Demonland

Everyone better get into the Brace position according to Channel 7.

Dees just posted some training photos from today. Can rule out the following players from the list of players with COVID or in isolation. * Baker * Fritsch * Hunt * May * Dunstan * Harmes * Bowey

If tested positive today they could have been contagious yesterday.

If that is the case and Luke and Toby have COVID then that means that Oliver will almost certainly be out this week too.

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Q: How do the Hawks come back after being 32-0 early, leading at every interval and then conceding nine goals in the last quarter to lose to the Swans by 41 points in the comfort and safety of their second home down in Launceston? A: If they’re playing the Demons at the G off a five-day break, there are no comebacks. They simply won’t come back! That’s the short form preview of the Melbourne v Hawthorn match up at the Home of Football this weekend. That is not to dismiss the young Hawks’ prospects but the way each team’s ANZAC Round games unfolded does not bode well for them. The Demons’ general play against the Tigers matched their dominant form from their previous game against the Giants in most aspects. The glaring distinction was in their shooting accuracy for goal which plunged from 76% to 29% in the course of a week. Part of the explanation for that was in the defensive set up they faced from Richmond but you can be sure that Simon Goodwin and his coaching team (to be led this week by Adem Yze sitting in the chair - and who better than an ex-Hawk to fill in for Goody while he rehabs?) will have been working on the necessary adjustments to counter such tactics should anyone try to use them again. Similarly, Melbourne should be ready for a three-peat of Hawthorn’s frenetically rapid start to games which saw them score three goals in six minutes before Geelong got a touch of the footy on Easter Sunday, then the first five against the Swans on ANZAC Day. I have a gut feeling that these opening bursts from the Hawks are restricted to public holidays and to when they play teams other than Melbourne. They can try to take the game on but they won’t get away with it this week and it wouldn’t help them either way because the effort required would see the life sucked out of them much earlier than usual. More bad news for Hawthorn is the fact that Jake Lever and Jack Viney have been declared available for the game after sitting out last week due to health and safety protocols, meaning that two of the club’s strongest weapons one defensive and the other attacking, will come into the side well rested and up for the fight. Handy replacements for Luke Jackson, Harry Petty, Kysaiah Pickett and Tom Sparrow who miss this week after testing positive for Covid19. And Jake Melksham should be highly motivated now that he’s been called in to replace Nibbler. The other factor that needs to be remembered is that while the statistics of last week’s Melbourne game were well below par because of the poor shooting for goal, the optics remained a high point in terms of the work rate, the system and the endeavour. All of these things will operate on Saturday evening to ensure that, for the Hawks, there will be no repeat of their late 2021 heroics and no comebacks. Melbourne to win by 23 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Hawthorn at the MCG Saturday 30 April, 2022 at 4.35pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Hawthorn 87 wins 1 draw At the MCG Melbourne 39 wins Hawthorn 46 wins 1 draw Last 5 meetings Melbourne 4 wins Hawthorn 0 wins 1 draw The Coaches Yze 0 wins Mitchell 0 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 11.13.79 drew with Hawthorn 12.7.79 in Round 18, 2021 at The MCG Early in the game it looked as though the Demons were going to blow their lowly opponent right out of the park but the plucky Hawks fought back, persisted and caused a major upset even if they didn’t come out of the contest with all four points. Melbourne’s midfielders in Oliver, Petracca and Viney all managed 30+ possessions but they were trumped by Tom Mitchell who almost got his team over the line. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: T.Rivers 24 S.May 1 J.Smith 44 HB: J.Jordon 23 J.Lever 8 J.Bowey 17 C: A.Brayshaw 10 C.Petracca 5 E.Langdon 15 HF: T.McDonald 25 S.Weideman 26 B.Fritsch 31 F: T.Bedford 12 B.Brown 50 J.Harmes 4 Foll: M.Gawn 11 C.Oliver 13 J.Viney 7 I/C: L.Dunstan 27 J.Hunt 29 J.Melksham 18 C.Spargo 9 Sub: K.Chandler 37 Emerg: O.Baker 33 M.Brown 38 A.Tomlinson 20 In: K.Chandler J.Lever T.McDonald J.Melksham J.Viney Out: L.Jackson (H & S Protocols) A.Neal-Bullen (H & S Protocols) H.Petty (H & S Protocols) K.Pickett (H & S Protocols) T.Sparrow (H & S Protocols) HAWTHORN B: J.Scrimshaw 14 S.Frost 8 B.Hardwick 15 HB: F.Maginness 32 J.Sicily 6 W.Day 12 C: J.O'Meara 10 T.Mitchell 3 L.Shiels 26 HF: C.Nash 11 L.Breust 22 C.Macdonald 31 F: D.Moore 13 J.Gunston 19 J.Impey 4 Foll: M.Lynch 18 J.Newcombe 44 J.Worpel 5 I/C: L.Bramble 16 J.Callow 45 C.Wingard 20 J.Koschitzke 23 Sub: D.Howe 17 Emerg: D.Grainger-Barras 24 K.Hartigan 28 N.Long 27 In: L.Bramble J.Callow D.Howe Out: D.Grainger-Barras (managed) H.Morrison (injured) J.Ward (managed) Injury List: Round 7 Michael Hibberd - Calf | Available Jake Lever - H & S Protocols | Available Jack Viney - H & S Protocols | Available Simon Goodwin - H & S Protocols | 1 week Luke Jackson - H & S Protocols | 1 week Alex Neal-Bullen - H & S Protocols | 1 week Kysaiah Pickett - H & S Protocols | 1 week Tom Sparrow - H & S Protocols | 1 week Daniel Turner - Foot | 2 weeks Christian Salem - Knee | 3-4 weeks Blake Howes - Foot | TBC

When we spoke to him on the podcast he indicated that his preference is from the coaches box.

