Demonland

THE PAIN KILLER by Whispering Jack Fremantle set out to teach Melbourne a lesson in their clash at Patersons Stadium and the Dockers well and truly did this from the first minutes of the game. It started when the usually reliable Michael Barlow errantly passed the ball coming out of defence directly into the waiting arms of Jack Watts for Melbourne's first goal. From that brief but painful beginning for the home team, the Demons took the lead from their hosts and stumbled, fumbled and turned over the football to their opposition gifting away goal after goal to give them leads of 40 and 71 points respectively at each of the first two breaks. Surprisingly, Melbourne won the premiership quarter and narrowed the deficit by a few points in the third before the inevitable fall off at the end which resulted in a thumping defeat that filled the heart of the faithful with enough pain and provided the club with a further dose of humiliation. It was a result which almost certainly will hasten the end of the coach's career. One senses that the silence coming from both the Board and the newly appointed and temporary CEO points to the fact that the end will inevitably come shortly and all that remains to make it complete is the bean counting on the final settlement and the finalisation of the name of the fill in coach. That will be a sad day for the club because Mark Neeld has had the unenviable task of changing what for lack of a better description can be termed "the club's poor culture". This is something that requires more time than seems available to him as the naysayers gain the ascendency in the debate about his future. Other than that, there's not much to write about this game from a Demon perspective although I continue to be impressed with Jack Trengove, a young man who has been given a job that would be difficult on many other older and more experienced shoulders. He has carried himself well both off the field and now on the field this week and he must become one of the club's spearheads for its ultimate revival. I loved Jeremy Howe's work especially given that he looked gone going for the obligatory weekly mark of the year after suffering a tunneling attack from a Docker opponent. The two Jones boys worked hard but for most of the rest, it's the failure to work hard that again brought the team undone. That, and the lack of progress under Neeld is testament to the fact that the Board and CEO will most likely act soon to put an end to the pain. But will that course of action be the pain killer? Melbourne 1.1.7 2.2.14 5.3.33 6.4.40 Fremantle 7.5.47 13.7.85 15.11.101 19.16.130 Goals Melbourne Howe Trengove 2 M Jones Watts Fremantle Ballantyne Mzungu 3 Crozier Mayne Pearce 2, Barlow Crowley Fyfe Hannath Ibbotson Mundy Silvagni Best Melbourne Howe Trengove N Jones Magner McKenzie M Jones Fremantle Mundy Fyfe Barlow Ibbotson Pearce Mzungu Injuries Melbourne Dean Terlich (ribs) Fremantle Nil Changes Melbourne Nil Fremantle Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Fremantle Silvagni in the second term for rough conduct on N Jones. Umpires Hay Farmer Fisher Crowd 32,950 at Subiaco.

Might as well start this now ...

A BAD BET by William from West Perth In days of yore it would have been an inviting prospect for a Melbourne team visiting these parts to come across a Fremantle side bereft of players of the quality of (in alphabetical order) Kepler Bradley, Hayden Crozier, Max Duffy, Jonathon Griffin, Stephen Hill, Sam Menegola, Craig Moller, Anthony Morabito, Lachie Neale, Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands and Michael Walters. However, in this new modern age, the Dockers have sufficient depth to overcome the shell-shocked Demons even without the aforementioned players and with competition strong for one of those coveted top four spots at the end of the year, they are hardly likely to let slip a game in which they are considered such certainties that Sportsbet is offering their backers a mere 1 cent per dollar invested. The punters over here might well be bemoaning the end of the minerals boom but those odds won't generate much interest. Melbourne has its own injury woes and whilst not as significant in numbers, they are in terms of player depth but they still don't match those of Fremantle who have managed to cover their losses well. Their players are keen and willing to give their all for the cause and do so week in, week out. They are particularly strong at home where they have beaten all comers in recent times with the exception of Essendon who fell into a win over there when they were going great guns earlier in the season before their own magic formula started to wear off. The area where Melbourne might be expected to hold the ascendency is in the ruck duels where Mark Jamar goes into the game knowing that he doesn't have to face a barrage from the usual brigade of giants headed by Aaron Sandilands. His likely opponent is Jack Hannath, who the Demons had earmarked as his understudy only to be plucked away by the Dockers through last years pre-season draft. Some say that Freo took Hannath purely in revenge for the Mitch Clark heist a year earlier but that isn't stopping them from eyeing Jack Watts who should come back for this game after a month out with injury. In that case, the former number one draft pick will need to produce something out of the box to impress his suitors. I don't think Jack has been quite right this season (even before his injury). Sunday afternoon is his opportunity to show his wares. There are plenty of others who also need to produce some effort for their success starved supporters out west. We haven't seen a win here since Brock McLean was a loyal young and enthusiastic Demon in his first season and we know those days are long gone. And we don't just want the team to be competitive, we want them striving for a win and giving their opponents more than the slight heart flutter they handed the Tigers last week. The problem as I see it is that the ground on which this game will be played requires run and effort because of its extra length. Melbourne, with its weak midfield is unlikely to sustain a long, hard day under the pressure that Fremantle can and will exert. If pressed for a tip, my bet is therefore: Fremantle by 42 points THE GAME Fremantle v Melbourne at Patersons Stadium, Sunday 26 May, 2013 at 4.40pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Fremantle 16 wins Melbourne 13 wins Patersons Stadium Fremantle 9 wins Melbourne 3 wins Since 2000 Fremantle 12 wins Melbourne 9 wins The Coaches Lyon 2 wins Neeld 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel (live at 4.30pm AEST) RADIO SEN, ABC THE BETTING Fremantle $1.01 Melbourne $17.00 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Fremantle 14.17.101 defeated Melbourne 5.10.40 Round 23, 2012 at Paterson Stadium Melbourne has not beaten Fremantle in Perth since 2004 and on this evening, it never looked like breaking the curse of Subiaco. The Demons were horrible as the Dockers cantered into the finals. THE TEAMS FREMANTLE Backs Lee Spurr Zac Dawson Michael Johnson Half back Garrick Ibbotson Luke McPharlin Alex Silvagni Centreline Cameron Sutcliffe Ryan Crowley Chris Duffield Half forwards Michael Barlow Chris Mayne Nathan Fyfe Forwards Matt de Boer Zachary Clarke Hayden Ballantyne Followers Jack Hannath David Mundy Danyle Pearce Interchange Hayden Crozier Tendai Mzungu Clancee Pearce Nick Suban Emergencies Viv Michie Josh Simpson Matt Taberner In Hayden Crozier Out Michael Walters (ankle) MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn James Frawley Dean Terlich Half backs Jack Watts James Sellar Colin Garland Centreline Jack Trengove Michael Evans Matt Jones Half forwards Luke Tapscott Jeremy Howe Neville Jetta Forwards Max Gawn Chris Dawes Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Nathan Jones James Magner Interchange Rohan Bail Shannon Byrnes Jordie McKenzie Daniel Nicholson Emergencies Tom Gillies Jake Spencer James Strauss In Shannon Byrnes Jack Watts Out Jimmy Toumpas (ankle) James Strauss THE YEAR SO FAR by Sam the Stats Man I had hoped that by the time I came back from Melbourne's season in hell, things might be better but they're not. Injuries, poor form and controversy continue to haunt the club. Here, is my look at the players statistically over the first eight rounds of 2013:- BAIL, Rohan MFC 6 games, 4 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 2 goals - has been struggling to find form after issues with concussion both last year and during the pre-season. BARRY, Dominic CFC Seniors 3 games, 2 goals, CFC DL 2 games, 2 goals - skilful but lightly built youngster in development phase at Casey. BLEASE, Sam MFC 3 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 4 games, 1 goal - seems to struggle when he gets his chance at AFL level. BYRNES, Shannon MFC 7 games, 5 goals - a handy small forward has had a couple of good days. CLARK, Mitch MFC 4 games, 7 goals - tragedy hit when another foot injury put him out of action for at least two months. CLISBY, Mitch * CFC Seniors 4 games 0 goals - running defender showing some promise at Casey. COUCH, Tom * CFC Seniors 5 games, 4 goals - once again a ball magnet at Casey but possibly a little short on pace to make it to the big time. DAVEY, Aaron MFC 6 games, 9 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 1 goal - patchy, but starting to show the form of old. DAVIS, Troy CFC Seniors 4 games, 0 goals - pushing for his first game at AFL level. DAWES, Chris MFC 2 games, 2 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 5 goals - hit by injury in the pre-season and has only just broken into the team. DUNN, Lynden MFC 4 games, 3 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 2 goals - missed a few games with injury but has been handy since his return. EVANS, Michael MFC 6 games, 5 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 1 goal - a most improved player since return after a long stint out with a back injury. FRAWLEY, James MFC 8 games, 0 goals - has had a few good games interspersed with some poor ones. GARLAND, Colin MFC 8 games, 1 goal - one of the shining lights in defence in recent weeks. GAWN, Max MFC 5 games, 6 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 2 goals - the tall ruckman is learning his craft and showing lots of promise after a second knee reconstruction kept him out for all of 2012. GILLIES, Tom MFC 2 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 3 games, 0 goals - struggling for form. GRIMES, Jack MFC 6 games, 1 goal - was starting to come good as a team leader when he broke his collarbone against Carlton. On long term injury list. HOGAN, Jesse ** CFC Seniors 5 games, 12 goals - good signs in his development year at the Scorpions. HOWE, Jeremy MFC 8 games, 13 goals - doing more than just taking mark of the week every second week. Will benefit when Clark and Dawes are the regular key forwards. JAMAR, Mark MFC 6 games, 2 goals - really missed in the ruck duels when out injured. Still needs to do a lot more around the ground. JETTA, Neville MFC 3 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 1 goal - was starting to show some form when an indiscretion led to suspension. JONES, Matthew MFC 8 games, 1 goal one of the revelations of the season, Jones has regularly been in the best players. JONES, Nathan MFC 8 game, 3 games deserved to gain the captaincy even though the circumstances were rather unusual. Heading for back to back best and fairests. KENT, Dean MFC 2 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 4 games, 3 goals young, raw and probably introduced to the senior team a little early. MACDONALD, Joel CFC Seniors 2 games, 0 goals - injured at the start of the season and unable to break into the side until now. McDONALD, Tom MFC 5 games, 0 goals not at his best early in the season then missed a few weeks to injury. MCKENZIE, Jordie MFC 5 games, 2 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 0 goals another whose season has been interrupted by injury and who has struggled to perform consistently. MAGNER, James * MFC 1 game, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 5 games, 2 goals came off the rookie list last week after a string of high possession games and was immediately in the thick of things. NICHOLSON, Daniel MFC 5 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 2 games, 0 goals - still struggles with poor execution. PEDERSEN, Cameron MFC 4 games, 4 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 0 goals - picking up the pieces at Casey after a poor start at the club. RODAN, David MFC 3 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 3 games, 5 goals - hasn't had the impact some expected from him. SELLAR, James MFC 5 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 1 game, 0 goals - adequately fills a role whether placed up forward or down back. SPENCER, Jake MFC 2 games, 0 games, CFC Seniors 4 games, 0 goals - struggled to impress in his two games with the Demons. STARK, Nathan * CFC DL 1 game, 0 goals - restricted by injury to just one development league game. STRAUSS, James MFC 3 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 4 games, 2 goals - working on developing his defensive side. SYLVIA, Colin MFC 7 games, 6 goals - was showing some settled form before being outed for three weeks. TAGGERT, Rory CFC Seniors 5 games, 5 goals. CFC DL 1 game, 1 goal - returning from a back injury and isn't likely to push up for AFL. TAPSCOTT, Luke MFC 7 games, 3 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 6 goals - despite playing 7 on the trot, still yet to prove that he can establish a permanent place in the line up. TERLICH, Dean MFC 7 games, 0 goals - like Matt Jones, this mature aged player has made a promising start to his career. TOUMPAS, Jimmy MFC 4 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 1 goal - another youngster struggling to adapt to the higher standard of the game and injuries aren't helping him. TRENGOVE, Jack MFC 6 games, 3 goals - no pre-season to speak of and is doing it hard. TYNAN, Josh CFC Seniors 4 games, 1 goal. CFC DL 2 games, 0 goals - struggling to hold a place at Casey in their seniors, so is still a long way back. VINEY, Jack MFC 6 games, 1 goal - lively and goes in hard. On the sidelines with a toe injury that should keep him out for several weeks. WATTS, Jack MFC 4 games, 2 goals - momentarily moved forward for 2 quick goals in the week before his injury. Although much maligned, he remains one of the team's best users of the football and is waiting for a break through game. WESTRUPP, Maia ** CFC DL 1 game, 0 goals played his first game with the Casey development league team last weekend.

