Demonland

TURNAROUND by KC from Casey It is truly amazing what a difference eight days can make in the life and times of a football club. It was a little over a week ago that the Casey Demons side were literally crushed into submission by the Werribee Tigers at Avalon Airport Oval. The losing margin in that game was not huge but the way they struggled to produce and cohesion in their play was obvious for all to see. On Sunday at Casey Fields as part of heritage week, the team wore the Springvale FC jumper and made its own turnaround in time against Collingwood VFL. And it was a dramatic turnaround that was told on the scoreboard in terms of a 63 point win that might well reignite the club’s season. The difference can be explained mainly in terms of the number of AFL-listed players available to Casey Demons head coach Jade Rawlings and to the infusion of a wealth of experience at the highest level which they brought with them in the game. This automatically added to the confidence level of every player and they were all able to take risks and produce efforts that have simply been out of the question over the past couple of months. The return of Jordan Lewis from a suspension brought with it a significant amount of on field leadership and flair. Lewis himself spent a great deal of time in the midfield where he picked up 30 possessions, took eight marks and controlled the game’s proceedings. The team’s intent was on display from the beginning as it attacked constantly in difficult conditions and against a cross wind that slightly benefited the visiting team. Six minutes into the game, Casey had three goals on the board and led 20-0. The Pies fought back but the home side maintained control with a three goal burst in the middle of the second term seeing them off to a handy 34 point half time lead. Throughout the day, the defence led by Harry Petty was superb as it strangled the life out of the Collingwood attack. Having forced the opposition into submission, the Casey Demons turned the second half into a cakewalk as they coasted away to a comprehensive 15.12.102 to 6.3.39 in which the incoming talent flourished. Apart from Lewis, Kade Kolondjashnij was a standout showing glimpses of his early form at the Suns and collecting 28 touches. Jay Lockhart (24 possessions) underlined how much he has improved with a few AFL games under his belt, as did Corey Wagner who was brilliant in accumulating 27 touches. The Demons would also be pleased with mid season draft pick Kyle Dunkley who booted three goals, accumulated 21 disposals and showed enough to suggest that he might be heading for AFL honours at some stage as the season progresses. Dunkley’s three goals were matched by skipper Mitch White who was strong in the air (10 marks) and around the ground. Jimmy Munro and Will Collis were also strong contributors for the Demons. The Casey Demons cause was enhanced by the strength of Braydon Preuss in the ruck and around the ground. He was capably backed up by Declan Keilty while lightly built ruck rookie Austin Bradtke also showed promise in his maiden VFL appearance after spending some time in the NAB Under 18 League. The team has a bye next week and then faces up to the difficult task of pushing a claim from a long way back for finals honours. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Demons 4.5.29 7.11.53 9.11.65 15.12.102 Collingwood VFL 2.0.12 3.1.19 5.2.32 6.3.39 Goals Casey Demons Dunkley White 3 Chandler Lefau C Wagner 2 Lockhart Neal-Bullen Preuss Collingwood VFL Reid 2 Cameron Gallucci Hellier Oxley Best Casey Demons Lockhart Petty C Wagner J Lewis Dunkley W Collis Collingwood VFL Reid Scharenberg Hustwaite Glover Gallucci Lane Statistics Toby Bedford 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 2 tackles 20 dream team points Austin Bradkte 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 4 hit outs 35 dream team points Heath Briggs 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 35 dream team points Kade Chandler 2 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 80 dream team points Wayne Collis 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 1 tackles 49 dream team points Kyle Dunkley 3 goals 17 kicks 4 handballs 21 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 112 dream team points Tom Freeman 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 tackle 14 dream team points Jack Hutchins 11 kicks 5 handballs 16 disposals 6 marks 62 dream team points James Jordon 1 behind 12 kicks 3 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 64 dream team points Declan Keilty 7 kicks 6 handballs 13 disposals 7 marks 6 tackles 14 hit outs 93 dream team points Jay Kennedy Harris 1 behind 19 kicks 6 handballs 25 disposals 11 marks 3 tackles 115 dream team points Kade Kolodjashnij 2 behinds 17 kicks 11 handballs 28 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 109 dream team points Mykelti Lefau 1 goal 1 behind 6 kicks 1 handballs 7 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 58 dream team points Jordan Lewis 11 kicks 19 handballs 30 disposals 8 marks 3 tackles 106 dream team points Jay Lockhart 1 goal 17 kicks 7 handballs 24 disposals 11 marks 7 tackles 127 dream team points James Munro 16 kicks 11 handballs 27 disposals 8 marks 2 tackles 99 dream team points Alex Neal-Bullen 1 goal 1 behind 8 kicks 7 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 72 dream team points Harry Petty 10 kicks 8 handballs 18 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 77 dream team points Braydon Preuss 1 goal 3 behinds 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 6 marks 6 tackles 40 hit outs 140 dream team points Cory Stockdale 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 41 dream team points Anthony Vella 9 kicks 2 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 45 dream team points Corey Wagner 2 goals 1 behind 20 kicks 7 handballs 27 disposals 5 marks 8 tackles 137 dream team points Mitchell White 3 goals 13 kicks 10 handballs 23 disposals 10 marks 1 tackle 108 dream team points

In the coming weeks Rod "Balls" Grinter will be our special guest on the Demonland Podcast. Got a question for Balls then let's us know.

Another fan ejected.

Please no discussion of rumours about a players alleged off-field issues. You guys should know better than that.

Not just the bump but the follow up goal too.

In the coming weeks (most likely during the bye) we'll be interviewing former Demon Captain David Neitz on the Demonland Podcast. Let us know if you've got a question for Neita.

