Demonland

This is what I can see on my iPhone now.

There is no mobile mode per se. The site should just detect the device or size of the screen or even browser. For example if you resize your browser on a PC it will eventually turn the site to "mobile mode" to accomodate the size of the browser.

I remember taking a week or 2 off work (I am fortunate to have flexibility in that regard) when my kids were born and can concur that it can be taxing both mentally, emotionally and physically even when you are just acting as support staff. Having interrupted sleep doesn't help either. It would be foolish to think that it could not have an effect but that does not mean that it has had an effect. We don't know how hands on anyone is with their new borns. I have an acquaintance that never lifted a finger to help. Didn't change a nappy, give a bottle or get up in the middle of the night to soothe. He slept like a baby (pardon the ironic pun) for the entire new born stage. I'm by no means suggesting that this is the case here. None of us know what the situation actually is.

The outcomes of Melbourne’s recent games against the Gold Coast Suns are a pretty good barometer of how the teams are faring. The Demons easily accounted for them twice in 2018, the last win being a 96-point cakewalk at the MCG in Round 20 when they scored a whopping 21.17.143 to 7.5.47. Ironically, Melbourne’s score of 9.3.57 at the first break that afternoon is leading its highest score for a full game to date this year by 3 points. In those days, they played fast, skillful football, moved the ball well by hand and foot and usually found a target in front of goal. But something happened to them between the end of 2018 and the start of the following season. They simply lost the ability to score. The team remained capable of getting the ball out of the middle at stoppages and more often than their opponents has had players lurking with intent inside the 50 metre forward arc but the scoring just dried up. They no longer had the polish to grab and convert the opportunities that came their way during the course of a game. An example was their encounter against the Suns at Metricon Stadium in Round 8 last year when they fell in at the last moment by a point after scoring just eight goals in a game that marked a 95 point downturn in form. And that downturn appears to have continued to the point where this week’s opponents have three wins and a handsome percentage advantage over a Melbourne that has a solitary one point win on the board to date. Moreover, the pundits are saying that the club’s season is already doomed — along with those of Adelaide, Fremantle, Sydney, North Melbourne and Carlton. Well, I’m willing to cut the Dees some slack pending team selection this week. After all, their three defeats to date have come at the hands of sides that won 15, 16 and 16 games last year including the 2019 premier and the end-of-season-ladder-leader and the 2018 premier on their own near-impregnable dung hill. So it’s not over yet as long as Melbourne can get a bit of momentum and pressure going as it did in the 1½ quarters of real football in the four games it has played so far this season. The change of environment to a place north of the border and away from their fellow New Mexicans is exactly what the doctor ordered for the squad of players sent up to Sin City for the next 4 to 6 weeks — as long as there’s no similar outbreak in the team hotel up there to match the one experienced in the places down here where the state government so graciously hosted returning overseas travellers (memo: contact the head of hotel security first thing tomorrow morning). Gold Coast superstar Matt Rowell is conveniently out of the way this week leaving only one red head on the field in Clayton Oliver capable of taking the game by the throat. And with the impending selection promised by Melbourne of some forwards believed to be capable of kicking with a measure of accuracy rather than spraying it all over the place, I’m confident that this week’s team will be stung into action against a youthful side that hasn’t travelled well in the past and will hopefully find themselves blinded enough by the bright lights of Kings Cross to fall on their swords north of our border. Melbourne by 36 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Gold Coast Suns at Giants Stadium Saturday 11 July, 2020 at 6.05pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall - Melbourne 10 wins Gold Coast Suns 3 wins At Giants Stadium - Melbourne 0 wins Gold Coast Suns 0 wins Past five matches - Melbourne 5 wins Gold Coast Suns 0 wins The Coaches - Goodwin 3 wins Dew 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel - Live at 6.00pm RADIO - TBA THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 8.13.61 defeated Gold Coast Suns 9.6.60 at Metricon Stadium, Round 8 2019 After a dour struggle all day in which the Demons held the ascendency, the Suns edged ahead by a goal with less than a minute on the clock. Marty Hore came to the party with a long goal and Tom McDonald chipped in with a point just before the siren. Never in doubt. The Demons had a eye on a finals berth and stormed their way to a 96 point win on the back of a nine goal final quarter. Jesse Hogan (4 goals) and James Harmes (3) were on fire up forward and the Demons had winners in nearly every position on the ground. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE FB Jay Lockhart Steven May Oscar McDonald HB Christian Salem Jake Lever Michael Hibberd C Ed Langdon Clayton Oliver Aaron vandenBerg HF Mitch Hannan Sam Weideman Angus Brayshaw FF Jake Melksham Tom McDonald Harley Bennell FOL Max Gawn Christian Petracca Jack Viney I/C Bayley Fritsch James Harmes Neville Jetta Kysaiah Pickett EMG Luke Jackson Nathan Jones Joel Smith Adam Tomlinson IN Harley Bennell Neville Jetta Oscar McDonald Sam Weideman OUT Jayden Hunt (omitted) Trent Rivers (omitted) Joel Smith (omitted) Adam Tomlinson (omitted) GOLD COAST SUNS FB Connor Budarick Sam Collins Jack Lukosius HB Pearce Hanley Charlie Ballard Jarrod Harbrow C Lachie Weller Hugh Greenwood Brandon Ellis HF Noah Anderson Sam Day Alex Sexton FF Izak Rankine Ben King Ben Ainsworth FOL Jarrod Witts David Swallow Touk Miller I/C Jack Bowes Brayden Fiorini Nick Holman Darcy MacPherson EMG Wil Powell Jeremy Sharp Zac Smith Peter Wright IN Brayden Fiorini Izak Rankine OUT Wil Powell (omitted) Matt Rowell (injured) NEW Izak Rankine Injury List: Round 6 Charlie Spargo (ankle) – Test Marty Hore (toe and quad) – indefinite Harry Petty (groin) – indefinite Kade Kolodjashnij (head) – indefinite Aaron Nietschke (knee) – season

