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Forget the wishful thinking from Magpie fans who think their team can perform yet another miracle and somehow snatch a place in the 2024 finals series when their team takes on the Demons at the MCG on Friday night. It ain’t gunna happen. They can whistle Dixie through their non-existent front teeth but the fact of the matter is that both teams have run their race. The game is a dead rubber — for each of them, this will be the last dance of the season. And given the history between the two clubs and the traditional rivalry that’s attached to their relationship, it’s unlikely that the thousands who turn up will be witnessing a dance of love like a slow waltz. Back in the good old days when there were only 12 teams in the competition, it would have been unthinkable that they were playing the last game sitting in 10th and 12th places respectively (and separated only by Essendon), but that’s the modern game as it hurtles towards an equally unthinkable possible grand final against two sides from Sydney. When the final round clash between Melbourne and Collingwood was first announced to take place on the Friday night of the ultimate round of the 2024 season, AFL officials, club personnel and the players and fans themselves were salivating at the thought of these teams fighting tooth and nail take part in finals glory but it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Now, it might not be the expected blockbuster but it could still pack in some of the action reminiscent of a final. The recent history between these old rivals has also been somewhat volatile. Some would argue the outcomes of their two most recent matches were decided by sickening early game blows (both deemed “legitimate football acts”) that caused severe physical damage to Melbourne’s first and second draft picks from 2014 in Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw. The incidents certainly reinforced the lack of confidence and ability on the part of the Demons to hit their targets with ball in hand in those games and indeed, they suggest that they have routinely succumbed to heat and pressure applied by the Magpies. This is clear from the results of the five meetings between the clubs since Melbourne’s premiership triumph in 2021 (see table below) of which Collingwood has won four. The Pies have scored a total of 59 goals 35 behinds (62.76% scoring accuracy) and conceded 42 goals 63 behinds (40%) to the Demons to overwhelm their opponents despite being well behind in scoring shots. There’s little doubt that for a Melbourne victory, it needs to improve its forward connection, to kick straight and to considerably tighten up the pressure rating. That’s easier said than done when you consider that the Demons go into the game with an emaciated on ball division lacking Petracca, Oliver, Brayshaw and Sparrow from it’s premiership lineup. Last week, Jack Viney was expected to carry it all himself with help from big Max in the ruck and midfield newcomer Trent Rivers but can we expect him to do it against its 2023 premiership counterpart (minus De Goey)? Let’s not forget that last week Collingwood, with Nick Daicos in full flow, stormed home to overturn an 18-point deficit in the last few minutes to beat Brisbane by a point. Melbourne will be relying on Alex Neal-Bullen to repeat his performance from King’s Birthday in nullifying the young Magpie star in his last game for the club. Despite the hyphen’s achievement, it still didn’t spell victory against a team depleted by injury. All because that team had enough players like Daicos’ brother Josh who had the ability and decision-making nous to find space and effectively deliver the football to teammates further afield. And a bit of help from ruckmen intent on hoeing into Max while the umpires looked askance at their multiple indiscretions. Throughout the last season or so, coach Simon Goodwin has promised fans that he was working on the front of goal problem. There have been some glimmers of hope and last week against the Suns, we saw a ray of sunshine with Daniel Turner, Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen scoring multiple goals in the same game. Their task will be more difficult this week with the Collingwood faithful who always turn up in their droves to provide the noise of affirmation to bring their side home. Both teams are coming off six day breaks but the Demons are coming off a flight back from an interstate game played in hot trying conditions. These are the main reasons why I’m tipping Collingwood to take the lead and win the last dance by 17 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at the MCG, Friday 23 August 2024 at 7.40pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Collingwood 155 wins Melbourne 85 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Collingwood 87 wins Melbourne 64 wins 3 drawn Last five meetings Collingwood 4 wins Melbourne 1 win The Coaches McCrae 4 wins Goodwin 1 win LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 14.5.89 defeated Melbourne 6.15.51 at the MCG in Round 13, 2024 Max Gawn’s 45 hitouts and 9 marks weren’t enough to overcome a major bout of the yips in front of goals. From the outset, Melbourne’s forwards were hitting the post with gettable shots for goal while Collingwood’s couldn’t miss, even the tough ones from difficult angles. Just before quarter time, Christian Petracca suffered what has been described as “life-altering injury” that ruptured his spleen when Magpie skipper Darcy Moore plowed through his back and ribs. The Pies gained the momentum among the chaos but, while Alex Neal-Bullen held Nick Daicos to 15 possessions and a goal, brother Josh got off the leash to take out best on ground honours with 34 touches. THOSE LAST FIVE MEETINGS Round 13, 2024 — Collingwood 14.5.89 defeated Melbourne 6.15.51 Qualifying Final, 2023 — Collingwood 9.6.60 defeated Melbourne 7.11.53 Round 13, 2023 — Melbourne 8.18.66 defeated Collingwood 9.8.62 Round 21, 2022 — Collingwood 15.6.96 defeated Melbourne 13.11.89 Round 13, 2022 — Collingwood 12.10.82 defeated Melbourne 8.8.56 THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B M. Hore, T. McDonald, J. McVee HB J. Bowey, A. Tomlinson, B. Howes C E. Langdon, J. Viney, C. Salem HF K. Chandler, H. Petty, J. Billings F K. Pickett, J. Van Rooyen, B. Fritsch FOLL M. Gawn, A. Neal-Bullen, T. Rivers I/C B. Howes, J. Melksham, K. Tholstrup, D. Turner T. Woewodin SUB B. Laurie EMG K. Brown, M. Jefferson IN B. Laurie, T. Woewodin OUT J. Lever (illness), T. Sparrow (ankle) COLLINGWOOD B C. Dean, D. Moore, B. Maynard HB W. Hoskin-Elliott, J. Howe, I. Quaynor C S. Sidebottom, J. Crisp, J. Daicos HF B. Hill, L. Schultz, J. Elliott F B. McCreery, M. Cox, P. Lipinski FOLL D. Cameron, N. Daicos, S. Pendlebury I/C E. Allan, J. Noble, W. Parker, J. Richards SUB F. MacRae EMG B. Frampton, N. Long, J. Ryan IN E. Allan, C. Dean, F. Macrae, J. Richards OUT J.Bytel (omitted), B.Frampton (omitted), N. Long (omitted), D. McStay (managed) Injury List: Round 24 Tom Sparrow — ankle / season Steven May — ribs / season Clayton Oliver — knee, ribs / season Caleb Windsor — ankle / season Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

I have been thinking a lot recently about the controversy surrounding the sport of breaking and the Aussie trailblazer Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn who became a viral sensation on social media for underachieving in that sport at the Paris Olympic Games. My concern is that the Melbourne Football Club is following a similar tangent of her spectacularly appalling 18-0, 18-0, 18-0 kangaroo and sprinkler Olympic routine debacles in competition against the USA, France and Lithuania respectively. That followed on from a paper which Raygun co-authored in which she argued that breaking doesn’t fit with the “idealized” Australian sporting hero who has a “large, muscular, White, cismale uniformed body.” This should worry the hell out of any thinking fan who has followed the club’s decline from its premiership flag in 2021 to 13th place at this stage of the 2024 season. True, the Demons’ disappointing year hasn’t managed to fall to Raygun’s Paris performance level yet, but the side is accumulating similar derision from all corners of the football world with daily reports of players wanting to bail out for various reasons and apparently leaves the place in a shambolic state ahead of its penultimate encounter of the season against the Gold Coast Suns at People First Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The way things are going, the club could do worse than engage a professor with a PhD in cultural studies just to find the venue before the game. There have been so many name changes at the stadium in recent years that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to locate unless you have a modern up to date map of the Carrara hinterland. For those in doubt, it’s the place they called “Metricon Stadium” two years ago, “Heritage Bank Stadium” last year and now that it’s been taken over by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, “People First Stadium”. The problem for visitors from outside is that under the rule of supreme leader Kim Jong Un Hardwick, football clubs that come in from the outside are not permitted to win there on fear of death which explains why the Suns have been dominant at home this year. They boast a perfect 9-0 record as hosts of interstate sides which presents the flailing Demons with their first — and major — challenge. How to win where others with better credentials, less injury stress and more players on board for the long journey have tried and failed? Well Demon fans, just as it always seems to happen in troubled times, there is a silver lining for both Raygun and the Melbourne Football Club. In her case, the social media storm has also brought about instant fame on the world stage, massive support from those affronted by the naysayers and countless future opportunities for her to make a financial fortune out of her situation. In Melbourne’s case, the club is adamant that it will go about business as usual to get itself off the canvas like a true cismale prize fighter (and no one is touching the Olympic boxing controversy here, thank you). For coach Simon Goodwin, there will be no giving up and no slacking off to finish low and win better draft picks and an easier fixture next year. As he said this week: “We won’t be backing off one bit in terms of how we go about our footy." That’s the spirit of Melbourne and the culture he’s instilled in the club. For all of the criticism the team is facing from the media and the peanut gallery, the very depleted and wounded Demons have in the past three weeks lost games to the second and third placed clubs each by the very narrow margin of two points in toss-of-the-coin contests that could have gone either way. And not long before that, they suffered another similar close defeat to the Brisbane Lions on their home territory, proving that the Sunshine State will hold no fears for this team, irrespective of what regime is in power. Last week, these teams were on different sides of that fine line between victory and defeat. In Melbourne’s case, it was a narrow 53-51 loss to Port Adelaide, despite another standout Max Gawn performance of 22 disposals, 44 hitouts and a goal. On the other hand, the Suns won away from home for the first time since mid-2023, with their dramatic 87-86 victory over Essendon, thanks to Mac Andrew's four goals including his after-the-siren match winner. None of this would have happened but for the Bombers’ deplorable kicking for goal (one major from ten shots) in the final term. I don’t expect that sort of thing to happen for a second week in a row. It’s true that Melbourne’s leading players are not at full fitness and the team isn’t running at full rat power. But according to Goody, the club’s leadership in Max & Jack will cross the checkpoint into People First and be out there on Saturday afternoon with their team in full readiness to take on Kim Jong Un Hardwick’s finest and they won’t be throwing in the towel the way Carlton did at Melbourne’s comic book stadium last Sunday. And forget about the Suns’ magnificent home record this year because the Demons have an even bigger record to protect, having won the last 11 encounters between the two teams. Despite, the form of whiz kids in Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson, the rucking ability of Jarrod Witts and their new found forward force Mac Andrew who the Suns stole from the Demons a few years ago, the Demons should not worry. Kozzie Pickett who fortunately does not possess a “White, cismale uniformed body” loves the challenge of kicking goals and weaving his magic in far flung places of his continent. I’m also looking forward to the clash between Tom Sparrow and David Swallow just to see how the commentators cope. I’m tipping that the sun won’t be shining on the Suns at the end of the day. The Demons will follow the lead of their much maligned mentor Raygun and finish up break dancing over (and breaking the hearts of) their Gold Coast hosts. Melbourne by 10 points. THE GAME Gold Coast Suns v Melbourne at People First Stadium Saturday 17 August, 2024 at 1.45pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall - Gold Coast Suns 3 wins Melbourne 14 wins At People First Stadium - Gold Coast Suns 1 win Melbourne 4 wins Past five matches - Gold Coast Suns 0 wins Melbourne 5 wins The Coaches - Hardwick 0 wins Goodwin 0 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 13.12.90 defeated Gold Coast Suns 13.7.85 at People First Stadium, Round 8 2023 It wasn’t easy for the Demons and they were level at the final break but their strength and experience got them home despite a stellar performance from Noah Anderson. Gawn, Oliver and Viney were Melbourne’s best. THE TEAMS GOLD COAST SUNS B S. Lemmens, S. Collins, L. Weller HB B. Uwland, C. Ballard, W. Powell C N. Holman, N. Anderson, S. Clohesy HF J. Rogers, J. Walter, B. Humphrey F M. Rowell, M. Andrew, B. King FOLL J. Witts, S. Flanders, T. Miller I/C C. Budarick A. Davies, W. Graham, B. Long, D. Swallow EMG D. MacPherson, N. Moyle, A. Sexton IN T. Miller OUT A. Sexton (omitted) MELBOURNE B J. Lever, A. Tomlinson, J. McVee HB M. Hore, T. McDonald, C. Salem C E. Langdon, J. Viney, A. Neal-Bullen HF J. Billings, H. Petty, K. Chandler F K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, J. Van Rooyen FOLL M. Gawn, T. Sparrow, T. Rivers I/C J. Bowey, B. Howes J. Melksham, K. Tholstrup, D. Turner EMG K. Brown, M. Jefferson, T. Woewodin IN J. Bowey OUT C. Oliver (hand, knee, ribs) Injury List: Round 23 Steven May — ribs / test Clayton Oliver — knee, ribs / season Caleb Windsor — ankle / season Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

I like the AFL’s idea of a Retro Round but I don’t think we need to go back as far as 1998 as suggested by the Melbourne Football Club. Three years will be good enough for me. I would happily travel back in time on the Demonland DMC De Laurean to Thursday 8th July 2021, a time when the fog of COVID19 was slowly lifting and Melbourne gave Port Adelaide a 31 point spanking at Adelaide Oval. Before that, there’s really not much to go retro about all the way back to the early 90s when the Port team was admitted into the VFL/AFL. Melbourne, which promised so much in the first third of the season but faltered thereafter, is now merely playing for the time when the sun goes down on it’s season at roughly 10:00pm on Friday 23 August 2024. There are too many players for who the season is over or might as well be over, for it to matter. Too many who feature in the club’s best half of players on the list have had their season ended and most of those not ruled out in that category going all the way up to are carrying injuries or for one reason or other, are playing at well below 100% capacity. This is not making excuses for an anticipated defeat but being realistic. The Demons have run into a brick wall. They are coming up on a weekly basis against teams that are highly motivated to fit into the top echelon of the competition at this juncture, are building to peak fitness and have few injuries to contend with in the march towards September. The exact opposite of what Melbourne is experiencing. Until last week, the club could rely on its highly performing defensive group but the rib injury to Steven May (almost certainly season ending) has cast a pall on its strongest link. The midfield, once so supreme, potent and confident, is struggling to win clearances. There have been numerous instances this season where that malady has appeared early enough in a game to effectively rule out a victory in quick time. What are the odds of Rozee, Butters, Horne-Francis, Wines and Drew, having plundered the top team in the competition by 112 points, allowing a weakened Melbourne into the contest? The Demons will need warriors like Max Gawn and Jack Viney who are nowhere near 100% fit themselves to lead them in the ruck and on the ball but this, in turn demands that a number of inconsistent players perform at their best. It’s a bridge too far. I’m afraid. Port Adelaide by 40 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Port Adelaide on Saturday 10 August 2024 at 7.30pm at the MCG HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 17 wins Port Adelaide 22 wins At the MCG Melbourne 8 wins Port Adelaide 3 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 4 wins Port Adelaide 1 win The Coaches Goodwin 5 wins Hinkley 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 15.6.96 defeated Port Adelaide 13.11.89 in Round 3 2024 at Adelaide Oval The Demons were in a completely different space then than they are today. They ran hard, played with confidence and took control in the final quarter, something they haven’t been able to manage to do in recent weeks. Gawn with 50 hit outs, Neal-Bullen with his football smarts and a resurgent Clayton Oliver were the stand outs. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B A. Tomlinson, J. Lever, J. McVee HB M. Hore, T. McDonald, C. Salem C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, A. Neal-Bullen HF K. Pickett, H. Petty, K. Chandler F K. Tholstrup, B. Fritsch, J. Van Rooyen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, T. Sparrow I/C J. Billings, B. Howes, T. Rivers, D. Turner SUB J. Melksham EMG K. Brown, M. Jefferson IN J. Billings, M. Hore, C. Salem, A. Tomlinson OUT J. Bowey (illness), S. May (ribs), A. Moniz-Wakefield (omitted), T. Woewodin (illness) PORT ADELAIDE B L. Jones, B. Zerk-Thatcher, M. Bergman HB L. Evans, A. Aliir, D. Houston C J. Burgoyne, O. Wines, W. Drew HF D. Byrne-Jones, T. Marshall, W. Rioli F E. Ratugolea, C. Dixon, C. Rozee FOLL J. Sweet, J. Horne-Francis, Z. Butters I/C T. Boak, F. Evans, K. Farrell, J. Mead, Q. Narkle EMG R. Burton, W. Lorenz, D. Visentini IN T. Marshall OUT M. Georgiades (quad strain) Injury List: Round 22 Steven May — ribs / TBC Christian Salem — hamstring / 1 - 2 weeks Caleb Windsor — ankle / 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

