Demonland

This is the clip about Defensive Porn that I mentioned on the podcast.

In: Bowey Out: ?

I must have just watched all those games.

FOUR Blues will undergo tests to assess their availability this week. Zac Williams (glute soreness) • Subbed out of the game on Friday night with glute soreness • Availability: Test Mitch McGovern (hamstring) • Availability: Test Caleb Marchbank (back) • Availability: Test Jack Martin (hamstring) • Availability: Test Player Injury Update Matt Carroll Groin Remains on a modified program for at least another month due to groin soreness.(Update: 30 April) Sam Docherty Knee Suffered a ruptured ACL and torn meniscus in his right knee. (Update: 9 March) Lachie Fogarty Wrist Commenced running program. Return to play to be assessed in Round 11. (Update: 16 April) Caleb Marchbank Back Test (Update: 7 May) Jack Martin Hamstring Test (Update: 7 May) Mitch McGovern Hamstring Test (Update: 7 May) Jesse Motlop Hamstring Suffered a further hamstring injury in recent days. Availability: 4-5 weeks. (Update: 16 April) Adam Saad Hamstring Medium-grade hamstring strain. Availability: six weeks. (Update: 16 April) Jack Silvagni Knee Has begun initial stages of rehab following surgery. (Update: 21 February)

Name Injury Expected Return Jake Bowey Shoulder Available Josh Schache Achilles Test Christian Salem Hamstring 1 - 2 weeks Charlie Spargo Achilles 2 - 3 weeks Jake Melksham Knee 5 - 7 weeks

I wish our forwards got 1/10th of the frees Curnow gets gifted. You can't go near the guy.

After Round 8 Free Kick Ladder - 2024 Club FF FA Differential Carlton 166 134 +32 Essendon 151 122 +29 Gold Coast SUNS 174 152 +22 Adelaide Crows 158 141 +17 West Coast Eagles 149 138 +11 Port Adelaide 157 147 +10 Fremantle 145 136 +9 Brisbane Lions 150 148 +2 St Kilda 142 140 +2 Sydney Swans 158 156 +2 Collingwood 174 173 +1 Melbourne 147 147 0 Hawthorn 149 152 -3 North Melbourne 148 153 -5 Western Bulldogs 135 142 -7 Geelong Cats 110 140 -30 GWS GIANTS 121 165 -44 Richmond 117 166 -49 Free Kick Ladder - 2021-2023 Club FF FA Differential Western Bulldogs 1272 1112 +160 Carlton 1365 1258 +107 Brisbane Lions 1346 1279 +67 Fremantle 1290 1238 +52 Collingwood 1277 1227 +50 Essendon 1254 1217 +37 Melbourne 1254 1221 +33 Geelong Cats 1278 1247 +31 GWS GIANTS 1220 1206 +14 St Kilda 1271 1262 +9 Adelaide Crows 1391 1397 -6 West Coast Eagles 1229 1247 -18 Hawthorn 1232 1263 -31 Sydney Swans 1331 1370 -39 North Melbourne 1252 1326 -74 Port Adelaide 1278 1360 -82 Gold Coast SUNS 1235 1320 -85 Richmond 1148 1375 -227

I'm assuming this is the interview between Tom McDonald and Kane Cornes that @Terrance Langley was talking about on the Podcast.

Windsor on the radio today.

Who are you tipping this week? Who do you actually want to win? What are the best results for the Demons?

