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They did things differently one hundred years ago. When long serving trainer Jim Mitchell retired after working at Melbourne since at least 1893, it was reported that: “Members and supporters in recognition of his long and valuable service presented him with a cheque for £50, and his fellow Trainers marked the occasion with the presentation of a Smokers' Outfit and a Cake-stand for Mrs. Mitchell”. Mitchell announced his retirement before the season started so he missed the club’s opening win for 1924, a shock 33 point victory over the Blues at Princes Park. Round 4 Carlton vs Melbourne Saturday 17 May 1924 Venue: Princes Park Attendance: 23,000 CARLTON 1.2.8 6.5.41 8.8.56 11.10.76 MELBOURNE 3.7.25 5.14.44 11.21.87 14.25.109 Goals Harry Harker 4 Derek Mollison 3 Harry Coy Stan Wittman 2 Wally Carter Bill Shelton Percy Tulloh The Redlegs dominated in the ruck and in the air with Stan Wittman, in his second game, putting in a dominating performance. But for their inaccuracy, it would have been a much bigger victory. They led by three points at half time off the back of five goals from 19 scoring chances and trailed early in the third term by nine points. A five goal burst broke the back of the Carlton side and the Blues were left lamenting as Melbourne finished with a score of over a hundred points for the first time in two years. Wittman, Dick Taylor and George Haines were best and Harry Harker kicked four goals. The following week, the football world really sat up and took notice of the 1923 wooden spooner when it moved into the top four after its 7 point win over South Melbourne. Round 5 Melbourne vs South Melbourne Saturday 24 May Venue: MCG Attendance: 22,072 MELBOURNE 3.5.23 5.9.39 8.12.60 10.16.76 SOUTH MELBOURNE 3.2.20 3.5.23 7.9.51 10.9.69 Goals Percy Tulloh 4 Harry Coy Edgar Dunbar Hugh Dunbar Harry Harker Derek Mollison Stan Wittman It was touch and go in the dying moments of the tight match with the Swans left to rue the fact that their star full forward missed all seven of his place kicks from scoring range. Melbourne’s best player on the day, Percy Tulloh, kicked the winning goal with eight minutes to go. He was well supported by Bert Chadwick who had been moved into the ruck to help defend the lead. Charles Lilley was also among the best. Round 6 Geelong vs Melbourne Saturday 31 May Venue: Corio Oval Attendance: 12,000 GEELONG 3.1.19 6.11.47 6.14.50 9.19.73 MELBOURNE 6.5.41 6.5.41 9.9.63 9.9.63 Goals Harry Harker 4 George Haines Derek Mollison 2 Hugh Dunbar 1 The Redlegs travelled down the highway to Geelong with some confidence about continuing their winning streak. After all, they had emerged victorious when they last visited Corio Oval. They won the toss and kicked six goals with the benefit of a strong north-westerly but gave away three to the home side, a factor that came back to haunt them when they failed to score both times they went against the wind. As a consequence, they were overhauled and lost by nine points. Best players were Dick Taylor, Derek Mollison and Harry Harker who booted four goals in his fiftieth game milestone. Harry Harker is a good example of the differences in the game through the vast gulf of time over the past century. When we talk of mature age recruits these days, we speak of 23 year olds or occasionally, those in the mid 20s. Players recruited beyond that age are as rare as hen’s teeth but when Harker made his debut in round 2 of the 1920 season against Essendon, he became the oldest player to ever debut for the Melbourne Football Club at the age of 32. That record stands today. The recruitment was worthwhile because in his first three seasons, in 1920, 1921 and 1922, Harker was Melbourne's leading goal kicker, with 23, 47 and 47 goals respectively. In his second season at the club, 1921, Harker put in his best performance for the club when he kicked ten goals out of 16 against Geelong. He was restricted to just six games (and 13 goals) in 1923. The Redlegs lost every one of those games. Season 1924 was to be the aging veteran’s last for Melbourne and it produced another 16 goals. A month and a half after his fiftieth game, Harry Harker played his last, against Collingwood at Victoria Park. He left the game at 36 years of age, "regret[ting] that he had not gone to the VFL in the first place". Seconds (Played at MCG) Geelong 8.19.67 d. Melbourne 8.9.57 Round 7 Melbourne vs Richmond Monday 9 June 1924 Venue: MCG Attendance: 27,533 MELBOURNE 4.6.30 6.10.46 9.11.65 11.17.83 RICHMOND 2.1.13 6.2.38 11.7.73 13.9.87 Goals George Haines Vern Moore 3 Bob CorbettHarry Harker Charlie Streeter Percy Tulloh Stan Wittman Melbourne suffered its third loss for the season by under a goal in a game that swung from end to end throughout. It dominated the first quarter, with captain Bert Chadwick defending strongly. Stan Wittman kicked the first goal of the game and the Reds dominated the opening half in every facet bar kicking straight for the goals. Inevitably, the club paid dearly for this failure to convert and lost by four points. The coaches made changes and Melbourne got within a point early in the quarter. It took the lead momentarily after scoring five behinds in a row, with a snap from Corbett went forward and snapped a goal but with the Tigers responded to scrape a narrow victory. Bert Chadwick, George Haines and Derek Mollison were best in what was the fifth consecutive match between the two sides decided by under a goal. Haines entered the game with a cold and suffered bruising to his legs early in the game but still managed to score three goals. The Demons were drifting aimlessly after seven rounds and worse was to come. Seconds Richmond 17.18.120 d. Melbourne 9.3.57 To be continued …

