Demonland

PRAISING PURPLE by Sam the Stats Man Mark Harvey's Fremantle Dockers are having a fantastic season. They finished in the bottom four last year and currently hold a much coveted place in the top four. Were it not for a glitch last weekend when they sent a depleted side to battle it out against Richmond at the MCG, their hold on fourth spot would have been rock solid. They have otherwise shown an ability to hold their own against the best of them at home (against Geelong) and away where they recently scored a comfortable win at Etihad Stadium against the Blues. Melbourne had also fought its way out of the bottom four but only just – and that thanks to a last start win against Essendon. The performance was exceptional and, although some might question as less than satisfactory, the fact that the Bombers were allowed to kick six of the last seven goals of the game, the Demons were clearly resting players for this week’s battle when they have to travel across the Nullarbor to take on the Dockers. Certainly, the hard working and much improved Mark Jamar would have relished the fact that he was able to rest his weary body while junk time was played out. He deserved it. Fremantle will gain back some players this week which is just as well because they were starting to look vulnerable under the weight of the injuries they suffered, in particular the loss of midfielder Michael Barlow with a broken leg. The team certainly lacked a great deal of run against the Tigers and will need to do better in this area against the Demons. It’s hard to believe that at their last meeting, the Dockers were comprehensively beaten by 63 points but that was at the MCG. This game is at Subiaco where Fremantle has won five in a row against their visitors and you have to go all the way back to 2004 when Peter Vardy kicked four goals and a young pimply faced Brock McLean was in his first season excelled in the wet to pump the Dockers. Melbourne’s forward line looks improved with the inclusion of Liam Jurrah and Colin Sylvia and the Demons will be motivated by the need to show that they are capable of winning away from home (they did beat Port Adelaide in Darwin earlier in the year but that was neutral territory). The problem is that they had the same motivation (and more because they were still more than just a mathematical chance to make the finals then) when they played Adelaide at AAMI Stadium a few weeks back and were comprehensively spanked. Unfortunately, you can’t trust them to win over there and the statistics bear this out. Fremantle by 33 points. THE GAME Fremantle v Melbourne at the MCG - Sunday 18 July 2010 at 4:40pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Fremantle 13 wins Melbourne 12 wins At Subiaco Fremantle 7 wins Melbourne 3 wins Since 2000 Fremantle 9 wins Melbourne 8 wins The Coaches Harvey 1 win Bailey 2 wins MEDIA TV Fox Sports 1 live at 4.00 pm RADIO ABC774 SEN 3AW THE BETTING Fremantle to win $1.22 Melbourne to win $4.35 LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 20.7.127 defeated Fremantle 9.10.64 at the MCG Round 20, 2009 The Demons were on song and, after a reasonably even first half, they roared away and almost doubled the Dockers' score in the end. Producing another exciting display, Liam Jurrah booted four goals while Aaron Davey was best on ground. The victory was enough to put many supporters on edge for another fortnight before the priority draft pick issue was finally determined. THE TEAMS FREMANTLE Backs Dylan Roberton Alex Silvagni Kepler Bradley Half backs Matthew de Boer Luke McPharlin Roger Hayden Centreline Garrick Ibbotson David Mundy Nathan Fyfe Half forwards Jay van Berlo Matthew Pavlich Stephen Hill Forwards Adam McPhee Michael Johnson Hayden Ballantyne Followers Aaron Sandilands Ryan Crowley Paul Duffield Interchange Greg Broughton Paul Hasleby Anthony Morabito Rhys Palmer Emergencies Clancee Pearce Nick Suban Chris Tarrant In Greg Broughton Nathan Fyfe Luke McPharlin Out Clancee Pearce Tim Ruffles Clancee Pearce (all omitted) MELBOURNE Backs Colin Garland Jared Rivers Clint Bartram Half backs Jordie McKenzie James Frawley Cameron Bruce Centreline Jamie Bennell Nathan Jones Brad Green Half forwards Lynden Dunn Jack Watts Tom Scully Forwards Colin Sylvia Matthew Bate Liam Jurrah Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Aaron Davey Interchange Rohan Bail Paul Johnson Joel Macdonald Cale Morton Emergencies Kyle Cheney Addam Maric Matthew Warnock In Rohan Bail Addam Maric Cale Morton Matthew Warnock Out Kyle Cheney (omitted) Jack Trengove (hip) Melbourne's season has spluttered since its three wins in a row in late April but last week's win over Essendon was a tonic. Here's my reveiw of how he team's gone so far this year. BAIL, Rohan MFC – 3 games, 3 goals, Casey Seniors - 4 games, 3 goals. Was one the early surprise packets but injuries intervened to restrict him over the past two months. Has been among the best in his two return games at Casey. BARTRAM, Clint MFC - 14 games 2 goals. Early on, he played some of his best football since his debut year but has been a little inconsistent of late. BATE, Matthew MFC - 13 games 18 goals. Is having a reasonably good year after an interrupted pre season but needs to narrow the gap between his best and his worst. BELL, Daniel Casey Seniors - 10 games 0 goals. The start to his season was hampered by a pre season AC injury and he has not been able to force his way into AFL ranks. His position at the club at the end of the year must be under question. BENNELL, Jamie MFC - 13 games 11 goals, Casey Seniors 1 game 0 goals. Has shown some flashes of brilliance but also went through a flat patch that saw him play for Casey on an occasion. BLEASE, Sam Casey Reserves - 5 games 3 goals. Making slow progress in the VFL reserves after suffering a few setbacks coming back from a bad foot injury. BRUCE, Cameron MFC - 14 games 4 goals. Has been a steady performer throughout the season and is improving like a vintage wine. Seems to have recovered his goalkicking ability of late. CHENEY, Kyle MFC - 2 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 10 games 0 goals. Has been solid in defence at Casey and recently pushed his way into AFL selection where has been steady without being outstanding. DAVEY, Aaron MFC - 15 games 5 goals. Not as predominant as he was last year but has had his good games. DUNN, Lynden MFC - 11 games 10 goals, Casey Seniors 2 games, 9 goals. Hot and cold so far this season but has shown improvement in his more recent games. FITZPATRICK, Jack Casey Seniors 3 games 1 goal, Casey Reserves - 4 games 5 goals. Slowly overcoming his early injury woes and has been performing well in the seniors at Casey. FRAWLEY, James MFC - 14 games 0 goals. Continues to grow in stature as a strong, fast young defender. GARLAND, Colin MFC - 13 games 1 goal. Slowly coming back to his best after missing most of last year. GAWN, Max Likely to return to football in the Casey Reserves for the first time since undergoing an ACL operation last year. GREEN, Brad MFC - 15 games 36 goals. Has shown outstanding leadership and courage and is the team's top goal kicker. GRIMES, Jack MFC - 14 games 0 goals. Outstanding season so far in defence. GYSBERTS, Jordan MFC - 3 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 5 games 2 goals. Earned a Rising Star nomination after a spectacular start to his career. Now out with an injury. HEALEY, Rhys Casey Seniors - 5 games 2 goals, Casey Reserves 1 game. 0 goals. Restricted by injuries again this year. HUGHES, Daniel MFC - 2 games 2 goals, Casey Seniors - 6 games 5 goals. Had an impressive debut with the Demons after such a long wait. Sidelined with an ankle injury. JAMAR, Mark MFC - 15 games 7 goals. Has grabbed the mantle of # 1 ruckman and has been touted as a possible contender for All Australian honours. JETTA, Neville MFC - 6 games 6 goals. Casey Seniors - 6 games 2 goals. Was good in patches after spending the early part of the season at Casey but has returned there after a downturn in his form. JOHNSON, Paul MFC - 3 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 8 games 6 goals. Relishing a return to the AFL after spending most of the first half of the season at Casey. JONES, Nathan MFC - 15 games 4 goals. Has been tried in a variety of roles this season and has played in all games. Still capable of stepping up a bit more. JURRAH, Liam MFC - 1 game 2 goals, Casey Reserves 2 games 3 goals. Added some excitement to the Demon forward line in a welcome return from the shoulder injury he incurred in a NAB Challenge game in Adelaide. MACDONALD, Joel MFC - 11 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 4 games 3 goals. Has added variety to the defence along with some stability and looks likely to hold down a place there for the rest of the season. MCDONALD, James MFC - 11 games 4 goals. The veteran skipper's vintage season has been interrupted by a hamstring injury. MCKENZIE, Jordie MFC - 12 games 2 goals, Casey Seniors 2 games 0 goals. A revelation in his first full season. Should be first promotion off the rookie list at the end of the year. McNAMARA, Tom Casey Seniors - 10 games 1 goal. Showing improvement at Casey but has the job ahead of him to break into the Demon defence. MARIC, Addam Casey Seniors - 11 games 7 goals. Consistent performances at Casey have him pushing hard for AFL selection. MARTIN, Stefan MFC - 2 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 4 games 7 goals, Casey Reserves 2 games 1 goal. Going through a disappointing season and is currently on the sidelines with a hip injury that has affected him for a while. MEESEN, John Long term injury. Will find it hard to maintain a place on the list given his time away from playing the game. MILLER, Brad MFC - 6 game 10 goals, Casey Seniors - 7 games 13 goals. Kicked 5 goals up in Darwin but has been up and down. Missed last week altogether with a back problem after a so-so display for Casey. MOLONEY, Brent MFC - 15 games 2 goals. Continues to be a tower of strength in the engine room where he is providing great leadership for the youngsters in the midfield. MORTON, Cale MFC 5 games 2 goals - Casey Seniors - 4 games 4 goals. Had some good games coming back from knee surgery but was surprisingly sent back to Casey for a couple of weeks. NEWTON, Michael MFC - 2 games 1 goal, Casey Seniors - 7 games 12 goals. Was getting back into form at Casey when struck by a quad injury. PETTERD, Ricky MFC - 6 games 12 goals. Added bite to the forward line early before damaging his shoulder and joining the list of players out with long term injuries. RIVERS, Jared MFC - 11 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 1 game 0 goals. Had some injury woes early and has struggled to come back to his best but has had some improved showings of late. SCULLY, Tom MFC - 14 games 4 goals. Great start to what should be a long and stellar career. SPENCER, Jake MFC - 2 game 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 7 games 2 goals, Casey Reserves 1 game 1 goal. Played forward in the opening game of the season without much success. Was improving at Casey in the first ruck role and finally gained promotion to the AFL only to suffer a back injury. STRAUSS, James MFC - 2 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 12 games 0 goals. Had a taste of AFL football and is promising. Now out with a hamstring injury. SYLVIA, Colin MFC - 9 games 12 goals, Casey Seniors 1game 3 goals. Was going gangbusters in his first couple of games after his broken jaw but then discovered a problem with his toe that kept him out for over a month. Great game on his return last week. TAPSCOTT, Luke Casey Seniors 1 game 0 goals, Casey Reserves 1 game 0 goals. Showing promise on return from a long term hip injury. TRENGOVE, Jack MFC - 14 games 7 goals. Along with Scully, one of the club's shining young lights. WARNOCK, Matthew MFC - 12 games 0 goals, Casey Seniors - 2 games, 0 goals. Very handy in defence this season and had some big scalps but went off the boil a little and was dropped to Casey where he dominated completely last week. WATTS, Jack MFC - 8 game 6 goals, Casey Seniors - 5 games 7 goals. There's no doubt that he has the speed, the skills and the football nous and he's showing some exciting glimpses of the future in every game. Will only get better as he bulks up. WONAEMIRRI, Austin MFC 2 games 2 goals, Casey Seniors - 7 games 7 goals, Casey Reserves - 2 games 4 goals Missed all of last year with knee and hamstring problems, the latter of which recurred during the pre season. Had a couple of games at top level but is still struggling to maintain consistency.

THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Stefan Martin James Frawley Kyle Cheney Half backs Clint Bartram Jared Rivers Ricky Petterd Centreline James McDonald Lynden Dunn Cale Morton Half forwards Brent Moloney Brad Miler Nathan Jones Forwards Neville Jetta Matthew Bate Liam Jurrah Followers Paul Johnson Aaron Davey Colin Sylvia Interchange Mark Jamar Jordie McKenzie Brock McLean Tom McNamara Russell Robertson Jake Spencer Shane Valenti In Mark Jamar Liam Jurrah Jordie McKenzie Brock McLean Jared Rivers Russell Robertson Out Rohan Bail (quad) Cameron Bruce (wrist) Michael Newton (Achilles) FREMANTLE Backs Greg Broughton Chris Tarrant Jay van Berlo Half backs Antoni Grover Luke McPharlin Paul Duffield Centerline Garrick Ibbotson Paul Hasleby Chris Mayne Half forwards Stephen Hill Matt de Boer Dean Solomon Forwards Des Headland Matthew Pavlich Nic Suban Followers Aaron Sandilands Steven Dodd David Mundy Interchange (from) Kepler Bradley Marcus Drum Roger Hayden Brett Peake Clancee Pearce Byron Schammer Michael Walters

Mark Jamar has extended his lead while the skipper is dropping down the list during the period of his injury. 99.772 Mark Jamar 75.042 Brent Moloney 72.783 James Frawley 71.971 Brad Green 70.951 James McDonald 64.773 Jack Grimes 59.078 Jack Trengove 44.192 Colin Sylvia 38.586 Tom Scully 37.667 Aaron Davey 33.878 Matthew Bate 33.014 Cameron Bruce 29.736 Jordie McKenzie 20.656 Ricky Petterd 19.525 Nathan Jones 18.824 Lynden Dunn 18.567 Jamie Bennell 17.257 Jordan Gysberts 17.065 Matthew Warnock 11.680 Clint Bartram 8.662 Joel Macdonald 8.500 Cale Morton 8.211 Rohan Bail 8.073 Neville Jetta 7.064 Brad Miller 6.353 Jack Watts 4.872 Colin Garland 4.752 Cale Morton

I think it's more likely the player has his wires crossed and is talking about Campbell Brown or perhaps Gary Ablett.

BOOST by The Oracle Melbourne has been going through a rough trot since the balmy days of its magical three wins on end in April. The Demons' only win since then came in steamy Darwin when they fell in by a solitary point. There had been no victories in front of a home crowd for two and a half months when they took on the flagging Bombers at the MCG. Two sides bereft of confidence facing off against each other made for a fascinating contest but which would emerge with the boost of a much needed win? When Jared Rivers made a meal of a routine short pass to Jack Trengove after taking a safe mark early in the opening term, it was a case of deja vu all over again with Melbourne trailling by a goal in the first minute of the game. Then they threw away the script. Colin Sylvia, coming back after several weeks with a freak toe injury, took a courageous mark and a 50 metre penalty to even the score and, not long after, a botch up from a Bomber defender gifted Brad Green his first goal. Melbourne was on its way to winning its first opening term in several weeks. With Mark Jamar dominating the rucks, the Demons took a handy 16 point lead into the first break, a margin they managed to double thanks to some confidence boosting play led by veterans Green and Cameron Bruce aided by a lack of discipline from the Bombers that enabled Melbourne to benefit from a swag of 50m penalties. During the second term, the fans were treated to some more happy glimpses of the future with first year player Jack Trengove converting a set shot and then setting up Liam Jurrah for his first goal of the season after missing the first four months after suffering a shoulder injury in a practice match. For a club that has been short on star quality for so long, the signposts are pointing towards the heavens but let's not get too carried away just yet! After half time, the Bombers must have located the lost script from the first quarter when they kicked three goals in the first six minutes. They were almost back in the game when a lucky free kick and a goal to Jack Watts gave the Demons another boost. With Green starring in front of goal, they took back the initiative to have a handy buffer of 27 points at the final break. The Bombers had compounded their woes with some poor kicking for goal but much of that could be attributed to the pressure applied by Melbourne's defence. The Demons dominated the first half of the final term, scoring four goals and pushing their lead beyond 50 points before putting the cue in the rack. Given that they travel across the continent for next week's game against the Dockers, it was probably a fair idea to loosen the pressure rather than to move in for the kill. As a result Essendon scored six of the last seven goals in an elongated junk time. Jamar in the ruck, Sylvia (29 disposals and two goals) and Green (five goals) were the stars and Lynden Dunn a quiet achiever but there were some great signs from youngsters Trengove, Tom Scully and Jordie McKenzie in the midfield. McKenzie's tackling was reminiscent of early in the season when his pressure was so important. James Frawley and Colin Garland were majestic in defence and Jurrah and Watts are heralding an exciting future for the Demon forward line. A week's a long time in football. A week ago, we were wondering from where Melbourne's next win would come. If the Demons can break their away from home interstate hoodoo next week, they'll be a game and a half away from the top eight. In this season where we have seen unlikely and unexpected winning runs from Hawthorn, Adelaide and Richmond, who knows what could happen from there once a team receives a much needed winning boost? Melbourne 6.2.38 10.6.66 14.7.91 19.8.122 Essendon 3.4.22 4.10.34 8.16.64 14.19.103 Goals Melbourne Green 5 Bruce Jamar Jurrah Sylvia Trengove 2 Bate Bennell Dunn Watts Essendon Neagle 3, Lovett-Murray Stanton 2, Davey Dyson Jetta Monfries Reimers Watson Zaharakis Best Melbourne Green Sylvia Jamar Bruce Trengove Dunn Essendon Zaharakis Lovett-Murray Winderlich Watson Injuries Melbourne Nil Essendon Nil Changes Melbourne Nil Essendon Scott Gumbleton, replaced in the selected side by Sam Lonergan Reports Melbourne Nil Essendon Nil Umpires Kennedy Armstrong Bowen Crowd 49,203 at the MCG

SCORPIONS SURVIVE SCARE by Billy from the Bush The Casey Scorpions survived a scare at Frankston City Oval to retain equal billing with the VFL's leading sides Williamstown and North Ballarat on ten wins after defeating the plucky Dolphins by 10 points on Sunday. The trip down the highway to play Frankston by the bay began as expected for Casey when it produced a withering opening quarter against the competition's cellar dwellers. Kicking to the Kars Street end of the ground that was favoured by the strong winds coming off Port Phillip Bay, the Scorpions were in scintillating early form as they brushed aside their hosts to rush to a 7.3.45 to 1.1.7 lead. After that, it should have been plain sailing for Casey but the game gradually changed complexion. The Scorps held reasonably firm while kicking against the strong breeze but the Dolphins easily outscored for them for the remainder of the game playing some good inside footy, putting pressure on their opponents whenever they gained possession and inflicting pain on the rebound. In particular, they forced a number of skill errors that will need rectification over the coming week at training. Casey just held on to win an enthralling battle but would have been disappointed to manage only two goals after quarter time in a performance that almost echoed their efforts on the other side of the bay last month against ladder leader Williamstown. The Scorpions were hit by injury and forced to make eight changes to the team which accounted for Werribee last week. The side contained four players making their VFL senior debuts - Dean Cleven, Mark Weekes, Dean Woodhead and Demon youngster Luke Tapscott while Wade Lees also came up from the reserves for his first game of the season. However, this should not be taken as an excuse for the team's poor effort after leading by half time when they led by in excess of five goals. The Dolphins, under coach Simon Goosey are in team building mode, and had more than a fair quota of young local talent from the Peninsula and should be commended for their spirit and endeavour in regrouping after their poor start. Given the respective ladder positions of the teams it was a tremendous effort to get lift their intensity after a poor start and to come close to causing a major upset against a third placed Casey which still had nine AFL listed players. Utility Rohan Bail was outstanding for the second week running. He showed great pace and has a knack of being able to win and deliver the ball crisply to a team mate and could well be in contention for a plane trip to Perth next weekend. Matt Warnock was great in defence, cutting his man out of the game and winning plenty of possessions, Daniel Bell was solid and Austin Wonaeamirri seems to have shrugged off last week's shoulder problems showing some good signs although he is still struggling with consistency. Danny Nicholls was strong with his on ball efforts and Tim Mohr was also put in a strong display. Recruit Matt Fieldsend from De La Salle played his best game yet for the club and acting skipper James Wall showed his versatility kicking three goals in the absence of some of the regular talls through injury. With the VFL competition moving past the two-thirds mark and the season is moving into its business end, coach Brad Gotch would be satisfied with the four points but not the performance. His team will need to lift its intensity if it is to match it with the competition's other leading lights. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Rohan Bail 11 kicks 6 handballs 1 mark 2 goals - excellent pace and disposal. Daniel Bell 6 kicks 15 handballs 6 marks - played hard and did his job. Jack Fitzpatrick 10 kicks 6 handballs 10 marks - good to see the youngster getting more of the action. Neville Jetta 7 kicks 3 handballs 5 marks - quiet day at the office. Tom McNamara 8 kicks 6 handballs 4 marks - working his way back after injury. Cale Morton 12 kicks 12 handballs 6 marks - workmanlike and could do better at this level. Luke Tapscott 14 game 4 handballs 8 marks - handy return to senior footy after a long lay off. Matthew Warnock 18 kicks 9 handballs 14 marks - best on ground. Austin Wonaemirri 11 kicks 4 handballs 5 marks - excellent first quarter, strong in last but little in between. Casey Scorpions 7.3.45 7.6.48 8.7.55 9.10.64 Frankston 1.1.7 2.5.17 4.8.32 7.12.54 Goals Casey Scorpions Wall 3 Bail Wonaemirri 2 MacReadie Purdy Frankston Proctor 6 Clark Best Casey Scorpions Warnock Bail Nicholls Fieldsend Mohr Daniel Bell Frankston Clark Proctor Miller Bosward Kennedy Gabriel The Casey Reserves had a big win over lowly Frankston, the highlights being the goalkicking prowess of Brad Sykes, Matt Moore and Aaron Hillberge. David Bell was nominated as the club's best with another strong effort and young Sam Blease showed tons of class and pace on a wing. He is gradually increasing game time and should hopefully play full game with rotations next week. Casey Scorpions 8.4 .52 10.4.64 17.12.114 24.17.161 Frankston 1.5.11 3.10.22 4.13.37 5.22.52 Goals Casey Scorpions Sykes 6 Moore 5 Hillberge 4 Tynan 3 David Bell Plummer2 Petropoulos Smith Frankston Alanis 2 Mitchell Hunt Anwyl Best Casey Scorpions Bell Sykes Tynan Egan Hillberge Blease Frankston Sienkiewicz Mitchell Wapshott Gooda Wise Williams

