Demonland

It’s a beautiful morning for some preseason training. Stay tuned … 📆 Friday, November 14 ⏰ 8:45am - 10:30am 📍 Gosch's Paddock 🏃‍♂️ Session type: Training

Courtesy of @FearTheBeard

Semi Final Showdown Noffy, Hatchy and Randy lead Adelaide’s finals-hardened flock to IKON Park for a blockbuster semi-final against Kate Hore and Hanksy’s mighty Demons. Adelaide has dropped four of its past five matches at this ground — let’s hope that trend holds. But don’t expect charity — Doc Clarke brings an experienced, battle-worthy murder of Crows. Melbourne, finished second, faces Adelaide, the sixth-placed serious contender, on a perfect Saturday afternoon—20 degrees, sunny skies, and a gentle breeze. It’s a clash steeped in history and rivalry. The ledger reads six wins to Melbourne, five to Adelaide, and the last time we met here was a Season 7 qualifying final that launched the Dees toward its maiden premiership glory. For years, the Crows’ bigger bodies bullied us — Season 6 Grand Final still stings — but we’ve learned, adapted, and built a midfield to match their muscle. Now, it’s about execution under pressure. Win this, and we’re into a Preliminary Final. Lose and it’s thank you and goodnight. Match Ups Adelaide’s engine room remains elite: Ebony Marinoff (Noffy), Anne Hatchard (Hatchy), and Chelsea Randall (Randy) are fit, firing, and finals-ready. Irish woman Niamh Kelly runs all day on her wing and Madi Newman and Sarah Goodwin are great link mids who take advantage of the contest work. Danielle Ponter and young gun Rasheed loom as dangers inside 50. Melbourne counters with craft, class and confrontation—Kate Hore’s leadership and goal sense, Tyla Hanks’ clearance wizardry, Megan Fitzsimon’s one-percenters, Eliza McNamara’s indefatigable two-way running. Add confronting moments from elite pressure player Shelley Heath. Our reworked defence, minus Maeve Chaplin, will lean on Tahila Gillard’s aerial presence and hopefully Sinead Goldrick’s speed and pressure. Up forward, we’ll miss Zanker’s power, so others must step up. Anticipate the Georgias Gall and Campbell and Tayla Harris to clunk a few. Expect a tactical chess match. Veteran coaches scheming in the dugouts: Adelaide wants stoppage dominance; Melbourne wants speed and spread. Mick’s Century Something to crow about—Mick Stinear coaches his 100th AFLW game in his 10th season at the helm with a win rate of circa 71%. He’s just missed one Melbourne game, 2021 Round 8 when Jane Lange stepped in. A foundation coach, Mick’s influence runs deep: Daisy Pearce, Tamara Hyett, and a host of ex-Dees now in leadership roles across the league thanks to his mentorship. But here’s the twist — Mick is out of contract. With a new broom sweeping through the Melbourne Football Club, could this be his last stand? Media chatter has Kate McCarthy and assistant Shae Sloane in the mix as potential successors. For now, Mick’s focus is simple: win and keep the dream alive. Funny how footy works—his milestone match could also be his farewell. Selection This Week Twenty players from last week are available, plus seven fresh options: Goldrick, Colvin, Ebert, Beasley, Pisano, Dethridge, Johnson. Injured: Chaplin, Zanker, Purcell, Hose. There’s a rehab watch on Blaithin too. So Goldie comes in (if fit)—her experience and gameday brilliance could be the difference in a finals arm wrestle. Rigoni was quiet last week, Ebert was rested, and a few others were below their best. Expect Mick to make a couple of changes—maybe more. Meggs’ curveball? Grace Beasley. Strong body, loves the contest, great hands, and could shake things up if match fit. Finals footy rewards bold moves — don’t rule it out. Meanwhile training over at Norwood, the Crows enjoy a near full-strength list. Imagine if we had Chappy, Zanks, and Liv out there. Lucky them. Meggs’ musings The anger from Mick’s postgame presser last week has evolved into a group steely determination, echoed by Tyla Hanks when she addressed the Men’s team in a joint huddle with her team at Wednesday’s training session. Stirring stuff. This is why we play. Adelaide’s aura is real, but so is Melbourne’s resilience and the brilliance of our two stars Hore and Hanks. To win, our midfield must absorb the heat and then burn them on the outside. Defence will be tested—Gould and Ponter lurk, young Rasheed impressed with two goals last week—but if our leaders get rolling with plenty of support, and Bannan stretches them with speed, we’re in business. There are no draws in AFLW finals. 