Demonland

This is beyond ridiculous.

Talk about Over umpiring

Ed Pascoe covers the draft on line for a couple of sites. Here’s his current top 20

In a fitting opening to the Doug Nicholls Round, the haunting voice of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu spread calm around a near empty, misty Docklands stadium. Meanwhile, the Narrm players, quietly warming up pre-game, seemed to take on the same calmness for their upcoming task against North Melbourne. Sure, this was the top of the ladder premiership side playing the lowly cellar dweller, but this Demons side is now one who just quietly go about their job, and slowly ever so slowly and calmly take the opposition apart. It may not please the fans who had spent so long in the wilderness witnessing the demolition of their own side by the juggernauts of the past, wanting so much to return the favour. But this is a side that is focussed not just on winning, but on the end game in a season which is not yet half way through. Yet those fans who still suffer the lingering symptoms of MFCSS, thought it was coming back again, as North closed the gap at one stage to six points, but then Narrm just took a deep breath and pushed the final margin out to 47 points. North certainly brought their pressure game along, and were causing damage not just on the scoreboard, but a heavy hit to Ed Langdon early in the first quarter, saw him moving very gingerly around the ground until he was substituted at ¼ time by Toby Bedford. There would have been even more calm about the demolition of the opposition if the Demons had managed to kick straight with 30 shots on goal to 13. Christian Petracca continues to have the yips once inside easy range, and perhaps needs some of the calming lessons around goal-kicking that Tom McDonald and Bailey Fritsch exude. Both of these put through three goals for the side and TMac in particular has left no doubt about holding his place in the side. Strong contested marking and workrate is what defines his output, which is what Simon Goodwin expects from all his players. In the middle, Jack Viney was definitely missed, but fortunately Clayton Oliver stepped up with an astounding 45 disposals, half of which were contested. Again and again he was able to extract the ball where others couldn’t and where in all honesty he had no right to be able to do. Petracca calmly contributed 30 disposals, although throughout the game he seemed hampered, he also having taken a couple of serious hits from the North players. But then Tom Sparrow also chipped in to fill the Viney void, and amassed 20 touches including eight contested. The prodigious depth of his kicking is similar to his mentor’s in the middle, so when they get the ball it is almost invariably sent deep into attack. Once again the backs did their job. Jake Lever seemed back to his ruthless best with seven intercept marks, while Steven May drove the North faithful mad with his physical strength and marking prowess to record eight intercepts, and kept their main target in Larkey to a solitary goal. The defensive team once again held the opposition to a score below 60 which helped to improve Naarm’s percentage a bit more. The loss of Langdon was really telling however. With the structures that have been set up, he has been that option as an outlet in addition to his elite running power. With his loss, Melksham was moved to the wing, and provided little to the team, with only seven disposals and one tackle. Were he not closing on 200 games, he wouldn’t be playing, especially when compared to James Jordon on the other wing who produced 22 disposals and over 500 metres gained for the side. Now 10 wins into the season and 17 successive victories to Narrm and Jake Bowey the calmness continues to pervade the side. No Viney, Salem, Hibberd, Harmes or Langdon….no worries, just go about the job and hand, play your role and the results keep on coming. With a clash against top of the table contenders Fremantle next week, we will finally get a true handle on where the sides sit. In the weeks to come, games against Sydney and Brisbane will provide even more of an insight. It is said that calm happens before the storm, but with 17 successive wins including a Premiership, the calm has come after the storm for the team from Narrm. For others, the fear is that this team is just building up to their next storm. NARRM 4.4.28 8.9.57 10.13.73 14.16.100 NORTH MELBOURNE 3.0.18 6.1.37 8.3.51 8.5.53 GOALS NARRM Fritsch McDonald 3 Pickett 2 Bedford Gawn Langdon Melksham Rivers Sparrow NORTH MELBOURNE Zurhaar 3 Goldstein Horne-Francis Larkey Xerri Ziebell BEST NARRM Oliver Petracca Sparrow McDonald Jordon Fritsch NORTH MELBOURNE Davies-Uniacke Scott McDonald Zurhaar Goldstein INJURIES NARRM Ed Langdon (ribs) NORTH MELBOURNE Curtis Taylor (ribs) REPORTS NARRM Nil NORTH MELBOURNE Nil SUBSTITUTES NARRM Toby Bedford (replaced Langdon) NORTH MELBOURNE Atu Bosenavulagi (replaced Taylor in the fourth quarter) UMPIRES Craig Fleer Cameron Dore Eleni Glouftsis CROWD 13,422 at Marvel Stadium

Clarrie tops the ton - 113. Clayton Oliver 93. Christian Petracca 65. Steven May 61. Max Gawn 50. Ed Langdon 48. Angus Brayshaw 26. Luke Jackson 25. Jack Viney 22. Jake Bowey 18. James Harmes 15. Tom Sparrow 14. James Jordon Kysaiah Pickett 13. Ben Brown 11. Alex Neal-Bullen 8. Tom McDonald 6. Sam Weideman 5. Bayley Fritsch Jayden Hunt Jake Lever Harry Petty Charlie Spargo 3. Joel Smith

