Demonland

He'll get life in prison because the AFL will want to make a statement.

At half time in the 1975 Grand final against North Melbourne, legendary Hawthorn coach entered Australian sporting folklore when he implored his charges who were lagging behind their opponents to ‘do something’: "At least do something. Do. Don't think. Don't hope. Do. At least you can come off saying 'I did this'," Kennedy said. Kennedy’s plea failed but he had made his point and the Hawks rose again in 1976 when they took the premiership flag from the Kangaroos. The same frustrations which Kennedy faced in 1975 have been felt by the Demon faithful at times throughout 2022 and again, in parts of 2023. Last Thursday, as we sat and watched the train wreck of another slow start against Collingwood, followed by the last quarter and a half of a game in which opportunity after opportunity was butchered by poor decision making and execution in the forward line, many of us were moved to let out that helpless primal scream of ‘do something’! Melbourne won only one first quarter from Round 20 onwards (against an inaccurate Sydney team). The opposition put scoreboard pressure on the Demons, forcing them to work hard to get back into the game and win. Against, better teams such as Carlton (Round 22: 8.8.56 to 9.6.60) and Collingwood (EF: 7.11.53 to 9.6.60) the win simply did not eventuate even though Melbourne ran out the far stronger team in these match ups. Melbourne has as strong a defence and midfield as any in the competition. The defence has, for the most part, been playing out its role and has curbed the dangerous Charlie Curnow and his cohort of little men twice this year but the midfield needs to do something to lift its intensity rating when the battle starts. The contest between the midfields will be of paramount importance as the Blues’ Cripps, Walsh and Cerra, at their best can match the Demons’ gold star rated mids in Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney. It might well devolve into a question of who among the bit parts of the respective mids can stand up and be counted, particularly when they play their opening gambit. The other something needed from Melbourne is its efficiency when going forward. They need to be less predictable as otherwise, the Blues’ defence headed by Weitering will pick the Demons apart. Any attack that has 32 more inside-50 entries than its opponent but kicks only seven goals in a match has to be classified as bordering on dysfunctional so the Melbourne selectors have to do something to turn that situation around. That’s easier said than done without the forward line trio of Harrison Petty, Jake Melksham and Jacob van Rooyen who, between them, managed 14 goals straight in Round 20 against Richmond but will all be absent on Friday night. Does the club have the depth of talent necessary to enable it to take advantage in front of goal if the midfield stands up to give them scoring opportunities as expected? Much is being made about claims that Max Gawn and Oliver might be going into battle on Friday night but a little bluebird tells me that Cripps and Marchbank will also be carrying their own injuries into the game. The Demons have the ability to select some seasoned players including All-Australian ruckman Brodie Grundy and James Jordon and Charlie Spargo who have both played in a premiership team, along with the likes of Bayley Fritsch, Kozzy Pickett and Tom McDonald who had major roles in the same campaign for that 2021 flag. There is plenty of scope left for coach Simon Goodwin and his team to do something. And, I’m tipping that they will do so and overcome the Blues by the slender margin of a solitary point. THE GAME Melbourne v Carlton at the MCG Friday 15 September 2023 at 7.50pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Carlton 118 wins Melbourne 97 wins Drawn 2 At the MCG Carlton 51 wins Melbourne 56 wins Past five meetings Carlton 1 win Melbourne 4 The Coaches Voss 1 win Goodwin 2 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Carlton 9.6.60 defeated Melbourne 8.8.56 at the MCG Round 22, 2023 The Demons made a poor start to the game but somehow were close enough to be well in the contest at each interval before falling asleep again in the opening minutes of the final term when they conceded three goals. Inaccuracy and a Carlton fingernail cost them the win that might have secured them a second place finish and an easier run to a Preliminary Final. Angus Brayshaw’s 31 touches were pivotal to the Demons’ ultimately unsuccessful lunge toward victory. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. Lever A. Tomlinson J. Bowey HB J. McVee S. May C. Salem C L. Hunter C. Oliver E. Langdon HF J. Jordon B. Fritsch C. Petracca F T. Sparrow McDonald A. Neal-Bullen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, K. Pickett I/C K. Chandler T. Rivers J. Smith C. Spargo SUB J. Schache EMG B. Grundy M. Hibberd B. Laurie IN J. Jordon J. Schache C. Spargo A. Tomlinson OUT A. Brayshaw (concussion) M. Hibberd (omitted) B. Laurie (omitted) J. van Rooyen (suspended) CARLTON B B. Kemp J. Weitering N. Newman HB A. Cincotta M. McGovern A. Saad C B. Acres P. Cripps M. Cottrell HF S. Docherty T. De Koning M. Owies F L. Fogarty C. Curnow J. Motlop FOLL M. Pittonet A. Cerra S. Walsh I/C D. Cunningham G. Hewett M. Kennedy C. Marchbank SUB O. Hollands EMG P. Dow S. Durdin Z. Fisher IN O. Hollands M. Kennedy OUT H. McKay (hamstring) J. Martin (suspended) Injury and Suspension List: Semi Final Ben Brown - Knee | Test James Harmes - Hamstring | Test Angus Brayshaw - Concussion | TBC Jacob van Rooyen Suspended | 1 Week Luke Dunstan - Knee | Season Blake Howes - Hand | Season Jake Melksham - Knee | Season Harrison Petty - Foot | Season Oliver Sestan - Elbow | Season

