Demonland

THE CASEY CASTLE by KC from Casey Having played their first three games at their fortress at the south east fringe of town, the Casey Demons took their game on the road for the first time in 2023 when they ventured to the other side of our great metropolis to come out trumps by 40 points against Essendon VFL and retain their hold on top spot on the VFL ladder. The Casey faithful could not have been happier at the sight of The NEC Hangar when they arrived at the ground in the shadows of Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport in the vicinity of the abode of the legendary Kerrigan family from the classic movie The Castle. A beautiful playing surface, the wind swirling across an open tree lined ground — a veritable northern suburban version of their own fortress and another Casey castle. And with the odd lashing of rain mixed in with heavy clouds followed by emerging blue skies, the Demons proceeded to completely smother the Bombers as they had done to others in the opening three games of the season. Casey had first aid of the breeze and had the better of things early but were punished by their inaccuracy in front of goal, scoring five behinds before Josh Schache nailed their first major. He also scored their second to put his team ahead by the margin of those five points at the end of the first term. They retained control through a strongly fought out second quarter but this time, it was the home side’s turn to miss the big sticks. At half time, they led by seven points. Early in the second half it was all Essendon but the Bombers were constantly rebuffed by a powerful Casey defence headed by Daniel Turner until the Demons broke forward to score a goal against the run of play from youngster Tyler Edwards after an outstanding display of desperation football from James Harmes who bustled his way through traffic with a sensational chain of handballs to advantage that ended in the hands of his teammate. This was the signal for the visitors to take control of the midfield through the agency of Harmes, Luke Dunstan, Bailey Laurie and Taj Woewodin. It was all one way traffic for the remainder of the quarter with goals coming one after another. When the dust settled at three quarter time, the Demons held an unassailable six goal lead which they stretched to 40 points by the end of the game. The final half of football had yielded them seven goals to one. Following Melbourne’s disappointing performance against Essendon in Adelaide, all eyes were on their twelve AFL listed players. Were any contenders out their for senior berths against Richmond on Anzac Eve? Harmes was outstanding with 32 disposals and five clearances in his comeback game after a couple of weeks out for personal reasons. He was in the thick of things from the get go, already had 17 touches at the main break, was the catalyst in that first goal of the second half and continued to work hard to ensure the game was out of the opposition’s hands by early in the final term. Schache followed up his strong 3 goal performance against Frankston with four goals to go with his 19 possessions, eight marks, seven hitouts and three clearances in a dominant performance. Laurie (32 disposals and four clearances) was also in everything with his clever play and his hand is well and truly up for the spot vacated by Charlie Spargo who was concussed just before half time in Adelaide. Dunstan picked up 24 possessions and kicked a goal and other leading possession gatherers were Woewodin (22), defender Turner (20) who was outstanding and Blake Howes (19). Casey was missing the injured tackling machine James Munro and experienced Matt Buntine who joined skipper Mitch White on the sidelines. In their place, the Demons were well served by Jack Bell who, though beaten in the ruck duels by a bigger AFL listed opponent, was solid with his marking and strong play around the ground, the hardworking George Grey and forward Ryan Valentine who kicked a career high three goals. The end result saw the Demons holding fort at the top of the ladder. They remain the kings of the VFL castle. CASEY DEMONS 2.5.17 5.7.37 10.8.68 12.10.82 ESSENDON VFL 2.0.12 4.6.30 4.8.32 5.12.42 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Schache 4 Valentine 3 Bell Dunstan Edwards Neocleous Sestan ESSENDON VFL Voss 2 Munkara Phillips Sutton BEST CASEY DEMONS Harmes Schache Laurie Bell Dunstan Turner Woewodin ESSENDON VFL Hobbs Bryan Rasinac Phillips Fitzgerald Hoare Statistics Jed Adams 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 35 dream team points Jack Bell 1 goal 9 kicks 7 handballs 16 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 10 hit outs 86 dream team points Paddy Cross 4 kicks 3 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 28 dream team points Luke Dunstan 1 goal 12 kicks 12 handballs 24 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 89 dream team points Tyler Edwards 1 goal 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 89 dream team points Tom Freeman 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 46 dream team 12 points 2 Max Gregory 8 kicks 4 handballs disposals marks 1 tackle 39 dream team points George Grey 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 64 dream team points James Harmes 15 kicks 17 handballs 32 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 97 dream team points Blake Howes 13 kicks 7 handballs 20 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 74 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 behind 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 28 dream team points Bailey Laurie 2 behinds 16 kicks 16 handballs 32 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 89 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 2 behinds 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 4 tackles 35 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 44 dream team points Josh Schache 4 goals 2 behinds 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 7 hit outs 114 dream team points Oliver Sestan 1 goal 1 behind 9 kicks 2 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 53 dream team points Miles Shepherd 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 19 dream team points Tim Sheridan 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 33 dream team points Deaykin Smith 7 kicks 7 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 56 dream team points Roan Steele 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 46 dream team points Daniel Turner 16 kicks 3 handballs 19 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 71 dream team points Ryan Valentine 3 goals 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 53 dream team points Taj Woewodin 1 behind 11 kicks 11 handballs 22 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 74 dream team points