A BAD BET by William from West Perth In days of yore it would have been an inviting prospect for a Melbourne team visiting these parts to come across a Fremantle side bereft of players of the quality of (in alphabetical order) Kepler Bradley, Hayden Crozier, Max Duffy, Jonathon Griffin, Stephen Hill, Sam Menegola, Craig Moller, Anthony Morabito, Lachie Neale, Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands and Michael Walters. However, in this new modern age, the Dockers have sufficient depth to overcome the shell-shocked Demons even without the aforementioned players and with competition strong for one of those coveted top four spots at the end of the year, they are hardly likely to let slip a game in which they are considered such certainties that Sportsbet is offering their backers a mere 1 cent per dollar invested. The punters over here might well be bemoaning the end of the minerals boom but those odds won't generate much interest. Melbourne has its own injury woes and whilst not as significant in numbers, they are in terms of player depth but they still don't match those of Fremantle who have managed to cover their losses well. Their players are keen and willing to give their all for the cause and do so week in, week out. They are particularly strong at home where they have beaten all comers in recent times with the exception of Essendon who fell into a win over there when they were going great guns earlier in the season before their own magic formula started to wear off. The area where Melbourne might be expected to hold the ascendency is in the ruck duels where Mark Jamar goes into the game knowing that he doesn't have to face a barrage from the usual brigade of giants headed by Aaron Sandilands. His likely opponent is Jack Hannath, who the Demons had earmarked as his understudy only to be plucked away by the Dockers through last years pre-season draft. Some say that Freo took Hannath purely in revenge for the Mitch Clark heist a year earlier but that isn't stopping them from eyeing Jack Watts who should come back for this game after a month out with injury. In that case, the former number one draft pick will need to produce something out of the box to impress his suitors. I don't think Jack has been quite right this season (even before his injury). Sunday afternoon is his opportunity to show his wares. There are plenty of others who also need to produce some effort for their success starved supporters out west. We haven't seen a win here since Brock McLean was a loyal young and enthusiastic Demon in his first season and we know those days are long gone. And we don't just want the team to be competitive, we want them striving for a win and giving their opponents more than the slight heart flutter they handed the Tigers last week. The problem as I see it is that the ground on which this game will be played requires run and effort because of its extra length. Melbourne, with its weak midfield is unlikely to sustain a long, hard day under the pressure that Fremantle can and will exert. If pressed for a tip, my bet is therefore: Fremantle by 42 points THE GAME Fremantle v Melbourne at Patersons Stadium, Sunday 26 May, 2013 at 4.40pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Fremantle 16 wins Melbourne 13 wins Patersons Stadium Fremantle 9 wins Melbourne 3 wins Since 2000 Fremantle 12 wins Melbourne 9 wins The Coaches Lyon 2 wins Neeld 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel (live at 4.30pm AEST) RADIO SEN, ABC THE BETTING Fremantle $1.01 Melbourne $17.00 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Fremantle 14.17.101 defeated Melbourne 5.10.40 Round 23, 2012 at Paterson Stadium Melbourne has not beaten Fremantle in Perth since 2004 and on this evening, it never looked like breaking the curse of Subiaco. The Demons were horrible as the Dockers cantered into the finals. THE TEAMS FREMANTLE Backs Lee Spurr Zac Dawson Michael Johnson Half back Garrick Ibbotson Luke McPharlin Alex Silvagni Centreline Cameron Sutcliffe Ryan Crowley Chris Duffield Half forwards Michael Barlow Chris Mayne Nathan Fyfe Forwards Matt de Boer Zachary Clarke Hayden Ballantyne Followers Jack Hannath David Mundy Danyle Pearce Interchange Hayden Crozier Tendai Mzungu Clancee Pearce Nick Suban Emergencies Viv Michie Josh Simpson Matt Taberner In Hayden Crozier Out Michael Walters (ankle) MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn James Frawley Dean Terlich Half backs Jack Watts James Sellar Colin Garland Centreline Jack Trengove Michael Evans Matt Jones Half forwards Luke Tapscott Jeremy Howe Neville Jetta Forwards Max Gawn Chris Dawes Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Nathan Jones James Magner Interchange Rohan Bail Shannon Byrnes Jordie McKenzie Daniel Nicholson Emergencies Tom Gillies Jake Spencer James Strauss In Shannon Byrnes Jack Watts Out Jimmy Toumpas (ankle) James Strauss THE YEAR SO FAR by Sam the Stats Man I had hoped that by the time I came back from Melbourne's season in hell, things might be better but they're not. Injuries, poor form and controversy continue to haunt the club. Here, is my look at the players statistically over the first eight rounds of 2013:- BAIL, Rohan MFC 6 games, 4 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 2 goals - has been struggling to find form after issues with concussion both last year and during the pre-season. BARRY, Dominic CFC Seniors 3 games, 2 goals, CFC DL 2 games, 2 goals - skilful but lightly built youngster in development phase at Casey. BLEASE, Sam MFC 3 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 4 games, 1 goal - seems to struggle when he gets his chance at AFL level. BYRNES, Shannon MFC 7 games, 5 goals - a handy small forward has had a couple of good days. CLARK, Mitch MFC 4 games, 7 goals - tragedy hit when another foot injury put him out of action for at least two months. CLISBY, Mitch * CFC Seniors 4 games 0 goals - running defender showing some promise at Casey. COUCH, Tom * CFC Seniors 5 games, 4 goals - once again a ball magnet at Casey but possibly a little short on pace to make it to the big time. DAVEY, Aaron MFC 6 games, 9 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 1 goal - patchy, but starting to show the form of old. DAVIS, Troy CFC Seniors 4 games, 0 goals - pushing for his first game at AFL level. DAWES, Chris MFC 2 games, 2 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 5 goals - hit by injury in the pre-season and has only just broken into the team. DUNN, Lynden MFC 4 games, 3 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 2 goals - missed a few games with injury but has been handy since his return. EVANS, Michael MFC 6 games, 5 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 1 goal - a most improved player since return after a long stint out with a back injury. FRAWLEY, James MFC 8 games, 0 goals - has had a few good games interspersed with some poor ones. GARLAND, Colin MFC 8 games, 1 goal - one of the shining lights in defence in recent weeks. GAWN, Max MFC 5 games, 6 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 2 goals - the tall ruckman is learning his craft and showing lots of promise after a second knee reconstruction kept him out for all of 2012. GILLIES, Tom MFC 2 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 3 games, 0 goals - struggling for form. GRIMES, Jack MFC 6 games, 1 goal - was starting to come good as a team leader when he broke his collarbone against Carlton. On long term injury list. HOGAN, Jesse ** CFC Seniors 5 games, 12 goals - good signs in his development year at the Scorpions. HOWE, Jeremy MFC 8 games, 13 goals - doing more than just taking mark of the week every second week. Will benefit when Clark and Dawes are the regular key forwards. JAMAR, Mark MFC 6 games, 2 goals - really missed in the ruck duels when out injured. Still needs to do a lot more around the ground. JETTA, Neville MFC 3 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 1 goal - was starting to show some form when an indiscretion led to suspension. JONES, Matthew MFC 8 games, 1 goal one of the revelations of the season, Jones has regularly been in the best players. JONES, Nathan MFC 8 game, 3 games deserved to gain the captaincy even though the circumstances were rather unusual. Heading for back to back best and fairests. KENT, Dean MFC 2 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 4 games, 3 goals young, raw and probably introduced to the senior team a little early. MACDONALD, Joel CFC Seniors 2 games, 0 goals - injured at the start of the season and unable to break into the side until now. McDONALD, Tom MFC 5 games, 0 goals not at his best early in the season then missed a few weeks to injury. MCKENZIE, Jordie MFC 5 games, 2 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 0 goals another whose season has been interrupted by injury and who has struggled to perform consistently. MAGNER, James * MFC 1 game, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 5 games, 2 goals came off the rookie list last week after a string of high possession games and was immediately in the thick of things. NICHOLSON, Daniel MFC 5 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 2 games, 0 goals - still struggles with poor execution. PEDERSEN, Cameron MFC 4 games, 4 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 0 goals - picking up the pieces at Casey after a poor start at the club. RODAN, David MFC 3 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 3 games, 5 goals - hasn't had the impact some expected from him. SELLAR, James MFC 5 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 1 game, 0 goals - adequately fills a role whether placed up forward or down back. SPENCER, Jake MFC 2 games, 0 games, CFC Seniors 4 games, 0 goals - struggled to impress in his two games with the Demons. STARK, Nathan * CFC DL 1 game, 0 goals - restricted by injury to just one development league game. STRAUSS, James MFC 3 games, 1 goal, CFC Seniors 4 games, 2 goals - working on developing his defensive side. SYLVIA, Colin MFC 7 games, 6 goals - was showing some settled form before being outed for three weeks. TAGGERT, Rory CFC Seniors 5 games, 5 goals. CFC DL 1 game, 1 goal - returning from a back injury and isn't likely to push up for AFL. TAPSCOTT, Luke MFC 7 games, 3 goals, CFC Seniors 1 game, 6 goals - despite playing 7 on the trot, still yet to prove that he can establish a permanent place in the line up. TERLICH, Dean MFC 7 games, 0 goals - like Matt Jones, this mature aged player has made a promising start to his career. TOUMPAS, Jimmy MFC 4 games, 0 goals, CFC Seniors 2 games, 1 goal - another youngster struggling to adapt to the higher standard of the game and injuries aren't helping him. TRENGOVE, Jack MFC 6 games, 3 goals - no pre-season to speak of and is doing it hard. TYNAN, Josh CFC Seniors 4 games, 1 goal. CFC DL 2 games, 0 goals - struggling to hold a place at Casey in their seniors, so is still a long way back. VINEY, Jack MFC 6 games, 1 goal - lively and goes in hard. On the sidelines with a toe injury that should keep him out for several weeks. WATTS, Jack MFC 4 games, 2 goals - momentarily moved forward for 2 quick goals in the week before his injury. Although much maligned, he remains one of the team's best users of the football and is waiting for a break through game. WESTRUPP, Maia ** CFC DL 1 game, 0 goals played his first game with the Casey development league team last weekend.