They won’t do anything. Happy to have washed their hands of it

lol. THE HEAD IS NOT SACROSANCT

Your questions and comments form a large part of our podcast. So thanks to these posters this week that posted questions/comments. @DEE32 @ElDiablo14 @leave it to deever @Go Lordie @FreedFromKysaiah @spirit of norm smith @Supreme_Demon @Bates Mate @KLV @DemonWA @Deeoldfart @monoccular @D4Life @Webber @Surfer Dee @Gawnhub @layzie @Demonised @whatwhat say what @OhMyDees @Tracforever @Rednblueriseing @At the break of Gawn @Nairobi_Demon @Its Time for Another @Rascability @sam6172 @Spit Demon @Binmans PA @3183 Dee Don't forget to leave us a 5 Star Review on Apple Podcasts and write a review and we'll read it out on the show. And also if you have an account on YouTube we'd love it if you can Like our videos and Subscribe to our Channel Demonland YouTube Channel Last night's Podcast will be up on YouTube later today.

I can't remember the context but I hope this isn't the Dees on Friday night.

I would say creating an account with the sole intent to troll is breaking the rules.

The forum software has pretty good spam detection but sometimes some filth slips through. An IQ test or incest paternity test would have sorted this out.

Please use the report feature in the future rather than quote the post. Causes more work for the mods to have to delete extra posts.

So good to see Gus back on the track. Wouldn't have thought he would be allowed to be running. But so great to see him back on the track.

I forgot to cut the dead air at the start of the recording. It should start about 30 seconds in. I have replaced the audio file on the server but as your podcast app has already downloaded the episode it will have the original file.

