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Round 12 kicks off with the Brisbane hosting Essendon at the Gabba as the Lions aim to solidify their top-two position against an injury-hit Bombers side seeking to maintain momentum after a win over Richmond. On Friday night it's a blockbuster at the G as the Magpies look to extend their top of the table winning streak while the Hawks strive to bounce back from a couple of recent defeats and stay in contention for the Top 4. On Saturday the Suns, buoyed by 3 wins on the trot, face the Dockers in a clash crucial for both teams' aspirations this season. The Suns want to solidify their Top 4 standing whilst the Dockers will be desperate to break into the 8. The Giants will want to capitalize on their return to form last week and the young Tigers should not trouble them too much. The Swans return home after a heavy defeat and will be facing an uphill battle to overcome the Crow who don't want to give up their place in the Four. The Round closes with the struggling Eagles taking on the in-form Cats in Perth. Carlton, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide & the Western Bulldogs all have the bye this week.

The media has performed a complete reversal in its coverage of the Melbourne Football Club over the past month and a half. Having endured intense criticism from all quarters in the press, which continually identified new avenues for scrutiny of every aspect, both on and off the field, and prematurely speculated about the departures of coaches, players, officials, and various employees from a club that lost its first five matches and appeared out of finals contention, the narrative has suddenly shifted to one of unbridled optimism. The Demons have won five of their last six matches, positioning themselves just one game (and a considerable amount of percentage) outside the top eight at the halfway mark of the season. They still trail the primary contenders and remain far from assured of a finals berth. Their current ladder position (11th, 5-6) does, however, place them on equal footing with the Western Bulldogs of last season and ahead of the eventual premiers, the Brisbane Lions (13th, 4-1-6), and Hawthorn (14th, 4-7), all of whom surged from the lower half of the ladder into finals action in September. With Melbourne experiencing its resurgence and displaying an attractive, attacking brand of football, the entire organization has become the darling of a media that is eager to lavish praise upon the club. One example of the media turnaround is this piece from the Herald Sun: "Nathan Buckley was full of praise for Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin's ‘change of tact’ in recent weeks, particularly in the way the Dees had found a more efficient method in the forward half of the ground." By defeating last year’s grand finalists with thanks to this ‘change of tact,’ the Demons find themselves back in town (or at least closer to the CBD than a month or so ago) but their next up challenge takes them way out of town to Alice Springs. There, Ross Lyon, awaits. He’s a cunning opponent known more for his lack of tact than anything else and with his team languishing, Lyon has been deflecting attention from their poor performances by making provocative comments like the pre-game "nepo baby" attack on the Suns that had people scrambling to google its meaning. The concern for the Demons is that Lyon’s mind games, his uber negative approach and the unconventional location of this match in the country’s Red Centre all could potentially disrupt their momentum in a match that remains imperative to win. Melbourne’s financially lucrative sale of its home game to play at TIO Traeger Park might be culturally significant but from a performance perspective it’s been a wipeout in the past two seasons. In 2023, it rained uncharacteristically for the region over several days and nights before the game against the Giants and the Demons kicked themselves out of contention with 5.15.45 to 7.5.47, a last minute 60 metre plus goal from Josh Kelly that rolled and rolled into an unprotected goal area sealing their fate. Last year, they were insipid as the Fremantle Dockers brushed them aside by 92 points to send their confidence plummeting. It took them a long time to hit the floor after that! Melbourne won its only previous encounter against the Saints in Alice Springs — in Covid ravaged season 2000 when it fell in by two points inspired by Christian Petracca’s four goals, the dominance of Steven May at full back and the ruckwork of Max Gawn. They didn’t play in Alice Springs in the premiership year (still the pandemic) but Kysaiah Pickett put on a one man show in front of his adoring fans in 2022 when he racked up six majors to give the Demons the edge in the game and to finally run out winners by 14 points. As it happens, the players just mentioned are all at the top of their game at the moment along with Clayton Oliver who is slowly getting back to his premiership best. I can’t see a negative Nellie like Ross the Nepo Man making enough changes of tact or doing enough to stop them in front of their adoring community of fans in the heart of the country. Melbourne by 25 points. THE GAME Melbourne v St Kilda at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs on Sunday 1 June 2025 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 126 wins St Kilda 94 wins 1 drawn At TIO Traeger Park Melbourne 1 win St Kilda 0 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 5 wins St Kilda 0 wins The Coaches Goodwin 2 wins Lyon 0 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 14.16.100 defeated St Kilda 8.10.58 at The MCG, Round 12 2024 The Demons applied the pressure from the very start and led all day to win in a canter. It was probably the last time for the year that the club could truly claim to be a contender. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, S. May, C. Salem HB C. Windsor, J. Lever, X. Lindsay C K. Chandler, C. Petracca, E. Langdon HF H. Langford, B. Fritsch, H. Petty F J. Melksham, H. Petty, K. Pickett FOLL M. Gawn, C. Oliver, T. Sparrow I/C A. Johnson, B. Laurie, J. McVee, D. Turner, T. Rivers EMG J. Adams, J. Henderson, J. van Rooyen IN B. Laurie OUT C. Spargo (scapula) ST KILDA B I. Keeler, C. Wilkie, J. Webster HB M. Windhager, N. Wanganeen-Milera, T. Travaglia C M. Wood, J. Sinclair, B. Hill HF J. Higgins, M. Phillipou, D. Butler F C. Sharman, A. Caminiti, M. Owens FOLLR. Marshall, Z. Jones, J. Steele I/C H. Boxshall, R. Byrnes, J. Carroll, H. Clark, M. Hall EMG A. Hastie, M. Heath, L. O Connell IN D. Butler, J. Carroll, A. Hastie OUT L. O’Connell (omitted), D. Wilson (omitted) Injury List: Round 12 Jack Viney — concussion / Test Marty Hore — calf / 1 - 2 weeks Charlie Spargo — scapula/ 4 - 6 weeks Shane McAdam — Achilles / next season Andy Moniz-Wakefield — knee / next season

