Demonland

Clarrie has opened up a big gap to the rest of the field - 128. Clayton Oliver 93. Christian Petracca 66. Max Gawn 65. Steven May 58. Angus Brayshaw 50. Ed Langdon 40. Jack Viney 28. James Jordon 26. Luke Jackson 22. Jake Bowey 18. James Harmes 17. Kysaiah Pickett 15. Tom Sparrow 13. Ben Brown 11. Alex Neal-Bullen 8. Tom McDonald 6. Bayley Fritsch Sam Weideman 5. Jayden Hunt Jake Lever Harry Petty Charlie Spargo 3. Joel Smith

Well the streak has finally ended, but in the worst possible way, when Fremantle absolutely dismantled Melbourne to record an emphatic 38 point win. This ended the 17 game winning streak of the Demons, but worse to report was that Melbourne led the game by nearly 5 goals in the second quarter, before the Dockers banged through 10 straight goals. In fact they kicked 13 goals to 1 from that point just before half time. So what happened? Melbourne aren’t accustomed to losing in this way, given they are a team which in recent times doesn’t do much losing at all. But when a team completely runs over another in such a way, it is surely the structures which have collapsed. Indeed, for the Demons, a team which has built its “Melbourne way” around such structures, when those building blocks are taken away, it exposed a lot more than the Demons supporters were prepared to admit. The dismantling started perhaps at selection table with the loss of Tom McDonald up forward. The team already had lost Ed Langdon from the wing last week. Their replacements in Jake Melksham and Sam Weideman contributed the grand total of 12 possessions combined. Between them their total metres gained for the team was barely 1/3 of what Langdon contributes alone on a weekly basis! To make matters worse, Stephen May was concussed early in the first quarter, taking away a vital foundation of the defence. While Harry Petty was swung into action he took suffered an ankle injury, and although he played out the game, he was severely hampered. In the middle, Christian Petracca was obviously carrying some sort of injury, as he could barely raise a trot, and 10 disposals in total is barely 1/3 of his usual output. Strangely, the coaches left him in there until the final quarter, when he was moved to full forward but by now was probably just filling a spot. It was not surprising the number of clean clearances that Freo had, with only Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney doing their usual best. Oliver with 36 touches and Viney 28 is what we now expect, but Dunstan could only provide 12 touches in ¾ of a game. Equally as baffling was that Tom Sparrow wasn’t used in the middle to any real extent until the last quarter, but the game was over by then. With no impact from Weideman up forward, he was swung firstly to wing, and then to back where he produced a similarly poor output. Charlie Spargo was swung from forward to wing to try to cover the gaps. At least Angus Brayshaw dropped further back in defence and probably single-handedly saved three. goals and further embarrassment to the scoreline. James Jordon was moved to the wing to fill the Melksham gap and performed admirably with 27 touches. Without McDonald up forward and Langdon on one wing, there were no link up players who are so critical to the structures. Trent Rivers was moved to kick-out duties but the upfield targets were well covered, and Freo just chipped the ball around and past Melbourne players at will. Ben Brown was ineffective as he was left on his own to battle the multiple Freo defenders. The whole structure around him was vacant after half time. At least Bayley Fritsch provided some scoreboard pressure in the early stages, and Toby Bedford chipped in for a couple of majors himself, but they too were not to be seen much in the second half. What to do? There were plenty of “learnings” from the game. Not much can be done about injuries, but this game exposed a number of players at the margins, who simply do not work hard enough or whose lack of suitable skills are highlighted when not being covered by those around them. Without May next week, the backs will be forced to re-group and hopefully Petty also can overcome his ills. Equally, the supporters will hope that whatever ails Petracca is not serious, and McDonald, Langdon and Harmes can return as well next week. Perhaps Hibberd and Salem, while these would be a long shot, others holding down places in the side have now proved they are simply not up to the task, and their replacement will help restore those critical structures. If not then the well drilled and well structured Sydney side will repeat the outcome of this game, and remind the Demon supporters of the outcomes we played Freo and Sydney in successive games in Cairns in 2020. NARRM 2.2.14 6.8.44 7.10.52 7.14.56 FREMANTLE 1.6.12 2.7.19 10.9.69 14.10.94 GOALS NARRM Fritsch 3 Bedford 2 Jordon Pickett FREMANTLE Lobb Schultz 3 Frederick Taberner 2 Colyer Darcy Mundy Walters BEST NARRM Oliver Jordon Viney Fritsch Brayshaw FREMANTLE Schultz Brayshaw Lobb Frederick Brodie Ryan Serong INJURIES NARRM Steven May (concussion) FREMANTLE Matt Taberner (back) REPORTS NARRM Nil FREMANTLE Nil SUBSTITUTES NARRM Luke Dunstan (replaced Steven May) FREMANTLE Bailey Banfield (replaced Matt Taberner) UMPIRES Justin Power Hayden Gavine Simon Meredith CROWD 29,812 at The MCG

Where have you been since we've won the flag? You only come here to shit on the team when they're down. I'll leave this thread up because it is a legitimate question but you can go troll elsewhere.

