Demonland

In the space of a month Melbourne has gone from chocolates to boiled lollies in terms of its standing as a candidate for the AFL premiership. The club faces its moment of truth against a badly bruised up Collingwood at the MCG. A win will give it some respite but even then, it won’t be regarded particularly well being against an opponent carrying the burden of an injured playing list. A loss would be a disaster. The Demons have gone from a six/two win/loss ratio and a strong percentage just south of 125 which placed them firmly in the top four after besting the previously unbeaten Cats to where they are now. At seven/five, a percentage barely over 100 and tenth on the ladder, a catastrophic fall from grace on the back of a scoreless opening term against Carlton, a woeful capitulation by 35 points to West Coast and last week’s 92-point drubbing by Fremantle. The only W in this period was against St Kilda. Their opponent this week is not in such good shape either but not for reasons of poor form or a lack of enthusiasm but rather, because they have been decimated by a massive injury list. At Marvel Stadium on Friday night, they came out firing and full of enthusiasm to kick four of the first five goals to lead by 22 points before the Western Bulldogs reeled them in and ultimately dominated the final term scoring five goals to nothing. If the Magpies had nothing to give in the last quarter of that match, then consider the Demons who gave nothing for all but the opening seven minutes of their game against the Dockers in Alice Springs! As former Collingwood coach, Nathan Buckley, said after the game: top four teams “just don’t have a performance like” the Demons’ 92-point loss. “Plenty of sides have got players out at the moment and to only get 37 inside 50s against any opposition is a concern.” Buckley believes there are lingering issues beneath the surface at Melbourne and there are some real questions to be asked. The fans have been asking those questions all week, but nobody has come up with any answers so the task of looking into the crystal ball has been made more difficult because of the lack of clarity coming from the Demon camp. In the normal course of things, I would look at Collingwood and read missing names like De Goey, Mihocek, Cox, Pendlebury and Elliott and declare Melbourne past the post for a win by five goals. However, on current form (and if truth be known, there is no current form that you can trust in the context of this team), you would be justified in arguing that the firm of N & J Daicos could beat them on their own, such is the skill and brilliance of that duo. They never let their team down which, after some of the Demons’ dismal recent performances, you can’t say about any of them other than perhaps Max Gawn and possibly Christian Petracca and the skipper is carrying an enormous burden on his big shoulders at present. The Magpies at least showed plenty of aggression and determination in their last up display which means that they should be able to open up a big enough lead on the Demons to hold off any fast finish that their slow starting opponents are capable of mounting. Collingwood by 5 points. THE GAME Collingwood v Melbourne at the MCG, Monday 10 June 2024 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Collingwood 154 wins Melbourne 85 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Collingwood 86 wins Melbourne 64 wins 3 drawn Last five meetings Collingwood 4 wins Melbourne 1 win The Coaches McCrae 3 wins Goodwin 1 win LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 9.6.60 defeated Melbourne 7.11.53 at the MCG in the 2023 Qualifying Final The Demons were jolted early in the 2023 Qualifying Final by the head high hit that ended Angus Brayshaw’s career and helped give the accurate Magpies a big enough start to fall in by 7 points despite a goalless final quarter. Many Melbourne fans argue that hit cost their team a flag and many others are still bemused about the fact that the perpetrator was free to play on in his team’s finals campaign including the winning grand final. THE TEAMS COLLINGWOOD B B. Maynard, D. Moore, C. Dean HB I. Quaynor, B. Frampton, J. Noble C S. Sidebottom, F. Macrae, J. Daicos HF B. Hill, L. Schultz, W. Hoskin-Elliott F B. McCreery, P. Lipinski, J. Howe FOLL D. Cameron, J. Crisp, N. Daicos I/C H. Harrison, N. Kreuger, O. Markov, L. Sullivan SUB J. Bytel EMG E. Allan, T. Jiath, A. Johnson IN W. Hoskin-Elliott, N. Kreuger OUT A. Johnson (omitted), W. Parker (omitted) MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers HB C. Salem, T. McDonald, J. McVee C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, H. Petty FF K. Chandler, J. van Rooyen, A. Neal-Bullen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C B. Howes, B. Laurie, T. Sparrow, D. Turner SUB J. Billings EMG B. Brown, K. Brown, T. Woewodin IN J. Billings, B. Howes, B. Laurie, IN J. van Rooyen OUT L. Hunter (calf), S. McAdam (omitted), A. Tomlinson (omitted) T. Woewodin (omitted) Injury List: Round 13 Jacob van Rooyen — adductor / Test Marty Hore — calf / 1 - 2 weeks Josh Schache — foot / 1 - 2 weeks Jake Lever — knee / 2 - 3 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 2 - 4 weeks Lachie Hunter — calf / 4 - 6 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC

We're Big 4 now.

I'm saving it for our loss to the Kangaroos post Bye. 😱

Name Injury Expected Return Jacob van Rooyen Adductor Test Marty Hore Calf 1 - 2 weeks Josh Schache Foot 1 - 2 weeks Jake Lever Knee 2 - 3 weeks Jake Melksham Knee 2 - 4 weeks Lachie Hunter Calf 4 - 6 weeks Charlie Spargo Achilles TBC

Opposition Watch

https://x.com/FootyIsMyJam/status/1797863535961321648 • Rick Lever was running 1/2 laps. Running, not jogging, went at a good click. Looking like recovery is going well. • JVR & Kynan Brown were doing separate training away from group. Both looked pretty solid, just management I’d say, too early to call on JVR. • Max, BBB, T Mac all on load-management shift ( taking care if older boys). Max was in high spirits, such a good leader. They were joined by Spargo, Hore & Schache • Lukar Kentfield is a ripping looking kid. Had his first hit out. Big body, good size, moves well and good foot skills. Wearing the almighty #44. • Had a good end-to-end ball movement session. Skills much better today, a few of them looked a little confused at times as to where they should be but most drills got one end to the other without missing targets. • “NO MISTAKES” was yelled a few times by Choco Williams. • Plenty of one-on-one chats by senior players with coaches and assistants. All seemed in good spirits. Vines and Goody spent a good 10mins going over a few things at end of training. • Kossy and McAdam were doing goalkicking from boundary line. McAdam won comfortably. And yes, he had multiple shots OVER 35m comfortably. Think it’s just a confidence issue from his soft tissue injuries. • Melksham looks really really sharp. Rest finishing, great footskills, said hello to the dozen fans that turned up. Ripping bloke, will be handy in 5-6 weeks I’d assume. All in all good spirits, no laughing or joking around, just focus and supporting players who nailed the drills etc. Pretty light workout overall, expected for post-match session.

Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons?