Demonland

Just a word of warning to all posters. Remember the Code of Conduct. We're all emotional about this but please try to keep it civil. Don't try to get around the bad word filter. Your posts will be removed and you may be banned. If you want to be able to join us over the trade and draft period please don't jeopardise that chance by breaking the Demonland COC.

Why? It's been doing that to me off and on for nearly 40 years.

Melbourne's great young key forward hope spent most of the season coping with a back injury that kept him down to one NAB Challenge match (played in Alice Springs) and a VFL game against the Bulldogs out at Craigieburn. We're all hoping that he will finally get to play in front of bigger crowds when he makes his long awaited AFL debut early next year. Games CSFC 2014 1 Goals CSFC 2014 0

Mitch playing on or playing on at the Dees was not the rumour deleted. If that were the case then this entire thread would have been deleted. It was much more sinister than that and whether true or not has no place to be discussed here.

I know but you quoted it and your comment was speaking about it so it had to be deleted. I'm not opening up myself to any legal actions your posts and others might make. Please respect that or you will no longer be able to use the forum. That goes for everyone. Just because you are anonymous doesn't mean you can break the law. I will have no issues with handing over your ip addresses. Rule of thumb, if you wouldn't post something using your real name in a public forum then don't post it.

When they are potentially libelous yeah. Just because you post anonymously doesn't mean you are not open to litigation.

Would you prefer we hand over your IP address if your comments are taken as potentially libelous?

He has retired from footy so I'm not surprised.

What about Shannon Byrnes? Didn't he retire? He wasn't named along with the delisted the other day. I'm not sure why people are getting their hopes up. It seemed quite clear to me the Mitch retired early in the year. Until I see him wearing a Dees jumper at training again I will still consider him retired and not get my hope up only to be dashed like so many broken demon dreams over the decades. edit: Byrnes was named in this article but not Clark. Hmmmm. Still don't get your hopes up. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-09-02/nicholson-clisby-depart-demons

Nathan Jones was voted Demonland Player of the Year for the third year in a row and must go into tonight's Bluey as firm favourite to repeat that effort. Dom Tyson capped off a great year with second place and Lynden Dunn finished third. Thanks to all Demonlanders who put their votes in on a weekly basis throughout the season ... 229. Nathan Jones 184. Dom Tyson 107. Lynden Dunn 101. Bernie Vince 86. Jack Viney 75. Daniel Cross 66. Tom McDonald 56. Neville Jetta 46. Mark Jamar 44. Matt Jones Jack Watts 41. James Frawley Jeremy Howe Cam Pedersen 38. Chris Dawes 24. Max Gawn Dean Kent 18. Jack Grimes 16. Rohan Bail 15. Aidan Riley 10. Jordie McKenzie 8. Jay Kennedy-Harris 6. Colin Garland Alexis Georgiou Jimmy Toumpas 4. Dean Terlich 3. Jack Trengove 2. Shannon Byrnes Jack Fitzpatrick Jake Spencer

THE RECORD BREAKING DOG'S BREAKFAST ... by George on the Outer The sign above the crowd (if that is what you call the gathering in attendance at Etihad) proudly advertised dog food. And it certainly was a dog's breakfast for football fans, and one of undesirable records for the Demons. The irony of watching Brad Scott thanking the Kangaroos' supposed 40K members surely would have been lost on the lousy 17K Melbourne and North supporters who bothered to turn up to watch the game (it would also cause you to envisage how many Melbourne supporters would have turned up to watch their team if they were playing in the finals next week). Something tells me that the Roos are heavily into creative accounting ... Anyway, back to the game: In the first quarter North had three goals on the board, before Melbourne even got the ball into its forward half, let alone into the 50m arc. But the Demons mounted some sort of comeback and had leveled the score at the first bell ... Good signs? Well the second quarter was much the same, except that Melbourne shot to a 13 point lead early, only to be overtaken by North later in the term and the scores at half time remained locked at 53 all ... more good signs? Well it all went for a pile of Werribee deposit in the third (yet again) as North piled on 5 goals to the Demons solitary 6 pointer ... Game over. The final quarter for the year saw Nathan Jones and no doubt the coach reminding players that this was it for 2014; just another 25 odd minutes, so give it your all. In what has become familiar to Demon supporters, the players responded by allowing North to kick the first two goals within two minutes ... thanks again fellas! While the Demons kicked five for the quarter, it was all too late. Even Tom McDonald scored a pair which brought his all time tally to ... two goals! Still not bad considering he was playing in the backline. If he could only kick as straight while playing down there ... The next challenge was to get to 100 points, but opportunities were squandered again and again, with a 93 point score still being the best output for the season, but still miserable by any measure. It’s entirely possible that we did contribute more than 100 in this game, as a sizable proportion of the North goals came from absolute howlers from the Melbourne players. Until we have players on the field who can kick straight or just kick, then we will see more of the same. But that wasn’t the only record to be broken or extended or worse still created on the night: 1. Melbourne went through the 2014 season without winning a single home game; 2. The Demons failed to kick 100 points in any game in 2014; 3. They have never won at this stadium since it was re-named Etihad; 4. It is 8 years since they have beaten North at any venue; 5. Thirteen successive losses to North and an 8-0 score line at Ethihad; and 6. Nine straight losses for the Demons to finish the season ... what is the argument against a priority pick because I’m really having difficulty finding one. Once again the stats sheet represented the best of our players. Along with Nathan Jones ( as usual) we find Dom Tyson, Daniel Cross and Bernie Vince holding down the possession numbers. It is a sad indictment to the rest of the side that these three players were not at the club last year. Three imports can have more effect on a game than the rest who have been here for a long time. Paul Roos has been able to up the output and improve the likes of Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta and Cam Pedersen, but others such as James Frawley, Jack Watts and now Jeremy Howe have taken the "disinterested pills" and may find themselves in other colours next year. None will be missed as they have not contributed in any meaningful way this season. And next season already looks like starting badly. Dawes will surely catch the unfavourable attention of the MRP with an elbow to the head of Swallow, and Max Gawn went down early in the game with yet another knee injury. With such a portentious start to 2015, we could be in for more dog's breakfast games ahead, and the potential to set some new records for underperformance. Unless we can start using the bean-counters at North to massage the numbers in the same way as they have done with their membership! Melbourne 4.3.27 8.5.53 9.7.61 14.9.93 North Melbourne 4.3.27 8.5.53 13.9.87 19.9.123 Goals Melbourne Kent 3 Dawes Fitzpatrick McDonald Tyson 2 Dunn Jamar Vince North Melbourne Turner 4 Brown Wood 3 Ziebell 2 Adams Atley Bastinac Currie Dal Santo Mullett Petrie Best Melbourne Tyson, Jones Dawes Cross McDonald Kent North Melbourne Turner, Swallow Petrie Brown Atley Thompson Changes Melbourne Christian Salem (ill) replaced in the selected side by Dom Barry North Melbourne Nil Injuries Melbourne Gawn (knee) North Melbourne Grima (quad) Hansen (hip) Adams (concussion) Reports Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Nil Umpires Justin Schmitt Jordan Bannister Brendan Hosking Crowd 17,174 at Etihad Stadium

