Demonland

Not 10 years. Only until end of 2021.

There is no way of getting around the fact that Melbourne is the disappointment team of the AFL competition and, because it came into the season as a big top four fancy and now sits stone motherless last with a 1-5 win-loss record, it is fast becoming a laughing stock. The only way in which the Demons can restore any sense of pride, let alone its rapidly diminishing hopes of making the finals is for it to overcome Hawthorn on Saturday in the replay of last year’s preliminary final. There can be no further excuses for the Demons; no claims of a lost pre season, complaints of a long and deep injury list or talk of players in the doldrums having lost the form that got the team ever so close to top billing in 2018. The club needs to put all those things behind it and start winning games and, in that respect, the fact that they face the Hawks should not present itself as a daunting task any more than facing up to the scars and the mental demons of the past month or so. Hawthorn’s form, after all, hasn’t been all that flash either given it has had a draw that has so far included one outing against a top eight team from 2018. The Hawks have lost to St Kilda and Hawthorn and struggled in their wins against Adelaide, North Melbourne and Carlton against who they were very lucky winners. For all of Al Clarkson’s genius, he is barely papering over the cracks in his team’s makeup which means they are vulnerable this week if his counterpart, Simon Goodwin, can get his team up and running and in the right frame of mind. That’s easier said than done as we’ve seen on a few occasions already this season but, with the with readjustment that we are starting to witness in terms of the way the team was able to tighten up their defensive efforts against Richmond, it might not be all that far away. It’s hard to fathom that a team that was able to dominate centre clearances and inside 50 entries and turn them into such a potent attack in one season, can continue to lag so badly in the next. The Demons look like bolstering their attacking forces this week and I’m tipping them to turn things around against a very shaky Hawks. Melbourne by 28 points. THE GAME Hawthorn v Melbourne at the MCG Saturday 4 May 2019 at 1.45pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 76 wins Hawthorn 87 wins At MCG Melbourne 37 wins Hawthorn 46 wins Last 5 meetings Melbourne 2 wins Hawthorn 3 wins The Coaches Goodwin 1 win Clarkson 2 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel Live at 1.30pm RADIO - Triple M ABC 3AW THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.8.104 defeated Hawthorn 10.11.71 in Semi Final, 2018 at the MCG The Demons earned a berth in the Preliminary Final against the Eagles with a resounding 33-point victory on the MCG against Hawthorn in front of 90,152 fans. Jack Viney was in sparkling form on the ball picking up 27 touches and Tom McDonald booted four goals. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B Jordan Lewis Sam Frost Oscar McDonald HB Nathan Jones Tom McDonald Jayden Hunt C James Harmes Christian Salem Billy Stretch HF Bayley Fritsch Christian Petracca Jeff Garlett F Alex Neal-Bullen Declan Keilty Jake Melksham FOLL Max Gawn Clayton Oliver Angus Brayshaw I/C Michael Hibberd Marty Hore Jay Lockhart Josh Wagner EMG Harry Petty Tom Sparrow Corey Wagner Sam Weideman IN Oscar McDonald Josh Wagner OUT Jack Viney (shoulder) Tim Smith (back) Sam Weideman (omitted) HAWTHORN B Blake Hardwick Kaiden Brand Jarman Impey HB Tom Scully Ben Stratton Jack Gunston C Isaac Smith Jaeger O'Meara Daniel Howe HF Paul Puopolo Tim O'Brien James Sicily F Luke Breust Chad Wingard Jarryd Roughead FOLL Ben McEvoy James Worpel Ricky Henderson I/C Shaun Burgoyne Mitchell Lewis Dylan Moore Liam Shiels EMG Jonathon Ceglar Harry Morrison Conor Nash Jack Scrimshaw IN Shaun Burgoyne Dylan Moore OUT James Cousins (suspended) Jack Scrimshaw (managed) Round 7: Injury List Alex Neal-Bullen (hamstring) – available Braydon Preuss (shoulder) – 1 week Tim Smith (back) - 1 week Jack Viney (shoulder) – 2 weeks Mitch Hannan (knee) – 3-4 weeks Jake Lever (knee) – 3-4 weeks Steven May (groin) – 3-4 weeks Corey Maynard (hip) – 3-4 weeks Jay Kennedy Harris (knee) – 3-5 weeks Aaron vandenBerg (foot) – TBA Joel Smith (groin) – 6-8 weeks Neville Jetta (knee) – 10-12 weeks Kade Kolodjashnij (concussion) – TBA Guy Walker (shoulder) – indefinite Aaron Nietschke (knee) – season

