Demonland

It's back!!!! Bloody umpires. We should be +100 Best differentials 1 - St Kilda (+57) 2 - Carlton (+46) 3 - Brisbane (+42) 4 - Collingwood (+40) 5 - Fremantle (+38) Worst differentials 1 - North Melbourne (-51) 2 - Port Adelaide (-48) 3 - Richmond (-43) 4 - Adelaide (-32) 5 - Hawthorn (-31) Most frees for 1 - Carlton (363) 2 - St Kilda (348) 3 - Collingwood (345) 4 - Fremantle (344) 5 - Melbourne (340) Least frees for 1 - GWS (270) 2 - Richmond (285) 3 - Hawthorn (298) 4 - Essendon (305) 5 - North Melbourne (306) Most frees against 1 - Port Adelaide (377) 2 - Adelaide (371) 3 - North Melbourne (357) 4 - Sydney (350) 5 - Gold Coast (330) Least frees against 1 - Essendon (282) Eq.2 - Brisbane (291) Eq.2 - St Kilda (291) 4 - GWS (296) 5 - Collingwood (305) The Round 19 Free Kick Ladder St Kilda has moved into outright top spot with a +57 differential, having held second position last time we visited this in Round 15. The Saints are +11 clear of Carlton who are holding strong in second on +46. Brisbane, who held top spot four rounds ago, has dropped to third with a +42 differential, two clear of Collingwood on +40. Fremantle rounds out the top five on +38. At the other end of the scale, North Melbourne is deep on the negatives on -51, ahead of Port Adelaide on -48 and Richmond on -43. Adelaide (-32) and Hawthorn (-31) make up the bottom five.

😆 We really don't need to make the show any longer than it already is.

The search to discover the real Melbourne continues. Most of the search centres on its forward line but there’s more to it than that. The attack worked reasonably well for the first nine rounds despite the disruption of injuries to key position players. The Demons averaged 107 points per game to feature as the competition’s leading scorer, had a 7-2 win/loss record and were heading for a possible top two placing. But as wet weather and goal front inaccuracy bedeviled the team over rounds 10 to 16, that average plummeted dramatically to 64 points as they lost four out of six games by narrow margins — games that were eminently winnable and people were asking, “what is the real Melbourne?” It was then that coach Simon Goodwin undertook a new tack, mixing things around in the midfield and up forward due in part to form and to necessity as a result injuries, notably to star players like Clayton Oliver and Bayley Fritsch. This involved some clever and inspired innovation. Brodie Grundy was sent to Casey to work on his forward craft, some of the team’s smaller forwards were also sent to the VFL, others were given more midfield minutes and Christian Petracca’s spent extra time up forward yielding four goals twice in a row. In the three matches since, the team has started hitting the target more regularly, the average score surged upwards by 30 points, and the wins have come. But despite the improvement in forward connection, Goodwin is still searching. "We are still not finished in what we are doing and we have got to find ways to continue to improve … ," he said after last week’s game. One area where his team needs to improve is in bridling opposition run ons such as those we’ve seen recently from Geelong, GWS Giants, Brisbane and Adelaide. Stop these and the Demons will really be on their way. And that brings us to this week’s game against Richmond which finished last week’s game against Hawthorn with six consecutive goals after they languished in the shadows of defeat shortly before three quarter time. The Tigers rose Phoenix-like from the dead to revive their finals hopes and with the new belief engendered by their last ditch win, they present danger to Melbourne if they can repeat that effort. As it is, they gave the Demons a hard time at their last encounter on Anzac Day Eve when under the coaching of Damien Hardwick who not long after, quit the club having lost the desire to continue in the job. His replacement, Andrew McQualter has them buzzing along nicely with the likes of Taranto, Bolton and Baker starring and Dustin Martin returning to his dangerous form of old. The Demons will have to produce their very best in terms of applying maximum pressure for four quarters. They can’t afford a repeat of their recent final term fadeouts against the Cats and the Crows because the Tigers have come back from the dead in two of their last three games which is the reason why the sit outside the top eight on percentage only. I’m backing Goodwin to succeed in his search for the answer to the puzzle. The Demons are due to perform for the full four quarters and to prove once again that they are the true masters of the MCG. Melbourne by 55 points. THE GAME Richmond v Melbourne on Sunday 30 July 2023 at 3.20pm at the MCG HEAD TO HEAD Overall Richmond 107 wins Melbourne 78 wins Drawn 2 At the MCG Richmond 72 wins Melbourne 66 wins Drawn 1 Past five meetings Richmond 2 wins Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches McQualter 0 wins Goodwin 0 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 15.6.96 defeated Richmond 11.12.78 at the MCG, Round 6, 2023 The Demons looked sluggish on their return from the Gather Round in Adelaide. Richmond opened up a decent lead in the third term but thanks to the midfield brilliance of Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca, Melbourne was able to take control early in the final term to win by three goals. THE TEAMS RICHMOND B N. Balta, D. Grimes T. Young HB N. Vlastuin N. Broad D. Rioli C K. McIntosh T. Taranto J. Ross HF J. Graham J. Hopper L. Baker F J. Riewoldt D. Martin M. Pickett FOLL I. Soldo D. Prestia S. Bolton I/C S. Banks, T. Cotchin R. Mansell B. Miller SUB M. Coulthard EMG N. Cumberland H. Ralphsmith S. Ryan No Change MELBOURNE B T. Rivers, S. May, J. Lever HB C. Salem A. Tomlinson J. Bowey C L. Hunter J. Viney E. Langdon HF K. Chandler J. Melksham J. Jordon F A. Neal-Bullen J. Van Rooyen K. Pickett FOLL M. Gawn A. Brayshaw C. Petracca I/C J. Harmes J. McVee H. Petty T. Woewodin SUB J. Smith EMG B. Grundy M. Hibberd C. Spargo IN J. Harmes H. Petty OUT B. Brown (omitted) T. Sparrow Injury List: Round 20 Harry Petty - Ribs | Test Clayton Oliver - Hamstring | 2 - 3 Weeks Tom McDonald - Ankle | 2 - 3 Weeks Kye Turner - Groin | 3 - 4 Weeks Bayley Fritsch - Foot | 4 - 5 Weeks Daniel Turner - Hand | 4 - 5 Weeks Blake Howes - Hand | Season