No Paxy, no problems, as Melbourne kicked the equal third highest score in AFLW history to romp home against Greater Western Sydney (GWS) in Canberra by 77 points. Paxman had played in all the Demons previous 65 games but was a late withdrawal due a quad injury. Speedy recovery Paxy. Our Giant Killer, Captain Kate Hore was awesome with 23 disposals, 420 metres gained, 6 tackles and 5 goals 2 behinds. Her confidence in her ability to win the ball seems sky high and she plays all over the ground with such aplomb. When all the AFLW captains were asked ‘if you could recruit another player from any AFLW club who would it be?’, three captains chose our number 10. They know what they’re talking about. Clearly the longer games and rotation cap is advantaging teams like Melbourne and North Melbourne. The Dees slammed on seven goals in the last quarter and the Roos kicked five goals in theirs. We will continue to see more goals this year, across the league. Gold Coast matched the Dees kicking 99 points too. The forward line was really strong on Sunday and always looked dangerous. As for the defenders, Chaplin did well in her first game back while Goldie, Gillard, Birch and crew appeared more confident this week. Our best players Hore, Lampard, Hanks, Pearce, Purcell were well supported by an even team effort. Our list management has been meticulous, and we have managed to keep and develop our players at Melbourne. There are 16 players with 30 AFLW games or more of which 8 players have over 50 games. Melbourne now has a historical win loss ratio of 75.8%, the highest in the competition. It really was an outstanding performance by the team. So many contributors which highlights our even spread of talent and that versatility to which Mick Stinear often refers. The Dees are second on the ladder after two games with the Top 4 looking strangely like Meggs predicted, that is North Melbourne, Adelaide, and Geelong. All teams have percentages over 200%. In terms of the game: Q1 GWS win the first centre clearance and goal within 20 seconds. Impressive start but weren’t we going to open with higher intensity this week? Spoke too early. Within a minute our skipper had kicked two wonderful goals, one from a contested mark and the other was a nice snap. Zanker snags another for the Dees before Doyle marks and goals for the Giants’ second. Goldie finds Hore directly in front who kicks her third goal. What an impressive quarter by Kate. ¼ time: GWS 2.1.13 Dees 4.1.17 Q2 Within 2 minutes of the restart Mackin has kicked another goal. Hanksy’s skill level is on another plane. Her precision by hand and foot is sublime Her pass to Bannan is perfectly weighted and she outsprints her opponents and to kick a nice goal. We are getting on top. Hanks then hits up Harris inside 50 on the boundary line. Tayla then centres to Lampard who marks and duly converts. Our number 8 is having a good game. ½ time: GWS 2.1.13 Dees 7.5.47 Q3 GWS come out a bit stronger after halftime and it’s an arm wrestle for the quarter with each team scoring just the one goal. One from the experienced GWS campaigner Eva but the Dees‘ goal deserves a special mention. Kate Hore marks inside 50 from a well-weighted long pass from Liv Purcell. Kate knows this shot looks close to the edge of her kicking distance. As the ball heads straight towards goal, Tayla first bumps tall defender Cambridge McCormick to her left and then solidly bumps Pepa Randall to her right to clear a path for Kate’s kick to sail through at head height. Nice one Tay! ¾ time: GWS 3.3.21 Dees 8.7.55 Q4 A seven goal to nil last quarter was a procession but still entertaining to watch. Well fun for Dees fans anyway. A botched kick in by GWS results in a nice snap by Purcell for her first goal. Bannan gets her second, the result of a Lauren Pearce forward 50 entry. Loz is playing really well today. Purcell and Lampard both score their second goals. 57 points up. Another forward 50 entry by Pearce results in a goal from a free kick after Lily Mithen was tripped. Banno gets her third goal from a clever snap from the pocket. The last goal was created by Dees keeping the ball alive and aptly it’s Kate Hore who gets on the end of the good play to score her fifth goal. GWS have only kicked a solitary point in this half while the Dees have managed 44 points in the final term alone. It’s a convincing 77 point win and 99 points is Melbourne’s second highest all time score. Full time: Dees 15.9.99 defeated GWS 3.4.22 Coaches and next week Melbourne Coach Mick Stinear said GWS played a good brand of contested footy. A taxing game. Versality is a strength of our playing group. He was happy to earn the four points on the road. GWS coach Cam Bernasconi was disappointed with Melbourne’s seven last quarter goals which created a ‘sour ending’ to the night for his team. He felt GWS was still in the game at ¾ time. Next week we take on old rivals, the Western Bulldogs at Casey Fields on Saturday September 16 at 3:05pm. MELBOURNE 4.1.25 7.5.47 8.7.55 15.9.99 GWS GIANTS 2.1.13 2.1.13 3.3.21 3.4.22 GOALS MELBOURNE Hore 5 Bannan 3 Lampard Purcell 2 Mackin Mithen Zanker GWS GIANTS Doyle Eva Garnett BEST MELBOURNE Hore Hanks Purcell Lampard Pearce GWS GIANTS Barr Eva Evans Parker Beeson INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil GWS GIANTS Nil LATE CHANGES GWS GIANTS Annalyse Lister (calf) replaced in selected side by Caitlin Miller MELBOURNE Nil

30. Tyla Hanks 28. Kate Hore 20. Alyssa Bannan 14. Olivia Purcell 10. Shelley Heath 8. Eden Zanker 6. Sarah Lampard 3. Tayla Harris 2. Blaithin Mackin Paxy Paxman Lauren Pearce 1. Eliza McNamara

Can this be corroborated?

VOTES PLAYER (CLUB) 8 Max Gawn (MELB) 6 Isaac Quaynor (COLL) 6 Jack Crisp (COLL) 4 Bobby Hill (COLL) 3 Christian Petracca (MELB) 2 Steele Sidebottom (COLL) 1 Clayton Oliver (MELB) LEADERBOARD VOTES PLAYER CLUB 10 Josh Kelly GWS 10 Hugh McCluggage BL 9 Blake Acres CARL 8 Max Gawn MELB 8 Sam Walsh CARL 7 Joe Daniher BL 7 Tom Green GWS 6 Jack Crisp COLL 6 Isaac Quaynor COLL 5 Tom McCartin SYD 4 Matthew Cottrell CARL 4 Bobby Hill COLL 4 Connor Idun GWS 4 Cameron Rayner BL 3 Lachie Ash GWS 3 Josh Dunkley BL 3 Jaspa Fletcher BL 3 Christian Petracca MELB 3 Lachie Whitfield GWS 2 Errol Gulden SYD 2 Rowan Marshall STK 2 Steele Sidebottom COLL 2 Darcy Wilmot BL