Demonland

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Posted on Harley Bennell’s Instagram.

Please NO POSTS saying “I heard so and so has COVID” Unless it is reported in the media or by someone in the media on social media it is not ok to post rumours that you heard from your mum’s cousin’s mate’s aunty.

Introducing our new AFLW correspondent … DEES IN OCTOBER reporting on the Demons’ win in their Hampson-Hardeman Cup over the Bulldogs. Greetings Demonlanders, and welcome to the first match report of the 2022 AFLW season! Melbourne is heading into its sixth season with great expectations and a degree of external pressure, with most pundits predicting finals and many talking of a Grand Final … and more. DEMONS DOMINATE AT THE KENNEL Whatever’s to come, it all started with an away game at VU Whitten Oval on a sunny yet windy afternoon. I stayed away due to the travel factor and putting a bit of a pause on crowds in the current Covid19 scenario. Instead, I relied on the televised broadcast, including some “interesting” camerawork combined with glorious drone work that showed off the venue’s surrounds and city views. The team was as selected, although I spent a fair few minutes early wondering where Paxy was — her missing the practice match had me spooked, but there she was … yet a niggling premonition still nagged at me. Meanwhile, the commentators helpfully informed us that Parry would play second ruck. Likely she will in other matchups, but in this one it was a strange insight given Caris was out there presumably solely for that purpose! Pre-game I was a bundle of nerves after watching the Tigers tear the game apart the night before. Who knew what the Bulldogs had conjured since our last AFLW meeting, which certainly was a day to forget for our team? FIRST QUARTER After losing the toss, the Dees kicked against the wind, and the Dogs had the best of possession early. However, Melbourne’s ball movement soon showed its superiority, coupled with a focused desire to go through the corridor. Hard running (and loose checking on the Dogs’ part) allowed Hore to set up Sherriff for the first goal of the season, five minutes in. At this point I was distracted by how easily you could hear the coaches on the boundary through the effects mic. Not ideal! Caris then had her first go at a centre bounce. The 190cm 19-year-old showed good first-up presence, with a great follow-up handball to get the clearance. A nice mark to Harris 40-odd out from a pinpoint Hanks pass saw our biggest recruit yet get her hands on the ball early. She made a good fist of it against the wind with that trademark kicking style and luckily a strong mark to Gay on the goal line led to the Dees’ second major. Another diving mark to Harris soon followed, but her poor kick forward halted the attack. An excellent short kicking build-up, including my favourite rookie West on debut, ended up with a mark to Zanker, courtesy of some smart and selfless bodywork by Daisy. Zanks kicked truly, which she was clearly happy about, given some past demons in front of the sticks. It was an impressive start, with Melbourne running at 74% disposal efficiency for the quarter, three goals straight, and the Dogs yet to register a major. SECOND QUARTER A strong defensive mark by L.Pearce stemmed repeated Dog attacks to start the quarter, but the pressure built again due to her poor disposal. Again, I found myself wondering, “Where’s Paxy?” and my question was answered in an unfortunate way as she fell to a heavy tackle and seemed very sore. The Bulldogs’ first goal of the game, to Huntington, soon followed. L.Pearce then pulled up sore as well, and suddenly players were dropping all over the shop, including a cruel ACL to the talented Huntington—sincerely, you hate to see it. Any momentum the Dogs were building in the quarter dissipated after that as a noticeable hush fell over the crowd. Once the Dees managed to get it forward, good positioning by Harris chopped off the Dogs’ exit attempt, locking the ball in for the Dees and resulting in Daisy taking a classy kick around the corner—alas, straight into the woodwork. The wait for another opportunity was fleeting, with Harris again denying the Dogs’ exit and getting the ball forward quickly, resulting in a typically opportunistic goal from Hore off a Daisy spoil. Kate Hore: always in the right place at the right time. By late in the quarter, the inside 50s were 10-2 in the Melbourne’s favour, but they couldn’t put it on the board, with six behinds sullying the scorecard. Still, it was a familiar red-and-blue sight to see Bulldogs players looking up from half back with nowhere to go, due to disciplined defensive running. With the clock winding down to half time, Dees debutant Ali Brown took a big hit, resulting in a concussion test. An awesome chase-down of Blackburn by Sherriff, with credit also to the players upfield who left Blackburn devoid of easy options, meant Melbourne finished the quarter off strongly. THIRD QUARTER Early shaky disposals from Tarrant and Birch on the last line were a sign of things to come in this quarter, with the Dees struggling to get the ball out of the danger zone. The Bulldogs pressed with a repeat inside 50 creating a set shot goal to Toogood—in this case, she clearly was. The precision kicking of the first half deserted us, causing multiple turnovers, and it seemed the Dogs had finally caught onto the plan and were anticipating the short kicks and corridor play. An injury scare for Mithen prompted great concern in my living room, and a classy finish by Blackburn meant the alarm bells were starting to ring, with the margin cut to nine points midway