The last time they met it was at Patersons Stadium and we were already thinking about the tough pre season ahead that was going to catapult us up the ladder after the heat of the Northern Territory. Sure thing. FREMANTLE Backs Adam McPhee Luke McPharlin Zac Dawson Half backs Lee Spurr Michael Johnson Paul Duffield Centreline Michael Barlow Ryan Crowley Tendai Mzungu Half forwards Michael Walters Christopher Mayne David Mundy Forwards Hayden Ballantyne Matthew Pavlich Clancee Pearce Followers Aaron Sandilands Nathan Fyfe Stephen Hill Interchange Jonathon Griffin Garrick Ibbotson Thomas Sheridan Nicholas Suban Emergencies Zachary Clarke Jesse Crichton Dylan Roberton In Jonathon Griffin Matthew Thomas Sheridan Out Kepler Bradley (concussion), Zachary Clarke Matthew de Boer (ankle) MELBOURNE Backs Joel Macdonald James Sellar Tom McDonald Half backs Jack Watts James Frawley Lynden Dunn Centreline Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Jack Grimes Half forwards Luke Tapscott Colin Garland Rohan Bail Forwards Jeremy Howe Jared Rivers Sam Blease Followers Mark Jamar Colin Sylvia Nathan Jones Interchange Jack Fitzpatrick Neville Jetta Daniel Nicholson Josh Tynan Emergencies Jordan Gysberts Jake Spencer James Strauss In Jack Fitzpatrick Mark Jamar Josh Tynan Out Brad Green (retired) Jake Spencer James Strauss

The second last time, we played a home game against them at Etihad Stadium but they don't have to play us at the WACA or Northam. Anyway, we gave them a fair shake for a while. MELBOURNE Backs Daniel Nicholson James Frawley Luke Tapscott Half backs Joel Macdonald Tom McDonald Jack Grimes Centreline Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Jeremy Howe Half forwards Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Sam Blease Forwards Colin Sylvia Colin Garland Brad Green Followers Mark Jamar Rohan Bail Nathan Jones Interchange Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Tom Couch Stef Martin Emergencies James Magner Jake Spencer James Strauss In Tom Couch Brad Green, Mark Jamar Tom McDonald Ricky Petterd Out Lynden Dunn (suspended) James Magner Brent Moloney Jake Spencer Jack Watts (ankle) New Tom Couch (Collingwood VFL) FREMANTLE Backs Antoni Grover Luke McPharlin Adam McPhee Half backs Paul Duffield, Michael Johnson, David Mundy Centreline Michael Barlow Ryan Crowley Clancee Pearce Half forwards Tendai Mzungu Christopher Mayne Stephen Hill Forwards Hayden Ballantyne Matthew Pavlich Kepler Bradley Followers Jonathon Griffin Matthew de Boer Dylan Roberton Interchange Greg Broughton Garrick Ibbotson Cameron Sutcliffe Michael Walters Emergencies Zachary Clarke Lachie Neale Lee Spurr In Michael Walters Out Nick Lower (concussion)

At last a possible challenger to Nathan Jones? PROGRESS VOTING ROUND 8 70. Nathan Jones 55. Colin Garland 47. Matt Jones 39. Jack Viney 36. Jeremy Howe 34. Dean Terlich 31. Colin Sylvia 26. Jack Grimes 24. Aaron Davey 23. Shannon Byrnes Michael Evans 19. James Frawley 16. Max Gawn 12. James Magner 11. Luke Tapscott 8. Mitch Clark 6. Lynden Dunn Tom McDonald 4. Jordie McKenzie Jack Trengove Jack Watts 2. Rohan Bail Mark Jamar 1. Sam Blease Chris Dawes

