Demonland

Heard Lever is out for 6-8 weeks. No idea if this is a new injury or current ankle injury related.

This was one of the few games in recent memory when the Demons put their heart and soul into a game and they really hurt the Bombers even without their injured skipper. If only they could repeat that effort every week. Even so, they almost lost to a withering Bomber finish after establishing a big lead halfway through the last quarter MELBOURNE 3.2.20 6.6.43 8.6.54 13.6.84 ESSENDON 3.3.21 4.5.29 5.7.37 10.7.67 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch Turner 3 Melksham Pickett 2 Chandler Langdon Windsor ESSENDON Martin 4 Duursma Langford 2 Durham Jones BEST MELBOURNE Rivers Oliver Langdon Melksham Windsor Pickett ESSENDON Ridley Martin Merrett McKay Shiel THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B T. McDonald, S. May, J. McVee HB T. Rivers, J. Lever, J. Bowey C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, A. Neal-Bullen HF K. Pickett, J. van Rooyen, T. Sparrow F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, J. Melksham FOLL H. Petty, J. Viney, C. Salem I/C A. Moniz-Wakefield, K. Tholstrup, D. Turner, C. Windsor SUB T. Woewodin EMG T. Fullarton, B. Laurie, A. Tomlinson IN H. Petty OUT M. Gawn (ankle) ESSENDON B J. Ridley, B. McKay, D. Heppell HB N. Martin, M. Redman, A. McGrath C X. Duursma, S. Durham, A. Perkins HF M. Guelfi, H. Jones, N. Caddy F J. Stringer, P. Wright, K. Langford FOLL S. Draper, J. Caldwell, Z. Merrett I/C N. Cox, J. Gresham, J. Kelly, D. Shiel SUB N. Hind EMG T. Goldstein, J. Laverde, W. Setterfield IN D. Heppell OUT J. Laverde (omitted)

This URL is missing colon : https//demonland.com/forums/forum/2-melbourne-demons/ It should be https://demonland.com/forums/forum/2-melbourne-demons/

That's all the questions for tonight—thanks so much to everyone who contributed. Just a small favour for next time: if you have multiple points or issues to raise, please post them separately rather than combining them into one post. It really helps me break things down and respond more effectively.

PLAYER VOTES 1 Max Gawn 40 2 Clayton Oliver 29 3 Christian Petracca 27 4 Kade Chandler 23 5 Jack Bowey 21 6 Christian Salem 17 =7 Ed Langdon 15 =7 Harvey Langford 15 =7 Steven May 15 10 Xavier Lindsay 13 11 Tom McDonald 11 12 Jack Viney 7 13 Trent Rivers 5 =14 Kysaiah Pickett 4 =14 Daniel Turner 4 16 Tom Sparrow 3 =17 Bayley Fritsch 1 =17 Jack Henderson 1 =17 Harry Sharp 1