@Supermercado

Wait until he’s listed in minutes then he’ll be back any day now.

I don’t like to toot my own horn but I picked this on the podcast last night. @binman @george_on_the_outer

Nothing released officially by the club on their website or socials but this was on the AFL Website. Medical room: The full AFL injury list, R20 PLAYER INJURY ESTIMATED RETURN Bayley Fritsch Foot 4-5 weeks Tom McDonald Ankle 1-3 weeks Clayton Oliver Hamstring 2-3 weeks Harrison Petty Ribs Test Daniel Turner Wrist 4-5 weeks Kye Turner Groin TBC Updated: July 25, 2023 Early prognosis Petty should be fit to face the Tigers after the club erred on the side of caution for the Adelaide clash. Oliver is still at least a fortnight away as he builds his ability to hit top speed, while McDonald continues to train with the main group as he closes on a playing return. – Michael Rogers PLAYER INJURY ESTIMATED RETURN Jacob Bauer Hamstring Test Mate Colina Back 6-11 weeks Josh Gibcus Hamstring 3-5 weeks Tom Lynch Foot Season Toby Nankervis Suspension Round 21 Jayden Short Hamstring Test Kaleb Smith Ankle Season Updated: July 25, 2023 Early prognosis In good news for the Tigers in their finals push, Short and Bauer are both tests to face Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday. Most of Richmond's other injured players remain weeks away, with co-captain Nankervis to miss one more match through suspension. – Dejan Kalinic

Nothing released officially by the club on their website or socials but this was on the AFL Website. Medical room: The full AFL injury list, R20 PLAYER INJURY ESTIMATED RETURN Bayley Fritsch Foot 4-5 weeks Tom McDonald Ankle 1-3 weeks Clayton Oliver Hamstring 2-3 weeks Harrison Petty Ribs Test Daniel Turner Wrist 4-5 weeks Kye Turner Groin TBC Updated: July 25, 2023 Early prognosis Petty should be fit to face the Tigers after the club erred on the side of caution for the Adelaide clash. Oliver is still at least a fortnight away as he builds his ability to hit top speed, while McDonald continues to train with the main group as he closes on a playing return. – Michael Rogers

Explain this then.

Clarry can be glimpsed in the second pic/video.

I hope they were going at more than 90% speed.

🤞

Your questions and comments form a large part of our podcast. So thanks to theses posters this week that posted questions/comments. @Kiwi Dee @Redjacket @RyanD @monoccular @smurf @layzie @buck_nekkid @buddha82 @sam6172 @Garbo @Skrull @Red and Bluebeard @Travy14 @Wells 11 @BigMacjnr @DemonWA @whatwhat say what @raDeelaide @Bigfoot @mandeelorian @Deeminion @OhMyDees @DeeMee @Hoof Harted @John Demonic @ElDiablo14 @Singa @Newport34 @Engorged Onion @pewpewpew @ShortyShort @At the break of Gawn 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. I just want to make mention that last night was our 200th Demonland Podcast. We’ve covered almost every single game since Round 1 2017. The 200 episodes includes almost all of the games since and any of the standalone interviews we’ve done with Players, Coaches & Officials Past and Present. We were there for our return to the final series after a 12 year absence, we were there for our drought breaking premiership and hopefully we’ll be here for the next one. I just want to thank a few people who have been a big part of the podcast over the 200 episodes. My Co-Hosts, @Grapeviney, @Whispering_Jack, @Supermercado and of course @george_on_the_outer and @binman These guys rock up every single week, win, lose or draw, luckily we win more often than not these days. These guys don’t get paid to do this, with the exception of some Best and Fairest tickets I occasionally throw their way. They do it for the love of Demonland and for the love of talking about this great club that we all support and barrack for. So a big thank you to my co-hosts. Without them there is no show because I’m not as analytical about the game as they are. My emotions get in the way of any of that. They’ve taught me that “Just kick the bloody thing” isn’t a sound tactic even though I still yell "kick the bloody thing" all game. I hope our listeners have learned a thing or two from the podcast over the 200 episodes because I sure have. So thank you boys. I also want to thank all the Demonlanders and listeners that have contributed to the podcast in the form of questions, comments, feedback, reviews, calls and voicemails. All those contributions are a massive part of the show so thank you. I wish I could name you all but there simply isn’t time. I hope that the shoutouts I give you on the podcast each week is enough thanks for your generous contribution of content. And thank you to you the listener. Without an audience we’re just speaking into a microphone recorded on a computer. So thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy what we produce each week. Here’s to another 200 plus episodes. Hopefully we can all celebrate another flag or more along the way. Go Demons.