Demonland

I can vividly remember when the Demons ventured onto Blundstone Arena for the first time in early 2016 only to lose to the Kangaroos by 20.11.131 to 21.10.136. Melbourne was then a team on the up and up: young, enthusiastic and bold. It gave up a huge quarter time deficit after kicking against a strong wind but made that up by half time and fell dramatically short after an exciting high scoring affair. The team lost no fans that day - they were willing to take the game on and attack the football and the goals as if their lives depended on performing to the best of their abilities. It was the sort of display that would ultimately lead them to a preliminary final in two and a half year’s time. In the meantime, they would suffer yet another narrow defeat (4 points) at Blundstone in 2017. This time, the loss was costly because it left them tantalisingly short of a finals berth but they persevered and improved in the following year and gave their long-suffering supporters great hopes for 2019. Now, after a year of sheer agony for the Melbourne Football Club and its supporters, the team returns to the same venue but the indications are that this time, the result will not be close. The circumstances have made North the biggest certainties of the final round. That’s a strange thing to say given that two weeks ago the Kangaroos were held to a solitary goal by Geelong but the truth is that we know the Dees are done for the year. I attribute this to a poor preseason and a diabolical run of injuries that has sapped every ounce of confidence out of the playing group. We know that the on field and off field team that represents the club at the start of the 2020 season will be significantly different in its makeup to the one we have now. It’s obvious that 5.00pm on Saturday can’t come quickly enough for a team that’s bereft of a functioning forward line that can’t kick straight (most of its tall key position forwards were out for the season several weeks ago) and a defence that was hacked apart much earlier in the year. The constant drain on resources has exposed the club’s player depth and ability. They fought a tough battle but in recent weeks they gradually slowed and began to stop chasing as they hit the wall. They’re cooked. There’s nothing more that can be said for a team that played like a rabble on the Friday night stage last week other than that by playing outside the state down in Hobart, hopefully not many people will take notice as to how they are performing. The most positive spin that I can put on things at the moment is this -> bring on 2020! THE GAME North Melbourne v Melbourne on Saturday 24 August, 2019 at Blundstone Arena, Hobart at 2.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall North Melbourne 81 wins Melbourne 84 wins 1 draw At the Blundstone Arena North Melbourne 2 wins Melbourne 0 wins Last five times North Melbourne 4 wins Melbourne 1 win The Coaches Shaw 0 wins Goodwin 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel Live at 2.00pm RADIO - TBA THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 18.15.123 defeated North Melbourne 13.8.86 at the MCG, Round 3, 2018 Melbourne started slowly and gave North a handy start before reeling the opposition in and pushing away to a handy 37-point win that broke a string of 17 successive losses to the Kangaroos. Max Gawn was dominant with 50 hit outs to Todd Goldstein’s 15. The Demon goal kickers were Tom Bugg 4, Jeff Garlett and Dean Kent with 3 each - none of them will be playing this week. THE TEAMS NORTH MELBOURNE B Marley Williams Scott D. Thompson Jasper Pittard HB Jamie Macmillan Robbie Tarrant Shaun Atley C Trent Dumont Shaun Higgins Jared Polec HF Kayne Turner Nick Larkey Jack Ziebell F Tarryn Thomas Ben Brown Cameron Zurhaar FOLL Todd Goldstein Jy Simpkin Ben Cunnington I/C Sam Durdin Taylor Garner Nathan Mason Wood EMG Tom Campbell Lachlan Hosie Ben McKay Tom Murphy IN Mason Wood OUT Jed Anderson (hamstring) MELBOURNE B Jayden Hunt Sam Frost Christian Salem HB Jordan Lewis Jake Lever Nathan Jones C James Harmes Angus Brayshaw Billy Stretch HF Jay Kennedy Harris Bayley Fritsch Jake Melksham F Corey Wagner Braydon Preuss Christian Petracca FOLL Max Gawn Jack Viney Clayton Oliver I/C Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Alex Neal-Bullen Charlie Spargo EMG Kyle Dunkley Declan Keilty Jay Lockhart Josh Wagner IN Jayden Hunt Braydon Preuss OUT Kade Chandler (finger) Kyle Dunkley (omitted) Injury List - Round 23 Max Gawn (hamstring) – available Jordan Lewis (shin) – available Oscar McDonald (ankle) – we’ll get back to you soon Harrison Petty (groin) – my people will call your people Tom Sparrow (knee) – 1 week Kade Chandler (finger) – season Jeff Garlett (shoulder) – season Mitch Hannan (groin) – season Neville Jetta (knee) - season Kade Kolodjashnij (head) – season Steven May (hamstring) – season Tom McDonald (knee) – season Aaron Nietschke (knee) – season Joel Smith (groin) – season Tim Smith (foot) – season Aaron vandenBerg (foot) – season Sam Weideman (jaw) – season Guy Walker (shoulder) – indefinite

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The Podcast will be LIVE in 10 minutes. Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Nothing new here:

@george_on_the_outer and I will be LIVE tonight (20/8) @ 8:30pm Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Sadly we're not a destination club unless we're willing and able to pay overs.

