Demonland

They’re inviting the Irish to Draft Combines these days Elite all-rounder among Irish quartet to get Combine call-up

The reigning AFLW champions dee-stroyed contender Collingwood last week, to open the 2023 season with a third-term masterclass and confirmed their premiership contender credentials. It was such an exhilarating and satisfying match to watch. We witnessed the Eliza Mac comeback, Heathy versus the goliath Davey, new captain Kate starring, Banno and Edo kicking goals, an exciting new tall unearthed in Campbell and our fleet of mids were everywhere especially in that third quarter. And what about those repeated pinpoint deliveries into the forward 50 arc? This weekend the team flies to Canberra for their first ever game at Manuka Oval against fellow foundation club Greater Western Sydney on Sunday at 5:05pm. In a pre-match interview last week Scott Gowans, the Swans coach, described GWS as the worst performing foundation club. Before this match no expansion team had defeated a foundation team. Thus, GWS should have been well motivated, but it was the Swans who backed up their coach’s words with a stirring victory at North Sydney Oval. GWS started well, being 25 points up mid-way through the third quarter but a Chloe Molloy inspired comeback led the Swans to a 5-point historic first ever win for the expansion side. This Sunday evening GWS will encounter a whole new level of dangerous forward line against the Dees talls, speed, and (fingers crossed) accuracy. If we match their intensity, we have the defensive structure to take control and kick a winning score. Selection One change: Maeve Chaplin returns from concussion and will add steel and strength behind the ball. Her ability to attack the contest and deliver a booming kick will be welcomed back. Megan Fitzsimon has been omitted due to injury. Defenders Colvin and Wilson along with Rhi Watt are the emergencies. While our best players were duly lauded for last week’s win there were couple of teammates who we hope will improve their performance this week: Fitzy was quiet (possibly injury impacted), Westy was in and out, and the defensive group Birch, Gillard and Goldrick seemed a bit rusty. At the MFC AFLW launch Meggs asked the coach how Gaby Colvin (named as an emergency) could break into such a strong defensive team, and he was at pains to emphasise what a competitor Gaby is. He is bullish on her so there is certainly pressure on that backline to perform. GWS has named an unchanged line up. Our opponents, GWS Watching their game last week GWS has a sprinkling of experience across the group with Alyce Parker, Alicia Eva, Chloe Dalton, Bec Beeson, Nicola Barr (who plays her 50th game) and a group of tall defenders in Pepa Randall, Grace Hill and Cambridge McCormick. Tall forward Georgia Garnett was lively kicking two nice goals and small Haneen Zreika can play. They will be smarting from their loss last week so expect them to come out strongly. Meggs’ view Last Friday, you could see that the Pies were intense and got on top in that first half led by Bri Davey and Brit Bonicci. Girls let’s start stronger this week. Watching the GWS game our general field kicking and handball skills appear a level above, so if we work hard enough we will overrun them early in the match and secure a big win. The new 60 cap interchange rule is advantaging Melbourne as we have many quality fit midfielders such as Hanksy, Liv Purcell, Westy, Lily M, Paxy plus running machines B Macken and Eliza Mac on the wings and Kate Hore and Heath have gameday midfield roles at certain times. This advantageous depth allows the Dees to share the load, unlike many teams such as GWS who have really only a couple of strong quality mids at their disposal and who will likely tire during the new regime of extended matches and rotation cap. During the recent Casey VFLW season both Fitzy and Goldie had turns on the ball and did well. If GWS star mid Alyce Parker is getting on top at any point expect Coach Mick to throw Giant slayer Shelley Heath on to her. Hore, Harris, Zanker and Bannan are all stars in our forward line and Meggs struggles to see how Pepa Randall and her GWS defensive cohort can contain their collective brilliance. The full ground defence is supported by a strong structure of well drilled teammates setting up and responding to ball movement. Of course, it doesn’t work as well when there is quick ball movement like Collingwood were able to do last week so expect GWS to try and unpick our systems. Good luck with that Cam (GWS coach Bernasconi). Last week Georgia Campbell kicked a nice goal, nicely celebrating her birthday and her first win. Our number one looks the goods as a ruck/ forward and will be tremendous support for Loz Pearce. If Georgia continues to develop, she shapes as a likely successor. Tomorrow’s weather looks fine. Feeling confident this week. Us Dees supporters need some good news this weekend and Meggs expects our champion AFLW team to deliver in Canberra and find our voice. Go Dees! Melbourne by 35 points THE GAME Melbourne v GWS at Manual Oval, Canberra, on Sunday 10 September 2023 at 5:05pm (Melbourne time) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 4 wins GWS 1 win At Manuka Melbourne 0 wins GWS 0 wins The Coaches Stinear 0 wins Bernasconi 0 wins MEDIA TV - live free on 7mate. Foxtel, Kayo. Check your local guides. Mobile – AFL Live Official App and AFLW Official App Radio - check your local guides. THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 6.8.44 defeated GWS 1.1.7 at Casey Fields in Season 6 Round 6 - 12 February 2022 This Season 6 clash was one way traffic with the Dees handing GWS their biggest defeat of the season at Casey Fields, Melbourne’s fortress. If not for the notorious windy conditions, the Dees could have won by more as the forwards had issues converting. The defenders including Ali Brown, Libby Birch and Gaby Colvin were miserly, racking up intercepts and only allowing GWS one solitary goal, late in the game. The Coach sent Shelley Heath to GWS’s star Irish forward Cora Staunton and kept her goalless. What an impressive list of tagging victims Heathy has accumulated over the years. Our star midfielders Lily Mithen, Paxy Paxman, Tyla Hanks and Eliza West all gathered 20 or more disposals for the day and Tayla Harris and Kate Hore kicked two goals each. GOALS Melbourne Harris Hore 2 D Pearce Scott GWS Giants Doyle BEST Melbourne Hanks Mithen West Paxman GWS Giants Randall Parker Eva Dallaway THE TEAMS GWS B J. Hicks P. Randall HB C. Dalton G. Hill T. Evans C J. Doyle N. Barr M. Brazendale HF Z. Goldsworthy H. Zreika A. Parker F G. Garnett B. Mowbray FOLL F. Davies A. Lister A. Eva I/C (from) T. Cattle A. Dallaway T. Germech J. Grierson C. McCormick C. Miller K. Smith IN T. Cattle J. Grierson C. Miller OUT MELBOURNE B L. Birch T. Gillard HB S. Goldrick M. Gay S. Heath C S.Lampard T. Hanks E. McNamara HF T. Harris L. Mithen A. Bannan F E. Zanker K. Hore FOLL L. Pearce E. West K. Paxman I/C (from) G. Campbell M. Chaplin G. Colvin B. Mackin O. Purcell R. Watt C. Wilson IN M. Chaplin G. Colvin C. Wilson, R. Watt OUT M. Fitzsimon (Injured) Injury List: Round 2 Saraid Taylor (foot) test Maeve Chaplin (concussion) test

