Demonland

AFL Expected Score ladder (after Round 8) 1. Sydney Swans (7-0-1, 130.3%) [Real ladder: 1st, 7-1, 147%] 2. Port Adelaide (7-1, 133.7%) [Real ladder: 7th, 5-3, 113.1%] 3. Collingwood (5-2-1, 108.5%) [Real ladder: 9th, 4-3-1, 99%] 4. Fremantle (5-3, 115.8%) [Real ladder: 6th, 5-3, 120.6%] 5. GWS Giants (5-3, 115.3%) [Real ladder: 3rd, 6-2, 126.3%] 6. Western Bulldogs (5-3, 110.6%) [Real ladder: 11th, 3-5, 111.5%] 7. Geelong (5-3, 109.9%) [Real ladder: 2nd, 7-1, 129.5%] 8. Melbourne (5-3, 101%) [Real ladder: 4th, 6-2, 124.3%] 9. Carlton (4-1-3, 111.4%) [Real ladder: 8th, 5-3, 109.8%] 10. Brisbane Lions (4-4, 127%) [Real ladder: 13th, 3-5, 100.3%] 11. Gold Coast Suns (4-4, 100%) [Real ladder: 10th, 4-4, 95.8%] 12. St Kilda (4-4, 98.9%) [Real ladder: 14th, 3-5, 96.4%] 13. Adelaide Crows (3-5, 97.9%) [Real ladder: 12th, 3-5, 101.8%] 14. Hawthorn (3-5, 94.8%) [Real ladder: 16th, 2-6, 74.4%] 15. West Coast Eagles (3-5, 85.2%) [Real ladder: 15th, 2-6, 75.9%] 16. Essendon (1-7, 86%) [Real ladder: 5th, 5-2-1, 95.2%] 17. Richmond (0-7-1, 68.3%) [Real ladder: 17th, 1-7, 71.7%] 18. North Melbourne (0-8, 52.3%) [Real ladder: 18th, 0-8, 57.9%] Expected Score - Luckiest Team

What are the odds Scott gave his boys the 5 and 4? Votes Player (Club) 8 Max Holmes (GEEL) 6 Zach Guthrie (GEEL) 5 Jake Lever (MELB) 4 Kysaiah Pickett (MELB) 3 Max Gawn (MELB) 3 Steven May (MELB) 1 Harrison Petty (MELB) Leaderboard Votes Player Club 55 Isaac Heeney SYD 47 Zach Merrett ESS 40 Caleb Serong FRE 36 Max Gawn MELB 33 Errol Gulden SYD 32 Jeremy Cameron GEEL 31 Tom Green GWS 30 Zak Butters PORT 30 Nick Daicos COLL 29 Marcus Bontempelli WB 28 Matt Rowell GCFC 27 Noah Anderson GCFC 27 Patrick Cripps CARL 27 Harry McKay CARL 27 Gryan Miers GEEL 27 Elliot Yeo WCE 25 Max Holmes GEEL 25 Christian Petracca MELB 24 Connor Rozee PORT 24 Hayden Young FRE

