Demonland

they will end up pinching it.

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 29th May @ 8:30pm. Join Binman and I as we analyse Narrm's narrow loss against Yartapuulti at Adelaide Oval. 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

The Carlton Blues are on the ropes with their season on the line and the Demons will be desperate for a win to keep touch with the Top Four. Who comes in and who goes out?

The Narrm Demons continually misfired and fumbled all day long eventually going down to Walyalup Dockers by seven points at the Melbourne Cricket Ground notching up their second loss in a row.

The injured Clayton Oliver holds a narrow lead over Christian Petracca from Jack Viney & Max Gawn in the Demonland Player of the Year award. Your votes please 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 …

He won’t be able to miss next week.

Narrm return to the MCG to take on Walyalup who in the corresponding match last season broke the Demon's 17 game winning streak which was their first of three losses in a row. The Dees will need to win to stay in the Top 4.

Melbourne The Demons have their own first-rounder (currently pick 15), their future first-rounder and the Fremantle first-rounder (currently pick 9) acquired in the Luke Jackson trade, which is still likely to be around 10 or later this year if the Dockers’ charge continues. It’s three first-round picks but they are the worst kind – one likely to push outside of 10 when free agency compo slots in, and two which might be around 20 if the Demons win the flag or compete deep both years. The Demons could throw in an Adam Tomlinson type given he doesn’t play regularly but he’s 29. James Jordon is an unrestricted free agent so the Demons can’t include him in a deal. If you were West Coast, you would ask for Kozzie Pickett and two first-rounders this year just to start the ball rolling. Melbourne would tell them they were dreaming. Claremont’s Jacob Van Rooyen is going nowhere. West Coast would ask for East Fremantle’s Trent Rivers to be thrown into the deal. But unless the Demons could get a top five pick in this year’s draft, it’s hard to see how a deal gets done.

My thoughts exactly. As much as I want them to lose every single game we're never good in those situations. We're always the team to play another team back into form. Heaven help us if they get trounced this week and their coach gets sacked.

Thoughts and prayers

No chance

Who are you tipping this week?

I can't bring myself to Boo Dogga. I loathe the fact that he left us after 3 years of development and would only deal with a club who didn't have the best currency available in the state he wanted to return to. However the flag that he helped deliver and the feelings that that brought me outweighs the feelings that I have for him ditching us. Had we not won the flag and he left it would be Boo city.

It largely depends on whether people who already have reserved seats turn up. My reserved seats sections is never anywhere near full and I don't believe there are any spare seats available for sale.

I’m pretty sure the club sent an email around not too long ago saying GA memberships should buy a seat to ensure they get in as tickets were selling fast. Check with the club to make sure.