SCORPIONS SURVIVE SCARE by Billy from the Bush The Casey Scorpions survived a scare at Frankston City Oval to retain equal billing with the VFL's leading sides Williamstown and North Ballarat on ten wins after defeating the plucky Dolphins by 10 points on Sunday. The trip down the highway to play Frankston by the bay began as expected for Casey when it produced a withering opening quarter against the competition's cellar dwellers. Kicking to the Kars Street end of the ground that was favoured by the strong winds coming off Port Phillip Bay, the Scorpions were in scintillating early form as they brushed aside their hosts to rush to a 7.3.45 to 1.1.7 lead. After that, it should have been plain sailing for Casey but the game gradually changed complexion. The Scorps held reasonably firm while kicking against the strong breeze but the Dolphins easily outscored for them for the remainder of the game playing some good inside footy, putting pressure on their opponents whenever they gained possession and inflicting pain on the rebound. In particular, they forced a number of skill errors that will need rectification over the coming week at training. Casey just held on to win an enthralling battle but would have been disappointed to manage only two goals after quarter time in a performance that almost echoed their efforts on the other side of the bay last month against ladder leader Williamstown. The Scorpions were hit by injury and forced to make eight changes to the team which accounted for Werribee last week. The side contained four players making their VFL senior debuts - Dean Cleven, Mark Weekes, Dean Woodhead and Demon youngster Luke Tapscott while Wade Lees also came up from the reserves for his first game of the season. However, this should not be taken as an excuse for the team's poor effort after leading by half time when they led by in excess of five goals. The Dolphins, under coach Simon Goosey are in team building mode, and had more than a fair quota of young local talent from the Peninsula and should be commended for their spirit and endeavour in regrouping after their poor start. Given the respective ladder positions of the teams it was a tremendous effort to get lift their intensity after a poor start and to come close to causing a major upset against a third placed Casey which still had nine AFL listed players. Utility Rohan Bail was outstanding for the second week running. He showed great pace and has a knack of being able to win and deliver the ball crisply to a team mate and could well be in contention for a plane trip to Perth next weekend. Matt Warnock was great in defence, cutting his man out of the game and winning plenty of possessions, Daniel Bell was solid and Austin Wonaeamirri seems to have shrugged off last week's shoulder problems showing some good signs although he is still struggling with consistency. Danny Nicholls was strong with his on ball efforts and Tim Mohr was also put in a strong display. Recruit Matt Fieldsend from De La Salle played his best game yet for the club and acting skipper James Wall showed his versatility kicking three goals in the absence of some of the regular talls through injury. With the VFL competition moving past the two-thirds mark and the season is moving into its business end, coach Brad Gotch would be satisfied with the four points but not the performance. His team will need to lift its intensity if it is to match it with the competition's other leading lights. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Rohan Bail 11 kicks 6 handballs 1 mark 2 goals - excellent pace and disposal. Daniel Bell 6 kicks 15 handballs 6 marks - played hard and did his job. Jack Fitzpatrick 10 kicks 6 handballs 10 marks - good to see the youngster getting more of the action. Neville Jetta 7 kicks 3 handballs 5 marks - quiet day at the office. Tom McNamara 8 kicks 6 handballs 4 marks - working his way back after injury. Cale Morton 12 kicks 12 handballs 6 marks - workmanlike and could do better at this level. Luke Tapscott 14 game 4 handballs 8 marks - handy return to senior footy after a long lay off. Matthew Warnock 18 kicks 9 handballs 14 marks - best on ground. Austin Wonaemirri 11 kicks 4 handballs 5 marks - excellent first quarter, strong in last but little in between. Casey Scorpions 7.3.45 7.6.48 8.7.55 9.10.64 Frankston 1.1.7 2.5.17 4.8.32 7.12.54 Goals Casey Scorpions Wall 3 Bail Wonaemirri 2 MacReadie Purdy Frankston Proctor 6 Clark Best Casey Scorpions Warnock Bail Nicholls Fieldsend Mohr Daniel Bell Frankston Clark Proctor Miller Bosward Kennedy Gabriel The Casey Reserves had a big win over lowly Frankston, the highlights being the goalkicking prowess of Brad Sykes, Matt Moore and Aaron Hillberge. David Bell was nominated as the club's best with another strong effort and young Sam Blease showed tons of class and pace on a wing. He is gradually increasing game time and should hopefully play full game with rotations next week. Casey Scorpions 8.4 .52 10.4.64 17.12.114 24.17.161 Frankston 1.5.11 3.10.22 4.13.37 5.22.52 Goals Casey Scorpions Sykes 6 Moore 5 Hillberge 4 Tynan 3 David Bell Plummer2 Petropoulos Smith Frankston Alanis 2 Mitchell Hunt Anwyl Best Casey Scorpions Bell Sykes Tynan Egan Hillberge Blease Frankston Sienkiewicz Mitchell Wapshott Gooda Wise Williams

And the winner is ... Over to you Joeboy. You're the judge!

Your votes please ... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

BOOST by The Oracle Melbourne has been going through a rough trot since the balmy days of its magical three wins on end in April. The Demons' only win since then came in steamy Darwin when they fell in by a solitary point. There had been no victories in front of a home crowd for two and a half months when they took on the flagging Bombers at the MCG. Two sides bereft of confidence facing off against each other made for a fascinating contest but which would emerge with the boost of a much needed win? When Jared Rivers made a meal of a routine short pass to Jack Trengove after taking a safe mark early in the opening term, it was a case of deja vu all over again with Melbourne trailling by a goal in the first minute of the game. Then they threw away the script. Colin Sylvia, coming back after several weeks with a freak toe injury, took a courageous mark and a 50 metre penalty to even the score and, not long after, a botch up from a Bomber defender gifted Brad Green his first goal. Melbourne was on its way to winning its first opening term in several weeks. With Mark Jamar dominating the rucks, the Demons took a handy 16 point lead into the first break, a margin they managed to double thanks to some confidence boosting play led by veterans Green and Cameron Bruce aided by a lack of discipline from the Bombers that enabled Melbourne to benefit from a swag of 50m penalties. During the second term, the fans were treated to some more happy glimpses of the future with first year player Jack Trengove converting a set shot and then setting up Liam Jurrah for his first goal of the season after missing the first four months after suffering a shoulder injury in a practice match. For a club that has been short on star quality for so long, the signposts are pointing towards the heavens but let's not get too carried away just yet! After half time, the Bombers must have located the lost script from the first quarter when they kicked three goals in the first six minutes. They were almost back in the game when a lucky free kick and a goal to Jack Watts gave the Demons another boost. With Green starring in front of goal, they took back the initiative to have a handy buffer of 27 points at the final break. The Bombers had compounded their woes with some poor kicking for goal but much of that could be attributed to the pressure applied by Melbourne's defence. The Demons dominated the first half of the final term, scoring four goals and pushing their lead beyond 50 points before putting the cue in the rack. Given that they travel across the continent for next week's game against the Dockers, it was probably a fair idea to loosen the pressure rather than to move in for the kill. As a result Essendon scored six of the last seven goals in an elongated junk time. Jamar in the ruck, Sylvia (29 disposals and two goals) and Green (five goals) were the stars and Lynden Dunn a quiet achiever but there were some great signs from youngsters Trengove, Tom Scully and Jordie McKenzie in the midfield. McKenzie's tackling was reminiscent of early in the season when his pressure was so important. James Frawley and Colin Garland were majestic in defence and Jurrah and Watts are heralding an exciting future for the Demon forward line. A week's a long time in football. A week ago, we were wondering from where Melbourne's next win would come. If the Demons can break their away from home interstate hoodoo next week, they'll be a game and a half away from the top eight. In this season where we have seen unlikely and unexpected winning runs from Hawthorn, Adelaide and Richmond, who knows what could happen from there once a team receives a much needed winning boost? Melbourne 6.2.38 10.6.66 14.7.91 19.8.122 Essendon 3.4.22 4.10.34 8.16.64 14.19.103 Goals Melbourne Green 5 Bruce Jamar Jurrah Sylvia Trengove 2 Bate Bennell Dunn Watts Essendon Neagle 3, Lovett-Murray Stanton 2, Davey Dyson Jetta Monfries Reimers Watson Zaharakis Best Melbourne Green Sylvia Jamar Bruce Trengove Dunn Essendon Zaharakis Lovett-Murray Winderlich Watson Injuries Melbourne Nil Essendon Nil Changes Melbourne Nil Essendon Scott Gumbleton, replaced in the selected side by Sam Lonergan Reports Melbourne Nil Essendon Nil Umpires Kennedy Armstrong Bowen Crowd 49,203 at the MCG