The sign above the crowd (if that is what you call the gathering in attendance at Etihad) proudly advertised dog food. And it certainly was a dog's breakfast for football fans, and one of undesirable records for the Demons. The irony of watching Brad Scott thanking the Kangaroos' supposed 40K members surely would have been lost on the lousy 17K Melbourne and North supporters who bothered to turn up to watch the game (it would also cause you to envisage how many Melbourne supporters would have turned up to watch their team if they were playing in the finals next week). Something tells me that the Roos are heavily into creative accounting ... Anyway, back to the game: In the first quarter North had three goals on the board, before Melbourne even got the ball into its forward half, let alone into the 50m arc. But the Demons mounted some sort of comeback and had leveled the score at the first bell ... Good signs? Well the second quarter was much the same, except that Melbourne shot to a 13 point lead early, only to be overtaken by North later in the term and the scores at half time remained locked at 53 all ... more good signs? Well it all went for a pile of Werribee deposit in the third (yet again) as North piled on 5 goals to the Demons solitary 6 pointer ... Game over. The final quarter for the year saw Nathan Jones and no doubt the coach reminding players that this was it for 2014; just another 25 odd minutes, so give it your all. In what has become familiar to Demon supporters, the players responded by allowing North to kick the first two goals within two minutes ... thanks again fellas! While the Demons kicked five for the quarter, it was all too late. Even Tom McDonald scored a pair which brought his all time tally to ... two goals! Still not bad considering he was playing in the backline. If he could only kick as straight while playing down there ... The next challenge was to get to 100 points, but opportunities were squandered again and again, with a 93 point score still being the best output for the season, but still miserable by any measure. Its entirely possible that we did contribute more than 100 in this game, as a sizable proportion of the North goals came from absolute howlers from the Melbourne players. Until we have players on the field who can kick straight or just kick, then we will see more of the same. But that wasnt the only record to be broken or extended or worse still created on the night: 1. Melbourne went through the 2014 season without winning a single home game; 2. The Demons failed to kick 100 points in any game in 2014; 3. They have never won at this stadium since it was re-named Etihad; 4. It is 8 years since they have beaten North at any venue; 5. Thirteen successive losses to North and an 8-0 score line at Ethihad; and 6. Nine straight losses for the Demons to finish the season ... what is the argument against a priority pick because Im really having difficulty finding one. Once again the stats sheet represented the best of our players. Along with Nathan Jones ( as usual) we find Dom Tyson, Daniel Cross and Bernie Vince holding down the possession numbers. It is a sad indictment to the rest of the side that these three players were not at the club last year. Three imports can have more effect on a game than the rest who have been here for a long time. Paul Roos has been able to up the output and improve the likes of Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta and Cam Pedersen, but others such as James Frawley, Jack Watts and now Jeremy Howe have taken the "disinterested pills" and may find themselves in other colours next year. None will be missed as they have not contributed in any meaningful way this season. And next season already looks like starting badly. Dawes will surely catch the unfavourable attention of the MRP with an elbow to the head of Swallow, and Max Gawn went down early in the game with yet another knee injury. With such a portentious start to 2015, we could be in for more dog's breakfast games ahead, and the potential to set some new records for underperformance. Unless we can start using the bean-counters at North to massage the numbers in the same way as they have done with their membership! Melbourne 4.3.27 8.5.53 9.7.61 14.9.93 North Melbourne 4.3.27 8.5.53 13.9.87 19.9.123 Goals Melbourne Kent 3 Dawes Fitzpatrick McDonald Tyson 2 Dunn Jamar Vince North Melbourne Turner 4 Brown Wood 3 Ziebell 2 Adams Atley Bastinac Currie Dal Santo Mullett Petrie Best Melbourne Tyson, Jones Dawes Cross McDonald Kent North Melbourne Turner, Swallow Petrie Brown Atley Thompson Changes Melbourne Christian Salem (ill) replaced in the selected side by Dom Barry North Melbourne Nil Injuries Melbourne Gawn (knee) North Melbourne Grima (quad) Hansen (hip) Adams (concussion) Reports Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Nil Umpires Justin Schmitt Jordan Bannister Brendan Hosking Crowd 17,174 at Etihad Stadium

