs and gave his onballers an armchair ride. Even back then, Tom Mitchell was starring as a midfielder and with Jarryd Roughead, on the comeback trail from his illness, able to flush out every ounce of sympathy available from the umpires, the Hawks opened up an early lead that was a smidgeon beyond the Demons’ comeback challenge. Things are different this time on two major fronts. Firstly, there’s the Max Factor. The Melbourne big man is not only back but he’s showing the same, if not better, standard of mastery of his craft that won him All-Australian honours two years ago. Then there’s Jesse Hogan who took place in the equivalent game last year but was in the wrong space, recovery from the recent loss of his father and about to receive a cancer diagnosis. He’s in a much better place this time around and I suspect that he will prove a difficult opponent to overcome for whoever draws the short straw to oppose him. And that Hawk midfield might be leading the field in terms of centre clearances at 16.7 (a tremendous achievement given their opposition this year has included the Cats’ triumvirate and the reigning premiers’ on ball combinations) but the Demons are not that far behind at 16.0 with their multifaceforted engine room that includes the experience of Nathan Jones and Dom Tyson and the rapidly coming on Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca who are both in great early-season touch. Around the ground, I think the Demons will be too solid for the Hawks who will be missing Shaun Burgoyne (hamstring) as well as a couple of other handy defenders. The result is that Hawks will lower the colours to the Dees for only the second time in a dozen years. Melbourne by 29 points.

OMEN by The Oracle Melbourne takes on Hawthorn in a crucial match up on Sunday afternoon at the MCG. Both teams are sitting on a 2/1 record so, even at this early stage of the season, a win is crucial because the victor gets a little separation from the main pack challenging for a berth in the competition’s top echelon. The Demons, who have in the past year or so, made an art form out of letting opportunity slip from their grasp, badly need the win because it has an appointment with reigning premier Richmond coming up on Anzac Eve. Win both games and they are in a rarefied atmosphere for this football the club and off to their best start since 2005. And, in a similar vein to last week when Melbourne broke a long-standing losing streak against North Melbourne, the club is aiming to overturn a huge disparity between wins and losses in its recent history against Hawthorn. The Hawks have won 14 out of 15 against the Demons, the only exception being their Round 20, 2016 contest when they were top of the ladder and went down in a surprise loss that sent them hurtling from premiership favouritism for what would have been a fourth consecutive flag. Hawthorn bottomed out remarkably quickly last year and seem to be on the up and up just as quickly off the back mainly of their master stroke in the recruiting of midfielders Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara but Melbourne’s midfield is more multifaceted and adaptable including a wide range of players with varying degrees of size and experience. One of those midfielders is in form Christian Petracca to who I look for both inspiration and an omen in this game. The omen is drawn from Petracca’s former basketballing teammate Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons who has been creating a storm in NBA circles. The 76ers were a struggling team until Simmons made his debut late last year. They began their season slowly but suddenly moved into play off contention and now, after their 15th consecutive win yesterday, they are nicely placed in third place on the Eastern Conference ladder. Their latest victim? The Atlanta Hawks. THE GAME Hawthorn v Melbourne at the MCG Sunday 15 April 2018 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Hawthorn 86 wins Melbourne 75 wins At MCG Hawthorn 45 wins Melbourne 36 wins Last 5 meetings Hawthorn 4 wins Melbourne 1 win The Coaches Clarkson 1 win Goodwin 0 win MEDIA TV - Fox Sports3, Seven Mate live at 3.00pm RADIO - Triple M 3AW THE LAST TIME THEY MET Hawthorn 14.10.94 defeated Melbourne 14.7.91 in Round 7, 2017 at the MCG The Hawks skipped away to an early lead and were never headed although the Demons made a desperate lunge in the latter stages of the game. After Jeff Garlett’s third goal close to the three quarter time reduced the margin to 1 point, the teams traded goals until Jordan Lewis goaled with less than a minute remaining to reduce the margin to 3 points, but it was all too late. THE TEAMS The Hawks caused an upset when these two teams met but, in a way, it was on the cards. In the absence of injured big men Max Gawn and Jake Spencer and before Simon Goodwin could work on his ruck plan B, Ben McEvoy dominated the ruck with 53 hit-outs and gave his onballers an armchair ride. Even back then, Tom Mitchell was starring as a midfielder and with Jarryd Roughead, on the comeback trail from his illness, able to flush out every ounce of sympathy available from the umpires, the Hawks opened up an early lead that was a smidgeon beyond the Demons’ comeback challenge. Things are different this time on two major fronts. Firstly, there’s the Max Factor. The Melbourne big man is not only back but he’s showing the same, if not better, standard of mastery of his craft that won him All-Australian honours two years ago. Then there’s Jesse Hogan who took place in the equivalent game last year but was in the wrong space, recovery from the recent loss of his father and about to receive a cancer diagnosis. He’s in a much better place this time around and I suspect that he will prove a difficult opponent to overcome for whoever draws the short straw to oppose him. And that Hawk midfield might be leading the field in terms of centre clearances at 16.7 (a tremendous achievement given their opposition this year has included the Cats’ triumvirate and the reigning premiers’ on ball combinations) but the Demons are not that far behind at 16.0 with their multifaceforted engine room that includes the experience of Nathan Jones and Dom Tyson and the rapidly coming on Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca who are both in great early-season touch. Around the ground, I think the Demons will be too solid for the Hawks who will be missing Shaun Burgoyne (hamstring) as well as a couple of other handy defenders. The result is that Hawks will lower the colours to the Dees for only the second time in a dozen years. Melbourne by 29 points.

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