Demonland

Remember when we were almost a destination club. Good times.

Which thread were you meant to post this in?

There would be very few among us who would have thought realistically at the start of the season that by the time Melbourne’s Round 8 trip to the Gold Coast came around, the visitors would not only be languishing in 16th place on the ladder, but also be sitting a game behind their hosts. In fact, had the Suns managed to goal late in their opening game against the Saints which they lost by a mere point, the gap between the two sides would have been even wider. Such has been the humiliation of the Melbourne Football Club in the season to date with its injuries, fitness issues, loss of form and embarrassing efforts both on and off the field that its season is facing oblivion against a side that it beat comprehensively by 16 goals less than half a season ago. Things looked a lot worse for the Demons a week ago but they managed to plug a hole in the dyke with victory against the Hawks who seem to be in the same boat as fellow 2018 finalists Melbourne and Sydney - sinking out in mid-ocean. And those three teams aren’t the only ones in a spot of bother at this point in time with Richmond and West Coast also currently sitting outside the top eight. And that’s where that little ray of sunshine comes into play for the beleaguered Demons. There have been enough upsets and form reversals among the clubs in the first one third of the season to leave a general expectation that if a team like Melbourne can hit its straps for a few weeks in a row then it could re-emerge as a contender. The flip side is that Gold Coast should not be taken lightly. The Suns, who could easily have been sitting on 4 zip a few weeks ago, have been going through a trough recently but showed with their second half against West Coast that they are a much improved side and won’t be a pushover on their home turf. One of the reasons for that has been the form of ruckman Jarrod Witts who presents a real challenge to Melbourne’s ace Max Gawn who leads all comers in the competition for hit outs. With the possible return of Braydon Preuss, big Max will relish conditions on the Gold Coast. If the club’s much vaunted hard at it midfield can show similar progression to the last few weeks, then it should go a long way to winning this game. The other encouraging sign from the last week or so was that Tom McDonald appears to be emerging from his early season atrophy and Michael Hibberd and a few others are playing with much greater confidence than they were earlier in the season. Over the last few weeks, the club has been under the pump and attacked from all sides for a diverse list of sins ranging from poor behaviour from spectators, the obligatory uncovering of a player drinking while in rehab and criticism of the club’s treatment of injured players - all that on top of recent, supposedly new revelations from the long past “tanking” controversy. We might be bad boys at the moment but we are at least, taking some small steps in a forward direction. The time has now come for some long strides. Melbourne to win but it won’t be as easy as last time. The Demons to keep their interstate record intact with a 20 point victory. THE GAME Gold Coast Suns v Melbourne at Metricon Stadium Saturday 11 May, 2019 at 4.35pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall - Gold Coast Suns 3 wins Melbourne 9 wins At Metricon Stadium - Gold Coast Suns 1 win Melbourne 1 win Past five matches - Gold Coast Suns 0 wins Melbourne 5 wins The Coaches - Dew 0 wins Goodwin 2 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel - Live at 4.30pm RADIO - SEN Triple M ABC News Radio THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 21.17.143 defeated Gold Coast Suns 7.5.47 at The MCG Round 20, 2018 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 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) Injury List: Round 8 Jeff Garlett (hamstring) – Available Tim Smith (back) – Available Braydon Preuss (shoulder) – Test Corey Maynard (hip) – 1 week Jack Viney (shoulder) – 1 week Sam Weideman (soreness) – 1 week Steven May (groin) – 3-4 weeks Jake Lever (knee) – 1 week Mitch Hannan (knee) – 2 weeks Jay Kennedy Harris (knee) – 2 weeks Joel Smith (groin) – 6-8 weeks Aaron vandenBerg (foot) – 6-8 weeks Neville Jetta (knee) – 10-12 weeks Kade Kolodjashnij (concussion) – TBA Guy Walker (shoulder) – Indefinite Aaron Nietschke (knee) – Season CHAT IN THE PREGAME THREAD

Jack knows his body best. ? | https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2019-05-08/viney-still-hopeful-to-play-goodwin

The lead on the weekend was beautiful as was the pass from Melksham.

Jayden Hunt will be our special guest on the next Demonland Podcast (14/5) LIVE @ 8:30pm Got a question for Jayden then let us know.

I think it's Sam McClure.

Goodwin on the May situation:

Weid to be rested with soreness.

I have a feeling Barrett could have easily written this story the opposite way depending on which way the wind was blowing.

Classic MFC. Would fit in well.

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Just doing some quiet show prep. Too soon?

We've all been on record saying that we weren't happy with Joel being put back on the ground in the JLT game. If Shaun is alluding to Joel's injury (and others) being mismanaged after that then it's a huge issue.

From the article: Responding to other messages on Facebook, [Shaun] Smith said: “Clearly the conditioning is not up to scratch and players who have had opps (operations) have not been managed well”. “Guess whose fault is that? “Don’t even get me started about the mismanagement of my son.” and then ... The Herald Sun understands Joel Smith is frustrated by his injury but is not unhappy with the management of it by club medicos. Melbourne is aware of his father’s comments.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/injury-list

The Demonland Podcast will be LIVE tonight (7/5) @ 8:30pm featuring @Grapeviney, @Supermercado & myself. We'll be chatting with @Drunkn167 about his and Dec's day for Dec's debut. We'll also be hearing from regular caller and contributor to the show @binman who saved last week's show from my doom and gloom. Listen & chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

You say that like it's a bad thing.