THE RECORD BREAKING DOG'S BREAKFAST ... by George on the Outer The sign above the crowd (if that is what you call the gathering in attendance at Etihad) proudly advertised dog food. And it certainly was a dog's breakfast for football fans, and one of undesirable records for the Demons. The irony of watching Brad Scott thanking the Kangaroos' supposed 40K members surely would have been lost on the lousy 17K Melbourne and North supporters who bothered to turn up to watch the game (it would also cause you to envisage how many Melbourne supporters would have turned up to watch their team if they were playing in the finals next week). Something tells me that the Roos are heavily into creative accounting ... Anyway, back to the game: In the first quarter North had three goals on the board, before Melbourne even got the ball into its forward half, let alone into the 50m arc. But the Demons mounted some sort of comeback and had leveled the score at the first bell ... Good signs? Well the second quarter was much the same, except that Melbourne shot to a 13 point lead early, only to be overtaken by North later in the term and the scores at half time remained locked at 53 all ... more good signs? Well it all went for a pile of Werribee deposit in the third (yet again) as North piled on 5 goals to the Demons solitary 6 pointer ... Game over. The final quarter for the year saw Nathan Jones and no doubt the coach reminding players that this was it for 2014; just another 25 odd minutes, so give it your all. In what has become familiar to Demon supporters, the players responded by allowing North to kick the first two goals within two minutes ... thanks again fellas! While the Demons kicked five for the quarter, it was all too late. Even Tom McDonald scored a pair which brought his all time tally to ... two goals! Still not bad considering he was playing in the backline. If he could only kick as straight while playing down there ... The next challenge was to get to 100 points, but opportunities were squandered again and again, with a 93 point score still being the best output for the season, but still miserable by any measure. Its entirely possible that we did contribute more than 100 in this game, as a sizable proportion of the North goals came from absolute howlers from the Melbourne players. Until we have players on the field who can kick straight or just kick, then we will see more of the same. But that wasnt the only record to be broken or extended or worse still created on the night: 1. Melbourne went through the 2014 season without winning a single home game; 2. The Demons failed to kick 100 points in any game in 2014; 3. They have never won at this stadium since it was re-named Etihad; 4. It is 8 years since they have beaten North at any venue; 5. Thirteen successive losses to North and an 8-0 score line at Ethihad; and 6. Nine straight losses for the Demons to finish the season ... what is the argument against a priority pick because Im really having difficulty finding one. Once again the stats sheet represented the best of our players. Along with Nathan Jones ( as usual) we find Dom Tyson, Daniel Cross and Bernie Vince holding down the possession numbers. It is a sad indictment to the rest of the side that these three players were not at the club last year. Three imports can have more effect on a game than the rest who have been here for a long time. Paul Roos has been able to up the output and improve the likes of Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta and Cam Pedersen, but others such as James Frawley, Jack Watts and now Jeremy Howe have taken the "disinterested pills" and may find themselves in other colours next year. None will be missed as they have not contributed in any meaningful way this season. And next season already looks like starting badly. Dawes will surely catch the unfavourable attention of the MRP with an elbow to the head of Swallow, and Max Gawn went down early in the game with yet another knee injury. With such a portentious start to 2015, we could be in for more dog's breakfast games ahead, and the potential to set some new records for underperformance. Unless we can start using the bean-counters at North to massage the numbers in the same way as they have done with their membership! Melbourne 4.3.27 8.5.53 9.7.61 14.9.93 North Melbourne 4.3.27 8.5.53 13.9.87 19.9.123 Goals Melbourne Kent 3 Dawes Fitzpatrick McDonald Tyson 2 Dunn Jamar Vince North Melbourne Turner 4 Brown Wood 3 Ziebell 2 Adams Atley Bastinac Currie Dal Santo Mullett Petrie Best Melbourne Tyson, Jones Dawes Cross McDonald Kent North Melbourne Turner, Swallow Petrie Brown Atley Thompson Changes Melbourne Christian Salem (ill) replaced in the selected side by Dom Barry North Melbourne Nil Injuries Melbourne Gawn (knee) North Melbourne Grima (quad) Hansen (hip) Adams (concussion) Reports Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Nil Umpires Justin Schmitt Jordan Bannister Brendan Hosking Crowd 17,174 at Etihad Stadium

Your votes please ... The winner will be announced on the morning of "Bluey" night.

No problem.

No problem.

I'm assuming this is no longer an issue?