I am aware. I was being a little bit facetious. A decade plus (minus our gap year) will do that to a person.

I'll bet we're close to last for both inaccuracy for and accuracy against. Poor tired legs. ?

No surprises here.

How about you report posts instead of whinging about them in threads. Mods can't read every post.

Early 2018 - almost a lifetime away in the history of this team ... THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Jake Lever, Oscar McDonald, Josh Wagner HB: Bernie Vince, Michael Hibberd, Neville Jetta ? Jordan Lewis, Nathan Jones, Christian Salem HF: Jake Melksham, Sam Frost, Alex Neal-Bullen F: Christian Petracca, Jesse Hogan, Jeff Garlett Foll: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Dom Tyson I/C: Tom Bugg, Bayley Fritsch, James Harmes, Dean Kent Emg: Mitch Hannan, Jayden Hunt, Corey Maynard, Cam Pedersen In: Sam Frost, Dean Kent Out: Jayden Hunt, Cam Pedersen NORTH MELBOURNE B: Marley Williams, Scott Thompson, Ryan Clarke HB: Jamie Macmillan, Robbie Tarrant, Ed Vickers-Willis ? Ben Jacobs, Jy Simpkin, Billy Hartung HF: Shaun Atley, Jarrad Waite, Kayne Turner F: Jack Ziebell, Ben Brown, Luke McDonald, Foll: Todd Goldstein, Shaun Higgins, Ben Cunnington I/C: Jed Anderson, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Trent Dumont, Nathan Hrovat Emg: Majak Daw, Mitchell Hibberd, Mason Wood, Cameron Zurhaar No change

The Casey Demons finished off their home and away season against Frankston at Skybus Stadium on Sunday with a narrow, unconvincing 6-point victory that left the door slightly open for a top eight berth when the VFL finals begin in a fortnight’s time. While sunny skies prevailed over Frankston in the morning, the skies became overcast by noon and heavy waves pounded the bay nearby as the rains came in to greet the players as the game started. And conditions stayed dark and dreary for the remainder of the day as the rain lashed the ground making the spectacle as poor an advertisement for football as you can get leaving one to believe that the Demons certainly need some more help from above if their season is to remain alive. The game epitomised all what has become of the Demons’ season. Injuries again left the team with less than double figure numbers of AFL listed players and those who took part kicked no goals and nine behinds in an afternoon of wasted opportunities and ended in near defeat as the fast-finishing Dolphins side almost reeled them in during the latter stages of the final quarter of an otherwise dreary low scoring affair. The Casey Demons started brightly with Brayden Preuss once again dominating the hit out count and were seemingly in complete control of the game for much of the opening term. Mitch White booted the opening goal at the two minute mark and by 10 minutes in Jack Hutchins kicked the second to make it 2.2.14 to nothing. Incredibly, Casey kicked half its goals in that period and it still managed to win despite kicking only two goals for the rest of the game. You can certainly put that down to the conditions but, sad to say, it appeared that too many players were going through the motions, tired and incapable of lifting, even when their season was on the line. The exceptions were Preuss who once again excelled at this level and amassed an amazing 23 kicks, 8 tackles and 63 hit outs in a brute of a performance which along with the indefatigable Jimmy Munro (28 possessions and 10 tackles) willed their team across the line. A few others like Josh Wagner, Hutchins and skipper Mitch White worked hard but there was certainly nothing in this performance to indicate that the Demons are capable of making inroads should the Magpies do them the unlikely favour and give them some help by disposing of the Hawks at Box Hill City Oval next Saturday. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Demons 2.6.18 3.8.26 4.13.37 4.14.38 Frankston 0.2.2 3.3.21 3.4.22 4.8.32 Goals Casey Demons Hutchins 2 Wale-Buxton White Best Casey Demons Preuss Munro Hutchins Tynan Lockhart White Statistics Oskar Baker 6 kicks 7 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 60 dream team points Toby Bedford 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 49 dream team points Austin Bradtke 2 kicks 2 disposals 1 mark 1 hit outs 10 dream team points Dylan Collis 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 4 tackles 40 dream team points Wayne Collis 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 13 dream team points Tom Freeman 9 kicks 1 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 44 dream team points Matt Gahan 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 1 tackles 42 dream team points Mitch Gent 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 2 tackles 29 dream team points Jayden Hunt 12 kicks 2 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 69 dream team points Jack Hutchins 2 goals 2 behinds 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 83 dream team points James Jordon 1 behind 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 4 tackles 66 dream team points Declan Keilty 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 22 dream team points Mitch Lewis 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 51 dream team points Jay Lockhart 3 behinds 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 92 dream team points Nick Lowden 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 9 tackles 61 dream team points Ariek Lual 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 32 dream team points James Munro 1 behind 11 kicks 17 handballs 28 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 115 dream team points Braydon Preuss 5 behinds 23 kicks 23 disposals 5 marks 8 tackles 63 hit outs 187 dream team points Cory Stockdale 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 2 tackles 24 dream team points Luke Tynan 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 55 dream team points Josh Wagner 1 behind 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 73 dream team points Liam Wale-Buxton 1 goal 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 11 hit outs 67 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 9 tackles 98 dream team points