Do the results of these games matter anymore?

Former Dees Captain David Neitz has a beer company and they're releasing a Demon Brew. Love the logo and the colouring of the bottles. Register for early presale access: https://t.co/IpPCLVW995

Take the discussion about the team to the PREGAME THREAD:

Once it's up on Facebook feel free to post a link to it here. Good luck.

If you can post a photo of the jumper, the signature and the certificate it would go a long way to getting more interest.

Or this:

They should go back to the original.

There are many who would argue that Melbourne’s current woes go back a full decade to their Queens Birthday engagement of 2009 when the Demons selected a young VCE student Jack Watts to make his debut on the MCG in front of what was expected to be the club’s biggest crowd for a game described as the club’s “grand final in June”. That was the way of the world for the Dean Bailey coached Demons. The critics were skeptical of Melbourne’s decision to put a wet behind the ears schoolboy (albeit that he was a number 1 draft pick) under such immense pressure in his first AFL game against a team that had a big edge in talent and experience. When Watts was tested out physically by a school of Magpies who corralled him in a corner, the critics screamed in condemnatory terms accusing the club of sacrificing its valuable young colt on the altar for some sort of public relations stunt. The cloud of that introduction hung darkly over the player, his coaches and club officialdom for years to come and it hovered there until Jack Watts and Melbourne parted company at the end of 2017. The Demons were traveling along nicely playing an uncompromising brand of football at the half way mark of the following season but, when they came to their first Queens Birthday clash without Watts who by now, was happily ensconced outside of Victoria with Port Adelaide Power, they hit a massive snag. Max Gawn was beaten in the ruck by Brodie Grundy, Mason Cox returned to form and kicked five goals and the Pies’ midfield set up the prototype game to overcome Melbourne’s power charged on ball division. Collingwood’s last half yielded them 11 goals from 15 shots at goal. Sound familiar? Twelve months down the track and the injury riddled, wayward Demons are placed 16th on the ladder and with hope of making the finals all but lost. Max Gawn remains a ruck force but his opponent Grundy has taken over the mantle of the AFL's premier ruckman. Melbourne has a few things going for it as it approaches the weekend’s Big Freeze game against the third-placed Pies. Their injury woes are moderating and a number of players are in the mix to return to the team and particularly to shore up the defence which has been leaking easy goals with regularity. There will be a lot more pressure applied to the opposition attack this week so that we might actually see a regular football score than the 14.6, 13.7, 9.6, 15.5 or 20.6 such as we’ve seen to date. The fact that Collingwood will have a few outs from injury might also help balance the ledger and the Magpies are also under the pump to avoid a second successive upset loss at the MCG which would send them back into the pack. Last year, the Dees were the hunted but this time they are the hunters. They won’t make the mistake of throwing a young rookie into the fray as they did ten years ago but they probably won’t be able to make up the gulf in talent of the personnel available to each of the clubs either. Collingwood by 27 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at the MCG Monday 10 June, 2019 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 83 wins, Collingwood 148 wins, 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 63 wins, Collingwood 81 wins, 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 3 wins, Collingwood 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 1 win, Buckley 2 wins MEDIA TV - Channel 7, Fox Footy Channel live at 3.00pm Radio - Triple M 3AW SEN ABC LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 20.13.133 defeated Melbourne 14.7.91 at the MCG in Round 12, 2018 The Demons came into the game as favourites but it was clear that the Magpies meant business. Brodie Grundy beat Max Gawn and this went a long way to nullifying the Melbourne midfield’s grunt. They managed to get the ball to the outside where they overran the Demons and Mason Cox finished them off with his height advantage up forward. THE TEAMS THE TEAMS COLLINGWOOD VFL B Brayden Maynard Jordan Roughead Levi Greenwood HB Jack Crisp Darcy Moore Jeremy Howe C Tom Phillips Scott Pendlebury Chris Mayne HF Josh Thomas Brody Mihocek Will Hoskin-Elliott F Jaidyn Stephenson Jordan De Goey Callum L. Brown FOLL Brodie Grundy Steele Sidebottom Adam Treloar I/C James Aish Mason Cox Brayden Sier Travis Varcoe EMG Ben Crocker Josh Daicos Isaac Quaynor Ben Reid IN Mason Cox Brayden Sier OUT Dayne Beams (hip) Ben Reid (omitted) MELBOURNE B Michael Hibberd Steven May Jake Lever HB James Harmes Sam Frost Christian Salem C Bayley Fritsch Jack Viney Oskar Baker HF Nathan Jones Tom McDonald Jayden Hunt F Jeff Garlett Sam Weideman Christian Petracca FOLL Max Gawn Angus Brayshaw Clayton Oliver I/C Mitch Hannan Marty Hore Tim Smith Charlie Spargo EMG Alex Neal-Bullen Braydon Preuss Billy Stretch Josh Wagner IN Marty Hore Jake Lever Steven May Christian Salem OUT Jay Kennedy Harris (omitted) Oscar McDonald (omitted) Billy Stretch (omitted) Josh Wagner (omitted) Injury list: Round 12 Marty Hore (calf) – test Jake Lever (ankle) – test Harry Petty (knee) – test Corey Maynard (concussion) – 1 week Jake Melksham (foot) – 4-6 weeks Joel Smith (groin) – 4-6 weeks Aaron vandenBerg (foot) – 6-8 weeks Neville Jetta (knee) – 6-8 weeks Tom Sparrow (knee) – 8-10 weeks Guy Walker (shoulder) – indefinite Aaron Nietschke (knee) – season Pictured below is Jack Watts with fellow Brighton Grammar students including Josh Kelly, Christian Salem and Jayden Hunt.