Demonland

Preface this by stating he got the Round 14 Melbourne vs Essendon in the NT wrong.

Dees likely to join for a 2 match stint like our two match stint in Adelaide. Hopefully we get more than a 4 day break.

A little known fact for Victorians is that Queenslanders don’t celebrate the Queen's Birthday in June but rather in October. The scheduled date on this year’s calendar is 5 October, 2020. However, I have a suggestion for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and that is to move the date forward a month and a half to this Saturday so that the coming clash of traditional rivals, Melbourne and Collingwood, continues a longstanding tradition of our game — the Queen’s Birthday Blockbuster. Her Majesty was actually born on April 21, 1926 which is nowhere near October so moving the official date a bit closer to her real birthday in a year that’s an aberration in historical terms would be a perfect way to demonstrate flexible leadership in hard times. Annastacia is a canny politician who’s been around long enough to know that if she does Victoria a favour there’s an obvious quid pro quo in it for her. The prize is the 2020 grand final, a concession that’s available because time has Victoria beaten in terms of staging the grand final. Even if your premier Dan Andrews was able to deliver a knock out blow to Covid19 you don’t have enough security guards in Melbourne to run hotel quarantine for the interstate visitors who normally come there for the grand final. Any event that keeps the Magpies in the limelight will get Eddie McGuire’s approval and the AFL is too busy dealing with gropers and WAGs to get involved so, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a done deal. And who do I think is going to win the big Queen’s Birthday Blockbuster in the Sunshine State? Why, the Demons of course! The team has rallied tremendously in the short space of time since it copped a whacking at the hands of Port Adelaide, Chairperson Glen Bartlett, Coach Simon Goodwin and most of football’s commentariat. The players are standing tall, happy with their hub life and playing with confidence. Sure, they’ve played two of the bottom three teams and they’re up against a top eight side in Collingwood which usually means they’re heading for a fall, but not this time. In direct comparison to the last time they met, Melbourne is the in-form team with a healthy list (bar for their latest ruck woes) and Collingwood, with a long injury list, has to back up after a four day break and a long trip from Adelaide to Brisbane. The Demons’ only problems appear to be how to fit injured or rested players from their last game into the side and how to straighten up their kicking for goal which has been problematic in games against the Magpies over the last two or three years. The Melbourne midfield was captivating against North Melbourne and though I’m not suggesting that Collingwood’s on ball division will be as easy to take apart than were the Kangaroos, the addition of Max Gawn and Jack Viney can only help the cause. Queen’s Birthday or not, the Demons should win this Blockbuster. Melbourne by 12 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at the Gabba Saturday 15 August, 2020 at 5.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 83 wins, Collingwood 150 wins, 5 drawn At the Gabba Melbourne 0 wins, Collingwood 0 wins Last Five Meetings Melbourne 1 win, Collingwood 4 wins The Coaches Goodwin 1 win, Buckley 4 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Live at 5.00pm LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 10.10.70 defeated Melbourne 7.11.53 at the MCG in Round 21, 2019 An injury depleted Melbourne parlayed a 5 point quarter time lead into a 6 goal deficit at the final break before drawing the Magpies’ lead back to 17 points at the final siren. Brodie Grundy overshadowed Max Gawn in the ruck battle but the battle in the midfield was close all day. For the second time this season, the Demons paid for their inaccuracy in front of goal. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE FB Michael Hibberd Steven May Jay Lockhart HB Christian Salem Jake Lever Nathan Jones C Ed Langdon Clayton Oliver Adam Tomlinson HF Jake Melksham Tom McDonald Bayley Fritsch FF Christian Petracca Sam Weideman Kysaiah Pickett FOL Braydon Preuss Angus Brayshaw Jack Viney I/C James Harmes Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Aaron vandenBerg EMG Mitch Brown Mitch Hannan Jayden Hunt Joel Smith IN Jay Lockhart Braydon Preuss Jack Viney OUT Mitch Hannan (omitted) Luke Jackson (hamstring) Trent Rivers (omitted) COLLINGWOOD FB Jack Crisp Darcy Moore Jack Madgen HB Brayden Maynard Lynden Dunn John Noble C Tom Phillips Steele Sidebottom Josh Daicos HF Brody Mihocek Ben Reid Will Hoskin-Elliott FF Callum L Brown Darcy Cameron Jamie Elliott FOL Brodie Grundy Taylor Adams Scott Pendlebury IC Trey Ruscoe Josh Thomas Travis Varcoe Rupert Wills EMG Tim Broomhead Mark Keane Chris Mayne Matthew Scharenberg IN Jamie Elliott Will Hoskin-Elliott Darcy Moore Scott Pendlebury Ben Reid OUT Tim Broomhead (omitted) Chris Mayne (omitted) Jordan Roughead (concussion) Brayden Sier (quad) Jaidyn Stephenson (omitted) Injury/Suspension List: Round 12 Corey Wagner (wrist) – available Max Gawn (knee) – test Alex Neal-Bullen (suspension) – 3 matches Luke Jackson (hamstring) – 4-6 weeks Marty Hore (toe and quad) – indefinite Harry Petty (groin) – indefinite Kade Kolodjashnij (head) – indefinite Aaron Nietschke (knee) – season