The game might ultimately have been decided by Marchbank’s fingernail but the Demons lost it because they slept through the first quarter and then, in the last half, they kicked poorly for goal while the Blues couldn’t miss. This and the final score line sounds a bit of Deeja Vu from Thursday’s Qualifying Final, doesn’t it? MELBOURNE 1.0.6 3.3.21 6.6.42 8.8.56

 CARLTON 1.3.9 3.5.23 6.6.42 9.6.60
 THE TEAMS CARLTON B A. Cincotta J. Weitering A. Saad HB N. Newman C. Marchbank B. Kemp C B. Acres P. Cripps O. Hollands HF J. Martin T. De Koning D. Cuningham F L. Fogarty C. Curnow M. Owies FOLL M. Pittonet S. Docherty G. Hewett I/C M. Cottrell P. Dow Z. Fisher J. Motlop SUB E. Curnow EMG J. Boyd S. Durdin J. Honey No change MELBOURNE B C. Salem S. May T. Rivers HB J. Bowey J. Lever A. Brayshaw C L. Hunter J. Viney A. Neal-Bullen HF C. Petracca J. Smith K. Chandler F J. Melksham J. van Rooyen Jordon FOLL M. Gawn C. Oliver K. Pickett I/C B. Grundy E. Langdon J. McVee T. Sparrow SUB M. Hibberd EMG J. Harmes J. Schache C. Spargo IN B. Grundy C. Oliver OUT J. Harmes (omitted) H. Petty (foot)

This is the thread for all discussion relating to tickets for the Semi Final vs Carlton. Please note that if you make the decision to share your barcode with someone these barcodes are the same barcodes for all the matches during finals including if your membership has access to guaranteed Grand Final Tickets. If you decide to share your barcode you do so at your own risk and Demonland is NOT responsible for yours or the person you share it withs actions nor will we mediate any disputes in these matters. If you are giving someone your tickets on Demonland you are only permitted to do so at cost or below value. Again Demonland is NOT responsible for any transactions that take place. Finally please be careful if you are dealing with a new user to the site.

Almost a parody

All the Swans hard work evaporated

Carlton are blessed by the umps.

He loves a throw. Never gets penalised.

Sydney all over them but not capitalising.

Martin gorn

… and on the full. May as we’ll be wearing red and blue

Watching the swans is a mirror image of watching the Dees.

Lachie Hunter from Round 10 says hi

Tracc's got this 255. Christian Petracca 196. Jack Viney 144. Clayton Oliver 107. Max Gawn 99. Angus Brayshaw 88. Steven May 68. Trent Rivers 64. Jake Lever 59. Lachie Hunter 58. Kysaiah Pickett 46. Christian Salem 40. Brodie Grundy 34. Jake Bowey Bayley Fritsch 28. Alex Neal-Bullen Tom Sparrow 27. Ed Langdon 24. Judd McVee 19. Jake Melksham 18. Kade Chandler 16. Harry Petty 13. Jacob van Rooyen 9. Ben Brown 8. Charlie Spargo 5. Tom McDonald 4. Michael Hibberd 3. James Jordon Adam Tomlinson

