Demonland

It's Game Day and on the back of 3 straight losses this is officially our last roll of the dice to attempt to make finals in season 2024. A win (and percentage) will keep us in the hunt for another week whereas a loss will end the dream of making a 4th straight final's series.

Trac’s back on the track

Who are you tipping this week and what combination and winning margins leads us on the path to Premiership Glory?

If he returned Carlton would be in the box seat to secure his services.

I like the AFL’s idea of a Retro Round but I don’t think we need to go back as far as 1998 as suggested by the Melbourne Football Club. Three years will be good enough for me. I would happily travel back in time on the Demonland DMC De Laurean to Thursday 8th July 2021, a time when the fog of COVID19 was slowly lifting and Melbourne gave Port Adelaide a 31 point spanking at Adelaide Oval. Before that, there’s really not much to go retro about all the way back to the early 90s when the Port team was admitted into the VFL/AFL. Melbourne, which promised so much in the first third of the season but faltered thereafter, is now merely playing for the time when the sun goes down on it’s season at roughly 10:00pm on Friday 23 August 2024. There are too many players for who the season is over or might as well be over, for it to matter. Too many who feature in the club’s best half of players on the list have had their season ended and most of those not ruled out in that category going all the way up to are carrying injuries or for one reason or other, are playing at well below 100% capacity. This is not making excuses for an anticipated defeat but being realistic. The Demons have run into a brick wall. They are coming up on a weekly basis against teams that are highly motivated to fit into the top echelon of the competition at this juncture, are building to peak fitness and have few injuries to contend with in the march towards September. The exact opposite of what Melbourne is experiencing. Until last week, the club could rely on its highly performing defensive group but the rib injury to Steven May (almost certainly season ending) has cast a pall on its strongest link. The midfield, once so supreme, potent and confident, is struggling to win clearances. There have been numerous instances this season where that malady has appeared early enough in a game to effectively rule out a victory in quick time. What are the odds of Rozee, Butters, Horne-Francis, Wines and Drew, having plundered the top team in the competition by 112 points, allowing a weakened Melbourne into the contest? The Demons will need warriors like Max Gawn and Jack Viney who are nowhere near 100% fit themselves to lead them in the ruck and on the ball but this, in turn demands that a number of inconsistent players perform at their best. It’s a bridge too far. I’m afraid. Port Adelaide by 40 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Port Adelaide on Saturday 10 August 2024 at 7.30pm at the MCG HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 17 wins Port Adelaide 22 wins At the MCG Melbourne 8 wins Port Adelaide 3 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 4 wins Port Adelaide 1 win The Coaches Goodwin 5 wins Hinkley 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 15.6.96 defeated Port Adelaide 13.11.89 in Round 3 2024 at Adelaide Oval The Demons were in a completely different space then than they are today. They ran hard, played with confidence and took control in the final quarter, something they haven’t been able to manage to do in recent weeks. Gawn with 50 hit outs, Neal-Bullen with his football smarts and a resurgent Clayton Oliver were the stand outs. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B A. Tomlinson, J. Lever, J. McVee HB M. Hore, T. McDonald, C. Salem C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, A. Neal-Bullen HF K. Pickett, H. Petty, K. Chandler F K. Tholstrup, B. Fritsch, J. Van Rooyen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, T. Sparrow I/C J. Billings, B. Howes, T. Rivers, D. Turner SUB J. Melksham EMG K. Brown, M. Jefferson IN J. Billings, M. Hore, C. Salem, A. Tomlinson OUT J. Bowey (illness), S. May (ribs), A. Moniz-Wakefield (omitted), T. Woewodin (illness) PORT ADELAIDE B L. Jones, B. Zerk-Thatcher, M. Bergman HB L. Evans, A. Aliir, D. Houston C J. Burgoyne, O. Wines, W. Drew HF D. Byrne-Jones, T. Marshall, W. Rioli F E. Ratugolea, C. Dixon, C. Rozee FOLL J. Sweet, J. Horne-Francis, Z. Butters I/C T. Boak, F. Evans, K. Farrell, J. Mead, Q. Narkle EMG R. Burton, W. Lorenz, D. Visentini IN T. Marshall OUT M. Georgiades (quad strain) Injury List: Round 22 Steven May — ribs / TBC Christian Salem — hamstring / 1 - 2 weeks Caleb Windsor — ankle / 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

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