Demonland

Goody said 2-3 weeks in his presser but Yze said he is likely to be back in a fortnight.

Votes Player (Club) 7 Max Gawn (MELB) 7 Kysaiah Pickett (MELB) 6 Izak Rankine (ADEL) 5 Angus Brayshaw (MELB) 4 Jack Viney (MELB) 1 Taylor Walker (ADEL) Leaderboard Votes Player Club 99 Nick Daicos COLL 84 Christian Petracca MELB 77 Zak Butters PORT 76 Marcus Bontempelli WB 73 Lachie Neale BL 72 Connor Rozee PORT 65 Noah Anderson GCFC 65 Zach Merrett ESS 64 Toby Greene GWS 63 Tim Taranto RICH 62 Jordan Dawson ADEL 61 Caleb Serong FRE 58 Jack Sinclair STK 50 Jordan De Goey COLL 50 Errol Gulden SYD 50 Dan Houston PORT 50 Jai Newcombe HAW 49 Adam Cerra CARL 49 Tom Liberatore WB 48 Shai Bolton RICH

I'm going to cut off the questions here. I need to get the notes for tonight finished and I'm a little bit under the weather and anymore questions might make this a longer show than the game warranted. 😜

George has spoken.

We might also leave this one for a couple of weeks time. If we can finish 2nd then that is my preference. Still torn on 3rd or 4th. I don't like having to win in Port (or Brisbane) in the first week of finals and initially 4th place against the Pies to snag a home prelim seems the preference but if we lose that game we will be faced with a Prelim in Port or Brisbane. Really wished we had that extra win in the bank that we coughed up in the Alice.

We might leave this to closer to the finals.

Do you mean 2022? We played them in Rd 19 in both 2021 and 2022. 2022 was a shootout. 2021 was not.

Tracc still holds a huge lead. Jack Viney has overhauled Clarrie to take second place. Progressive Demonland Player of the Year 2023 199. Christian Petracca 141. Jack Viney 127. Clayton Oliver 72. Max Gawn 65. Steven May 61. Angus Brayshaw 50. Trent Rivers 48. Jake Lever 45. Lachie Hunter 43. Christian Salem 40. Brodie Grundy 37. Kysaiah Pickett 27. Jake Bowey 26. Ed Langdon 25. Tom Sparrow 23. Judd McVee 19. Bayley Fritsch 18. Kade Chandler 9. Ben Brown 8. Charlie Spargo 7. Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen 6. Jacob van Rooyen 5. Tom McDonald 4. Michael Hibberd 3. James Jordon Adam Tomlinson 1. Harry Petty

Buck changing his tune this week (sort of) ...

That's the age old problem with Text based conversations. I will note it in the show tonight.

