Demonland

The last time I quoted former Kangaroos champion and Foxtel commentator David King in a match preview, the Demons played one of their best games to date of 2023 and beat Collingwood at the MCG on Kings Birthday. This has led me to return to the guru of all things football strategy, tactics and wisdom for another crack because I’m genuinely concerned that Melbourne is not achieving the things of which it is capable. Speaking on Fox Footy at the weekend, King delivered a significant reality check about the Demons’ forward line arguing that it’s “on life support” and their current mix up forward “is not winning a prelim final” this year. The current mix includes playing elite ruckmen in key forward posts. And based on their recent struggles up forward, the moment of truth is coming quickly for the Melbourne Football Club which earlier in the season was averaging more than 100 points per game (to Round 9) and was leading all AFL clubs for scoring at around that time. However, the past five matches have seen its match totals plummet with scores of 76 (vs Port Adelaide), 72 (Fremantle), 61 (Carlton), 66 (Collingwood) and 63 (Geelong). The team is suddenly bleeding from turnovers, battling to convert scores from inside 50 and in the past four matches has been in the mid 30s goal accuracy percentage range. Of course, it wasn’t just the forward line that was responsible for capitulating against Geelong, Fremantle and Port Adelaide or the near victory from defeat snatch against Collingwood. It was however, the lapses in the forward line where insufficient pressure was asserted on the Cats’ defence in the forward half that turned momentum in the space of three minutes that destroyed three quarters of hard work in their most recent encounter. That’s a red flag that brings the team to its moment of truth. I’m not sure whether the match committee is on top of this because we’re seeing minor patch up jobs with the forward line on a weekly basis with the same flat line forward scoring outcomes, little signs of pressure exerted on opposing defences and low possession statistics for the small forwards. This was not happening earlier this season and King is right to state the situation is not sustainable — the club remains strong in defence and has an elite level midfield (albeit missing its goat in the hamstrung Clayton Oliver) but to maintain a reasonable prospect of getting to a preliminary final, let alone winning one, it requires the forwards to make more of a contribution to the team effort than eight goals and many more behinds over the course of a game. The GWS Giants are no slouches. They not long ago bested Geelong at GMHBA Stadium and in their last game thrashed Fremantle on their home turf. This means the trip to Traeger Park, Melbourne’s home away from home, will present it with more than a few problems. Toby Greene is a likely handful for whoever is chosen to take him on, the Giants have excellent midfield talent in Kelly, Green and Coniglio and a very handy defence. Fortunately for the Demons, the Giants will have little support in the crowd and have to contend with the post bye hoodoo that’s ravaging AFL clubs this year. By way of a strange twist of fate the weather bureau is predicting heavy rain in the days leading up to the game. This should clear by game day and the Demons will be hoping that the ground drains well because they haven’t handled wet, greasy conditions well this year. On their last visit to the Alice, the Demons overturned a last start defeat against Geelong with the help of a six goal masterclass from Kozzy Pickett and the performances of Christian Petracca and Jack Viney in the middle. They overcame a slow start and focused on maintaining momentum throughout the game. They need to repeat that on Sunday at TIO Traeger Park and the best way to achieving that is by improving their inside 50 efficiency and scoring accuracy. With the moment of truth facing them in the heart of the country, the time has come to prove that there’s plenty of life left in their 2023 campaign. Melbourne by 15 points. THE GAME Melbourne v GWS Giants at TIO Traeger Park, Sunday 2 July, 2023 at 3:20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall – Melbourne 9 wins GWS Giants 7 wins At TIO Traeger Park – Melbourne 0 wins GWS Giants 0 wins Past five meetings – Melbourne 3 wins GWS Giants 2 wins The Coaches – Goodwin 0 wins Kingsley 0 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 19.6.120 defeated GWS Giants 7.11.53 at The MCG, Round 5 2022 This was one of Melbourne’s few big victories of the 2022 season, predicated on strong running, heavy defensive pressure and yes, sublime attacking football and superb accuracy when kicking for goal. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. McVee S. May C. Salem HB T. Sparrow J. Lever T. Rivers C L. Hunter J. Viney E. Langdon HF C. Petracca B. Fritsch J. Smith F A. Neal-Bullen B. Grundy K. Chandler FOLL M. Gawn A. Brayshaw J. Harmes I/C J. Bowey B. Brown H. Petty K. Pickett SUB J. Melksham EMG J. van Rooyen C. Spargo A. Tomlinson IN J. Bowey B. Brown J. Harmes J. Melksham OUT M. Hibberd (kidney) James Jordon (omitted) C. Spargo (omitted) J. van Rooyen GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS B J. Buckley S. Taylor C. Idun HF L. Ash H. Himmelberg N. Haynes C J. Kelly C. Ward F. Callaghan HF D. Lloyd J. Riccardi T. Bedford F X. O'Halloran J. Hogan T. Greene FOLL K. Briggs S. Coniglio T. Green I/C C. M. Brown I. Cumming L. Keefe H. Perryman SUB R. Angwin EMG A. Cadman J. Fahey M. Flynn IN R. Angwin I. Cumming J. Hogan OUT A. Cadman (omitted) J. Fahey (omitted) Whitfield (suspension) Injury List: Round 16 Clayton Oliver - Hamstring | 1 - 2 Weeks Michael Hibberd - Kidney | TBC Tom McDonald - Foot | 4 - 6 Weeks Kye Turner - Groin | TBC