The Casey Demons have been left languishing near the bottom of the VFL table after suffering a 32-point defeat at the hands of stand alone club Williamstown at Casey Fields on Sunday. The Demons suffered a major setback before the game even started when AFL listed players Ben Brown, Marty Hore and Josh Schache were withdrawn from the selected side. Only Schache was confirmed as an injury replacement, the other two held over as possible injury replacements for Melbourne’s Thursday night fixture against Carlton. The replacements didn’t end there as forward Shane McAdam left the field early with concussion. Lachie Hunter, who was quiet up to half time, saw no further action after the main break, suggesting that he was also being held back. With the continuing absence of injured centreman Campbell Hustwaite and the resting (management) of defender Leo Connolly, the home side was almost bereft of strong bodies with experienced heads. Against ladder heavyweights Williamstown, Casey was left flat footed. They managed the opening goal from Harvey Neocleous in the first minute or so of the game but then struggled to score when slightly favoured by a cross wind for the remainder of the term and their next goal took a while coming. By that time the Seagulls were in command. Adam Tomlinson was getting plenty of touches in the early going but one or two errors proved costly and his influence waned after a dominant opening term. The second quarter saw Willy quickly skip away to a 23 point lead, at which time a sudden and unexpected change came over the game. Enter Roy George, unheralded debutant and former Peel Thunder player who kicked the first of his three goals to stem the tide in mid term and contributed to another by chipping the ball to Kynan Brown before the buzzer to see the team only 15 points adrift at half time. Fans around the ground were asking “who is this effervescent small forward Roy George?” The answer is that the 179cm tall, 87kg journeyman originally named as an emergency who got his call up when Melbourne withdrew three of its players from the team before the game, hails from Bunbury WA. He has played for Peel Thunder in the WAFL and over the past couple of years, his name has bobbed up in country Victoria and in the Northern Territory in the off season. George remained in the thick of things in the third quarter, kicking two quick goals and assisting in others. Against the odds, Casey was now back in the game thanks to his brilliance coupled with the strong defensive play of Andy Moniz-Wakefield who finished with a game-high 30 disposals and seven marks. The team’s younger guns Matt Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Ollie Sestan all contributed to the team’s sudden reversal of fortunes. Jefferson in particular, had a strong second half after a quiet start and was another who led a third quarter charge that saw Casey incredibly holding a six point lead at the final break. The Seagulls still had the ace card as they had the advantage of the wind at their backs in the final term but when Jefferson goaled five minutes into the quarter, an upset seemed a possibility. Not to be deterred, Willy plugged away and fought back to again wrest the lead in mid quarter. Casey’s cause was not helped by the fact that two of their Melbourne listers were off for all of the second half. George’s influence faded at the end, as did one or two others who had carried a heavy load through the game’s difficult conditions. Once Williamstown got their noses in front, the floodgates opened. With experienced, ex GWS Giant 203cm ruckman Tom Downie, dominant and ex Casey player Corey Ellison booting four goals, the visitors romped home with six of the last seven majors of the game. Although beaten in the ruck, Will Verrall had 17 disposals and 23 hitouts while Kynan Brown finished with 15 touches, 10 tackles and a goal. Mitch White (21 disposals) and Tyler Edwards (20 possessions) battled hard all day for Casey. The Casey Demons are now a shadow of the team that won the flag less than two years ago and will remain under the pump as long as the VFL fixture makes it difficult for the club to play its strongest team with players held back to potentially remain fresh to face off against opponents on short breaks. Their next game is against Carlton at Ikon Park on Friday. CASEY DEMONS 1.0.6 3.3.21 8.6.54 10.8.68 WILLIAMSTOWN 1.4.10 5.6.36 7.6.54 15.10.100 GOALS CASEY DEMONS George Jefferson 3 Brown Edwards Neocleous White WILLIAMSTOWN Ellison 4 McLoughlin Petric 3 Brown Ebinger Gadsby Henderson Toner BEST CASEY DEMONS Moniz-Wakefield White Edwards Verrall George Tomlinson Brown WILLIAMSTOWN Downie Ellison Toner McLaughlin Fitzgerald Triffett Disposals Jed Adams 7 kicks 3 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 36 dream team points Jake Bell 1 behind 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 34 dream team points Kynan Brown 1 goal 6 kicks 9 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 88 dream team points Tyler Edwards 1 goal 16 kicks 4 handballs 20 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 100 dream team points Tom Freeman 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 50 dream team points Tom Fullarton 1 behind 9 kicks 2 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 10 hitouts 51 dream team points Roy George 3 goals 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 1 tackles 64 dream team points Max Gregory 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 24 dream team points Lachie Hunter 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 3 marks 17 dream team points Matt Jefferson 3 goals 2 behinds 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 74 dream team points Brayden Laplanche 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 34 dream team points Shane McAdam 1 kicks 2 handballs 3 disposals 1 mark 10 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 23 kicks 7 handballs 30 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 114 dream team points Ned Moodie 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 49 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 22 dream team points Ollie Sestan 1 behind 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 59 dream team points Roan Steele 5 kicks 1 handballs 6 disposals 2 tackles 22 dream team points Mitch Szybkowski 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 42 dream team points Koltyn Tholstrup 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 66 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 16 kicks 4 handballs 20 disposals 8 marks 3 tackles 86 dream team points Will Verrall 8 kicks 9 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 23 hitouts 92 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 7 tackles 98 dream team points Kai Windsor 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 10 dream team points

I think we will leave the questions there. We should have enough content for the show. I will close the thread now and reopen it just before air time.