Melbourne went within four points of eating Crow on the MCG on Sunday. That was the margin that saw them breathing sighs of relief as they got across the line to beat Adelaide. In doing so, they put four more important points inside the winning column for their season. The banking of those four premiership points was vital, as it now leaves the Demons two games + percentage clear of fifth place on the ladder. This gives the coaching staff the opportunity to “manage” players over the coming weeks, because it is unlikely that they will finish higher than fourth. Although not yet set in stone, the chances are they will finish in no different position to where they are today — facing the first round of the finals against Collingwood at the MCG. Like last week, this was a game of huge momentum swings. Up by five goals in the third quarter, up by four midway through the last only to see scores levelled with 15 minutes to play. Then opening up another two goal plus lead, and finally getting over the line by four points. Make no mistake, Adelaide are a good, yet erratic side. They have recorded wins against Port and Brisbane this year, and lost to Collingwood twice by a point and then by two points at the MCG less than a month ago so Melbourne’s narrow win was still an exceptional one. Fortunately, the Crows struggled to kick straight from set shots, something with which Melbourne supporters would be truly familiar. The half time score line of 3 goals 9 behinds which turned into 6.13 at the ¾ time bell kept them out of the game and they only found their kicking boots in the final quarter putting 7 majors through from nine shots at goal. There were mixed performances from the Melbourne players, with Jack Viney, once again leading the positive column. Thirteen contested possessions, with nothing in the stats sheets for the number of times he simply willed himself to contests to deny the Crows free range. Christian Petracca also threw his hat into the ring with 26 touches of which 14 were contested. Unlike last week he couldn’t find his straight kicking boots, and he failed to bother the goal umpire. However, it was Kade Chandler who made a welcome return to the forward line. He created space again and again to sail the ball truly over the goal umpires hat three times. It was also pleasing to see Kysaiah Pickett return to his devastating self both when he was in the middle and also the forward line. Even the captain got in on the act and kicked two long bombs to record majors. The Demons new “super sub” Joel Smith came on in the final quarter and scored at an absolutely critical time with his first foray into the action. He would have had a second major, but was denied by a touched call from the umpire. However, he then centred the ball from tight in the pocket next time to ensure a mark to Taj Woewodin who scored what was probably the match winner. Smith might find himself in a more long lasting role up forward next week. In the absence of Clayton Oliver, the Sparrow, Angus Brayshaw, Viney, Petracca, James Jordon and Pickett filled the gap in the middle matching it with Adelaide in the centre, but outplaying them around the ground 24:19. And while the forwards had plenty of marks to their name i50, the fact that they could only record a single tackle in the same area, should be a cause for concern, especially since rebound 50’s are the major source of scoring for top four sides in 2023. For the Melbourne fans beating Adelaide is a far more enjoyable situation than falling to them, because eating Crow with a defeat, would have been just too unbearable to stomach at this time of the year. Down Rundle Mall way, they regard Pie floaters as a delicacy so we will just have to leave the Crow eating to them … MELBOURNE 2.2.14 6.4.40 11.7.73 14.13.97
 ADELAIDE 1.4.10 3.9.27 6.13.49 13.15.93 GOALS MELBOURNE Chandler 3 Gawn Melksham Pickett 2 Neal-Bullen Smith van Rooyen Viney Woewodin 
 ADELAIDE Walker 4 Rankine 3 Fogarty Keays Murphy BEST MELBOURNE Pickett Viney Brayshaw Gawn Chandler Petracca
 ADELAIDE Rankine Walker Hinge Dawson Milera Crouch LATE CHANGES MELBOURNE Nil ADELAIDE Ned McHenry and Patrick Parnell (illness) replaced in selected side by Luke Nankervis and Lachlan Murphy INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil ADELAIDE Murray (knee) Rankine (hamstring) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil ADELAIDE Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Joel Smith (replaced Ben Brown in fourth quarter)
 ADELAIDE Jackson Hately (replaced Jordon Butts in third quarter) UMPIRES Leigh Haussen Curtis Deboy Mathew Nicholls Craig Fleer CROWD 33,122 at the MCG

The Tigers made the running for most of the night but the Demons worse them down particularly with thanks for their accuracy in front of goal. Youngster Jacob van Rooyen announced himself with three final quarter goals. MELBOURNE 2.2.14 6.2.38 10.5.65 15.6.96 RICHMOND 5.2.32 8.4.52 10.7.67 11.12.78 
 
 THE TEAMS 
 
 MELBOURNE B H. Petty S. May T. Rivers HB K. Chandler J. Lever E. Langdon C A. Brayshaw C. Oliver L. Hunter HF J. McVee B. Grundy A. Neal-Bullen F K. Pickett J. van Rooyen B. Fritsch FOLL M. Gawn J. Viney C. Petracca I/C J. Bowey M. Hibberd J. Jordon T. Sparrow SUB B. Laurie EMG L. Dunstan J. Schache D. Turner IN M. Gawn M. Hibberd B. Laurie J. Lever OUT J. Melksham (omitted) T. McDonald (omitted) C. Spargo (concussion) A. Tomlinson (omitted) RICHMOND B N. Balta D. Grimes T. Young HB L. Baker N. Vlastuin D. Rioli C K. McIntosh T. Taranto M. Pickett HF M. Rioli D. Martin R. Mansell F B. Miller N. Cumberland J. Riewoldt FOLL S. Ryan S. Bolton J. Hopper I/C J. Clarke T. Cotchin D. Prestia J. Short T. Sonsie SUB H. Ralphsmith EMG J. Bauer J. Ross T. Sonsie IN J. Short OUT T. Sonsie (omitted)

You could not possibly me talking about me?

Revenge for 2021

The Demons will be back at the MCG for the third week in a row when they take on the Richmond Tigers on Sunday afternoon in a match where they can further consolidate their spot in the Top 4. Who comes in and who goes out?

Need a little bit of schadenfreude after that so @Lucifers Hero what are they saying at Westlakes?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 24th July @ 8:30pm. Join Binman, George & I as we analyse the Demons victory/loss at the MCG over/against the Crows. 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

The Demons have consolidated their position in the Top 4 creating a 2 game and percentage buffer with 5th place by beating the Adelaide Crows by 4 points at the MCG.

Christian Petracca is the runaway leader of the Demonland Player of the Year and has a comfortable lead over the injured Clayton Oliver whilst Jack Viney is slowly making headway in 3rd place. Your votes for the win/loss over/to the Crows. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Hopefully not the only good news today.