GWS INJURY LIST PLAYERINJURYESTIMATED RETURN Brent Daniels Hamstring 1-2 weeks Phil Davis Calf Test Jason Gillbee Concussion Test Cooper Hamilton Foot TBC Darcy Jones Knee Season Adam Kennedy Knee Season Braydon Preuss Back TBC Lachie Whitfield Suspension Round 17 Updated: June 27, 2023 Early prognosis The Giants don't expect Daniels to be fit just yet, but Nick Haynes (ankle) and Jesse Hogan(calf) have recovered over the bye and should play. Davis and Gillbee are also likely to return, but expect that to be at VFL level. Whitfield is suspended. – Riley Beveridge

Best differentials 1 - Brisbane (+48) 2 - St Kilda (+42) 3 - Fremantle (+37) 4 - Carlton (+26) 5 - Collingwood (+26) Worst differentials 1 - North Melbourne (-40) 2 - Richmond (-35) 3 - Port Adelaide (-33) 4 - Adelaide (-23) 5 - Hawthorn (-21) Most frees for 1 - Carlton (284) 2 - Brisbane (279) 3 - Adelaide (276) 4 - Collingwood (275) 5 - St Kilda (274) Least frees for 1 - GWS (206) 2 - Hawthorn (228) 3 - Richmond (228) 4 - Essendon (231) 5 - North Melbourne (240) Most frees against 1 - Port Adelaide (305) 2 - Adelaide (299) 3 - North Melbourne (280) 4 - Sydney (277) 5 - West Coast & Geelong (266) Least frees against 1 - GWS (214) 2 - Essendon (223) 3 - Brisbane (231) 4 - St Kilda (232) 5 - Fremantle (236) The Round 15 Free Kick Ladder

VOTES PLAYER (CLUB) 10 Gary Rohan (GEEL) 6 Tom Stewart (GEEL) 5 Christian Petracca (MELB) 5 Brad Close (GEEL) 3 Jack Viney (MELB) 1 Jake Lever (MELB) LEADERBOARD VOTES PLAYER CLUB 76 Zak Butters PORT 72 Nick Daicos COLL 67 Christian Petracca MELB 62 Tim Taranto RICH 56 Jordan Dawson ADEL 53 Marcus Bontempelli WB 53 Lachie Neale BL 52 Noah Anderson GCFC 52 Toby Greene GWS 52 Zach Merrett ESS 52 Jack Sinclair STK 48 Connor Rozee PORT 47 Jordan De Goey COLL 46 Caleb Serong FRE 45 Matt Rowell GCFC 43 Chad Warner SYD 40 Clayton Oliver MELB 38 Callum Wilkie STK 37 Rory Laird ADEL 37 Darcy Moore COLL

Welcome back Ben Brown

Cutting off questions here as I'm doing notes and can't include anything else as I need to go out in a bit. Thank you to everyone for their questions, comment and contributions. See you at 8:30pm

I've never seen a melbourne based team be blessed with not getting frees against them than Collingwood.

You stole my answer to this question but I will give you credit anyway 😜

Forget 186. We need 190 to fall.