Tonight is Carlton's first ever Final on Friday Night

Melbourne fans have seen it all before in 2023. Poor starts and poor kicking for goal. Ultimately, it was what cost Melbourne a Preliminary final berth (at this point) by losing to Collingwood. Apparently, it was only the second time in 85 years that the Pies had beaten Melbourne in a final, but history meant nothing when the Black and White came out breathing fire in the first quarter, and completely ran over the Demons. In the ruck, Mason Cox set the tone, and won the first nine hit outs against Max Gawn, while Braydon Maynard was true to his word about being physical in this game when he wiped out Angus Brayshaw in the early going. The battered Demon departed on a stretcher and will not play in the next game at the very least. Surely, the Demons would have expected this? Going into the game with only one ruck meant Max would be targeted. And Maynard and Adams have reputations from the past. The result was that Collingwood took a three-goal lead into the first change, while once again, the Demons could only manage a single major for the opening term. And that was from the downfield free kick after the Brayshaw incident. That lead which would prove to be the difference in the end. From that poor start, the Demons started to get themselves into the game overcoming that first quarter trouncing. Unbelievably, they were down ten in the contested possessions game in the first stanza, showing how poor their start had been. By then end of the game, they had “out contested” the Pies, but it was to be all too late, after that ordinary opening term. Even at half-time, with the momentum of the game changing, Melbourne had only managed to score one more major. Two goals to half time in a final is never going to get the victory. This was despite more than doubling the Pies inside 50 entries, but Melbourne just couldn’t score goals when needed, and after all the hard work to get the ball there in the first place. It was to be the recurrent theme for the rest of the match. Melbourne winning just about every statistic but little on the scoreboard to show for it. In one respect, this demonstrated the fallacy of statistics. They are a numerical representation of actions in the past, but they fail to show the quality of those actions, or whether there is an association with final outcomes. In this game, there was nothing more amply demonstrated. Kicking for goal was again the Achilles heel for Melbourne 7.11 for the match and several out on the full. It was almost an identical result as the Kings Birthday game when Melbourne posted 8.18. Had Melbourne scored points from all of those out of bounds it would have made the difference between winning and losing. And while many criticise the Demon forwards, the fact is the options aren’t available in the absence of the injured Brown, Petty and Melksham. Petty would all be playing in that role if not injured, while Schache hasn’t shown much to justify a spot, even with all these injuries to others. Then when Angus went down, it meant Petracca had to spend more time in the middle, thus taking away another forward threat. It also doesn’t help when the coaches persist with putting Max outside the 50m arc when in attack and letting the full forward take the ruck leaving his opponent free to do whatever he wanted. Surely winning the ball in the forward 50 should be the target? The final quarter became a hope of comeback for the Demons, and they scored three majors, while holding Collingwood to a mere two points with the ball living almost exclusively in Melbourne’s forward half. But it was all too little too late, although even in that final effort, there were misses which should have resulted in two fingers from the goal umpire, which were not. The chance was there, and to put it simply, the Demons blew it! Despite a poor opening, Max finally took control in the ruck, without any backup, and finished with 31 hit outs, 22 disposals including 10 clearances. Clayton Oliver was outstanding with 31 touches resulting in an incredible 742 metres gained. The backline were the real heroes, who at the end of the match had held Collingwood to a meagre 60 points, including that paltry 2 behinds in the final quarter. They did everything right, since they denied the Pies their basic game plan with May, Lever and Bowey all with nine intercept possessions. Michael Hibberd held the dangerous Jamie Elliott to two points, and it was only Hill who broke free on several occasions to really give Collingwood the win with his three goals. This game was feeling of Déjà vu or Deeja Vu for the Melbourne fans. They know all too well how this type of game would finish. Now the question will be does Deeja Vu happen again in the coming week, as the Demons are facing another straight sets exit from the finals. MELBOURNE 1.0.6 2.4.16 4.9.33 7.11.53 COLLINGWOOD 4.2.26 5.3.33 9.4.58 9.6.60 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch 2 Pickett McDonald Neal-Bullen Smith Sparrow COLLINGWOOD Hill 3 McStay 2 Cameron Crisp De Goey Mihocek BEST MELBOURNE Gawn Oliver Pickett Hunter Petracca Neal-Bullen COLLINGWOOD Crisp Sidebottom Hoskin-Elliott Quaynor Hill Murphy INJURIES MELBOURNE Angus Brayshaw (concussion) COLLINGWOOD Nil REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil COLLINGWOOD Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Bailey Laurie (replaced Angus Brayshaw in first quarter) COLLINGWOOD Jack Ginnivan (replaced Darcy Cameron in fourth quarter) UMPIRES Matt Stevic Curtis Deboy Andrew Stephens Hayden Gavine CROWD 92,636 at the MCG

After a disappointing loss to the Magpies by 7 points in the Qualifying Final the Demons will now face Carlton in a sudden death Semi Final next Friday at the MCG. Who comes in and who goes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 11th September @ 8:30pm. Join George, Binman & I as we analyse the Demons loss at the MCG against the Magpies in the Qualifying Final. You 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 & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31