Demonland

Another Medium Term Injury.

Also just a reminder that we'll be live again on Wednesday night @ 8:30pm taking your calls. No doubt there will be a lot to talk about including the Blues game, the MRP verdicts & the upcoming Cats game. Let us know if there is anything else you want us to talk about.

Strangely I agree with both of these statements. Sure we could tighten things up but our aim with the podcast is to discuss the previous game, discuss the next game and any other topics/issues from the Demons/Demonland world. Some weeks will obviously need more time than others depending on the match and the issues of the day/week. I want to do the show live so that we can include the Demonland community and open the phone lines up to everyone here. As a result episode length will vary and if we've got things to talk about then we'll keep on going. If I can see we've run out of steam I won't just keep going and I'll end it. We're still finding our feet and we'll get into a rhythm and format that works.

I noticed that too. Also Josh Kelly on the bench. Just saying. *ducks for cover*

Congratulations to Christian Salem.

Sorry they're sideways. I'm out at the moment. Will fix later.

Sent from Redleg.

Not worried. We have depth now and I expect that there will be more than just the two compulsory changes. The AFL season is long and hard. Jordan Lewis will come back nice and refreshed in Round 6 and Jesse will be champing at the bit when he returns in Round 5.

Progressive voting has Clarrie in front - 34. Clayton Oliver 23. Nathan Jones 16. Christian Salem 11. Max Gawn 8. Jeff Garlett 6. Jordan Lewis Dom Tyson Bernie Vince 4. Jesse Hogan Neville Jetta Tom McDonald 2. Christian Petracca Jack Watts

OMG, another nightmare to relive! THE TEAMS GEELONG B: Jake Kolodjashnij, Tom Lonergan, Andrew Mackie HB: Corey Enright, Harry Taylor, Mark Blicavs C: Cameron Guthrie, Joel Selwood, Scott Selwood HF: Jimmy Bartel, Rhys Stanley, Mitch Duncan F: Steven Motlop, Tom Hawkins, Lincoln McCarthy FOLL: Zac Smith Patrick Dangerfield Sam Menegola I/C: Josh Caddy, Josh Cowan, Daniel Menzel, Tom Ruggles EMG: Jed Bews, Shane Kersten, Darcy Lang IN: Jimmy Bartel, Josh Caddy, Daniel Menzel OUT: Shane Kersten (omitted), Lachie Henderson (knee), Darcy Lang (omitted) MELBOURNE B: Sam Frost, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Tomas Bugg C: Billy Stretch, Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson HF: Sam Weideman, Jack Watts, Aaron vandenBerg F: Christian Petracca, Jesse Hogan, Jeff Garlett FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Dean Kent, James Harmes Christian Salem EMG: Matt Jones, Cameron Pedersen, Jack Trengove IN: Jeff Garlett, James Harmes, Christian Salem OUT: Viv Michie (omitted), Alex Neal-Bullen (omitted), Clayton Oliver (omitted)

Should we be questioning the courage of anyone who plays at this level these days? Possibly, but enough's been written here and elsewhere on the subject. Any further discussion is not particularly constructive as far as I'm concerned. The point's been made. Let's leave it at that.