Melbourne: Ed Langdon Langdon is really starting to get himself settled in Melbourne’s midfield after crossing over from Fremantle at the end of last year. The hard-running wingman is very adept at keeping his width and often gets used in transition. He has a great ability to run and carry the footy and deliver inside 50, which he did on six occasions against the Roos. Langdon had 23 disposals in total and 321m gained.

I think I’ll close this before it gets nasty.

“I just think that Melbourne have got to settle down Sam Weideman and just play him week in, week out,” Wallace told SEN’s Dwayne’s World. “They’ve tried three key forwards and they’ve tried two key forwards with (Tom) McDonald being one of those. I think their best option has been (Luke) Jackson and Weideman … let those two develop. “I think personally that Melbourne’s actually stunted Weideman’s development. “Why do I say that? Since that prelim final they’ve been too particular at match committee on whether he is playing well enough to absolutely hold his spot." Australian Football Hall of Famer Wallace urged Melbourne to get games into Weideman like what Brisbane has done with Eric Hipwood. “Have a look at Brisbane with what they did with Eric Hipwood, they just believed that Eric Hipwood was where they are going," Wallace said. “He’s had ups and downs, good games and bad games, but they just played him and played him and played him. “Weideman’s actually older than Hipwood … Weideman’s played 37 games and Hipwood’s played 86 – 49 games difference. "I just think that they’ve actually tried too hard with what they’ve been doing with Weideman. They just need to play him.”

If Adelaide get a priority pick then we should retroactively get one for last year.

Ah the vinyl version. I have the cassette tape sitting right next to me as I type this. I also had the VHS version.

We'll be LIVE in 1 hour. Join @george_on_the_outer, @binman & I LIVE tonight 11/8 at 8:30pm to discuss the win over the Kangaroos. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Join @george_on_the_outer, @binman & I LIVE tonight 11/8 at 8:30pm to discuss the win over the Kangaroos. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Episodes 2 & 3 are now available. Unhappy Hawks | 2 - Published on Tuesday, August 4 - LISTEN HERE Hawthorn Football Club are the most successful AFL team of the past six decades. Despite their dominance in the 80s and early 90s they were an organisation on their knees. It begs the question - how could such a star-studded team find themselves in such a position? The 'Merger Match' | 3 - Published on Tuesday, August 11 - LISTEN HERE When the Herald Sun broke the story of a merger between Melbourne and Hawthorn it sent shockwaves through the football community. Anti-merger groups were formed and the battle lines to preserve the identity of two historic football clubs drawn. The battle between economic rationality and passion had begun.

Look what happens when the second and third placed players miss out with injury? Trac sprints away and Clarrie closes in on second and third. 105. Christian Petracca 84. Max Gawn 81. Jack Viney 79. Clayton Oliver 62. Steven May 39. Jake Lever 36. Michael Hibberd 25. Angus Brayshaw Ed Langdon 15. Jay Lockhart 13. Oscar McDonald 8. Kysaiah Pickett 7. James Harmes Luke Jackson Sam Weideman 6. Mitch Hannan Jake Melksham Trent Rivers Christian Salem 5. Adam Tomlinson 4. Tom McDonald 3. Jayden Hunt

I think this might be the first time I’m in agreement with Eddie. Usually staged on the Monday night before the Grand Final, the Collingwood president says footy’s night of nights should take place straight away in Queensland so all the players who are in hubs can attend.

Melbourne vs Essendon in Alice Springs Round 14?

I think you are forgetting that we were playing a bottom 4 team without their 2 best midfielders. We only had 7 hit outs and it wasn’t until the last quarter that we evened up the clearances a bit. A top 4 opposition team with a class midfield would be a different prospect without Max.

