Demonland

Who could forget Victoria beating the All-Stars by a point in a riveting finish? Me.

Brayshaw stiff not to make the Top 40.

It was a little over a week ago when the Fugazi about Melbourne was that it had yet to beat a team in the top eighth, that the word was that it may limp into the finals by dint of the results of games in other matches and it’s decent percentage. The “Bradbury Plan”, if you like. However, the last two games have shown that Melbourne is not just there for show or to make up the numbers by merely limping into September. The stirring finish against the Eagles and the emphatic victory over the Giants is sending a fearsome message to the other finalists - the Demons have simply bulldozed their way to fifth spot on the ladder, past two teams with expectation of solid finishes to the season. And the bulldozing has been emblematic of the type of gamestyle the coach has instilled into the players and with a group of extraordinarily young talent, they truly are setting themselves up for something exciting to come. Jordan Lewis has been attributed as reminding the players, that they not there just to make up the finals numbers. Rather, they are there to win them and, coming up against the Cats in the first Elimination Final, gives them the added incentive of atoning for the two defeats suffered at their hands by less than a kick during the season. The game against the Giants was not unexpectedly a see-sawing contest for the first half. The sides were evenly matched on the ladder with GWS seemingly running into good form with the return of some of their better players in recent weeks. The real concern for them is that they are still a club without a beating heart and while laden with talent, they don’t play together as a team. There is no “fight to the death, with your mates by your side” attitude, and so when challenged, like this week and last, they drop away badly. There was not much more than two kicks in the game at half time and with the Demons already two men down with Kent and Tyson out of the game, it was all there for the Giants to take. However, they were bulldozed aside by the Demons. Max Gawn took Lobb apart from an early stage, and by half time he was struggling to keep up with him around the ground. He finally left the game at ¾ time injured, which only served to let Max rest out the final quarter in the forward line. The mid-fielders took full advantage of Max’s superiority. The GWS opponents are no slouches with Coniglio, Kelly, Ward and Shiel matched up against Angus Brayshaw, Clayton Oliver, James Harmed and Nathan Jones but they were forced to lower their colours in this contest. Harmes truly lived up to his name causing untold harm to the GWS mids - in particular Kelly who had only 19 touches with only six contested. On the other hand, Harmes had 29 disposals and 15 contested possessions. Brayshaw and Oliver both with 30+ touches just added to the GWS pain as they bulldozed their opponents aside, while an old stager in Nathan Jones chipped in with another 27 touches. The result of all this work was to be seen in the premiership quarter. Melbourne piled on five third quarter goals, while they held the Giants goalless. And the reason they failed to score a major was the rock solid defence with Salem running riot in the backline delivering laser type passes up field, Lewis with similar accuracy, while Frost ran and sliced through the hapless GWS forwards. Oscar McDonald took Cameron to the cleaners, once again putting a notch on his tally of full forwards who have failed against him. With the game all over by the final change, all that was left was to see out the final term, and even though GWS had a major on the board within a minute, the Demons swiftly replied to put paid to any suggestion of a last minute revival. At the end - a seven goal win, and 37,000 Demon supporters rocked the house with the Grand Old Flag rendition, not heard sung that way for over a decade. The finals are upon us and the next task is to finish Geelong’s season. Some could suggest they are only there courtesy of thrashing two of the sides in the completion in the past 2 weeks but they still have beaten Melbourne twice this year. While most teams have a long list of injured players at this time of year, our situation is rather dire. The game produced two more serious injuries today, and there are not really any players worthy of elevation from the depleted ranks over at Casey. There is a handy certain starter in the wings in Jack Viney and hopefully Mitch Hannan will overcome his knee soreness but we are really on bare bones. There are others who have done it like the Bulldogs who were decimated at this time two years ago and famously came out of the pre finals to carve out some history for themselves. Can the Demons repeat history and similarly bulldoze their way further through September? Melbourne 4.2.26 7.6.48 12.9.81 15.12.102 GWS Giants 4.1.25 5.5.35 5.8.38 8.9.57 Goals Melbourne T McDonald Petracca 3 Neal-Bullen 2 Brayshaw Gawn Harmes Jones Melksham vandenBerg Weideman, GWS Giants Coniglio 2 Cameron Finlayson Himmelberg Langdon Lobb Tomlinson Best Melbourne Gawn Harmes Brayshaw Oliver Petracca Jones Frost GWS Giants Coniglio Ward Shiel Haynes Kennedy Injuries Melbourne Kent (AC joint) Melksham (head) Tyson (broken arm) Greater Western Sydney Lobb (beaten to a pulp) Reports Melbourne Nil Greater Western Sydney Nil Umpires Dalgleish, Rosebury, Stevic Official crowd 37,285 at the MCG POSTSCRIPT: Wasn’t it nice that Adelaide’s pick received for Jake Lever just dropped three spots as a result of them beating the Blues to who they want to trade the pick for one of their young local draft prospects

