Demonland

FMD Razor Ray waiting for noise affirmation to award a deliberate out of bounds. Umpiring is putrid this season.

Bad timing. This year he would be playing senior footy at the Dees with our plethora of small forwards in the side.

No need for a 19th team. Send North to Tassie.

The Casey Demons had a number of points to make to themselves, their opponents and the VFL football world when they traveled up to the Gold Coast to take on the Southport Sharks in the 2022 Grand Final rematch at Fankhauser Reserve. After living off the glory of an almost perfect premiership, the Demons stumbled after winning the opening four games of the season and have struggled in their recent northern state sojourns - their only loss in 2022 came at the hands of the Lions in Brisbane and they were given a touch up by Gold Coast in Round 7. Last week, a team of 14 Melbourne listed players folded like a rickety card table in the final term of their match at Werribee. Suddenly, they were in fifth place with a few competitors breathing down their necks. Add some injuries and a suspension and Casey’s season was on the line. As it was a week earlier against Werribee, the Demons were pitted against a committed team with some experienced mature bodies, desperate for a victory to keep them finals contention. This time however, the Demons maintained their composure for most of the game and they were able to do so through the agency of their mix of AFL and VFL listers. Of the former, two in particular stood out. Josh Schache started proceedings for the visitors with the opening goal of the game in its opening minutes. He kicked his second before half time and then booted his team’s only two goals in the last including the final score late in the match that put Casey in front by a solitary point. Apart from his accuracy when up forward, Schache fought valiantly in the ruck against Southport’s man mountain, Brayden Crossley who was called in to the task after the injury to Jake Bell. Crossley was dominant in the ruck duels but Schache's contribution around the ground as well as up forward which included 15 possessions, seven marks, four tackles, and five hitouts on top of the four straight goals was crucial. James Jordon has spent much of 2023 on the cusp at Melbourne with a number of appearances as a substitute. He was back in the midfield at Casey this week but his prolific 30 disposal display was sublime, on top of which his five clearances, and four tackles and a goal were timely given Clayton Oliver’s injury and suspension ahead of the Kings Birthday blockbuster. This spectacular goal has all of the hallmarks of goal of the year. Casey was well led by Mitch White and the experienced Matt Buntine and fueled by outstanding performances from Roan Steele (23 touches, 10 marks) and George Grey (3 goals, 16 disposals, 5 marks and 6 tackles). Two of Grey’s goals came late in the third term after the Sharks had wrested the lead for the first time in almost an hour of play, a contribution that gave the visitors an 8 point lead at the final break. A few young Demons who are pushing hard for AFL promotion in Blake Howes (23 touches, 8 marks), Taj Woewodin (23 disposals, six tackles and three clearances) and Bailey Laurie (22 touches, six tackles) were all busy. Deakyn Smith played a strong game as the small defender while Daniel Turner, Andy Moniz-Wakefield and Ollie Sestan all had their moments. Together, they put together a fine team effort and made their points well in the Queensland sun. With the upcoming Kings Birthday weekend, the Demons return to their home fortress for a match up against Collingwood VFL next Sunday. CASEY DEMONS 1.2.8 6.6.42 9.9.63 11.10.76 SOUTHPORT SHARKS 3.0.18 4.5.29 8.7.55 11.9.75 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Schache 4 Grey 3 Brown 2 Jordon Sestan SOUTHPORT SHARKS Crossley Foggo Lockett Lockhart 2 Fields Heron Thurlow BEST CASEY DEMONS Jordon Grey Schache Laurie Steele Howes SOUTHPORT SHARKS Woodcock Crossley Joyce Dawson Thurlow Spencer Statistics Jed Adams 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 13 dream team points Riley Baldi 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 38 dream team points Jack Bell 2 handballs 2 disposals 1 tackle 6 hit outs 14 dream team points [injured] Ben Brown 2 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 56 dream team points Matt Buntine 7 kicks 9 handballs 16 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 47 dream team points Tom Freeman 12 kicks 2 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 50 dream team points Rhys Galvin 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 17 dream team points George Grey 3 goals 1 behind 11 kicks 5 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 102 dream team points Blake Howes 14 kicks 9 handballs 23 disposals 8 marks 81 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 behind 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 27 dream team points James Jordon 1 goal 15 kicks 15 handballs 30 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 104 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 behind 16 kicks 6 handballs 22 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 97 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 1 behind 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 63 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 58 dream team points Josh Schache 4 goals 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 7 marks 4 tackles 105 dream team points Oliver Sestan 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 1 handball 8 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 51 dream team points Miles Shepherd 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 40 dream team points Deaykin Smith 14 kicks 4 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 76 dream team points Roan Steele 16 kicks 7 handballs 23 disposals 10 marks 1 tackle 93 dream team points Daniel Turner 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 56 dream team points Ryan Valentine 1 behind 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 1 mark 1 hit out 18 dream team points Mitch White 1 behind 11 kicks 8 handballs 19 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 75 dream team points Taj Woewodin 1 behind 10 kicks 13 handballs 23 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 76 dream team points