The last time Melbourne beat North Melbourne was during Nathan Jones' debut season in a game played on the MCG way back in 2006. Jones played the last eight games of the 2006 AFL season, including Melbourne's two finals but since then neither he nor any other Demon has tasted any success against the Kangaroos. They have played against each other a dozen times and Melbourne has lost at every one of their meetings including all seven at the venue of Saturday night's game. Twelve months ago, rumours of the impending appointment of Paul Roos as coach of Melbourne started to take hold. As the football world moved into finals mode, the story turned from rumour into possibility and then into fact and with every passing day, the Demon faithful grew more and more optimistic about the future of their club. Nobody held utopian dreams of a dramatic improvement to the lofty heights occupied by the team Roos previously coached and he himself warned the supporters to expect things to move forward at a slow pace. And that's how things are turning out. Even with some inspired recruiting of the likes of Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince and Daniel Cross, the team has taken small steps forward and even these seem to have come to a full stop over the last two months of the season. It's well and good that the Demons managed to crack the long standing Adelaide hoodoo and improved their game defensively but they end the season with a game style that has virtually no potency in attack. In this respect, one has to go back nearly a century to find a Melbourne team with a worse capacity for scoring and that combination was the rag tag unit that represented the club in its first season after a war time recess of four years. Hardly a recommendation as the Demons approach their final challenge of 2014 - to overcome their long standing hoodoo against the Kangaroos at their most daunting of all venues, Etihad Stadium, from which they have not returned home victorious in the seven years since they beat the Western Bulldogs on a Saturday night in 2007. THE GAME North Melbourne v Melbourne on Saturday 30th August, 2014 at Etihad Stadium at 7.40 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall North Melbourne 71 wins Melbourne 83 wins 1 drawn At Etihad North Melbourne 7 wins Melbourne 0 wins Last five times North Melbourne 5 wins Melbourne 0 wins The Coaches Scott 1 win Roos 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Sports Channel 3 @7.30pm live RADIO - 3AW SEN THE BETTING North Melbourne to win $1.06 Melbourne to win $9.50 LAST TIME THEY MET North Melbourne 15.17.107 defeated Melbourne 10.6.66 at the MCG in Round 14, 2014 Seven unanswered goals to the Kangaroos in the middle part of the third quarter was the difference between the two teams although North's inaccuracy in front of goal didn't aid it's cause. Bernie Vince picked up 41 possessions. THE TEAMS NORTH MELBOURNE B: Lachlan Hansen, Scott Thompson, Jamie Macmillan HB: Shaun Atley, Nathan Grima,Sam Wright C: Nick Dal Santo, Andrew Swallow, Ben Jacobs HF: Kayne Turner, Ben Brown, Daniel Wells F: Mason Wood, Drew Petrie, Aaron Black FOLL: Daniel Currie, Ben Cunnington, Jack Ziebell EMG: Trent Dumont, Brad McKenzie, Scott McMahon IN: Daniel Currie, Lachlan Hansen, Jamie Macmillan, Daniel Wells, Mason Wood OUT: Michael Firrito (soreness), Todd Goldstein (soreness), Levi Greenwood (calf), Luke McDonald (back), Lindsay Thomas (knee) NEW: Mason Wood (Geelong Falcons) MELBOURNE B: Lynden Dunn, James Frawley, Neville Jetta HB: Jeremy Howe, Tom McDonald, Bernie Vince C: Jordie McKenzie, Daniel Cross, Rohan Bail HF: Viv Michie, Max Gawn, Christian Salem F: Jack Fitzpatrick, Chris Dawes, Dean Kent FOLL: Mark Jamar, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson I/C: Matt Jones, Aidan Riley, Jack Viney, Jack Watts EMG: Dom Barry, Daniel Nicholson, Cameron Pedersen IN: Jordie McKenzie, Aidan Riley OUT: Colin Garland (knee), Cameron Pedersen (omitted) In all likelihood, North Melbourne will finish the regular season in sixth place irrespective of whether it wins on Saturday and its elimination final opponent on the following weekend will most probably be Essendon (I'm discounting the possibility that an adverse Federal Court decision could change the makeup of the finals at this late stage). Therefore, the fact that this match is one of the final round's few dead rubbers has allowed the Kangaroos the luxury of resting a number of its players. The irony in that is that in recent times North Melbourne, which always seems to have a small injury list when playing Melbourne, will be missing five regulars (Todd Goldstein, Levi Greenwood, Luke McDonald, Lindsay Thomas and Michael Firrito) through relatively minor injuries such as "soreness" and, thanks to Brent Harvey's suspension, one of its constant stars during that long and ongoing winning streak against the Dees. Daniel Wells and Lachlan Hansen are returning but both are in need of a run after spending time out with injury in the latter part of the season. The fact that Melbourne is facing such a weakened opposition would, on the face of it, provide some cheer for a club coming off a disappointing last two months given the opportunity of a victory to round off a difficult season. There's also an outside possibility that the club might "win" the wooden spoon so the incentive to win is well and truly there. The problem for the Demons is that they are playing like the runner who has "hit the wall" in a marathon race. While most teams are still showing an ability to run all day even at the end of a long, hard season, they have been completely pedestrian in their own style of late and, even against a drastically weakened North Melbourne which has nothing to play for, the sea change necessary for this team to achieve a winning score is well beyond its capacity. The problem for Melbourne has been apparent for much of the second half of a year that has brought it one solitary victory thanks to a late goal from Christian Salem against Essendon at the MCG in round 13. A week later, on the same ground and against the opponent it faces again on Saturday night, it hit that wall early in the third term. For a period of 15 minutes, North played some of the best football I have seen this year. It took the game on, its players ran and spread, passed the ball forward with precision and kicked seven unanswered goals in the space of less than fifteen minutes of brilliant attacking football, leaving its opponents to play the role of witches hats in a routine training drill. Ever since, the Demons have moved out of that head space only on rare occasions. It is Paul Roos' challenge for next year and beyond to get the team out of the trough but there is no chance that it will happen this week at Etihad Stadium. Melbourne today, is a long way away from Utopia. North Melbourne by 50 points.

