Demonland

Keep booing Port.

kozzy!!!

Brown had more purchase on that mark than half of their marks.

Getting pantsed by the umps.

Holding the man on Oliver?

100%.

We have no players that have any penetration in their snaps. take a look at Ports first goal. Penetration in a snap.

8 frees to 5. so many not awarded to us and heaps of theirs simply not there.

These umps are cooked.

Where’s their incorrect disposal???

Getting out marked in our forward line.

Powell pepper drops the ball. Called holding the man.

That’s the marking I want to see from Jackson up forward.

Oliver and Tracc need to seriously work on their set shot kicking.

Locals not happy with the exact free they were awarded 1 minute ago.

Umps are on the Port train tonight.

Here the umps go. No way that was a push in the back.

Who are you tipping this week?

The magic of Melbourne’s magnificent start to 2021 is beginning to wear off. In its past six matches it lost to three teams that were outside the eight, out of form — teams which it had very little trouble bearing last year. This week, the temperature is turned up even higher with the hard fought spot in the top four at risk. The really ominous factor about the Demons’ upcoming Thursday night meeting with Port Adelaide this week is that it is due to take place at the very place where its decline began this year — at the Adelaide Oval. It was here that lowly Adelaide rode the waves of a roaring crowd and some generous umpiring interpretations to end Melbourne’s opening 2021 nine match winning streak by a solitary point. But if we did it tough against the Crows, then what chance against Port Adelaide coming off a big win over the Hawks who a week ago conquered our nemesis from last week, the Giants? Port Adelaide is one of the AFL’s form sides because the week before, they beat the Sydney Swans who annihilated West Coast last week. They have class all over the field and the best big bodied midfielder in the competition in Ollie Wines who is leading in many best and fairest awards. They’re well served in all departments around the field, well coached and have the capacity to control their games. The upshot is they are making the most of their opportunities and kicking winning scores. Melbourne, on the other hand, has a brilliant defence, a midfield that has touches of brilliance but has lost some of its direction lately and a forward line that has descended in the past few games into the dyslectic. Against the Giants they managed 56 entries into their forward 50 of which only 36% were converted into scores (a statistic not too dissimilar to that of their opponents). But the Demons’ shooting accuracy of only 35% compared to the Giants’ 47% made the difference between a win and a loss. This week the selectors have gone for the additional marking option of Ben Brown who, in hindsight, should have been selected off the back of his previous effort of 5 goals 2 behinds against Essendon VFL. Apparently, someone at the club *believed* a weather bureau report suggesting storm clouds were forming and that there was a high chance that heavy rain would fall over the MCG in large patches over the course of the game. In fact, not a drop fell and in the dry conditions, the opportunities went begging and the club lamented. But it’s not just that key forward position that requires a shake up. The Demon small forwards who were so potent up to a month ago, have gone missing in action. It was clear to all and sundry that some players were getting tired and an attitudinal change was needed . The selectors however, were too slow in dealing with the issue and, as a consequence, the problem has gotten out of hand. By contrast, Port Adelaide is in good shape and welcomes the return of Tom Clurey into defence and playmaker Zak Butters into the midfield/forward mix. Even though fine weather is predicted for Adelaide on Thursday night, these changes should freshen up the Power and enable them to weather any storm. Port Adelaide to win by 18 points. THE GAME Port Adelaide v Melbourne on Thursday 7 July, 2021 at 7.40pm at Adelaide Oval HEAD TO HEAD Overall Port Adelaide 21 wins Melbourne 13 wins At Adelaide Oval Port Adelaide 3 wins Melbourne 1 win Past five meetings Port Adelaide 4 wins, Melbourne 1 win The Coaches Hinkley 3 wins Goodwin 1 win MEDIA THE LAST TIME THEY MET Port Adelaide 12.11.83 defeated Melbourne 4.8.32 in Round 9, 2020 at the Gabba The Demons were a tired looking bunch as they came off a four day break and were hammered by the then premiership favourites Port Adelaide in a performance that prompted club chairperson Glenn Bartlett to come out and state the obvious — that the team was rancid. The usuals, Gawn, Petracca and Oliver performed at an acceptable standard for AFL football. The rest, languished for all four quarters. THE TEAMS PORT ADELAIDE B: T. Clurey 17 T. McKenzie 12 A. Aliir 21 HB: R. Burton 3 T. Jonas 1 D. Byrne-Jones 33 C: M. Bergman 14 O. Wines 16 K. Amon 15 HF: C. Rozee 20 T. Marshall 4 S. Motlop 6 F: M. Georgiades 19 C. Dixon 22 Z. Butters 18 Foll: S. Lycett 29 T. Boak 10 W. Drew 28 I/C: Powell-Pepper 2 D. Houston 5 J. Lienert 40 S. Mayes 32 Sub: M. Frederick 45 Emerg: J. Garner 27 P. Ladhams 38 B. Woodcock 36 In: Z. Butters T. Clurey Out: R. Bonner (omitted) K. Farrell (ACL) 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 E. Langdon 15 HF: A. Neal-Bullen 30 T. McDonald 25 J. Harmes 4 F: L. Jackson 6 B. Brown 50 B. Fritsch 31 Foll: M. Gawn 11 C. Oliver 13 J. Viney 7 I/C: J. Jordon 23 K. Pickett 36 T. Rivers 24 C. Spargo 9 Sub: T. Sparrow 32 Emerg: J. Melksham 18 J. Smith 44 A. vandenBerg 22 In: B. Brown Out: A. vandenBerg (omitted) Injury List: Round 17 Mitch Brown (heel) — 2 Weeks Bailey Laurie (shoulder) — 4 to 5 Weeks Nathan Jones (calf) — TBC Marty Hore (knee) — 7 to 8 Weeks Aaron Nietschke (knee) — Season Adam Tomlinson (knee) — Season

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“Fee-fi-fo-fum, without a Full Forward the Premiership can’t be won!” So said the GWS Giants, as they exposed Melbourne’s fatal deficiency with a nine point win at the MCG. In past weeks Melbourne has been barely able to gloss over the lack of a serious target in front of goal, while others were able to contribute. But in a near repeat of the game from the previous week, players running up the ground simply had no-one to kick the ball to, when all that was needed was that one tall target. It didn’t help that Melbourne could not kick straight, by making 35% of their shots at goal, and a good number of them ordinarily easily converted. Kick just two of the easy misses and the game result would have been very different. However, not a single tall playing in the forward line, Tom McDonald, Luke Jackson or Max Gawn was able to trouble the goal umpire for the match. This simply cannot continue and the concept of resting rucks in the goal-square has been an abject failure. They are ruckmen and do not know or indeed have been trained to play as the leading full-forward. In the middle of the ground the story was similarly an abject failure. The Giants simply overwhelmed the Melbourne mids with centre clearances 11 to 6. Normally, this is not a problem, but the quality of clearances was telling. James Harmes was given the job in the centre, yet failed to tag Hopper, Kelly, Ward or Taranto. He certainly didn’t add anything in terms of attack, as his turnovers and fumbles at critical times cost the side dearly. Likewise, for his limited game time of 62%, Jack Viney was barely sighted. He is either carrying injury or is significantly unfit, because this wasn’t the Jack Viney that we have come to know. Thank goodness for the backline, who held strong throughout the game. After all, the opposition only scored nine goals. Jake Lever, Steven May and Harry Petty did their jobs, and Christian Salem and Trent Rivers were there when needed. Salem back to his best with 31 touches, and Lever and May combining for 24 intercepts and Rivers 7. Still we were pantsed by Toby Greene early on who had 3 goals out of their side’s first 5. Fortunately, Michael Hibberd shut him down after that, but the damage had been done, given the final margin. It wasn’t until the last quarter that the Demons showed any fire and desire, but needing three goals to drag the margin back was a big ask when they had only kicked five leading into the final break. Jayden Hunt failed three times as he tried to run the ball down the field, but while fans bemoaned his lack of vision, without a target he simply had to keep running. Bayley Fritsch gave the side a sniff and contributed well with his three goals, often at critical times in the game, but he can’t do it all on his own. He needs help. Same as McDonald. He can’t do all the leading up the ground, gaining 10 marks, 3 of which were contested, and then be expected to be the FF as well. Kossy Pickett was unsighted with only 4 touches for the game, despite a couple of stints in the middle. He looked tired, and perhaps some time away for a refresh is needed. He was taken from the ground for the whole of the final quarter, but is his form just another sign of not having a suitable 2nd tall to be able to feed off. Charlie Spargo fared better with 11 touches, but again with no crumbing opportunities his output was well below his best. Melbourne have now lost three of their past 6 games. With upcoming games against Port, Bulldogs, Eagles and Geelong, there is a real chance not only of losing that valuable top 2 spot, but dropping out of top four. The change needs to be made now. The team is desperate for a structure up forward which matches the reliability of that which it has down back. If Ben Brown is not fit, then that should no longer be a consideration. He is a 200cm target which we currently don’t have. And with finals closing in, now is the time to stop experiments and put in place the structure which will see the side through to the end. If not it will be “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of the Demon!” MELBOURNE 1.3.9 3.6.24 5.9.39 7.13.55 GWS GIANTS 2.2.14 6.6.42 8.8.56 9.10.64 GOALS Melbourne Fritsch 3 Neal-Bullen Pickett Salem Sparrow GWS Giants Greene 3 Himmelberg Kelly Reid Taranto Ward Whitfield BEST Melbourne Salem Petracca Fritsch Langdon Rivers Gawn GWS Giants Kelly Ward Taranto Greene Perryman Hopper Whitfield INJURIES Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Buckley (knee) REPORTS Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Nil SUBSTITUTES Melbourne: vandenBerg (unused) GWS Giants: Reid (replaced Buckley) UMPIRES Dean Margetts Curtis Deboy Andrew Heffernan Official Crowd 16,963 at the MCG

We played a shocker off a 4 day break THE TEAMS MELBOURNE FB Jay Lockhart Oscar McDonald Jake Lever HB Christian Salem Steven May Michael Hibberd C Ed Langdon Clayton Oliver Tom Sparrow HF Jake Melksham Sam Weideman Angus Brayshaw FF Kysaiah Pickett Mitch Hannan Tom McDonald FOL Max Gawn Christian Petracca Jack Viney I/C Bayley Fritsch Luke Jackson Nathan Jones James Harmes, EM Neville Jetta Alex Neal-Bullen Charlie Spargo Adam Tomlinson IN Tom McDonald Tom Sparrow OUT Harley Bennell (managed) Neville Jetta (omitted) PORT ADELAIDE FB Sam Mayes Tom Clurey Jarrod Lienert HB Hamish Hartlett Tom Jonas Darcy Byrne-Jones C Xavier Duursma Ollie Wines Karl Amon HF Sam Powell-Pepper Brad Ebert Connor Rozee FF Zak Butters Charlie Dixon Robbie Gray FOL Peter Ladhams Dan Houston Travis Boak I/C Kane Farrell Mitch Georgiades Tom Rockliff Justin Westhoff EM Riley Bonner Willem Drew Joel Garner Boyd Woodcock IN Jarrod Lienert Tom Rockliff OUT Riley Bonner (soreness) Todd Marshall (broken thumb)