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They used to always be recalled.

So Cox doesn't want to admit that Gawn is better than him.

Working on it but I have been so busy it has been put on the back burner.

Going to cut off the questions here. See you at 8:00pm

A few weeks ago, I visited a fellow Melbourne Football Club supporter in hospital, and our conversation inevitably shifted from his health diagnosis to the well-being of our football team. Like him, Melbourne had faced challenges in recent months, but an intervention - in his case, surgery, and in the team's case, a change in game style - had brought about much improvement. The team's professionals had altered its game style from a pedestrian and slow-moving approach, which yielded an average of merely 60 points for five winless games, to a faster and more direct style. This shift led to three consecutive wins and a strong competitive effort in the fourth game, albeit with a tired finish against Hawthorn, a strong premiership contender. As we discussed our team's recent health improvement, I shared my observations on the changes within the team, including the refreshed style, the introduction of new young talent, such as rising stars Caleb Windsor, Harvey Langford, and Xavier Lindsay, and the rebranding of Kozzy Pickett from a small forward to a midfield machine who can still get among the goals. I also highlighted the dominance of captain Max Gawn in the ruck and the resurgence in form in a big way of midfield superstars Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver. I attributed a significant amount of the credit to the professionalism and creative thinking of coach Simon Goodwin, who was transforming the team from a state of ill health to a thriving unit. I even ventured to suggest that Melbourne might exceed expectations and secure victories in the coming weeks against the reigning premiers and the team they beat in the grand final. To my chagrin, my friend met my optimism with hostility, disbelief and a dismissive wave, labelling my prediction as 'rubbish' and launching into a heated tirade against Goodwin. He argued it was time for the coach to depart, citing over a dozen reasons to support the claim. As the conversation became increasingly heated from the patient’s side, the numbers on the screen of the machine by his bed rose accordingly and a nurse intervened. Like Goody, it was time for me to go and I took my leave as he muttered something about writing another letter demanding action to the club’s president Brad Green. In the two weeks since my visit, the Melbourne Football Club's health has continued to improve, and my predictions have proven accurate. The team secured victories against both 2024 grand finalists (the first Narrm clean sweep in the history of the AFL’s Indigenous Round), making it five wins out of six matches since Goodwin's intervention early in the season. My friend is also due to be discharged from rehabilitation today. Currently, the focus is on Kozzy Pickett, who delivered a match-winning performance with 24 possessions, five goals, and six clearances. His speed and ability to attack and hit centre stoppages caused havoc in the middle, while the damage he caused up forward was equally impressive. All done while he wore the Indigenous guernsey designed by his father for Sir Doug Nicholls Round. Another subject for discussion this week is the team's almost complete all-round game, marred only by kicking errors in the second and