BULLDOZERS by George on the Outer It was a little over a week ago when the Fugazi about Melbourne was that it had yet to beat a team in the top eighth, that the word was that it may limp into the finals by dint of the results of games in other matches and it’s decent percentage. The “Bradbury Plan”, if you like. However, the last two games have shown that Melbourne is not just there for show or to make up the numbers by merely limping into September. The stirring finish against the Eagles and the emphatic victory over the Giants is sending a fearsome message to the other finalists - the Demons have simply bulldozed their way to fifth spot on the ladder, past two teams with expectation of solid finishes to the season. And the bulldozing has been emblematic of the type of gamestyle the coach has instilled into the players and with a group of extraordinarily young talent, they truly are setting themselves up for something exciting to come. Jordan Lewis has been attributed as reminding the players, that they not there just to make up the finals numbers. Rather, they are there to win them and, coming up against the Cats in the first Elimination Final, gives them the added incentive of atoning for the two defeats suffered at their hands by less than a kick during the season. The game against the Giants was not unexpectedly a see-sawing contest for the first half. The sides were evenly matched on the ladder with GWS seemingly running into good form with the return of some of their better players in recent weeks. The real concern for them is that they are still a club without a beating heart and while laden with talent, they don’t play together as a team. There is no “fight to the death, with your mates by your side” attitude, and so when challenged, like this week and last, they drop away badly. There was not much more than two kicks in the game at half time and with the Demons already two men down with Kent and Tyson out of the game, it was all there for the Giants to take. However, they were bulldozed aside by the Demons. Max Gawn took Lobb apart from an early stage, and by half time he was struggling to keep up with him around the ground. He finally left the game at ¾ time injured, which only served to let Max rest out the final quarter in the forward line. The mid-fielders took full advantage of Max’s superiority. The GWS opponents are no slouches with Coniglio, Kelly, Ward and Shiel matched up against Angus Brayshaw, Clayton Oliver, James Harmed and Nathan Jones but they were forced to lower their colours in this contest. Harmes truly lived up to his name causing untold harm to the GWS mids - in particular Kelly who had only 19 touches with only six contested. On the other hand, Harmes had 29 disposals and 15 contested possessions. Brayshaw and Oliver both with 30+ touches just added to the GWS pain as they bulldozed their opponents aside, while an old stager in Nathan Jones chipped in with another 27 touches. The result of all this work was to be seen in the premiership quarter. Melbourne piled on five third quarter goals, while they held the Giants goalless. And the reason they failed to score a major was the rock solid defence with Salem running riot in the backline delivering laser type passes up field, Lewis with similar accuracy, while Frost ran and sliced through the hapless GWS forwards. Oscar McDonald took Cameron to the cleaners, once again putting a notch on his tally of full forwards who have failed against him. With the game all over by the final change, all that was left was to see out the final term, and even though GWS had a major on the board within a minute, the Demons swiftly replied to put paid to any suggestion of a last minute revival. At the end - a seven goal win, and 37,000 Demon supporters rocked the house with the Grand Old Flag rendition, not heard sung that way for over a decade. The finals are upon us and the next task is to finish Geelong’s season. Some could suggest they are only there courtesy of thrashing two of the sides in the completion in the past 2 weeks but they still have beaten Melbourne twice this year. While most teams have a long list of injured players at this time of year, our situation is rather dire. The game produced two more serious injuries today, and there are not really any players worthy of elevation from the depleted ranks over at Casey. There is a handy certain starter in the wings in Jack Viney and hopefully Mitch Hannan will overcome his knee soreness but we are really on bare bones. There are others who have done it like the Bulldogs who were decimated at this time two years ago and famously came out of the pre finals to carve out some history for themselves. Can the Demons repeat history and similarly bulldoze their way further through September? Melbourne 4.2.26 7.6.48 12.9.81 15.12.102 GWS Giants 4.1.25 5.5.35 5.8.38 8.9.57 Goals Melbourne T McDonald Petracca 3 Neal-Bullen 2 Brayshaw Gawn Harmes Jones Melksham vandenBerg Weideman, GWS Giants Coniglio 2 Cameron Finlayson Himmelberg Langdon Lobb Tomlinson Best Melbourne Gawn Harmes Brayshaw Oliver Petracca Jones Frost GWS Giants Coniglio Ward Shiel Haynes Kennedy Injuries Melbourne Kent (AC joint) Melksham (head) Tyson (broken arm) Greater Western Sydney Lobb (beaten to a pulp) Reports Melbourne Nil Greater Western Sydney Nil Umpires Dalgleish, Rosebury, Stevic Official crowd 37,285 at the MCG POSTSCRIPT: Wasn’t it nice that Adelaide’s pick received for Jake Lever just dropped three spots as a result of them beating the Blues to who they want to trade the pick for one of their young local draft prospects