In days of old, this week’s Thursday night AFL match up between the Demons and the Blues would be framed on the basis of the need to redress the fact that Carlton “stole” last year’s semi final away from Melbourne and with it, their hopes for the premiership. A hot gospelling coach might point out to his charges that they were the better team on the night in all facets and that poor kicking for goal and a couple of lapses at the death cost them what was rightfully theirs. Moreover, now was the time for revenge. Those days are over and cooler heads will prevail. What happened last September is history and besides, it’s actually a different team with some new faces, a team that’s travelling nicely with five players having less than 10 AFL games under their belts. It’s time to take care of business in a raw, unemotional way, much the same as how the club has been going about things since the beginning of the year. Just as it did on its recent business trip to Adelaide when the assignment was to win two matches against the local clubs on the same ground and with only five days separating the games. In Adelaide, much ado was made about the belief that by the end of the second game, the Demons would be sapped of energy and that this factor could cost them the win. In the end, the tempo of the game slowed down and their pressure levels were lower but the win was never in doubt. The club’s fitness levels were modified by less intense training in the lead up to the game to ensure that fatigue was kept to a minimum. The Blues will also be looking at their own training schedule in their approach to the week and their second six day break on end is also not ideal. Melbourne has other advantages in the lead up to Thursday night. It has the momentum of two consecutive wins, albeit that neither of them was pretty but one of them at least was against the then form team of the competition, the undefeated Cats. Moreover, they were able to select an unchanged line up for that encounter and suffered no new injuries. At this point in time, the Demons’ selectors have the benefit of picking the best team for the job at hand from a group of in form players. This is in distinct contrast to their opponents in Carlton. While the Blues started the 2024 season in ripping form, they have lost the past two games and three of their last four. Coming up against stronger sides, they have wilted and reverted to a one-dimensional style which depends on their twin towers firing on all cylinders. Their problem is that, as good as they are, Curnow and McKay are coming up against the best of the best defences in the competition. As strong as their midfield might be, the Demons have the wherewithal in the middle to counter them plus plenty of outside run with Ed Langdon and this week’s rising star Caleb Windsor taking care of business in that department. And let’s not forget that it’s a department headed by the player acclaimed as the best ruckman in the business. So much so, that he only needs to be called by his first name — Max! There have been questions raised about Melbourne’s attack in the past, and rightly so. However, as demonstrated to the football world as late as last week in its game against Geelong, Bayley Fritsch and Kysaiah Pickett are two of the competition’s most dangerous forwards. And while Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen are not at the same level as the Carlton pairing, they have shown a capacity to get among the goals while Alex Neal-Bullen is also very capable and regarded as the epitome of the high half forward of football. So, there’s no need to get up in arms and enraged about losing those contests last year or to lose our heads over the revenge factor. The Melbourne Business Plan will take care of things. Demons by 19 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Carlton at the MCG Thursday 9 May 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Carlton 119 wins Melbourne 97 wins Drawn 2 At the MCG Carlton 52 wins Melbourne 56 wins Past five meetings Carlton 2 wins Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Voss 2 wins Goodwin 2 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Carlton 11.7.73 defeated Melbourne 9.17.71 at the MCG Semi Final 2024 The Demons dominated the general play for most of the night but their inability to trouble the scoreboard and some panicky decision making in the game’s final moments proved fatal to their chances of advancing to the preliminary final stage of the season. It was truly the stuff of frustration and dare we say it, very unbusinesslike! THE TEAMS CARLTON B B. Kemp, J. Weitering, L. Cowan HB A. Cincotta, M. McGovern, N. Newman C O. Hollands, P. Cripps, B. Acres HF J. Martin, H. McKay, E. Hollands F M. Owies, C. Curnow, T. De Koning FOLL M, Pittonet, S. Walsh, M. Kennedy I/C J. Boyd, A. Cerra, M. Cottrell, C. Durdin SUB G. Hewett EMG D. Cuningham, O. Fantasia, L. Young IN B. Kemp, O. Hollands, M. McGovern, J. Martin OUT D. Cuningham (omitted), O. Fantasia (omitted), Z.Williams (glute soreness), L. Young (omitted) MELBOURNE B B. Howes, S. May, T. Rivers HB J. McVee, J. Lever, T. McDonald C J. Billings, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF E. Langdon, H. Petty, K Pickett JF J. van Rooyen, B. Fritsch, D. Turner FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C J. Bowey, K. Chandler, A. Neal-Bullen, T. Sparrow SUB T. Woewodin EMG B. Brown M. Hore, B. Laurie IN J. Bowey OUT B. Laurie (omitted) Injury List: Round 9
 Jake Bowey — shoulder / Available Josh Schache — Achilles/ Test Christian Salem — hamstring / 1 - 2 weeks 
Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 2 - 3 weeks
Jake Melksham — knee / 5 - 7 weeks

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