Moot point re: Casey in 2020 but ...

Spoiler Alert: He did. We won’t lose this week. Although I did have to cut him off because my internet connection was [censored] last night and it just couldn’t handle the 2 cohosts connections let alone 3. If we win a gofundme will be set up to pay @binman to call in each week.

The Demonland Podcast will be LIVE tonight 7/7 at 8:30pm Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

It’s kick the Dees week.

It would be interesting to know who is flipping the bill for the hubs and if all teams are on a level playing field in this regard. It’s unfair if we can only afford to bring x amount of players and staff and another team can bring the kitchen sink (home state teams aside).

Rather than start a new thread I'll post this here because it loosely relates to hub life. And our Burgo goes wack. Also a few other journos disagree.

To be accurate, Bartlett's time at the club is volunteered.

It was way back in May 2019 GOLD COAST SUNS B Jarrod Harbrow Sam Collins Charlie Ballard HB Pearce Hanley Jack Hombsch Lachie Weller C Ben Ainsworth Nick Holman Wil Powell HF Alex Sexton Peter Wright Sean Lemmens F Darcy MacPherson Josh Corbett Jack Bowes FOLL Jarrod Witts Jack Martin David Swallow I/C Jack Lukosius Touk Miller Anthony Miles Jordan Murdoch EMG Will Brodie George Horlin-Smith Jesse Joyce Ben King IN Pearce Hanley Sean Lemmens Jack Lukosius Lachie Weller OUT Brayden Fiorini (injured) George Horlin-Smith (omitted) Jesse Joyce (omitted) Aaron Young (injured) MELBOURNE B Jordan Lewis Sam Frost Michael Hibberd HB Nathan Jones Oscar McDonald Christian Salem C Bayley Fritsch Jack Viney Billy Stretch HF James Harmes Tom McDonald Jay Lockhart F Jeff Garlett Declan Keilty Jake Melksham FOLL Max Gawn Angus Brayshaw Clayton Oliver I/C Marty Hore Jayden Hunt Christian Petracca Josh Wagner EMG Alex Neal-Bullen Harrison Petty Tim Smith Corey Wagner IN Jack Viney OUT Alex Neal-Bullen (omitted)

Max Gawn in his familiar position on the leader board. 42. Max Gawn 39. Christian Petracca 28. Jack Viney 27. Clayton Oliver 20. Steven May 13. Michael Hibberd 12, Angus Brayshaw Ed Langdon 10. Oscar McDonald 7. James Harmes 6. Mitch Hannan Jake Lever Trent Rivers 5. Kysaiah Pickett Adam Tomlinson 4.Tom McDonald Christian Salem 3. Jayden Hunt 2. Jay Lockhart