There was a time in the second quarter of the game at the Cattery on Friday afternoon when the Casey Demons threatened to take the game apart against the Cats. The Demons had been well on top early but were struggling to convert their ascendancy over the ground until Tom Fullarton’s burst of three goals in the space of eight minutes on the way to a five goal haul and his best game for the club since arriving from Brisbane at the end of 2023. He was leading, marking and otherwise giving his opponents a merry dance as Casey grabbed a three goal lead in the blink of an eye. Fullarton has now kicked ten goals in Casey’s three matches and, with Melbourne’s forward conversion woes, he is definitely in with a chance to get his first game with the club in next week’s Gather Round in Adelaide. Despite the tall forward’s efforts - he finished with 19 disposals and eight marks and had four hit outs as back up to Will Verrall in the second half - it wasn’t enough as Geelong reigned in the lead through persistent attacks and eventually clawed their way to the lead early in the last and held it till they achieved the end aim of victory. There was some more good news and some bad for the Demons in the tall timber department. For the second week in a row, Tom Campbell failed to see out the game but his understudy in Verrall stepped up with 12 disposals, a goal and 28 hitouts. He is starting to play with greater confidence and intensity. Another player to catch the eye and to come into contention for a trip to SA would have to be Kynan Brown who might have only picked up 17 disposals but his game high 11 tackles was significant given the lack of tackling pressure from his Melbourne counterparts later that night. We also saw some good returns from Blake Howes (26 possessions and nine marks), Oliver Sestan (22 disposals, nine marks) and Bailey Laurie (19 touches). Jed Adams’ development as a key defender is also coming along nicely. Of the Casey contingent, Mitch Hardie was impressive on debut against his old club with 26 possessions and Riley Bonner was close behind him. Patrick Cross was also busy and continues to improve. The Demons return to their home ground with another tough challenge against the UWS Giants on Saturday week. CASEY DEMONS 3.5.23 9.6.60 13.7.85 14.9.93 GEELONG VFL 3.3.21 7.7.49 11.11.77 16.13.109 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Fullarton 5 Johnson 2 Billings Cross Edwards Hardie Verrall Windsor Yze GEELONG VFL Polkinghorne 3 Annand De Grandi Rantall Retschko Wiltshire 2 Lewis Lucas Murray BEST CASEY DEMONS Fullarton Adams Verrall Cross Brown Sestan GEELONG VFL Wiltshire Clark Kreuger Rantall Stevens Herbert

CLAWED by KC from Casey There was a time in the second quarter of the game at the Cattery on Friday afternoon when the Casey Demons threatened to take the game apart against the Cats. The Demons had been well on top early but were struggling to convert their ascendancy over the ground until Tom Fullarton’s burst of three goals in the space of eight minutes on the way to a five goal haul and his best game for the club since arriving from Brisbane at the end of 2023. He was leading, marking and otherwise giving his opponents a merry dance as Casey grabbed a three goal lead in the blink of an eye. Fullarton has now kicked ten goals in Casey’s three matches and, with Melbourne’s forward conversion woes, he is definitely in with a chance to get his first game with the club in next week’s Gather Round in Adelaide. Despite the tall forward’s efforts - he finished with 19 disposals and eight marks and had four hit outs as back up to Will Verrall in the second half - it wasn’t enough as Geelong reigned in the lead through persistent attacks and eventually clawed their way to the lead early in the last and held it till they achieved the end aim of victory. There was some more good news and some bad for the Demons in the tall timber department. For the second week in a row, Tom Campbell failed to see out the game but his understudy in Verrall stepped up with 12 disposals, a goal and 28 hitouts. He is starting to play with greater confidence and intensity. Another player to catch the eye and to come into contention for a trip to SA would have to be Kynan Brown who might have only picked up 17 disposals but his game high 11 tackles was significant given the lack of tackling pressure from his Melbourne counterparts later that night. We also saw some good returns from Blake Howes (26 possessions and nine marks), Oliver Sestan (22 disposals, nine marks) and Bailey Laurie (19 touches). Jed Adams’ development as a key defender is also coming along nicely. Of the Casey contingent, Mitch Hardie was impressive on debut against his old club with 26 possessions and Riley Bonner was close behind him. Patrick Cross was also busy and continues to improve. The Demons return to their home ground with another tough challenge against the UWS Giants on Saturday week. CASEY DEMONS 3.5.23 9.6.60 13.7.85 14.9.93 GEELONG VFL 3.3.21 7.7.49 11.11.77 16.13.109 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Fullarton 5 Johnson 2 Billings Cross Edwards Hardie Verrall Windsor Yze GEELONG VFL Polkinghorne 3 Annand De Grandi Rantall Retschko Wiltshire 2 Lewis Lucas Murray BEST CASEY DEMONS Fullarton Adams Verrall Cross Brown Sestan GEELONG VFL Wiltshire Clark Kreuger Rantall Stevens Herbert STATISTICS