YOU'VE GOT TO CARRY THAT WEIGHT by Clyde the (ex) Clifton Hill Cabbie Sometimes older people like me suffer from the problem of remembering things, but when I was given the task of previewing this Sunday's Melbourne v Essendon game at the G, I gleefully accepted after instantly recalling the events of 2000 with a mixture of fondness and anger. That was the year that Demonland began; the year when these same two sides played off in the Grand Final (tragically, the Demons failed to replicate the triumph of '48 which was when I proudly became licenced to drive my then shiny new black cab) and the year of the Sydney Olympic Games. I remember fondly how I went to the game full of confidence and then I recalled with anger how I felt let down when Essendon pummelled my young Demons into submission. There are very few players from that team around these days. James McDonald was nursing his knee after an ACL and Cameron Bruce pulled out of the grand final with an injury. Only Brad Green of the current crop at the club was around but, if my memory serves me well, he was on his way to hospital early in the game courtesy of a blow to his oesophagus from one of the Bomber thugs. The day ended tragically but I figured that the club was on its way up and I was about to taste some premiership glory. Back in those days, we had a Prime Minister who didn't wear a dress (well, at least not to my knowledge), I could afford to visit the local for a drink, buy a packet smokes without mortgaging the family home (I've given it up now and so should you) and I could still have a decent chat with the punters in the back seat of my cab about the weather, politics, fashion, sport and lots of other things that are no longer politically correct to discuss. These days I don't drive a cab and I miss it a lot. People don't talk to me about much anymore but then again, in many cases, they don't communicate face to face with each other either. They're all on their iPhones twittering, googling or facebooking and I have great difficulty in finding people who want to talk about football at all. This applies to fans of all teams including Essendon. The last one I knew was poor old Ernie at the nursing home but he hasn't uttered a single word since the night they gave Sheeds the heave ho at Bomberland. Nowadays he does nothing but sit mournfully in a little corner of his room waving his red and black jacket over his head. It's pathetic really! Still, I want to discuss the current predicaments of the two teams as they limber up to face each other this week - particularly about how two great traditional clubs that led the pack and played off in a grand final a decade ago, now find themselves occupying space in the AFL's nether regions? After all, it's been well over a month since either the Bombers or the Demons have won a game. How do the clubs, the players and the fans feel about this sad state of affairs? Why isn't there any emotion or anger coming from the Demon camp? Why aren't they getting fired up at the prospect of playing a team whose form isn't all that flash? Where are the calls to avenge the hits on Brad Green and Troy Simmonds from a decade ago? Melbourne fans have by and large accepted their fate. The mantra about their team being in "development phase" seems to have sunk in. Unfortunately, the prospect of a long wait before the team can taste some success seems to be driving some supporters to distraction as can be seen from this prime example - Police search for armed demon. I don't condone his actions but certainly understand the frustrations this poor blighter is going through at the moment. We live in desperate times. For us Demon desperados, there will be only a slow, inexorable improvement over the years and if we exercise some restraint, we might enjoy the fruits of our patience with some pleasing results at around about the same time that Burkina Faso plays off against Liechtenstein for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. Of course, there's a good chance that by then I'll be in a corner with Ernie gleefully swinging my red and blue 2008 MFC members scarf in the air without a care in the world. At least the wait will have been worthwhile (one can only hope). THE GAME Melbourne v Essendon at the MCG Sunday, 11 July 2009 at 2.10pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 77 wins Essendon 126 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 41 wins Essendon 63 wins 1 draw Since 2000: Melbourne 4 wins Essendon 10 wins The Coaches Bailey 0 wins Knights 2 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 Delayed at 3.30pm RADIO K-Rock Triple M 3AW THE BETTING Melbourne $1.96 to win Essendon $1.84 to win THE LAST TIME THEY MET Essendon 19.17.131 defeated Melbourne 13.5.83 at Etihad Stadium Round 12, 2009 Somehow, Melbourne stayed in the game until half time when it was down by only two goals. The Bombers blew them apart with a sensational seven goal third quarter. The game was otherwise known as the night of Liam Jurrah's debut and he didn't let the fans down, kicking the first of his many miraculous goals for the season. When the game was over, the pessimists called it a shellacking, the optimists pointed to the fact that the damage was done in only one quarter. The realists started looking towards the day when the club would claim he first two selections in the national draft at the end of the year and the rest of us just went home. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Jamie Bennell Jared Rivers Clint Bartram Half backs Colin Garland James Frawley Tom Scully Centreline Nathan Jones Jack Trengove Brad Green Half forwards Lynden Dunn Jack Watts Cameron Bruce Forwards Colin Sylvia Matthew Bate Jordie McKenzie Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Aaron Davey Interchange Kyle Cheney Paul Johnson Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Emergencies Rohan Bail Neville Jetta Addam Maric In Paul Johnson Liam Jurrah Colin Sylvia Out Jack Grimes (hamstring) Neville Jetta (omitted) Jake Spencer (back) ESSENDON Backs Andrew Welsh Cale Hooker Heath Hocking Half backs Mark McVeigh Michael Hurley Kyle Reimers Centreline Leroy Jetta Jobe Watson Courtenay Dempsey Half forwards Brent Stanton Scott Gumbleton Angus Monfries Forwards Alwyn Davey Jay Neagle David Zaharakis Followers Patrick Ryder Jason Winderlich Ben Howlett Interchange Tom Bellchambers Travis Colyer Ricky Dyson Nathan Lovett-Murray Emergencies Sam Lonergan Jake Melsham Brent Prismall In Travis Colyer Courtenay Dempsey Ricky Dyson Ben Howlett Angus Monfries Jay Neagle Out Sam Lonergan Jake Melsham Brent Prismall Michael Quinn (all omitted) Henry Slattery (ribs) Tyson Slattery (omitted) THE BOMBER BLITZ For the Essendon viewpoint, I went searching in the direction of Bomber Blitz, their supporter website – a feral version of Demonland if you like. I discovered that, despite the prospect of an axe hovering above his head, Bomber coach Matthew Knights believes his team remains in AFL Finals contention despite four losses on the trot. "The reality is we're two games out [of the eight]," Knights said on Tuesday morning. "We are a long way back in the ruck, that's a fact and we're way back with a lot of other teams that would probably still think that the door is slightly ajar. "But we let one of those teams jump us last week … now every win you give to an opposition or every time you get beaten, you have someone pushing up a little bit harder. "It's still very realistic, but we're going to have to improve our footy dramatically if we're going to do that." So what about the supporters? At least some of them are somewhat less sanguine about their prospects. Sameold predicts a Melbourne win by 84 points: "Well what can I say about Essendon playing Melbourne? The stats say that..... and that bloke from Melbourne looks like a peanut... and I'll be wearing my lucky shirt....and the Bombers will tear them a new.... Forget it! My will to predict a positive outcome for Dons is about as strong as their will to win a game of footy. Bracing one's self to be flogged by flogs may make it feel moderately better post loss." Then there's mcphee33 who says: Melbourne by 46 "Melbourne's problem is their forward line, they should not have any problems playing against our pathetic backline." Dubai opines that the Demons will win by 25 points: "Their form at the MCG this year has been reasonably good. Last time they played there, they drew with Collingwood. They beat Brisbane by 50 points when the Lions were undefeated and went within a goal of the Pies the first time and the Doggies. They must be pumped and ready." I have to admit that I haven't seen a Melbourne team pumped and ready for a while. Most recently, they've developed a habit of starting their games in a stupor and waking up between three and five goals in arrears before mounting a comeback that eventually falters in the end under the weight of playing catch up over two and a half quarters. Woe betide the Bombers therefore if the Demons kick the first goal or two or even find themselves in front at half time. As it happens, the team holding the half time lead has won on every occasion that the teams have met since the year 2000. I take on board what Bombers' fan Dubai says about Melbourne at the MCG. The Demons have beaten Essendon in two of their past three contests at the ground. Their last up effort at Etihad against St. Kilda was a fair bit more presentable a performance that that of their opponents this week. The final determinant from my point of view is based on who the teams have out of their side and this is where I sway against the Bombers. Melbourne is missing its skipper James McDonald with a hamstring but it should, at least get back Colin Sylvia and the exciting Liam Jurrah. These players should fit nicely into the Demon forward line that has been struggling since earlier in the year when Ricky Petterd was kicking goals. The Dees should also be buoyed by the signings of Petterd, Colin Garland and Jared Rivers. On the other hand, there's a pall over Essendon with some calling for Knights' head and key players in Dustin Fletcher (suspension), David Hille (hamstring), Tayte Pears (pancreas) all missing. They've also lost both Slatterys - Henry and Tyson - but that's OK because my mother once told me "Slattery will get you nowhere (or was I deaf even back then?). The clincher for me is Fletcher who never fails to destroy the Demons with those Inspector Gadget arms that invariably turn certain Demon goals into touched points. That's why I'm tipping Melbourne to win by the length of Fletcher's absent fingernails and to lift a bit of weight off Dean Bailey's mind. Dees by 1 point. [Disclosure: Clyde is currently coming 21st in the Demonland football tipping competition with 57 winners to date. He trails the leader by 22]