Welcome to Demonland. I don't believe you will be sitting in the area you usually sit in but as a reserved seat member you will most likely be sitting in a bay with other Dees fans.

Max Gawn take a bow.

Your votes please 6,5,4,3,2,1

OVERPOWERED BY KC from Casey The Casey Demons missed out on the minor premiership when they were overpowered after half time by Williamstown to go down by 29 points in the last game of the VFL regular season at Casey Fields on Saturday. The injury-depleted Demons have limped through their last two games after 12 wins in a row and only managed to keep the right to a home final after a come-from-behind victory saw the Box Hill Hawks upset Geelong’s VFL side at City Oval Box Hill. The sun shone and the air was crisp with signs of an early coming of spring as the home side relished the conditions and dominated the early going scoring three of the game’s opening four goals. Cam Pederson was on fire booting the first two and Jeff Garlett shrugged of the criticism of his recent lethargic performances with a great chase, running down an opponent and converting to give his team a 13 point lead deep into the opening term. The Demons should have been further in front at this stage with Pedersen, Tim Smith and Declan Keilty winning handsomely in the air and the Wagner brothers mopping up the ball at ground level. A late goal to the Seagulls gave them a glimmer of hope as the scoreboard which showed them 7 points in arrears at the main break really flattered them. Tim Smith, who has been off target in recent times, finally found the target with a snap on goal but the dogged Williamstown runners suddenly found their feet to pile on three quick goals to grab the lead. Garlett struck a purple patch and responded with two of his trademark opportunist goals and an arm wrestle followed that saw the visitors benefit from some lucky umpiring decisions to take a one point lead into half time. With the game evenly poised in the early stages of the third quarter, the Seagull runners gradually got on top and took control of the midfield with the result that they broke through for three goals to take a grip on the game. They were helped by some questionable umpiring decisions that frustrated the Demons and, despite a goal to Goy Lok against the run of play, they looked beaten at three quarter time when another goal on the siren restored a 20 point lead in favour of the visitors who then booted four in quick succession to nail the game. The Demons were definitely feeling the effects of a long list of injuries at Melbourne and lacked the depth necessary to hold sway over a top line an in-form opposition but notwithstanding, the efforts of their leading VFL listed players like Jay Lockhart, Corey Wagner and, to a lesser extent Jimmy Munro, were outstanding while youngsters Cory Stockdale and Tom Freeman (in his second game) were also impressive. Demon listed players Dion Johnstone and Pat McKenna showed some good signs playing their best football at the club so far. The Casey Demons move on to the qualifying final at Casey Fields against Geelong VFL next Saturday and should be strengthened by the return to the fold of a few eligible Melbourne players during the AFL bye weekend. Peter Jackson VFL 2018 Casey Demons 3.3.21 7.4.46 8.8.56 12.13.85 Williamstown 2.2.14 7.5.47 11.10.76 17.12.114 Goals Casey Demons Garlett 4 Pedersen 3 Hutchins 2 Lockhart Lok T Smith Williamstown Rodda 4 Cavarra 3 Dunell George Gibbons Thorpe 2 Norton Schultz Best Casey Demons Lockhart Garlett C Wagner Johnstone Pedersen Freeman Williamstown Gibbons Bewley Cavarra Meese Rodda Masters Statistics  Jaxon Briggs 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 20 dream team points Wayne Collis 2 kicks 2 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 24 dream team points Tom Freeman 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 35 dream team points Jeffrey Garlett 4 goals 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 90 dream team points Mitch Gent 7 kicks 6 handballs 13 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 42 dream team points Jack Hutchins 2 goals 10 kicks 2 handballs 12 disposals 5 marks 55 dream team points Dion Johnstone 1 behind 18 kicks 2 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 79 dream team points Declan Keilty 7 kicks 7 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 48 dream team points Mitch King 1 kicks 6 handballs 7 disposals 3 tackles 17 hit outs 41 dream team points Mykelti Lefau 1 behind 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 2 hit outs 38 dream team points Jay Lockhart 1 goal 3 behinds 15 kicks 8 handballs 23 disposals 6 marks 8 tackles 121 dream team points Goy Lok 1 goal 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 47 dream team points Pat McKenna 1 behind 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 73 dream team point Cory Machaya kicks handballs disposals marks tackles dream team points James Munro 1 behind 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 1 marks 7 tackles 56 dream team points Cameron Pedersen 3 goals 1 behind 12 kicks 5 handballs 17 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 7 hit outs 105 dream team points Harry Petty 4 kicks 3 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 26 dream team points Angus Scott 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 1 mark 20 dream team points Tim Smith 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 1 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 4 hit outs 56 dream team points Cory Stockdale 1 behind 8 kicks 10 handballs 18 disposals 4 marks 9 tackles 94 dream team points Corey Wagner 2 behinds 10 kicks 11 handballs 21 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 91 dream team points Josh Wagner 15 kicks 9 handballs 24 disposals 2 marks 11 tackles 110 dream team points Mitch White 11 kicks 5 handballs 16 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 75 dream team points