The coach called for a competitive effort this week, which is rather strange given that the MFC team is supposed to be composed of professional football players. The groans from the supporters echoed throughout the suburbs again, as we could have expected a similar performance to that which we endured against GWS. Yes, we were competitive against the Tigers ... the perennial 9th place finishers but we still lost by over 5 goals and if they had any semblance of skill, their 15.16 in front of goal could easily have yet another 10 goal plus hiding. It is a sad indictment that Aaron Davey was the stand-out player for the side. His ball delivery and vision was simply sublime and he topped it with 3 goals and 20 odd disposals. He is probably playing his last season, yet no-one else seems to have the ability to try to impose themselves on a game. There were others who try valiantly Jones N & M, Garland, Terlich, Magner, and even Mark Jamar who provided us with some real ruck competitiveness. (may we never see Jake Spencer trotted out again). James Frawley did his usual assassination job on Riewoldt. But the backs were constantly under pressure as we could only manage 100 less disposals, 80 less kicks, 20 less inside 50s and 30 less handballs. We simply dont have sufficient players prepared to put all the time. And this was against the forever middle of the road team in Richmond. This wasnt some powerhouse club. We will really see how competitive we are in the next 3 weeks, when we have to play Fremantle, Collingwood and Hawthorn. Experience?... baloney! Players get experience because they are good enough to play multiple games of football; duds dont! And we continue to fill the side with duds. In 2 years we still wont be experienced, because those filler players will have gone. to be replaced by either draftees or more filler players. The coach has got to stop the experience mantra. What we need is a proper attitude to be shown to really make us competitive. The coach can only work with the cattle at his disposal, and try to improve and enforce a competitive approach. Giving games to fillers to give them experience is self defeating. As R. Barassi said give me possessions, and Ill shut up! In the meantime all we can do is chase Tiger tail this week, and next week it will be a similar story and the same the weeks after. The supporters are getting all the experience they need..and its not good! Melbourne 3.0.18 7.2.44 10.4.64 11.6.72 Richmond 2.4.16 7.9.51 12.14.86 15.16.106 Goals Melbourne Davey 3 Dawes Dunn 2 Bail Evans Howe Nicholson Richmond Martin Riewoldt 3 King 2 Chaplin Deledio Ellis Morris Nahas, Vlastuin White Best Melbourne Davey N Jones Magner, Terlich M Jones Garland Richmond Ellis Vlastuin S Edwards Deledio Grigg Houli Injuries Melbourne Toumpas (ankle) Richmond Nil Changes Melbourne Nil Richmond Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Richmond Nil Umpires McBurney Hosking Foot Official crowd 39,148 at the MCG

The Casey Scorpions' promising start to the 2013 is stalling. After winning the first four games of the season in impressive fashion and then coming close to ending Port Melbourne's long undefeated run of home wins, they crashed to earth at Casey Fields on Saturday. Casey kicked the opening goal of the game against the Box Hill Hawks when Mitch Gent roved a pack and kicked truly, but then conceded two by way of frees in front of goal and, after that, were never allowed back into the game apart from a brief flutter early in the second term when Jake Best kicked truly to reduce the gap to two points. The breeze that had been nothing more than a mere zephyr at the start of the game had stiffened by the start of the second term and this was to be of great significance for the contest. After Best's goal it was all one way traffic as the Hawks combined brilliantly and moved the ball with pinpoint accuracy as they ripped the Casey defence apart kicking eight unanswered goals in the space of less than twenty minutes to go to a 50 point lead before a Dominic Barry goal stemmed the flow a little. To compound matters, Casey was extremely wasteful when its turn for the use of the wind came after half time. They kicked 3 goals 8 behinds in the third term, the inaccuracy snuffing out any hope of a major revival. The visitors cantered away in the final quarter to win by 60 points and delivered a crushing blow to Casey's prospects for the season. With Melbourne's growing injury list and the Demons' policy of holding back two emergencies for their games, the Scorpions were down to just ten Demon listed players plus youngster Jesse Hogan who was quiet and restricted to just a single goal. Cam Pedersen was a tower of strength all day and Tom Couch worked hard despite a tag while Jake Best and Mitch Gent were the best of the Casey listed players. The Scorpions face another tough test under lights at Skilled Stadium on Friday night against ladder leaders Geelong who will be smarting after their first loss of the season at the weekend. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Dominic Barry 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 1 goal Sam Blease 17 kicks 5 handballs 22 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles Thomas Couch 15 kicks 15 handballs 30 disposals 2 marks 7 tackles 1 goal 1 behind Jack Fitzpatrick 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 10 hit outs 1 goal 4 behinds Thomas Gillies 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 6 marks Jesse Hogan 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 4 hit outs 1 goal 1 behind Joel Macdonald 11 kicks 7 handballs 18 disposals 4marks 1 tackle Cameron Pedersen 13 kicks 9 handballs 22 disposals 10 marks 4 tackles David Rodan 8 kicks 8 handballs 16 disposals 7 tackles Jake Spencer 5 kicks 11 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 29 hit outs Rory Taggert 10 kicks 1 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks Casey Scorpions 2.2.14 4.3.27 7.11.53 9.12.66 Box Hill Hawks 3.4.22 12.8.80 13.9.87 19.12.126 Goals Casey Scorpions Best 2 Barry Couch Fitzpatrick Fowler Gent Hogan Page Box Hill Hawks Anderson Savage 3 Grimley Lock 2 Cassidy Frank Hallahan Iles Murphy Lowden Lawlor Wanganeen Wood Best Casey Scorpions Pedersen Couch Best Macdonald Spencer Nicholls Box Hill Hawks Murphy Langford Ceglar Lock Hallahan Anderson 2013 AFL Victoria Development League Casey Scorpions 3.2.20 3.3.21 7.4.52 8.8.56 Box Hill Hawks 2.0 9.4 10.8 12.12.84 Goals Casey Scorpions McInnes Smith 2 Pollard M Rosier Troutman Waters Box Hill Hawks Cust 3 Johnson 2 Graham Harvey McDonald Miles Northe O'Donnell Post Best Casey Scorpions Riseley Corrigan Waters Smith Hill McInnes Box Hill Hawks Post O'Donnell Cust Graham Eade Wilsen

The Casey Scorpions' promising start to the 2013 is stalling. After winning the first four games of the season in impressive fashion and then coming close to ending Port Melbourne's long undefeated run of home wins, they crashed to earth at Casey Fields on Saturday. Casey kicked the opening goal of the game against the Box Hill Hawks when Mitch Gent roved a pack and kicked truly, but then conceded two by way of frees in front of goal and, after that, were never allowed back into the game apart from a brief flutter early in the second term when Jake Best kicked truly to reduce the gap to two points. The breeze that had been nothing more than a mere zephyr at the start of the game had stiffened by the start of the second term and this was to be of great significance for the contest. After Best's goal it was all one way traffic as the Hawks combined brilliantly and moved the ball with pinpoint accuracy as they ripped the Casey defence apart kicking eight unanswered goals in the space of less than twenty minutes to go to a 50 point lead before a Dominic Barry goal stemmed the flow a little. To compound matters, Casey was extremely wasteful when its turn for the use of the wind came after half time. They kicked 3 goals 8 behinds in the third term, the inaccuracy snuffing out any hope of a major revival. The visitors cantered away in the final quarter to win by 60 points and delivered a crushing blow to Casey's prospects for the season. With Melbourne's growing injury list and the Demons' policy of holding back two emergencies for their games, the Scorpions were down to just ten Demon listed players plus youngster Jesse Hogan who was quiet and restricted to just a single goal. Cam Pedersen was a tower of strength all day and Tom Couch worked hard despite a tag while Jake Best and Mitch Gent were the best of the Casey listed players. The Scorpions face another tough test under lights at Skilled Stadium on Friday night against ladder leaders Geelong who will be smarting after their first loss of the season at the weekend. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Dominic Barry 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 1 goal Sam Blease 17 kicks 5 handballs 22 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles Thomas Couch 15 kicks 15 handballs 30 disposals 2 marks 7 tackles 1 goal 1 behind Jack Fitzpatrick 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 10 hit outs 1 goal 4 behinds Thomas Gillies 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 6 marks Jesse Hogan 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 4 hit outs 1 goal 1 behind Joel Macdonald 11 kicks 7 handballs 18 disposals 4marks 1 tackle Cameron Pedersen 13 kicks 9 handballs 22 disposals 10 marks 4 tackles David Rodan 8 kicks 8 handballs 16 disposals 7 tackles Jake Spencer 5 kicks 11 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 29 hit outs Rory Taggert 10 kicks 1 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks Casey Scorpions 2.2.14 4.3.27 7.11.53 9.12.66 Box Hill Hawks 3.4.22 12.8.80 13.9.87 19.12.126 Goals Casey Scorpions Best 2 Barry Couch Fitzpatrick Fowler Gent Hogan Page Box Hill Hawks Anderson Savage 3 Grimley Lock 2 Cassidy Frank Hallahan Iles Murphy Lowden Lawlor Wanganeen Wood Best Casey Scorpions Pedersen Couch Best Macdonald Spencer Nicholls Box Hill Hawks Murphy Langford Ceglar Lock Hallahan Anderson 2013 AFL Victoria Development League Casey Scorpions 3.2.20 3.3.21 7.4.52 8.8.56 Box Hill Hawks 2.0 9.4 10.8 12.12.84 Goals Casey Scorpions McInnes Smith 2 Pollard M Rosier Troutman Waters Box Hill Hawks Cust 3 Johnson 2 Graham Harvey McDonald Miles Northe O'Donnell Post Best Casey Scorpions Riseley Corrigan Waters Smith Hill McInnes Box Hill Hawks Post O'Donnell Cust Graham Eade Wilsen