YOU'VE GOT TO CARRY THAT WEIGHT by Clyde the (ex) Clifton Hill Cabbie Sometimes older people like me suffer from the problem of remembering things, but when I was given the task of previewing this Sunday's Melbourne v Essendon game at the G, I gleefully accepted after instantly recalling the events of 2000 with a mixture of fondness and anger. That was the year that Demonland began; the year when these same two sides played off in the Grand Final (tragically, the Demons failed to replicate the triumph of '48 which was when I proudly became licenced to drive my then shiny new black cab) and the year of the Sydney Olympic Games. I remember fondly how I went to the game full of confidence and then I recalled with anger how I felt let down when Essendon pummelled my young Demons into submission. There are very few players from that team around these days. James McDonald was nursing his knee after an ACL and Cameron Bruce pulled out of the grand final with an injury. Only Brad Green of the current crop at the club was around but, if my memory serves me well, he was on his way to hospital early in the game courtesy of a blow to his oesophagus from one of the Bomber thugs. The day ended tragically but I figured that the club was on its way up and I was about to taste some premiership glory. Back in those days, we had a Prime Minister who didn't wear a dress (well, at least not to my knowledge), I could afford to visit the local for a drink, buy a packet smokes without mortgaging the family home (I've given it up now and so should you) and I could still have a decent chat with the punters in the back seat of my cab about the weather, politics, fashion, sport and lots of other things that are no longer politically correct to discuss. These days I don't drive a cab and I miss it a lot. People don't talk to me about much anymore but then again, in many cases, they don't communicate face to face with each other either. They're all on their iPhones twittering, googling or facebooking and I have great difficulty in finding people who want to talk about football at all. This applies to fans of all teams including Essendon. The last one I knew was poor old Ernie at the nursing home but he hasn't uttered a single word since the night they gave Sheeds the heave ho at Bomberland. Nowadays he does nothing but sit mournfully in a little corner of his room waving his red and black jacket over his head. It's pathetic really! Still, I want to discuss the current predicaments of the two teams as they limber up to face each other this week - particularly about how two great traditional clubs that led the pack and played off in a grand final a decade ago, now find themselves occupying space in the AFL's nether regions? After all, it's been well over a month since either the Bombers or the Demons have won a game. How do the clubs, the players and the fans feel about this sad state of affairs? Why isn't there any emotion or anger coming from the Demon camp? Why aren't they getting fired up at the prospect of playing a team whose form isn't all that flash? Where are the calls to avenge the hits on Brad Green and Troy Simmonds from a decade ago? Melbourne fans have by and large accepted their fate. The mantra about their team being in "development phase" seems to have sunk in. Unfortunately, the prospect of a long wait before the team can taste some success seems to be driving some supporters to distraction as can be seen from this prime example - Police search for armed demon. I don't condone his actions but certainly understand the frustrations this poor blighter is going through at the moment. We live in desperate times. For us Demon desperados, there will be only a slow, inexorable improvement over the years and if we exercise some restraint, we might enjoy the fruits of our patience with some pleasing results at around about the same time that Burkina Faso plays off against Liechtenstein for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. Of course, there's a good chance that by then I'll be in a corner with Ernie gleefully swinging my red and blue 2008 MFC members scarf in the air without a care in the world. At least the wait will have been worthwhile (one can only hope). THE GAME Melbourne v Essendon at the MCG Sunday, 11 July 2009 at 2.10pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 77 wins Essendon 126 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 41 wins Essendon 63 wins 1 draw Since 2000: Melbourne 4 wins Essendon 10 wins The Coaches Bailey 0 wins Knights 2 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 Delayed at 3.30pm RADIO K-Rock Triple M 3AW THE BETTING Melbourne $1.96 to win Essendon $1.84 to win THE LAST TIME THEY MET Essendon 19.17.131 defeated Melbourne 13.5.83 at Etihad Stadium Round 12, 2009 Somehow, Melbourne stayed in the game until half time when it was down by only two goals. The Bombers blew them apart with a sensational seven goal third quarter. The game was otherwise known as the night of Liam Jurrah's debut and he didn't let the fans down, kicking the first of his many miraculous goals for the season. When the game was over, the pessimists called it a shellacking, the optimists pointed to the fact that the damage was done in only one quarter. The realists started looking towards the day when the club would claim he first two selections in the national draft at the end of the year and the rest of us just went home. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Jamie Bennell Jared Rivers Clint Bartram Half backs Colin Garland James Frawley Tom Scully Centreline Nathan Jones Jack Trengove Brad Green Half forwards Lynden Dunn Jack Watts Cameron Bruce Forwards Colin Sylvia Matthew Bate Jordie McKenzie Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Aaron Davey Interchange Kyle Cheney Paul Johnson Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Emergencies Rohan Bail Neville Jetta Addam Maric In Paul Johnson Liam Jurrah Colin Sylvia Out Jack Grimes (hamstring) Neville Jetta (omitted) Jake Spencer (back) ESSENDON Backs Andrew Welsh Cale Hooker Heath Hocking Half backs Mark McVeigh Michael Hurley Kyle Reimers Centreline Leroy Jetta Jobe Watson Courtenay Dempsey Half forwards Brent Stanton Scott Gumbleton Angus Monfries Forwards Alwyn Davey Jay Neagle David Zaharakis Followers Patrick Ryder Jason Winderlich Ben Howlett Interchange Tom Bellchambers Travis Colyer Ricky Dyson Nathan Lovett-Murray Emergencies Sam Lonergan Jake Melsham Brent Prismall In Travis Colyer Courtenay Dempsey Ricky Dyson Ben Howlett Angus Monfries Jay Neagle Out Sam Lonergan Jake Melsham Brent Prismall Michael Quinn (all omitted) Henry Slattery (ribs) Tyson Slattery (omitted) THE BOMBER BLITZ For the Essendon viewpoint, I went searching in the direction of Bomber Blitz, their supporter website – a feral version of Demonland if you like. I discovered that, despite the prospect of an axe hovering above his head, Bomber coach Matthew Knights believes his team remains in AFL Finals contention despite four losses on the trot. "The reality is we're two games out [of the eight]," Knights said on Tuesday morning. "We are a long way back in the ruck, that's a fact and we're way back with a lot of other teams that would probably still think that the door is slightly ajar. "But we let one of those teams jump us last week … now every win you give to an opposition or every time you get beaten, you have someone pushing up a little bit harder. "It's still very realistic, but we're going to have to improve our footy dramatically if we're going to do that." So what about the supporters? At least some of them are somewhat less sanguine about their prospects. Sameold predicts a Melbourne win by 84 points: "Well what can I say about Essendon playing Melbourne? The stats say that..... and that bloke from Melbourne looks like a peanut... and I'll be wearing my lucky shirt....and the Bombers will tear them a new.... Forget it! My will to predict a positive outcome for Dons is about as strong as their will to win a game of footy. Bracing one's self to be flogged by flogs may make it feel moderately better post loss." Then there's mcphee33 who says: Melbourne by 46 "Melbourne's problem is their forward line, they should not have any problems playing against our pathetic backline." Dubai opines that the Demons will win by 25 points: "Their form at the MCG this year has been reasonably good. Last time they played there, they drew with Collingwood. They beat Brisbane by 50 points when the Lions were undefeated and went within a goal of the Pies the first time and the Doggies. They must be pumped and ready." I have to admit that I haven't seen a Melbourne team pumped and ready for a while. Most recently, they've developed a habit of starting their games in a stupor and waking up between three and five goals in arrears before mounting a comeback that eventually falters in the end under the weight of playing catch up over two and a half quarters. Woe betide the Bombers therefore if the Demons kick the first goal or two or even find themselves in front at half time. As it happens, the team holding the half time lead has won on every occasion that the teams have met since the year 2000. I take on board what Bombers' fan Dubai says about Melbourne at the MCG. The Demons have beaten Essendon in two of their past three contests at the ground. Their last up effort at Etihad against St. Kilda was a fair bit more presentable a performance that that of their opponents this week. The final determinant from my point of view is based on who the teams have out of their side and this is where I sway against the Bombers. Melbourne is missing its skipper James McDonald with a hamstring but it should, at least get back Colin Sylvia and the exciting Liam Jurrah. These players should fit nicely into the Demon forward line that has been struggling since earlier in the year when Ricky Petterd was kicking goals. The Dees should also be buoyed by the signings of Petterd, Colin Garland and Jared Rivers. On the other hand, there's a pall over Essendon with some calling for Knights' head and key players in Dustin Fletcher (suspension), David Hille (hamstring), Tayte Pears (pancreas) all missing. They've also lost both Slatterys - Henry and Tyson - but that's OK because my mother once told me "Slattery will get you nowhere (or was I deaf even back then?). The clincher for me is Fletcher who never fails to destroy the Demons with those Inspector Gadget arms that invariably turn certain Demon goals into touched points. That's why I'm tipping Melbourne to win by the length of Fletcher's absent fingernails and to lift a bit of weight off Dean Bailey's mind. Dees by 1 point. [Disclosure: Clyde is currently coming 21st in the Demonland football tipping competition with 57 winners to date. He trails the leader by 22]

Back at Etihad a year ago on a Friday night. They creamed us; ESSENDON Backs Mark McVeigh Tayte Pears Dustin Fletcher Half backs Courtenay Dempsey Adam McPhee Heath Hocking Centreline Andrew Lovett Ricky Dyson Brent Prismall Half forwards Hayden Skipworth Cale Hooker Jason Winderlich Forwards Matthew Lloyd Scott Lucas Alwyn Davey Followers Patrick Ryder Jobe Watson Brent Stanton Interchange Sam Lonergan Angus Monfries Kyle Reimers Andrew Welsh Emergencies Jay Neagle Tyson Slattery David Zaharakis In Dustin Fletcher Andrew Welsh Jason Winderlich Out Bachar Houli (virus) Jay Neagle David Zaharakis MELBOURNE Backs Matthew Whelan Stefan Martin Clint Bartram Half backs Aaron Davey Jared Rivers James Frawley Centreline Neville Jetta Brock McLean Jamie Bennell Half forwards Russell Robertson Brad Miller Matthew Bate Forwards Brad Green Colin Sylvia Liam Jungarray Jurrah Followers Paul Johnson Jack Grimes Cameron Bruce Interchange Kyle Cheney Brent Moloney Cale Morton Jack Watts Emergencies Lynden Dunn Addam Maric Ricky Petterd In Clint Bartram Jamie Bennell Neville Jetta Liam Jungarray Jurrah Stefan Martin Brad Miller Out Daniel Bell Mark Jamar (quad) Nathan Jones (virus) Addam Maric James McDonald (knee) Matthew Warnock (virus)

The Russian and his mate Beamer head the field:- 89.112 Mark Jamar 75.042 Brent Moloney 71.599 James Frawley 70.951 James McDonald 64.773 Jack Grimes 51.971 Jack Trengove 50.651 Brad Green 38.586 Tom Scully 36.483 Aaron Davey 33.878 Matthew Bate 32.347 Colin Sylvia 27.367 Jordie McKenzie 21.169 Cameron Bruce 20.656 Ricky Petterd 19.525 Nathan Jones 18.567 Jamie Bennell 17.257 Jordan Gysberts 17.065 Matthew Warnock 11.717 Lynden Dunn 11.680 Clint Bartram 8.662 Joel Macdonald 8.500 Cale Morton 8.211 Rohan Bail 8.073 Neville Jetta 7.064 Brad Miller 6.353 Jack Watts 4.872 Colin Garland 4.752 Cale Morton