Ticks, crosses and top trade priorities: Every AFL club graded in mid-season report card MELBOURNE (7-4, 133.9%) Three word analysis Hasn’t quite clicked What’s gone right The Dees after 11 rounds are the No. 1 ranked offensive team in the AFL, averaging nearly 101 points per match. They banked wins and percentage early, with big victories over the three bottom teams. Bayley Fritsch and Kysaiah Pickett have been constant threats forward of centre, Kade Chandler is having a career-best season and Jacob van Rooyen, who finally debuted in Round 3, is making the most of his opportunities, kicking at least one goal in all of his nine games to date. The Dees also remain one of the league’s best contested possession teams, headlined by Clayton Oliver, who’ll surely be right up in Brownlow contention again after a colossal start to the season. There were lots of questions pre-season around whether Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy would click, but it’s worked out well to date. What’s gone wrong Despite their decent win-loss record, questions still linger over the Demons and whether they’re an elite top-four team. They almost lost to Gold Coast and have dropped close games to fellow finals contenders Port Adelaide and Fremantle in the past fortnight. Perhaps of most concern is the fact a few teams this season have exposed and disarmed Simon Goodwin‘s side by not playing into the hands of Steven May and Jake Lever moving the ball forward. The Demons are conceding a respectable 75.4 points per game this season (ranked fourth in the AFL), but that’s eight more points than last year (67.4) and nearly 10 more than 2021 (65.6) when they were the league’s best defensive side. There’s been a few injury concerns too, with Max Gawn missing three games and Christian Salem only just returning to the side. It also seems like they haven’t found their ideal forward mix, with Tom McDonald and Ben Brown languishing in the VFL and Harry Petty being thrown around the ground a little. Now what doesn’t help is the Demons have arguably the toughest run home draw of any side, including a six-week run where they play Collingwood, Geelong, the Giants, St Kilda, Brisbane and Adelaide. Contract and trade priorities While there’s some doubts on the field, the Dees are brilliantly placed off the field from a list management perspective, with most of their big names locked away until at least 2025 or longer. If they can re-sign Jake Lever — out-of-contract at the end of 2024 — ahead of schedule, that’d be a big relief. One player unsigned beyond this season is Kade Chandler, who the club would like to lock away considering the small forward’s excellent start to the season, which has seen him play all 11 games and 15.4. All reports suggest a new deal is imminent for Chandler, who’s kickstarted talks on a contract that will reward his breakout season. But free agent James Jordon might be harder to secure, with the midfielder attracting interest from several rival clubs — including Essendon and Gold Coast — while James Harmes has also been linked to the Bombers, despite being contracted to Melbourne until the end of 2024. The Demons in recent years have unsuccessfully tried to move up the draft order. Armed this year with two first-round picks — its natural selection and the one attached to Fremantle’s finishing position — perhaps this is the year the Demons push up into the real pointy end of the draft. Grade B – Ben Waterworth