Ask and you shall receive.

LEADERBOARD 97. Max Gawn 60. Christian Petracca 54. Steven May 40. Jake Lever 28. Clayton Oliver Jack Viney. 27. Alex Neal-Bullen 21. Bayley Fritsch 20. Trent Rivers 15. Ed Langdon Judd McVee 14. Kade Chandler 12. Tom McDonald Christian Salem 11. Blake Howes Daniel Turner 10. Jack Billings Kysaiah Pickett 9. Tom Sparrow 5. Caleb Windsor 2. Harry Petty Adam Tomlinson 1. Jake Bowey

The one that got away. MELBOURNE 3.3.21 4.7.31 7.11.53 9.17.71 CARLTON 2.2.14 5.3.33 7.5.47 11.7.73 THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. Lever A. Tomlinson J. Bowey HB J. McVee S. May C. Salem C L. Hunter C. Oliver E. Langdon HF J. Jordon B. Fritsch C. Petracca F T. Sparrow McDonald A. Neal-Bullen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, K. Pickett I/C K. Chandler T. Rivers J. Smith C. Spargo SUB J. Schache EMG B. Grundy M. Hibberd B. Laurie IN J. Jordon J. Schache C. Spargo A. Tomlinson OUT A. Brayshaw (concussion) M. Hibberd (omitted) B. Laurie (omitted) J. van Rooyen (suspended) CARLTON B B. Kemp J. Weitering N. Newman HB A. Cincotta M. McGovern A. Saad C B. Acres P. Cripps M. Cottrell HF S. Docherty T. De Koning M. Owies F L. Fogarty C. Curnow J. Motlop FOLL M. Pittonet A. Cerra S. Walsh I/C D. Cunningham G. Hewett M. Kennedy C. Marchbank SUB O. Hollands EMG P. Dow S. Durdin Z. Fisher IN O. Hollands M. Kennedy OUT H. McKay (hamstring) J. Martin (suspended)