SNAIL'S PACE by Whispering Jack The progress seems to be slowing down remarkably. We're moving at a snail's pace which is disappointing but at least the general thrust is forwards. Several weeks ago on a humid night in Darwin, Melbourne equalled its 2009 quota of wins well before the half way mark of the season. On Queens Birthday, it added two premiership points with the tie against Collingwood and, even if participation in the finals was out of the question, we expected to see more signs of improvement as the season progressed. However, the team is stuttering along with a weak performance in Adelaide and a disappointing final quarter fade out against St. Kilda that left it 35 points in arrears at the end of the game. The Etihad Stadium defeat against one of the premiership favourites wasn't a capitulation but the Saints were nowhere near their full strength. They were missing two key tall forwards and their best tagger but that didn't matter - they still managed to quell their nominated danger man in Aaron Davey, they nullified Brent Moloney, made mincemeat of the Melbourne forward line and managed to score the ton for the evening. It was a neat piece of work, executed in first gear, and came after disposing of the Cats a week earlier but some of their fans might have come away feeling it was a lacklustre effort given that it was nowhere near the painful thrashing inflicted on the Demons the last time they met at this ground two years ago. For Melbourne's part, it had to be an improvement on last week when it crumbled against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. The team started slowly and again conceded at least the first three goals of the game in what has become a characteristic feature of its performance. It seems as if it is somehow ordained in the stars that Demon fans must endure a weekly dose of mental torture in the first ten to fifteen minutes every time their team takes the field. As if the fumbling, the miskicks and poor decision-making weren’t enough, the free kicks all went St. Kilda's way (at one stage 7-0) giving the home team that easy early break. When the early haze lifted, they suddenly started winning the clearances and contested possessions, tackling and applying pressure and eventually worked their way back to almost level terms by quarter time. A pleasing feature of this was the contribution of youngsters Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove who each gathered nine touches in the opening stanza. The teams sparred, pushed and prodded and the Saints, with their superiority in class and experience threatened to get away on two or three occasions over the following two quarters and, to their credit, the Demons plugged away and fought hard to limit the deficit to 16 points at the final break and their task was magnified after half-time by the loss of Grimes. Life was made even more difficult by the lack of a key marking forward. Jack Watts was brave and much better than last week but he roamed far and wide. Matthew Bate was covered and the club has decided not to push any of its key defensive assets into attack. Matthew Warnock was dropped to Casey. The lack of tall who could mark inside the fifty metre arc (perhaps a legacy of not recruiting for such a player three or four years ago?) was accentuated by the way the players insisted on pumping the ball into attack when St. Kilda pushed players behind the ball. We saw players kicking to a five on one or two and just knew that inevitably, the ball would come out without a score. Just as we knew that the young team would slow down and fade at the end so that a 35 point defeat at Etihad Stadium wasn’t all that bad in the circumstances. Brad Green worked hard with 26 touches and two goals and Brent Moloney and Jordie McKenzie helped make the midfield competitive but they weren't ever good enough to threaten a win. Perhaps next week? Melbourne 3.2.20 5.7.37 8.9.57 9.11.65 St Kilda 3.4.22 8.5.53 11.7.73 15.10.100 Goals Melbourne Dunn 2 Green 2 Bennell Jetta Moloney Trengove Watts St Kilda Milne 3 Hayes Montagna Schneider 2 Dal Santo Fisher Goddard Jones Stanley Steven Best Melbourne Green McKenzie Trengove Watts Moloney St Kilda Montagna Goddard Gilbert Milne Jones Schneider Injuries Melbourne Grimes (hamstring) St Kilda Nil Reports Melbourne Nil St. Kilda Nil Changes Melbourne Nil St Kilda Justin Koschitzke (ankle) replaced in selected side by Dawson Umpires Kennedy Jeffries Keating Crowd 31,993 at Etihad Stadium

And I'm closing this topic as I would like to keep Demonland going into the future.

Please be careful with the inuendo people. Richmond Football Club will make a statement this afternoon. Let's leave it at that at the moment and no more speculation.

CASEY STRIKES BACK by KC from Casey Things weren't looking very good for the Casey Scorpions during the first break of their game against the Werribee Tigers at Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee. The team was coming off a hiding a fortnight earlier at Williamstown, had been temporarily banished from its home ground at Casey Fields on account of its poor condition and it was already 19 points in arrears of the Tigers after a fifth consecutive single goal quarter. The opening half hour of the game had seen a team bereft of confidence in the face of intense Werribee pressure, conceding the first four goals of the game before a late major from Rohan Bail, who along with the busy Michael Stockdale had been the Scorpions' best player for the term, at least made the scoreboard respectable. Coach Brad Gotch calmly addressed his players at the huddle, giving them instructions and requiring them to increase their intensity and apply more pressure on the opposition. He pushed Cale Morton behind the ball, gave Michael Newton the relief rucking role to help out young Jack Fitzpatrick and generally opening up the forward line. The effect was immediate. The game had begun in reasonably good conditions with the ground mainly firm under foot apart from a bit of a gluepot in the centre. The Tigers had the early advantage of the wind but, with the change of ends, the Scorpions took the initiative with Colin Sylvia and Liam Jurrah in devastating form up forward. Sylvia booted two goals and Jurrah one in the first nine minutes and the gap had been bridged. Together, the duo set the game alight and returned life to their team. Suddenly, players were running, switching the play and using all their skills to advantage. Newton was giving a lot of drive and Jurrah was back to his magical best kicking goals, setting them up and giving them to teammates. Ryan Macreadie and Danny Nicholls were also important players and acting skipper James Wall was steady and strong in defence. By half time the locals were left stunned in the wake of Casey's seven goal to nil second quarter. The Tigers were not done yet. After an early goal to Newton, Werribee retook the initiative with four consecutive goals to creep to within eight points before the Scorpions regrouped with a series of goals later in the term to give them a strong lead of 29 points at the last change. Injuries to James Strauss, Austin Wonaeamirri and Luke McDonald left Casey with a bench of only two. With limited rotations, the final quarter became something of a slog as the darkening light was replaced by the Werribee floodlighting and Casey cruised to a 41 point win. The win lifted the team's percentage above 110% after last week's debacle but left it in third position with 9 wins and 2 defeats. Next week the Scorpions visit lowly Frankston but it must not let its guard down against its neighbouring traditional rival. With some doubt about the status of its home games in coming weeks, Casey will need to make every post a winner in the road home to the finals. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Rohan Bail (13 kicks, 7 handballs, 3 marks, 1 goal) - probably Casey's best player over the full four quarters. Kept his team in the game when it was down early, marked well, used the ball cleverly and was in good touch. Daniel Bell (8 kicks, 9 handballs, 5 marks)- had his usual run with role and acquitted himself well in that regard but was prone to make his usual mistakes. Jack Fitzpatrick (7 kicks, 2 handballs, 4 marks) - tall and gangly, he was given the early ruckwork and showed a little bit before appearing to run out of steam. Liam Jurrah (8 kicks, 6 handballs, 6 marks, 3 goals)- took a little while to get going but, when he did so early in the second quarter, he turned the game on its head with his sparkling ball control, his spectacular goals and goal assists. Addam Maric (16 kicks, 5 handballs, 7 marks) - busy around the flanks and wings, featured in several passages of play and got a lot of the football but was probably overshadowed by the sheer brilliance of teammates Jurrah and Sylvia. Brad Miller (5 kicks, 7 handballs, 7 marks, 1 goal) – took a few marks and kicked a goal but was not influential in terms of the game. Cale Morton (11 kicks, 7 handballs, 9 marks) – started slowly but seemed to gain confidence when moved into defence where he used his ability to find the ball, coupled with great vision and execution to hit targets. Michael Newton (17 kicks, 4 handballs, 8 marks, 2 goals) – after a slow start, Newton produced one of his better games at this level after he was moved into the ruck and upped his work rate considerably. He marked well all around the ground and is showing continued improved in almost all facets of his game. James Strauss (6 kicks, 2 marks) – had limited influence on the game before coming off with a hamstring injury. Colin Sylvia (14 kicks, 7 handballs, 8 marks, 3 goals) – on that performance, I have absolutely no idea why someone of his calibre was required to make his come back through the VFL. Austin Wonaeamirri (2 kicks, 2 handballs, 1 mark, 1 goal) – injured his shoulder and had little influence. Matthew Warnock (9 kicks, 7 handballs, 7 marks) - at best workmanlike. Made a few mistakes in defence but didn't really have any major challenges on the day. Casey Scorpions 1.4.10 8.8.56 13.12.90 17.15.117 Werribee Tigers 4.5.29 4.10.34 8.13.61 10.16.76 Goals Casey Scorpions Jurrah Sylvia 3 MacReadie Newton 2 Bail Fieldsend L McDonald Miller Nicholls Wall Wonaemirri Werribee Tigers Chisholm 3 Castello 2 O'Keefe Obst Priest Prismall Sharp Best Casey Scorpions Bail Wall Sylvia Newton Morton MacReadie Werribee Tigers Dickson Obst Castello Tarrant Sharp Rockefeller The reserves played third placed Werribee and stayed with the Tigers in the first half but fell behind when the "hosts" produced a stunning eight goal third quarter to put the game beyond their reach. Three Demons took part in this match, all of them coming back from injury. Sam Blease showed blistering pace and kicked two early goals before being rested at half time. Luke Tapscott was hard in and under and should add some much needed grunt when fully fit and Stephan Martin had a satisfactory return and scored a goal. Casey Scorpions 3.5.23 6.9.45 7.11.53 13.14.92 Werribee Tigers 4.2.26 7.5.47 15.9.99 21.11.137 Goals Casey ScorpionsHillberge 4 Blease 2 David Bell Jones Martin Patti Petropoulos Purdy Smith Werribee Tigers Henderson Perkins 5 Denton 3 Laidlaw 2 Baddeley Bongetti Garland McKerracher Meredith Moloney Best Casey Scorpions Patti Smith Costigan Weekes Cleven Tapscott Werribee Tigers Moloney Harrison Denton Henderson Hartigan Baddeley

