Demonland

It's Game Day and this could be the Demons last roll of the dice for their chances at making finals this season as the come face to face with the hot and cold GWS Giants tonight at the MCG in a true 8 point game.

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

What's our record coming up against coaches that have just re-signed? @Supermercado

“Just my opinion, there’s no world that I’d be changing or trading Clayton Oliver. There’s no footy world where I follow that I would contemplate trading Clayton Oliver,” Lyon said on SEN. Oliver signed a monster contract extension in 2022 which ties him to Melbourne on a $1m-season deal until 2030. Lyon said he would hand back his membership if the Demons paid any portion of Oliver’s deal while he played for another club. “If they paid another club to take him, that’d be the last straw,” he said. The former Demons skipper said with the emergence of Trent Rivers and return of Christian Petracca in 2025, Oliver could recapture his mantle as one of the AFL’s premier midfielders. “He’s 27 years old, he’s won four best-and-fairests, he’s won two coaches awards, he’s a premiership player. He’s a superstar of the game who is in a bit of a hole, relatively. He’s still averaging 25 touches,” he said. Lyon added: “If you believe everything you read he’s like a 10-possession player that can’t impact. He’s nowhere near his peak. But we know his issues. “We know how well documented they are. And if I’m the Melbourne footy club, I’m looking at him as getting through this year, hopefully still playing good footy and then cracking in, big summer, Petracca back, midfield going and go again.”

Everyone always comes back against us.

With no proof that this isn't the case I think it's safe to assume that it was Ed. 😜

"I think we have got a team that can win a premiership, and if we get in this year, I don't think there is a team that is going to want to play us. This year is not a write-off, I don't concede that. Not at all." — Collingwood President Jeff Browne. I love this sort of optimism from the Magpie President after his club’s eleven goal defeat at the hands of the fast rising Hawks. It’s consistent with the fighting spirit of the club that won last year’s flag. I only wish I could say the same about Melbourne after its own heart-wrenching capitulation to Fremantle last Sunday. However, despite the imminent return of captain Max Gawn for Saturday night’s clash against the GWS Giants and the fact that the team still sits ever so close to the top eight, there’s a pall of gloom over the club. That’s due to the inconsistency of performance that we’ve witnessed throughout the year both during games and between matches. How could the team go from crushing the previously undefeated Cats in the final quarter of their Round 8 clash to opening with nothing to five straight goals in Round 9 against Carlton and then come home with a rush at the end to just lose? How do you explain a brilliant attacking third term against the Saints followed by a near 100 point capitulation in Alice Springs a week later? A pulsating eight goal second quarter in Brisbane to go goalless in the final term and concede the same match? Or last week’s humiliating total inability to win the ball at stoppages with the previous week’s heroic attack on the football against the Bombers? Perhaps it’s the number of young, inexperienced players or the missing ruckman or the superstar upon whose shoulders they rely heavily, premiership midfielders out of form or a tiring flight interstate? These are all excuses — this week is their last chance. Perform, or most likely sit out the business end of the season with the likes of Collingwood and one or two other prospective finalists while the likes of Hawthorn shoot up the ladder for a taste of September action. The Giants are potentially vulnerable because they, like the Demons, perform their best at home and are shaky away from their own nest. However, Melbourne desperately needs to mix up its repertoire to drag itself out of the hot and cold routine rut that it has found itself in this season. With this week’s game to be played in front of a majority crowd of its own fans at the MCG, I would like to see the selectors try something different and pick two ruckmen to play in the ruck. Give Will Verrall the opportunity to be understudy to the best ruckman in the competition and give Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen roles as key position forwards. The idea might sound a little unconventional but who knows, it might help bring some consistency into the Demon equation. My own accuracy in tipping winners this year has been a little inconsistent so please forgive me for tipping the Giants who seem more focused on winning at the moment, to salute the judges by a margin of 23 points at the end of the night. THE GAME Melbourne v GWS Giants at the MCG, Saturday 27 July 2024 at 7:30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall – Melbourne 9 wins GWS Giants 8 wins At the MCG – Melbourne 5 wins GWS Giants 3 wins Past five meetings – Melbourne 2 wins GWS Giants 3 wins The Coaches – Goodwin 0 wins Kingsley 1 win THE LAST TIME THEY MET GWS Giants 7.5.47 Melbourne 5.15.45 at TIO Traeger Park, Round 16 2023 They say that bad kicking is bad football. Melbourne played some bad football on an unseasonably wet and wild day in the red heart of the country. It was all over the Giants but failed time and time to convert with a kick from outside fifty by Josh Kelly finding its way through the goals to give them the lead late in the game. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B Tom McDonald, S. May, J. McVee HB J. Bowey, J. Lever, A. Moniz-Wakefield C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF K. Pickett, J. van Rooyen, J. Melksham F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, H. Petty FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, T. Rivers I/C J. Billings, B. Laurie, A. Neal-Bullen, D. Turner, T. Woewodin EMG K. Brown, B. Howes, T. Sparrow IN M. Gawn, B. Laurie, T. Woewodin OUT C. Salem (hamstring), T. Sparrow (omitted), K. Tholstrup (concussion) GWS GIANTS B C. Idun, J. Buckley, H. Himmelberg HB L. Whitfield, S. Taylor, H. Perryman C C. Ward, T. Green, T. McMullin HF B. Daniels, Jake Riccardi, T. Bedford F T. Greene, J. Hogan, D. Jones FOLL K. Briggs, F. Callaghan, J. Peatling I/C L. Ash A. Cadman, J. Fonti, X. O’Halloran, H. Thomas EMG N. Haynes, L. Keeffe, C. Stone IN S. Taylor OUT I. Cummings (hamstring) Injury List: Round 20 Lachie Hunter — calf / available Max Gawn — ankle / test Jed Adams — lung / 1 week Koltyn Tholstrup — concussion / 1 - 2 weeks Christian Salem — hamstring / 3 - 4 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

Good catch. Very similar.

Name Injury Expected Return Lachie Hunter Calf Available Max Gawn Ankle Test Jed Adams Lung 1 week Koltyn Tholstrup Concussion 1 - 2 weeks Christian Salem Hamstring 3 - 4 weeks Charlie Spargo Achilles Season Christian Petracca Spleen Indefinite

PLAYER VOTES 1 Max Gawn 162 2 Steven May 100 3 Christian Petracca 97 4 Jack Viney 86 5 Alex Neal-Bullen 85 6 Trent Rivers 81 7 Kysaiah Pickett 57 8 Jacob van Rooyen 55 9 Clayton Oliver 53 10 Ed Langdon 49 11 Judd McVee 45 12 Christian Salem 44 13 Jake Lever 40 =14 Bayley Fritsch 31 =14 Tom McDonald 31 16 Caleb Windsor 25 17 Tom Sparrow 17 =18 Kade Chandler 14 =18 Harry Petty 14 20 Jack Billings 12 =21 Blake Howes 11 =21 Daniel Turner 11 23 Adam Tomlinson 9 24 Jake Melksham 2 25 Jake Bowey 1