third quarters. It was a testament to its defensive prowess and ability to force errors. Also in the news is the continued resurgence of the premiership combination of Oliver and Petracca, under the masterful ruckmanship of Max Gawn, a key factor in the team's success. I could go on and mention the renewed combination of May and Lever in defence along with a most impressive and improved Daniel Turner, the young guns, Trent Rivers and Tom Sparrow’s growth and development, Ed Langdon’s gut busting running and the attacking combination of Melksham, Fritsch and Chandler. All talking points of worthy of note but none that could have occurred but for the man who directed proceedings when the club was in crisis mode languishing on the AFL operating table at zip and five after Gather Round. There’s still a way to go but it’s time for chief surgeon, Professor Goodwin to take a bow. NARRM 3.3.21 6.11.47 11.15.81 19.17.131 SYDNEY SWANS 2.1.12 4.1.25 7.3.45 12.6.78 GOALS NARRM Pickett 5 Melksham 3 Fritsch Sharp Sparrow 2 Gawn Oliver Petracca Petty Salem SYDNEY SWANS Heeney 3 Ladhams 2 Blakey Campbell Hamling Hayward McLean Mills Warner BEST NARRM Pickett Oliver Petracca Salem Gawn Rivers SYDNEY SWANS Heeney Warner Rowbottom Roberts Grundy Sheldrick INJURIES NARRM Nil SYDNEY SWANS Sam Wicks (hamstring) REPORTS NARRM Nil SYDNEY SWANS Nil SUBSTITUTIONS NARRM Harry Sharp (replaced Charlie Spargo in the third quarter) SYDNEY SWANS Taylor Adams (replaced Sam Wicks in the third quarter) UMPIRES Jeff Dalgleish Craig Fleer Paul Rebeschini Cameron Jones CROWD 38,520 at The MCG

The Demons and the Saints last faced off against each other as part of the 2024 Sir Doug Nicholls Round in a game dominated by Max Gawn’s 34 hit out and 27 disposal performance in the ruck and the two Christian’s, Perracca and Salem, on the ball.and around the ground. They were far too good for Euro-Yroke. Despite their total dominance, there were heavy clouds on the horizon as the team was about to spiral down the ladder in the months ahead. As it turned out, they failed to make an impact on the finals race in the second half of the season after looking so good in the first eight rounds. NARRM 4.7.31 5.9.39 11.10.76 14.16.100 EURO-YROKE 1.0.6 4.3.27 5.5.35 9.8.62 GOALS NARRM van Rooyen 3 Fritsch Petracca Viney 2 Chandler Gawn Hunter May Pickett EURO-YROKE M King 3 Higgins 2 Owens Steele Sinclair Wilson BEST NARRM Gawn Petracca Salem Viney Tomlinson May EURO-YROKE Steele Wanganeen-Milera Sinclair Wood Dow Higgins THE TEAMS NARRM B J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers HB J. McVee, T. McDonald, C. Salem C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF A. Neal-Bullen, H. Petty, K. Pickett F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, S. McAdam FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C L. Hunter, T. Sparrow, A. Tomlinson, J. Van Rooyen SUB T. Woewodin EMG J. Billings, T. Fullarton, B. Howes IN L. Hunter, E. Langdon, A. Tomlinson, J. van Rooyen OUT J. Billings (omitted), B. Brown (omitted), B. Howes (omitted), J. Lever ((knee) EURO-YROKE B J. Battle, D. Howard, C. Wilkie HB J. Webster, L. Stocker, N. Wanganeen-Milera C S. Ross, J. Sinclair, M. Wood HF D. Wilson, B. Hill, L. Henry F J. Higgins, M. King, A. Caminiti FOLL R. Marshall, J. Steele, M. Windhager I/C R. Bonner, L. Collard, P. Dow, M. Owens SUB: C. Sharman EMG R. Byrnes, Z. Jones, B. Paton IN J. Higgins, S. Ross, L. Stocker OUT Z. Jones (omitted), B. Paton (omitted), M. Phillipou (omitted)