HELP! by KC from Casey The Casey Demons finished off their home and away season against Frankston at Skybus Stadium on Sunday with a narrow, unconvincing 6-point victory that left the door slightly open for a top eight berth when the VFL finals begin in a fortnight’s time. While sunny skies prevailed over Frankston in the morning, the skies became overcast by noon and heavy waves pounded the bay nearby as the rains came in to greet the players as the game started. And conditions stayed dark and dreary for the remainder of the day as the rain lashed the ground making the spectacle as poor an advertisement for football as you can get leaving one to believe that the Demons certainly need some more help from above if their season is to remain alive. The game epitomised all what has become of the Demons’ season. Injuries again left the team with less than double figure numbers of AFL listed players and those who took part kicked no goals and nine behinds in an afternoon of wasted opportunities and ended in near defeat as the fast-finishing Dolphins side almost reeled them in during the latter stages of the final quarter of an otherwise dreary low scoring affair. The Casey Demons started brightly with Brayden Preuss once again dominating the hit out count and were seemingly in complete control of the game for much of the opening term. Mitch White booted the opening goal at the two minute mark and by 10 minutes in Jack Hutchins kicked the second to make it 2.2.14 to nothing. Incredibly, Casey kicked half its goals in that period and it still managed to win despite kicking only two goals for the rest of the game. You can certainly put that down to the conditions but, sad to say, it appeared that too many players were going through the motions, tired and incapable of lifting, even when their season was on the line. The exceptions were Preuss who once again excelled at this level and amassed an amazing 23 kicks, 8 tackles and 63 hit outs in a brute of a performance which along with the indefatigable Jimmy Munro (28 possessions and 10 tackles) willed their team across the line. A few others like Josh Wagner, Hutchins and skipper Mitch White worked hard but there was certainly nothing in this performance to indicate that the Demons are capable of making inroads should the Magpies do them the unlikely favour and give them some help by disposing of the Hawks at Box Hill City Oval next Saturday. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Demons 2.6.18 3.8.26 4.13.37 4.14.38 Frankston 0.2.2 3.3.21 3.4.22 4.8.32 Goals Casey Demons Hutchins 2 Wale-Buxton White Best Casey Demons Preuss Munro Hutchins Tynan Lockhart White Statistics Oskar Baker 6 kicks 7 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 60 dream team points Toby Bedford 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 49 dream team points Austin Bradtke 2 kicks 2 disposals 1 mark 1 hit outs 10 dream team points Dylan Collis 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 4 tackles 40 dream team points Wayne Collis 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 13 dream team points Tom Freeman 9 kicks 1 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 44 dream team points Matt Gahan 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 1 tackles 42 dream team points Mitch Gent 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 2 tackles 29 dream team points Jayden Hunt 12 kicks 2 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 69 dream team points Jack Hutchins 2 goals 2 behinds 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 83 dream team points James Jordon 1 behind 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 4 tackles 66 dream team points Declan Keilty 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 22 dream team points Mitch Lewis 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 51 dream team points Jay Lockhart 3 behinds 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 92 dream team points Nick Lowden 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 9 tackles 61 dream team points Ariek Lual 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 32 dream team points James Munro 1 behind 11 kicks 17 handballs 28 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 115 dream team points Braydon Preuss 5 behinds 23 kicks 23 disposals 5 marks 8 tackles 63 hit outs 187 dream team points Cory Stockdale 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 2 tackles 24 dream team points Luke Tynan 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 55 dream team points Josh Wagner 1 behind 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 73 dream team points Liam Wale-Buxton 1 goal 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 11 hit outs 67 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 9 tackles 98 dream team points

It's all about the bragging rights.

None taken. A sucker is born every minute.

I've done this every year since about 1998.

I can't change it but you are welcome to express those opinions in the comments.

This thread now has a poll.