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THE TEAMS Remember the days when we would win games and follow them up with more wins and no changes to the line up? HAWTHORN B: Taylor Duryea, James Frawley, Blake Hardwick HB: Jarman Impey, James Sicily, Ryan Burton C : Isaac Smith, Tom Mitchell, Liam Shiels HF: Shaun Burgoyne, Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston F: Luke Breust, Conor Nash, Paul Puopolo Foll: Ben McEvoy, Daniel Howe, James Worpel I/C: Ricky Henderson, David Mirra, Harry Morrison, Ryan Schoenmakers Emg: Kaiden Brand, Jonathon Ceglar, James Cousins, Brendan Whitecross In: Taylor Duryea, David Mirra, Ryan Schoenmakers Out: Jonathon Ceglar (omitted), Ben Stratton (hamstring) Jaeger O'Meara (knee) MELBOURNE B: Neville Jetta, Oscar McDonald, Jordan Lewis HB: Christian Salem, Sam Frost, Michael Hibberd C : Dom Tyson, Jack Viney, James Harmes HF: Jake Melksham, Tom McDonald, Angus Brayshaw F: Sam Weideman, Aaron vandenBerg, Alex Neal-Bullen Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Clayton Oliver I/C: Bayley Fritsch, Mitch Hannan, Christian Petracca, Charlie Spargo Emg: Jay Kennedy Harris, Jayden Hunt, Joel Smith, Tim Smith No change

The Casey Demons went down by the narrowest of margins to a strong Richmond VFL combination in the Round 4 game at Casey Fields on Saturday after a rushed behind to the Tigers in the game’s dying moments broke the deadlock. In a low scoring game, Casey took the early ascendency after conceding the first goal and held their lead for most of the first half going into the sheds at the main break with an 8 point lead. The Demons were led in defence by key position players, Oscar McDonald and youngster Harry Petty who often relieved the Tigers’ pressure with strong marking and bold movements out of the backline. They were well backed up by Josh Wagner. Recruit ruckman Liam Wale-Buxton had a terrific duel with Richmond’s AFL-listed Ivan Soldo in just his third game at VFL level and, although just shaded by his Tiger counterpart in the ruck duels, he contested strongly and kicked two vital goals. He was well supported by Declan Keilty who provided a hand out in the ruck and added two goals himself, including one from a screamer of a mark. Another youngster who impressed was midfielder Tom Sparrow who was hard at the ball and tackled strongly all day. The downfall for the Demons was their poor opening to the second half when they leaked four unanswered goals in the first ten minutes or so and were kept under a tight rein for the remainder of the third term. The fight back in the final quarter was led by former skipper Jack Hutchins who struck a purple patch and kicked the goal to level the game at the 23 minute mark. He was aided and abetted by experienced VFL-listers in Mitch Gent and current captain Mitch White and while the team had their chances, they fell agonisingly short in the end. The Demons face another hard task next week against Footscray VFL and will need to work hard given the number of injuries the club is experiencing at AFL level. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Scorpions 3.0.18 4.1.25 4.2.26 8.3.51 Richmond VFL 1.0.6 2.5.17 6.8.44 7.10.52 Goals Casey Demons Keilty Wale-Buxton White 2 Chandler Hutchins Richmond VFL Chol 2 Aarts Bolton Butler Moore Townsend Best Casey Demons Wale-Buxton White Hutchins McDonald J Wagner C Wagner Richmond VFL Bolton Collier-Dawkins Morris Townsend Menadue Naish Statistics Oskar Baker 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 68 dream team points Toby Bedford 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 2 tackles dream 13 team points Jaxon Briggs 4 kicks 3 handballs 7disposals 3 marks 1 tackles 31 dream team points Kade Chandler 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 6 handballs 13 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 50 dream team points Jake Di Pasquale 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 marks 14 dream team points Tom Freeman 6 kicks 8 handballs 14 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 54 dream team points Mitch Gent 10 kicks 12 handballs 22 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 63 dream team points Jack Hutchins 1 goal 6 kicks 1 handballs 7 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 40 dream team points James Jordon 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 51 dream team points Declan Keilty 2 goals 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 6 hit outs 75 dream team points Mitchell Lewis 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 37 dream team points Tom McCaffrey 2 kicks 1 handballs 3 disposals 1 mark 5 dream team points Oscar McDonald 17 kicks 5 handballs 22 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 73 dream team points James Munro 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 2 marks 11 tackles 94 dream team points Harrison Petty 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 53 dream team points Aidan Quigley 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 48 dream team points Charlie Spargo 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 57 dream team points Tom Sparrow 13 kicks 5 handballs 18 disposals 2 marks 12 tackles 100 dream team points Luke Tynan 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 3 marks 1 tackles 23 dream team points Corey Wagner 13 kicks 7 handballs 20 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 77 dream team points Josh Wagner 12 kicks 8 handballs 20 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 85 dream team points Liam Wale-Buxton 2 goals 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 31 hit outs 117 dream team points Mitchell White 2 goals 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 1 hit out 77 dream team points