The Demons head to the Red Centre to face St Kilda in Alice Springs, aiming for a third straight win to keep their push for a Top 8 spot alive. Who comes in and who goes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 26th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we analyse a crushing victory by the Demons over the Swans at the G. Your 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. Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

Max Gawn still has an almost unassailable lead in the Demonland Player of the Year award. Jake Bowey, Christian Petracca, Harvey Langford, Kade Chandler & Ed Langdon round out the Top 5. Your votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

The Demons controlled the contest from the outset, though inaccurate kicking kept the Swans in the game until half time. But after the break, Melbourne put on the jets and blew Sydney away and the demolition job was complete.

Noticed this a lot myself not just this year.

The Casey Demons travelled to a windy Cramer Street, Preston yesterday and blew the Northern Bullants off the ground for three quarters before shutting up shop in the final term, coasting to a much-needed 71-point victory after leading by almost 15 goals at one stage. It was a pleasing performance that revived the Demons’ prospects for the 2025 season but, at the same time, very little can be taken from the game because of the weak opposition. These days, the Bullants are little more than road kill. The once proud club, situated behind the Preston Market in a now culturally diverse area, is currently facing significant financial and on-field challenges, having failed to secure a win to date in 2025. This particular match drew a modest crowd, and the atmosphere was markedly different from the club's heyday in the 1960s to 1980s, when the ground was consistently filled to capacity with enthusiastic local supporters. Recent affiliations with the Northern Knights and Carlton AFL have been met with discomfort, resulting in a substantial decline in the club's fortunes. Furthermore, a recent board upheaval led to the appointment of a new club president, who has pledged to implement changes, including a rebranding initiative that will see the club revert to its original name, the Preston Football Club, in 2026. Against this backdrop, the Casey Demons arrived with a team of 16 AFL affiliated players and the remaining handful of VFL-listers in good form. They smelt blood and smashed the home side mercilessly starting in the ruck where Tom Campbell amassed 30 hitouts to go with his 23 disposals, nine clearances and a goal. He combined with rising understudy Will Verrall who managed 28 hitouts, 17 touches and nine clearances. With that level of might in the boiler room, the on ball division couldn’t help but to fire up in a big way. For the Demons, Jack Billings led the way with 31 disposals, eight marks and a goal and Bailey Laurie managed 26 possessions and two goals. Taj Woewodin was also busy with 21 possessions and a goal while Kynan Brownpicked up 19 disposals and 4 tackles while Jack Henderson laid a game-high 10 tackles to go with his 15 touches of the football. Jai Culley was used sparingly as he was on standby as an emergency for the AFL team and only saw one half of the action, still getting his hands on the football ten times. A trio of VFL listed players who have lifted the club all season in Riley Bonner, Mitch Hardie and Riley Baldi all stood out in Casey’s impressive victory with 34, 31 and 24 disposals respectively and they were joined by 19 year old Tyson Sruk from the Eastern Ranges Coates Talent League who impressed with 21 touches and a goal on debut. But the big story of the day was the key forwards with Matt Jefferson starring with five goals on the strength of a much improved performance in the air and on the ground, capably assisted by Tom Fullarton with three goals and Jacob van Rooyen who booted two but impressed with his efforts around the forward line amassing 13 marks Blake Howes and Oliver Sestan were also prominent and continued their impressive form of recent weeks as they wait on a call into AFL ranks. Jed Adams did some nice work in defence while Koltyn Tholstrup, Luker Kentfield and Ricky Mentha all contributed. CASEY DEMONS 5.8.38 8.11.59 13.17.85 17.19.121 NORTHERN BULLANTS 0.2.2 1.4.10 1.5.11 7.8.50 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Jefferson 5 Fullarton 3 Laurie van Rooyen 2 Billings Campbell Henderson Sruk Woewodin NORTHERN BULLANTS Andrew Jorgensen 2 Mackie Schreiber Vellisaris BEST CASEY DEMONS Bonner Billings Campbell Hardie Jefferson van Rooyen NORTHERN BULLANTS Hamilton Velissaris Andrew Mackie Coghlan Schreiber Statistics