POINT WELL MADE by KC from Casey The Casey Demons had a number of points to make to themselves, their opponents and the VFL football world when they traveled up to the Gold Coast to take on the Southport Sharks in the 2022 Grand Final rematch at Fankhauser Reserve. After living the glory of an almost perfect premiership, the Demons stumbled after winning the opening four games of the season and have struggled in their recent northern state sojourns - their only loss in 2022 came at the hands of the Lions in Brisbane and they were given a touch up by Gold Coast in Round 7. Last week, a team of 14 Melbourne listed players folded like a rickety card table in the final term of their match at Werribee. Suddenly, they were in fifth place with a few competitors breathing down their necks. Add some injuries and a suspension and Casey’s season was on the line. As it was a week earlier against Werribee, the Demons were pitted against a committed team with some experienced mature bodies, desperate for a victory to keep them finals contention. This time however, the Demons maintained their composure for most of the game and they were able to do so through the agency of their mix of AFL and VFL listers. Of the former, two in particular stood out. Josh Schache started proceedings for the visitors with the opening goal of the game in its opening minutes. He kicked his second before half time and then booted his team’s only two goals in the last including the final score late in the match that put Casey in front by a solitary point. Apart from his accuracy when up forward, Schache fought valiantly in the ruck against Southport’s man mountain, Brayden Crossley who was called in to the task after the injury to Jake Bell. Crossley was dominant in the ruck duels but Schache's contribution around the ground as well as up forward which included 15 possessions, seven marks, four tackles, and five hitouts on top of the four straight goals was crucial. James Jordon has spent much of 2023 on the cusp at Melbourne with a number of appearances as a substitute. He was back in the midfield at Casey this week but his prolific 30 disposal display was sublime, on top of which his five clearances, and four tackles and a goal were timely given Clayton Oliver’s injury and James Harmes’ suspension ahead of the Kings Birthday blockbuster. This spectacular goal has all of the hallmarks of goal of the year. lG3uw9GsrjbXvxyO 2.mp4 Casey was well led by Mitch White and the experienced Matt Buntine and fueled by outstanding performances from Roan Steele (23 touches, 10 marks) and George Grey (3 goals, 16 disposals, 5 marks and 6 tackles). Two of Grey’s goals came late in the third term after the Sharks had wrested the lead for the first time in almost an hour of play, a contribution that gave the visitors an 8 point lead at the final break. A few young Demons who are pushing hard for AFL promotion in Blake Howes (23 touches, 8 marks), Taj Woewodin (23 disposals, six tackles and three clearances) and Bailey Laurie (22 touches, six tackles) were all busy. Deakyn Smith played a strong game as the small defender while Daniel Turner, Andy Moniz-Wakefield and Ollie Sestan all had their moments. Together, they put together a fine team effort and made their points well in the Queensland sun. With the upcoming Kings Birthday weekend, the Demons return to their home fortress for a match up against Collingwood VFL next Sunday. CASEY DEMONS 1.2.8 6.6.42 9.9.63 11.10.76 SOUTHPORT SHARKS 3.0.18 4.5.29 8.7.55 11.9.75 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Schache 4 Grey 3 Brown 2 Jordon Sestan SOUTHPORT SHARKS Crossley Foggo Lockett Lockhart 2 Fields Heron Thurlow BEST CASEY DEMONS Jordon Grey Schache Laurie Steele Howes SOUTHPORT SHARKS Woodcock Crossley Joyce Dawson Thurlow Spencer Statistics Jed Adams 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 13 dream team points Riley Baldi 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 38 dream team points Jack Bell 2 handballs 2 disposals 1 tackle 6 hit outs 14 dream team points [injured] Ben Brown 2 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 56 dream team points Matt Buntine 7 kicks 9 handballs 16 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 47 dream team points Tom Freeman 12 kicks 2 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 50 dream team points Rhys Galvin 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 17 dream team points George Grey 3 goals 1 behind 11 kicks 5 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 102 dream team points Blake Howes 14 kicks 9 handballs 23 disposals 8 marks 81 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 behind 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 27 dream team points James Jordon 1 goal 15 kicks 15 handballs 30 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 104 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 behind 16 kicks 6 handballs 22 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 97 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 1 behind 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 63 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 58 dream team points Josh Schache 4 goals 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 7 marks 4 tackles 105 dream team points Oliver Sestan 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 1 handball 8 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 51 dream team points Miles Shepherd 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 40 dream team points Deaykin Smith 14 kicks 4 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 76 dream team points Roan Steele 16 kicks 7 handballs 23 disposals 10 marks 1 tackle 93 dream team points Daniel Turner 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 56 dream team points Ryan Valentine 1 behind 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 1 mark 1 hit out 18 dream team points Mitch White 1 behind 11 kicks 8 handballs 19 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 75 dream team points Taj Woewodin 1 behind 10 kicks 13 handballs 23 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 76 dream team points