through the third. At that stage, inside 50s for the quarter were seven to nil in the Dogs’ favour. The damage on the scoreboard would have been greater if not for Birch’s excellent reading of the play and strong marking. Another notable individual effort came from Zanker, who came up trumps in a two-on-two in the centre square and then darted away along the wing, taking two bounces and delivering perfectly to Daisy on the lead in some super stylish play. However, there was a rare lapse from Daisy as she failed to capitalise. With three minutes to go, the Dees scrambled the ball forward. Eventually, a kick by Daisy off the ground directly into a Bulldogs player’s face ricocheted fortuitously to Harris’s advantage. She was clean below the knees and executed a banana, her first goal back in red and blue coming at a crucial time. Late in the quarter, Sherriff added another tenacious effort to her earlier run-down tackle, with a desperate lunge into the goalpost to prevent Lochland from converting. Despite the Dogs’ improved efforts, the Dees steadied to take a 16-point advantage into the last. FOURTH QUARTER I felt as confident as I ever am that we’d be able to run out the game, especially with our injury concerns fading while those of the Dogs just seemed to mount. Still, 16 points isn’t quite “break out the cheeseboard” territory. Sherriff started where she left off with another brave effort, this time going back courageously with the flight for a great mark that saw three players crunched around her. Then, a clumsy tackle by Gay gifted Toogood another set shot, probably not appreciated by her opponent in Tarrant, who had her hands full all day. Toogood’s shot fell short, and Birch made another solid contest to win a free. Zanker continued putting in the hard yards, always on her toes around the ball, getting better as the game wore on — a bit of a pattern for her. A big collision in forward 50 saw two Dogs felled and the Dees capitalised with another neat kick from Hanks finding Scott. Frustratingly, the inaccuracy continued as she failed to convert. All in all, the last quarter was a bit of a grind, with just one point scored until Hore sealed the deal with a snap with a minute remaining. Not exactly scintillating stuff, but a solid enough effort. A strong start, and the ability to respond when the Dogs challenged in the third, won it for the Dees. STATS & STAND-OUTS Zanker led the way for the Dees with 21 disposals (17 contested possessions), followed by Birch (18), Hanks (17, notably at 88% efficiency), Lampard (16 including 5 rebound 50s) and Mithen (also 16). Lampard, Mithen and Hanks were all prominent in metres gained. Surely Paxman’s quietest game with just 8 disposals, though she missed a chunk of game time and after not playing the praccy match, she’ll be (cliché alert) better for the run—barring any lasting effects from that heavy knock. The shining light in tackles, no surprise, was Hanks with 10. Meanwhile, Caris’s 2 disposals belied her ruck impact and follow-up work. An encouraging debut especially when L.Pearce was put out of the game for several minutes in the second. Edmonds topped the hit outs for the Dogs with 14, followed by Caris and L.Pearce with 13 and 11, respectively. Meanwhile, interestingly, the talls led the clearances, with L.Pearce and Zanker having 4 apiece. There was an even spread of markers with Zanker, Scott, Hore, Birch and Hanks all with 4. Harris took 3, drew some defensive focus, crashed some packs, shored up the structure down the line and kicked a goal. Though she faded a bit and by no means dominated, it’s a big tick from me. A young player that caught my eye was 19-year-old Fitzsimon in her third game, her first since early in 2021. It was a solid return game from her, with 12 disposals and some great defensive acts — she’ll be looking for some more opportunities this season. In terms of team stats, Melbourne’s 244 disposals to 189 and 117 uncontested possessions to 83 signalled their control of possession and excellent spread and positioning for much of the game. Their 46% efficiency inside 50 is an area for improvement, and scoring accuracy was again an issue, but 8 marks to 4 helped set up good opportunities. Melbourne’s forward pressure was highlighted by 13 to 7 tackles inside 50, while the Dees also had the better of the intercept possessions (aided by 9 each from Birch and Zanker, plus 8 from L.Pearce), and clearances. Daisy failed to hit the scoreboard, but 8 score involvements speak to her influence in attack, while Zanker, Hanks and Hore chipped in 6 score involvements each. MELBOURNE 3.0.18 4.6.30 5.8.38 6.10.46 WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.1.1 1.1.7 3.4.22 3.4.22 GOALS MELBOURNE Hore 2 Gay Harris Sherriff Zanker WESTERN BULLDOGS Blackburn Huntington Toogood BEST MELBOURNE Birch Zanker Hanks Sherriff Hore WESTERN BULLDOGS Blackburn Bennetts Fitzgerald Lamb Lochland INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil WESTERN BULLDOGS Cranston (lower leg) Huntington (knee) Snell (ribs) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil WESTERN BULLDOGS Nil CROWD 2,571 at VU Whitten Oval * An asterisk of sorts on this game, albeit one that will likely repeat throughout the season. The Bulldogs apparently had only 24 or so players available for this game due to injuries and COVID protocols, with their backline impacted particularly. NEXT ROUND A reinvigorated Richmond at Punt Road Oval, Friday night. THE LAST WORD Not quite as good as last time our club met the Bulldogs, but that’s a pretty big ask, I guess! And we did get to take the Hampson-Hardeman Cup back to its rightful home.