UNDER THE PUMP by KC from Casey The Casey Demons have been left languishing near the bottom of the VFL table after suffering a 32-point defeat at the hands of stand alone club Williamstown at Casey Fields on Sunday. The Demons suffered a major setback before the game even started when AFL listed players Ben Brown, Marty Hore and Josh Schache were withdrawn from the selected side. Only Schache was confirmed as an injury replacement, the other two held over as possible injury replacements for Melbourne’s Thursday night fixture against Carlton. The replacements didn’t end there as forward Shane McAdam left the field early with concussion. Lachie Hunter, who was quiet up to half time, saw no further action after the main break, suggesting that he was also being held back. With the continuing absence of injured centreman Campbell Hustwaite and the resting (management) of defender Leo Connolly, the home side was almost bereft of strong bodies with experienced heads. Against ladder heavyweights Williamstown, Casey was left flat footed. They managed the opening goal from Harvey Neocleous in the first minute or so of the game but then struggled to score when slightly favoured by a cross wind for the remainder of the term and their next goal took a while coming. By that time the Seagulls were in command. Adam Tomlinson was getting plenty of touches in the early going but one or two errors proved costly and his influence waned after a dominant opening term. The second quarter saw Willy quickly skip away to a 23 point lead, at which time a sudden and unexpected change came over the game. Enter Roy George, unheralded debutant and former Peel Thunder player who kicked the first of his three goals to stem the tide in mid term and contributed to another by chipping the ball to Kynan Brown before the buzzer to see the team only 15 points adrift at half time. Fans around the ground were asking “who is this effervescent small forward Roy George?” The answer is that the 179cm tall, 87kg journeyman originally named as an emergency who got his call up when Melbourne withdrew three of its players from the team before the game, hails from Bunbury WA. He has played for Peel Thunder in the WAFL and over the past couple of years, his name has bobbed up in country Victoria and in the Northern Territory in the off season. George remained in the thick of things in the third quarter, kicking two quick goals and assisting in others. Against the odds, Casey was now back in the game thanks to his brilliance coupled with the strong defensive play of Andy Moniz-Wakefield who finished with a game-high 30 disposals and seven marks. The team’s younger guns Matt Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Ollie Sestan all contributed to the team’s sudden reversal of fortunes. Jefferson in particular, had a strong second half after a quiet start and was another who led a third quarter charge that saw Casey incredibly holding a six point lead at the final break. The Seagulls still had the ace card as they had the advantage of the wind at their backs in the final term but when Jefferson goaled five minutes into the quarter, an upset seemed a possibility. Not to be deterred, Willy plugged away and fought back to again wrest the lead in mid quarter. Casey’s cause was not helped by the fact that two of their Melbourne listers were off for all of the second half. George’s influence faded at the end, as did one or two others who had carried a heavy load through the game’s difficult conditions. Once Williamstown got their noses in front, the floodgates opened. With experienced, ex GWS Giant 203cm ruckman Tom Downie, dominant and ex Casey player Corey Ellison booting four goals, the visitors romped home with six of the last seven majors of the game. Although beaten in the ruck, Will Verrall had 17 disposals and 23 hitouts while Kynan Brown finished with 15 touches, 10 tackles and a goal. Mitch White (21 disposals) and Tyler Edwards (20 possessions) battled hard all day for Casey. The Casey Demons are now a shadow of the team that won the flag less than two years ago and will remain under the pump as long as the VFL fixture makes it difficult for the club to play its strongest team with players held back to potentially remain fresh to face off against opponents on short breaks. Their next game is against Carlton at Ikon Park on Friday. CASEY DEMONS 1.0.6 3.3.21 8.6.54 10.8.68 WILLIAMSTOWN 1.4.10 5.6.36 7.6.54 15.10.100 GOALS CASEY DEMONS George Jefferson 3 Brown Edwards Neocleous White WILLIAMSTOWN Ellison 4 McLoughlin Petric 3 Brown Ebinger Gadsby Henderson Toner BEST CASEY DEMONS Moniz-Wakefield White Edwards Verrall George Tomlinson Brown WILLIAMSTOWN Downie Ellison Toner McLaughlin Fitzgerald Triffett Disposals Jed Adams 7 kicks 3 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 36 dream team points Jake Bell 1 behind 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 34 dream team points Kynan Brown 1 goal 6 kicks 9 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 88 dream team points Tyler Edwards 1 goal 16 kicks 4 handballs 20 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 100 dream team points Tom Freeman 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 50 dream team points Tom Fullarton 1 behind 9 kicks 2 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 10 hitouts 51 dream team points Roy George 3 goals 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 1 tackles 64 dream team points Max Gregory 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 24 dream team points Lachie Hunter 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 3 marks 17 dream team points Matt Jefferson 3 goals 2 behinds 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 74 dream team points Brayden Laplanche 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 34 dream team points Shane McAdam 1 kicks 2 handballs 3 disposals 1 mark 10 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 23 kicks 7 handballs 30 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 114 dream team points Ned Moodie 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 49 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 22 dream team points Ollie Sestan 1 behind 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 59 dream team points Roan Steele 5 kicks 1 handballs 6 disposals 2 tackles 22 dream team points Mitch Szybkowski 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 42 dream team points Koltyn Tholstrup 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 66 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 16 kicks 4 handballs 20 disposals 8 marks 3 tackles 86 dream team points Will Verrall 8 kicks 9 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 23 hitouts 92 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 7 tackles 98 dream team points Kai Windsor 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 10 dream team points

Unfortunately I think he's just going to be one of those players that can never get his body right to get on the park consistently.

Casey 1.0.6 Williamstown 2.4.16

I can't see Lachie Hunter getting a senior call up unless there are injuries.

QT Casey 1.0.6 Williamstown 1.4.10

Casey 1.0.6 Williamstown 1.4.10

Possibly one of the worst quarters of football I've watched this year and I was present at the first half of our Round 7 match against the Tigers.