After losing their last two games in a row to finals aspirants, the Demons’ season has unravelled in the blink of an eye. They take on the Bulldogs on Friday night at Marvel Stadium in what has become a “do-or-die” contest to remain in contention for September AFL action and the reality is that they have been forced into a situation in which they are already thinking in terms of mathematical possibilities despite the fact that it’s still a close race and even with four rounds left to play. The coach and the players are facing their own Demons in what is a situation of their own making. Whether or not you like the term “eight point game”, that’s precisely what every game from now on is to the club at a time where a defeat in any of the remaining games is likely to be fatal to their chances. As I noted in my preview of last week, the gap between their best and their worst is wide both between and during games. Consistency is so important and yet, they were so inconsistent in their game last week against the Giants. They were strong in the opening term but faltered in the second. They kept GWS scoreless in the first twenty minutes of the third quarter but conceded three goals to one in seven minutes, late in the term and four in the space of five minutes early in the next before scoring the last four goals of the game to almost steal the points. The inability to apply constant pressure led to their downfall. Melbourne has had a knack in recent times of coming up against opponents at the exact moment when they are at the top of their game. That's where the Bulldogs are at the moment, particularly with their height advantage all over the ground. It starts with Tim English in ruck and extends to their intercept defenders Liam Jones, Buku Khamis and Rory Lobb and tall forwards Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy. Let’s not forget their midfield champion Marcus Bontempelli who at 194cm is the same height as Jacob van Rooyen, the Demons’ relief ruckman. And, under the stadium’s closed roof, there is no chance that an unexpected downpour can come to their aid as it did a fortnight ago when their undersized team triumphed against Essendon. The teams met in the opening round when Melbourne prevailed by 55 points at the MCG. They managed to easily subdue the taller Western Bulldogs with their superior fitness and run all over the ground. Max Gawn was too good in the ruck, the Doggies’ forward talls were nullified by the Demon defenders and the forwards had enough supply from the mids to ensure a comfortable afternoon’s work for the team. Recent form has seen a massive turnaround in the fortunes of the respective teams. While we can rely on the tall Demon defensive duo of Steven May, Jake Lever and Tom McDonald to play their role, their midfielders have let them down of late and there are major question marks about the ability of those in place without Christian Petracca and now, young speedster Caleb Windsor, to provide sufficient supply to the forwards who are not performing up to the standards required to win games and make the finals. The only hope for the Demons is the tiredness factor because of the five day break between the Dogs' last game and Friday night's encounter. However, I'm not sure that Melbourne has the ability to play four quarters of consistent, intense pressure football while facing both the Bulldogs and their own Demons. Footscray by 27 points. THE GAME Western Bulldogs v Melbourne at Marvel Stadium Friday 2 August 2024 at 7.15 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Western Bulldogs 79 wins Melbourne 92 wins 1 draw At Marvel Stadium Western Bulldogs 11 wins Melbourne 9 wins Last Five Meetings Western Bulldogs 1 win Melbourne 4 wins The Coaches Beveridge 4 wins Goodwin 8 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.13.109 defeated Western Bulldogs 9.10.64 at The MCG in Round 1, 2024 After a slow start, the Demon machine clicked into action with its relentless defence headed by Steven May smashing the Bulldogs which the old firm of Gawn, Oliver and Petracca having a slight edge on the Bulldog midfield as the team cruised to a 55-point victory. THE TEAMS FOOTSCRAY B T. Duryea, B. Khamis, N. Coffield HB L. Bramble, R. Lobb, B. Dale C L. Vandermeer, E. Richards, B. Williams HF A. Treloar, A. Naughton, J. Ugle-Hagan F C. Weightman, S. Darcy, R. West FOLL T. English, M. Bontempelli, T. Liberatore I/C C. Daniel, R. Garcia, L. Jones, L. McNeil, C. Poulter EMG O. Baker, J. Freijah, J. Macrae MELBOURNE B J. Lever, S. May, J. McVee HB J. Bowey, T. McDonald, A. Moniz-Wakefield C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, A. Neal-Bullen HF K. Pickett, J. Van Rooyen, B. Fritsch F K. Chandler, H. Petty, J. Melksham FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, T. Rivers I/C B. Howes, T. Sparrow, K. Tholstrup, D. Turner, T. Woewodin EMG J. Billings, B. Laurie, A. Tomlinson Injury List: Round 21 Jed Adams — lung / available Koltyn Tholstrup — concussion / test Christian Salem — hamstring / 1 - 2 weeks Caleb Windsor — ankle / TBC Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

"I think we have got a team that can win a premiership, and if we get in this year, I don't think there is a team that is going to want to play us. This year is not a write-off, I don't concede that. Not at all." — Collingwood President Jeff Browne. I love this sort of optimism from the Magpie President after his club’s eleven goal defeat at the hands of the fast rising Hawks. It’s consistent with the fighting spirit of the club that won last year’s flag. I only wish I could say the same about Melbourne after its own heart-wrenching capitulation to Fremantle last Sunday. However, despite the imminent return of captain Max Gawn for Saturday night’s clash against the GWS Giants and the fact that the team still sits ever so close to the top eight, there’s a pall of gloom over the club. That’s due to the inconsistency of performance that we’ve witnessed throughout the year both during games and between matches. How could the team go from crushing the previously undefeated Cats in the final quarter of their Round 8 clash to opening with nothing to five straight goals in Round 9 against Carlton and then come home with a rush at the end to just lose? How do you explain a brilliant attacking third term against the Saints followed by a near 100 point capitulation in Alice Springs a week later? A pulsating eight goal second quarter in Brisbane to go goalless in the final term and concede the same match? Or last week’s humiliating total inability to win the ball at stoppages with the previous week’s heroic attack on the football against the Bombers? Perhaps it’s the number of young, inexperienced players or the missing ruckman or the superstar upon whose shoulders they rely heavily, premiership midfielders out of form or a tiring flight interstate? These are all excuses — this week is their last chance. Perform, or most likely sit out the business end of the season with the likes of Collingwood and one or two other prospective finalists while the likes of Hawthorn shoot up the ladder for a taste of September action. The Giants are potentially vulnerable because they, like the Demons, perform their best at home and are shaky away from their own nest. However, Melbourne desperately needs to mix up its repertoire to drag itself out of the hot and cold routine rut that it has found itself in this season. With this week’s game to be played in front of a majority crowd of its own fans at the MCG, I would like to see the selectors try something different and pick two ruckmen to play in the ruck. Give Will Verrall the opportunity to be understudy to the best ruckman in the competition and give Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen roles as key position forwards. The idea might sound a little unconventional but who knows, it might help bring some consistency into the Demon equation. My own accuracy in tipping winners this year has been a little inconsistent so please forgive me for tipping the Giants who seem more focused on winning at the moment, to salute the judges by a margin of 23 points at the end of the night. THE GAME Melbourne v GWS Giants at the MCG, Saturday 27 July 2024 at 7:30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall – Melbourne 9 wins GWS Giants 8 wins At the MCG – Melbourne 5 wins GWS Giants 3 wins Past five meetings – Melbourne 2 wins GWS Giants 3 wins The Coaches – Goodwin 0 wins Kingsley 1 win THE LAST TIME THEY MET GWS Giants 7.5.47 Melbourne 5.15.45 at TIO Traeger Park, Round 16 2023 They say that bad kicking is bad football. Melbourne played some bad football on an unseasonably wet and wild day in the red heart of the country. It was all over the Giants but failed time and time to convert with a kick from outside fifty by Josh Kelly finding its way through the goals to give them the lead late in the game. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B Tom McDonald, S. May, J. McVee HB J. Bowey, J. Lever, A. Moniz-Wakefield C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF K. Pickett, J. van Rooyen, J. Melksham F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, H. Petty FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, T. Rivers I/C J. Billings, B. Laurie, A. Neal-Bullen, D. Turner, T. Woewodin EMG K. Brown, B. Howes, T. Sparrow IN M. Gawn, B. Laurie, T. Woewodin OUT C. Salem (hamstring), T. Sparrow (omitted), K. Tholstrup (concussion) GWS GIANTS B C. Idun, J. Buckley, H. Himmelberg HB L. Whitfield, S. Taylor, H. Perryman C C. Ward, T. Green, T. McMullin HF B. Daniels, Jake Riccardi, T. Bedford F T. Greene, J. Hogan, D. Jones FOLL K. Briggs, F. Callaghan, J. Peatling I/C L. Ash A. Cadman, J. Fonti, X. O’Halloran, H. Thomas EMG N. Haynes, L. Keeffe, C. Stone IN S. Taylor OUT I. Cummings (hamstring) Injury List: Round 20 Lachie Hunter — calf / available Max Gawn — ankle / test Jed Adams — lung / 1 week Koltyn Tholstrup — concussion / 1 - 2 weeks Christian Salem — hamstring / 3 - 4 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

DEMONLAND - Good evening, Demon fans and welcome back to the Demonland 2024 Grand Final Podcast ... before we took that last phone call from a Demonlander, we were discussing how the club overcame it’s midseason slump, the season-ending injury to Christian Petracca and the loss for a brief period of skipper Max Gawn due to a crack to the base of his right fibula, to slowly surge up the ladder turning our detractors into believers and how it ended the year triumphant in the finals with our captain holding aloft the premiership cup on the MCG for the first time in six decades. Oops... um, I'm not supposed to reveal that part of the script yet so … it’s back into our DMC DeLorean as we return to the present where it's your turn to make your feelings known about how the game will pan out. The Third Eye - It’s true that Melbourne is faced with a monumental challenge but it’s not about turning around a negative 15½ goal outcome against Fremantle which is where it finished in Alice Springs early last month. It’s all about winning a game where both sides start with the score at 0.0.0 each, play under different conditions, on a different ground in a different city (albeit the home of the Dockers), with different players and with many of the same players of differing stages of physical freshness and mental attitude. There’s been an outcry and a lot of tears about the fact that the Demons were forced to soldier on without two AFL top liners in Max Gawn (possibly) and Christian Petracca but when you compare the makeup of the Melbourne team of round 12 with the team of round 18, there are some significant changes for the better even if you can never replace Max and Christian. These are the changes between the two games - Out Max Gawn, Lachie Hunter, Christian Petracca, Shane McAdam, Adam Tomlinson In Jake Lever, Jake Melksham, Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Koltyn Tholstrup, Jacob van Rooyen. That’s a mixed bag of players coming in which includes two experienced players in Lever and Melksham. One adds cohesion to the defence, the other adds steel to the attack which was not functioning properly on 2 June 2024 when Melbourne flopped badly to the purple people. The other three are JvR who is in massive form as a forward and relief ruckman, and the two youngsters playing with great enthusiasm. They replace McAdam who was held scoreless, Hunter who was ineffective before he was subbed off at half time with a calf injury and Adam Tomlinson who worked hard but can compare with Lever’s impact of the entire defensive structure of the team. There are a number of Melbourne players who have lifted several notches including wingers Ed Langdon and Caleb Windsor. Their current form is uplifting and their attacking mindset is setting a different tone to the team’s performance. The last time they met, it was said that the Dockers were switched on and primed to the max beat the Demons. They had an extra two days to prepare themselves for the game but this time it’s different as they are coming off a shattering loss to Hawthorn. Certainly, Freo will have an advantage in the ruck if Max isn’t ruled fit to play but in every other respect, the goalposts have been removed 180 degrees over the past six or seven weeks. Even Optus Stadium is Melbourne’s home away from home. Ollie Fan - I don't know what was going on at Alice Springs but that is NOT the benchmark to start from. We can win because our backs are better than their forwards, and our forward line is starting to work- thanks to Kozzie, Melksham and hard work by the others. whatwhat say what - it's going to be a pretty different team so the main thing is to bring the right attitude to the contest, attack via defence and get a bit of scoreboard momentum early. At the end of the match, Melbourne will either be in a better position in the eight or three games from second. It’s a funny ol' season and there's a lot to play out still. MO FINE - I think it should be mentioned that since that terrible day at Alice Springs, the coach has benefited from some “learnings” and he is managing the players so much better. An example is the way Clarry is being managed to get the best out of him in light of his highly interrupted preseason which limited his performance from time to time. On Saturday, he spent time on the bench early in the first quarter and was limited to just one disposal. He got into the thick of things as soon as the second quarter started and added 10 possessions to his belt by half time and finished with 25 disposals. It was telling that Goody went to him soon after the final siren and looked so pleased with Clarry and his contribution on the night. OhMyDees - In 2022, I was at a wet Optus Stadium watching us dismantle the Dockers. We did this by keeping a strong zoned defence and forcing them to the wing instead of the corridor. They just couldn’t move the ball quickly in the wet, couldn’t switch it and this played into our strengths. Our game plan if executed with vigour should stack up well against Fremantle. The conditions will be wet which again suits us given how well we adapted last week. Pinball Wizard - is ruck domination overrated? I heard an interesting statistic on one of the football shows on tv last night. The match winning percentage of teams that win the hit outs is 49%. We don’t necessarily have to win the hit outs to win the game. Goodwin should be spending much of his time this week watching vision of the Dockers to get an insight on how they turned his team into a bumbling rabble on that fateful day in Alice Springs. He will notice that their midfield destroyed us. Players like Serong, Brayshaw, Young, O’Meara, Fyfe and Clark helped them win the clearance count by more than double, 48 to 23. This was despite the fact that thanks to Max, the Dees won the hit outs by 35 to 32. The Fremantle defence was impressive that day and didn’t let the wind get through let alone any of the Melbourne forwards. The lesson from the day was to be switched on, more desperate and get your hands on the pill first. That’s the tale in a nutshell. That could be easier said than done but it might also be worthwhile for Goody to cast an eye over the tape of Freo’s game on Saturday in Tassie where the young Hawks plugged away and got the W in the end. Roger Mellie - Goodwin said at the start of the season that in 2023 we started like a train and limped home. The “learnings” from that, were that the team would be primed to finish the season strongly rather than start. The way we are playing at the moment it looks like it's going to plan - e.g. Caleb Windsor looked cooked a few weeks ago and now is playing brilliant footy. The players, with few exceptions, look fit and fresh. Only one team has won a premiership at that ground too! DEMONLAND – it sounds like the fitness people might have been doing some “loading” back in June. I wonder if that had something to do with it? binman - As a generalisation, the form of teams in the weeks leading into their bye, and in the one or two weeks after their bye should be ignored. As a footy punter it is a treacherous period and I tread warily. But it does throw up some real value as many punters think of form in terms of week to week performances or blocks of two games. So Port Adelaide were great value against the Bulldogs because in their previous two games they got absolutely thrashed by the Lions and scraped in against the Saints. This made them terrific value at the line at home against the dogs, who had been in good form. Port thrashed the Dogs, so people jumped off them making them great value at the line against the Blues. But Melbourne has now passed that phase and form is now more trustworthy. The way to think about this game is not how they played last time against the Dockers but what its best football looks like versus their best football. The same can be applied to all matches from here on in. The first 6-7 rounds give the best guide, injuries notwithstanding. I don't bet on Dees games, but if I did I would launched into us at the line against the Bombers because their best football is better than that of the Bombers. Leave it to Deever - I wonder how difficult it is for coaching staff to get that into the player's mindset? With fixtures these days allowing for teams to play one another twice without a significant amount of time since previous encounters, it doesn't help. That was a humiliating loss for Melbourne but it wasn't isolated. They were playing some good football and some shocking football. They were all over the place and in the game against the Blues, the Dees’ inconsistent play was evident from quarter to quarter. Going in this time Melbourne seems a lot more stable. I just hope that the last loss to them hasn't left any deep scar tissue. Perhaps it will work for the Demons with the Dockers being overconfident. In any event it's a massive game for the club. A chance to take a big scalp. Freo, for me are above the Blues and second favourite to win a flag . Win this one and the Demons will definitely be playing finals. Quite possibly a real chance to finish top four. No pressure … 😀 buck_nekkid - Back to the future, We return to Optus Stadium - the site of a terrible loss to West Coast - to face Freemantle - who put us to the sword by nearly 100 points. Seems like we should be shaking in our boots. We are now also without Gawn and Trac, yet after the victory over the Bombers, we have sky-rocketed into the eight. So, how are we going to go? Only a Nostradamus could know! At our best, we will control the contest and the ground ball, Our defence will be all strangling and hold them to under 72 points whilst our slick hands and smart plays will open our front 50 for a number of our forwards to cash in. Provided we play four quarters (which we have not done for a while but we’re building up to it), we have this. At our worst, we will lose the momentum early and never get it back. We will mind grass and watch them sail away to the win. The difference between these teams is really small. They are about the same place on the ladder as us, they have excellence in the midfield and a few good sorts around the ground, and we could be anything! With my hopes running high, i say Dees by 22 points THE GAME Melbourne v Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Sunday 2 June 2024 at 1.00pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Fremantle 26 wins Melbourne 18 wins At Optus Stadium Fremantle 0 wins Melbourne 1 win Last five meetings Fremantle 3 wins Melbourne 2 wins The Coaches Longmuir 4 wins Goodwin 2 win LAST TIME THEY MET Fremantle 22.9.141 defeated Melbourne 7.7.49 at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs, Round 12, 2024 Maxie - an interesting stat or a boomer with too much time on his hands? The Demons have played Freo and lost in three games at almost the exact time of the season in the past three seasons - Round 11 in 2022 & 2023 at the G and round 12 this year at Tregear Park. I remember going to those MCG games and noted how cooked we seemed. Round 12 at the Alice was like watching a team with concrete in their boots but, as has been said above, this is a different time and a different place. Binman’s loading theory looking sound. TEAMS MELBOURNE B T. McDonald, S. May, J. McVee HB C. Salem, J. Lever, A. Moniz-Wakefield C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, T. Sparrow HF K. Pickett, J van Rooyen, K. Chandler F A. Neal-Bullen, B. Fritsch, J. Melksham FOLL H. Petty, J. Viney, T. Rivers I/C J. Billings, J. Bowey, K. Tholstrup, D. Turner, C. Windsor EMG T. Fullarton, B. Laurie, A. Tomlinson IN J. Billings OUT T. Woewodin (managed) FREMANTLE B H. Chapman, A. Pearce, B. Cox HB C. Wagner, L. Ryan, J. Clarke C J. Sharp, N. Fyfe, H. Young HF B. Banfield, S. Switkowski, M. Frederick F J. Treacy, J. Amiss, L. Jackson FOLL S. Darcy, C. Serong, A. Brayshaw I/C J. Aish, J. O'Meara, S. Sturt, B. Walker, M. Walters SUB W. Brodie, P. Voss, K. Worner IN S. Darcy, A. Pearce, B. Walker OUT J. Draper (omitted), M. Johnson (injured), P. Voss (omitted) Injury List: Round 19 Max Gawn — ankle / test Lachie Hunter — calf / 1 week Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