UTOPIA - NOT YET by Whispering Jack The last time Melbourne beat North Melbourne was during Nathan Jones' debut season in a game played on the MCG way back in 2006. Jones played the last eight games of the 2006 AFL season, including Melbourne's two finals but since then neither he nor any other Demon has tasted any success against the Kangaroos. They have played against each other a dozen times and Melbourne has lost at every one of their meetings including all seven at the venue of Saturday night's game. Twelve months ago, rumours of the impending appointment of Paul Roos as coach of Melbourne started to take hold. As the football world moved into finals mode, the story turned from rumour into possibility and then into fact and with every passing day, the Demon faithful grew more and more optimistic about the future of their club. Nobody held utopian dreams of a dramatic improvement to the lofty heights occupied by the team Roos previously coached and he himself warned the supporters to expect things to move forward at a slow pace. And that's how things are turning out. Even with some inspired recruiting of the likes of Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince and Daniel Cross, the team has taken small steps forward and even these seem to have come to a full stop over the last two months of the season. It's well and good that the Demons managed to crack the long standing Adelaide hoodoo and improved their game defensively but they end the season with a game style that has virtually no potency in attack. In this respect, one has to go back nearly a century to find a Melbourne team with a worse capacity for scoring and that combination was the rag tag unit that represented the club in its first season after a war time recess of four years. Hardly a recommendation as the Demons approach their final challenge of 2014 - to overcome their long standing hoodoo against the Kangaroos at their most daunting of all venues, Etihad Stadium, from which they have not returned home victorious in the seven years since they beat the Western Bulldogs on a Saturday night in 2007. THE GAME North Melbourne v Melbourne on Saturday 30th August, 2014 at Etihad Stadium at 7.40 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall North Melbourne 71 wins Melbourne 83 wins 1 drawn At Etihad North Melbourne 7 wins Melbourne 0 wins Last five times North Melbourne 5 wins Melbourne 0 wins The Coaches Scott 1 win Roos 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Sports Channel 3 @7.30pm live RADIO - 3AW SEN THE BETTING North Melbourne to win $1.06 Melbourne to win $9.50 LAST TIME THEY MET North Melbourne 15.17.107 defeated Melbourne 10.6.66 at the MCG in Round 14, 2014 Seven unanswered goals to the Kangaroos in the middle part of the third quarter was the difference between the two teams although North's inaccuracy in front of goal didn't aid it's cause. Bernie Vince picked up 41 possessions. THE TEAMS NORTH MELBOURNE B: Lachlan Hansen, Scott Thompson, Jamie Macmillan HB: Shaun Atley, Nathan Grima,Sam Wright C: Nick Dal Santo, Andrew Swallow, Ben Jacobs HF: Kayne Turner, Ben Brown, Daniel Wells F: Mason Wood, Drew Petrie, Aaron Black FOLL: Daniel Currie, Ben Cunnington, Jack Ziebell EMG: Trent Dumont, Brad McKenzie, Scott McMahon IN: Daniel Currie, Lachlan Hansen, Jamie Macmillan, Daniel Wells, Mason Wood OUT: Michael Firrito (soreness), Todd Goldstein (soreness), Levi Greenwood (calf), Luke McDonald (back), Lindsay