Post match discussion is over here{/url]

Despite the poor finish, we had some players out there this week ... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

CHASING TIGER TAIL by George on the Outer The coach called for a competitive effort this week, which is rather strange given that the MFC team is supposed to be composed of professional football players. The groans from the supporters echoed throughout the suburbs again, as we could have expected a similar performance to that which we endured against GWS. Yes, we were competitive against the Tigers ... the perennial 9th place finishers but we still lost by over 5 goals and if they had any semblance of skill, their 15.16 in front of goal could easily have yet another 10 goal plus hiding. It is a sad indictment that Aaron Davey was the stand-out player for the side. His ball delivery and vision was simply sublime and he topped it with 3 goals and 20 odd disposals. He is probably playing his last season, yet no-one else seems to have the ability to try to impose themselves on a game. There were others who try valiantly Jones N & M, Garland, Terlich, Magner, and even Mark Jamar who provided us with some real ruck competitiveness. (may we never see Jake Spencer trotted out again). James Frawley did his usual assassination job on Riewoldt. But the backs were constantly under pressure as we could only manage 100 less disposals, 80 less kicks, 20 less inside 50s and 30 less handballs. We simply dont have sufficient players prepared to put all the time. And this was against the forever middle of the road team in Richmond. This wasnt some powerhouse club. We will really see how competitive we are in the next 3 weeks, when we have to play Fremantle, Collingwood and Hawthorn. Experience?... baloney! Players get experience because they are good enough to play multiple games of football; duds dont! And we continue to fill the side with duds. In 2 years we still wont be experienced, because those filler players will have gone. to be replaced by either draftees or more filler players. The coach has got to stop the experience mantra. What we need is a proper attitude to be shown to really make us competitive. The coach can only work with the cattle at his disposal, and try to improve and enforce a competitive approach. Giving games to fillers to give them experience is self defeating. As R. Barassi said give me possessions, and Ill shut up! In the meantime all we can do is chase Tiger tail this week, and next week it will be a similar story and the same the weeks after. The supporters are getting all the experience they need..and its not good! Melbourne 3.0.18 7.2.44 10.4.64 11.6.72 Richmond 2.4.16 7.9.51 12.14.86 15.16.106 Goals Melbourne Davey 3 Dawes Dunn 2 Bail Evans Howe Nicholson Richmond Martin Riewoldt 3 King 2 Chaplin Deledio Ellis Morris Nahas, Vlastuin White Best Melbourne Davey N Jones Magner, Terlich M Jones Garland Richmond Ellis Vlastuin S Edwards Deledio Grigg Houli Injuries Melbourne Toumpas (ankle) Richmond Nil Changes Melbourne Nil Richmond Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Richmond Nil Umpires McBurney Hosking Foot Official crowd 39,148 at the MCG

Ring the bell!

