Whispering_Jack

I'll be there with my son and two grandsons one of who celebrates his sixth birthday on the day of the game. I hope some Demon fans turn up to keep us company and the team duly wins for the lad's sake. Perhaps Freo could organise the orange rent a crowd who GWS use for a crowd and dress them up in purple.

One week penalty for some sort of indiscretion in the final quarter v Richmond. Can play one quarter v Freo if he shaves the mo.

Thanks Nasher. You've been providing great service for the Demonland and Demonology Internet community for a long time and your work is greatly appreciated. Last time we went through this I lost my avatar for a while. I hope there's no danger of that this time?

Sadly, a highly unlikely scenario since Pendlebury's due back next week and the Pies have great reserve strength. I would put last night down as an aberration. Still, the way the ladder is ATM, they might fall to fifth at the end of this round if the other favourites get up. Even a minor slump in form involving any of the top six could spell doom to their top four and ultimately, their premiership chances. I'm sure the AFL would love it if Collingwood finished 5th and Carlton 8th to set up an Elimination Final match up between those two clubs in the first week of the finals. As for Wellingham - see ya in a month's time. Magpie on report

With Jack Viney coming back last Friday after a 6 week break with injury during which time he lost 8kg it wouldn't be a good idea for him to play another game 5 days later. He shouldn't be pushed too hard - that's it.

Hardly a tough two week sanction when Richmond's opposition in those 2 weeks just happen to be 16th and 18th.

Please keep to the topic folks and no bickering.

Posters - please use caution in the discussion until the full story has been made public. Thank you.

What does that mean?

THE WRITING ON THE WALL by Grapeviney At some point between Melbourne's unexpected victory over the Bombers on a wintry Saturday night last month, and quarter time against expansion team GWS a few weeks later, Demons supporters could have been forgiven for thinking that their team might purge their miserable 2012 season opening loss to the Lions with a victory in the return match in Brisbane on Sunday. Sure, the Demons' 2-10 win-loss ratio heading in to the Brisbane game was nothing to write home about, but there were increasing signs that Mark Neeld's charges were starting to adapt to the new coach's game-plan and vision. Some of that optimism had dissipated in the wake of Melbourne's 78-point thumping of the Giants, when the club learned of the season-ending foot injury to gun recruit Mitch Clark, who before yesterday's game had bagged an admirable 25 per cent of the Demons' goals in season 2012. But with the movement of Colin Garland and Jared Rivers to the forward line paying dividends, there seemed to be cause for hope even with Clark sidelined. Hope turned to dismay, however, before the Lions game, with news that Mark Jamar and Nathan Jones were late withdrawals, and any chance that the Demons had of causing an upset disappeared in the opening minutes of the match, when improving defender Tom McDonald copped a knee to the abdomen and had to be hospitalised with a suspected punctured lung. In isolation, Melbourne might have been able to handle these setbacks, but taken together, the side was seriously undermined whichever way Neeld chose to position his troops. To his credit, the coach didn't panic when McDonald went down, and while it left an undersized Watts matched up against the Lions' man-mountain in Brown for a short time, Neeld's faith in the starting line-up seemed to pay dividends when the Demons drew within a point of the home side late in the first quarter. But the writing was on the wall, even in that first term. While Melbourne could only manage to score goals best described as opportunistic, Brisbane had little trouble finding avenues forward, and two late goals to Brown saw the home side slip away to a handy lead that would only increase as the day wore on. From there, it was only a matter of filling in the details. Melbourne contested the hard ball well, and there was little to separate the two sides in the clearances, inside-50's, and contested possessions, but the Demons failed to register a major in the second term and could only manage a solitary goal in the third as Brisbane moved the ball with ease from half back to set up scoring chances in their forward 50. In contrast, the Demons struggled – as they have for much of the year - to run and spread and move the ball with speed, and they regularly broke down at half forward. Stef Martin made a triumphant return to senior football, displaying the form which saw him fill in so successfully for an injured Jamar last year, and Joel Macdonald answered his many critics by complementing his usual hardness at the ball with an 88-per cent disposal efficiency. Jeremy Howe continued to show why he is one of the more promising names on the club's list, and Jordie McKenzie played the rugged, no-nonsense type of game MFC supporters have come to expect from him. With Melbourne facing the Tigers – a team with much to play for and an impressive midfield – this week, it's going to take an effort of Herculean proportions if the Demons are to return to the winner's circle Melbourne 3.6.24 3.8.26 4.11.35 8.13.61 Brisbane Lions 6.1.37 9.60 13.11.89 18.14.122 Goals Melbourne Blease 2 Bail Bate Garland Howe McKenzie Sylvia Brisbane Lions Brown 4 Hanley McGrath 3 Green 2 Bewick Black Merrett Polec Redden Zorko Best Melbourne Howe Macdonald Sylvia Blease Martin Watts Brisbane Lions Rich Brown Black Rockliff Harwood Hanley Injuries Melbourne Tom McDonald (lung) Brisbane Lions McGrath (hamstring) Changes Melbourne Mark Jamar and Nathan Jones replaced in the selected side by Jake Spencer and Sam Blease Brisbane Lions Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Brisbane Lions Nil Umpires Kamolins Jennings Mollison Crowd 22,114, at Gabba

