Demonland

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Here is the entire show.

Melbourne supporters are an unusual lot. Their lived experiences over years of witnessing their team’s humiliation at the hands of the competition’s bullies have left them suspended in a Bizarro World beset by a cognitive distortion know as 'mental filtering'. This is a phenomenon that occurs when people focus exclusively and blindly on long held belief systems. They refuse to accept that conditions have changed so when the evidence is present before their very own eyes, their minds are frozen. At a time when their team sits at the pinnacle of the AFL, when they have beaten almost all before them and when the football world is beginning to believe the Demons are the real deal, they still cling to old mythologies and fears. Meanwhile, at the other end of the football supporter scale, there’s Collingwood … This is the train wreck that was waiting to happen for years. The seemingly indestructible silver bullet express that was tantalisingly close to a premiership in the dying moments of the 2018 grand final, somehow managed to lurch off the tracks in the moment when Dom Sheed’s kick sailed between the big sticks. The derailment that followed could be viewed close up and in slow motion; a vision combined with elements of hubris, arrogance, blind greed and sheer incompetence. The catalyst was the godfather offer to lure Danye Beams back from Brisbane in the last half hour of the trade period that followed. Then there was the 2019 preliminary final disaster in the wet, the Grundy contract extension, shenanigans in the hub, list mismanagement and the embarrassingly mishandled trade period when they lost valuable players for little return, the desperate bid to make good in the draft and the disastrous failure to come to terms with the report that found there was systemic racism at the club. “This is a historic and proud day for the Collingwood Football Club,” was Eddie McGuire’s spin that ultimately spelled the end of his 22-year reign as president. The final crash came this week at the very point when the Magpie kids were showing signs that they were starting to flourish under Nathan Buckley’s new road map. The club is now trapped in time. Frozen. We arrive at a particular moment when one of the AFL’s major blockbuster games, which also celebrates the Big Freeze and a wonderful charity initiative honouring Neale Daniher’s fight for research into healing MND, is taking place in Bizarro World at a distance by road of 878 kilometres from the true home of football. The pessimists at Melbourne were already quaking in their boots. After all, the team has no problems with disposing of teams in the top 8 but can lose to Adelaide (on the same oval where the Pies beat the Crows) after struggling for a long periods in games against the two bottom teams. How were they going to cope against a resurgent Collingwood with their 6 goal wonder boy back in the side? And now, an emotion-laden game to farewell a club hero? The answer is that the game is being played in real time and not in a mythical Bizarro World frozen in time. Even the slipping and sliding of the Big Freeze is happening miles away from the football action. In the reality of the here and now, Melbourne is not only the far better team but it’s playing with unity and purpose and brings pressure and selflessness with it onto the field. There’s a healthy competition among the playing group for places in a team that will play off and go deep into the finals. The opposition won’t be taken lightly now, especially after taking all of the limelight in the lead up to this game. But they’re young and inexperienced and their club is divided off the field by warring factions and staring into a bleak and uncertain future. Melbourne to win by 61 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at the SCG Monday 14 June, 2021 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 84 wins, Collingwood 150 wins, 5 drawn At at the SCG Melbourne 0 wins, Collingwood 0 wins Last five meetings Melbourne 1 win, Collingwood 4 wins The Coaches Goodwin 2 wins, Buckley 4 wins 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 16.4.100 defeated Collingwood 6.8.44 at the Gabba in Round 11, 2020 The Pies, depleted by injury and coming off a 4 day break were effectively road kill for the in form Demons. The midfield dominated with Brayshaw, Petracca, Oliver and Viney all on top of their game. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: M Hibberd 14 S. May 1 J. Lever 8 HB: J. Hunt 29 H. Petty 35 C. Salem 3 C: A. Brayshaw 10 C. Petracca 5 J. Jordon 23 HF: J. Harmes 4 T. McDonald 25 A. Neal-Bullen 30 F: C. Spargo 9 S. Weideman 26 B. Fritsch 31 Foll: M. Gawn 11 C. Oliver 13 K. Pickett 36 I/C: L Jackson 6 E Langdon 15 T Rivers 24 T Sparrow 32 Sub: K Chandler 37 Emerg: I/C: O. Baker 33 M. Brown 38 J Melksham 18 IN: K. Chandler E. Langdon OUT: O. Baker (omitted) J. Melksham (omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: J. Noble 9 J. Roughead 23 B. Maynard 37 HB: I. Quaynor 3 D. Moore 30 C. Mayne 16 C: W. Hoskin-Elliott 32 S. Sidebottom 22 C. Poulter 27 HF: N. Murphy 28 D. Cameron 14 T. Bianco 8 F: J. De Goey 2 B. Mihocek 41 J. Elliott 5 Foll: M. Lynch 15 S. Pendlebury 10 J. Crisp 25 IC: J. Daicos 7 J. Madgen 44 B. McCreery 31 J. Thomas 24 Sub: J. Rantall 1 Emerg: C. Brown 17 M. Cox 46 T. Wilson 12 IN: B. McCreery C. Mayne OUT: C. Brown (omitted) B. Sier (jaw) Injury List: Round 13 Ed Langdon (concussion) — Available Jack Viney (toe) — 1 to 2 Weeks Bailey Laurie (eye socket) — 2 Weeks Deakyn Smith (ankle) — 2 Weeks Joel Smith (knee) — 2 Weeks Marty Hore (knee) — 9 to 11 Weeks Aaron Nietschke (knee) — Season Adam Tomlinson (knee) — Season

Each of the 3 efforts are more half arsed than the one before. Zorko’s efforts when Tom Sparrow kicked his goal was awful too but at least Zorko had been running all night.