The crack in the captain’s ankle might be very small but the repercussions of the injury are enormous. The aftershock of the news that Max Gawn will sit on the sidelines for the next two or three weeks has provided Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin with a giant headache, not unlike the one he faced after the Kings Birthday when another Demon superstar Christian Petracca suffered his season-ending injury. That headache is magnified by the fact that Goodwin is facing a month of tough encounters against other finals contenders at a time when his team’s fate hangs in the balance. First cab off the rank is Essendon which few would have predicted would be sitting inside the top four at this stage in proceedings after such an abysmal end to its 2023 campaign. This year, the Bombers’ favourable draw and some narrow wins against lowly sides have them in the top four with a percentage below 100. However, with a number of players in career best form, they present problems for Goodwin and his team. Notable among them is Bomber skipper, Zach Merrett who has been the catalyst for the Bomber revival, but he hasn’t been alone among a playing list that spells danger for the Demons. Their defence has tightened up and is stronger with the return of Ridley who joins Ben McKay in career-best form. They have a bevy of players like Jye Caldwell, Nic Martin, Sam Durham, Jake Stringer and Dylan Shiel who are standing up to be counted. Last week Merrett and Caldwell each notched up 30 disposals to throttle Collingwood's premiership midfield. Their influence must be curtailed. Then there are their talls like ruckman Sam Draper who has managed to avoid a direct confrontation with Gawny for the second time in as many years. Two Metre Peter will also stretch the Demons’ defence. Which brings us back to Melbourne’s giant ruck headache, exacerbated when the club agreed to part company with Brodie Grundy at the end of last year. The club chose Brisbane’s 200cm Tom Fullarton to replace the former Magpie, but he is designated on the club’s website as a “key forward” and hasn’t played an AFL game since the 2022 semi final against Melbourne when he managed just four hit outs. As the club’s General Manager of AFL Football Performance Alan Richardson said during the week: "While Max is the calibre of player that can't be replaced easily, it provides an exciting opportunity for others to come in and play their role in our side." It remains to be seen what rabbit the Demon selectors pull out of their hat but that has been the story of their season so far. Just as the loss through the premature retirement of Angus Brayshaw, the well documented off-season problems of Clayton Oliver and the seemingly never-ending investigation into Joel Smith have all caused grief, the club has soldiered on without complaint. The coach moves players around like chess pieces, changes tactics and strategies, and all the while he manages to keep the club’s finals prospects alive as it moves deeper into the season. Each turn of an unfriendly card presents a challenge that must be confronted. The mother of invention has caused a major upheaval at Melbourne during 2024. The previously rock solid midfield foundation stone of Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Brayshaw has been split. That midfield no longer dominates the clearances at the feet of Gawn as it did in the past when it overwhelmed the opposition with offensive momentum smashing the inside fifty count. We now have something different; the excitement of new, young faces and names making their mark over all parts of the ground, a mix that might not make them immediate flag contenders but they’re always a chance to win on any given day. Trent Rivers in the middle is one example of change, Jacob van Rooyen up forward and pinch hitting in the ruck another and Judd McVee down back a third … and then there’s Caleb Windsor and there’s more. As some might despair the absence for a few weeks of a six time All Australian heading for a seventh, one or more of the personnel within the team are expected to step up and help repay Gawn for his outstanding contribution as captain over 100 games. The three aspects of his absence that demand attention are leadership, ruck craft and marking, especially down back where Gawn would drop in to intercept when the key defenders needed a chop out. Suffice to say on the leadership score, there’s captain Jack Viney standing at the ready with Steven May, Jake Lever and a rejuvenated Tom McDonald down back and how timely is Jake Melksham’s return to the forward line after his ACL injury to add experience in the air, on the ground and around the goals? The merchants of gloom and doom have short memories. Last year, when the teams met in Adelaide, the Bombers were rank outsiders but they approached the game with ferocity and intent against a complacent opponent and they surprised with a win. The Demons have upped their intensity over recent weeks and that mix of youthful enthusiasm together with their list of experienced big game players can be infectious and promote winning momentum. I think it will be just enough to surprise the Bombers by a small margin, say four points. This would honour the current wearer of the club’s #11 guernsey in a game to support the Reach Foundation co-founded by its previous owner, the late, great Jim Stynes. THE GAME Melbourne v Essendon at the MCG Saturday 13 July 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 86 wins Essendon 131 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 48 wins Essendon 67 wins 1 draw The last five meetings Melbourne 3 wins Essendon 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 0 wins Scott 1 win THE LAST TIME THEY MET Essendon 15.14.104 defeated Melbourne 11.11.77 at the Adelaide Oval Round 6, 2023 In a shock result, Essendon dominated the Melbourne on a wet Adelaide day in the inaugural Gather Round. The Bombers’ big men took advantage of Max Gawn’s absence in a game where things were not helped by the absence defence of Jake Lever and the late withdrawal of Ben Brown in attack. They maintained the pressure all day and it was quite an achievement to exceed 100 points in the wet and woolly conditions. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B T. McDonald, S. May, J. McVee HB T. Rivers, J. Lever, J. Bowey C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, A. Neal-Bullen HF K. Pickett, J. van Rooyen, T. Sparrow F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, J. Melksham FOLL H. Petty, J. Viney, C. Salem I/C A. Moniz-Wakefield, K. Tholstrup, D. Turner, C. Windsor SUB T. Woewodin EMG T. Fullarton, B. Laurie, A. Tomlinson IN H. Petty OUT M. Gawn (ankle) ESSENDON B J. Ridley, B. McKay, D. Heppell HB N. Martin, M. Redman, A. McGrath C X. Duursma, S. Durham, A. Perkins HF M. Guelfi, H. Jones, N. Caddy F J. Stringer, P. Wright, K. Langford FOLL S. Draper, J. Caldwell, Z. Merrett I/C N. Cox, J. Gresham, J. Kelly, D. Shiel SUB N. Hind EMG T. Goldstein, J. Laverde, W. Setterfield IN D. Heppell OUT J. Laverde (omitted) Injury List: Round 18 Ben Brown — knee / test Harrison Petty — hamstring / test Max Gawn — ankle / 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC Christian Petracca — ribs, spleen, appendix / indefinite

Melbourne stands at the crossroads. Sunday’s game against the West Coast Eagles who have not met the Demons at the MCG in more than ten years, is a make or break for the club’s finals aspirations. That proposition is self-evident since every other team the club will be opposed to over the next eight weeks of footy is a prospective 2024 finalist. To add to this perspective is the fact that while the Demons are now in twelfth position on the AFL table, they are only a game and a half behind third placed Fremantle. So, with games to come against seven of the teams above it on the ladder, including the Dockers, their destiny is well and truly in their own hands. But if they can’t prevail on their home soil against the only remaining opponent that’s out of the finals race, then their credibility as a contender and their finals hopes will become greatly diminished. There is a pall hanging over Melbourne even though the club showed some good signs in last week’s game against Brisbane that its mid-season slump, which began with a narrow loss to Carlton two months ago, is nearing an end. Why the concern then with the lowly Eagles? For starters, one of the West Coast’s three wins this year was a resounding victory recorded when they monstered the Demons at Optus Stadium in mid-May. That Harley Reid goal running away from a now absent Christian Petracca and the masterful performance of Jake Waterman at full forward is still clear in the memory. And there’s more concern if you add the way in which Melbourne has squandered substantial leads with stuttering finishes in the final quarters of each of its last two games — leads which, if built upon during those periods, would have seen it sitting as high as fifth rather than labouring below the pack of finals aspirants. At the head of those concerns is the dramatic decline in the Demons’ final quarter differential figures from first in the league in Rounds 0 to 9 (at +8.7 points) to last since then (-14.2). The first thing that comes to mind at this sudden development is the question of the team’s fitness but this isn’t backed up work rate statistics on distance run, repeat sprint numbers, clearances and contested possession. The explanation suggested by coach Simon Goodwin is that it’s the team’s conservatism late in games when the team went safe enabling the opposition midfields to get on top enhancing their ability to transition the ball too easily from one end of the ground to the other. There’s also the change in profile to one of the competition’s most youthful. Against the Lions, the Demons had nine players aged 22 or younger in their side (Daniel Turner, Trent Rivers, Jacob van Rooyen, Taj Woewodin, Judd McVee, Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup and Kynan Brown) while Brisbane had sixteen 100-plus gamers to ten. The way I look at this week’s game is that we should be focussing more on how the club has performed in its first three quarters than in its last. They have been impressive and seem to be building up with more fitness and greater aggression at the football. The return of Jake Lever saw a massive change in the way the team went about defending its ground and attacking the football through the middle as they did in the second quarter against the Lions. Clayton Oliver was threatening and Kozzie Pickett was back to his best. Bayley Fritsch is due to return to his early season goalkicking form as well. Meanwhile, the Eagles are well down on their form from a month and a half ago. Their form has been poor, they’re coming off a six day break and are travelling across the continent to get to Sunday’s game. Lightning won’t strike a second time. Melbourne to win by 45 points. THE GAME Melbourne v West Coast Eagles at the MCG, Sunday 7 July 2024 at 1.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 20 wins West Coast Eagles 38 wins At the MCG Melbourne 7 wins West Coast Eagles 9 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 3 wins West Coast Eagles 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 4 wins Simpson 5 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Waalitj Marawar 16.9.105 defeated Narrm 10.10.70 at Optus Stadium in Round 10, 2024 Jake Waterman and Jack Darling had days out with five and three goals respectively while Harley Reid was explosive out of the middle for the Eagles. The Demons were hurt by the early loss of Jake Lever and were unable to mount any semblance of a revival against an opponent that went 90% in kicking for goal in the second half. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. Lever, S. May, J. McVee HB A. Moniz-Wakefield, T. McDonald, T. Rivers C T. Sparrow, A. Neal-Bullen, C. Windsor HF K. Tholstrup, J. Van Rooyen, E. Langdon F K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, J. Melksham FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C J. Bowey, K. Chandler, C. Salem, D. Turner SUB T. Woewodin EMG T. Fullarton, B. Laurie, A. Tomlinson IN J. Bowey, J. Melksham, C. Salem OUT K. Brown (omitted), H. Petty (hamstring), A. Tomlinson WEST COAST EAGLES B B. Hough, T. Barrass, A. Witherden HB T. Cole, J. McGovern, L. Duggan C J. Hunt, E. Yeo, J. Jones HF L. Ryan, J. Waterman, T. Brockman F J. Cripps, O. Allen, J. Darling FOLL B. Williams, H. Reid, T. Kelly I/C C. Chesser, R. Ginbey, J. Hutchinson, J. Rotham SUB J. Williams EMG H. Edwards, H. Johnston, R. Maric IN J. Hutchinson, J. Williams OUT M.Flynn (ankle), R. Maric (omitted) Injury List: Round 17 Marty Hore — calf / available Jake Melksham — knee / available Jake Bowey — general soreness / test Ben Brown — knee / test Harrison Petty — hamstring / test Will Verrall — concussion / test Christian Salem — knee / test Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

