Demonland

Casey 1.0.6 Williamstown 0.4.4

Throughout history various philosophers have grappled with the meaning of life. Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and a multitude of authors of diverse religious texts all tried. As society became more complex, the question became attached to specific endeavours in life even including sporting pursuits where such questions arose among our game’s commentariat as, “what is the meaning of football”? Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin must be tired of dealing with such a dilemma but, in doing so, he mocks his detractors. On Saturday night, his Demons, laden with some promising young talent, made a powerful statement against the previously unbeaten and older Cats. Their 8-point victory saw them strengthen their place among the league leaders and they now hold a 6/2 record after the passage of a third of the season. It sent out a message to all and sundry — don’t mess with us or you’ll soon learn the meaning of football. In case you hadn’t noticed, football pundits have been pumping up Geelong’s tires of late. The Cats were going through something of a revival thanks to an opening seven game winning streak after last year’s disappointing fall from grace. Jeremy Cameron was the latest big thing: his place in the game was touching on the stratospheric. Careers were being reinvented in many different ways. You had the “The Swarm”, which is another name for their bevy of small forwards like Miers, Stengle and Close who, by their deadly efficient ball movement, have been a revelation so far in 2024. With the ascendency of Cameron and Hawkins, they formed a formidable forward line capable of racking up remarkably accurate score lines such as their 17.4 (106) in their Easter Monday demolition of the Hawks. Last week, the Cats overcame the Blues in an exhilarating shootout, with victory secured as a result of some dead eye kicking for goal. Carlton came at them late with a barrage of goals to post a century plus losing score and it was that precise scenario which provided Goodwin with the ways and means of overcoming his own critics as well as the competition’s most accurate attack on a cold autumn night just seven days later. With defensive pressure. The game was a played out as a dour arm wrestle which suited Demon defenders Jake Lever, Steven May and Tom McDonald who went about applying the sleeper hold on Cameron and Hawkins who both ended up goalless. At the same time, the smaller and medium defenders put the clamps on the Geelong swarm. Thanks to the young brigade headed by Trent Rivers and including Judd McVee and Blake Howes, they sucked the breath out of Geelong’s much vaunted straight shooting attacking machine. They put them through the wringer after the opening break with the first goalless quarter in two years, resulting in a score line of 2.8 (20) at half time. Melbourne’s score was little better but the winning plan had already been put into place. The premiership quarter turned out the Cats’ best and the one that proved their most accurate while the Demons were badly off target. Enter Goodwin’s critics who were seething with disgust about the cheek of putting on a style that was depriving fandom of the thrills and spills of a circus. Why on earth should the producers of this drab unforgettable contest have the temerity to command bulk primetime viewing at the AFL table? Simon’s answer came in an absorbingly entertaining, see-saw of a final quarter with eye-catching highlights provided by the skipper and by far the competition’s best ruckman in Max Gawn, the unstoppable Lever and May and an energised Clayton Oliver who somehow willed his way in and out of packs with ease. Finally, let’s not forget the forward line brilliance and magic of Bayley Fritsch and Kozzie Pickett who filled the game’s highlights package. Nearing the end, at the 26 minute and 22 second mark of the term, the former dribbled through a spectacular goal from the boundary line to deliver homeward those vital four premiership points. At that very moment, the meaning of football was revealed. MELBOURNE 3.2.20 3.7.25 5.14.44 10.14.74 GEELONG 2.4.16 2.8.20 6.10.46 9.12.66 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch 3 Pickett 2 Chandler Gawn Langdon Petty Windsor GEELONG Henry Stengle 2 Clark Close Dempsey Z Guthrie Holmes BEST MELBOURNE Lever Gawn Oliver Fritsch May Pickett GEELONG Holmes Z Guthrie Atkins Stewart Miers INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG Bruhn (shoulder) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Bailey Laurie, replaced Jack Billings in the fourth term GEELONG Gary Rohan, replaced Tanner Bruhn in the third term UMPIRES Justin Power Hayden Gavine Simon Meredith Andre Gianfagna CROWD 51,795 at the MCG

Exclusive photo from the MCG tonight.

The Demons have just a 5 day break until they are back at the MCG to face the Blues who are on the verge of 3 straight defeats on Thursday Night. Who comes in and who goes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 6th May @ 8:30pm. Join George, Binman & I as we analyse the Demons victory at the MCG over the Cats in the Round 08. You questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Last week Captain Max Gawn consolidated his lead over reigning champion Christian Petracca in the Demonland Player of the Year Award. Steven May, Jack Viney & Alex Neal-Bullen make up the Top 5. Your votes for the win over the Cats. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Despite dominating for large parts of the match and not making the most of their forward opportunities the Demons ground out a hard fought win and claimed a massive scalp in defeating the Cats by 8 points at the MCG.

Off the market

Hook this directly into my veins.

It's Game Day and the two oldest teams in the competition, the Demons and the Cats, come face to face in a true 8 point game. The Cats are unbeaten after 8 rounds whilst the Dees will be keen to take a scalp and stamp their credentials on the 2024 season. May the 4th Be With You Melbourne.

There's no need for an apology @kev martin I'm open to discussing this topic, provided it's handled with civility and respect. It's a significant social issue. However, it's important to acknowledge that discussions on some matters can sometimes become intense. This is why political topics are not allowed on Demonland. Granted this certainly isn't a political issue. We aim to prevent these intense debates from spilling into the footy discussions, which could potentially disrupt and close threads. Our moderators lack the time and training to manage these issues to everyone's satisfaction. In this instance, I had at least two women express discomfort and a feeling of unsafety due to the heated nature of the discussion in that thread, and they were not alone in their concerns. Administering this website can be particularly stressful, especially this year, and I've come close to shutting it down several times. I welcome discussions on the topic of domestic violence and societal violence against women. Anyone is free to initiate a thread on this matter. However, please be aware that if the discussion becomes too heated, it may be closed.

Based on our Bench (if that's where the sub is coming from) then it has to be between Laurie and Woey. Since Woey was played in Salem's position I would assume he will be given that role again this week. Therefore the sub is likely to be Laurie again.

He wasn't with the Casey boys (Demon listed players only) and I didn't see him with the other players on the injury list (Salem, Bowey, Spargo & Melksham) who were doing some work with the trainers after the session.

You'll like the GC marathon. Flat straight track from memory. I did the half marathon a while back.

Paging @Supermercado

Let's not go crazy. Might just be dropping back.

I'll also add that there were no surprises in any of the lines. Usual forwards (including Disco) were with the forwards whenever they split into lines. Usual mids with Mids and usual defenders were with the defenders. The only anomaly I observed was when the Defenders split off and were just doing a kick to kick type drill Max joined in with them.