I closed the last thread because people were getting too political. I’ll allow the discussion here to continue as long as we keep it general and not get political/name calling. Bans without warning for those that abuse.

Western Bulldogs v Melbourne at VU Whitten Oval, 7pm AEDT WESTERN BULLDOGS B: E.Brown 9 I.Huntington 4 HB: E.Bennetts 11 N.Ferres 16 A.Guest 19 C: I.Grant 3 E.Blackburn - C 2 I.Pritchard 20 HF: B.Gutknecht 18 R.Cranston 30 B.Lochland 1 F: N.Morris-Dalton 25 B.Toogood 8 Foll: C.Moody 13 J.Fitzgerald 23 K.Lamb 27 I/C: S.Hartwig 15 E.Georgostathis 17 A.Edmonds 33 E.Snell 26 A.Ling 29 Emerg: G.Lagioia 12 A.Strahan 35 MELBOURNE B: B.Tarrant 20 L.Birch 9 HB: S.Lampard 8 M.Fitzsimon 24 S.Heath 30 C: A.Bannan 16 M.Gay 3 C.Sherriff 18 HF: L.Mithen 14 K.Hore 10 J.Parry 19 F: T.Harris 7 D.Pearce - C 6 Foll: L.Pearce 15 K.Paxman 4 T.Hanks 5 I/C: A.Brown 28 M.Caris 21 E.West 11 E.Zanker 29 S.Scott 12 Emerg: G.Campbell 1 K.Petrevski 31

Great to see the footy back … and we’re kicking off the AFLW season with a big game against traditional rivals - the Western Bulldogs. On Gameday, we’ll kick off on the main board and then migrate the thread to the AFLW board at the end of the round. Please support our AFLW team in their quest for the flag.