Just a few weeks ago when nobody had ever heard or knew about Walyalup, the outcome of Saturday’s clash at the MCG with Narrm would have been considered a foregone conclusion in favour of the Demons. The Purple Haze were wallowing in the depths. They had even lost their Round 2 matchup against North Melbourne at Optus Stadium — that’s how badly they were traveling! Meanwhile, the Demons were monstering weak opponents like the aforementioned North Melbourne to the tune of 15 goals. They were up there along with Collingwood and Brisbane in the race for flag favouritism but, after a rain-soaked night and a narrow defeat in Adelaide and a hamstring strain to one Clayton Oliver, the sky appears to be caving in. The arrival from across the Nullarbor of a Walyalup combination fresh from victories over both of last season’s grand finalists, has some Demon fans quaking in their boots with fear. The fact is that neither the Cats nor the Swans of the last fortnight are the Geelong or Sydney of September, 2022. The Dockers aren’t exactly Fremantle either because they changed their name to Walyalup Football Club for the duration of Sir Doug Nicholls Round. ‘Walyalup’ is Noongar country in and around the Fremantle region. The change of name certainly brought about a change of luck because they’ve come up against opponents stricken with injuries just as they themselves are striking form and benefiting from some crucial returnees, notably former skipper Nat Fyfe who missed the early part of the season. While the Dockers are gaining momentum, the elephant in the room for the Demons is the absence of Clayton Oliver for what seems to be at least a fortnight due to hamstring issues and Lachie Hunter for a week due to suspension. The two were close to the team’s best last week. When the Oliver/Hunter door to that room closes, another one necessarily opens for Simon Goodwin. It could invite disaster but it also could well be for the ultimate good of the club. Despite its elite standard rucks and midfielders, Melbourne/Narrm has been exposed of late in terms of winning clearances and contested ball. It wasn’t just Port Adelaide/ Yartapuulti’s Butters and Rozee last week, it was evident for more than a few brief moments against the Hawks and for much of the game against the Suns as well as in the two defeats earlier in the season. There’s no respite this week with Walyalup boasting ruck pair Darcy and Jackson to go with talented young mids Serong and Brayshaw backed up by dual Brownlow Medallist Fyfe. Demons need not go into panic however, Oliver was there when they last met but it was Viney, Petracca and the elder Brayshaw who did the damage in the engine room. The club’s two way running and tackling from the small forwards which was so effective in the premiership season has also been effectively reduced if not worked out altogether. Goodwin and the brains trust have been tinkering with the system and I don’t think it needs an overhaul, but the forced changes in personnel mean that these issues have to be met head on this week. So watch closely the changes that will be made to the lineup. The expected and logical will happen — Tom Sparrow back from suspension, James Harmes in and James Jordon from sub duties and possibly even more midfield moments from Trent Rivers and Kozzie Pickett but the Demons need a little more in the mix to meet the challenge of not only this week, but also the month to come. The 2022 story of the clashes between these teams was interesting with one win each away from their home turf. Narrm have been unmovable at home this year while Walyalup’s only win away from Noongar country, apart from an unconvincing effort on neutral territory against the Suns in the Gather Round, was over the hugely injury-depleted Swans at the SCG a fortnight ago. The Demons are goals better at home and, while I don’t condone or encourage gambling, just take a look at the odds framed by the bookies - and they know their stuff! Besides, it’s about time that the Demons proved themselves in what surely is a cutthroat game. I’m tipping them to do that and win by 25 points. THE GAME Narrm v Walyalup on Saturday 27 May 2023 at the MCG at 2.10pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Narrm 18 wins Walyalup 24 wins At the MCG Narrm 9 wins Walyalup 8 wins Last five meetings Narrm 3 wins Walyalup 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 2 wins Longmuir 2 wins LAST TIME THEY MET Narrm 12.13.85 defeated Walyalup 5.9.39 at Optus Stadium, Round 20, 2022 It was a vital game for both sides in terms of protecting their final four aspirations and the Demons were on top of the Dockers from the outset as they overturned their loss at the MCG from earlier in the season. Jack Viney, Christian Petracca and Angus Bradshaw were the team’s shock troops that dominated in the midfield in an emphatic 46 point victory that stunned the West. TEAMS NARRM B M. Hibberd J. Lever J. McVee HB C. Salem S. May A. Brayshaw C E. Langdon J. Viney T. Sparrow HF B. Fritsch T. McDonald K. Pickett F K. Chandler B. Grundy C. Spargo FOLL M. Gawn C. Petracca A. Neal-Bullen I/C J. Bowey J. Harmes T. Rivers J. van Rooyen SUB J. Jordon EMG B. Laurie J. Smith T. Woewodin IN J. Harmes T. Sparrow OUT L. Hunter (suspended) C. Oliver (hamstring) WALYALUP B B. Cox A. Pearce H. Young HB B. Walker L. Ryan J. Aish C J. Clark J. O'Meara N. O'Driscoll HF S. Switkowski N. Fyfe M. Frederick F M. Johnson J. Amiss L. Schultz FOLL S. Darcy A. Brayshaw L. Jackson I/C B. Banfield E. Hughes C. Serong J. Treacy SUB S. Sturt EMG W. Brodie N. Erasmus K. Worner IN S. Sturt OUT M. Walters (calf) Injury and Suspension List: Round 11 Jake Bowey - Calf | Test Clayton Oliver - Hamstring | TBC Lachie Hunter - Suspension | One Week Luke Dunstan - Knee | 1 - 2 Weeks Kye Turner - Groin | 3 - 4 Weeks Will Verrall - Pelvis | 3 - 4 Weeks Harry Petty - Foot | 3 - 5 Weeks

My reasoning is that I didn't want to be sad in the sun. 😎