THE PEOPLE SPEAK - THE TIGERS GAME by the Demonland Crew Yes, it was less than two years ago that Melbourne comfortably accounted for Richmond on the MCG after a slow start in the first of their two clashes for the year. The Demons were eyeing a place in the top 8 while the Tigers were struggling. They meet in far different circumstances on Sunday afternoon. Pantaloons - It will no doubt be referenced more than once in the lead-up to Sunday's Richmond-Melbourne clash at the MCG that not so long ago these two teams, after years of rebuilding, were supposedly heading in the right direction. Sadly, while Richmond continues its climb with speed and excitement of watching real-time photosynthesis, Melbourne continues to stoop to new lows, plummeting to one of the worst performances in club history against the Gold Coast on Sunday. Yet, this in itself is not the main story this week. No, the real tale lies in Melbourne supporters losing an old friend this weekend. For the last 30 years, and throughout much of the game's history, there has been a familiar refrain to comfort Melbourne supporters in times of trouble - "At least we're not Richmond". Richmond, like the ugly best friend, has dutifully played the role of Paul Pfeiffer to many a club's Kevin Arnold over the past three decades of laughable ineptitude. Of course, when a club spends its time playing home games in the carpark of your own team's ground until 1965, it firmly sets the tone for a relationship of pity and mockery. However, with the Tigers at 4-3 and enjoying a period of relative glory, the days of condescendingly patting Richmond supporters on the head at your office/other place of work when the topic of football comes up will officially be put to rest. You see, Melbourne currently owns the second-longest finals drought in the AFL, in front of only, you guessed it, Richmond. For every time Melbourne embarrassed itself at the draft or trade table, Richmond would up the ante by calling out the names of Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls or Anthony Banik early on draft night, or by swinging pick 19 (Callan Ward) to the Bulldogs for Jordan McMahon. Yes, Richmond have always been our friends, always happy to take some of the spotlight off our inadequacies with their own blend of farce. When Melbourne required a step ladder to mount, Richmond always came to the party. There was 1993, when in an otherwise poor year for Melbourne, the Demons slapped Richmond by a combined 214 points in their two meetings. The following year, the Demons were only too happy to kick 27.5 in the final round in Sydney to secure a finals spot at the expense of Richmond. Four years later, with the Tigers needing a Round 22 win to make the finals, Melbourne horse-whipped them en route to a top-4 finish. Even in recent years, Melbourne has trolled the Tigers by 'losing' the services of the likes of Miller, Maric and Petterd to the yellow and black. Alas, the days of Melbourne lampooning about and expecting our derelict, body-odour suffering carpark-dwellers to out-stink us are coming to a close. Due in part to serious errors from the Tigers at the drafting table which has led to them miraculously not botching every pick conceivable, Richmond has assembled a modest yet mildly promising list, and has a coach the players seem to listen to. Instead of turning around with the comfort of feeling the presence of another more useless than itself, Melbourne now stands alone as the guardians of ineptitude. Richmond, for all the boganic mystique about the place, is attempting to join the cool kids group, while Melbourne sits alone, picking its nose in the corner of the yard. When the two sides take the field on Sunday, there will be no shiver of excitement as the crepe paper of the banner is destroyed. No hope of a dramatic upset. Many of the players have made perfectly clear they have no interest in doing anything but barf on the Melbourne guernsey, made patently obvious on Sunday when, despite having half the amount of ball as the Suns for much of the contest, also astonishingly had half the amount of tackles. Matchups in this one are largely irrelevant, as all Richmond will do is leave one or two players to sit on Nathan Jones every time he goes remotely near the ball, leaving nobody else to stop the likes of Martin and co from pumping the ball inside 50 all day in a blitz equal parts frenetic and depressing. Meanwhile, Melbourne players will appear confused and disinterested while leaving time for the odd chain of possession ending in the most horrific forward 50 entry ever witnessed. We lose a friend on Sunday. A friend we thought would always stand beside us and make us appear to look acceptable in comparison. A friend who grew tired of swilling about in the mud and filth for decades on end and decided to move on to better things. No, we aren't Richmond. But today, there are worse things than Richmond. So the Demons are faltering and find themselves in a dark place. But does anyone out there think they can win? Demon WA - It was only a couple of years ago when the Richmond V Melbourne game was a highlight of the season for me. The teams were matched evenly around the ground and the Frawley V JR8 battle at one end and up and coming mids like Martin and Trengove would do battle in the middle. Watts played arguably his best game of AFL a couple of years ago as a key forward against Richmond, and game where Ricky Petterd, at that stage a beacon of hope for the demons faithful, set a record for most tackles laid inside the attacking 50. Fast forward a couple of years and the differences in form and confidence could not be greater between the two teams. Hardwick identified weaknesses in his list and has strengthened it to a point where they seem to have no gaping holes. The Demons have sacked one coach and are delaying the inevitable in sending Neeld down a similar path (in my opinion). Despite numerous opportunities to draft top line talent to the club, the Demons midfield is devoid of class and talent. This is exacerbated through the loss of Grimes and Trengove to injury and Sylvia (who generally has his best game for the year against Richmond) through suspension. Meanwhile the Class and Polish of the Richmond midfield is perhaps as good as any team in the competition, with the likes of Cotchin, Delideo, Martin, Foley and the evergreen Tuck. They say that games are won and lost in the midfield and this will unfortunately be the case again this week. Richmond by 48 points Hardtack - In what should be (not saying it WILL be) a war of attrition (pride is on its last legs), we should see Dunn go onto Martin and Jetta return to go onto Jake King. In the ensuing softening up period, both Martin and King are reported for elbows to the head and groin areas of their respective opponents and so are nullified by the weight of concern over whether they will be available to play in the following week's must win game against Essendon - that's my dream start. The in-form VC "Judy"Garland will take on "Moaning" Jack Reiwoldt, Frawley on McGuane and because of his height, the only real match-up for Oren Stephenson can be Sellar. For the remaining defenders, Nicholson is the only one with enough pace to stay with Nahas and Terlich will need to contain Knights. I will be rather surprised (disappointed) if Magner is not promoted off the rookie list, and if he is, he should replace either McKenzie or Bail (maybe Bail?). Blease will maybe get a recall in Sylvia's absence and I hope they somehow find a way to slot the Fitz into the line-up... although, Casey having not played last weekend won't have helped his chances. If any of Jones to the power of two, Evans or Magner can get first hands on the ball by roving well to the ruck work of Ivan Maric, we should be a reasonable chance down forward... providing the incoming kicks aren't bombed over the head of Dawes as was the case on Sunday. Maybe Tapscott will move back to the centre in place of Bail or menthoids man McKenzie so that the Fitz can come into the forwards to add a bit of height and, hopefully, goal kicking ability. Depending on whether these guys can show a little pride in themselves and their supporters, this game could either blow out very badly or be decided by just a few goals (4 - 6) ... still can't see us prevailing, but can only hope for four contested quarters where we don't see them standing around flat footed while their opponents run into space at will. Unfortunately, the above are among the more optimistic views we've been getting. Others are tipping hidings in excess of 100 points. THE GAME Richmond v Melbourne at the MCG Sunday 19 May 2013 at 3.20pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Richmond 102 wins 2 draws Melbourne 79 wins At MCG Richmond 67 wins 1 draw Melbourne 60 wins Since 2000 Richmond 13 wins Melbourne 9 wins The Coaches Hardwick 2 wins Neeld 0 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 Fox Sports 3 (live) RADIO - 3AW Triple M THE BETTING Richmond $1.01 to win Melbourne $17.00 to win (in other words, the Dees are wasting their time turning up) THE LAST TIME THEY MET Richmond 13.23.101 defeated Melbourne 11.12.78 at the MCG, Round 15, 2012 As usual an opposition midfield ripped the Demons apart from go to whoa. The only thing was that the Tigers couldn't kick goals if their lives depended on it and as a result, the winning margin was kept to under four goals. Stef Martin was Melbourne's only multiple goal kicker with two goals and to nobody's surprise Nathan Jones was his team's best. THE TEAMS RICHMOND Backs Steven Morris Alex Rance Troy Chaplin Half backs Chris Newman Brandon Ellis Bachar Houli Centreline Shaun Grigg Trent Cotchin Daniel Jackson Half forwards Brett Deledio Shane Edwards Jake King Forwards Luke McGuane Jack Riewoldt Dustin Martin Followers Orren Stephenson Nathan Foley Nick Vlastuin Interchange Jake Batchelor Robin Nahas Tyrone Vickery Matthew White Emergencies Matthew Arnot Matthew Dea Aaron Edwards In Trent Cotchin Tyrone Vickery Matthew White Out Chris Knights (knee) Ivan Maric (ankle) Shane Tuck (shoulder) MELBOURNE Backs Neville Jetta James Frawley Dean Terlich Half backs Dan Nicholson James Sellar Colin Garland Centreline Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Michael Evans Half forwards Luke Tapscott LyndenDunn Jeremy Howe Followers Max Gawn Chris Dawes Jimmy Toumpas Followers Mark Jamar Matt Jones Nathan Jones Interchange Rohan Bail Aaron Davey James Magner James Strauss Emergencies Troy Davis Dean Kent Jake Spencer In Mark Jamar Neville Jetta James Magner Jimmy Toumpas Jack Trengove Out Shannon Byrnes (wrist) Dean Kent Jake Spencer Colin Sylvia (suspension) Jack Viney (toe) The aftermath of the Gold Coast Suns defeat saw much soul searching and the blame for the situation was being apportioned in a number of areas while new CEO Peter Jackson was talking of the need for change to be implemented. One of the more obvious changes discussed in situations such as these was the position of the coach. Surely, he has lost the players when they produce insipid performances as those reflected in the Suns' game with its pathetic tackle count. Players such as Colin Garland and newcomer Chris Dawes rallied to Mark Neeld's defence this week but some questioned their motives in doing so claiming their efforts were "spin". Demonlander pm24 came to their defence. It is genuinely insulting for you to fail to give any of the the players any respect, and not even acknowledge that they may be being truthful. I find it absolutely disgusting that many on here continue just abuse, abuse and abuse, without giving the players any respect as people. It is the same reason I will NEVER abuse our own players or opposition players, even if I have a dislike for them. For people to come out and openly suggest that first Garland, then Dawes are just flat out misrepresenting things just to toe the "club line" gives them no respect as people. And in my opinion, those who are suggesting such things, should also be given no respect. Paying a membership, and supporting a club does not given anyone a right to abuse and disrespect a person expressing their opinion. All members, and even the players are hurting because of the performances. There may be some players hurting less than others, but to suggest that players aren't hurting again is disrespectful to the playing group as people. Those who keep suggesting that the players are just spinning c*$p and just making excuses, I ask this question...if they didn't believe in what they were saying why would would they make such statements? Again, I'm guessing the responses would be along the lines of....to protect their own skins, etc etc etc But what would compel someone to come out and mislead the membership when they don't have to. They could sit back and say nothing. To me the players are coming out and standing up for what is happening at the club because they believe in it. I have found that people are more likely to stand up and defend something when they believe in it, as opposed to when they don't. Why are so many on here so quick to acknowledge the way the club has stuffed up in the past, yet not patient enough for all of that poor work to be fixed. I believe this club has been in a poor state for over a decade, and I think it is unrealistic, bordering on lunacy to believe that it can be turned around in 18 months. Many have suggested that a coach like Paul Roos could fix things, to which I have suggested that Sydney were in a similar position to us in the early 90's when Barassi was brought in to fix things, then Eade took over, and led the club for 7 years (including finals appearances) before Roos took over. Sydney took about 4-5 years to dig themselves out of where they were in the early 90's and return to playing finals football. Why should we expect any different? Look at the history of other clubs who have been in similar positions to where we are at. I think you will struggle to find examples of where a club has returned to being competitive and successful within 18 months. But back to my main point. It is simply disgusting for so many on here to simply abuse and disrespect the players and those in the club that are genuinely trying to move this club to where it needs to be. People want the club to show integrity......so how do they want that to be represented? To me, integrity means being consistent in your words and actions, yet people are getting sick of hearing the same old message of "it's going to take time, but we're on the right path". Since Neeld took over, I have seen more consistent messages coming out of the club regarding where it is at then I have for any time in the last decade. The actions or results have not been there and there has been little evidence that the players are performing at the level intended or expected, but does that mean that the players lack integrity, or that the club lacks integrity? The club has always said it is going to take time. It is taking time. They have clearly explained that their are standards the players are expected to meet. The players may not be consistently meeting those standards at the moment, but how many 20 - 25 year olds are always consistent in their behaviours. There are reasons that those clubs near the top of the ladder are where they are, they have a more mature and experienced group of players. Some people are being blinded by anger, and frustration when looking at the club. Take a step back, take a rational look at the playing list (which isn't great at the moment), and think, when compared to other lists, where should this club be sitting on the ladder? The club is sitting in 17th place and there doesn't seem to be much room for respite on the basis of current form and with crucial players including team leaders on the injured list. One thing is very clear. A repeat of last week or of the Essendon game earlier this season will be intolerable.