Who are tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons?

Dee-cline: The midfield numbers behind staggering drop-off Melbourne's midfield numbers have gone from one of the best in the AFL last season to one of the worst. What's happened? Melbourne's Midfield Decline - Contest Differentials 2024 2023 Clearances 15th 5th Centre Bounce Clearances 15th 6th Midfield Contested Possessions 10th 1st Midfield Groundballs 14th 8th Midfield Pressure Rating 12th 7th Melbourne's Midfield Decline - Territory 2024 2023 Time in Forward Half Diff 14th 2nd Inside 50 Diff 15th 2nd Forward Half Intercepts 12th 1st Melbourne's Midfield - Player Ratings Rank Max Gawn 6th Christian Petracca 10th Jack Viney 35th Clayton Oliver 83rd Alex Neal-Bullen 87th Tom Sparrow 280th Caleb Windsor 281st Ed Langdon 287th

Before Collingwood’s massive comeback from the dead against North Melbourne, there was Melbourne’s win at Blundstone Arena late last year after trailing by 33 points. The turnaround in actual points was not dissimilar. MELBOURNE 1.3.9 8.4.52 14.7.91 15.13.103 NORTH MELBOURNE 5.5.35 8.8.56 9.9.63 10.11.71 THE TEAMS NORTH MELBOURNE B A. Corr B. McKay J. Archer HB J. Goater T. Thomas L. McDonald C E. Ford L. Davies-Uniacke B. Scott HF C. Taylor D. Tucker J. Stephenson F W. Phillips N. Larkey P. Curtis FOL T. Xerri, H. Sheezel, J. Simpkin I/C T. Goldstein R. Hansen Jr K. Turner J. Ziebell SUB C. Lazzaro EMG B. Cunnington T. Powell L.Young IN C. Lazzaro OUT L. Young (omitted) MELBOURNE B J. Bowey S. May T. Rivers HB C. Salem J. Lever J. McVee C A. Neal-Bullen J. Viney E. Langdon HF A. Brayshaw J. Melksham J. Jordon F K. Pickett J. van Rooyen K. Chandler FOLL M. Gawn C. Petracca L. Hunter I/C J. Harmes H. Petty J. Smith T. Sparrow SUB M. Hibberd EMG B. Grundy C. Spargo A. Tomlinson IN M. Hibberd T. Sparrow OUT A. Tomlinson (omitted) T. Woewodin (omitted)

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Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons?