Two weeks in a row the Suns have helped us.

I’d love to get a chopping the arms free kicks for our forwards. Every other game I watch it happens.

There were a couple of calls last night from the furthest away umpire that was actually the incorrect decision.

Gold Coast have got the rub of the Green this quarter. Adelaide fans at home can’t understand why their opposition are getting free kicks.

Ump didn’t even call him back.

That’s a shocking 50m penalty against the Crows but I’ll take it.

Bulldogs experiencing the Darwin effect

Hewett concussion confirmed. Not going to help DeGoey’s case.

190 could fall today

Eagles are the unluckiest team going around.

And Trac grabs the lead - 143. Christian Petracca 127. Clayton Oliver 53. Max Gawn 50. Jack Viney 40. Angus Brayshaw Brodie Grundy 39. Jake Lever 33. Trent Rivers 30. Steven May 23. Lachie Hunter 19. Jake Bowey 18. Ed Langdon Kysaiah Pickett 15. Judd McVee Tom Sparrow 14. Bayley Fritsch 12. Christian Salem 11. Kade Chandler 9. Ben Brown 8. Charlie Spargo 6. Jacob van Rooyen 5. Tom McDonald Alex Neal-Bullen 3. Michael Hibberd James Jordon 1. Harry Petty

Surely can’t escape a ban.

DeGoey in a bit of trouble?