THE PEOPLE SPEAK - THE TIGERS GAME by the Demonland Crew Yes, it was less than two years ago that Melbourne comfortably accounted for Richmond on the MCG after a slow start in the first of their two clashes for the year. The Demons were eyeing a place in the top 8 while the Tigers were struggling. They meet in far different circumstances on Sunday afternoon. Pantaloons - It will no doubt be referenced more than once in the lead-up to Sunday's Richmond-Melbourne clash at the MCG that not so long ago these two teams, after years of rebuilding, were supposedly heading in the right direction. Sadly, while Richmond continues its climb with speed and excitement of watching real-time photosynthesis, Melbourne continues to stoop to new lows, plummeting to one of the worst performances in club history against the Gold Coast on Sunday. Yet, this in itself is not the main story this week. No, the real tale lies in Melbourne supporters losing an old friend this weekend. For the last 30 years, and throughout much of the game's history, there has been a familiar refrain to comfort Melbourne supporters in times of trouble - "At least we're not Richmond". Richmond, like the ugly best friend, has dutifully played the role of Paul Pfeiffer to many a club's Kevin Arnold over the past three decades of laughable ineptitude. Of course, when a club spends its time playing home games in the carpark of your own team's ground until 1965, it firmly sets the tone for a relationship of pity and mockery. However, with the Tigers at 4-3 and enjoying a period of relative glory, the days of condescendingly patting Richmond supporters on the head at your office/other place of work when the topic of football comes up will officially be put to rest. You see, Melbourne currently owns the second-longest finals drought in the AFL, in front of only, you guessed it, Richmond. For every time Melbourne embarrassed itself at the draft or trade table, Richmond would up the ante by calling out the names of Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls or Anthony Banik early on draft night, or by swinging pick 19 (Callan Ward) to the Bulldogs for Jordan McMahon. Yes, Richmond have always been our friends, always happy to take some of the spotlight off our inadequacies with their own blend of farce. When Melbourne required a step ladder to mount, Richmond always came to the party. There was 1993, when in an otherwise poor year for Melbourne, the Demons slapped Richmond by a combined 214 points in their two meetings. The following year, the Demons were only too happy to kick 27.5 in the final round in Sydney to secure a finals spot at the expense of Richmond. Four years later, with the Tigers needing a Round 22 win to make the finals, Melbourne horse-whipped them en route to a top-4 finish. Even in recent years, Melbourne has trolled the Tigers by 'losing' the services of the likes of Miller, Maric and Petterd to the yellow and black. Alas, the days of Melbourne lampooning about and expecting our derelict, body-odour suffering carpark-dwellers to out-stink us are coming to a close. Due in part to serious errors from the Tigers at the drafting table which has led to them miraculously not botching every pick conceivable, Richmond has assembled a modest yet mildly promising list, and has a coach the players seem to listen to. Instead of turning around with the comfort of feeling the presence of another more useless than itself, Melbourne now stands alone as the guardians of ineptitude. Richmond, for all the boganic mystique about the place, is attempting to join the cool kids group, while Melbourne sits alone, picking its nose in the corner of the yard. When the two sides take the field on Sunday, there will be no shiver of excitement as the crepe paper of the banner is destroyed. No hope of a dramatic upset. Many of the players have made perfectly clear they have no interest in doing anything but barf on the Melbourne guernsey, made patently obvious on Sunday when, despite having half the amount of ball as the Suns for much of the contest, also astonishingly had half the amount of tackles. Matchups in this one are largely irrelevant, as all Richmond will do is leave one or two players to sit on Nathan Jones every time he goes remotely near the ball, leaving nobody else to stop the likes of Martin and co from pumping the ball inside 50 all day in a blitz equal parts frenetic and depressing. Meanwhile, Melbourne players will appear confused and disinterested while leaving time for the odd chain of possession ending in the most horrific forward 50 entry ever witnessed. We lose a friend on Sunday. A friend we thought would always stand beside us and make us appear to look acceptable in comparison. A friend who grew tired of swilling about in the mud and filth for decades on end and decided to move on to better things. No, we aren't Richmond. But today, there are worse things than Richmond. So the Demons are faltering and find themselves in a dark place. But does anyone out there think they can win? Demon WA - It was only a couple of years ago when the Richmond V Melbourne game was a highlight of the season for me. The teams were matched evenly around the ground and the Frawley V JR8 battle at one end and up and coming mids like Martin and Trengove would do battle in the middle. Watts played arguably his best game of AFL a couple of years ago as a key forward against Richmond, and game where Ricky Petterd, at that stage a beacon of hope for the demons faithful, set a record for most tackles laid inside the attacking 50. Fast forward a couple of years and the differences in form and confidence could not be greater between the two teams. Hardwick identified weaknesses in his list and has strengthened it to a point where they seem to have no gaping holes. The Demons have sacked one coach and are delaying the inevitable in sending Neeld down a similar path (in my opinion). Despite numerous opportunities to draft top line talent to the club, the Demons midfield is devoid of class and talent. This is exacerbated through the loss of Grimes and Trengove to injury and Sylvia (who generally has his best game for the year against Richmond) through suspension. Meanwhile the Class and Polish of the Richmond midfield is perhaps as good as any team in the competition, with the likes of Cotchin, Delideo, Martin, Foley and the evergreen Tuck. They say that games are won and lost in the midfield and this will unfortunately be the case again this week. Richmond by 48 points Hardtack - In what should be (not saying it WILL be) a war of attrition (pride is on its last legs), we should see Dunn go onto Martin and Jetta return to go onto Jake King. In the ensuing softening up period, both Martin and King are reported for elbows to the head and groin areas of their respective opponents and so are nullified by the weight of concern over whether they will be available to play in the following week's must win game against Essendon - that's my dream start. The in-form VC "Judy"Garland will take on "Moaning" Jack Reiwoldt, Frawley on McGuane and because of his height, the only real match-up for Oren Stephenson can be Sellar. For the remaining defenders, Nicholson is the only one with enough pace to stay with Nahas and Terlich will need to contain Knights. I will be rather surprised (disappointed) if Magner is not promoted off the rookie list, and if he is, he should replace either McKenzie or Bail (maybe Bail?). Blease will maybe get a recall in Sylvia's absence and I hope they somehow find a way to slot the Fitz into the line-up... although, Casey having not played last weekend won't have helped his chances. If any of Jones to the power of two, Evans or Magner can get first hands on the ball by roving well to the ruck work of Ivan Maric, we should be a reasonable chance down forward... providing the incoming kicks aren't bombed over the head of Dawes as was the case on Sunday. Maybe Tapscott will move back to the centre in place of Bail or menthoids man McKenzie so that the Fitz can come into the forwards to add a bit of height and, hopefully, goal kicking ability. Depending on whether these guys can show a little pride in themselves and their supporters, this game could either blow out very badly or be decided by just a few goals (4 - 6) ... still can't see us prevailing, but can only hope for four contested quarters where we don't see them standing around flat footed while their opponents run into space at will. Unfortunately, the above are among the more optimistic views we've been getting. Others are tipping hidings in excess of 100 points. THE GAME Richmond v Melbourne at the MCG Sunday 19 May 2013 at 3.20pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Richmond 102 wins 2 draws Melbourne 79 wins At MCG Richmond 67 wins 1 draw Melbourne 60 wins Since 2000 Richmond 13 wins Melbourne 9 wins The Coaches Hardwick 2 wins Neeld 0 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 Fox Sports 3 (live) RADIO - 3AW Triple M THE BETTING Richmond $1.01 to win Melbourne $17.00 to win (in other words, the Dees are wasting their time turning up) THE LAST TIME THEY MET Richmond 13.23.101 defeated Melbourne 11.12.78 at the MCG, Round 15, 2012 As usual an opposition midfield ripped the Demons apart from go to whoa. The only thing was that the Tigers couldn't kick goals if their lives depended on it and as a result, the winning margin was kept to under four goals. Stef Martin was Melbourne's only multiple goal kicker with two goals and to nobody's surprise Nathan Jones was his team's best. THE TEAMS RICHMOND Backs Steven Morris Alex Rance Troy Chaplin Half backs Chris Newman Brandon Ellis Bachar Houli Centreline Shaun Grigg Trent Cotchin Daniel Jackson Half forwards Brett Deledio Shane Edwards Jake King Forwards Luke McGuane Jack Riewoldt Dustin Martin Followers Orren Stephenson Nathan Foley Nick Vlastuin Interchange (from) Matthew Arnot Jake Batchelor Matthew Dea Aaron Edwards Robin Nahas Tyrone Vickery Matthew White In Matthew Arnot Trent Cotchin Matthew Dea Aaron Edwards Tyrone Vickery Matthew White Out Chris Knights (knee) Ivan Maric (ankle) Shane Tuck (shoulder) MELBOURNE Backs Neville Jetta James Frawley Dean Terlich Half backs Dan Nicholson James Sellar Colin Garland Centreline Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Michael Evans Half forwards Luke Tapscott LyndenDunn Jeremy Howe Followers Max Gawn Chris Dawes Jimmy Toumpas Followers Mark Jamar Matt Jones Nathan Jones Interchange (from) Rohan Bail Aaron Davey Troy Davis Dean Kent James Magner Jake Spencer James Strauss In Troy Davis Mark Jamar Neville Jetta James Magner Jimmy Toumpas Jack Trengove Out Shannon Byrnes (wrist) Colin Sylvia (suspension) Jack Viney (toe) The aftermath of the Gold Coast Suns defeat saw much soul searching and the blame for the situation was being apportioned in a number of areas while new CEO Peter Jackson was talking of the need for change to be implemented. One of the more obvious changes discussed in situations such as these was the position of the coach. Surely, he has lost the players when they produce insipid performances as those reflected in the Suns' game with its pathetic tackle count. Players such as Colin Garland and newcomer Chris Dawes rallied to Mark Neeld's defence this week but some questioned their motives in doing so claiming their efforts were "spin". Demonlander pm24 came to their defence. It is genuinely insulting for you to fail to give any of the the players any respect, and not even acknowledge that they may be being truthful. I find it absolutely disgusting that many on here continue just abuse, abuse and abuse, without giving the players any respect as people. It is the same reason I will NEVER abuse our own players or opposition players, even if I have a dislike for them. For people to come out and openly suggest that first Garland, then Dawes are just flat out misrepresenting things just to toe the "club line" gives them no respect as people. And in my opinion, those who are suggesting such things, should also be given no respect. Paying a membership, and supporting a club does not given anyone a right to abuse and disrespect a person expressing their opinion. All members, and even the players are hurting because of the performances. There may be some players hurting less than others, but to suggest that players aren't hurting again is disrespectful to the playing group as people. Those who keep suggesting that the players are just spinning c*$p and just making excuses, I ask this question...if they didn't believe in what they were saying why would would they make such statements? Again, I'm guessing the responses would be along the lines of....to protect their own skins, etc etc etc But what would compel someone to come out and mislead the membership when they don't have to. They could sit back and say nothing. To me the players are coming out and standing up for what is happening at the club because they believe in it. I have found that people are more likely to stand up and defend something when they believe in it, as opposed to when they don't. Why are so many on here so quick to acknowledge the way the club has stuffed up in the past, yet not patient enough for all of that poor work to be fixed. I believe this club has been in a poor state for over a decade, and I think it is unrealistic, bordering on lunacy to believe that it can be turned around in 18 months. Many have suggested that a coach like Paul Roos could fix things, to which I have suggested that Sydney were in a similar position to us in the early 90's when Barassi was brought in to fix things, then Eade took over, and led the club for 7 years (including finals appearances) before Roos took over. Sydney took about 4-5 years to dig themselves out of where they were in the early 90's and return to playing finals football. Why should we expect any different? Look at the history of other clubs who have been in similar positions to where we are at. I think you will struggle to find examples of where a club has returned to being competitive and successful within 18 months. But back to my main point. It is simply disgusting for so many on here to simply abuse and disrespect the players and those in the club that are genuinely trying to move this club to where it needs to be. People want the club to show integrity......so how do they want that to be represented? To me, integrity means being consistent in your words and actions, yet people are getting sick of hearing the same old message of "it's going to take time, but we're on the right path". Since Neeld took over, I have seen more consistent messages coming out of the club regarding where it is at then I have for any time in the last decade. The actions or results have not been there and there has been little evidence that the players are performing at the level intended or expected, but does that mean that the players lack integrity, or that the club lacks integrity? The club has always said it is going to take time. It is taking time. They have clearly explained that their are standards the players are expected to meet. The players may not be consistently meeting those standards at the moment, but how many 20 - 25 year olds are always consistent in their behaviours. There are reasons that those clubs near the top of the ladder are where they are, they have a more mature and experienced group of players. Some people are being blinded by anger, and frustration when looking at the club. Take a step back, take a rational look at the playing list (which isn't great at the moment), and think, when compared to other lists, where should this club be sitting on the ladder? The club is sitting in 17th place and there doesn't seem to be much room for respite on the basis of current form and with crucial players including team leaders on the injured list. One thing is very clear. A repeat of last week or of the Essendon game earlier this season will be intolerable.