The Casey Demons missed out on the minor premiership when they were overpowered after half time by Williamstown to go down by 29 points in the last game of the VFL regular season at Casey Fields on Saturday. The injury-depleted Demons have limped through their last two games after 12 wins in a row and only managed to keep the right to a home final after a come-from-behind victory saw the Box Hill Hawks upset Geelong’s VFL side at City Oval Box Hill. The sun shone and the air was crisp with signs of an early coming of spring as the home side relished the conditions and dominated the early going scoring three of the game’s opening four goals. Cam Pederson was on fire booting the first two and Jeff Garlett shrugged of the criticism of his recent lethargic performances with a great chase, running down an opponent and converting to give his team a 13 point lead deep into the opening term. The Demons should have been further in front at this stage with Pedersen, Tim Smith and Declan Keilty winning handsomely in the air and the Wagner brothers mopping up the ball at ground level. A late goal to the Seagulls gave them a glimmer of hope as the scoreboard which showed them 7 points in arrears at the main break really flattered them. Tim Smith, who has been off target in recent times, finally found the target with a snap on goal but the dogged Williamstown runners suddenly found their feet to pile on three quick goals to grab the lead. Garlett struck a purple patch and responded with two of his trademark opportunist goals and an arm wrestle followed that saw the visitors benefit from some lucky umpiring decisions to take a one point lead into half time. With the game evenly poised in the early stages of the third quarter, the Seagull runners gradually got on top and took control of the midfield with the result that they broke through for three goals to take a grip on the game. They were helped by some questionable umpiring decisions that frustrated the Demons and, despite a goal to Goy Lok against the run of play, they looked beaten at three quarter time when another goal on the siren restored a 20 point lead in favour of the visitors who then booted four in quick succession to nail the game. The Demons were definitely feeling the effects of a long list of injuries at Melbourne and lacked the depth necessary to hold sway over a top line an in-form opposition but notwithstanding, the efforts of their leading VFL listed players like Jay Lockhart, Corey Wagner and, to a lesser extent Jimmy Munro, were outstanding while youngsters Cory Stockdale and Tom Freeman (in his second game) were also impressive. Demon listed players Dion Johnstone and Pat McKenna showed some good signs playing their best football at the club so far. The Casey Demons move on to the qualifying final at Casey Fields against Geelong VFL next Saturday and should be strengthened by the return to the fold of a few eligible Melbourne players during the AFL bye weekend. Peter Jackson VFL 2018 Casey Demons 3.3.21 7.4.46 8.8.56 12.13.85 Williamstown 2.2.14 7.5.47 11.10.76 17.12.114 Goals Casey Demons Garlett 4 Pedersen 3 Hutchins 2 Lockhart Lok T Smith Williamstown Rodda 4 Cavarra 3 Dunell George Gibbons Thorpe 2 Norton Schultz Best Casey Demons Lockhart Garlett C Wagner Johnstone Pedersen Freeman Williamstown Gibbons Bewley Cavarra Meese Rodda Masters Statistics  Jaxon Briggs 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 20 dream team points Wayne Collis 2 kicks 2 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 24 dream team points Tom Freeman 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 35 dream team points Jeffrey Garlett 4 goals 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 90 dream team points Mitch Gent 7 kicks 6 handballs 13 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 42 dream team points Jack Hutchins 2 goals 10 kicks 2 handballs 12 disposals 5 marks 55 dream team points Dion Johnstone 1 behind 18 kicks 2 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 79 dream team points Declan Keilty 7 kicks 7 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 48 dream team points Mitch King 1 kicks 6 handballs 7 disposals 3 tackles 17 hit outs 41 dream team points Mykelti Lefau 1 behind 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 2 hit outs 38 dream team points Jay Lockhart 1 goal 3 behinds 15 kicks 8 handballs 23 disposals 6 marks 8 tackles 121 dream team points Goy Lok 1 goal 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 47 dream team points Pat McKenna 1 behind 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 73 dream team point Cory Machaya kicks handballs disposals marks tackles dream team points James Munro 1 behind 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 1 marks 7 tackles 56 dream team points Cameron Pedersen 3 goals 1 behind 12 kicks 5 handballs 17 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 7 hit outs 105 dream team points Harry Petty 4 kicks 3 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 26 dream team points Angus Scott 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 1 mark 20 dream team points Tim Smith 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 1 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 4 hit outs 56 dream team points Cory Stockdale 1 behind 8 kicks 10 handballs 18 disposals 4 marks 9 tackles 94 dream team points Corey Wagner 2 behinds 10 kicks 11 handballs 21 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 91 dream team points Josh Wagner 15 kicks 9 handballs 24 disposals 2 marks 11 tackles 110 dream team points Mitch White 11 kicks 5 handballs 16 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 75 dream team points