They’re billing the Brisbane Lions as a sleeping giant — the best team outside the top eight —and based on their form this month they’re a definite contender for September AFL action. Which is not exactly the best of news if you happen to be Melbourne, the visiting team this week up at the Gabba. Even though they are placed ahead of their opponent on the AFL table, and they managed to stave off defeat in their last round victory over North Melbourne, this week’s visitors to the Sunshine State are attracting odds of close to $5.00 to win on sportsbet (I’m not encouraging you to gamble here). This is because the Demons remain at their lowest ebb since the early days of the Covid 19 pandemic and, to make matters worse, they are still haunted by the memory of the most recent encounter between the teams which saw their confidence shattered, their midfield mauled mercilessly. Although the Lions enter the fray as strong fancies to win, it should not be forgotten that they have been flaky in 2024 and the fortress at the Gabba has not been as impregnable as it was in the past. In addition, recent experience also warns against backing the favourite in contests between these two clubs. Brisbane won the 2022 Semi Final at the MCG after they were smashed by the Dees in the final round at the Gabba. When they met in Round 2 of 2023, they were underdogs again, but Max Gawn went down early and the lights of the Gabba went out for the Demons. The Lions were heavily favoured to win the replay later that season but were crushed in the final term. When the teams met at the G this year in Round 5, the Lions were still reeling from an 0 - 3 start to the season while the in-form Demons were almost unbackable having just taken care of business in Adelaide and look what happened! Still, it’s quite a stretch to expect Melbourne to turn things around in its current situation. If the midfield debacle against Brisbane earlier in the season was problematic, then it looks grave now in the absence of Christian Petracca, the missing form of Clayton Oliver and the overall loss of a capacity to control the contest at stoppages and beyond. There has been a little made about the sudden youthful appearance of the Demons’ lineup and that trend continues tomorrow night with the inclusion of a fifth debutant for the season in the form of Andy Moniz-Wakefield. He seems to have the ball on a string at VFL level but will find things harder in this company. While the youthfulness of the team augurs well for the future and is reminiscent of how Collingwood made its way back from the wilderness after playing in a grand final in 2018, in the short term, it means there’s some pain coming. This doesn’t altogether rule out the prospect of a victory for the Demons this week. The team has badly missed the presence of Jake Lever in defence after he hurt his knee early in the game against the Eagles in Perth and his return will have a major effect on the way the team performs. We kept getting assured that Christian Salem was good to go despite being subbed off with knee soreness on Saturday night but he was left out because of the injury. Pity, had he played, the team would have had its best defensive lineup on the field in two months. It still looks solid enough to control the Lions’ big men in attack. While that’s only one of three lines on the ground, it’s a good start but there’s a lot of work to do and what coach Goodwin really needs is for his out of form stars to come out of their shells and perform for four quarters and not three as they did last week. If I recall, this is exactly what happened to such dramatic effect with a few of Brisbane’s stars in their round five meeting earlier this year. However, I must be realistic. A win seems to be a bridge too far the way things have been going lately. The odds of Melbourne overcoming the home team’s momentum of recent weeks are not great and while I think that the Demons can make a fist of things on the road, with a tinge of regret, I’m tipping Brisbane to win by 28 points. THE GAME Brisbane Lions v Melbourne at The Gabba, Friday 28 June 2024 at 7.40pm HEAD TO HEAD * Overall: Brisbane Lions 25 wins Melbourne 30 wins At The Gabba Brisbane Lions 15 wins Melbourne 9 wins Last Five Meetings: Brisbane Lions 3 wins Melbourne 2 wins The Coaches Fagan 5 wins Goodwin 8 wins * does not include Brisbane Bears or Fitzroy games LAST TIME THEY MET Brisbane Lions 12.10.82 defeated Melbourne 8.12.60 at The MCG, Round 5 2024 It was a disaster from very early in the game when the Demons lost Christian Salem through injury. The Demons missed Kozzie Pickett who was out suspended, and they lacked the spark to mount a comeback until the final quarter and, by then, it was too late. THE TEAMS BRISBANE LIONS B D. Zorko, D. Joyce, R. Lester HB C. McKenna, H. Andrews, B. Starcevich C Z. Bailey, C. Rayner, J. Berry HF C. Cameron, E. Hipwood, H. McCluggage F C. Ah Chee, J. Daniher, L. Morris FOLL O. McInerney, J. Dunkley, L. Neale I/C W. Ashcroft, K. Lohmann B. Reville, D. Wilmot SUB J. Fletcher EMG S. Brain, D. Fort, D. Robertson IN W. Ashcroft, D. Joyce OUT S. Brain (omitted), J. Payne (foot) MELBOURNE B J. Lever, S. May, J. McVee HB A. Moniz-Wakefield, A. Tomlinson, T. Rivers C A. Neal-Bullen, C. Windsor, K. Tholstrup HF K. Chandler, H. Petty, E. Langdon F K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, J. Van Rooyen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C T. McDonald, T. Sparrow, D. Turner, T. Woewodin SUB K. Brown EMG M. Jefferson, B. Laurie IN J. Lever, A. Moniz-Wakefield, S. Woewodin OUT K. Brown (omitted), B. Howes (omitted), C. Salem (knee) Injury List: Round 16 Jake Lever — knee / available Lachie Hunter — calf / available Marty Hore — calf / 1 week Jake Melksham — knee / 1 - 2 weeks Will Verrall — concussion / 1 - 2 weeks Ben Brown — knee / TBC Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

Something struck me as I sat on the couch watching the tragedy of North Melbourne’s attempt to beat Collingwood unfold on Sunday afternoon at the MCG. It was three quarter time, the scoreboard had the Pies on 12.7.79, a respectable 63.16% in terms of goal kicking ratio. Meanwhile, the Roos’ 18.2.110 was off the charts at 90.00% shooting accuracy. I was thinking at the same time of Melbourne’s final score only six days before, a woeful 6.15.51 or 28.57% against Collingwood’s 14.5.89 (73.68%). At that very moment I realised that there’s a law at play that will play a very significant role in the outcome of the Melbourne vs North Melbourne game this coming night — the law of averages. North Melbourne had been the hunter for a long time and against an injury-weakened Collingwood it was primed for a kill thanks to its amazing accuracy in kick for goal. This is what gave it an opportunity to record a famous victory against a premiership contender. But as it transpired, this wasn’t enough and when push came to shove, it lacked the resilience (and the luck) to withstand the final lunge to victory of the reigning premier. The problem for the Roos is that the law of averages says that it’s not likely that they will reproduce the high level of accuracy two weeks in a row, nor will the Demons repeat five posters and a shooting accuracy of under 30% in two games running. On that basis, my theory and I’m sticking to it, is that the Kangaroos will suffer a letdown this week. Melbourne has had a bad month or so since it overcame Geelong and went to a 6 - 2 win, loss ratio. Two of the defeats in the intervening period have seen key players go down with long lasting injuries that most teams can’t afford. Missing Jake Lever from defence and Christian Petracca from the midfield (on top of losing Angus Brayshaw before the season started) has imposed a heavy burden on the Demons. Absent the drive that these divisions generate, it’s not surprising that the forwards have suffered in recent times. The coaching panel faces its most difficult task in the era of success that generated a premiership only three years ago and, even against the bottom side, they can’t rely on the law of averages alone to get the job done to rise above the below average form of the last five rounds. I’m less worried about the defence than I am about the midfield in this week’s contest. Even before the Petracca rib/spleen injury fiasco there has been a major drop off in effectiveness of the Melbourne engine room in terms of clearance figures from stoppages and more importantly, in taking control with that vital first possession after the clearance. The bread and butter of the champion midfield had gone missing. The critics have been pointing to the lower output of the likes of the team’s hard workers like Jack Viney and Clayton Oliver and while that might be the case statistically, it’s now up to them and the new midfield structure to stand up. North has an emerging young midfield brigade that is on an upward tangent at the same time as Melbourne’s seemingly heads downhill. They meet at a critical time for the Demons and it will be on this hill that the game will be decided. The selection of who goes into the midfield mix of Pickett, Neal-Bullen, Rivers, Salem, Langdon, McVee or one of the youngsters like Tholstrup who according to the club’s website “comes into the club with an AFL-ready body”. Melbourne certainly needs AFL readiness to prove that it rise above recent disappointments and prove that it’s still a contender. A number of commentators have pointed to where Carlton, GWS and Sydney were at this time last year and where they finished. In each instance, those clubs adopted the mindset of the hunter and turned their seasons around in midstream. The Demons have been the hunted for three years when they occupied a place at the top of the table. Perhaps they’ve become too content with that role and it’s now time to start hunting. The week’s break has come at the right time to rest, take a deep breath and take on the challenge of the hunter. I’m tipping Melbourne to win by 20 points. THE GAME Melbourne v North Melbourne on Saturday 22 June 2024 at the MCG at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 89 wins North Melbourne 82 wins 1 draw At the MCG Melbourne 56 wins North Melbourne 37 wins Last five times Melbourne 5 wins North Melbourne 0 wins The coaches Clarkson 0 wins Goodwin 2 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 15.13.103 defeated North Melbourne 10.11.71 at Blundstone Arena, Round 21, 2023 The Kangaroos responded to the shellacking handed out by the Demons who blitzed them earlier in the season. Early in the second term at Blundstone Arena North held a 33 point lead before Melbourne reined them in to turn the deficit around. It was the brilliance of their small men, notably Kozzie Pickett and Kade Chandler that inspired the comeback. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B B. Howes, S. May, T. Rivers HB C. Salem, A. Tomlinson, J. McVee C A. Neal-Bullen, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF K. Chandler, H. Petty, J. Van Rooyen F K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, E. Langdon FOLL M. Gawn J. Viney, T. Sparrow I/C J. Bowey, T. McDonald, K. Tholstrup, D. Turner SUB K. Brown EMG B. Laurie, T. Fullarton, T. Woewodin IN K. Brown, K. Tholstrup, A. Tomlinson OUT J. Billings (omitted), B. Laurie (omitted), C. Petracca (ribs/spleen) NORTH MELBOURNE B A. Corr, C. Comben, T. Pink HB J. Archer, H. Sheezel, L. McDonald C Z. Fisher, L. Davies-Uniacke, B. Scott HF T. Powell, B. Teakle, E. Ford F P. Curtis, N. Larkey, C. Zurhaar FOLL T. Xerri, G. Wardlaw, J. Simpkin I/C W. Fisher, L. Shiels, C. Taylor, D. Tucker SUB D. Stephens EMG Z. Duursma, R. Hardeman, C. Harvey IN J. Simpkin, D. Stephens OUT K. Dawson (suspension), J. Stephenson (omitted) INJURY LIST: ROUND 15 Josh Schache — calf / available Marty Hore — calf / 1 - 2 weeks Jake Lever — knee / 1 - 2 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

In the space of a month Melbourne has gone from chocolates to boiled lollies in terms of its standing as a candidate for the AFL premiership. The club faces its moment of truth against a badly bruised up Collingwood at the MCG. A win will give it some respite but even then, it won’t be regarded particularly well being against an opponent carrying the burden of an injured playing list. A loss would be a disaster. The Demons have gone from a six/two win/loss ratio and a strong percentage just south of 125 which placed them firmly in the top four after besting the previously unbeaten Cats to where they are now. At seven/five, a percentage barely over 100 and tenth on the ladder, a catastrophic fall from grace on the back of a scoreless opening term against Carlton, a woeful capitulation by 35 points to West Coast and last week’s 92-point drubbing by Fremantle. The only W in this period was against St Kilda. Their opponent this week is not in such good shape either but not for reasons of poor form or a lack of enthusiasm but rather, because they have been decimated by a massive injury list. At Marvel Stadium on Friday night, they came out firing and full of enthusiasm to kick four of the first five goals to lead by 22 points before the Western Bulldogs reeled them in and ultimately dominated the final term scoring five goals to nothing. If the Magpies had nothing to give in the last quarter of that match, then consider the Demons who gave nothing for all but the opening seven minutes of their game against the Dockers in Alice Springs! As former Collingwood coach, Nathan Buckley, said after the game: top four teams “just don’t have a performance like” the Demons’ 92-point loss. “Plenty of sides have got players out at the moment and to only get 37 inside 50s against any opposition is a concern.” Buckley believes there are lingering issues beneath the surface at Melbourne and there are some real questions to be asked. The fans have been asking those questions all week, but nobody has come up with any answers so the task of looking into the crystal ball has been made more difficult because of the lack of clarity coming from the Demon camp. In the normal course of things, I would look at Collingwood and read missing names like De Goey, Mihocek, Cox, Pendlebury and Elliott and declare Melbourne past the post for a win by five goals. However, on current form (and if truth be known, there is no current form that you can trust in the context of this team), you would be justified in arguing that the firm of N & J Daicos could beat them on their own, such is the skill and brilliance of that duo. They never let their team down which, after some of the Demons’ dismal recent performances, you can’t say about any of them other than perhaps Max Gawn and possibly Christian Petracca and the skipper is carrying an enormous burden on his big shoulders at present. The Magpies at least showed plenty of aggression and determination in their last up display which means that they should be able to open up a big enough lead on the Demons to hold off any fast finish that their slow starting opponents are capable of mounting. Collingwood by 5 points. THE GAME Collingwood v Melbourne at the MCG, Monday 10 June 2024 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Collingwood 154 wins Melbourne 85 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Collingwood 86 wins Melbourne 64 wins 3 drawn Last five meetings Collingwood 4 wins Melbourne 1 win The Coaches McCrae 3 wins Goodwin 1 win LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 9.6.60 defeated Melbourne 7.11.53 at the MCG in the 2023 Qualifying Final The Demons were jolted early in the 2023 Qualifying Final by the head high hit that ended Angus Brayshaw’s career and helped give the accurate Magpies a big enough start to fall in by 7 points despite a goalless final quarter. Many Melbourne fans argue that hit cost their team a flag and many others are still bemused about the fact that the perpetrator was free to play on in his team’s finals campaign including the winning grand final. THE TEAMS COLLINGWOOD B B. Maynard, D. Moore, C. Dean HB I. Quaynor, B. Frampton, J. Noble C S. Sidebottom, F. Macrae, J. Daicos HF B. Hill, L. Schultz, W. Hoskin-Elliott F B. McCreery, P. Lipinski, J. Howe FOLL D. Cameron, J. Crisp, N. Daicos I/C H. Harrison, N. Kreuger, O. Markov, L. Sullivan SUB J. Bytel EMG E. Allan, T. Jiath, A. Johnson IN W. Hoskin-Elliott, N. Kreuger OUT A. Johnson (omitted), W. Parker (omitted) MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers HB C. Salem, T. McDonald, J. McVee C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, H. Petty FF K. Chandler, J. van Rooyen, A. Neal-Bullen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C B. Howes, B. Laurie, T. Sparrow, D. Turner SUB J. Billings EMG B. Brown, K. Brown, T. Woewodin IN J. Billings, B. Howes, B. Laurie, IN J. van Rooyen OUT L. Hunter (calf), S. McAdam (omitted), A. Tomlinson (omitted) T. Woewodin (omitted) Injury List: Round 13 Jacob van Rooyen — adductor / Test Marty Hore — calf / 1 - 2 weeks Josh Schache — foot / 1 - 2 weeks Jake Lever — knee / 2 - 3 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 2 - 4 weeks Lachie Hunter — calf / 4 - 6 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC

Situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre, Alice Springs has for many years been a troubled town suffering from intermittent crime waves, particularly among its younger residents. There was a time a little while ago when things were so bad that some even doubted the annual AFL game in the town would proceed. Now, the hope is that this Sunday’s Melbourne vs Fremantle encounter will bring joy to the residents of the town and that through the sport and the example of the participants, better times will perhaps come to the people of Australia’s red heart, so bring it on! This week’s round involves the first of the second group of byes in 2024 and added attention to the two teams fighting for ascendancy in the logjam of clubs in the race for one of the competition’s vital top four spots. While the Demons will be keen to win this one to create a buffer against the other contenders, the Dockers have had the edge on them since they won their premiership in the West in 2021. Those defeats in 2022 and 2023 were particularly galling as not only were they unexpected, but because they were also played on Melbourne’s home ground at the MCG. This time, the match up is on neutral territory. The Demons are not yet to be entitled to call TIO Traeger Park their home away from home. Last year, the weather played its tricks when unseasonal rain turned the ground into a sodden mess so that despite their dominance everywhere around the ground, they lost to the Giants by two points thanks to an ugly score line of 5.15.45 to 7.5.47. Melbourne’s score was the lowest ever in AFL history at the venue. But if history means anything then this could be a turning point for the Dees against the Dockers. Their midfield, which came back well against the Saints last week, usually fares well at the ground. Jack Viney is due to register his tenth game at the ground on Sunday to become the first AFL player to make double figures in this category and last year, he became the first player to record 40 possessions at the ground. His midfield partners in crime, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca are regular high disposal winners at the ground. Kozzie Pickett has the record number of goals in a match there - six (scored against Port Adelaide in 2022). Of course, records mean very little when the team plays there more often than others, especially when their Freo counterparts have never played there at all, but there’s no doubt about the Demons’ capacity to play good footy in the Red Centre. I wouldn’t underestimate the opposition’s midfielders either with Brayshaw, Serong and Young all racking up good numbers in the middle recently and Jackson backing them up as a mobile ruckman. Whoever gets on top in this department, will go a long way to winning this game. I also put the Demons ahead marginally in measuring the strength of the respective defences even in the absence of Jake Lever. The Melbourne forwards looked better and more balanced last week with the return of Jacob van Rooyen. Essentially, Melbourne will win the battle of the nation’s red heart if it can bring its usual intensity to this troubled area. The Demons have put a lot of effort into working with the local community. They won’t let them down. Melbourne to win by 13 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Fremantle at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs on Sunday 2 June, 2024 at 1.00pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 18 wins Fremantle 25 wins At TIO Traeger Park Melbourne 0 wins Fremantle 0 wins Last five meetings Melbourne 2 wins Fremantle 3 wins The Coaches Goodwin 2 wins Longmuir 3 wins LAST TIME THEY MET Fremantle 12.7.79 defeated Melbourne 10.12.72 at The MCG, Round 20, 2023 The Demons were on top of the Dockers early with Gawn and Grundy dominating the rucks and Petracca and Brayshaw controlling ground level. Freo ground its way back into the game with their superior kicking for goal and held Melbourne out to record a 7 point victory away from home. TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers HB C Salem, A. Tomlinson, T. McDonald C E. Langdon C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF S. McAdam, B. Fritsch, K. Chandler F K. Pickett, H. Petty A. Neal-Bullen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C L. Hunter, J. McVee, T. Sparrow, D. Turner SUB T. Woewodin EMG J. Billings, B.Brown, B. Laurie IN D. Turner OUT J. van Rooyen (adductor) FREMANTLE B H. Chapman, A. Pearce, J. Draper HB J. Aish, L. Ryan, J. Clark C J. Sharp, A. Brayshaw, H. Young HF J. O'Meara, S. Switkowski, M. Frederick F J. Treacy, J. Amiss, L. Jackson FOLL S. Darcy, C. Serong, N. Fyfe I/C B. Banfield, S. Sturt, B. Walker, M. Walters SUB C. Wagner EMG T. Emmett, N. Erasmus, M. Johnson IN M. Frederick, S. Sturt OUT T. Emmett (omitted), M. Johnson (managed) Injury List: Round 12 Tom Fullarton — hamstring / Test Harrison Petty — ankle / Test Daniel Turner — calf / Test Marty Hore — calf / 2 - 3 weeks Josh Schache — Achilles / 2 - 3 weeks Jake Lever — knee / 3 - 4 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 3 - 5 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles/ TBC

Clashes between Melbourne and St Kilda are often described as battles between the forces of heaven and hell. However, based on recent performances, it’s hard to get excited about the forthcoming match between these two sides. It would be fair to say that, at the moment, both of these teams are in the doldrums. The Demons have become the competition’s slow starters while the Saints are not only slow to begin, they’re not doing much of a job finishing off their games either. About the only thing about their games that creates any interest these days is the post game conference from Saints’ coach Ross Lyon. That’s because he talks so much gibberish, that it provokes a great amount of debate and discussion as to the meaning of his words but not their content. At least with Simon Goodwin, we know what he’s saying which is what his expectations are from his team which, for various reasons are not currently being achieved. Which is exactly why I am tipping the Demons to win this week. They at least retain a clarity of purpose and belief in themselves and this is what should get them across the line in what promises to be the most dull, colourless and boring game of the round. It’s a game that’s been perfectly placed in a Sunday afternoon time slot where the AFL bosses will be hoping that nobody notices. Melbourne fans can be thankful that some of its stalwarts from the rapidly fading memory of the glories of the 2021 flag are still around pouring their hearts and souls into the game - the likes of big hearted ruckman Max Gawn and his deputy Jack Viney, Christian Petracca, Steven May and Alex Neal-Bullen. Many of the others are content to provide cameos of their ability during matches but little else. As it’s still part of the Doug Nicholls round, I’m expecting big things from Kozzy Pickett and Shane McAdam in honour of that recognition along with Maysie who will have the job on the Saints’ King, who their fans say has been due for a big game all season. If Narrm can get its turnover game going instead of fluffing every opportunity it had to do so, it will come out of the game a winner and restore the team’s prospects for 2024. Narrm by 15 points. THE GAME Melbourne v St Kilda at The MCG on Sunday 26 May 2024 at 4.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 125 wins St Kilda 94 wins 1 drawn At The MCG Melbourne 60 wins St Kilda 37 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 4 wins St Kilda 1 win The Coaches Goodwin 1 win Lyon 0 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 12.7.79 defeated St Kilda 8.10.58 at The MCG, Round 17, 2023 The Demons came out and kicked five goals in the first term which gave them a reasonably comfortable buffer for the rest of the game. Christian Petracca was a menace when up forward kicking four goals. Ed Langdon and Steven May were best players for the Demons. THE TEAMS NARRM B J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers HB J. McVee, T. McDonald, C. Salem C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF A. Neal-Bullen, H. Petty, K. Pickett F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, S. McAdam FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C L. Hunter, T. Sparrow, A. Tomlinson, J. Van Rooyen SUB T. Woewodin EMG J. Billings, T. Fullarton, B. Howes IN L. Hunter, E. Langdon, A. Tomlinson, J. van Rooyen OUT J. Billings (omitted), B. Brown (omitted), B. Howes (omitted), J. Lever (knee) EURO-YROKE B J. Battle, D. Howard, C. Wilkie HB J. Webster, L. Stocker, N. Wanganeen-Milera C S. Ross, J. Sinclair, M. Wood HF D. Wilson, B. Hill, L. Henry F J. Higgins, M. King, A. Caminiti FOLL R. Marshall, J. Steele, M. Windhager I/C R. Bonner, L. Collard, P. Dow, M. Owens SUB: C. Sharman EMG R. Byrnes, Z. Jones, B. Paton IN J. Higgins, S. Ross, L. Stocker OUT Z. Jones (omitted), B. Paton (omitted), M. Phillipou (omitted) Injury List: Round 11 Jake Bowey — ankle / Test Jacob van Rooyen — concussion / Test Daniel Turner — calf / 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 2 - 3 weeks Marty Hore — calf / 3 - 5 weeks Jake Lever — knee / 4 - 6 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 4 - 6 weeks Josh Schache — Achilles/ 4 - 6 weeks

As a long term resident of Waalitj Marawar, I am moved to warn my fellow Narrm fans that a danger game awaits. The locals are no longer the easybeats who stumbled, fumbled and bumbled their way to the good fortune of gathering the number one draft pick and a generational player in Harley Reid last year. They are definitely better than they were then. Young Harley has already proven his worth with some stellar performances for a first year kid playing among men. He’s taken hangers, kicked booming goals and even physically taken the mickey out of men a decade and more older than he. It’s not often that a person of such tender age has proven to be a team lifter in professional sport but the Eagles have W’s to show for games at Optus Stadium against Richmond and Fremantle. Those wins were not insignificant and nor was their last up home game effort against the Bombers. For their part, the Demons have been slow starters in recent weeks and that, of itself is a danger sign. Their last four games have produced opening halves of 2, 3, 3 and 3 goals and, as a consequence, they haven’t been convincing when they won and unsteady when they lost. This week, they travel across the continent without two marking forwards in Jacob van Rooyen and Daniel Turner. The team might well be rested after a decent break but we won’t know how affected they are in the wake of two tough encounters within five days. Of course, you might say, that Narrm has the best defence in the competition but then again, it failed to prevent a six goal opening quarter avalanche from Carlton last week. The Blues were exceptional at converting forward thrusts into goals last week as they barged through that much vaunted back line with eight goals from ten scoring shots in a great wet weather first half to lead by 31 points. A few weeks earlier, Brisbane did much the same to them. The big questions loom for Narrm. Is it capable of playing out four quarters of football from start to finish, and if it can’t do so against a bottom six outfit, what are the consequences for when it plays the best of the best? The wet conditions also took their toll on the Demons’ hard-hitting but not overly endowed with pace midfield which needed readjusting and reinforcement. Coach Simon Goodwin nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat when he moved Christian Petracca into attack. The problem for Waalitj Marawar is that, apart from wunderkind Reid, some of the players who led their charge a few weeks ago, the likes of Elliot Yeo and Jake Waterman have been out injured, along with Oscar Allen. If they can get these players back on the field, this game could be a close contest so team selection will be of paramount importance. The big warning for the coach and his team is that this outfit from Waalitj Marawar should not be taken lightly. I’m going for Narrm but all eyes will be on how the team moves in those opening fifteen minutes or so. Narrm by 9 points THE GAME Waalitj Marawar v Naarm at Optus Stadium Sunday 19 May, 2024 at 6.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Waalitj Marawar 37 wins Naarm 20 wins At Optus Stadium Waalitj Marawar 3 wins Naarm 4 wins Past five meetings Waalitj Marawar 1 win Naarm 4 wins The Coaches Simpson 4 wins Goodwin 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Narrm 19.12.126 defeated West Coast Eagles 9.12.66 at Optus Stadium in Round 4, 2023 The Demons made short work of a disorganised West Coast outfit and were untroubled to record a percentage booster at Optus Stadium. Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Brodie Grundy and Trent Rivers were the stars and Tom McDonald booted four goals for the visitors. THE TEAMS WAALITJ MARAWAR B A. Witherden, T. Barrass, B. Hough HB T. Cole, J. McGovern, L. Duggan C C. Chesser, H. Reid, J. Hunt HF L. Edwards, J. Waterman. J. Cripps F L. Ryan, J. Darling, J. Williams FOLL B. J. Williams, T. Kelly, R. Ginbey I/C J. Jones, J. Rotham, D. Sheed, J. Williams SUB T. Dewar EMG J. Culley, H. Edwards, A. Gaff IN J. Jones, J. Waterman OUT H. Johnston (omitted), J. Petruccelle (ankle) NARRM B B. Howes, S. May, T. Rivers HB J. McVee, T. McDonald, J. Lever C J. Billings, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF A. Neal-Bullen, B. Fritsch, K. Pickett F K. Chandler, H. Petty, S. McAdam FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C J. Bowey, B. Brown, C. Salem, T. Sparrow SUB T. Woewodin EMG T. Fullarton K. Tholstrup, A. Tomlinson IN B. Brown, S. McAdam, C. Salem OUT E. Langdon (personal reasons), D. Turner (calf), J. van Rooyen (concussion) Injury List: Round 10 Christian Salem — hamstring / Test Josh Schache — Achilles/ TBC Jacob van Rooyen — concussion / 1 week Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 2 - 3 weeks Daniel Turner — Calf / 2 - 3 weeks Marty Hore — Calf / 4 - 6 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 5 - 7 weeks

In days of old, this week’s Thursday night AFL match up between the Demons and the Blues would be framed on the basis of the need to redress the fact that Carlton “stole” last year’s semi final away from Melbourne and with it, their hopes for the premiership. A hot gospelling coach might point out to his charges that they were the better team on the night in all facets and that poor kicking for goal and a couple of lapses at the death cost them what was rightfully theirs. Moreover, now was the time for revenge. Those days are over and cooler heads will prevail. What happened last September is history and besides, it’s actually a different team with some new faces, a team that’s travelling nicely with five players having less than 10 AFL games under their belts. It’s time to take care of business in a raw, unemotional way, much the same as how the club has been going about things since the beginning of the year. Just as it did on its recent business trip to Adelaide when the assignment was to win two matches against the local clubs on the same ground and with only five days separating the games. In Adelaide, much ado was made about the belief that by the end of the second game, the Demons would be sapped of energy and that this factor could cost them the win. In the end, the tempo of the game slowed down and their pressure levels were lower but the win was never in doubt. The club’s fitness levels were modified by less intense training in the lead up to the game to ensure that fatigue was kept to a minimum. The Blues will also be looking at their own training schedule in their approach to the week and their second six day break on end is also not ideal. Melbourne has other advantages in the lead up to Thursday night. It has the momentum of two consecutive wins, albeit that neither of them was pretty but one of them at least was against the then form team of the competition, the undefeated Cats. Moreover, they were able to select an unchanged line up for that encounter and suffered no new injuries. At this point in time, the Demons’ selectors have the benefit of picking the best team for the job at hand from a group of in form players. This is in distinct contrast to their opponents in Carlton. While the Blues started the 2024 season in ripping form, they have lost the past two games and three of their last four. Coming up against stronger sides, they have wilted and reverted to a one-dimensional style which depends on their twin towers firing on all cylinders. Their problem is that, as good as they are, Curnow and McKay are coming up against the best of the best defences in the competition. As strong as their midfield might be, the Demons have the wherewithal in the middle to counter them plus plenty of outside run with Ed Langdon and this week’s rising star Caleb Windsor taking care of business in that department. And let’s not forget that it’s a department headed by the player acclaimed as the best ruckman in the business. So much so, that he only needs to be called by his first name — Max! There have been questions raised about Melbourne’s attack in the past, and rightly so. However, as demonstrated to the football world as late as last week in its game against Geelong, Bayley Fritsch and Kysaiah Pickett are two of the competition’s most dangerous forwards. And while Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen are not at the same level as the Carlton pairing, they have shown a capacity to get among the goals while Alex Neal-Bullen is also very capable and regarded as the epitome of the high half forward of football. So, there’s no need to get up in arms and enraged about losing those contests last year or to lose our heads over the revenge factor. The Melbourne Business Plan will take care of things. Demons by 19 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Carlton at the MCG Thursday 9 May 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Carlton 119 wins Melbourne 97 wins Drawn 2 At the MCG Carlton 52 wins Melbourne 56 wins Past five meetings Carlton 2 wins Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Voss 2 wins Goodwin 2 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Carlton 11.7.73 defeated Melbourne 9.17.71 at the MCG Semi Final 2024 The Demons dominated the general play for most of the night but their inability to trouble the scoreboard and some panicky decision making in the game’s final moments proved fatal to their chances of advancing to the preliminary final stage of the season. It was truly the stuff of frustration and dare we say it, very unbusinesslike! THE TEAMS CARLTON B B. Kemp, J. Weitering, L. Cowan HB A. Cincotta, M. McGovern, N. Newman C O. Hollands, P. Cripps, B. Acres HF J. Martin, H. McKay, E. Hollands F M. Owies, C. Curnow, T. De Koning FOLL M, Pittonet, S. Walsh, M. Kennedy I/C J. Boyd, A. Cerra, M. Cottrell, C. Durdin SUB G. Hewett EMG D. Cuningham, O. Fantasia, L. Young IN B. Kemp, O. Hollands, M. McGovern, J. Martin OUT D. Cuningham (omitted), O. Fantasia (omitted), Z.Williams (glute soreness), L. Young (omitted) MELBOURNE B B. Howes, S. May, T. Rivers HB J. McVee, J. Lever, T. McDonald C J. Billings, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF E. Langdon, H. Petty, K Pickett JF J. van Rooyen, B. Fritsch, D. Turner FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca I/C J. Bowey, K. Chandler, A. Neal-Bullen, T. Sparrow SUB T. Woewodin EMG B. Brown M. Hore, B. Laurie IN J. Bowey OUT B. Laurie (omitted) Injury List: Round 9
 Jake Bowey — shoulder / Available Josh Schache — Achilles/ Test Christian Salem — hamstring / 1 - 2 weeks 
Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 2 - 3 weeks
Jake Melksham — knee / 5 - 7 weeks

