Demonland

What’s with all the fumbling?

Frisch costly again.

Why didn’t Max get a 50 in the first even the Port guy clearly didn’t throw it back to him.

That was the worst 50 I’ve ever seen.

Looks disinterested.

Umpire was evening up for the mark he called play on.

Jackson getting toweled up.

We’re a shadow of 2021

What has happened to our disposal?

Jackson does not like to kick the ball.

Another Fritsch burn

Who are you tipping?

Why would two midfielders replace Clarry and Petty when the Port forward line at time may consist of Dixon, Georgiades & Marshall.

It was when describing what our situation would be like if we didn’t have Gus saving us with his intercept marking.

We can’t take anything for granted, can we? After all, the Melbourne that took Port Adelaide for a long ride around the Adelaide Oval in early April of this year and switched off late in the game is finding it difficult of late to switch back on. Apart from a stellar display against the Brisbane Lions a fortnight ago, the Demons have laboured during the middle part of the season and, with a tough draw ahead of them, have reached a critical stage of the season after their first flag in decades. The wheels haven’t exactly fallen off but there have been chinks exposed in the armour. The first of those chinks were seen with a series of injuries among their much vaunted defensive structures which saw a falling off in their pressure levels across the board and which manifested in a lack of connection up forward. While the backline has steadied and come together again, the magic up forward has remained absent. Against Geelong last week at GMHBA Stadium, the old confidence that was symbolic of the 2021 Demon attack was gone. The talls weren’t marking, the smalls weren’t crumbing and the team relied to a large extent on Christian Petracca to play the role of Mr In Between. His three goals simply weren’t enough and perhaps it’s time for a bit of change to the way in which the team approaches goal. The critics certainly think so because they’re saying that the opposition have worked Melbourne out. So the club finds itself coming back to the Northern Territory for a crucial home match in the red heart of the continent in what should be a spiritual home against Port Adelaide which has historically found TIO Traeger Park a happy hunting ground — a home of its own away from home. Indeed, for Melbourne to get out of its current little rut it will have to do something it has never done before and that is beat the Power on this land. Port’s record against it is 3 - 0 in Alice Springs and given its recent form, there’s every chance of an upset that nobody would have predicted a couple of months ago when they were languishing near the bottom of the table. If there is to be a circuit breaker between the teams then I would go for the rucks which is not Port’s main strength and was a bit of a blind spot for Melbourne last week with both Max Gawn and Luke Jackson returning from injury. Maxy was underdone while Dogga didn’t appear to be 100% and couldn’t replicate his magnificent solo ruck effort pre injury against the Lions. I expect both to be fully switched on and back to their very best. Their example will help the team rise again and turn on a clinic for the Demons fans away from their traditional home. Melbourne by 15 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Port Adelaide on Sunday 17 July, 2022 at 3.20pm at TIO Traeger Park HEAD TO HEAD Overall Port Adelaide 21 wins Melbourne 15 wins At TIO Traeger Park Melbourne 0 wins Port Adelaide 3 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 3 wins Port Adelaide 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 3 wins Hinkley 3 wins MEDIA TV — live and on demand on Kayo and live on Foxtel. Check your local guides. Radio — check your local guides. THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 10.8.68 defeated Port Adelaide 4.12.36 in Round 4, 2022 at the Adelaide Oval The game at Adelaide Oval earlier this year was a walk in the park for the Demons. Port remained goalless until 22 minutes 18 seconds into the third quarter when Melbourne released its grip. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: M.Hibberd 14 S.May 1 A.Tomlinson 20 HB: J.Harmes 4 J.Lever 8 C.Salem 3 C: A.Brayshaw 10 C.Petracca 5 E.Langdon 15 HF: T.Sparrow 32 M.Gawn 11 A.Neal-Bullen 30 F: B.Fritsch 31 B.Brown 50 C.Spargo 9 Foll: L.Jackson 6 J.Viney 7 K.Pickett 36 I/C: T.Bedford 12 J.Jordon 23 J.Melksham 18 T.Rivers 24 Sub: L.Dunstan 27 Emerg: K.Chandler 37 J.Hunt 29 S.Weideman 26 In: L.Dunstan J.Melksham T.Rivers A.Tomlinson Out: J.Bowey (omitted) J.Hunt (omitted) C.Oliver (thumb) H.Petty (H&S Protocols) PORT ADELAIDE B: R.Burton 3 T.Jonas 1 T.Clurey 17 HB: D.Byrne-Jones 33 A.Aliir 21 D.Houston 5 C: K.Amon 15 W.Drew 28 K.Farrell 24 HF: Z.Butters T.Marshall 4 C.Rozee 20 F: R.Gray 9 C.Dixon 22 S.Powell-Pepper 2 Foll: J.Finlayson 11 O.Wines 16 T.Boak 10 I/C: M.Bergman 14 R.Bonner 26 M. Georgiades 19 J.Mead 44 Sub: J.Burgoyne 36 Emerg: X.Duursma 7 S.Motlop 6 T.McKenzie 12 In: R.Bonner Out: J. McEntee (omitted) Injury List: Round 18 Blake Howes - Foot | Available Andy Moniz-Wakefield - Groin | Available Daniel Turner - Face | Available Clayton Oliver - Finger | Test Joel Smith - Ankle | 1-2 Weeks Deakyn Smith - Jaw | 4 Weeks Tom McDonald - Foot | 7-9 Weeks

I think I dropped a rare f-bomb in this weeks show so I apologise for that.

That will depress me even more at the moment. I just can't envision us climbing those heights again. MFCSS Variant DL.2.0

Firstly love your work. Secondly, I never blame the object (or creator) just my purchasing/acquiring it. One of my OCD triggers in regards to thinking it will curse me was the purchasing of merchandise before a game or during the season. Don’t ask me why. Ok I’ll tell you. It goes all the way back to begging for a Mel Ruckle (those cute Demon plush toys) before a game. My dad finally relented before a match which we subsequently lost and I forever blamed the loss not on the Mel Ruckle but on the purchasing of anything pregame. During the finals last year my wife purchased Melbourne merch for me for Father’s Day which was just before or during finals. I told her that she just ruined our season yet we won the Flag. Therefore I decided that the curse has finally been lifted and I could buy all the merch I ever wanted. Well I think I went a little bit overboard during the post Grand Final bliss and I fear that the curse is back. My only recourse is to burn it all and bury the ashes under the turf of our most holy of holy sites at Optus Stadium.

I hope you are right but that was one match. Are we not going to show our hand in the run home now because we could be playing any one of those teams (Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle and Brisbane) in the finals? Did we not show our hand to Geelong in the first half of Round 23, 2021 and then decided to flick the switch and show our hand in the second half? I have faith in our coaches, they certainly have the runs on the board and I will forever be grateful to them but I am a little bit worried about not only our losses this season but who we lost to.

This was another thing that got me fired up. With all due respect to my learned cohost Binman, who I have the utmost respect for and defer to in the tactical side of our onfield game, if I am to accept his narrative, a he may very well be correct, then the Lions threw (perhaps too strong a term) the match against us because they too were in their loading phase and knew they couldn't beat us so they laid down their swords. If that is the case then we in fact still have not beaten anyone of note because you can't consider that a true reflection of where we are at if the other team wasn't showing their finals hand.