The scene was captured by the TV camera’s before the match with a view of the Melbourne side’s bags packed next to the team bus to facilitate their flight up north to the AFL hub where they will play their next matches. However, on the basis of the efforts against Richmond, unless things change, and change rapidly, there will be some who will be told to pack their bags on a more permanent basis. Once again, the supporters got much the same story from this match against Richmond, as they have heard for the past 12 months, and certainly a complete unchanged replica of all the games in 2020. Once again, in nearly every statistic, the Demons won the count, yet couldn’t get within nearly five goals of the opposition at the final bell. Once again, the coach persisted with a solitary tall forward, and it is obvious from the lack of scoring from the forward line in general, that it isn’t working. Commentators after the match praised Tom McDonald for his workmanlike ethic of hard running, bustling and repeat efforts, but he is operating in a solo capacity. Around him there is nothing else. And certainly nothing with flair. Jake Melksham and Jayden Hunt managed the grand total of 7 touches between the two of them. If it wasn’t for hanging out the back getting cheap kicks, Melksham wouldn’t have touched the ball at all, even though he was gifted two goals. Hunt despite all his foot speed, was never to be seen. And while Kossie Pickett was in everything, he only had 5 touches, which can be overlooked considering his work efforts. But that is half the forward line who only touched the ball 12 times in the whole game! Thank goodness that TMac, Fritsch and Hannan made the most of their opportunities to make the score-line looks something respectable, although 52 points in total is never going to look anything like that, in truth. And to make things worse, Richmond bring in Noah Balta in his first game for the year, and only 14th of his career to fill the hole of Astbury, and he picks up 20 touches and 8 marks against these same “forwards” of Melbourne. Or to put it another way, one kid had more touches than three Melbourne players. Now let’s talk about the mids … all those possessions, and only Max Gawn put something past the goal umpire … 1 behind! It’s bad enough when the forwards aren’t performing, but the mids have to provide something, anything. Their opponents in Lambert, Martin and Higgins produced five goals in their winning score. Even though there was a serious lack of contribution, with even the commentators noting that nine Melbourne players had less than three touches in the first quarter, the Demons had a chance to take this game. Sadly, they just kept giving the ball back to the Tigers players, predominantly in uncontested and unforced scenarios. Today, those type of turnovers just kill a side, as the defence is totally out of position, and it destroys any momentum that might have been built up. Call it what you may, but these were simply unforced skill errors, and Richmond capitalized on them to maximum advantage. Even in the last quarter with Richmond having only one un-injured player on the bench, Melbourne could only outscore them by two points. Opportunities were thrown away again and again. The backs, despite the lack of effort up-field held the side together. Hibberd, Salem and May were three of the side’s top six possession getters, which shouldn’t be the case, but thankfully they were as they repelled attack after attack. Unfortunately, Joel Smith continues to be the weak link in the armour. Twice he spoiled May and Lever in marking contests, only to see the ball go out the back for an easy Richmond goal, and topped it off with a kick into the opposition player just in front of goal, to result in another major. Sadly, he doesn’t have the mindset required for a defender and in close games these critical errors are alone the difference between winning and losing. This side has won a solitary game in 12 months, and that by a single point against a side who have occupied the bottom of the ladder for as long as we have. The perennial joke about Melbourne supporters packing their bags and heading to the snow at this time of year has substance, when they would otherwise have to watch what is being served up to them on the football field. With forty fit players to choose from there had better be changes next week. There are players who should be told not to bother unpacking. And there are others who should be told to pack your bags and get up here as quickly as possible. Because after only four games for this side, the 2020 season is fast looking like a repeat of 2019. MELBOURNE 3.1.19 3.2.20 5.2.32 8.4.52 RICHMOND 3.2.20 7.3.45 9.7.61 12.7.79 GOALS Melbourne Hannan 3 Fritsch Melksham 2 T McDonald Richmond Lambert Lynch 3 Castagna Higgins Martin Nankervis Riewoldt Rioli BEST (FROM THE AGE) Melbourne Gawn Oliver Petracca Langdon May Hibberd Richmond Lambert Prestia Cotchin Caddy Martin Castagna INJURIES Melbourne Nil Richmond Nankervis (ankle) Prestia (ankle), Cotchin (hamstring) REPORTS Melbourne Nil Richmond Nil UMPIRES Gavine, Foot, Findlay, Power VENUE MCG