Round 1, 2021 MELBOURNE B: N. Jetta 39 S. May 1 A. Tomlinson 20 HB: C. Salem 3 J. Lever 8 J. Hunt 29 C: J. Harmes 4 C. Petracca 5 E. Langdon 15 HF: N. Jones 2 T. McDonald 25 A. Neal-Bullen 30 F: C. Spargo 9 L. Jackson 6 B. Fritsch 31 Foll: M. Gawn - C 11 C. Oliver 13 T. Sparrow 32 I/C: K. Pickett 36 J. Jordon 23 T. Rivers 24 A. Brayshaw 10 Sub: K. Chandler 37 Emerg: O. Baker 33 J. Bowey 17 H. Petty 35 FREMANTLE B: T. Watson 38 J. Hamling 21 A. Pearce 25 HB: R. Conca 6 B. Cox 36 L. Ryan 13 C: J. Aish 11 N. Fyfe - C 7 B. Acres 9 HF: C. Serong 3 A. Cerra 5 T .Colyer 33 F: S. Switkowski 39 M. Taberner 20 L. Schultz 28 Foll: L. Meek 22 A. Brayshaw 8 D. Mundy 16 I/C: L. Henry 23 H. Young 26 E. Hughes 15 C. Blakely 19 Sub: S. Giro 42 Emerg; S. Darcy 4 H. Chapman 27 L. Thomas 24

Who comes in and who goes out for our match against the Dockers at the MCG on Saturday?

Your votes please 6,5,4,3,2,1 …

ROUND 16 Thursday, June 30 Brisbane v Western Bulldogs, The Gabba, 7.20pm AEST, Seven Friday, July 1 Carlton v St Kilda, Marvel Stadium, 7.50pm AEST, Seven Saturday, July 2 Essendon v Sydney, MCG, 1.45pm AEST, Fox Adelaide v Melbourne, Adelaide Oval, 4.05pm ACST, Fox Geelong v North Melbourne, GMHBA Stadium, 7.25pm AEST, Fox Gold Coast v Collingwood, Metricon Stadium. 7.25pm AEST, Seven Sunday, July 3 Richmond v West Coast, MCG, 2.10pm AEST, Fox Greater Western Sydney v Hawthorn, Giants Stadium, 3.20pm AEST, Seven Fremantle v Port Adelaide, Optus Stadium, 3.20pm AWST, Fox ROUND 17 Thursday, July 7 Geelong v Melbourne, GMHBA Stadium, 7.20pm AEST, Seven Friday, July 8 Sydney v Western Bulldogs, SCG, 7.50pm AEST, Seven Saturday, July 9 Collingwood v North Melbourne, MCG, 1.45pm AEST, Fox Gold Coast v Richmond, Metricon Stadium, 4.35pm AEST, Fox St Kilda v Fremantle, Marvel Stadium, 7.25pm AEST, Seven Port Adelaide v Greater Western Sydney, Adelaide Oval, 7pm ACST, Fox Sunday, July 10 Brisbane v Essendon, The Gabba, 1.10pm AEST, Fox Hawthorn v Adelaide, Marvel Stadium, 3.20pm AEST, Seven West Coast v Carlton, Optus Stadium, 2.40pm AWST, Fox ROUND 18 Friday, July 15 Western Bulldogs v St Kilda, Marvel Stadium, 7.50pm AEST, Seven Saturday, July 16 Adelaide v Collingwood, Adelaide Oval, 1.15pm ACST, Fox Greater Western Sydney v Brisbane, Manuka Oval, 1.45pm AEST, Fox North Melbourne v Richmond, Marvel Stadium, 4.35pm AEST, Fox Carlton v Geelong, MCG, 7.25pm AEST, Seven Fremantle v Sydney, Optus Stadium, 5.30pm AWST, Fox Sunday, July 17 Hawthorn v West Coast, MCG, 1.10pm AEST, Fox Melbourne v Port Adelaide, TIO Traeger Park, 2.50pm ACST, Seven Essendon v Gold Coast, Marvel Stadium, 4.40pm AEST, Fox ROUND 19 Friday, July 22 Richmond v Fremantle, Marvel Stadium, 7.50pm AEST, Seven Saturday, July 23 North Melbourne v Hawthorn, Blundstone Arena, 1.45pm AEST, Fox Sydney v Adelaide, SCG, 1.45pm AEST, Fox Port Adelaide v Geelong, Adelaide Oval, 4.05pm AEST, Fox Brisbane v Gold Coast, The Gabba, 7.10pm AEST, Fox Western Bulldogs v Melbourne, Marvel Stadium, 7.25pm AEST, Seven Sunday, July 24 Carlton v Greater Western Sydney, Marvel Stadium, 1.10pm AEST, Fox Collingwood v Essendon, MCG, 3.20pm AEST, Seven West Coast v St Kilda, Optus Stadium, 2.40pm AWST, Fox

Who are you tipping this week?

What world are we living in. Never thought I'd live to see the day.

https://narrmfc.com.au

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