From the AFLW Record - Round 1

There have been many musing on Demonland and in the media in general about the background, circumstances and even omens which led to the MFC mens side winning its first Premiership in 57 years. There is no doubt that the ever-present factors of luck and injury have to align at the right times, but all the other building blocks have to be present firstly, before even a tilt at the Flag can be made. And it may take some years to put these pieces together. Success through recruiting and trading is something which has to be achieved over a number of years, because a club simply cannot propel itself up the ladder on the back of a single draft-trade period. Talent and experience has been proven necessary to be present, since it is the best team with the best combination of players that will win the ultimate prize. Enough of the background to the success formula, so where does the AFLW Melbourne side sit in its quest for a Premiership? Already the commentators are recognising the fundamental talent that has been accumulated at Melbourne, combined with the current pool of experience built up over those many years. In this Melbourne Age article, Sara Burt nominates Melbourne as her pick for the Premiership: AFLW season preview: Footy is back, in early January The arguments and examples she uses are an almost perfect blueprint copy of what the Mens side had in place prior to season 2021. Ben Brown was recruited to fill the hole at full forward for the AFL Men and Tayla Harris returns to the side in the same role in the AFLW. When Daisy Pearce had to be moved forward last season to bolster the scoring opportunities, it just left a gap further down the field. Tayla will provide both a marking target and a solid goal scoring talent in front of goals. Then enter Liv Purcell from Geelong who despite an ACL injury in 2021, had won that clubs B&F playing in the middle in the prior year. We may not see her for a couple of games due to that injury, but she will slot straight into the middle. The recruiting staff had also identified the changing nature of the Women’s game some seasons ago. The players are now much more powerful and more skilled and have greater fitness levels than when the competition first started. Karen Paxman needed help around her, and so we find Tyla Hanks, Eliza McNamara, Eliza West and Purcell now surrounding her. In the ruck the men had the best in the competition, and so has the Women’s side with Lauren Pearce. The side sorely missed her presence when injured in the early games of last season, and had to call on Cunningham and Eden Zanker to fill in. Not a great situation, and was almost a parallel of when the mens side had to use TMac and Weidemann to do similar in the past. But it was just “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. So Lauren and the team needed backup, and this year we have recruited Tahlia Gillard at 189cm and Georgia Campbell at 183cm as just that. Gillard was the tallest recruit in the draft, while it is worth noting that Pearce ( the best ruck) stands at 183cm. Anyone see the comparison with the mens side drafting of Luke Jackson? The other plus is that Zanker, with her extraordinary athletic abilities, is now released to do damage throughout the whole ground this coming season. The experience level of the team is also unquestioned today. Lauren Pearce, Karen Paxman, Kate Hore and Tyla Hanks all made the All Australian squad last year. The men could only manage 3 in 2020, and naturally for both the Mens and Womens sides, there were glaring omissions, but you must have a core group of those experienced talented players to “hold the fort” when the going gets tough during the season. Luck and injury? Who knows about those … Certainly the fitness levels of the Mens side was the standard in 2021, courtesy of Darren Burgess. It is not too much of a stretch to suggest his legacy would also extend to the Women’s side, in terms of what is needed to get success. When we look back with that perfect 20/20 hindsight it is obvious what the Mens side had put together at season opener. The signs are that similarly the Womens side has done the same and with this group, this is the Premiership chance that has to be taken, before the talent and competition is further diluted with incoming sides in 2023. First Demons game: 2022 NAB AFLW COMPETITION Round 1 • Western Bulldogs v Melbourne Saturday 8 January 2022 • 7:00 PM (GMT+11) Victoria University, Whitten Oval

The moderators are looking into it.

The fixture has been changed due to WA border restrictions. Rounds 2, 3 and 8 have also been changed but let’s do one round at a time.