I was disappointed to hear Goody say at his post match presser after the team’s 39 point defeat against Geelong that "we're getting high quality entry, just poor execution" because Melbourne’s problems extend far beyond that after its 0 - 4 start to the 2025 football season. There are clearly problems with poor execution, some of which were evident well before the current season and were in play when the Demons met the Cats in early May last year and beat them in a near top-of-the-table clash that saw both sides sitting comfortably in the top four after round eight. Since that game, the Demons’ performances have been positively Third World with only five wins in 19 games with a no longer majestic midfield and a dysfunctional forward line that has become too easy for opposing coaches to counter. This is an area of their game that is currently being played out as if they were all completely panic-stricken. There is absolutely no connection between the midfield and a forward line that continually fails to do what it’s meant to do — attack the football with intensity and purpose rather than to stand behind their opponents and hope against hope that the man in front is going to mess up. Yes, when the team gets the footy it’s problematic when Bayley Fritsch and Kozzie Pickett each manage three behinds for a game, but there’s even more to it. They know they can perform but they’ve lost the capacity to play the sort of relaxed football that can turn the current situation around. To its credit, Melbourne was in the game for almost a full three quarters and had opportunities to be very close at the final break. Max Gawn worked hard without adequate back up and when he was off the ball, there was nothing. The club recruited Tom Campbell to fill in for him when he needed a break. Unfortunately, Campbell himself seems to be struggling to see out half a game at VFL level. The old guard midfielders are working their hearts out but are no longer able to dominate. The club needs the likes of Windsor, Pickett, Langford, Rivers and Lindsay in the fray but the first two were just back after an absence and the latter was out. It’s bleedingly obvious that we need more pace and more skills in that mix. The game produced a glimmer of hope in the right direction but in the end, they were overrun and finished the game completely under Geelong’s thumb. It wasn’t just poor execution that brought the team undone, the effort was often insufficient to even get in a position to execute. Goodwin spoke after the game about the need to overcome the panic: “The message is stay calm, we’re four weeks in. Stay calm but get urgent - that’s been the message. “We’ve got work to do. Get urgent with that work … “ And stop the panic! MELBOURNE 1.2.8 4.5.29 6.7.43 6.10.46 GEELONG 3.5.23 6.8.44 8.11 59 12.13.85 GOALS MELBOURNE Petracca 2 Langdon Langford Turner van Rooyen GEELONG Dangerfield 3 Bowes Stengle 2 Cameron De Koning Mannagh Neale Stanley BEST MELBOURNE Oliver Gawn May Petracca Pickett McDonald GEELONG Dangerfield Guthrie Smith Dempsey Atkins Stengle INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG J Henry (hamstring) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG Nil LATE CHANGES 
MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG Mark Blicavs (illness) replaced in selected side by Rhys Stanley SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG Mark O'Connor (replaced J.Henry in the second quarter) UMPIRES Brett Rosebury Nathan Williamson Andre Gianfagna Brent Wallace CROWD 30,397 at GMHBA Stadium

Unfortunately they are Twitter/X cards that either Twitter or this site randomly don’t display properly. I can’t get a proper answer from either the software makers or Twitter regarding this.

Facing the very real and daunting prospect of starting the season with five straight losses, the Demons head to South Australia for the annual Gather Round, where they’ll take on the Bombers in search of their first win of the year. Who comes in, and who comes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 7th April @ the all new time of 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect another Demons loss at Kardinia Park to the Cats in the Round 04. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human. Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/ Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Captain Max Gawn leads the Demonland Player of the Year in his quest to take out his 3rd trophy. He leads Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver who are in equal 2nd place followed by Kade Chandler and Jake Bowey. You votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

The Demons have slumped to their worst start to a season since 2012, falling to 0–4 after a more spirited showing against the Cats at Kardinia Park. Despite the improved effort, they went down by 39 points, and the road ahead is looking increasingly grim.

I thought our kicking was bad but our hand balling is worse.

Where is Trac?

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