No. Cam was a bit hasty because he saw what he believed was the writing on the wall and left of his volition when he could have remained a one club player. Now he's a three club player - Melbourne, Hawthorn and Box Hill. He's past it now - we could do with one or two experienced players but they need to have some life in the AFL left.

I'm not a doctor Jaded but I've heard that it's not as bad as first thought. A week or two perhaps. In the meantime, Troy Davis was on the verge of selection a couple of weeks ago and, though his form has lapsed a bit at Casey, I think it's time for him to get a run.

Sheedy is trying to avert the disaster that's befallen the GC Suns in their second season. It's a good move because they can't rely on their veterans such a Cornes, Brogan, Power and Junior to give them the sort of back up support supplied this year. I suspect also that they can't go out and buy too many expensive players either as the day will come when they have to negotiate new contracts with some of their younger breed of promising young players who are doing well enough to start asking questions about their contract values compared to the millionaire on the list who isn't exactly performing all that well.

Tom McDonald

first report.

Still leading Inside 50's (31-24) but just haven't got anyone up there to score.

All good experience for Jack. Won't hurt.

Incredibly, we lead the inside 50s by 18-11 and trail at quarter time by 13 points. Shows the value of a dominant KPF. They have JB and we've lost MC.

Before anyone gets too carried away, we still have 10 games left and a couple of the clubs ahead of us are looking decidedly shaky. Picks 3 and 4 could well turn into picks 5 and 6. My feeling is we will be forced to part with our first pick to get Jack Viney and it will be a considered a good get in future years. Pick 6 should still get us a quality midfielder but not necessarily the most explosive player in the draft. However, we should have learnt by now that it's not only important that we get players with natural talent but it's how we develop that talent that counts.

He's posturing and he's being obnoxious but it's all show for the toothless army of Magpie supporters. He gets away with this because it's Collingwood, they're powerful on the field and have heavy financial clout. Another club president might even get a "please explain" letter from Vlad but Eddie knows he can get away with it so he does as he pleases. I wish we were in a position to do that.

For starters, Lewis Jetta is Neville's cousin and, at the time, Lewis had been playing in one of the local competitions. The season was over and there was no opportunity for any recruiting people to see what he's like in action. Recruiting people get hundreds of tips like the one Mrs. Jetta gave and she's a wise woman but we were simply out of luck on this one.

Something wasn't quite right today and I suspect that today's team was a fair distance from the best Casey can produce. Firstly, none of the three emergencies for Melbourne v Brisbane were available. Secondly, I thought a few of the players dropped to the development team were a bit stiff. Jai Sheahan has been terrific in defence for Casey for most of the year while McGough and Collins also played well last week. With Melbourne playing on Saturday next weekend, all three emergencies should saddle up for Casey v Port on Sunday and I would expect a better performance.

People. Just to let you know that you should not give up on Demonology. There are discussions taking place and a meeting will be organised shortly to see what can be done. In the meantime, please feel welcome to discuss the nostalgic past and keep the conversation going here. I'll post when I can report something a little more concrete.

Going on match stats alone, Viney had 3 disposals more than the #1 pick Lachie Whitfield. Not bad for a kid having a hit out at this level about 6 weeks after suffering a broken jaw and with only one school outing in between. Let's hope we can cut a deal with AFL/GWS/GCS and Julai Gillard to ensure that we don't have to use our first pick on him but either way, he's worth it. I suspect he's more popular around these parts than Tom Scully and it will be interesting to see what happens if they ever clash (although, and I have the greatest admiration of young Tom's ability, I'm not sure that Scully will go into the same places that Jack will find himself in games if you know what I mean).