2 x 3-minute quarters (with time on) are played after a 6-minute break and the process repeated until there is a winner. So, for one team or the other, they’ll be something to crow about. Bring the pressure, bring back the Demon dare, and bring the noise #DeeArmy and fans. Don’t let this be our last week—let’s make it ours. Tip: Melbourne by 3 points. Heart rate around 150. A fantastic afternoon for fans on a pristine playing arena—Meggs will be there and hopes to see you cheering on the Mighty Dees to a momentous win. THE GAME Semi Final: Melbourne v Adelaide Sunday 15 November 2025 at 1:05pm (AEDT) at IKON Stadium, Melbourne | Wurundjeri HEAD TO HEAD Overall: Melbourne 6 wins | Adelaide 5 wins At IKON Stadium: Melbourne 1 win | Adelaide 0 wins (Season 7 Qualifying Final) Coaches: Stinear 6 wins | Clarke 5 wins MEDIA COVERAGE Seven, 7 Plus, Foxtel, Kayo, Binge AFL Live Official Listen App THE LAST TIME THEY MET Season 9, Round 7 – 9 October 2024 at Norwood Oval MELBOURNE 2.1.13 2.2.14 2.3.15 2.4.16 ADELAIDE 0.1.1 0.5.5 1.5.11 1.8.14 BEST MELBOURNE Hanks, Hore, Goldrick, McNamara ADELAIDE Marinoff, Randall, Hatchard, Newman INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil ADELAIDE Nil REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil ADELAIDE Nil CROWD 2,586 at Norwood Oval Under the Norwood Oval lights, Melbourne pulled off a gutsy two-point win over Adelaide in a game that was anything but boring. The Dees led all night in a low-scoring arm wrestle, matching the Crows’ famed physicality with relentless pressure and a simplified game plan that demanded every player’s buy-in—and a slice of luck. Milestone marvel Sinead Goldrick embodied the spirit of the night, racking up 19 disposals, six tackles, and near full-game time. Her chase-down tackle in the third quarter was pure heavy mettle. Tyla Hanks was best afield with 24 touches and seven tackles, while Kate Hore and Eliza McNamara were everywhere, Eliza even landing a bone-cruncher late to snuff out Chelsea Randall’s last-gasp surge. Adelaide dominated the stats—inside 50s, clearances, hit-outs—but Melbourne’s defensive wall held firm. Tahila Gillard blanketed Caitlin Gould, Maeve Chaplin quelled Danielle Ponter, and Denby Taylor impressed with 6 tackles. Up forward, Alyssa Bannan stood tall despite copping a hit from Randall that drew a fine. It was Melbourne’s lowest winning score on record—just 18 points—but the sweetest kind of ugly win. Mick Stinear hailed it as a four-quarter, team-first triumph and a fitting celebration for milestone stars Goldrick and Hore. The Dees left Adelaide with four points, belief, and a finals dream still alive. THIS WEEK’S TEAMS (to be loaded when available) MELBOURNE B S. Taylor, T. Gillard HB S. Goldrick, S. Lampard, D. Taylor C E. McNamara, T. Hanks, P. Paxman HF A. Bannan, M. Fitzsimon, T. Harris F G. Gall, R. Wotherspoon, FOLL L. Pearce, S. Heath, K. Hore I/C G. Campbell, L. Ebert, B. Mackin, M. Mahony, M. O' Hehir EMG L. Johnson, A. Pisano, J. Rigoni IN L. Ebert, S. Goldrick OUT J. Rigoni (omitted), E. Zanker (concussion) ADELAIDE B S. Allan, C. Biddell HB A. Boyle-Carr, Z. Prowse, K. Cronin C N. Kelly, A. Hatchard, M. Newman HF I. Rasheed, C. Randall G. Kelly F E. Jones, C. Gould FOLL J. Allan, E. Marinoff, S. Goodwin I/C B. Boileau, T. Charlton, K. Kutner, K. Mueller, D. Ponter EMG H. Munyard, L. Tarlington, B. Tonon NO CHANGR Injury List: Semi Final Melbourne Sinéad Goldrick — eye / Test Eden Zanker — concussion / Protocols Maeve Chaplin — hamstring / TBC Olivia Purcell — knee / Season Jacinta Hose — knee / Inactive Aimee Mackin — knee / Inactive Adelaide Georgia McKee — knee / Season