Imagine if he becomes Captain of the team one day. Tom not @binman

Can you imagine if we lost Yze during the year?

Never good to play a team with a new coach ...

Since the end of the 2020 free agency, trade and draft period, AFL clubs have had two further bites of the cherry to top up their lists — the supplemental selection period (SSP) and the 2021 mid-season rookie draft (MSD). The main idea behind both was to enable the fulfillment of immediate needs as a result of injuries or unexpected retirements but this year, we have seen the added dimension of straight out recruitment for the future rather than for now. As a consequence, a number of ready made players who were expected to make an immediate impact on clubs were overlooked last week — the likes of Frankston’s Nathan Freeman who has been flying years after a series of hamstring after his promising career was cruelled by a series of hamstring injuries at both Collingwood and St Kilda. An average of more than 40 touches per game at VFL level wasn’t enough to earn a six month stint at one of the 15 AFL clubs that participated in the MSD. Similarly, a hot run of form at SANFL level was insufficient to warrant forgiveness for Tyson Stengle over a string of off-field incidents that led to his ouster from the Crows. Among other past players who missed out on a recycling were Wylie Buzza and Riley Knight. The scenario was a far cry from the SST when Oscar McDonald, Alec Waterman, Majak Daw, Derek Eggmolesse-Smith and Mason Wood were all given second chances. The Demons added 30-year-old 195 cm 97 kg Daw in the March SST as cover for ruck and key position depth at either end of the ground after he was delisted by North Melbourne in that club’s mass delistings at the end of the 2020 AFL season. Daw has been steady in the ruck at VFL level. They also selected Next Generation Academy youngster Deakyn Smith a lightly built 179 cm medium defender who was impressive at Casey until an ankle injury interrupted his debut season. Werribee tall man Kye Declase spent a week at the end of the SST period on the recommendation of Mark Williams but missed out on selection. This gave the Demon selectors extra time to consider him further. As it turned out, Declase who had hitherto played mainly in defence, made the most of his time on a wing and going forward in his five games at Werribee where he has averaged 22 disposals and seven marks and kicked six goals. The improvement he showed in the VFL was enough to get him a guernsey at the Melbourne Football Club through MSD Pick 15. The Demons exercised their second selection at 24 (the last player picked) with a speculative selection of 19 year old Murray Bushranger Daniel Turner who has averaged 17 disposals, eight marks and four rebound 50s so far this year at NAB Boys League level. He’s officially listed at 191 cm but my mail is that he’s grown a few centimetres since measured before the season began. Here are the pen pictures from AFL Draft Central of the Demons’ MSD selections. 15. Kye Declase (Werribee) Wing/Defender | 15/10/96 | 195cm | 85kg Originally a graduate of the Northern Knights, Declase has shown a rapid rate of development since entering the state league and had plenty of work put into him by Melbourne during preseason. He has cut his teeth as an intercept and rebounding defender, but more recently rolled up to the wing and has even impacted in the front half during his VFL tenure. The 24-year-old adds good versatility and depth to Melbourne’s mix, perhaps as a direct replacement for the injured Adam Tomlinson. 24. Daniel Turner (Murray Bushrangers) Defender | 28/1/02 | 191cm | 79kg Another promising type out of the Murray Bushrangers, Turner is an intercept defender who thrives aerially and is sound in possession. He featured in this year’s Victorian Young Gun showcase and impressed, improving out of sight in his top-age season and performing well at NAB League level. The overall changes at Melbourne since November/December 2020 have seen the influx of a solid mix of forwards, attacking youngsters and a confirmation of the importance to the club of a strong defensive strategy. The Demons already have arguably the best ruckman in the competition and the best young up and coming ruckman. They did not therefore find it necessary in the MSD to join the mad scramble for ruckmen that we saw last week. With seven of them selected and a couple of others who can play forward/ruck, it emphasized that the main draft is not an area where you will find any other than the elite in this division among the early selections. PRIMARY LIST: — Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Jake Bowey Angus Brayshaw Ben Brown Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn James Harmes Michael Hibberd Marty Hore (inactive) Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Tom McDonald Jay Lockhart Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Fraser Rosman Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A — Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Majak Daw Kye Declase James Jordan Aaron Nietschke (inactive) Deakyn Smith Daniel Turner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B — Austin Bradtke

Purcell to pull on the red and blue