POINT CRASH by KC from Casey The Casey Demons went down by the narrowest of margins to a strong Richmond VFL combination in the Round 4 game at Casey Fields on Saturday after a rushed behind to the Tigers in the game’s dying moments broke the deadlock. In a low scoring game, Casey took the early ascendency after conceding the first goal and held their lead for most of the first half going into the sheds at the main break with an 8 point lead. The Demons were led in defence by key position players, Oscar McDonald and youngster Harry Petty who often relieved the Tigers’ pressure with strong marking and bold movements out of the backline. They were well backed up by Josh Wagner. Recruit ruckman Liam Wale-Buxton had a terrific duel with Richmond’s AFL-listed Ivan Soldo in just his third game at VFL level and, although just shaded by his Tiger counterpart in the ruck duels, he contested strongly and kicked two vital goals. He was well supported by Declan Keilty who provided a hand out in the ruck and added two goals himself, including one from a screamer of a mark. Another youngster who impressed was midfielder Tom Sparrow who was hard at the ball and tackled strongly all day. The downfall for the Demons was their poor opening to the second half when they leaked four unanswered goals in the first ten minutes or so and were kept under a tight rein for the remainder of the third term. The fight back in the final quarter was led by former skipper Jack Hutchins who struck a purple patch and kicked the goal to level the game at the 23 minute mark. He was aided and abetted by experienced VFL-listers in Mitch Gent and current captain Mitch White and while the team had their chances, they fell agonisingly short in the end. The Demons face another hard task next week against Footscray VFL and will need to work hard given the number of injuries the club is experiencing at AFL level. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Scorpions 3.0.18 4.1.25 4.2.26 8.3.51 Richmond VFL 1.0.6 2.5.17 6.8.44 7.10.52 Goals Casey Demons Keilty Wale-Buxton White 2 Chandler Hutchins Richmond VFL Chol 2 Aarts Bolton Butler Moore Townsend Best Casey Demons Wale-Buxton White Hutchins McDonald J Wagner C Wagner Richmond VFL Bolton Collier-Dawkins Morris Townsend Menadue Naish Statistics Oskar Baker 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 68 dream team points Toby Bedford 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 2 tackles dream 13 team points Jaxon Briggs 4 kicks 3 handballs 7disposals 3 marks 1 tackles 31 dream team points Kade Chandler 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 6 handballs 13 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 50 dream team points Jake Di Pasquale 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 marks 14 dream team points Tom Freeman 6 kicks 8 handballs 14 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 54 dream team points Mitch Gent 10 kicks 12 handballs 22 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 63 dream team points Jack Hutchins 1 goal 6 kicks 1 handballs 7 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 40 dream team points James Jordon 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 51 dream team points Declan Keilty 2 goals 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 6 hit outs 75 dream team points Mitchell Lewis 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 37 dream team points Tom McCaffrey 2 kicks 1 handballs 3 disposals 1 mark 5 dream team points Oscar McDonald 17 kicks 5 handballs 22 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 73 dream team points James Munro 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 2 marks 11 tackles 94 dream team points Harrison Petty 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 53 dream team points Aidan Quigley 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 48 dream team points Charlie Spargo 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 57 dream team points Tom Sparrow 13 kicks 5 handballs 18 disposals 2 marks 12 tackles 100 dream team points Luke Tynan 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 3 marks 1 tackles 23 dream team points Corey Wagner 13 kicks 7 handballs 20 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 77 dream team points Josh Wagner 12 kicks 8 handballs 20 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 85 dream team points Liam Wale-Buxton 2 goals 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 31 hit outs 117 dream team points Mitchell White 2 goals 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 1 hit out 77 dream team points

Nothing has changed

Max Gawn, the new leader Progressive 59. Max Gawn 57. Angus Brayshaw 51. Clayton Oliver 47. Christian Salem 36. James Harmes 22. Jake Melksham 18. Marty Hore 17. Sam Frost 15. Nathan Jones Jack Viney 12. Jayden Hunt 6. Michael Hibberd 4. Bayley Fritsch Tom McDonald Braydon Preuss 3. Corey Wagner 2. Jay Lockhart Alex Neal-Bullen Christian Petracca 1. Neville Jetta Billy Stretch