With the Demons making an absolute meal of the opportunities achieved through their sheer dominance around the ground against Carlton, it was as if the fans being asked if they would like what was being served up to them with gravy. The fortunate thing from a club perspective was that in the end, it wasn’t gravy that came with the meal, but rather the icing on the cake that saved the day and finally saw Melbourne run out the eventual victors on the day. In this instance the icing was provided by the likes of Jeff Garlett, Christian Salem and Jack Watts with a handsome contribution from Nev Jetta. In the early going it was all Melbourne. By halfway through the second quarter, the Demons led by four goals. At that stage, they had five players with more possessions than the best performing Carlton player and yet, at the main break, the lead had been pared back a meagre 10 points. The fans had seen this before. This was a Melbourne game that had been marked down as a certain four premiership points but suddenly they found themselves in an arm-wrestle by giving the opposition plenty of opportunities to recover as a result of their over use of the football and sloppy turnovers. Things got worse in the third quarter as the Demons continued to produce more of the same. The battle of the rucks between Max Gawn and Matt Kruezer was relentless and there seemed to be no curbing Bryce Gibbs and Patrick Cripps while, despite numerous clearances, the Melbourne mids were simply being trounced. Jack Viney was strangely quiet again this week, Dom Tyson was getting plenty of the ball around the ground but little in the middle, and Clayton Oliver also got lots of touches but he was too dependent upon handball when kicking was the order of the day. In the latter stages of the third quarter, the Demons had fluffed around with the football so much and had shown such a lack of intensity and discipline that the unthinkable happened. They had allowed the Blues to hit the lead and take it out to a nine point margin before Jeff Garlett decided that enough was enough when he put the team's first major for the term on the board at the 21 minute mark. This brought the margin back to only three points at the final change with hope that the worst was now behind the team. It wasn’t to be entirely because despite the Demons kicking the first two goals of the final stanza to take a nine point lead, the Blues replied to restore the margin back to within a goal. With the minutes ticking by, Garlett came off the bench and as he did in the third, he made something out of nothing in the middle to start a chain of possessions that left the fans with their hearts in their mouths. The team still managed to stuff around in front of goal as better options were looked for instead of simply putting the ball to boot and through the majors. Tyson snapped a goal and Sam Weideman chipped in with his second but Casboult replied. It was Jeff who followed up with a spectacular run down from behind on Docherty and he converted from the resultant free to ice the game. A final snap from Nathan Jones in the dying minute saw the Demons record a 22 point win. More hoodoos were put to bed as a result. The first win in round two since 2005 and only the second against the Blues in that space of time. They had only beaten Carlton once in the past ten meetings. Special mention must go to Christian Salem who time and time again delivered the ball accurately and faultlessly with his 31 touches. Both he and Tom McDonald held back multiple attacks and launched many forward thrusts. They genuinely kept the team in the game at critical times, when Carlton threatened to do exactly as they did in round 21 last year. Oliver put forward another 35 touch performance in only his 15th game, while Tyson racked up 32 of his own after return from injury. He will be better for the run, for despite his 145 Dream Team points tally, his delivery at critical times was below his usual standard. With the likely return of Dean Kent and Bernie Vince next week, Mitch Hannan and Alex Neal-Bullen will probably find themselves Casey bound as they were found wanting against an opposition that is not highly regarded. They will get another chance as the season progresses, but the message is clear that players will genuinely have to earn their spot in this side in 2017. No longer is senior selection assured week after week, because the gravy-train has now left the station. Melbourne 3.2.20 6.4.40 7.5.47 13.8.86 Carlton 2.2.14 4.6.30 7.8.50 9.10.64 Goals Melbourne Garlett 3 Jones Watts Weideman 2 Gawn Petracca Salem Tyson Carlton Wright 3 Armfield Casboult E Curnow Murphy Petrevski-Seton Pickett Best Melbourne Salem Tyson Oliver Watts Garlett Jones Harmes Carlton Wright Murphy Cripps Docherty Gibbs Curnow Changes Melbourne Nil Carlton Nil Injuries Melbourne Brayshaw (cut eye) Carlton Silvagni (corked thigh and ankle) Thomas (right knee) Reports Melbourne Nil Carlton Nil Umpires Dalgleish, Meredith, Williamson Official Crowd 46,727 at the MCG

At least we have a good record against Geelong without Hogan ...

Fair dinkum unbelievable. Hogan's was just a little push. Lewis' even less of a little push. The only action from the last incident will be several $1,000 fines as a result of the subsequent wrestling action - worthy of Wrestlemania but we all know it's fake.

WOULD YOU LIKE THAT WITH GRAVY? by George on The Outer With the Demons making an absolute meal of the opportunities achieved through their sheer dominance around the ground against Carlton, it was as if the fans being asked if they would like what was being served up to them with gravy. The fortunate thing from a club perspective was that in the end, it wasn’t gravy that came with the meal, but rather the icing on the cake that saved the day and finally saw Melbourne run out the eventual victors on the day. In this instance the icing was provided by the likes of Jeff Garlett, Christian Salem and Jack Watts with a handsome contribution from Nev Jetta. In the early going it was all Melbourne. By halfway through the second quarter, the Demons led by four goals. At that stage, they had five players with more possessions than the best performing Carlton player and yet, at the main break, the lead had been pared back a meagre 10 points. The fans had seen this before. This was a Melbourne game that had been marked down as a certain four premiership points but suddenly they found themselves in an arm-wrestle by giving the opposition plenty of opportunities to recover as a result of their over use of the football and sloppy turnovers. Things got worse in the third quarter as the Demons continued to produce more of the same. The battle of the rucks between Max Gawn and Matt Kruezer was relentless and there seemed to be no curbing Bryce Gibbs and Patrick Cripps while, despite numerous clearances, the Melbourne mids were simply being trounced. Jack Viney was strangely quiet again this week, Dom Tyson was getting plenty of the ball around the ground but little in the middle, and Clayton Oliver also got lots of touches but he was too dependent upon handball when kicking was the order of the day. In the latter stages of the third quarter, the Demons had fluffed around with the football so much and had shown such a lack of intensity and discipline that the unthinkable happened. They had allowed the Blues to hit the lead and take it out to a nine point margin before Jeff Garlett decided that enough was enough when he put the team's first major for the term on the board at the 21 minute mark. This brought the margin back to only three points at the final change with hope that the worst was now behind the team. It wasn’t to be entirely because despite the Demons kicking the first two goals of the final stanza to take a nine point lead, the Blues replied to restore the margin back to within a goal. With the minutes ticking by, Garlett came off the bench and as he did in the third, he made something out of nothing in the middle to start a chain of possessions that left the fans with their hearts in their mouths. The team still managed to stuff around in front of goal as better options were looked for instead of simply putting the ball to boot and through the majors. Tyson snapped a goal and Sam Weideman chipped in with his second but Casboult replied. It was Jeff who followed up with a spectacular run down from behind on Docherty and he converted from the resultant free to ice the game. A final snap from Nathan Jones in the dying minute saw the Demons record a 22 point win. More hoodoos were put to bed as a result. The first win in round two since 2005 and only the second against the Blues in that space of time. They had only beaten Carlton once in the past ten meetings. Special mention must go to Christian Salem who time and time again delivered the ball accurately and faultlessly with his 31 touches. Both he and Tom McDonald held back multiple attacks and launched many forward thrusts. They genuinely kept the team in the game at critical times, when Carlton threatened to do exactly as they did in round 21 last year. Oliver put forward another 35 touch performance in only his 15th game, while Tyson racked up 32 of his own after return from injury. He will be better for the run, for despite his 145 Dream Team points tally, his delivery at critical times was below his usual standard. With the likely return of Dean Kent and Bernie Vince next week, Mitch Hannan and Alex Neal-Bullen will probably find themselves Casey bound as they were found wanting against an opposition that is not highly regarded. They will get another chance as the season progresses, but the message is clear that players will genuinely have to earn their spot in this side in 2017. No longer is senior selection assured week after week, because the gravy-train has now left the station. Melbourne 3.2.20 6.4.40 7.5.47 13.8.86 Carlton 2.2.14 4.6.30 7.8.50 9.10.64 Goals Melbourne Garlett 3 Jones Watts Weideman 2 Gawn Petracca Salem Tyson Carlton Wright 3 Armfield Casboult E Curnow Murphy Petrevski-Seton Pickett Best Melbourne Salem Tyson Oliver Watts Garlett Jones Harmes Carlton Wright Murphy Cripps Docherty Gibbs Curnow Changes Melbourne Nil Carlton Nil Injuries Melbourne Brayshaw (cut eye) Carlton Silvagni (corked thigh and ankle) Thomas (right knee) Reports Melbourne Nil Carlton Nil Umpires Dalgleish, Meredith, Williamson Official Crowd 46,727 at the MCG

