Demonland

Might not be able to field a team for Round 1 at this rate. MFCSS is alive and well.

Play on at all costs

Is Kolt playing in defence?

2nd time Langdon has gotten deep to kick a goal.

Melk switched teams again.

Impressive because he only really joined full training on Wednesday.

Trelly is a running machine.

Some of the Casey players look gassed.

Windsor down Jeffo’s throat.

Nice to see seating in the outer at Casey.

Jeff round 1

Absent: May (personal), Salem (Hamstring), Viney (Achilles), Gawn (State of Origin), Culley (Arm), CJ (?), Bowey (foot), McAdam (?), Rivers (Origin), Campbell (neck), White (glandular fever), Petty (concussion), Pickett (Origin), Henderson (rehab), AMW (ACL rehab)

Nek minnut 4 goals kicked.

Blue: JVR, Langford, Lindsey, Windsor, Lever, Steele, Turner, Tholstrup, Langdon, Jefferson, Howes, TMac, Heath, Mihocek, Fritsch, Sparrow, Trelly White: Laurie, Melksham, Taylor, Matthews, Adams, Sharp, Berry, Mentha, Onley, Johnson, Kentfield

Fritsch is not wearing a number on Blue.

Note that any blank numbered player is a Casey top up and likely on the White team.

Interesting that even with all the injuries and State of Origin omissions that Langford isn’t in the guts.

I heard a whisper that the bruise was huge.

MELBOURNE’S Jack Viney has undergone surgery on his Achilles tendon. General Manager of AFL Football Performance Alan Richardson provided an update on Viney on Thursday. “Jack had surgery on his Achilles on Tuesday, and it went really well,” Richardson said. “It’s been really frustrating for Jack, who has been progressing through this rehab for some time now. “We wanted to give him the best opportunity to move through rehab without the need for surgical intervention, but unfortunately, he wasn’t responding the way he needed to and as the season drew closer, this was the best option to get him back out on the track. “He’ll be sidelined for approximately three months, and we’re hopeful that we’ll see him back in the mix for Round 8. “It’s obviously incredibly disappointing for Jack, but we know he’ll attack this next phase of rehab and continue to play a crucial role in our group over the next few months.” Jai Culley has successfully undergone surgery on his fractured arm, an injury sustained during last week’s match simulation. “Jai’s surgery went really well,” Richardson said. “He should be able to return to running from as early as next week, meaning he’ll be able to maintain his fitness while in rehab. “We’ll gradually introduce him back into football skills and then contact drills over the next month. Depending on how he responds, we’re confident Jai will be back for the beginning rounds of the season.” In disappointing news for Kalani White, the young Demon has been sidelined with glandular fever. “Kalani has returned to Queensland to be with his family while he rests,” Richardson said. “Our priority is Kalani’s health, so we’ll give him all the time he needs to make sure that he’s right and when he’s ready, we’re looking forward to getting him back in.”

No Christian Petracca or Clayton Oliver, and with Jack Viney sidelined, the Dees' midfield is set to look different in 2026. HARVEY Langford and Caleb Windsor, come on down. Melbourne will start its 2026 season with an unrecognisable midfield from the engine room that steered it towards the 2021 premiership and the many years before and since that drought-breaking flag. Christian Petracca wanted to go and was traded to Gold Coast. Clayton Oliver was told to look around and headed to Greater Western Sydney. They were big calls given the pair's long history as club champions but change was right for all parties. But now, Jack Viney will also be missing for at least half a season after undergoing Achilles surgery on Tuesday, to go with a recent back injury that has ruined his pre-season. New coach Steven King has known this time was coming and the Demons will start this season throwing the responsibility to a new group. They added former St Kilda captain Jack Steele in a deadline day trade for a third-round pick – essentially swapping Oliver for Steele – and he will add experience with Viney out. But the shift away from Petracca and Oliver had already started to happen last year, when matchwinner Kysaiah Pickett attended the third most centre bounces for the Dees (388) and had an average of 19.4 per game (equal second with Viney behind Oliver). Pickett will again be a midfield and forward half mainstay under King, having produced a career-best campaign last year. Champion Data showed between rounds four and 23, he was the No.1 centre bounce player at the club and remained the No.1 player at Melbourne and No.6 player in the AFL for total scoreboard impact over that period too. Then there was his touch as well, with 86.7 per cent of those leading to a clearance for Melbourne. Only Marcus Bontempelli had a higher rate of the top 75 first-possession players. Trent Rivers and top-10 draft picks Windsor and Langford are set to get more opportunity around the ball. They're ready for it. The Demons won a clearance 53.5 per cent of the time Rivers attended a centre bounce last year – which ranked as the best percentage of the top 125 attendees in the AFL. The majority of his midfield work was done in the middle of last season before returning largely to half-back (his season breakdown was 67 per cent game time as a defender), but expect to see him again at the feet of Max Gawn through this season. Windsor had disruptions last year but the wiry, pacy talent didn't attend a centre bounce until round 20. Three games of midfield presence has lit the fuse for the pre-season and the 20-year-old has made bounds over summer. Langford, the Dees' prized No.6 pick at the 2024 draft, finished fourth in the Telstra AFL Rising Star last year in his debut season but the Demons will have budgeted for him to hone in on an inside midfield position during their Trade Period moves last year. Certainly Langford will feel ready, with the Melbourne No.4 having the size and strength to take things up a notch after being sixth in line on the Demons' centre bounce attendances last season, and then there is Tom Sparrow, who had even less centre bounce exposure than Langford last season but will be one of the most experienced players in the Melbourne midfield this year. Xavier Lindsay started his career last season playing outside of the square but dominated his draft year around the ball and that also looks his long-term projection, with King's first year at the helm giving him a chance to mix and match the best group to fit the Dees. The change would have been on King's agenda before Viney's interrupted summer. Champion Data's statistics show Viney's first possession to clearance rate at 66.3 per cent was the second lowest of the top 75 players, with Oliver the fourth lowest in that list last year. In 2021, 2022 and 2024, the Demons' most used midfield combination next to Gawn was Petracca, Oliver and Viney. In 2023, Angus Brayshaw leapt ahead of Oliver but Petracca and Viney remained in the top three, while last year Pickett was in third place alongside Petracca and Oliver. A new dawn awaits Gawn.