The Last Post sounded out in memory of the fallen around a packed MCG at the Anzac Eve match against Richmond. The silence of the crowd assembled was in tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. But the Last Post was also an appropriate symbol of the finals aspirations now gone for the Melbourne Football club, after a mere six rounds of the 2019 Season. How far has this team fallen! From a Preliminary final contestant barely six months ago, to cellar dweller in 2019. From a trumpeter sounding out the Grand Old Flag as victory beckoned, to a bugler sounding out the end of day, or no return for the fallen. The match opened hopefully for the Demons, and they led at the first break. Michael Hibberd moved into the centre to tag Martin was a brilliant move and he held him to a mere 17 possessions for the match when he is normally a game breaker. Jake Melksham moved up the field to get his hands on the ball. Tom McDonald to defence to bolster that area, Nathan Jones into the forward line. All positive moves which proved successful. But not for long, as the now recurring problems in the forward line again raised their ugly head. Tim Smith coming off the rookie list, provided more of a target up front, but the lack of contribution from Weideman and Garlett was again telling. Not just from the scoring perspective, but the willingness to run, chase and tackle to keep the ball in the forward half. When Vlaustin and Houli have 60 disposals between them, there is something seriously deficient with the efforts from their opponents. And this was done in the absence of Rance. The coaches fell into the trap again of stealing either Smith or Weideman to do ruck duties, which left the forward line bereft of a tall. Little wonder that Melbourne (save for a doubtful 50m penalty paid to Fritsch in the final quarter) would have scored a solitary goal in the remaining 3 quarters of the game! Worse still was the simple turnovers/clangers/critical errors across the ground. Eighty-one from Melbourne, and while Richmond caused 62 of their own, the difference just becomes telling in a match where only 18 goals are scored. While managing to shoot themselves in the foot time and time again, the Demons were only a 8 points down at ½ time and 16 points at ¾ time. Not all that far away, but then badly fell away in the last. Once again the spaces opened up as Melbourne players, particularly those around the ball didn’t cover their man, and incredibly once again we found outselves with no players on the outside covering the opposition mids. This is why we were opened up in previous matches, and when the same happened in this game, the floodgates lifted. Max Gawn gave his best, yet again. Incredibly among such a talented group of mids from both sides, he amassed 13 contested possessions and 7 clearances! This in addition to his 48 hitouts. Again on the backline, Christian Salem was a standout with 17 touches most of which are drilled down a Melbourne players throat. Without his input the situation would have been seriously dangerous. More so, when Jordan Lewis spent most of the night slipping over and squandering opportunities, as the body simply is not responding to what the mind is telling him to do. The addition of Tom Mac helped cover plenty of holes down back as well, but the poor bloke cannot run and is obviously carrying an injury. What is there to do? Not much when we give the ball to the opposition on such a regular basis. Not much when we bring ANB and Garlett back to discover, yet again, they run around plenty but can’t get to where the ball is at. Not much when the two important defenders are another month or more away. Not much until the forward line starts putting in some serious work around their opponents to stop the rebounding. And that it has to be bolstered by a player from the Rookie list, as there are no other options. Until then the Last Post should be played at many more of the remaining games for the Club. Melbourne 4.1.25 4.2.26 5.5.35 6.6.42 Richmond 3.1.19 5.4.34 7.9.51 12.13.85 Goals Melbourne Fritsch Gawn Hunt Lockhart Neal-Bullen T Smith Richmond Castagna 3 Baker Ellis Riewoldt 2 Lynch McIntosh Martin Best Melbourne Gawn Melksham Oliver Brayshaw T McDonald, Stretch Richmond Vlastuin Houli Prestia Lambert Baker Riewoldt Injuries Melbourne Neal-Bullen (hamstring) Viney (shoulder) Richmond Astbury (ankle) Riewoldt (knee) Reports Melbourne Nil Richmond Nil Umpires Rosebury, Williamson, Fleer Official crowd 72,704 at the MCG

Seriously?

Your choices for the best six players on the night please - 6,5,4,3,2,1 ...

Rooke and Chaplin need to be moved on at the years end.

We're even tapping and kicking off the ground to them.

The sooner we stop handballing everytime we get the ball the better.

Richmond supporters are feral. They've had an armchair ride from the umps all night and boo everything.

How bad were teams last year to make us look good?

Fumble city.

I wish we could hit our forwards like we hit their backs.

Our disposal is the worst I've ever seen from a Melbourne team.

Nothing to see here. Protected species.

Smith > Weideman. Fight me.