The Demons and the Cats met once more at GMHBA Stadium 24 hours after their AFL counterparts saw Melbourne meekly capitulate in the final quarter. This time, the VFL version of the story was a vastly different one. The Casey Demons have been going through a rough trot as of late but this time they took control and established themselves after an early arm wrestle and had the opposition by the scruff of the neck at half time. Josh Schache kicked the opening goal and the Cats responded to briefly hold the lead before three quick goals to Ben Brown, Mitch White and Bailey Laurie had them a handy 19 points in front at the first break. The second term was a repeat of the first — four goals to one in favour of the visitors with Jake Melksham coming to the fore with two majors. Ben Brown was having a good game, marking strongly and picking up plenty of possession around the ground and up forward. Adam Tomlinson had a point to make to the senior match committee and made it well, dominating possession. James Harmes and Jake Bowey, likewise. With a 40 point lead at the main break and a number of players putting their hands up for a trip to the country’s red centre next week, a funny thing happened. The team must have decided to do an impersonation of the AFL Demons from the final quarter of the night before. They released the pressure valve, made the same mistakes, fumbled and were uncertain but to their good fortune, the VFL Cats failed to emulate their senior counterpart’s accuracy in kicking for goal. Two goals for a term in which they dominated and kept the reigning premiers to a single point wasn’t enough to steal the momentum away. A couple of goals in the early stages of the last by Jake Melksham was all it took to snuff out the opposition and the skipper scored his second to restore the Demons 40 point ascendancy at the end. The Casey victory was the result of the return of hard nosed footy and the fundamentals of playing to the conditions. Harmes and Jimmy Munro led the way. Tomlinson made his point. Bowey and Daniel Turner was impressive and Taj Woewodin had his moments. Next week’s challenge is a vital match up at Casey Fields against close competitors, the GWS Giants who sit in eight place, a game behind the Demons with a game in hand. CASEY DEMONS 4.4.28 8.8.56 8.9.57 11.14.80 GEELONG VFL 1.3.9 2.4.16 4.9.33 5.10.40 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Melksham 4 Brown Schache White 2 Laurie GEELONG VFL Byrne 2 Dempsey Neale Quick BEST CASEY DEMONS Harmes Melksham Tomlinson Bowey D Turner Munro GEELONG VFL Dempsey Knevitt Clohesy Van De Heuvel Herbert Parfitt Statistics Jed Adams 7 kicks 1 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 31 dream team points Jake Bowey 21 kicks 6 handballs 27 disposals 12 marks 5 tackles 126 dream team points Ben Brown 2 goals 1 behind 16 kicks 2 handballs 18 disposals 9 marks 1 tackle 1 hit out 95 dream team points Luke Dunstan 11 kicks 10 handballs 21 disposals 7 marks 1 tackles 72 dream team points George Grey 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 60 dream team points James Harmes 16 kicks 11 handballs 27 disposals 9 marks 10 tackles 135 dream team points Blake Howes 8 kicks 11 handballs 19 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 76 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 behind 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 31 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 goal 2 behinds 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 77 dream team points Jake Melksham 4 goals 1 behinds 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 95 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 5 kicks 11 handballs 16 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 50 dream team points Ned Moodie 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 21 dream team points James Munro 12 kicks 11 handballs 23 disposals 5 marks 7 tackles 95 dream team points Josh Schache 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 11 hit outs 81 dream team points Oliver Sestan 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 20 dream team points Deaykin Smith 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 8 marks 49 dream team points Charlie Spargo 1 behind 11 kicks 9 handballs 20 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 73 dream team points Roan Steele 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 7 tackles 77 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 25 kicks 2 handballs 27 disposals 9 marks 2 tackles 114 dream team points Daniel Turner 18 kicks 2 handballs 20 disposals 14 marks 2 tackles 109 dream team points Will Verrall 1 kick 5 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 23 hit outs 59 dream team points Mitch White 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 87 dream team points Taj Woewodin 11 kicks 10 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 74 dream team points

If it wasn't deemed a dangerous tackle then why wasn't it a free kick to us in front of goal?