Get well soon Premiership Coach Simon Goodwin.

Big blow for the Blues too.

I saw a projection of 10-12 weeks somewhere.

I would love this kind of accuracy.

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Join @george_on_the_outer, @binman & I on the Demonland Podcast tonight LIVE @ 8:30pm for breakdown of the Round 6 match against Richmond. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Actually was 12 games for 11 votes. My Saints mates were smarting about his disposal but I thought he was quite measured and thoughtful with his 18 possessions at 83% disposal efficiency.

Clarrie’s 40+ game captured everyone’s imagination. He goes to the top of the tree! 62. Clayton Oliver 49. Christian Petracca 43. Steven May 42. Max Gawn 31. Ed Langdon 21. Jake Bowey Angus Brayshaw 19. Luke Jackson 18. James Harmes 10. Ben Brown James Jordon Jack Viney 9. Alex Neal-Bullen 6. Sam Weideman 5. Jayden Hunt Harry Petty Charlie Spargo 4. Tom Sparrow 3. Kysaiah Pickett Joel Smith 2. Bayley Fritsch

Normally when one side outpoints the other, it is because of an emphatic victory. Against Richmond in the annual ANZAC Eve Blockbuster, the win by Melbourne was anything but emphatic, as they managed to miss the “big sticks” an incredible 22 times! The groans from around the ground as the Demons failed to put the Tigers away, eventually turned into ironic cheers for each successive point on the scoreboard. However, this irony from the fans was only possible because Melbourne had complete control of the game across the whole ground. They just couldn’t deliver the coup de grace on the scoreboard. The evening was spectacular, as it is every year with the lights dimmed for the solemn ANZAC memorial. Surely the players from Melbourne would have been impressed by the experience of playing in front of 70,000 at the G on this night. If it was this good, imagine what a GF experience will be like in front of their own fans. Something to look forward to? Unfortunately, what the game had in pre-match spectacle, it lacked in on-field performance. Richmond are a mere shell of the team which won 3 out of 4 Premierships, and are facing further decline as they try to hold it all together with old stagers in Riewoldt, Cotchin and Edwards. Only 7 touches to Edwards and with no Dusty, Grimes or Houli from the glory days, they are absolutely no chance to challenge again in 2022, as many thought in the pre-season. The Demons were just as ruthlessly overpowering as they were in their own GF appearance from last year, except on the scoreboard. The defensive unit once again held the opposition to below sixty points, with May, Bowey and Petty just racking up the intercepts when the ball came down their end. Nine each to May and Bowey with Petty chiming in for 8. No Lever? It didn’t matter, as the others just filled in with his absence. Jayden Hunt probably played his best game for the side this season in his 100th game, and importantly played defensively, not his attacking mode. He used his speed to shut down his opponent and let others do the ball movement upfield. In the middle, Petracca had a quiet game … but only because it was measured against an incredible performance from Clayton Oliver who was judged best afield on the night. Petracca’s mere 25 touches with 7 contested possessions was simply eclipsed when Oliver turned on the jets to produce 41 touches and an astounding 22 contested posssessions! Tom Sparrow is establishing himself as the third rock in the centre square as the coaches give him more time in the engine room. Twenty-four disposals in the hardest section of the ground, and still just 21 years of age. Then the side has a couple of reliable backups in Harmes and Dunstan and let’s not forget that Jack Viney is due to return next week. As noted last week, opposition sides should be very, very afraid. But the whole night was summed up by the enigma of the forward line. Sam Weideman received another chance, and despite three goals, they all came from fortuitous circumstances, not his own efforts. A solitary uncontested mark for the whole game is not what should be coming from a forward in his seventh year at the club. He will probably be given another chance to show if he has a future, but we keep revisiting this hope without an emphatic answer. Finally, in the third quarter Bayley Fritsch showed the side that someone up forward could kick straight and started a 5 goal streak that put the game beyond any doubt. Was it Christian Salem’s boots that he wore this week, and if so, the rest of the side needs to be issued with whatever Salo has sitting in the back of his locker. Hopes of a better game from therein for the fans however, was dashed as both teams could only manage a solitary goal each in the final quarter. And the Demons managed to out-point the Toiyges yet again in that quarter with three more minor scores to their two. It was just enthralling football to watch. Not! Next week the Hawks who are experiencing an up and down season. They are missing major components of their side particularly in the ruck and up forward. The Demons yet again face selection table problems with Lever and Viney available, while Tom McDonald put in a more than credible performance at Casey with three goals. The Demons certainly out-pointed Richmond and probably will do the same to the Hawks, but it is worth pointing out the winning streak is now out to 13, and Jake Bowey continues to know no other match result. Point made!  MELBOURNE 2.6.18 3.12.30 8.19.67 9.22.76 RICHMOND 2.2.14 5.3.33 7.4.46 8.6.54 GOALS MELBOURNE Weideman 3 Fritsch 2 Brown Langdon Petracca Spargo RICHMOND Lynch Riewoldt 2 Baker Bolton Graham Rioli BEST MELBOURNE Oliver Hunt Langdon May Gawn Petty RICHMOND Vlastuin Nankervis Gibcus Short Graham D Rioli INJURIES MELBOURNE Dunstan (head) RICHMOND Dow (leg) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil RICHMOND Nil SUBSTITUTES MELBOURNE T Bedford (not used) RICHMOND Parker (replaced Dow) UMPIRES Leigh Fisher Andrew Stephens Robert Findlay CROWD 70,334 at The MCG