They were lucky to get more than 6 people this year the week after the Saints game at the same venue. 😜

Play Twice: Essendon, Bulldogs, Gold Coast, Richmond, Hawthorn, Fremantle

To Round 15 we play: 8 x Sunday Games 5 x Saturday Games 1 x Friday (Anzac Eve) 1 x Monday (Kings Birthday) 8 x 3:15 pm Games 4 x 1:10/15 pm Games 2 x Night Games 5 x interstate including Home Alice Game and Gather Round 8 x MCG 2 x Marvel including Home Game against Eagles.

No footy in Geelong ..... unless we make the finals and play them then they will probably finally grant the Cats a home final.

MFC 2026 FULL FIXTURE

The 2026 AFL Fixture has been unveiled, with the Dees gearing up for a new era of Demon Spirit. The season will kick off with a bang, as Melbourne returns to the ‘G to host St Kilda in Round 1 on Sunday 15 March. The match up poses several compelling story lines, with Steven King’s first match at the helm and potential encounters against their old club for new Dees Jack Steele and Max Heath among the many talking points. VIEW FULL FIXTURE >>> 2026 AFL SEASON Melbourne is set to play five of its first seven matches on the hallowed turf, boding well for an explosive start to the season. Melbourne CEO Paul Guerra reflected on the draw, noting the opportunities for the Demon faithful to enjoy the footy this coming AFL season. “A strong MCG presence, remains our top priority, so we’re thrilled to be able to start our season at our spiritual home,” Guerra said. “Our supporters can look forward to a blockbuster schedule, featuring traditional Victorian rivals Essendon, Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong in home matches, plus MCG away matches against Richmond, Collingwood and Carlton. “With several home and away matches in family-friendly afternoon time slots, Demon families will also have plenty of chances to make footy memories together in 2026 and the opportunity to see Steven King’s game plan come to life as we kick of the season at the G’. “It’s a terrific outcome for our members and supporters, and we can’t wait to see the red and blue faithful filling the stands once again for what promises to be an exciting 2026 AFL season.” The fixture presents a win for members across the country, with the Dees locked in for a match in every state. The season will see three trips to Adelaide including a Gather Round clash against the Bombers, along with singular travels to Perth, Gold Coast, Sydney, Launceston, and the traditional Heart of the Nation match in Alice Springs. Nine of the first 15 rounds will be broadcast on free-to-air TV, with the club’s bye round scheduled for Round 16. A Dees digital membership is the best way to catch the action live from your TV. Sir Doug Nicholls Round, where the club will once again take on the name Narrm, will be held across Round 10 and 11, against Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs. Melbourne members and supporters can now mark their calendars in preparation for the first 15 matches of next year. Round 16 to 24 opponents have also been revealed, with fixture details to remain floating until later in the season. 2026 memberships are now on sale. Grab yours today and get ready for the dawn of a new era of Demon Spirit. 