CASEY STRIKES BACK by KC from Casey Things weren't looking very good for the Casey Scorpions during the first break of their game against the Werribee Tigers at Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee. The team was coming off a hiding a fortnight earlier at Williamstown, had been temporarily banished from its home ground at Casey Fields on account of its poor condition and it was already 19 points in arrears of the Tigers after a fifth consecutive single goal quarter. The opening half hour of the game had seen a team bereft of confidence in the face of intense Werribee pressure, conceding the first four goals of the game before a late major from Rohan Bail, who along with the busy Michael Stockdale had been the Scorpions' best player for the term, at least made the scoreboard respectable. Coach Brad Gotch calmly addressed his players at the huddle, giving them instructions and requiring them to increase their intensity and apply more pressure on the opposition. He pushed Cale Morton behind the ball, gave Michael Newton the relief rucking role to help out young Jack Fitzpatrick and generally opening up the forward line. The effect was immediate. The game had begun in reasonably good conditions with the ground mainly firm under foot apart from a bit of a gluepot in the centre. The Tigers had the early advantage of the wind but, with the change of ends, the Scorpions took the initiative with Colin Sylvia and Liam Jurrah in devastating form up forward. Sylvia booted two goals and Jurrah one in the first nine minutes and the gap had been bridged. Together, the duo set the game alight and returned life to their team. Suddenly, players were running, switching the play and using all their skills to advantage. Newton was giving a lot of drive and Jurrah was back to his magical best kicking goals, setting them up and giving them to teammates. Ryan Macreadie and Danny Nicholls were also important players and acting skipper James Wall was steady and strong in defence. By half time the locals were left stunned in the wake of Casey's seven goal to nil second quarter. The Tigers were not done yet. After an early goal to Newton, Werribee retook the initiative with four consecutive goals to creep to within eight points before the Scorpions regrouped with a series of goals later in the term to give them a strong lead of 29 points at the last change. Injuries to James Strauss, Austin Wonaeamirri and Luke McDonald left Casey with a bench of only two. With limited rotations, the final quarter became something of a slog as the darkening light was replaced by the Werribee floodlighting and Casey cruised to a 41 point win. The win lifted the team's percentage above 110% after last week's debacle but left it in third position with 9 wins and 2 defeats. Next week the Scorpions visit lowly Frankston but it must not let its guard down against its neighbouring traditional rival. With some doubt about the status of its home games in coming weeks, Casey will need to make every post a winner in the road home to the finals. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Rohan Bail (13 kicks, 7 handballs, 3 marks, 1 goal) - probably Casey's best player over the full four quarters. Kept his team in the game when it was down early, marked well, used the ball cleverly and was in good touch. Daniel Bell (8 kicks, 9 handballs, 5 marks)- had his usual run with role and acquitted himself well in that regard but was prone to make his usual mistakes. Jack Fitzpatrick (7 kicks, 2 handballs, 4 marks) - tall and gangly, he was given the early ruckwork and showed a little bit before appearing to run out of steam. Liam Jurrah (8 kicks, 6 handballs, 6 marks, 3 goals)- took a little while to get going but, when he did so early in the second quarter, he turned the game on its head with his sparkling ball control, his spectacular goals and goal assists. Addam Maric (16 kicks, 5 handballs, 7 marks) - busy around the flanks and wings, featured in several passages of play and got a lot of the football but was probably overshadowed by the sheer brilliance of teammates Jurrah and Sylvia. Brad Miller (5 kicks, 7 handballs, 7 marks, 1 goal) – took a few marks and kicked a goal but was not influential in terms of the game. Cale Morton (11 kicks, 7 handballs, 9 marks) – started slowly but seemed to gain confidence when moved into defence where he used his ability to find the ball, coupled with great vision and execution to hit targets. Michael Newton (17 kicks, 4 handballs, 8 marks, 2 goals) – after a slow start, Newton produced one of his better games at this level after he was moved into the ruck and upped his work rate considerably. He marked well all around the ground and is showing continued improved in almost all facets of his game. James Strauss (6 kicks, 2 marks) – had limited influence on the game before coming off with a hamstring injury. Colin Sylvia (14 kicks, 7 handballs, 8 marks, 3 goals) – on that performance, I have absolutely no idea why someone of his calibre was required to make his come back through the VFL. Austin Wonaeamirri (2 kicks, 2 handballs, 1 mark, 1 goal) – injured his shoulder and had little influence. Matthew Warnock (9 kicks, 7 handballs, 7 marks) - at best workmanlike. Made a few mistakes in defence but didn't really have any major challenges on the day. Casey Scorpions 1.4.10 8.8.56 13.12.90 17.15.117 Werribee Tigers 4.5.29 4.10.34 8.13.61 10.16.76 Goals Casey Scorpions Jurrah Sylvia 3 MacReadie Newton 2 Bail Fieldsend L McDonald Miller Nicholls Wall Wonaemirri Werribee Tigers Chisholm 3 Castello 2 O'Keefe Obst Priest Prismall Sharp Best Casey Scorpions Bail Wall Sylvia Newton Morton MacReadie Werribee Tigers Dickson Obst Castello Tarrant Sharp Rockefeller The reserves played third placed Werribee and stayed with the Tigers in the first half but fell behind when the "hosts" produced a stunning eight goal third quarter to put the game beyond their reach. Three Demons took part in this match, all of them coming back from injury. Sam Blease showed blistering pace and kicked two early goals before being rested at half time. Luke Tapscott was hard in and under and should add some much needed grunt when fully fit and Stephan Martin had a satisfactory return and scored a goal. Casey Scorpions 3.5.23 6.9.45 7.11.53 13.14.92 Werribee Tigers 4.2.26 7.5.47 15.9.99 21.11.137 Goals Casey ScorpionsHillberge 4 Blease 2 David Bell Jones Martin Patti Petropoulos Purdy Smith Werribee Tigers Henderson Perkins 5 Denton 3 Laidlaw 2 Baddeley Bongetti Garland McKerracher Meredith Moloney Best Casey Scorpions Patti Smith Costigan Weekes Cleven Tapscott Werribee Tigers Moloney Harrison Denton Henderson Hartigan Baddeley

Your votes please ... 6,5,4,3,2,1 ...

SNAIL'S PACE by Whispering Jack The progress seems to be slowing down remarkably. We're moving at a snail's pace which is disappointing but at least the general thrust is forwards. Several weeks ago on a humid night in Darwin, Melbourne equalled its 2009 quota of wins well before the half way mark of the season. On Queens Birthday, it added two premiership points with the tie against Collingwood and, even if participation in the finals was out of the question, we expected to see more signs of improvement as the season progressed. However, the team is stuttering along with a weak performance in Adelaide and a disappointing final quarter fade out against St. Kilda that left it 35 points in arrears at the end of the game. The Etihad Stadium defeat against one of the premiership favourites wasn't a capitulation but the Saints were nowhere near their full strength. They were missing two key tall forwards and their best tagger but that didn't matter - they still managed to quell their nominated danger man in Aaron Davey, they nullified Brent Moloney, made mincemeat of the Melbourne forward line and managed to score the ton for the evening. It was a neat piece of work, executed in first gear, and came after disposing of the Cats a week earlier but some of their fans might have come away feeling it was a lacklustre effort given that it was nowhere near the painful thrashing inflicted on the Demons the last time they met at this ground two years ago. For Melbourne's part, it had to be an improvement on last week when it crumbled against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. The team started slowly and again conceded at least the first three goals of the game in what has become a characteristic feature of its performance. It seems as if it is somehow ordained in the stars that Demon fans must endure a weekly dose of mental torture in the first ten to fifteen minutes every time their team takes the field. As if the fumbling, the miskicks and poor decision-making weren't enough, the free kicks all went St. Kilda's way (at one stage 7-0) giving the home team that easy early break. When the early haze lifted, they suddenly started winning the clearances and contested possessions, tackling and applying pressure and eventually worked their way back to almost level terms by quarter time. A pleasing feature of this was the contribution of youngsters Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove who each gathered nine touches in the opening stanza. The teams sparred, pushed and prodded and the Saints, with their superiority in class and experience threatened to get away on two or three occasions over the following two quarters and, to their credit, the Demons plugged away and fought hard to limit the deficit to 16 points at the final break and their task was magnified after half-time by the loss of Grimes. Life was made even more difficult by the lack of a key marking forward. Jack Watts was brave and much better than last week but he roamed far and wide. Matthew Bate was covered and the club has decided not to push any of its key defensive assets into attack. Matthew Warnock was dropped to Casey. The lack of tall who could mark inside the fifty metre arc (perhaps a legacy of not recruiting for such a player three or four years ago?) was accentuated by the way the players insisted on pumping the ball into attack when St. Kilda pushed players behind the ball. We saw players kicking to a five on one or two and just knew that inevitably, the ball would come out without a score. Just as we knew that the young team would slow down and fade at the end so that a 35 point defeat at Etihad Stadium wasn't all that bad in the circumstances. Brad Green worked hard with 26 touches and two goals and Brent Moloney and Jordie McKenzie helped make the midfield competitive but they weren't ever good enough to threaten a win. Perhaps next week? Melbourne 3.2.20 5.7.37 8.9.57 9.11.65 St Kilda 3.4.22 8.5.53 11.7.73 15.10.100 Goals Melbourne Dunn 2 Green 2 Bennell Jetta Moloney Trengove Watts St Kilda Milne 3 Hayes Montagna Schneider 2 Dal Santo Fisher Goddard Jones Stanley Steven Best Melbourne Green McKenzie Trengove Watts Moloney St Kilda Montagna Goddard Gilbert Milne Jones Schneider Injuries Melbourne Grimes (hamstring) St Kilda Nil Reports Melbourne Nil St. Kilda Nil Changes Melbourne Nil St Kilda Justin Koschitzke (ankle) replaced in selected side by Dawson Umpires Kennedy Jeffries Keating Crowd 31,993 at Etihad Stadium