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/mark-robinson/robbos-allaustralian-team-why-demon-max-gawn-has-to-on-the-field-ahead-of-pies-brodie-grundy/news-story/17ef4411ef47509158723204b599d5e8

Article appears to have been pulled from AFL website. Here is the link to HUN: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/afl-daily-rolling-football-news-coverage-from-across-australia-for-friday-august-24-2018/live-coverage/f931632a3f6635ab0ac77d5ff784da3c The Age: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/magpie-sam-murray-being-investigated-by-asada-report-20180824-p4zzh0.html

Fritsch's kick to Hannan in the Melksham goal play was superbly weighted.

I'll just leave this one here.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-08-23/we-didnt-overcelebrate-goodwin

You've been around long enough to know that we at Demonland are robots who automatically react to every attempt at humour by merging it with another thread involving the person in question being ridiculed so that it gets buried never to be seen again.

After watching freo roll over last weekend I can say with absolute certainty that there is no chance that this scenario will eventuate.

I think his wife gets the 3 votes. Best podcast interruption since Neville Jetta's kid.

You can download and subscribe to the Demonland Podcast on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/demonland-podcast/id1220844996?mt=2 You can search Demonland Podcast on any other Podcast catching apps on iOs or Android devices 

No problem.

Fair enough. It takes a lot of effort for me to do these podcasts after soul crushing losses.

There's always a point in the show where we travel down a depressing path. I doubt we will traverse that path tonight.

There are many permutations that can happen. If we can get to the final dance the one team I would love to be up against would be the Eagles. Imagine the hype if it is us vs Collingwood in the Granny. There is still a long way to go first.