Long time supporters would be all too familiar with the call “free kick, Hawthorn”, as umpires seemed to gift certain teams an inordinate amount of free kicks in the game. Similarly, in the Melbourne v Carlton game a 22 to 13 free kick count, was grossly out of place given the dominance of Melbourne in just about every other statistic for the game. However, for the Blues with only 4½ wins from their 12 games, their season is rapidly heading the same way as Hawthorn, despite all the help they receive from umpires and tribunals. But enough of umpires who seem to be having an even worse season, despite there being four of them officiating now (Memo to Gill or Dill: The AFL is a billion dollar enterprise with the available umpiring talent spread too thinly, given their semi-amateur status - surely something can be done?). The win by Melbourne could only be described as “uninspiring”. For the second week in a row, the kicking for goal from set shots was simply appalling, and were it not from some boundary line efforts from Max and Jacob van Rooyen, the picture would have been even worse with the Demons putting through 13 minor scores. Once again, the game should have been put away as early as the first quarter, but the door was left open to Carlton, and of course they took the advantage to keep themselves in the game. The two goal lead at the first break only managed to increase to 3 or thereabouts for the rest of the match, with the final margin an uninspiring 17 points. With the lack of acceptable output up forward, the task was left to the defenders who only allowed Carlton 39 forward entries during the game. This contrasted with the 59 for the Demons, but that only showed up the poor return for all that effort upfield. Steven May dominated Charlie Curnow, holding the Coleman medal leader to a single goal. Adam Tomlinson was given the job on Harry McKay, who finished with three majors but this meant both May and Jake Lever were able to play their natural games with the latter taking 12 intercepts. The return of the three tall structure then saw flow on effects to others, with Jake Bowey amassing 8 intercepts, while Christian Salem and Trent Rivers picked up 20 and 24 touches respectively. The defence was back to its humming self, even despite the absence of Hibberd and Petty. The other absence in the game was Clayton Oliver, and his presence probably would have seen a more inspiring scoreline and game to watch. He was covered successfully by Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and others. Petracca with 32 touches including 17 contested possessions was the real standout in the middle while Viney’s grunt at critical times of the game was sorely needed. The return of Lachie Hunter to the wing filled the gap that enable delivery upfield, so sadly missed last week. While Bayley Fritsch couldn’t find his set shot kicking boots again, at least van Rooyen took another step forward in his development with his aerial power and bullocking to create those one on one chances. And in only his second season, don’t forget he was matched against Weitering, who is one of the best backs in the business today. Max and Brodie Grundy won the ruck battle together against De Koning, but they were aided by the loss of Silvagni in the second half, which corresponded to their increased marking around the ground. They are still a work in progress and once again were aided by the lack of entries into the 50m area for Carlton, which has been an achilles heel for the Demons in goals from stoppages. The four points was banked by the Demons, who now face the perennial enemy in Collingwood on Kings Birthday. There is no doubt a vocal, rabid and one-eyed crowd of Pies supporters will seek to influence the outcome of umpiring decisions, but like this game against the Blues, it is something which the Demons have shown they can overcome. They will need to do so, because the crowd size will be nearly double what it was this week. And the best way to silence them is to kick straight when the opportunity presents itself. MELBOURNE 3.3.21 5.6.36 7.11.53 8.13.61 CARLTON 1.2.8 2.5.17 5.6.36 6.8.44 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch 2 Gawn Neal-Bullen Petracca Pickett Spargo van Rooyen CARLTON McKay 3 Acres Curnow Fisher BEST MELBOURNE Petracca Viney Langdon Lever van Rooyen Rivers CARLTON Cripps Cerra Docherty McKay Weitering Kemp INJURIES MELBOURNE Jake Bowey (concussion) CARLTON Jack Silvagni (hip) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil CARLTON Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE James Harmes (replaced Jake Bowey in the third quarter) CARLTON Paddy Dow (replaced Jack Silvagni at half-time) UMPIRES Chris Donlon Robert O'Gorman Andrew Stephens Robert Findlay CROWD 49,872 at the MCG

The Demons were well on top in the first half of the Round 21 clash with the Magpies but simply couldn’t put them away because of their opponents’ deadly accuracy in front of goal. This continued into the second half when the Pies finally edged in front. MELBOURNE 6.2.38 10.7.67 11.11.77 13.11.89 COLLINGWOOD 5.0.30 8.2.50 11.4.70 15.6.96 THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: T. Rivers 24 H.Petty 35 S.May 1 HB: J. Jordon 23 J.Lever 8 M.Hibberd 14 C: A.Brayshaw 10 C.Oliver 13 J.Hunt 29 HF: K.Pickett 36 B.Fritsch 31 E.Langdon 15 F: A.Neal-Bullen 30 B.Brown 50 C.Spargo 9 Foll: M.Gawn 11 J.Viney 7 C.Petracca 5 I/C: L.Jackson 6 J. Melksham 18 C.Salem 3 T.Sparrow 32 Sub: J.Harmes 4 Emerg: K.Chandler 37 A. Tomlinson 20 J.Van Rooyen 21 In: B.Brown Out: S.Weideman (omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: N.Murphy 28 D.Moore 30 J.Howe 38 HB: S.Pendlebury 10 B.Maynard 37 I.Quaynor 3 C: J.Daicos 7 J.Crisp 25 J.Noble 9 HF: J.Elliott 5 D.Cameron 14 S.Sidebottom 22 F: Beau McCreery 31 B.Mihocek 41 J.De Goey 2 Foll: M.Cox 46 N.Daicos 35 P.Lipinski 1 I/C: J.Carmichael 45 J.Ginnivan 33 W.Hoskin-Elliott 32 A.Johnson 40 Sub: Trent Bianco 8 Emerg: C.Brown 17 O.Henry 16 W.Kelly 20 In: J.Mihocek Out: T.Adams (groin)