Clarrie in the familiar poll position five rounds in - Progressive after Round 5 64. Clayton Oliver 47. Christian Petracca 32. Brodie Grundy 26. Jake Lever 18. Max Gawn Lachie Hunter 13. Kysaiah Pickett 11. Trent Rivers Jack Viney 10. Ed Langdon 9. Ben Brown 7. Judd McVee Charlie Spargo 5. Jake Bowey Tom McDonald 4. Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch 3. James Jordon 2. Jacob van Rooyen 1. Kade Chandler Harry Petty Tom Sparrow

It took a 27-point defeat at the hands of Essendon in the Gather Round at the Adelaide Oval for Melbourne bomb out in a number of different ways on Saturday. The Demons bombed out of the media’s assessment as “Premiership Favourite”. The entire side bombed out with their contested champions aspirations and the backmen bombed out in their reputation of being solid and reliable defenders after conceding 100 points in a game for the second time in three years. All around the ground, players were far below their best. Individually, they looked lethargic with the only exceptions being Clayton Oliver and Ed Langdon, who continued to provide drive and output, while all around them were bombing out. In a remarkable Clarrie performance (as if most of his performances aren’t remarkable) he had only two touches in the opening quarter but at game‘s end he had amassed 41 disposals, including an incredible 25 contested possessions! On the wing Langdon notched up 24 touches and topped the metres gained chart, usually reserved for the on-ball brigade, at 549m. He was at his best, providing the outlet so sorely needed in the game. Pity was that the performances of others was so grossly below standard. In the backline the structures that the side have come to rely upon so much, simply fell apart in the absence of Jake Lever. Harrison Petty tried his hardest, and despite being off the ground for a good length of time due to injury, managed twelve intercept touches to keep the team in the game when all seemed lost. As one of the few contributors, he was then moved forward to provide something, just something that had been missing for the whole match. Tomlinson came in to cover for Lever, but made multiple errors which resulted in opposition goals. It was the simple pressure applied by Essendon up the field which just kept pumping the ball toward their goals and eventually the dam wall broke. One could argue the coaches were lax in providing or trying out options, especially when Petty was off the ground. Van Rooyen was moved back, but Tom McDonald, at least a known entity as a defender, was left in the forward line, starved of opportunity. It was not until the final quarter that this move was made. Similarly, Brodie Grundy was left in the ruck position for basically the whole game to face the two Essendon rucks in Phillips and Draper. The result was 24 hitouts to him, while his opponents managed 39 together. McDonald contributed three, most of which came in the forward line. He just needed to be used to relieve Grundy more during the course of the game, which would have brought him more into the action. The absence of Max Gawn has impacted the side badly, none so evident as in the aerial contests. In this game, most of the statistics were matching with the opposition, but contested marks favoured them 11 to 7 and critically marks inside 50, favoured Essendon 15 to 9. Another failing was the tackling inside 50 which dropped from an average of 14.4 per game to 10 in this match. It wasn’t helped when Charlie Spargo was subbed out at half time, as he is a regular contributor in this area, but Jake Melksham continued with zero tackles in a game yet again. The remainder of the forwards failed to produce anything which looked threatening. The inside 50 count for both sides was similar, but the contested marks by the Essendon rucks which produced five goals was ultimately the difference between the two sides and Melbourne had nothing similar to add. In any event, it cannot depend upon the return of Gawn alone to solve this problem. Now with a nine day break until the game against Richmond, the side hopefully can rejuvenate. There seems to be a good chance for the return of Gawn, Brown and Lever which can only strengthen those areas the team was so badly lacking in this game. The big question for the selectors will be the group of not quite right players being used who continue to be found out on the big stage. Cameo performances are not enough, hard work and contest is what AFL is about at this level. Without that, the side will bomb out again, and the danger is if it is allowed to continue, they may well bomb out of finals contention. MELBOURNE 4.2.26 7.5.47 7.7.49 11.11.77 ESSENDON 5.4.34 9.10.64 12.13.85 15.14.104 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch Melksham Pickett 2 Chandler Jordon Neal-Bullen Petracca van Rooyen ESSENDON Draper 3 Hind Langford Martin Phillips 2 Jones Perkins Snelling Stringer BEST MELBOURNE Oliver Petracca Viney Langdon Neal-Bullen ESSENDON Merrett Draper Parish Shiel McGrath Setterfield Laverde Phillips INJURIES MELBOURNE Spargo (concussion) Brown (back) replaced before the game ESSENDON Jones (ankle) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil ESSENDON Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE James Jordon (replaced Charlie Spargo at half-time) ESSENDON Nick Hind (replaced Harry Jones in the third quarter) UMPIRES Simon Meredith Nathan Williamson Nathan Toner Matthew Young CROWD 45,115 at Adelaide Oval (Gather Round double header with Port Adelaide vs Western Bulldogs)

Melbourne’s form yesterday opens it up for a few players looking for promotion to the Anzac Eve game.

