Demonland

At three quarter time, the scene was set for an absorbing finish to the game despite the fact that North Melbourne held a three goal lead. Weeks earlier, the Demons, without several of their stars, overran them in the heat of a final term in a warm up game (yes, we know) by cutting the Kangaroo defence to ribbons. At the time, someone commented that their Coach Alastair Clarkson appeared unconcerned at what unfolded that day. Perhaps, he had his eye on a bigger picture? The next time, it would be different. It was North that came out full of energy and in the end, totally decimated its opponent. The Kangas won every centre square contest in the opening minutes of the final quarter and cut through the middle of the ground with such intensity and pressure that the forced the much vaunted Demon defence into a litany of errors resulting in six consecutive goals to completely ice the game and make a mockery of Melbourne’s of his ability to go bang, bang, bang into goal and turn a game on its head. That’s now a thing of the past. Tristan Xerri, who had lowered his colours weeks earlier at Arden Street to Demon second string ruckman Tom Campbell, soared in this period to give Max Gawn a rare thumping in the ruck. His midfield compounded - they couldn’t take a trick. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. But when referring to Melbourne’s shattering 59 point loss to North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, please do not fall into the trap of thinking that the Demons lost the game in that withering burst at the end. It was lost when they failed to take full advantage of the times when they had the ascendancy in each of the second and third quarters when Gawn did have control, when Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca briefly reigned supreme and Kade Chandler was playing the game of his life. In particular, there was the time in the third term when Melbourne was on top in the middle but repeatedly tried to disprove the old adage, often attributed to Albert Einstein, about the definition of insanity by doing the same thing over and over again when going into attack and expecting a different result. Charlie Comben says thank you very much for delivering the ball to him on a platter time and time again. It was this strategy of bombing long into a flat footed forward line, bereft of the imagination to find a different way home, that resulted in the final quarter fiasco. Bang. MELBOURNE 4.5.29 6.9.45 8.10.58 9.12.66 NORTH MELBOURNE 3.5.23 8.9.57 11.10.76 19.11.125 GOALS MELBOURNE Chandler 3 Fritsch Henderson Oliver Petracca Turner Van Rooyen NORTH MELBOURNE Zurhaar 4 Curtis Larkey 3 Darling 2 Konstanty McKercher Parker Powell Scott Simpkin Xerri BEST MELBOURNE Oliver Chandler Petracca Gawn Lindsay Viney NORTH MELBOURNE Xerri Powell Zurhaar Curtis Daniel Comben INJURIES MELBOURNE Matthew Jefferson (hand) NORTH MELBOURNE Nil REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil NORTH MELBOURNE Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Taj Woewodin (replaced Matthew Jefferson in the second quarter) NORTH MELBOURNE Dylan Stephens (replaced Will Phillips in the fourth quarter) UMPIRES Andrew Stephens Nicholas Brown Andrew Adair Martin Rodger CROWD 28,768 at Marvel Stadium

I think we'll leave it there. Please join LIVE TONIGHT at the NEW LATER time of 8:00pm.

Caleb Windsor on crutches in this clip 😬

The Demons are back at the MCG and looking for their first win of the season when they take on the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday. Who comes in and who goes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 24th March @ the all new time of 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we analyse the Demons loss at Marvel Stadium to the Kangaroos in the Round 02. You questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Captain Max Gawn and Christian Petracca are the early leaders of the a Demonland Player of the Year ahead of Christian Salem, Xavier Lindsay & Jack Viney.Your votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Demons have slumped to 0 and 2 for the first time in 6 years after a lackluster and error riddled loss to the Kangaroos by 59 points at Marvel Stadium.

It’s Game Day! Round 2 is upon us and both the Dees and the Roos are chasing their first win of the season. After a tough opener, the Demons will be desperate to bounce back. A loss will be the first time in 6 years that the Dees have started the year 0 and 2 so the stakes already feel high. It's time to dig deep and get that first win on the board. Go Demons.

Round 4 retrun?

Ken might get re-signed for 10 years tonight

Unrelated. Probably.

They always come back for the Dees