I was asked to write a preview of this week’s Round 8 match between Melbourne and Geelong. The two clubs have a history that goes right back to the time when the game was starting to become an organised sport but it’s the present that makes the task of previewing this contest so interesting. Both clubs recently reached the pinnacle of the competition winning premiership flags in 2021 and 2022 respectively, but before the start of this season, many good judges felt their time had passed - neither was regarded as a major challenger for this year's flag and particularly not so the Cats. Geelong’s form late in 2023 was abysmal while Melbourne was ushered out of the finals in straight sets for the second time in as many years. The conventional wisdom was that the season belonged to last year’s Grand Finalists, Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions. If not them, then last year’s late bloomers, GWS Giants and Carlton were the next in line for consideration as the leaders of the pack. Who would have thought then, that seven rounds (okay, eight if you’re a Round Zero pedant) into the season, the Pies and Lions would be outside the top eight, the Cats would be resuscitated and sitting on top of the ladder at 7 zip, with the Demons, also undergoing something of a rejuvenation, in fourth spot? Geelong has a healthy list and is in great form coming off a last start victory over another premiership contender Carlton in a blockbuster shootout at the MCG. That game followed a convincing victory 2023 Grand Finalists Brisbane at the Gabba. The Cats will therefore come into the game, chock full of confidence, especially after having the wood over Melbourne in their encounters since the 2021 Preliminary Final. They are settled, with many of their players in good form and the list appears to have few weaknesses. Some have reinvented themselves like Jeremy Cameron who has risen to another level in a slightly different role and speedster Max Holmes who recently celebrated his spectacular conversion from wing to half back by inking a four-year contract extension. On the other hand, Melbourne has been in something of a rut since its successful sojourn in Adelaide a month ago. The apathy of its display against Brisbane was followed by a lacklustre first half against Richmond. Both performances were noteworthy for a substantially diminished output from the team’s acclaimed midfield ensemble. On the strength of their recent tip-top form, Geelong should win this one. While things aren’t always so straightforward in our world of football, a lot of things have to go right for Melbourne to upset the ladder leaders. For starters, a return of the big three in the midfield to their early season performance level. To win this week, they must get their act together. A consistent performance from all of the forward line components for more than one or two quarters of the game would also help. Melbourne’s defence has remained on song throughout the season and can be relied upon to hold the barnstorming Cat attack to far less than the 18 goals they kicked against the Blues. If Geelong had a weakness last week, it was in the way the defence leaked goals. Late in the game when Carlton made its last-minute desperate lunge, the Cats momentarily looked helpless to stop the flood in the shoot out. If Melbourne comes at the top of its game applying its defensive pressure, the Demons could cause them to drop their bundle. I’m expecting them to lift for the big occasion to provide the fans with a insight into whether they are capable of mixing it in a top of the table contest with their mixture of maturity and new emerging talent. The mission I was given was to tip with the head and not the heart so I’m leaning towards Geelong to prevail in a tough contest by 10 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Geelong at the MCG on Saturday 4 May 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 88 wins Geelong 134 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 53 wins Geelong 54 wins The last five meetings Melbourne 2 wins Geelong 3 wins The Coaches Goodwin 4 wins Scott 7 wins LAST TIME THEY MET Geelong 11.12.78 defeated Melbourne 8.15.63 at GMHBA Stadium in Round 15 2023 The Demons were on a high, coming off a last start victory over the premiership favourites in the Kings Birthday blockbuster but they struggled to back it up with a repeat performance. Geelong grabbed the ascendancy early in the final term as it has often done on so many occasions at the Cattery. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B B. Howes, S. May, J. Lever HB J. McVee, T. McDonald, T. Sparrow C A. Neal-Bullen, C. Petracca, C. Windsor HF J. Billings, B. Fritsch, K. Chandler F K. Pickett, J. Van Rooyen, D. Turner FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C E. Langdon, H. Petty, T. Rivers, T. Woewodin SUB B. Laurie EMG B. Brown, M. Hore, L. Hunter NO CHANGE GEELONG B J. Henry, S. De Koning, J. Kolodjashnij HB Z. Guthrie, T. Stewart, M. Holmes C Z. Tuohy, T. Atkins, M. Blicavs HF B. Close, J. Cameron, G. Miers F T. Stengle, T. Hawkins, O. Henry FOLL R. Stanley, C. Guthrie, T. Bruhn I/C J. Bowes, J. Clark, O. Dempsey, M. Duncan SUB G. Rohan EMG S. Neale, M. O’Connor, B. Parfitt IN J. Clark, G. Rohan, T. Stewart OUT P. Dangerfield (hamstring), O'Connor (managed), B. Parfitt (managed) Injury List: Round 8 Jake Bowey — shoulder / 1 week Christian Salem — hamstring / 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 3 - 4 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 6 - 8 weeks

There’s a touch of irony in the fact that Adem Yze played his first game for Melbourne in Round 13, 1995 against the club he now coaches. For that game, he wore the number 44 guernsey and got six touches in a game the team won by 11 points. The man whose first name was often misspelled, soon changed to the number 13 and it turned out lucky for him. He became a highly revered Demon with a record of 271 games during which his presence was acknowledged by the fans with the chant of “Oozee” whenever he had his hands on the football. Oozee notched up many achievements in his day but fell short of a premiership in the club’s grand final year of 2000. Some years after he retired as a player and with success as Alastair Clarkson’s back up at the Hawks, he came back home as an assistant coach in 2021 and, as such, he was a key architect in the club’s historic premiership win. He coached them to a win in the following season when Simon Goodwin had to sit out the game with Covid19. We all wished him well when he was appointed coach of the Tigers and look forward to greeting son Noah as a father/son pick at the draft later this year but that’s where the friendship ends. On Wednesday night, it will be all out war on Oozee. That’s not good news for the man whose first season at Punt Road has been severely impacted by player unavailability with the Tigers dealing with the longest injury list in the AFL. This should be nothing new for the man as the Demons were often plagued by injuries during his tenure as a player and believe me, those injuries hurt badly. I think the Tigers would have struggled anyway against the Demons who should be well refreshed from the bye while still smarting from their last up tired and insipid display against Brisbane. The Tigers also had a bye, but they will lose the dangerous Jayden Short and could regain former captain Dylan Grimes and midfielder Jacob Hopper (knee), with the pair needing to pass fitness tests. The issue is that they are both desperately short of match fitness which will be problematic against the Dees. Melbourne may well have had an excuse of their own after an exacting schedule saw them play with so very little in their tank. At least they are seeing some respite with players coming back from their early season injuries. There will be absolutely no excuses against the Oozee-led Richmond which is so badly hurt that it doesn’t even have a tank. Hence, I expect that our battle-hardened soldier will leave his beloved MCG on Anzac Day Eve with the same number of victories as a Richmond coach that he had with Melbourne - just the one. Demons by 49 points. THE GAME Richmond v Melbourne on Wednesday 24 April 2024 at 7.25pm at the MCG HEAD TO HEAD Overall Richmond 107 wins Melbourne 79 wins Drawn 2 At the MCG Richmond 72 wins Melbourne 67 wins Drawn 1 Past five meetings Richmond 1 win Melbourne 4 wins The Coaches Yze 0 wins Goodwin 0 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 20.10.130 defeated Richmond 15.8.98 at the MCG, Round 20, 2023 The Tigers gave it their best shot pushing the Demons throughout the game and remained threatening until a fare more accurate than usual Melbourne prevailed at the end through the agency of Harry Petty (6 goals), Jake Melksham and Jacob van Rooyen (4 each) who didn’t miss a shot for goal all day. Their six-goal final quarter blew Richmond out of the game and dampened their finals hopes. THE TEAMS RICHMOND B T. Young, N. Broad, D. Grimes HB N. Vlastuin, T. Brown, D. Rioli C H. Ralphsmith, J. Graham, M. Pickett HF S. Campbell, R. Mansell, M. Rioli F M. Lefau, S. Bolton, D. Martin FOLL T. Nankervis, L. Baker, T. Dow I/C S. Banks, J. Hopper, B. Miller, S. Naismith SUB K. McIntosh EMG J. Koschitzke, K. McAuliffe, T. Sonsie IN D. Grimes, S. Naismith, J. Hopper, S. Banks OUT J. Koschitzke (omitted), K. McAuliffe (omitted), J. Short (calf), T. Sonsie (omitted) MELBOURNE B T. Rivers, S. May, T. McDonald HB B. Howes, J. Lever, J. McVee C E. Langdon, C. Petracca, J. Billings HF K. Chandler, J. Van Rooyen, K. Pickett F A. Neal-Bullen, B. Fritsch, H. Petty FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C T. Sparrow, D. Turner, C. Windsor, T. Woewodin SUB B. Laurie EMG B. Brown M. Hore, K. Tholstrup IN B. Laurie, K. Pickett, S. Turner OUT B. Brown (omitted), C. Salem (hamstring) K. Tholstrop (omitted) Injury List: Round 7 Marty Hore — thumb / available Shane McAdam — hamstring / available Clayton Oliver — finger / available Jake Bowey — shoulder / 3 - 4 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 3 - 4 weeks Christian Salem — hamstring / 3 - 5 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 7 - 9 weeks

DEMONLAND: Good evening, Demon fans and welcome to the Demonland 2024 Grand Final Podcast … It’s been a beautiful last day of September and how sweet it is to bring you our coverage of all things that matter about the great Demon resurgence which we’ve seen over the past six or seven months. How our team overcame a turbulent off season and a disappointing start to 2024 on a humid night in Sydney, turned our detractors into believers and then ended the year triumphant in the finals with our captain holding aloft the premiership cup on the MCG for the first time in six decades. Oops … um, I don’t think I’m supposed to reveal that part of the script yet so … For now, please join me in the DMC DeLorean as we return to the present where it’s your turn to make your feelings known about how the game will pan out. But before we delve into what our fans are thinking, here we go with what the critics in the media are saying about the Demons these days … MEDIA (GuyWhoLikesSport from Neds Sport): “Early in the season, I wrote a snarky column that said Melbourne had to win the premiership. “After just over a month of football, and with a record of 4-1 that is franked by their last two wins in Adelaide over the Adelaide sides, they must be the favourites. “Melbourne has been consistently excellent since they won the 2021 premiership, but this year they’re better than they have been in that entire period.” And now to the Demon fans DEMON DISCIPLE: I feel Brisbane have had the wood on us since the last home and away round of 2022. Need to get back to our convincing winning ways against them this week. AT THE BREAK OF GAWN: I think this will be a close game and I certainly won’t be underestimating Brisbane. Getting the monkey off the back last week will help them and it’s Neale’s 250th so I imagine they’ll throw the kitchen sink at us. LEAVE IT TO DEEVER: I think we have this. Lions are a quality side just down in form. Plus they don't play well at the G. We should relish being on our home turf again. We will miss Kozzie but I'm feeling we still have enough fire power to kick over 100 points while strangling the Lions to around 75 points. Some big match ups in this game. I'm also hoping our midfield rallies and wins the cc count … and the umps give us a fair shake. We win this and it's a pretty safe bet to say we will finish top four come September. To go into the bye at 5 and 1 will be awesome given that half of those games were interstate. DEMON HEAD: This is Melbourne’s first crack against one of last year’s Grand Finalists. To everyone’s surprise, both Collingwood and Brisbane aren’t in the top eight now and the signs aren’t promising for either of them. The Lions have struggled to win games at the MCG recently. They also had a great record at home last year but this year, they can’t even win at the Gabba. There’s not much comfort in beating North Melbourne on neutral territory at Norwood Oval in Adelaide on a ground that has dimensions of 165m x 110m compared with the MCG’s 173.6m x 148.4m. Fagan reckons they got their energy back, but I would argue that it doesn’t take much energy to play against a bunch of kids on a postage stamp sized footy ground. That’s where the Lions will hit a wall on Thursday night. The Demons are in great form, their team defence is elite, and the midfield is pretty flash too. Brisbane will find it tough adapting to playing on the wide wings at the best stadium in the land against one of the most focused teams in the country. Melbourne will take the game and go into the break with the four points. THE GREAT PRETENDER: If you look at the teams on an individual basis, they’re evenly matched. Who will dominate? Petracca (in game #182) or Neale (in game #250)? Love Steven May’s courage! Can the Lions stop Max? Will Melbourne kick straight for goal? How will Brisbane cope without the loudspeakers playing their favourite songs when they kick a goal (I anticipate they won’t kick many anyway)? Demons win because the Lions will simply suffer stage fright on the G. CHF: Brisbane fluffed their chance in the grand final against the Pies last year and both teams have a bit of a hangover in the initial stages of season ’24. Here we are staring down the barrel of Round 5 and the Lions have just one win on the board against lowly North while we, after dropping the first game in the round that has no number, have won the last four on the trot against some reasonable opposition and having travelled to Adelaide for two games in five days against home sides and come away with two wins. That sort of form indicates the punters have it right installing the Dees as favourites. We have an extra day of rest and one less flight than the Lions with them having to fly back home and then down to Melbourne for the game. However (and there’s always a “forever”), footy’s a funny game as they say, and I hope that the team prepares and realises that this is going to be a tough game. The Lions have a good mix of talent in all areas of the ground, and we will need to have a few ideas up our sleeves to ensure we are ready to react when required. I do believe that the coaching panel have been good at working out and reacting to what is happening around the ground so far this season. Defence: This section of our team is recognised as our great strength and as the best in the league. Steven May, Jake Lever, Tom McDonald, Judd McVee, Trent Rivers, Blake Howes and Christian Salem can mix and match with the best of them and against the Brisbane forward pack they will need to be at their best. The Brisbane forward setup has good individual players but so far this season they have not clicked together. Against North last round their forwards kicked 15 of their 16 goals while against the Pies the week before at the Gabba the forwards only kicked five of the total of 10. Very inconsistent. It will be interesting to see how and who we match up on in the defence. We have them covered at this end of the ground. Midfield: As they say… “This is where the game is won.” I think that will be the case in this match. Max Gawn and Christian Petracca are our leading lights so far this season with good support from Jack Viney and, in the last game, Tom Sparrow. Clayton Oliver with his hand injury is down on his usual standards and statistics but I feel he can only get better and will take a few steps forward in this game. We will need to respect the Brisbane midfield with Neale, McCluggage and Dunkley looking to be the main drivers out of stoppages with their clearance rate. Against Adelaide Petracca, Oliver and Sparrow dominated the clearances and gave us some good drive. Gawn against The Big O will be interesting. Not because I think McInerney will dominate or even challenge Max but because it will be interesting to see what tactics they adopt to try and control Max’s influence around the ground. It is a tough job for any team. Ed Langdon and Caleb Windsor winging their way around the G will also be good to watch. Brisbane named Fletcher and Berry on the wings for the North game and, according to the stats, both had reasonable games. Berry looked to be used more in the middle and managed five clearances along with 24 possessions. Fletcher might run on the wing with Langdon and Windsor to have a few rotating opponents. Forwards: This is where it gets interesting. So far this season the Demons have managed to have a good even spread of goal kickers in the games. Bayley Fritsch has been a standout. He is second in the Coleman behind Hogan now. We will present a few problems for the Lions at the pointy end. Ben Brown and Harry Petty will need to be covered because of their potential to cause problems with Jacob van Rooyen and Fritsch also needing to be contained. Melbourne had a lot of flexibility with its talls now and I can imagine a bit of a chess game with moves and counter moves in our forward fifty. Kozzie is such a livewire, but without him, Kade Chandler and Alex Neal-Bullen will be handy rotating as cover in his absence. There’s also some doubt about Chandler so if he also misses it will open the door for a couple of other contenders to get a run. The Brisbane defence, as with their forwards do not seem to have clicked yet this season. In their last outing against North Melbourne, they looked to have an easy time of it and will find the going tougher on Thursday evening. Tough opening quarter but I expect that we will get better as the game goes on and run out winners by a fair bit. Say five goals. And then on to a week off. --------------------------------------------- And that’s the Demon Crew’s Round 5 preview. Thanks to all who contributed and apologies to those who missed out. Time to crank up the DMC DeLorean‘s engine and go back to the future. THE GAME Melbourne v Brisbane Lions at The MCG, Thursday 11 April 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD * Overall: Melbourne 30 wins Brisbane Lions 24 wins At The MCG Melbourne 16 wins Brisbane 4 wins Last Five Meetings: Melbourne 3 wins Brisbane Lions 2 wins The Coaches: Goodwin 8 wins Fagan 4 wins * does not include Brisbane Bears or Fitzroy games LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.9.105 defeated Brisbane Lions 16.8.104 at The MCG, Round 18 2023 Melbourne pulled one out of the fire, with a one-point win over the Brisbane Lions in an enthralling, frustrating and nail-biting game. The Lions dominated the middle part of the game after the reeling back the Demons who had burst out of the blocks to take an early 25-point lead. The final quarter was a thriller with Melbourne’s strength and experience through its leaders prevailing in an exciting final quarter that established the team’s place in the top four leading towards the finals. THE TEAMS (to be included when available) MELBOURNE B T. Rivers, S. May, T. McDonald HB B. Howes, J. Lever, J. McVee C E. Langdon, C. Petracca, A. Neal-Bullen HF J. Billings, H. Petty,K. Tholstrop F J. van Rooyen, B. Fritsch, T. Sparrow FOLL M. Gawn J. Viney, C. Oliver. I/C B. Brown, K. Chandler, C. Salem, C. Windsor SUB T. Woewodin EMG B. Laurie, J. Schache, A. Tomlinson BRISBANE LIONS B B. Starcevich, J. Payne, R. Lester HB D. Wilmot, H. Andrews, D. Gardiner C J. Fletcher, Z. Bailey, J. Berry HF C. Cameron, E. Hipwood, H. McCluggage F C. Rayner, J. Daniher, D. Zorko FOLL O. Mclnerney, J. Dunkley, L. Neale I/C C. Ah Chee, N. Answerth, K. Lohmann, L. McCarthy SUB J. Tunstill EMG D. Fort, J. Lyons, L. Morris NO CHANGE Injury and Suspension List: Round 5 Daniel Turner — hip / available Kysaiah Pickett — suspended / 1 week Marty Hore — thumb / 2 - 3 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring / 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 4 weeks Jake Bowey — shoulder / 5 - 6 weeks Jake Melksham — knee / 10 - 12 weeks

