Demonland

In hindsight yes. They finished the H & A in second and had the coveted home advantage. I was being a little facetious protecting the honour of our club.

"Our players are very aware of it, we've had a few discussions about it...” Chris Fagan How the Lions are trying to avoid 'doing a Melbourne'

Loved the bit where they were getting around Kozzie to motivate him to finish. Team Building.

Geez that session before Christmas was gruelling. I got tired just watching it.

The smile on Goody's face watching the highlight of Kozzy when he sprints to shepherd/tackle that bloke.

I, and many others including experts in the media, thought that after we knocked them out of the finals in 2018. They backed that up with finishing on the top of the ladder. They just won't die.

Premiere in 15 minutes at 7:00pm

The Dees will play a scratch match this week against North Melbourne at Arden Street. Both teams played in the first week of the Marsh Community Series and neither team has an official match this week before they both travel to Tasmania next week to play different opponents. North Melbourne v Melbourne Arden Street Oval, North Melbourne Friday 28 February, 1.10pm (AEDT)

Aaron vandenBerg has had to make sacrifices to get back from injury and play football at the top level again. Aaron vandenBerg back on his feet after three tough years

Fitter, faster Petracca closes in on new deal with Melbourne

I've added Jones to the list with his Shin Corkie, Bayley Fritsch with his Knee Infection and Joel Smith goes back on the list after coming off it when named in the team but then not playing even though a spot opened up with Fritsch's omission. Wagner and Jordon who played the day before were suited up on the bench as emergencies so Smith goes back on the list until he is available to play. PLAYER INJURY LENGTH Angus Brayshaw Elbow TBA Kade Chandler Wrist TBA Kyle Dunkley Ankle TBA Bayley Fritsch Infection TBA Max Gawn Knee TBA Mitch Hannan Groin TBA Nathan Jones Shin TBA Steven May Knee TBA Harrison Petty Groin TBA Joel Smith Foot TBA Corey Wagner Knee TBA Braydon Preuss Knee 6-8 Weeks Harley Bennell Calf Indefinite Kade Kolodjashnij Head Indefinite Aaron Nietschke Knee Season

The following is a good resource by our good friend @Supermercado @ Demonblog Demonblog's top 50 wins of the decade Looking forward to the video. Post it here when you're done.

Unfortunately opposition fans and commentators either don't buy that line or forget to mention it when talking about the fall from grace.

“This is the best I’ve felt in three or four years, so if we can keep the momentum going we should be good.” Aaron vandenBerg made a successful return to footy yesterday afternoon. ? ?: vandenBerg feeling fit after long-awaited return

My brother in law, who is a cat's fan, was quick to remind me about what being Feb/Mar Champions means.

Melbourne’s star ruckman Max Gawn has opened up to the club's young players about how close he came to being shown the door early in his career. Demons star tells teammates how he was almost shown the door

Melbourne unveiled its top recruits with new fitness boss Darren Burgess and mid-sized bull Christian Petracca sharing top billing in the team’s Marsh Community Series opener in front of 3,095 football starved fans at Casey Fields and thousands of others watching on screens of various shapes and sizes. What they saw was a different Melbourne to the one that failed to run out its JLT Series games last year and then crashed in a heap early in the season proper with performances lacking the zest and energy of the pressure team that made a preliminary final with the promise of much more to come. The Titanic-like fall from grace had left us all questioning which was the aberration — the highs of 2018 or the lows of 2019? Against the Crows, albeit a team one doesn’t fancy as a major challenger this year, the Demons finished off their first test strongly pulling away against the breeze in the final term to win by 33 points — something we didn’t see at all in 2019. And for that Burgess, the coaches and players must all take credit. What the fans also saw was the Petracca they’ve been waiting for since he was picked at number two in the 2014 national draft. He was one of Melbourne’s best and most consistent performers last year but he’s worked hard over the pre season, refined his body shape and produced a monster of a game first up with 38 touches (27 contested) and three goals, taking big grabs and executing strong bone-shattering tackles on unsuspecting opponents. And he kept it up all day (never before has he recorded 30 plus possessions) whether in the midfield or up forward as the hapless Crows had no answer to his attack on the football. The Demons simply had to be better than the lacklustre outfit of 2019. They welcomed back a number of players who had limited or no games last year as well as five players donning the red and blue for the first time. Ed Langdon and Adam Tomlinson were brought in to add outside run that was missing last year and showed they will be welcome additions to the ranks while Mitch Brown (three goals) looks a likely bargain basement key forward acquisition. Live wire recruit Kysaiah Pickett was quiet but produced a minute and a half of wizardry up forward while Luke Jackson began his journey acclimatising in a number of roles. His time will come too. The Demons made a patchy start with the wind in the first quarter and paid the price for their early inaccuracy as they trailed at the main break but, as the game went on, they seemed to recover their lost ability to convert and score goals. It was former skipper Nathan Jones who recorded the opening goal and he finished with three after alternating between half back and half forward, coming off with a leg injury which coach Simon Goodwin assures us was just “a corky in the shin”. Jake Lever was solid with his intercept marking and the club should thrive with a full season from the mustachioed defender. A knee injury soured Tom McDonald’s season just as he was returning to form last year and it took him half a game to brush off the cobwebs to end up with three majors. Sam Weideman also returned and did a good job holding the fort for the injured Max Gawn. He is the likely back up ruck foil for the big man and will also fill a tall forward role. The Demons will be waiting for Max’s return along with Steven May, Angus Brayshaw, Bayley Fritsch and defender Joel Smith who, like Aaron vandenBerg missed all of last year. The latter made a pleasing return with his customary tough approach which involved the application of eight crunching tackles. It was the tackling and relentless pressure that was a hallmark of Melbourne’s success when it climbed into the finals and though it’s early days yet, the signs are there that it’s all coming back and that the Demons are ready to prove 2019 was just an aberration. Melbourne 3.6 5.7 11.10 15.13 (103) Adelaide 2.0 7.4 9.7 10.10 (70) Goals Melbourne Brown Jones T McDonald Petracca 3 Langdon Pickett Sparrow Adelaide Crocker Davis 2 B Crouch Himmelberg Jones Murphy Stengle Wilson Best Melbourne Petracca Oliver Viney Jones Langdon Weideman Adelaide Milera B Crouch Atkins M Crouch R O'Brien Gibbs Injuries Melbourne Jones (leg) Adelaide Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Umpires Wallace Haussen Hosking Fleer Official crowd 3,095 at Casey Fields

If May got one what does Crouch get?

I assume the foot injury that has kept him from kicking on his preferred foot at training kept him out of the game.

Also remember Tomlinson only started training with the main group a few weeks ago so it might take him a little longer to gel with the team. We finally have wingmen.