Some positivity for your Thursday

Who would have thought? Collingwood had a depleted side with several star players out injured, Max Gawn was in stellar form, Christian Petracca at the top of his game and Simon Goodwin was about to pull off a masterstroke in setting Alex Neal-Bullen onto him to do a fantastic job in subduing the Magpies' best player. Goody had his charges primed to respond robustly to the challenge of turning around their disappointing performance against Fremantle in Alice Springs. And if not that, to make a statement to the player who ended a teammate’s career with a crude (but absolutely legal according to the AFL Tribunal) bump to the head. This was the setting for what should have been an emphatic Melbourne victory except for one minor matter. The majority of Goody’s team froze up as if they had spent their time preparing for the game going up and down the MND slide into the ice bath. From very early in the game, the signs were not good. A couple of simple errors from the Demons and a lack of pressure in the first fifty seconds of the game saw the opening goal kicked by Magpie Will Hoskin-Elliott who was coming back from injury. Of course, he slotted it straight through the middle of the big sticks. By way of a first response, Melbourne was hesitant and fumbly as it struggled to get the ball into attack and three minutes after Collingwood's opening gambit, Max Gawn's shot hit the post. The scene was set for the day. One team made the most of its chances while the other showed little urgency, fiddled around, turned the ball over, didn't chase hard enough and disposed of the ball at an efficiency rate well below the other. As it happens so often in those circumstances, you don't get the rub of the green either. In that way, Kozzy Pickett's shot in the first quarter was given a goal by the goal umpire and eventually overturned by faceless score review just before the ruckmen were about to go up at the bounce. (Not that I dispute the decision, but it would have been nice to see it on the big screen to judge for myself). Assuming the decision was that the ball brushed the post, it was one of five times during the game that a Melbourne shot for goal hit the woodwork. All were chances to gain the favour of momentum while the Pies just couldn't miss. And when the siren sounded for quarter time, the Demon's major match winning prospect Christian Petracca was keeled over in the hands of the trainers with four broken ribs and a number of associated injuries. It took more than another half hour of game time for him to be subbed off (and that's another big question mark coming out of the match) but, as I wrote, the die was already cast. The team was frozen in time. None of this stopped a Demon comeback in the second quarter when the team got going and, in the search for an unlikely hero, found one in Jacob van Rooyen who worked hard, marked a couple, and put the team back into the game with two goals in that term and the first in the second half. After he kicked his second and, with the team down by only seven points, JvR marked on the half forward flank and had the opportunity to take the game on and shoot from a long way out into a vacant goal square. I surmise that had he worn black and white, the kick would have rolled through making it game on. He chose however, to wait, the Pies intercepted and moved the ball on. In the moments that followed, the Pies regained their composure, the Dees dropped their guard and leaked three goals including one from a mark after the siren. Things were suddenly grim at the halfway mark. And the second half was pretty much more of the same with Melbourne falling down by 38 points despite their advantage of two scoring shots for the match. When your shooting accuracy is 29% against your opponent's 74%, there is no chance in the world that you're going to win. But as I wrote, that was obvious from early doors. To add to the Demons' woes, two of its veterans in Max Gawn and Tom McDonald were among its best, alongside Neal-Bullen, Kozzy Pickett worked hard but was wasteful in front of goals, Caleb Windsor was lively. The defence was a shadow of itself and lacked the organisation it normally has when Jake Lever is around. Apart from van Rooyen (and he spent some time in the ruck) the forward line was dysfunctional. Clayton Oliver worked hard but needs to be given more midfield responsibility and Jack Viney couldn't get into the game. Without Petracca for the obligatory four to six, the Demons look like a team that will be frozen out of finals calculations after the break ... unless they can find something like Carlton and the Giants found at about this time last year. MELBOURNE 0.4.4 2.6.18 4.11.35 6.15.51 COLLINGWOOD 3.1.19 7.3.45 11.3.69 14.5.89 GOALS MELBOURNE van Rooyen 3 Pickett 2 Fritsch COLLINGWOOD Harrison Kreuger 3 Hoskin-Elliott 2 Cameron N Daicos Frampton Lipinski Macrae Schultz BEST MELBOURNE Neal-Bullen McDonald Windsor Gawn van Rooyen Pickett COLLINGWOOD Crisp J Daicos Maynard Howe Noble Kreuger INJURIES MELBOURNE C. Petracca (ribs) COLLINGWOOD N. Daicos (corked calf) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil COLLINGWOOD Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Jack Billings (replaced Christian Petracca in the third quarter) COLLINGWOOD Jack Bytel (replaced Nick Daicos in the fourth quarter) UMPIRES Jamie Broadbent Justin Power Matt Stevic Andrew Stephens CROWD 84,659 at the MCG

LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 13 151. Max Gawn 97. Christian Petracca 79. Alex Neal-Bullen 70. Steven May 49. Jack Viney 40. Jake Lever 39. Christian Salem 36. Clayton Oliver 33. Kysaiah Pickett 31. Bayley Fritsch 29. Tom McDonald 27. Judd McVee Trent Rivers 24. Ed Langdon 14. Kade Chandler 12. Tom Sparrow 11. Blake Howes Daniel Turner 10. Jack Billings 9. Adam Tomlinson 8. Caleb Windsor 7. Jacob van Rooyen 2. Harry Petty Adam Tomlinson 1. Jake Bowey

Votes Player (Club) 10 Jack Crisp (COLL) 7 Jeremy Howe (COLL) 7 Josh Daicos (COLL) 4 Max Gawn (MELB) 1 Brayden Maynard (COLL) 1 Alex Neal-Bullen (MELB) Leaderboard Interim leaderboard due to byes Votes Player Club 80 Isaac Heeney SYD 67 Nick Daicos COLL 59 Caleb Serong FRE 55 Chad Warner SYD 53 Marcus Bontempelli WB 51 Zach Merrett ESS 50 Max Gawn MELB 49 Patrick Cripps CARL 48 Errol Gulden SYD 46 Sam Walsh CARL 45 Noah Anderson GCFC 45 Jordan Dawson ADEL 45 Matt Rowell GCFC 43 Zak Butters PORT 43 Lachie Neale BL 43 Adam Treloar WB 41 Jason Horne-Francis PORT 40 Max Holmes GEEL 36 Christian Petracca MELB 36 Elliot Yeo WCE