When the announcement came in November last year that South Australia’s 2024 Gather Round opener was to be a clash between Adelaide and Melbourne, it was taken as a compliment to both clubs as the ones chosen to showcase the sport in a big moment. At the time, the Crows were one of the AFL’s emerging clubs known for their exciting brand of football; the competition’s highest scorer of 2023 and terribly unlucky to miss the finals after a failure to call a score review deprived them of victory against Sydney in Round 23. The Demons could reasonably argue that their progress to finals glory was blocked on more than one count by bad luck on matters of controversy involving an injured player as well as some questionable score reviews late in the season. There was even a suggestion that such benefits were awarded as a payoff for the silent acquiescence of the clubs, but who on earth could believe such nonsense about the AFL? The events of the intervening months have led the clubs to this week’s football festival in the City of Churches with unfortunately, a much less appealing opening for the weekend than the one which the organizers had originally anticipated. The much-vaunted home team is winless and seems to not only have lost the ability to score but also, its confidence, its strength and its capacity for a fight. At least Melbourne, which had a troubled summer on a number of levels and rightly or wrongly, was targeted by scuttlebutt within the game’s social bubble, has managed to overcome the noise and a disappointing opening round in Sydney by galvanizing its playing group and emerging with an impressive run of wins over the past three rounds. The victories include a meritorious win over the highly fancied Port Adelaide at the venue for Thursday night’s game. One only needs to compare the form of the respective teams in Round 3 to draw a definitive conclusion about the outcome of this game. The competition’s highest-scoring team of 2023 looked insipid and managed only four goals against Fremantle while Melbourne shrugged off the media attacks on its culture to win a high standard finals-like contest and affirmed that at the very least, they ARE the AFL’s culture club. Of course, the risk remains that in a very fickle sport like football, the five day break could prove a bridge too far for Demons. They might suffer from fatigue or a let down or underestimate an opponent desperate for redemption in the eyes of their home crowd. But I doubt it. For their part, the Crows are coming back from an interstate defeat with only one extra day’s break. Their coach Matthew Nicks certainly has the job in front of him to turn around the team’s 0-3 record and admitted at the weekend that too many of his players are out of form and “collectively not playing at the standard expected.” In playing the Demons, they can expect to come up against a team that is aware of what it means to play at that standard. They can expect a culture shock. Melbourne by 31 points. THE GAME Adelaide v Melbourne at The Adelaide Oval on Thursday 4 April 2024 at 7.40pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall - Adelaide 26 wins Melbourne 19 wins At Adelaide Oval - Adelaide 2 wins Melbourne 5 wins Past five meetings - wins Adelaide 1 win Melbourne 4 The Coaches - Matthew Nicks 1 win Simon Goodwin 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 14.13.97 defeated Adelaide 13.15.93 at The MCG, Round 19, 2023 This was a game of huge momentum swings. Melbourne took hold of the game in the third quarter and, at one stage were up by five goals. The Crows came back, the Demons regrouped but the visitors kept coming and the scores were level with 15 minutes to play. Melbourne opened up another two goal plus lead, and finally got over the line by four points. THE TEAMS ADELAIDE B J. Worrell, J. Butts, B. Smith HB P. Parnell, M. Keane, M. Michalanney C M. Hinge, J. Dawson, C. Jones HF J. Soligo, I. Rankine, J. Rachele F B. Cook, D. Fogarty, T. Walker FOLL R. 0 Brien, R. Laird, B. Keays. I/C C. Burgess, M. Crouch, N. McHenry, L. Nankervis SUB S. Berry EMG J. Borlase, L. Gollant, L. Pedlar IN S. Berry, J. Butts, B. Cook, L. Nankervis, P. Parnell OUT J. Borlase (omitted), W. Milera (knee), L. Murphy (knee), L. Pedlar (omitted), L. Sholl (omitted) MELBOURNE B T. Rivers, S. May, T. McDonald HB B. Howes, J. Lever, J. McVee C E. Langdon, C. Petracca, J. Billings HF A. Neal-Bullen, H. Petty, K. Pickett F J. van Rooyen, B. Brown, B. Fritsch FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C K. Chandler, C. Salem, T. Sparrow, C. Windsor SUB T. Woewodin EMG B. Laurie, J. Schache, A. Tomlinson IN S. May OUT M. Hore (thumb) Injury List: Round 4 Lachie Hunter — calf/ available Kade Chandler — knee / test Steven May — ribs/ test Daniel Turner — hip/ 1 week Charlie Spargo — Achilles/ 2 - 4 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring/ 2 - 4 weeks Marty Hore — thumb / 3 - 4 weeks Jake Bowey — shoulder/ 6 weeks Jake Melksham — knee/ 11 - 13 weeks

The jubilation on the coach’s face as he danced a celebratory jig by the playing bench after the final siren sounded to record his team’s four-point victory over the Demons when the teams last met, said it all. On that rainy Friday night at the Adelaide Oval, Ken Hinkley’s young midfield secured much more than four points on offer. The victory over one of the big dogs of the competition after a succession of wins over some of its lesser lights gave his team respect and validation for their 2023 premiership campaign. Saturday’s rematch promises much the same for the winning team — respect and validation for that which lies ahead. We know such things mean very little at this early stage of the year but the confidence and momentum gained can make a difference as a season unfolds. Melbourne’s quest to achieve validation after a turbulent summer that left its list short by two primary list players was made even more difficult by the end of Round 2 with two All Australian key position defenders under an injury cloud. Steven May was in hospital with two broken ribs and a small transverse process fracture while Jake Lever was sitting on the bench wearing a tracksuit top on the bench, nursing a sore knee that turned out to be not as bad as first thought. But the injury list is long and a five day break before the Gather Round clash against the Crows will test the club’s depth. You can take it straight from the coach’s mouth that the possible absence of the two keys on top of the Bowey injury from Round Zero isn’t the end of the world. The coach, Simon Goodwin, spoke immediately after the Hawthorn game and maintained that he has plenty of material necessary to cover the loss of players: “I thought Harrison Petty, Tom McDonald, and Marty Hore did a great job down back for us. “We’ve got guys that can play those roles. Clearly Harrison’s done it previously. We’ve got some other guys, Adam Tomlinson will play tomorrow in the VFL.” (Tomlinson worked hard under adversity for Casey and did well enough to be considered if required). “So, we’ve got some options in that space which is pleasing, so we’ll assess that during the week.” And while the issue of depth (especially in the big man department) will be crucial against Port Adelaide, I think it could be a double-edged sword for the home team on a hot Autumn night. They have key forwards Dixon, Finlayson and Marshall, at one end with tall defenders in Aliir, Ratugolea and Zerk-Thatcher. They have plenty of height, but their issue might be one of having to handle the Demon small brigade, particularly if the Melbourne midfield gains the initiative. The engine room will, as usual, be the place where the game will ultimately be won and this is where things get interesting. Melbourne’s ace is Max Gawn who should beat Ivan Soldo even if the Demon skipper is subjected to the usual roughhouse tactics that are emblematic of Port’s routine strategy against him. Problem with that is the umpiring fraternity is onto this and paying greater attention to such an approach these days. Then there are the midfield pieces on both the inside and outside. Melbourne has the advantage of the bulls in Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Tom Sparrow and (congratulations to 200 gamer) Jack Viney with occasional appearances from Kozzie Pickett, Christian Salem, Trent Rivers and the peripatetic Alex Neal-Bullen and, on the outside, Ed Langdon, Caleb Windsor and Jack Billings adding class. Port’s equivalent is led by Butters who took the game by the throat last year to bring home the bacon for a rampant Port Adelaide assisted by Rozee and Horne-Francis (who has a hamstring injury and in doubt to play). They also have Brownlow Medallist Wines, Drew, Farrell, Houston and the evergreen Boak. In the final analysis, I put the Demon engine room ahead by a small margin, perhaps one per cent. There are a few other one percenters that should work in Melbourne’s favour. Despite last year’s Gather Round fiasco and the loss to Port Adelaide in Round 10, both can be considered as outliers because of the conditions in which they were played. Otherwise, the Demons have a good record at the Adelaide Oval including a strong finals win over the Lions in the club’s premiership year. The club is treating the next week or so with far more thought for the playing group than it did last year. Sticking around the City of Churches for an extended period will galvanize the group, and partially offset home ground advantage. And the bottom line is that the Demons not only have the depth, but they have an extra charge in terms of greater all-round flexibility. This will be a major factor in a game where whoever is available, you must play well enough on the day to beat your opponent in your next game. And beat them is what Melbourne will do. By 27 points. THE GAME Port Adelaide v Melbourne on Saturday 30 March 2024 at 7.30pm at Adelaide Oval. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Port Adelaide 22 wins Melbourne 16 wins At Adelaide Oval Port Adelaide 4 wins Melbourne 3 wins Past five meetings Port Adelaide 2 win, Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Hinkley 4 wins Goodwin 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Port Adelaide 11.14.80 defeated Melbourne 11.10.76 in Round 10, 2023 at Adelaide Oval The game was a slog in wet conditions. Port dominated early but the Demons came back strongly to lead by 17 points only seconds before the final break. The game that was there to be won was to be prelude to Melbourne’s end of season issues. Clayton Oliver’s hamstring pinged in its frenetic latter stages. Lachie Hunter’s backside collision with Connor Rozee led to his suspension and a Port Adelaide goal. This happened late in the third term just after a controversial umpiring decision against Tom McDonald (his opponent was suspended in the aftermath) - potentially caused a twelve point turnaround. The home side took the initiative and a late goal sealed the deal for them. All things considered, the four premiership points would have seen Melbourne finish with a home qualifying final against Brisbane rather than Collingwood, perhaps a better outcome given the way things panned out for them. THE TEAMS PORT ADELAIDE B R. Burton, E. Ratugolea, B. Zerk-Thatcher 
HB L. Jones, A. Allir, D. Houston
 C M. Bergman, W. Drew, T. Boak
 HF D. Byrne-Jones, T. Marshall, C. Rozee 
F J. Finlayson, C. Dixon, W. Rioli 
FOLL I. Soldo, O. Wines, Z. Butters 
I/C F. Evans, K. Farrell, J. McEntee, J. Mead
 SUB J. Burgoyne EMG T. Clurey T. McKenzie, D. Visentini, IN J. McEntee OUT D. Williams (omitted) MELBOURNE B J. McVee, J. Lever, B. Howes HB T. Rivers, T. McDonald, C. Salem C E. Langdon, C. Petracca, C. Windsor HF T. Sparrow, B. Fritsch, K. Pickett F A. Neal-Bullen, J. Van Rooyen, K. Chandler FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C J. Billings, B. Brown, M. Hore, H. Petty SUB T. Woewodin EMG T. Fullarton B. Laurie, A. Tomlinson IN T. Woewodin OUT S. May (ribs) Injury List: Round 3 Jake Lever — knee/ Test Clayton Oliver — hand/ Test Ollie Sestan — concussion/ Test Lachie Hunter — calf/ 1 week Steven May — ribs/ 1 week Daniel Turner — hip/ 2 - 3 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles/ 2 - 4 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring/ 3 - 5 weeks Jake Bowey — shoulder/ 7 weeks Jake Melksham — knee/ 12 - 14 weeks