Remember the days when we simply couldn’t miss … MELBOURNE 4.0.24 6.2.38 16.4.100 19.6.120 GWS GIANTS 0.5.5 3.6.24 5.8.38 7.11.53 THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: J.Hunt 29 S.May 1 H.Petty 35 HB: T.Rivers 24 J.Lever 8 J.Harmes 4 C: E.Langdon 15 C.Petracca 5 J.Viney 7 HF: A.Brayshaw 10 S.Weideman 26 A.Neal-Bullen 30 F: K.Pickett 36 L.Jackson 6 B.Fritsch 31 Foll: M.Gawn 11 C.Oliver 13 T. Sparrow 32 I/C: C.Spargo 9 J.Bowey 17 J.Jordon 23 T.McDonald 25 Sub: T.Bedford 12 Emerg: L.Dunstan 27 K.Chandler 37 J.Smith 44 In: H.Petty Out: A.Tomlinson GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS B: L.Keeffe 25 S.Taylor 15 X.O’Halloran 33 HB: L.Whitfield 6 N.Haynes 19 H.Perryman 36 C: A.Kennedy 40 C.Ward 8 L.Ash 7 HF: T.Taranto 14 H.Himmelberg 27 S.Coniglio 3 F: B. Hill 37 J.Hogan 23 M.de Boer 24 Foll: M.Flynn 30 J.Kelly 22 T.Green 12 I/C: J.Stein 42 T.Bruhn 5 C.Idun 39 F.Callaghan 17 Sub: 10 J.Riccardi Emerg: 26 J.Wehr 10 L.Aleer 21 K.Briggs 32 In F.Callaghan M.Flynn N.Haynes Out I.Cumming (H & S Protocols) J.Peatling (omitted) B.Preuss (suspended)

89. JACK VINEY MELBOURNE, 29 $600,000-$700,000 Viney – who re-signed until the end of 2025 in 2020 – appears to be a cut-price superstar, given he has won the Frank “Checker” Hughes Award for best-afield on Anzac Day eve and the trophy for best-afield on King’s Birthday. 86. ANGUS BRAYSHAW MELBOURNE, 27 $600,000-$700,000 There was speculation Brayshaw could lob at Essendon or even Fremantle last year, but perhaps the jack-of-all-trades was simply never leaving. Brayshaw – who cut out the wrong ear holes in his helmet before the Port Adelaide game in round 10 – has carved out a cracking career since he joined as compensation for the Demons losing James Frawley to Hawthorn. 82. JAKE LEVER MELBOURNE, 27 $600,000-$700,000 David King once potted the Demons for investing so much cash behind the ball in Lever and May, arguing that in soccer, strikers were more valuable for a reason. But the approximate $1.5 million the Demons invest annually in these two intercepting wizards is worth every cent. 81. STEVEN MAY MELBOURNE, 31 $600,000-$700,000 The mighty Melbourne full-back who played in the 2021 premiership with a badly torn hamstring has been the defensive rock of coach Simon Goodwin’s team. May’s battles with Lance Franklin have been must-watch and he still has two years on his contract to run. Slight form dip in 2023 but still a super stopper at that price. 42. MAX GAWN MELBOURNE, 31 $700,000-$800,000 The Demons skipper who gave the green light to “Operation Get Grundy” shored up his football future with a long-term contract that still has two full seasons to run (ends 2025). By the time the 2026 season starts Gawn will be 34 and it wouldn’t surprise if that is the ruckman’s last contract. 20. BRODIE GRUNDY MELBOURNE, 29 $800,000-$900,000 Grundy’s salary of $900,000 – or perhaps even a touch more – in year one at Melbourne is costing Collingwood roughly $250,000, which is the contribution from his old club that errantly signed him to a monster deal. Grundy was pushed out of the Pies but it was nothing personal and he remains close with several of his old teammates. Can Grundy become this decade’s Luke Ball and win a premiership against the club that didn’t want him? In Ball’s case it was playing for the Pies in a grand final win against St Kilda. 7. CHRISTIAN PETRACCA MELBOURNE, 27 $950,000-$1,050,000 Oliver’s sidekick is the other seven-figure Demon. With Oliver signed until 2030 and Petracca until 2029, the Demons have locked in the AFL’s best midfield for the decade. 6. CLAYTON OLIVER MELBOURNE, 25 $950,000-$1,050,000 Oliver’s seven-year $7 million deal – signed in 2022 – starts next season. But it’s understood he is already a million-dollar Demon. The four-time best and fairest winner is on track to become one of the club’s most decorated players of the past 50 years.

We’ve slipped down a spot.

Broke our own record that we can be proud of.