The Casey Demons won their first game at home this year in the traditional King’s Birthday Weekend clash with Collingwood VFL on Sunday in a dramatic turnaround on recent form that breathed new life into the beleaguered club’s season. The Demons led from the start to record a 52-point victory. It was their highest score and biggest winning margin by far for the 2024 season. Under cloudy but calm conditions for Casey Fields, the home side, wearing the old Springvale guernsey as a mark of respect for their historic roots, settled down first and scored the first goal from Kai Windsor at the three minute mark. From there, they held the lead throughout the game and pleasingly, increased their lead at every interval even through the Magpies had their kicking boots on and managed to score on many of their forays into the forward line. Casey was well led once again by skipper Mitch White who led his team in the disposal count with 18 kicks and 10 handballs, also kicking a goal. White seemed to always be on hand whenever needed to help teammates in yet another fine display of leadership for the team. He was capably assisted by two experienced heads in Ben Brown who not only contributed two goals but gave a handout in the ruck and Adam Tomlinson who held sway in defence with his 22 disposals and nine marks. In a strong response to his omission from the Melbourne AFL side, Shane McAdam was in strong marking form (he finished with eight marks including a couple of blinders) and was the game’s most dangerous forward with four goals, adding one each quarter. However, from a Demons’ future perspective, one young player really stood out. WA recruit Koltyn Tholstrup was outstanding around the ground and up forward. Seemingly buoyed by the recruitment of former Subiaco teammate Luker Kentfield in the mid-season draft, he lifted his game with a four quarter performance of 26 disposals, 10 clearances and 5 marks, 5 tackles and a goal. Not far behind Tholstrup in the pecking order was emerging young midfielder Oliver Sestan with 23 possessions, seven clearances and two goals. Although used sparingly on debut, Kentfield had a great start at his new club, showed strength in the contest and booted a couple of goals. Casey’s two ruckmen Will Verrall and Tom Fullarton were solid in sharing the big man duties while Taj Woewodin in the midfield and defender Andy Moniz-Wakefield had good days collecting 20 and 17 disposals respectively. Also pleasing to Casey’s senior coach, Taylor Whitford after a torrid first half of the season in which he lost two of his ace recruits in Leo Connolly and Campbell Hustwaite was the good form of his VFL-listed brigade. Apart from White’s outstanding leadership, Roan Steele, Mitch Szybkowski and Max Gregory led the way in contributing to the team’s victory along with some excellent cameos from others. With a bye coming up next weekend, Casey have a fortnight’s break before taking on North Melbourne at Casey Fields for the second half of the season. CASEY DEMONS 3.4.22 8.8.56 12.11.83 18.14.122 COLLINGWOOD VFL 1.1.7 4.1.25 6.2.38 11.4.70 GOALS CASEY DEMONS McAdam 4 B Brown Kentfield Sestan 2 Edwards Fullarton King Neocleous Peters Tholstrup White K Windsor COLLINGWOOD VFL Farrant Lane Mahoney 2 DiMattia Johnson Ryan Sparkes Wilson BEST CASEY DEMONS B Brown White Woewodin Fullarton Tomlinson Tholstrup COLLINGWOOD VFL Demattia Glover Lane McInnes Sparkes Mahoney Statistics Jed Adams 2 kicks 2 disposals 1 tackle 10 dream team points Ben Brown 2 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 9 handballs 17 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 6 hitouts 82 dream team points Tyler Edwards 1 goal 1 behind 9 kicks 2 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 68 dream team points Tom Freeman 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 37 dream team points Tom Fullarton 1 goal 1 behind 14 kicks 7 handballs 21 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 14 hitouts 101 dream team points Max Gregory 7 kicks 8 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 59 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 behind 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 32 dream team points Luker Kentfield 2 goals 1 behind 4 kicks 4 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 34 dream team points Eddie King 1 goal 1 kick 2 handballs 3 disposals 1 tackle 17 dream team points Shane McAdam 4 goals 1 behinds 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 8 marks 4 tackles 95 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 8 kicks 9 handballs 17 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 57 dream team points Ned Moodie 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 30 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 4 kicks 11 handballs 15 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 55 dream team points Charlie Peters 1 goal 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 61 dream team points Ollie Sestan 2 goals 12 kicks 11 handballs 23 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 84 dream team points Roan Steele 2 behinds 11 kicks 5 handballs 16 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 68 dream team points Mitch Szybkowski 7 kicks 8 handballs 15 disposals 6 tackles 58 dream team points Koltyn Tholstrup 1 goal 2 behinds 13 kicks 13 handballs 26 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 108 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 16 kicks 6 handballs 22 disposals 9 marks 1 tackle 88 dream team points Will Verrall 1 behind 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 20 hitouts 68 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 18 kicks 10 handballs 28 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 98 dream team points Kai Windsor 1 goal 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 42 dream team points Taj Woewodin 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 68 dream team points

Going to cut the questions off here. Thank you to everyone for their contributions. Hopefully tonight can be the therapy session we need.

After two disappointing back to back losses the Demons have the bye in Round 14 and then face perennial cellar dweller North Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night in Round 15. Who comes in and who goes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Tuesday, 11th June @ 8:30pm. Join George, Binman & I as we analyse the Demons loss at the MCG against the Magpies in the Round 13 on Kings Birthday. You questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Captain Max Gawn has a considerable lead over reigning champion Christian Petracca in the Demonland Player of the Year Award. Steven May, Alex Neal-Bullen & Jack Viney make up the Top 5. Your votes for the loss against the Magpies. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.