Demonland

Keep purely political attacks and name calling out of the thread please or it will be closed and you may face a stint on the sidelines.

The winds of change have blown through the Melbourne Football Club over the past month or so as the team previously known for applying relentless pressure on opponents dramatically fell from its pedestal to a low not seen for some three years. This is a team that had the luxury of going through last season with one of the healthiest lists in the competition. And that health was not only reflected in a weekly injury list that revealed very few key players missing, but importantly, even fewer injuries during games. As a consequence, the Demons of 2021 were mostly able to retain their structure and to apply high levels of pressure whenever needed. It got them through a few games that ultimately made the difference between a top two placing and a more difficult series of battles in the finals. However, things have been different in recent times with injuries suffered during the course of matches becoming one of the main factors behind the Demons’ current woes. With a team that relies so heavily on its strong defensive game, it simply can’t afford to have two or three key defenders out of the game or missing large slabs of the action by half time as it has over its past three matches. With limited rotations as a result, we’ve witnessed a disturbing fall off in pressure in each final half. If the pattern continues, it will spell disaster for the team’s aspirations in going for back to back flags. This week the team takes one step forward regaining Steven May, fresh from his experiences with concussion and some fisticuffs with Jake Melksham at the Entrecôte Restaurant in Grenville Street and one step back with the loss of skipper Max Gawn. The loss of Maxy will be huge but his absence opens up other prospects and adds some unpredictability to the team makeup which might not be such a bad thing. Hopefully, the worst case scenario is that the two will balance each other out and as long as the team can stay on their feet throughout the game, their prospects for a return to winning form are good. A number of Demons who have been out of sorts and down on form will relish the brief break and should be supercharged to return to their best form. In particular Ed Langdon, Christian Salem and Ben Brown who are all due to stand up and take responsibility as they did at this juncture and then later in the finals of last year. There’s an ongoing debate about whether the Demons are loading for the run home to the finals but it has to be said that the Lions weren’t traveling all that well before the break either. They’ve lost two of their last four games, looked out of sorts against the Giants and appeared to be blowing hard against the Saints in their last game. The MCG hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for them in recent years - they haven’t won a game there since 2014. Melbourne last won there on 8 May so I’m going for the Demons to win on the basis of home ground advantage which against this opponent has historically been strong. Melbourne to win by 10 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Brisbane Lions at The MCG, Thursday 23 June, 2022 at 7.20pm HEAD TO HEAD * Overall: Melbourne 27 wins Brisbane Lions 22 wins At MCG: Melbourne 14 wins, Brisbane 3 wins Last Five Meetings: Melbourne 3 wins Brisbane Lions 2 wins The Coaches: Goodwin 4 wins Fagan 2 wins * does not include Brisbane Bears or Fitzroy games MEDIA TV live and on demand on Kayo and live on Foxtel. Check your local guides. Radio - check your local guides. LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 13.15.93 defeated Brisbane Lions 9.6.60 at Adelaide Oval, Qualifying Final, 2021 A superhuman effort by Lachie Neale (46 touches) and 5 goals from Charlie Cameron weren’t enough to keep the accurate Lions from being any more than pests as the Demons ploughed their way into the finals series. Mind you, it was the skipper who dominated with 37 hit outs but the Demon stars were shining brightly at Adelaide Oval in the first week of the final series. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: .Harmes 4 H.Petty 35 S.May 1 HB: J.Jordon 23 J.Lever 8 C.Salem 3 
C: A.Brayshaw 10 C.Petracca 5 E.Langdon 15 HF: B.Brown 50 B.Fritsch 31 T.Sparrow 32 F: A.Neal-Bullen 30 S.Weideman 26 C.Spargo 9 Foll: L.Jackson 6 C.Oliver 13 J.Viney 7 I/C: T.Bedford 12 J.Bowey 17 M.Hibberd 14 K.Pickett 36 Sub: J.Hunt 29 Emerg: M.Brown 38 L.Dunstan 27 A.Tomlinson 20 In: T.Bedford J.Hunt S.May S.Weideman 
 Out: M.Brown (omitted) K.Chandler (omitted) M.Gawn (ankle) D.Turner (face) BRISBANE B: J.Payne 40 H.Andrews 31 M.Adams 24 HB: B.Starcevich 37 D.Rich 10 N.Answerth 43 C: J.Berry 7 T.Berry 13 H.McCluggage 6 HF: C.Rayner 16 E.Hipwood 30 L.McCarthy 11 F: D.McStay 25 J.Daniher 3 C.Cameron 23 Foll: O.McInerney 46 J.Lyons 17 L.Neale 9 I/C: K.Coleman 18 D.Robertson 2 M.Robinson 5 J.Tunstill 29 Sub: C.Ah Chee 4 Emerg: D.Fort 32 R.Lester 35 J.Madden 14 In: C.Ah Chee T.Berry J.Payne D.Tunstill Out: Z.Bailey (H&S Protocol) D.Fort (omitted) D.Gardiner (lungs) D.Zorko (hamstring) Injury List: Round 15 Max Gawn - Ankle | 2-4 Weeks Daniel Turner - Face | 3-4 Weeks Blake Howes - Foot | 3-5 Weeks Joel Smith - Ankle | 3-5 Weeks Majak Daw - Pectoral | 4 Weeks Tom McDonald - Foot | 10-12 Weeks

Thanks for the feedback.

Any positivity detected from me is a symptom of the first stage of MFCSS which is denial.

That's more expensive than the $250,000 these days.

Sorry ... not Sorry as the kids say ...

Correct.

The Carlton match should also be on Friday night. The final round will most likely be on a Friday night against the Lions at the Gabba so heaven forbid they gave us 4 Friday nights in a row.

Kids most definitely look up to footballers whether the footballer wants to be or not they are looked up to and if they publicly display inappropriate behaviour then kids will believe that that behaviour is socially acceptable. All players entering the system have the talk from the AFL and their club about social media and social responsibility. Yeah boys will be boys and everyone is doing it but that doesn't make it ok.

Do you own and iPhone? If so all you need to do is download the Apple Podcast app from the App Store. It looks like this. Once in the App search for Demonland Podcast. You will see our red logo with the Demon head inside the Premiership Cup. Click on it and then proceed to scroll until you see the section for Ratings and Review. Tap the 5 Stars (or what ever rating you want to give but give us 5 stars please 😜) . Also leave a written review in the space provided if possible. If you don't have an iPhone then I'm sure there is an Android phone equivalent but I have no idea what you do on that platform or even if the Android podcasting app has that ability.

Apt username. 😜 Having said that I hope you are right.

He's not the only one. I scour social media for content for discussion on this site so I constantly witness these reporters post contradictory opinions and information within a short space of time. They flip flop back and forth and despite being called out for it in the comments they never change. None of the reporters ever call each other out but that's not surprising. I get the concept of click bait and this tactic is their way of covering all bases to maximise the clicks.

I would assume tomorrow (Wednesday) night.

Not sure that makes this behaviour ok. They were publicly objectifying girls on the internet. This isn't private locker room talk. These guys are role models.

For this fifth time in 29 years, each side in the top eight will play another. Every set of opponents this week is within 4 spots of each other on the ladder.

That's an interesting point however if crowds did increase I have no doubt the greedy [censored] would raise prices to cash in on the captive audience.