Done.

Unless I'm mistaken, this topic is Todd Viney issues. Can we stick to the topic please?

Thanks for the suggestions on moderating. We'll take it on board although I personally don't agree with your comparison. In the meantime, please keep to the topic (see OP) and no grandstanding please (that's a general request and refers to all).

PROGRESS VOTING ROUND 7 67. Nathan Jones 43. Matt Jones 39. Colin Garland Jack Viney 36. Jeremy Howe 31. Colin Sylvia 26. Jack Grimes 23. Shannon Byrnes Dean Terlich 21. Michael Evans 16. James Frawley Max Gawn 13. Aaron Davey 11. Luke Tapscott 8. Mitch Clark 6. Lynden Dunn Tom McDonald 4. Jordie McKenzie Jack Trengove Jack Watts 2. Rohan Bail Mark Jamar 1. Sam Blease

We've tried this a few times in the past and even managed to get a few upset results. The idea is that you as a Demon supporter write a preview of next Sunday's game v Richmond. You can do the match ups, the statistical reasons for the outcome you predict or any reason whatsoever ... leave no stone unturned. It's your call - let the people speak.

Those were the days when we only got flogged by second rate sides ... MELBOURNE Backs Daniel Nicholson James Frawley Jared Rivers Half backs Joel Macdonald Jack Watts Jack Grimes Centreline Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Jeremy Howe Half forwards Colin Sylvia, Stef Martin, Sam Blease Forwards James Magner Colin Garland Luke Tapscott Followers Jake Spencer Brent Moloney Nathan Jones Interchange Rohan Bail Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Lynden Dunn Emergencies Lucas Cook Ricky Petterd James Strauss In Jamie Bennell Nathan Jones Out Tom McDonald (lung) James Sellar (thigh) RICHMOND Backs Chris Newman Alex Rance Steven Morris Half backs Matt Dea Ben Griffiths Bachar Houli Centreline Brandon Ellis Trent Cotchin Shaun Grigg Half forwards Shane Edwards Brett Deledio Matthew White Forwards Robin Nahas Jack Riewoldt Addam Maric Followers Ivan Maric Reece Conca Shane Tuck Interchange Jake Batchelor Tom Derickx Luke McGuane Brett O'Hanlon Emergencies Matthew Arnot Todd Elton Brad Miller In Jake Batchelor Reece Conca Tom Derickx Luke McGuane Addam Maric Brett OHanlon Matthew White Out Dan Connors (Khyber Pass) Todd Elton (omitted) Dylan Grimes (hamstring) Daniel Jackson (hamstring) Jake King (knee) Dustin Martin (club suspension) Brad Miller (omitted) New Tom Derickx (Claremont)

INTO DARKNESS: THE BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS by The Oracle Following Melbourne these days is like waking up from a bad dream. It was only two or three weeks ago that things were looking up after that 12 goal final quarter against GWS and a dwindling injury list gave us some hope of better things to come. Even the defeat at the hands of Brisbane at the Gabba didn't seem so bad given the losing margin was contained to a margin of slightly less than five goals. But all of a sudden and almost in the blink of an eye, our worst nightmare was realised. A home game against the Gold Coast Suns, several key players injured and unavailable and the team runs out in front of its last remaining 13 thousand or so supporters and it produces an inept, soul destroying, non-competitive, soft performance that highlights that, apart from possibly GWS, it is the AFL's easiest team to play against. There were few redeeming features, most provided by young blokes like Jack Viney and Max Gawn who tried their hearts out, lion-hearted new skipper Nathan Jones despite having to fight off a hard tag and Jeremy Howe. Mature age newcomers Matt Jones and Dean Terlich battled hard but that was it - many of the others were spectators, wasting our time and standing around like stale laboratory samples. Nothing went right and the team was penalised heavily for simply being inept and inert, unwilling to chase and work anywhere near hard enough, especially against a young team willing to run and spread into the empty spaces its opposition appeared to be too lazy or simply physically unable to fill. They moved from defence to attack without resistance. In that respect, Melbourne has advanced not a single inch since it hosted the last Queensland team it played against at home in the opening round of 2012 when Mark Neeld coached his first game. Since then he's produced a team that's good only at botching things up like running too far and giving up an easy goal or standing around watching the footy do four or five leg breaks before finding its way between the big sticks or blowing any chance of a second half comeback by giving away a free in front goal before proceedings have even started - all characteristic of teams that are simply not switched on or awake. The night before the game I had a dream in which I saw the legendary Hawthorn coach John Kennedy delivering his famous plea to his players and bellowing out loud: "DO SOMETHING!" In my dream, he was addressing Neeld and his panel of coaches but they did nothing. Couldn't even get the team to produce a half decent tackle count. It didn't take long for the dream to come true. But if fingers are to be pointed at the coach and his assistants for the disaster that unfolded at the MCG on Mothers Day, then they should also be pointed at the fitness and conditioning people because to their shame, the Demons couldn't even run out a game better than the Suns who finished a couple of players short because of injury. And that must surely be a fitting epitaph to one of our worst nightmares. Melbourne 0.2.2 3.7.25 4.10.34 7.12.54Gold Coast Suns 5.5.35 9.8.62 14.12.96 16.18.114Goals Melbourne Howe 3 Gawn 2 Strauss SylviaGold Coast Suns Brown Smith 3, Hall Lynch 2 Bennell Day Harbrow McKenzie May Shaw Best Melbourne Howe Viney N Jones Gawn Terlich M Jones Gold Coast Ablett Bennell Shaw Brennan Smith Thompson Injuries Melbourne 13,000 fans (broken hearts) Gold Coast Brennan (concussion) Murphy (concussion) Changes Melbourne Nil Gold Coast Nil Reports Melbourne Colin Sylvia for allegedly striking Jared Brennan Gold Coast Nil Umpires McBurney Armstrong Harris Crowd 13,304 at the MCG

What did TMac do wrong today?

Thanks for the bump but we have plenty of Neeld threads as it is.