Casey 1.0.6 Williamstown 0.4.4

Throughout history various philosophers have grappled with the meaning of life. Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and a multitude of authors of diverse religious texts all tried. As society became more complex, the question became attached to specific endeavours in life even including sporting pursuits where such questions arose among our game’s commentariat as, “what is the meaning of football”? Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin must be tired of dealing with such a dilemma but, in doing so, he mocks his detractors. On Saturday night, his Demons, laden with some promising young talent, made a powerful statement against the previously unbeaten and older Cats. Their 8-point victory saw them strengthen their place among the league leaders and they now hold a 6/2 record after the passage of a third of the season. It sent out a message to all and sundry — don’t mess with us or you’ll soon learn the meaning of football. In case you hadn’t noticed, football pundits have been pumping up Geelong’s tires of late. The Cats were going through something of a revival thanks to an opening seven game winning streak after last year’s disappointing fall from grace. Jeremy Cameron was the latest big thing: his place in the game was touching on the stratospheric. Careers were being reinvented in many different ways. You had the “The Swarm”, which is another name for their bevy of small forwards like Miers, Stengle and Close who, by their deadly efficient ball movement, have been a revelation so far in 2024. With the ascendency of Cameron and Hawkins, they formed a formidable forward line capable of racking up remarkably accurate score lines such as their 17.4 (106) in their Easter Monday demolition of the Hawks. Last week, the Cats overcame the Blues in an exhilarating shootout, with victory secured as a result of some dead eye kicking for goal. Carlton came at them late with a barrage of goals to post a century plus losing score and it was that precise scenario which provided Goodwin with the ways and means of overcoming his own critics as well as the competition’s most accurate attack on a cold autumn night just seven days later. With defensive pressure. The game was a played out as a dour arm wrestle which suited Demon defenders Jake Lever, Steven May and Tom McDonald who went about applying the sleeper hold on Cameron and Hawkins who both ended up goalless. At the same time, the smaller and medium defenders put the clamps on the Geelong swarm. Thanks to the young brigade headed by Trent Rivers and including Judd McVee and Blake Howes, they sucked the breath out of Geelong’s much vaunted straight shooting attacking machine. They put them through the wringer after the opening break with the first goalless quarter in two years, resulting in a score line of 2.8 (20) at half time. Melbourne’s score was little better but the winning plan had already been put into place. The premiership quarter turned out the Cats’ best and the one that proved their most accurate while the Demons were badly off target. Enter Goodwin’s critics who were seething with disgust about the cheek of putting on a style that was depriving fandom of the thrills and spills of a circus. Why on earth should the producers of this drab unforgettable contest have the temerity to command bulk primetime viewing at the AFL table? Simon’s answer came in an absorbingly entertaining, see-saw of a final quarter with eye-catching highlights provided by the skipper and by far the competition’s best ruckman in Max Gawn, the unstoppable Lever and May and an energised Clayton Oliver who somehow willed his way in and out of packs with ease. Finally, let’s not forget the forward line brilliance and magic of Bayley Fritsch and Kozzie Pickett who filled the game’s highlights package. Nearing the end, at the 26 minute and 22 second mark of the term, the former dribbled through a spectacular goal from the boundary line to deliver homeward those vital four premiership points. At that very moment, the meaning of football was revealed. MELBOURNE 3.2.20 3.7.25 5.14.44 10.14.74 GEELONG 2.4.16 2.8.20 6.10.46 9.12.66 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch 3 Pickett 2 Chandler Gawn Langdon Petty Windsor GEELONG Henry Stengle 2 Clark Close Dempsey Z Guthrie Holmes BEST MELBOURNE Lever Gawn Oliver Fritsch May Pickett GEELONG Holmes Z Guthrie Atkins Stewart Miers INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG Bruhn (shoulder) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil GEELONG Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Bailey Laurie, replaced Jack Billings in the fourth term GEELONG Gary Rohan, replaced Tanner Bruhn in the third term UMPIRES Justin Power Hayden Gavine Simon Meredith Andre Gianfagna CROWD 51,795 at the MCG

Exclusive photo from the MCG tonight.