It's time to cast those your votes again 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...

The small crowd that ventured out to Casey Fields got more than its money worth (admission was free) after a mainly dour, lacklustre performance by the VFL Demons and Hawks ended in a cliffhanger with the home team coming home with a rush and kicking the winning goal late in the final term. Apart from a brief period early in the game, Casey had trailed all day after struggling to find the goals for most of the first half. The Demons notched up nine consecutive behinds (including a couple of posters) to the visitors' seven goals four before their star of the day Yilber “Bella’’ Zijai from the Sandringham Zebras via Noble Park posted the first from a free kick in front of the big sticks. Zijai had a great first up game both in the midfield and up forward and his three goals were crucial in the team's second half comeback. Ed Morris was his partner in crime in a midfield which eventually got on top in a second half in which the Hawks managed just one goal in a second half that provided a stark contrast to each team's first. Sam Frost returned from injury and showed great toe in defence and was rock solid there although he was clearly being held back in terms of game time. The Hawks were in fine fettle in the early going with their talls controlling the air and their strong midfield looking more polished and dominating proceedings. Josh Wagner was another player coming back from injury who worked his way into the game. Pat McKenna showed some good glimpses until injured. Dean Kent showed plenty of pace up forward in another encouraging performance. Tim Smith and Declan Keilty overcame quiet starts to kick three goals between them. Smith was often drawn too far under the ball when leading in the first half but was much better in the second while Keilty moved between the forward line and the ruck where he added mobility later in the game. Jake Spencer worked hard and eventually got on top against the Hawks' big man brigade which included former Melbourne Demon Jack Fitzpatrick who is no stranger to this ground. Tomas Bugg flashed in and out directing the traffic well and Jack Trengove held the midfield together before spending some time in defence later in the game. Bayley Fritsch who is highly thought of at the club but has had his injury woes kicked two goals. The home team missed an experienced pair in skipper Jack Hutchins and James Munro and relied very much on an inexperienced group of VFL listers who worked hard. Two players who were not on the official list were Aloysio Ferreira and Sandringham Dragons' Goy Lok. Both did well and the strongly built Lok booted a goal. It was certainly a game of two halves which mirrored each other in reverse. The Hillmen looked top heavy in the latter stages of the game and appeared to run out of steam as the new look Casey poured on the pressure to achieve what looked impossible in the game's first hour. Casey Demons 0.6.6 2.10.22 7.12.54 10.15.75 Box Hill Hawks 2.2.14 9.6.54 10.8.68 10.12.72 Goals Zijai 3 Fritsch T Smith 2 Bugg Keilty Lok Best Bugg Zijai Morris Kent Frost Spencer

Added a poll to the top of the page.

Yes. Well you have been able to in the past. Have not been to the G in 2017. Edit: I believe the guest pass just gets you into the section where you sit. You may need to purchase a general admin ticket to get into the ground.

I got a call from the club/AHG yesterday because I had filled in a club sponsor survey and indicated that I was in the market for buying a car in the next 3-6 months. I imagine the data from that survey was disseminated to the various sponsors.