Thomas (knee) NEW: Mason Wood (Geelong Falcons) MELBOURNE B: Lynden Dunn, James Frawley, Neville Jetta HB: Jeremy Howe, Tom McDonald, Bernie Vince C: Jordie McKenzie, Daniel Cross, Rohan Bail HF: Viv Michie, Max Gawn, Christian Salem F: Jack Fitzpatrick, Chris Dawes, Dean Kent FOLL: Mark Jamar, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson I/C: Matt Jones, Aidan Riley, Jack Viney, Jack Watts EMG: Dom Barry, Daniel Nicholson, Cameron Pedersen IN: Jordie McKenzie, Aidan Riley OUT: Colin Garland (knee), Cameron Pedersen (omitted) In all likelihood, North Melbourne will finish the regular season in sixth place irrespective of whether it wins on Saturday and its elimination final opponent on the following weekend will most probably be Essendon (I'm discounting the possibility that an adverse Federal Court decision could change the makeup of the finals at this late stage). Therefore, the fact that this match is one of the final round's few dead rubbers has allowed the Kangaroos the luxury of resting a number of its players. The irony in that is that in recent times North Melbourne, which always seems to have a small injury list when playing Melbourne, will be missing five regulars (Todd Goldstein, Levi Greenwood, Luke McDonald, Lindsay Thomas and Michael Firrito) through relatively minor injuries such as "soreness" and, thanks to Brent Harvey's suspension, one of its constant stars during that long and ongoing winning streak against the Dees. Daniel Wells and Lachlan Hansen are returning but both are in need of a run after spending time out with injury in the latter part of the season. The fact that Melbourne is facing such a weakened opposition would, on the face of it, provide some cheer for a club coming off a disappointing last two months given the opportunity of a victory to round off a difficult season. There's also an outside possibility that the club might "win" the wooden spoon so the incentive to win is well and truly there. The problem for the Demons is that they are playing like the runner who has "hit the wall" in a marathon race. While most teams are still showing an ability to run all day even at the end of a long, hard season, they have been completely pedestrian in their own style of late and, even against a drastically weakened North Melbourne which has nothing to play for, the sea change necessary for this team to achieve a winning score is well beyond its capacity. The problem for Melbourne has been apparent for much of the second half of a year that has brought it one solitary victory thanks to a late goal from Christian Salem against Essendon at the MCG in round 13. A week later, on the same ground and against the opponent it faces again on Saturday night, it hit that wall early in the third term. For a period of 15 minutes, North played some of the best football I have seen this year. It took the game on, its players ran and spread, passed the ball forward with precision and kicked seven unanswered goals in the space of less than fifteen minutes of brilliant attacking football, leaving its opponents to play the role of witches hats in a routine training drill. Ever since, the Demons have moved out of that head space only on rare occasions. It is Paul Roos' challenge for next year and beyond to get the team out of the trough but there is no chance that it will happen this week at Etihad Stadium. Melbourne today, is a long way away from Utopia. North Melbourne by 50 points.