Once again the banks of Adelaide’s Torrens River witnessed the Melbourne Football Club handing out another on-field thumping to its opponent. This time the hapless victim was North Melbourne and given it was only the club’s second win against them since 2007, it was a very satisfying outcome. The Demons got off to a slow start once again, looking listless from their four day break, a situation that wasn’t helped by Sam Weideman and Christian Petracca missing easy set shots. At the first break, they trailed by 10 points after conceding a goal after the siren. North’s lead was short-lived as Melbourne came out firing and despite dominating the opposition they conceded a late goal again in the second term but managed a goal after the siren to Weideman to take a 5 point lead into the half-time break. The question was raised as to whether the team was tiring because of the short break? It was hard to tell, for while they were in front on the scoreboard, they were still making mistakes that let the opposition keep on the score-board pressure. After half time however, Melbourne opened up the gap that it needed as Petracca showed the way with his hustling and bustling putting constant pressure around the ball. He was ably assisted in the midfield by Clayton Oliver and Angus Brayshaw who were also damaging around the packs as they went about setting the tone for the final quarter showdown. The dam wall broke in that final quarter and the Petracca, Oliver and Brayshaw show went viral: Christian and Gus with 29 touches and Clayton picking up 31 possessions for the evening. When your three main mids are each getting in the vicinity of 30 disposals then something is going to happen — and it did and the club posted it’s second 50 plus point victory in four days. And it happened without Max Gawn in ruck! In his place, Luke Jackson led the rucks and followed up his Rising Star nomination from a few days ago with another fine game. Coming up against Todd Goldstein, he might have only managed five hitouts, but he completely nullified Goldstein with this second efforts and clearances. The North ruckman should have had a field day against an 18-year-old, but it was not the case. To take the heat off the young kid, Tom McDonald filled in when needed and actually beat Majak Daw as North’s second ruck with 13 touches and like Jackson, just cleared the space for the other mids to do their job. With everything working in the final quarter, and North having players lining up to see the club doctor, the Demons just thumped the ball forward and peppered the goal face. Unfortunately, they continued to pepper the behinds more than the goals, but a final quarter score of 6 goals 6 behinds delivered the thumping that was needed to keep the team in the finals race. The inaccurate kicking needs to be rectified in some way, with easy set shots missed from very gettable range. Other oppositions will not allow that sort of luxury, and without the scoreboard pressure, games will be lost. And Melbourne simply cannot afford to lose too many before the season end if it is to feature in finals. Still, Weidemann kicked 2, Fritsch 2 and finally the mids made a contribution this week, with Petracca, Brayshaw and Oliver all posting majors. Down back the “Firm Four” of May, Lever, Hibberd, Salem worked like clockwork to deny North multiple opportunities. The Kangaroos only managed two goals after quarter time to reflect the dominance of the Demon defence though North’s Larkey managed four for the game. The inclusion of Trent Rivers and Charlie Spargo was a positive, with both acquitting themselves well. Spargo in particular cannot be questioned as he, like Pickett creates opportunities for others with the pressure that they apply. Looks like those small forward positions are cemented for a couple of weeks at least. Rivers is only raw, but he plays far beyond his years. His calmness and kicking ability complements Salem on the other side of the ground, and 14 touches with 6 marks is a good achievement for someone so young. North tried the Kick and Chip method that Geelong employed against Melbourne earlier this year. But without the talent, they simply lacked the surety to penetrate the defensive structures set up by the Demons. And once again this week, they were unable to switch the ball across the ground, due to the running ability of the two wingers in Langdon and Tomlinson. Coming into this game North had won only one less game than Melbourne. Like last week, the season was all on the line for the Demons. Lose this and it was as good as over. Win by falling in by a small margin, and it would be insufficient to be taken seriously as a finals challenger. What was needed was a decisive thumping and that is what Melbourne handed out, to the tune of 57 points, backing up the 51 point beating of Adelaide in it’s last game. Let me emphasize that makes it two thumping wins in four days to get the Demon fans’ hearts thumping again strongly with expectation. Their team now sits just outside the top eight with a percentage that is competitive with the sides just above them. The next match is against the old enemy, Collingwood, a game not to be lost since every post has to be a winner to keep in touch with the team is in the top eight. The game to be played at the Gabba looks like being one that may well shape the club’s season. In any event, after the two thumpings in recent days, a return to Adelaide for a final or two would not be unwelcome. MELBOURNE 1.4.10 4.7.31 7.8.50 13.14.92 NORTH MELBOURNE 3.2.20 4.2.26 5.4.34 5.5.35 GOALS Melbourne Fritsch Weideman 2 Brayshaw Hannan T McDonald Melksham Oliver Petracca Pickett Spargo Swallow North Melbourne Larkey 4 Daw BEST Melbourne Petracca Brayshaw Oliver Langdon Pickett Lever Weideman North Melbourne McDonald Larkey Dumont Davies-Uniacke Goldstein Higgins INJURIES Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Anderson (eye) Bonar (left shoulder) Walker (head knock/leg) REPORTS Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Nil UMPIRES Chris Donlon Hayden Gavine Paul Rebeschini VENUE Adelaide Oval

Pickett shouldn’t have flown for that mark. Should have been at the fall of the ball.