Demonland

Round 14 is upon us and there's plenty at stake across the rest of the competition. As Melbourne heads to Adelaide, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches of the Round. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons’ finals tilt? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

This is what that reunion might look like.

OFFICIAL

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It could be good therapy.

Kane will be filthy about that. Especially the 9 years. He'd have a different tune if he signed for that with Port though.

I'm going to cut the questions off here. See you tonight at 8pm.

The Demons had very little left to play for in Round 22, 2024 but came close to upsetting Port Adelaide at the MCG in a dour, defensive performance. As has been the case in many of its recent close games, the Demons threw away numerous opportunities to win by falling to convert in their attacking forays. MELBOURNE 2.3.15 4.5.29 6.5.41 7.9.51 PORT ADELAIDE 2.4.16 3.8.26 5.8.38 7.11.53 GOALS MELBOURNE Pickett 4 Fritsch Langdon Neal-Bullen PORT ADELAIDE Dixon Horne-Francis 2 Butters Byrne-Jones Narkle BEST MELBOURNE Pickett Gawn Viney Neal-Bullen Salem Petty PORT ADELAIDE Horne-Francis Butters Rozee Houston Boak Burgoyne THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B A. Tomlinson, J. Lever, J. McVee HB M. Hore, T. McDonald, C. Salem C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, A. Neal-Bullen HF K. Pickett, H. Petty, K. Chandler F K. Tholstrup, B. Fritsch, J. Van Rooyen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, T. Sparrow I/C J. Billings, B. Howes, T. Rivers, D. Turner SUB J. Melksham EMG K. Brown, M. Jefferson IN J. Billings, M. Hore, C. Salem, A. Tomlinson OUT J. Bowey (illness), S. May (ribs), A. Moniz-Wakefield (omitted), T. Woewodin (illness) PORT ADELAIDE B L. Jones, B. Zerk-Thatcher, M. Bergman HB L. Evans, A. Aliir, D. Houston C J. Burgoyne, O. Wines, W. Drew HF D. Byrne-Jones, T. Marshall, W. Rioli F E. Ratugolea, C. Dixon, C. Rozee FOLL J. Sweet, J. Horne-Francis, Z. Butters I/C T. Boak, F. Evans, K. Farrell, J. Mead, Q. Narkle EMG R. Burton, W. Lorenz, D. Visentini IN T. Marshall OUT M. Georgiades (quad strain)

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The media focus on the fiery interaction between Max Gawn and Steven May at the end of the game was unfortunate because it took away the gloss from Melbourne’s performance in winning almost everywhere but on the scoreboard in its Kings Birthday clash with Collingwood at the MCG. It was a real battle reminiscent of the good old days when the rivalry between the two clubs was at its height and a fitting contest to celebrate the 2025 Australian of the Year, Neale Daniher and his superb work to bring the campaign to raise funds for motor neurone disease awareness to the forefront. Notwithstanding the fact that the Magpies snatched a one point victory from his old club, Daniher would be proud of the fact that his Demons fought tooth and nail to win the keenly contested game in front of 77,761 fans. And the skipper, once again stood out in the ruck with yet another brilliant performance against an opponent who tried everything in the playbook to beat him but Max did to him that which he has done to so many others this season and beat him comprehensively. The match included some intriguing duels, none of which was better than that between Ed Langdon who sacrificed his own game to play a run with role on Magpie superstar Nick Daicos and kept him under control for most of the game. You could forgive him the few free kicks he gave away for holding and he wasn’t responsible for Daicos’ only goal or the point he scored courtesy of a free from the lightest touch to his back but I do take umbrage at his not getting the benefit of a free for insufficient intent with a handball that went straight over the boundary line. That’s football. The player Melbourne couldn’t control was Josh Daicos who finished with the most disposals and the Neale Daniher medal to hang around his neck. Melbourne really needed some clean finishers like him to seal the deal but unfortunately, they lacked in that area in a game where one clean finish like a Melksham goal instead of a poster, a level headed Fritsch kick for goal when playing on after a mark or an extra metre on Koltyn Tholstrup’s shot at goal late in the game. Another great duel was the one between Gawn’s end of game protagonist Steven May who was superb all day as was the entire Demon defence including the improving youngsters Daniel Turner and Blake Howes. May was supremely effective on Jamie Elliott who has been on fire recently and kept him quiet with just the single goal. After an even first quarter, Melbourne did what it has been particularly good at doing for some time - winning in general play without managing to do what good football teams are supposed to do and that is to score goals. For all its dominance in the early part of the second quarter, it managed only 1.2 from 13 inside-50s while Collingwood scored two straight goals from six entries in the same period. Thankfully, Kozzy Pickett was around to weave some magic with a couple of great goals but again, some poor lapses and a failure to shut the game down in the dying moments of the opening half allowed a goal to Membrey right on half time. This was a game between the competition’s oldies who are holding down first place and a team that has some promising youngsters who are in fourteenth place. They should not feel discouraged by how they went about their game. Xavier Lindsay who was subbed off after he gave away a 50 metre penalty – harsh punishment since he was well behind the line but like a few other umpiring decisions on the day, they were probably technically there. The message for he and the other Demon youngsters who took part in this game is that their day will come. The Demons won the second half and even managed to steal the lead from the Magpies when Pickett kicked his third halfway through the final term. But they were to rue some more missed opportunities at the end against the competition’s most formidable combination in close games and for the second week in a row, lost a game despite having more scoring opportunities. They had sufficient intent but were unable to finish the game on the scoreboard. MELBOURNE 2.2.14 4.6.30 7.8.50 10.11.71 COLLINGWOOD 2.2.14 6.2.38 9.3.57 11.6.72 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch Pickett 3 Melksham Petty Sparrow Tholstrup COLLINGWOOD McStay 2 N Daicos Elliott Hayes Hill Long McCreery Membrey Mihocek Sidebottom BEST MELBOURNE Gawn Oliver Pickett May Petracca Rivers COLLINGWOOD J Daicos Howe Sidebottom Pendlebury N Daicos Quaynor INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil COLLINGWOOD Darcy Cameron (head cut) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil COLLINGWOOD Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Caleb Windsor (replaced Lindsay in the third term) COLLINGWOOD Will Hoskin-Elliott (replaced Allan in the fourth term) UMPIRES Andrew Stephens, Brendan Hosking, Jack Howard, Jamie Broadbent CROWD 77,761 at The MCG

I have something on tomorrow night so Podcast will be Wednesday night. The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Wednesday, 11th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees heartbreaking 1 point loss to the Magpies on King's Birthday Your 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. Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

The Demons are set to embark on a four-week road trip that takes them across the country, with two games in Adelaide and a clash on the Gold Coast, broken up by a mid-season bye. Next up is a meeting with the inconsistent Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. Who comes in and who goes out?

Max Gawn has an almost insurmountable lead in the Demonland Player of the Year Award ahead of Christian Petracca, Jake Bowey, Clayton Oliver and Kozzy Pickett. Your votes please; 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

Despite effectively playing against four extra opponents, the Dees controlled much of the match. However, their inaccuracy in front of goal and inability to convert dominance in clearances and inside 50s ultimately cost them dearly, falling to a heartbreaking one-point loss on King’s Birthday.

It's Game Day and the Demons face a monumental task as they take on the top-of-the-table Magpies in one of the biggest games on the Dees calendar: the King's Birthday Big Freeze MND match. Can the Demons defy the odds and claim a massive scalp to keep their finals hopes alive?