Who comes in and who goes out?

Post your votes here please people 6,5,4,3,2,1 …

Tigers were robbed of a 50m penalty. Lol.

This is a wish list not a tipping list. 😄 But yes I agree.

Who are you tipping this week?

Lol. I love a posting click bait threads but even I wouldn't post this. 😜 PS: Not accusing you of click baiting just that there is no way we are in any way connected to this. Surely Tex could not leave the Crows given the song and dance he did about loyalty when Lever left them.

Lol

1. Melbourne Ruck Duo: Max Gawn and Luke Jackson Just like our winger's list, the winner in this catalogue comes without too much question. While other teams' ruck duos are much closer in quality than their wingers, the duo of Gawn and Jackson has been an almighty success after their premiership-winning season last year. On ability, Max Gawn is the best ruckman in the league and has been for the last few seasons. Gawn has played all 10 games this year, averaging 19.1 disposals, 5.4 marks, five clearances, 25.8 hit outs and 0.8 goals a game. The bearded skipper's ability to influence not only the ruck contest but everywhere else around the ground makes him such a luxury for the Demons. He can become an extra defender, midfielder or forward whenever called upon ... scary stuff! Last year's Rising Star winner Luke Jacksoncontinues to make himself a star of the competition as he develops into another ruckman/midfielder/forward. Jackson has missed the one game this year due to COVID Protocols, but in his nine games, he has averaged 14.8 disposals, 3.7 marks, 2.6 tackles, 10 hit outs and 2.4 clearances. At only 20, Jackson looks set to be a difficult match-up for teams and he is relishing in his role as Gawn's deputy in 2022. Both could be set to become dual premiership players if the Demons' scarily good start to the season is anything to go by. 2. St Kilda Ruck Duo: Rowan Marshall and Paddy Ryder 3. Fremantle Ruck Duo: Sean Darcy and Lloyd Meek 4. Western Bulldogs Ruck duo: Tim English and Stefan Martin 5. Brisbane Lions Ruck Duo: Darcy Fort and Oscar McInerney 6. GWS Ruck Duo: Braydon Preuss and Matt Flynn 7. Gold Coast Ruck Duo: Jarrod Witts and Mabior Chol 8. Richmond Ruck Duo: Toby Nankervis and Ivan Soldo 9. Sydney Ruck Duo: Tom Hickey and Peter Ladhams 10. Collingwood Ruck Duo: Brodie Grundy and Darcy Cameron 11. Carlton Ruck Duo: Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning 12. Adelaide Ruck Duo: Reilly O'Brien and Kieran Strachan 13. North Melbourne Ruck Duo: Tristan Xerri and Todd Goldstein 14. Port Adelaide Ruck Duo: Scott Lycett and Sam Hayes 15. West Coast Ruck Duo: Nic Naitanui and Bailey Williams 16. Hawthorn Ruck Duo: Ned Reeves and Ben McEvoy 17. Essendon Ruck Duo: Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips 18. Geelong Ruck Duo: Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs

OUT-OF-CONTRACT Melbourne star Angus Brayshaw is yet to put a timeline on when he will begin contract negotiations. The 26-year-old is a restricted free agent, and has connections in the west, with brother Andrew playing for Fremantle. He told AFL.com.au his recent move to defence has been his sole focus through the Demons' 10-0 start to the year but that he knew a crunch time was fast approaching. "I could roll out any sort of cliché, you could take your pick. With that stuff, round one I got thrown into the backline, having prepared for the wing all pre-season. Very, very quickly, my focus has shifted from everything that surrounds football to how to play and execute this role," Brayshaw said. "There are super high standards, we pride ourselves on our defence back there, so if I'm thinking about something else or not 100 per cent focused, you get found out pretty quickly. And that stuff just takes care of itself if you focus on your footy. "I understand this is a reality and these things will probably start popping up soon, when I need to sit down and sort it out, but I'm in a good position, I think, off the back of 10 solid weeks of footy. "I'll sit down – I don't know when that'll be – but I'll figure that out when it comes. I'm looking forward to getting it out of the way, because that's seems to be all anyone wants to know these days. What will be, will be."

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