I’ll give you one guess

A couple of Demonland Trackwatchers ventured down to Gosch's paddock to give you their brief observations on the second day of preseason training in the lead up to the 2026 Premiership Season. SCOOP JUNIOR'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS I went to training this morning. It felt like a mid-July game at the MCG. I was wearing a jumper and a jacket and was still cold! Many players not there - May, Salem, Viney, Turner, Gawn, Langdon, Laurie, Melksham, McAdam, Rivers, McDonald, Campbell, Fritsch, Pickett All others were training with the exception of Mihocek and AMW who did running on the side. Henderson also did a bit of running but joined in some drills. Training wasn't super intense, unlike what we heard Monday was like. It was hard to keep a track of drills as they split into two groups (of approximately 12 players each) and changed drills fairly often. From what I could see, early on there was a typical handball game in a large area (no heavy tackling), while the other group did a drill of getting the ball to a player on the run from about 30m out to have a shot at goal. They then did a drill where the coach would roll the ball out at half back, a player would pick it up under pressure and they would try to move the ball to the middle of the ground with handball against a defending team. After that there was a drill with some kicking involved, mostly short kicks to players in space, which was then followed by a handball game in a very confined space where the team in possession had to find a teammate free to give the ball to (there was no tackling but the defending side defended 1v1 and just placed minor pressure on the attacking team). Then finally they went into a 3/4 ground ball movement drill which seemed to focus on moving the ball with speed out of the backline. The noticeable thing here was that the players ran in waves, with all defenders running together to receive the overlap handball. It looked like pretty aggressive run out of the backline. There was other drills too, such as one where players went out in threes to collect a ground ball and handballed to each other and returned the ball back. The focus from King was to receive the ball facing the right way so that the receiver would then be in a better position to assess the next option. Nothing too much to report given it wasn't a highly intense session, but I thought some of Chandler's bullet passes were really impressive (when skills are usually rusty at this time of the year) and Windsor seemed to be used a fair bit as that linkman in the 3/4 ground ball movement drill. CJ looked good bouncing out of the backline with his athleticism on show, however that is his strength - the test for him will be ball use under pressure. Lindsay and Langdon both look like they've put on upper body size. They also did 2 or 3 laps (I think this was the only running without the footy) and Sharp was the standout runner (no surprise) and Sparrow was very good too and Kolt put in a really good effort. They ran in groups, with the big blokes mostly in one group. Berry looked to be the big struggler here, way out the back of the big blokes group. I don't read too much into these things - running is just one aspect of the game. Only about 24 players trained and it was mostly a pretty young group out there. WAYNE WUSSELL'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Had the good fortune to have a chat with Kingy today. He wandered over to the boundary line when he finished putting out the cones for the next activity. My first impressions were that he was personable, straightforward and very tall. He said that training wouldn’t be too intensive in the first few sessions, as the full list joined the group. I mentioned that it was good to see Brodie and AMW progressing so well. He said Brodie was busting to join the main group and it was a battle to hold AMW back until Christmas. I asked him what his first impressions of the training group were. He said he was impressed with the overall fitness. He singled out the Roo, saying he had lost kilos but gained strength. We both agreed that ‘the current # 4’ (Harvey) was set to take the next step. He said that Jai Culley was in the best three on the track on Monday. A few other enthusiastic observers joined in the conversation. He also agreed that Windsor was a standout in the first session. One notable comment he made was about putting up the ‘team’ for round 1 for the players... there were no names on the list! Training today was more laid-back than Monday. More about patterns for quick transfer than intense pressure on the ball-carrier. They did do a two-lap time trial. Sharpie was once again the standout in his group, with Tholstrup not too far behind. I noticed that Berry was content to bring up the rear, as he manages his transfer to the elite level. SLARTIBARTFAST'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS This drill involved blocking and protecting the tackling players from the ball carrier. It was too complicated for me to fully understand but it wasn't just a keepings off and handballing for goal. The session was a lot less intense than Monday and there was much more running. AMW won't be in full training until after Christmas as they nurse him along with his ACL program but he is as fit as a fiddle. Brodie was doing much more high speed running today and more lateral movement stuff. Hendo is recovering from a groin complaint and is on limited lateral movement drills. AJ also spent a little time out of main training but CJ trained much more with the group than he did on Monday. PHOTOS FROM TRAINING COURTESY OF @Six6Six TRAINING GALLERY: Wednesday 12th November 2025

For those who prefer AEST

Maybe not a double header given the times:

I also think that the year in between us playing them we were the two teams that faced the locals.

Playing the Bombers again in Gather Round. Likely a double-header with Haw vs Bulldogs so tickets will be difficult to get.