CONCENTRIC CIRCLES by The Oracle When Melbourne played off against St. Kilda in its final home and away game of the season last year, I noted that the game represented the closing of a three year circle from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2009. Of course, it was something of a vicious circle which took the club from a disappointing and disastrous season opener at the MCG against the Saints on a mild autumn evening three years ago to an early spring appointment closing off the 2009 roster against the same club. The period in between told a tale of heartbreak and woe. Another season rolled along and, in its early stages, things looked good. Five games in and they were absolutely rosy with three wins to their credit and a near miss behind them. Eight rounds later and the team has only managed to add another 50% of that tally, its percentage is travelling south and the team's performance is inconsistent and spasmodic. And if all that wasn't bad enough, Melbourne is slotted to confront St. Kilda for the first time since they closed the books on 2009 and the Saints are running as hot as the Demons are running cold. It's a case of one of the combatants coming off a win against the top team in the competition and the other has just been thrashed by a team that was languishing perilously near the bottom. And that's not all - this week's game is at Etihad Stadium, a place from which Melbourne has emerged victorious on only one of its last dozen visits - and that was back in 2007 when it shocked an injury hit Western Bulldogs in a Saturday night game. As it turned out, that victory cost the club a priority draft pick that year as well as the chance to select Nick Naitanui, Stephen Hill or Daniel Rich the following year. But I digress. The fact is that suddenly, things are looking grim for the beleaguered Demons and some pundits are even suggesting that they might well finish the season with a third consecutive wooden spoon if things don't improve soon. Why am I getting the feeling that the circle is getting bigger? THE GAME St. Kilda v Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, Sunday 4 July 2010 at 4.40 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall St. Kilda 81 wins Melbourne 118 wins 1 drawn Etihad Stadium St. Kilda 2 Melbourne 3 wins Since 2000 St. Kilda 6 wins Melbourne 9 wins The Coaches Lyon 3 wins Bailey 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Sports 1 (live at 4.30pm) RADIO ABC 774 SEN TripleM 3AW THE BETTING St. Kilda to win $1.13 Melbourne to win $6.05 THE LAST TIME THEY MET St. Kilda 17.12.114 defeated Melbourne 10.7.67 Round 22, 2009 at the MCG For the second time in the space of the season Melbourne took it right up to St. Kilda in the first half and was still in with an outside chance ten minutes into the final term before the Saints powered away to win comfortably. Nick Riewoldt finished with six goals for St. Kilda after a slow start and Liam Jurrah was exciting with four goals. Injury has kept him out of the Demons' team ever since. THE TEAMS ST. KILDA Backs Brett Peake Jason Blake Sam Gilbert Half backs Jarryn Geary Sam Fisher James Gwilt Centreline Brendon Goddard Nick Dal Santo Farren Ray Half forwards Clinton Jones Justin Koschitzke Adam Schneider Forwards Andrew McQualter Ben McEvoy Stephen Milne Followers Michael Gardiner Lenny Hayes Leigh Montagna Interchange Sean Dempster Adam Pattison Rhys Stanley Jack Steven Emergencies Zac Dawson Jason Gram Nick Heyne In Adam Pattison Out Steven Baker (suspended) MELBOURNE Backs Clint Bartram James Frawley Kyle Cheney Half backs Colin Garland Jared Rivers Jack Grimes Centreline Brad Green Jack Trengove Cameron Bruce Half forwards Jamie Bennell Matthew Bate Lynden Dunn Forwards Neville Jetta Jack Watts Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Nathan Jones Interchange Joel Macdonald Jordie McKenzie Tom Scully Jake Spencer Emergencies Addam Maric Brad Miller Matthew Warnock In Jamie Bennell Kyle Cheney Jake Spencer Out Brad Miller Cale Morton Matthew Warnock I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT! There's one thing that virtually is the greatest living certainty on this planet. As much as I would love to see it happen, it's extremely unlikely that Melbourne will be leading by 20 points or so at the ten minute mark of the game. In fact, based on the precedent of what has transpired in the early moments of the majority of games this season, the Saints are likely to have the game pretty much in the bag by that stage of the game. After all, they've weathered the loss of their captain and champion player, numerous off-field sex scandals and the fact that their coach waddles around looking like a poonce and have still managed to hold on to a top two spot on the ladder. Taking on the Demons who barely managed to raise a pulse last weekend will seem no more than child's play in comparison to what they've had to go through so far this year. Melbourne's coach Dean Bailey has acknowledged almost on a weekly basis that his team's poor starts have to be addressed but every week, we see groundhog day re-enacted. Now he says that he will make some "minor tweaks" to the team's pre-match preparation in a bid to arrest the recent trend of slow starts to games. Bailey and his co-selectors have swung the axe with the omissions of Brad Miller, Cale Morton and Matthew Warnock who all played a part in the team's feted draw against the Magpies just two games back. They are replaced by a trio of players in Jamie Bennell, Kyle Cheney and Jake Spencer who were part of a Casey team that was thrashed by around 20 goals at their last start, so the team selection hardly seem to inspire although Cheney has been good all year in the VFL. The return of Spencer will at least see some of the team's six footers heave a sigh of relief knowing that they won't have to mix it in the ruck with players out of their height range. However, I doubt that this sort of tinkering will help the club survive the first ten minutes which is the main focus of my match preview. I'm not worried about the rest of the game which should see the team through its predictable course. A bland second quarter, a noble fightback in the third and some early hope in the final quarter before they get totally smashed. No. For me, the importance of this game is what happens in the first ten minutes. I was interested therefore, to read the words of Bailey who told reporters: "We looked at a couple of main things in the warm-up. We'll probably trial some of that again." The mystery behind that statement has me completely intrigued. Is there a secret weapon in the armoury that Bails is about to unleash on the unsuspecting public and the St. Kilda team in particular that will see Melbourne streak to an unassailable lead in the early stages of the game at Etihad? I'd like to see that but I'm not holding my breath. St. Kilda by 68 points.

I think PJ also qualifies this week, does he not?

CONCENTRIC CIRCLES by The Oracle When Melbourne played off against St. Kilda in its final home and away game of the season last year, I noted that the game represented the closing of a three year circle from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2009. Of course, it was something of a vicious circle which took the club from a disappointing and disastrous season opener at the MCG against the Saints on a mild autumn evening three years ago to an early spring appointment closing off the 2009 roster against the same club. The period in between told a tale of heartbreak and woe. Another season rolled along and, in its early stages, things looked good. Five games in and they were absolutely rosy with three wins to their credit and a near miss behind them. Eight rounds later and the team has only managed to add another 50% of that tally, its percentage is travelling south and the team's performance is inconsistent and spasmodic. And if all that wasn't bad enough, Melbourne is slotted to confront St. Kilda for the first time since they closed the books on 2009 and the Saints are running as hot as the Demons are running cold. It's a case of one of the combatants coming off a win against the top team in the competition and the other has just been thrashed by a team that was languishing perilously near the bottom. And that's not all - this week's game is at Etihad Stadium, a place from which Melbourne has emerged victorious on only one of its last dozen visits - and that was back in 2007 when it shocked an injury hit Western Bulldogs in a Saturday night game. As it turned out, that victory cost the club a priority draft pick that year as well as the chance to select Nick Naitanui, Stephen Hill or Daniel Rich the following year. But I digress. The fact is that suddenly, things are looking grim for the beleaguered Demons and some pundits are even suggesting that they might well finish the season with a third consecutive wooden spoon if things don't improve soon. Why am I getting the feeling that the circle is getting bigger? THE GAME St. Kilda v Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, Sunday 4 July 2010 at 4.40 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall St. Kilda 81 wins Melbourne 118 wins 1 drawn Etihad Stadium St. Kilda 2 Melbourne 3 wins Since 2000 St. Kilda 6 wins Melbourne 9 wins The Coaches Lyon 3 wins Bailey 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Sports 1 (live at 4.30pm) RADIO ABC 774 SEN TripleM 3AW THE BETTING St. Kilda to win $1.13 Melbourne to win $6.05 THE LAST TIME THEY MET St. Kilda 17.12.114 defeated Melbourne 10.7.67 Round 22, 2009 at the MCG For the second time in the space of the season Melbourne took it right up to St. Kilda in the first half and was still in with an outside chance ten minutes into the final term before the Saints powered away to win comfortably. Nick Riewoldt finished with six goals for St. Kilda after a slow start and Liam Jurrah was exciting with four goals. Injury has kept him out of the Demons' team ever since. THE TEAMS ST. KILDA Backs Brett Peake Jason Blake Sam Gilbert Half backs Jarryn Geary Sam Fisher James Gwilt Centreline Brendon Goddard Nick Dal Santo Farren Ray Half forwards Clinton Jones Justin Koschitzke Adam Schneider Forwards Andrew McQualter Ben McEvoy Stephen Milne Followers Michael Gardiner Lenny Hayes Leigh Montagna Interchange Sean Dempster Adam Pattison Rhys Stanley Jack Steven Emergencies Zac Dawson Jason Gram Nick Heyne In Adam Pattison Out Steven Baker (suspended) MELBOURNE Backs Clint Bartram James Frawley Kyle Cheney Half backs Colin Garland Jared Rivers Jack Grimes Centreline Brad Green Jack Trengove Cameron Bruce Half forwards Jamie Bennell Matthew Bate Lynden Dunn Forwards Neville Jetta Jack Watts Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Nathan Jones Interchange Joel Macdonald Jordie McKenzie Tom Scully Jake Spencer Emergencies Addam Maric Brad Miller Matthew Warnock In Jamie Bennell Kyle Cheney Jake Spencer Out Brad Miller Cale Morton Matthew Warnock I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT! There's one thing that virtually is the greatest living certainty on this planet. As much as I would love to see it happen, it's extremely unlikely that Melbourne will be leading by 20 points or so at the ten minute mark of the game. In fact, based on the precedent of what has transpired in the early moments of the majority of games this season, the Saints are likely to have the game pretty much in the bag by that stage of the game. After all, they've weathered the loss of their captain and champion player, numerous off-field sex scandals and the fact that their coach waddles around looking like a poonce and have still managed to hold on to a top two spot on the ladder. Taking on the Demons who barely managed to raise a pulse last weekend will seem no more than child's play in comparison to what they've had to go through so far this year. Melbourne's coach Dean Bailey has acknowledged almost on a weekly basis that his team's poor starts have to be addressed but every week, we see groundhog day re-enacted. Now he says that he will make some "minor tweaks" to the team's pre-match preparation in a bid to arrest the recent trend of slow starts to games. Bailey and his co-selectors have swung the axe with the omissions of Brad Miller, Cale Morton and Matthew Warnock who all played a part in the team's feted draw against the Magpies just two games back. They are replaced by a trio of players in Jamie Bennell, Kyle Cheney and Jake Spencer who were part of a Casey team that was thrashed by around 20 goals at their last start, so the team selection hardly seem to inspire although Cheney has been good all year in the VFL. The return of Spencer will at least see some of the team's six footers heave a sigh of relief knowing that they won't have to mix it in the ruck with players out of their height range. However, I doubt that this sort of tinkering will help the club survive the first ten minutes which is the main focus of my match preview. I'm not worried about the rest of the game which should see the team through its predictable course. A bland second quarter, a noble fightback in the third and some early hope in the final quarter before they get totally smashed. No. For me, the importance of this game is what happens in the first ten minutes. I was interested therefore, to read the words of Bailey who told reporters: "We looked at a couple of main things in the warm-up. We'll probably trial some of that again." The mystery behind that statement has me completely intrigued. Is there a secret weapon in the armoury that Bails is about to unleash on the unsuspecting public and the St. Kilda team in particular that will see Melbourne streak to an unassailable lead in the early stages of the game at Etihad? I'd like to see that but I'm not holding my breath. St. Kilda by 68 points.

No change at the top - 89.112 Mark Jamar 78.299 James Frawley 73.092 Brent Moloney 70.951 James McDonald 69.773 Jack Grimes 51.878 Matthew Bate 47.686 Tom Scully 46.801 Brad Green 46.271 Jack Trengove 36.483 Aaron Davey 32.347 Colin Sylvia 27.869 Cameron Bruce 20.656 Ricky Petterd 19.567 Jordie McKenzie 19.525 Nathan Jones 18.567 Jamie Bennell 17.257 Jordan Gysberts 17.065 Matthew Warnock 14.417 Lynden Dunn 11.68 Clint Bartram 8.500 Cale Morton 8.211 Rohan Bail 8.073 Neville Jetta 7.872 Colin Garland 7.064 Brad Miller 4.752 Cale Morton 2.812 Joel Macdonald 2.453 Jack Watts