ROAD KILL by KC from Casey The Casey Demons travelled to a windy Cramer Street, Preston yesterday and blew the Northern Bullants off the ground for three quarters before shutting up shop in the final term, coasting to a much-needed 71-point victory after leading by almost 15 goals at one stage. It was a pleasing performance that revived the Demons’ prospects for the 2025 season but, at the same time, very little can be taken from the game because of the weak opposition. These days, the Bullants are little more than road kill. The once proud club, situated behind the Preston Market in a now culturally diverse area, is currently facing significant financial and on-field challenges, having failed to secure a win to date in 2025. This particular match drew a modest crowd, and the atmosphere was markedly different from the club's heyday in the 1960s to 1980s, when the ground was consistently filled to capacity with enthusiastic local supporters. Recent affiliations with the Northern Knights and Carlton AFL have been met with discomfort, resulting in a substantial decline in the club's fortunes. Furthermore, a recent board upheaval led to the appointment of a new club president, who has pledged to implement changes, including a rebranding initiative that will see the club revert to its original name, the Preston Football Club, in 2026. Against this backdrop, the Casey Demons arrived with a team of 16 AFL affiliated players and the remaining handful of VFL-listers in good form. They smelt blood and smashed the home side mercilessly starting in the ruck where Tom Campbell amassed 30 hitouts to go with his 23 disposals, nine clearances and a goal. He combined with rising understudy Will Verrall who managed 28 hitouts, 17 touches and nine clearances. With that level of might in the boiler room, the on ball division couldn’t help but to fire up in a big way. For the Demons, Jack Billings led the way with 31 disposals, eight marks and a goal and Bailey Laurie managed 26 possessions and two goals. Taj Woewodin was also busy with 21 possessions and a goal while Kynan Brownpicked up 19 disposals and 4 tackles while Jack Henderson laid a game-high 10 tackles to go with his 15 touches of the football. Jai Culley was used sparingly as he was on standby as an emergency for the AFL team and only saw one half of the action, still getting his hands on the football ten times. A trio of VFL listed players who have lifted the club all season in Riley Bonner, Mitch Hardie and Riley Baldi all stood out in Casey’s impressive victory with 34, 31 and 24 disposals respectively and they were joined by 19 year old Tyson Sruk from the Eastern Ranges Coates Talent League who impressed with 21 touches and a goal on debut. But the big story of the day was the key forwards with Matt Jefferson starring with five goals on the strength of a much improved performance in the air and on the ground, capably assisted by Tom Fullarton with three goals and Jacob van Rooyen who booted two but impressed with his efforts around the forward line amassing 13 marks Blake Howes and Oliver Sestan were also prominent and continued their impressive form of recent weeks as they wait on a call into AFL ranks. Jed Adams did some nice work in defence while Koltyn Tholstrup, Luker Kentfield and Ricky Mentha all contributed. CASEY DEMONS 5.8.38 8.11.59 13.17.85 17.19.121 NORTHERN BULLANTS 0.2.2 1.4.10 1.5.11 7.8.50 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Jefferson 5 Fullarton 3 Laurie van Rooyen 2 Billings Campbell Henderson Sruk Woewodin NORTHERN BULLANTS Andrew Jorgensen 2 Mackie Schreiber Vellisaris BEST CASEY DEMONS Bonner Billings Campbell Hardie Jefferson van Rooyen NORTHERN BULLANTS Hamilton Velissaris Andrew Mackie Coghlan Schreiber Statistics

It’s Game Day, and the Demons have a golden opportunity to build on last week’s stirring win by toppling Sydney at the MCG. A victory today would keep them firmly in the hunt for a finals spot and help them stay in touch with the pack chasing a place in the Top 8. Can the Dees make it two in a row and bring down the Swans?