The Demons dominated the game and peppered the goals but were way off target and had to be content with a 22 point win. MELBOURNE 2.6.18 3.12.30 8.19.67 9.22.76 RICHMOND 2.2.14 5.3.33 7.4.46 8.6.54 THE TEAMS RICHMOND B: N.Broad 35 R.Tarrant 6 J.Gibcus 28 HB: J.Short 15 N.Vlastuin 1 D.Rioli 17 C: J.Ross 5 T.Cotchin 9 K.McIntosh 33 HF: J.Castagna 11 L.Baker 7 S.Edwards 10 F: T.Lynch 19 J.Riewoldt 8 N.Balta 21 Foll: T.Nankervis 25 D.Prestia 3 T.Dow 27 I/C: S.Bolton 29 R.Collier-Dawkins 26 J.Graham 34 R.Mansell 31 Sub: M.Parker 37 Emerg: S.Banks 41 M.Rioli 49 T.Sonsie 40 In: R.Collier-Dawkins J.Gibcus K.McIntosh R.Mansell Out: J.Aarts (omitted) B.Miller (omitted) M.Pickett (injured) H.Ralphsmith (ribs) MELBOURNE B: J.Hunt 29 S.May 1 H.Petty 35 HB: J.Bowey 17 J.Smith 44 T.Rivers 24 C: A.Brayshaw 10 C.Petracca 5 E.Langdon 15 HF: K.Pickett 36 S.Weideman 26 A.Neal-Bullen 30 F: B.Fritsch 31 B.Brown 50 C.Spargo 9 Foll: M.Gawn 11 C.Oliver 13 T. Sparrow 32 I/C: L.Dunstan 27 J.Harmes 4 L.Jackson 6 J.Jordon 23 Sub: T.Bedford 12 Emerg: J.Melksham 18 A.Tomlinson 20 T.McDonald 25 In: B.Brown L.Dunstan J.Smith Out: J.Lever (H & S Protocols) T.McDonald (omitted) J.Viney (H & S Protocols)

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on at the special day and time of Tuesday, 18th April @ 8:30pm. Join George, Binman and I as we dissect the disappointing loss to Essendon at Adelaide Oval during the Gather Round. 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 a 9 day break before ANZAC Eve at the MCG when they face off against the Tigers who are coming off 3 straight losses. Who comes in and who goes out from the side that lost to Essendon in Adelaide?

The Demons were overrun by Essendon to the tune of 27 points at Adelaide Oval during their Gather Round match. The Bombers were more hungry and cleaner with the footy and the Demons had no answers for anything that was thrown at them.

Clayton Oliver leads the Demonland Player of the Year 12 votes clear of Christian Petracca with Brodie Grundy coming in 3rd leading into the Gather Round in Adelaide. Your votes please 6,5,4,3,2,1 for the Round 5 loss to Essendon.

They just did a make some noise Dees fans followed by make some noise Bombers fans. You could barely hear a pin drop for the Dees. Was very loud for the Bombers.

4:10 Melbourne. 3:40 Adelaide.

Blue skies at the moment. Rain coming at about 5pm.

Walking around the mean streets of Adelaide I feel like I’ve seen a lot more Essendon paraphernalia wearing people than Dees.

All the AFL clubs have converged on Adelaide in South Australia for the Gather Round and the Demons are aiming to jump back into the Top 2 with a win over the Essendon Bombers at the Adelaide Oval.

I just hope the narrative isn't twisted to make it look like we can't draw a crowd. Then again the AFL don't want any whiff of the Gather Round not being a resounding success so the broadcasters will definitely not be mentioning it. That being said it will be plain as day that there are a lot of empty seats in the first 1/2 to 3/4 of our match.

We're really getting robbed of having a decent crowd at our game by virtue of it being a double header and the Port fans most likely not being there for the majority of our game.

Surely a flick is a throw.

Loose goal post padding cost Swans a goal there.

Taranto has been very unimpressive for the Tigers this year.

Never trust Gold Coast

Signed 2 year extension until the end of 2025.