This week Melbourne takes on Hawthorn hot on the heels of a six-day break after its encouraging response to a disappointing season opener in steamy Sydney. The Hawks were disappointingly wasteful last week, but they also failed to bring sufficient pressure into the contest and, as a consequence, the Bombers scored goals at will. Against the Demons, a repeat would be fatal. The Hawks are still in the rebuilding phase and need everything to go right against Melbourne which is gradually building up to overcome some of the deficiencies felt by its fall from grace in departing last year’s finals series in straight sets. Hawthorn is no pushover. Despite being in development mode, the Hawks managed to upset both 2023 grand finalists, Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions during the home and away season. Against the former, they completely took apart the Magpies’ system including shutting down a rampant Nick Daicos until he was injured. The problem was that which many young, inexperienced teams face - a lack of consistency. But more about the Hawks later. One of the consequences of the Demons’ tumultuous offseason has been the debate about its standing in the competition. While some observers were willing to write the club off even before a single ball was bounced, others believed the intrinsic strength of the list, coaches and support staff ensures its status as a premiership contender. I read a piece this week that was critical of the Demons for their lack of key forwards, an explanation for its poor “forward connection”, and for its aging list with most of its elite players being in the mid 20s and over. I’m not impressed by these lines of criticism because neither can be validated statistically. Melbourne’s forward woes in the latter part of last season were more in terms of conversion and the absence of key forwards through injury. As for aging, there are several other clubs with far worse age demographics (Geelong and Collingwood for example) and Sunday’s outing showed the club’s mix of players to be in solid shape. I tend to look at the playing group in terms of its binary nature with many of the club’s qualities coming in twos:- Leadership - ruckman Max Gawn, the best ruckman in the country, and the toughest midfielder in the game, Jack Viney leading by example. Midfielders - Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver, the best midfield duo going around and still young enough to be in that mix for half a decade. Defenders - How can anyone go past key defenders Jake Lever and Steven May? Mature age recruits - Jack Billings and Marty Hore are great mature age pick ups, adding to the club’s needs in attack and defence respectively. Emerging talents - Trent Rivers and Tom Sparrow are premiership players. Each is primed for a break out season. Debutants - Blake Howes and Caleb Windsor made their respective AFL debuts less than a fortnight ago and are already making an impact. Comeback kids - how about Ben Brown (key forward) and Tom McDonald (key back), both of who were virtually written off over the summer? The odd couple - Alex Neal-Bullen, a relentless running machine in the forward line and Jake Bowey who doesn’t cover as much ground but has great disposal skill. Second year talent - Judd McVee and Jacob van Rooyen. Both were kept on the back burner in the VFL in their first seasons, both were outstanding debutants last year and both are kicking on in 2024. Small forwards - the attack looked so much more potent with Kozzy Pickett in the team and Kade Chandler back in form and kicking goals. There’s more of that in the club’s armoury but let’s return to Saturday afternoon and Hawthorn who face up to Melbourne and a game plan that works in modern football. A team that dominates defensively and through the middle and is now primed to play more directly when going forward. I believe the six day break should not worry the Demons as it will be offset by the benefit of the extra game in their legs at this stage of the season. Hawthorn has a long injury list including Will Day, Denver Grainger-Barras, Changkuoth Jiath and Chad Wingard and are lucky to have James Sicily after his visit to the AFL Tribunal. The Hawks still have a decent midfield but will have their hands full with the Melbourne engine room. In the last encounter between the teams, tagger-in-chief Finn Maginness was given the task on Clayton Oliver and fulfilled it admirably but that was in the early days of Clarrie’s return from a long term injury. Even if Maginness gets the job again and succeeds in keeping him down, there are plenty of options available to the Demons which is something the Hawks lack. That’s where the club’s binary kit bag makes it such a difficult proposition to overcome and why the Demons will win this after a tough tussle. Melbourne by 31 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Hawthorn at the MCG Saturday 23 March 2024 at 4.35pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Hawthorn 87 wins Melbourne 82 wins 1 draw At the MCG Hawthorn 46 wins Melbourne 42 wins 1 draw Last 5 meetings Hawthorn 0 wins Melbourne 4 wins 1 draw The Coaches Mitchell 0 wins Goodwin 2 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 13.9.87 defeated Hawthorn 9.6.60 in Round 23, 2023 at The MCG The Demons locked in a top four spot on the AFL 2023 ladder on Sunday with a 27-point victory against the Hawks in the penultimate round of the season. It was a tough, hard tussle with barely a goal or two in it until the Demons broke the shackles in the final term. Jake Melksham was the their best player with three telling three goals. THE TEAMS HAWTHORN B J. Weddle, S. Frost, J. Sicily HB J. Impey, J. Scrimshaw, M. D'Ambrosio C K. Amon, D. Moore, C. Macdonald HF J. Ginnivan, M. Lewis, C. Nash F L. Breust, M. Chol, Nick Watson FOLL N. Reeves, J. Newcombe, J. Worpel I/C B. Hardwick, C. Mackenzie, F. Maginness, J. Ward SUB J. Gunston EMG H. Hustwaite, H. Morrison M. Ramsden NO CHANGE MELBOURNE B J. McVee, S. May, B. Howes HB T. Rivers, J. Lever, C. Salem C E. Langdon, C. Petracca, A. Neal-Bullen HF T. Sparrow, B. Brown, K. Pickett F B. Fritsch, J. Van Rooyen, K. Chandler FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, J. Billings I/C T. McDonald, C. Oliver, H. Petty, C. Windsor SUB M. Hore EMG T. Fullarton, B. Laurie, T. Woewodin IN H. Petty OUT T. Woewodin (omitted) Injury and Suspension List: Round 2 Harrison Petty — toe/ available Ollie Sestan — concussion/ 1 week Lachie Hunter — calf/ 2 weeks Daniel Turner — hip/ 5 - 6 weeks Jake Bowey — shoulder/ 8 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring/ TBC Jake Melksham — knee/ TBC Charlie Spargo — Achilles/TBC Joel Smith — suspended/ TBC

Melbourne’s performance in losing its Round Zero contest in Sydney has certainly caused the club, the coach and the players to come firmly under the watchful eye of the football world and exposed all of its aspects to a microscopic lens. Much of the commentary surrounding them has been less than complimentary and, while some might argue that this is unfair after only one round, leaving aside some of the scuttlebutt that surrounds a lot of the discussion around the game, a fair amount of the criticism has been deserved. That is the nature of the game. The Demons went into the match in Sydney without any apparent understanding of the conditions in which it was to be played. The ground and the ball turned out to be so slippery that, at times, the players appeared to be playing with bars of soap. The overuse of handball and poor skills compounded the lack of momentum and forward movement. Turnovers were costly and connection into an already crowded forward line was almost non-existent. Ed Langdon’s goal after the half time siren, barely made the scoreline of one major from 29 forward 50 entries up until then look any better. Even though the Swans managed only a single scoring shot in the second quarter, they were in front at half time, a factor that proved conclusive by the end. As a few of the other teams discovered in playing games at a relatively early stage in their preparation for the season ahead, the Demons ran themselves too hard early for the lack of reward and were found wanting in the final quarter - something we have not been used to from Melbourne teams in recent seasons. So, the Melbourne selectors go into the game this week with the mission of turning their game around and in doing so, they need to address every area of the ground. The defence is the only area that needs only a minor rejig in the absence of the injured Jake Bowey. The forward line will gain an instant boost with Kozzie Pickett’s return - he will not only make the attack more dangerous but as he showed in the practice matches, he can also go into the middle and cause some havoc. We know that as much as Max Gawn is a superhuman ruckman, he can’t do it all on his own and therefore needs more support in the ruck and from the teammates surrounding him. This is especially so against a talented ruck foe like Tim English who will have plenty of support from the Bulldog talls. Melbourne’s other main task is to subdue the influence of Marcus Bontempelli who many judges claim to be the best in the business. I was thinking of calling this a line ball game but if my theory about teams not being well enough prepared for a season from the get-go is correct, then the Dogs might struggle against a team that has played a hard game of football followed by a full week and more to reflect on getting better. I think it will be close, but the Demons will end up with the cigar and win by four points. THE GAME Melbourne v Western Bulldogs at The MCG Sunday 17 March 2024 at 1.00 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 91 wins Western Bulldogs 79 wins 1 draw At The MCG Melbourne 48 wins Western Bulldogs 29 wins Last Five Meetings Melbourne 3 wins Western Bulldogs 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 7 wins Beveridge 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 17.13.115 defeated Western Bulldogs 9.11.65 at The MCG in Round 1, 2023 Melbourne was primed to overcome the disappointment of the previous season’s straight sets finals demise and it did so emphatically with total control of the game. Ben Brown and Pickett booted four goals apiece and, but for Kozzie’s over exuberant hit on Bailey Smith, it might have been the perfect start to a season. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B T. Rivers, S. May, J. Lever HB J. McVee, B. Howes, M. Hore C E. Langdon, C. Petracca, C. Windsor HF T. Sparrow, J. Van Rooyen, K. Pickett F A. Neal-Bullen, B. Fritsch, K. Chandler FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C J. Billings. B. Brown, T. McDonald, C. Salem, T. Woewodin EMG T. Fullarton, B. Laurie, K. Tholstrup IN B. Brown, M. Hore, T. McDonald, K. Pickett SUB T. Woewodin 
OUT J. Bowey (collarbone), J. Schache (omitted), B. Laurie (omitted), C. Spargo (Achilles), A. Tomlinson (omitted) WESTERN BULLDOGS B L. Bramble, L. Jones, N. Coffield HB E. Richards, B. Khamis, B. Dale C J. Harmes, A. Treloar, H. Gallagher HF R. Sanders, R. Lobb, C. Weightman F R. West, A. Naughton, J. Ugle-Hagan FOLL T. English, M. Bontempelli, T. Liberatore 
I/C J. Johannisen, L. McNeil, L. Vandermeer, B. Williams SUB C. Daniel EMG O. Baker, S. Darcy, J. O'Donnell NEW Ryley Sanders (Sandringham Dragons), Lachlan Bramble (Hawthorn), Nick Coffield (St Kilda), Harvey Gallagher (Bendigo Pioneers), James Harmes (Melbourne) Injury and Suspension List: Round 1 Harrison Petty — toe/ test Lachie Hunter — calf/ 2 - 3 weeks Daniel Turner — hip/ 6 - 7 weeks Jake Bowey — shoulder/ 8 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring/ TBC Jake Melksham — knee/ TBC Joel Smith — suspended/ TBC

The Coodabeen Champions have called it a day after more than forty years on various radio stations across Melbourne. When the lads chose the theme from the spaghetti western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as their signature tune, the game was uncomplicated with little time for scientific strategy. Summertime was for easy living and games of cricket, footy teams assembled in February, played practice matches in March and the season opened in mid-April. In their time, the Coodabeens saw changes upon changes that have turned the game on its head and, very late in the piece, they bore witness to a modern day miracle — the resurgence of the game’s perennial ugly duckling into a fully fledged premiership team. They saw the ugly, the bad and the good but in September 2023, the ugly returned with a vengeance. Collingwood won a flag and it was time for them to go. We usually judge a club’s off season by two measures, the quality of its list management in the transition from the past year to the present and then, by the way it prepares for season ahead with the aim of the team approaching the opening round in a positive frame of mind. The list management side of things always involves an element of conjecture about how the new blood introduced will fare and whether any departing players will leave gaps that the club might struggle to fill. The trading, free agency and draft process of October/November saw the following changes to the club’s lists:- In: Jack Billings (St Kilda), Shane McAdam (Adelaide), Tom Fullarton (Brisbane), Caleb Windsor (Eastern Ranges), Koltyn Tholstrup (Subiaco), Kynan Brown (Oakleigh Chargers), Marty Hore (Williamstown) Out: Brodie Grundy (Sydney), Michael Hibberd (Port Colts), James Harmes (Western Bulldogs), James Jordon (Sydney), Luke Dunstan (retired), Deakyn Smith (delisted), Kye Turner (delisted) As stated, such things are open to conjecture. Time will eventually tell the tale but the vibe for me is a little bit of good mixed with a touch of bad in that there isn’t much coverage in ruck for an injury to Max Gawn in the short term or, down the track when his career ends, and the ongoing issue of the need for key forwards in light of the impending retirements at the end of the year of Ben Brown, Tom McDonald and Jake Melksham and potential flight risk back to South Australia of Harry Petty. The other side of the off season is the need for peace, quiet and harmony in preparing for the year ahead. This was, for the most part, ugly and bad. The staff had barely finished packing the team’s equipment away for the summer when Joel Smith was provisionally suspended over an alleged positive drug test for cocaine from the Round 22 game vs Hawthorn and more recently, he was accused of trafficking or attempted trafficking. Smith faces a long stretch out of the game if his guilt is proved. Quick upon the heels of that news, followed revelations of Clayton Oliver’s now well-documented health and legal problems, an extended stint on the sidelines after a brief but disastrous appearance at the club’s December training camp in Lorne amid questions surrounding his future. No sooner had we finished singing Auld Lang Syne and the team came back to train, that the injury list started to grow. When the time came for the first scratch match against the Tigers, there were more than a dozen players unavailable through injury and suspension (including a raft of tall forwards). The Demons made a bright start at Casey Fields but things turned ugly and the defence leaked ten successive goals against an unfancied opposition forward line. They came back but the ebb and flow left some bad vibrations as Richmond’s new coach won the bragging rights if such things belong to match simulations in the month of February. The fans were digesting all of the above when the shock news came in of the forced early retirement of Angus Brayshaw, a much loved and experienced team leader and premiership star. A brilliant career cut short was a massive blow to the player as it was to all who love the club. The off field bickering and the fallout dating all the way back to the replacement of the club’s former chair in 2021, continued as mediation talks fell apart. The media had its fun and games, somebody mentioned “culture” and then, amid all the gloom and doom and ugly fake rumour mongering and speculation about the coach’s premature demise, the fans were finally treated to some very good as Max Gawn led the team to a demolition of the Blues at Ikon Park. And we noticed some rising fortunes among maturing players, new strategies and the emergence of new blood but wait - it was still only a scratch match. Which brings us here to Round Zero, 2024 at the end of a cycle of The Ugly, The Bad and The Good. I was surprised to see the early betting odds from last week heavily favouring the Swans to win Thursday night’s game. That was before the AFL Community Series matches but even then, Melbourne’s form turnaround against Carlton and Sydney’s insipid display in the NSW Derby in Canberra and injuries to Luke Parker and Taylor Adams were insufficient to bridge the gap. What it did take to even things up odds-wise was the announcement by Demons coach Simon Goodwin on Monday confirming that Clayton Oliver had been selected to face the Swans. Suddenly, we seem to have a standoff but I’m not buying. I will gladly concede that even in the absence of Callum Mills, Parker and Adams, Sydney has substantial midfield depth led by the likes of Eric Gulden, Chad Warner and a bevy of mid size players but … Melbourne’s midfield setup headed by skipper Max Gawn in dominant form in the ruck and the class of Oliver, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney, a resurgent Christian Salem back to full fitness and rising midfielder Tom Sparrow is miles ahead of whatever the Swans can produce. Brodie Grundy might have a point to prove but in cold, hard light of the evening, he won’t hold a candle to Gawn. Sydney farewelled Buddy Franklin well before the end of the last season but his replacement key forwards, McDonald and Amartey are hardly in his postcode at this early stage of their careers. And it’s a bad time for them to come up against Steven May and Jake Lever while their remaining forwards (and I include Tom Papley in that lot) are unfortunate in that they are likely to be strangled by the desperate defence of the likes of Jake Bowey, Judd McVee and Trent Rivers. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the culture of the Melbourne Football Club but little understanding that it’s actually a strong point because it’s a culture of hard work, attention to detail and hating defeat on the field of play. Cop that, Swans! Because Melbourne kicked away the chance to win both of its finals matches in 2023 (and a few others in the latter half of the season), there’s a perception out there that it has a weak attack. That’s a total misperception because even with those “connection” issues in the second half of the season it was still the sixth highest scoring team in the competition. The Demons have a good ground ball game and, as they showed last Thursday at Ikon Park, they’re handy in the air when the ball travels forward. Straighten them up a few percent and they would be top two or three in that category. And they have recruited well with youngster Caleb Windsor and Jack Billings — both of them excellent disposers of the football — to go with Bayley Fritsch and Jacob Van Royen who are no slouches with football in hand. On the small, spaceless SCG, Melbourne should be well suited to the size of ground and conditions expected on the day, even without Kozzy Pickett, Harry Petty, Ben Brown and Shane McAdam who are still to come into the forward mix. There’s something else to consider and it’s a factor of the early start to the season and the fact that the Swans have played their practice matches in oppressive heat and have not finished off strongly. That’s a sign for me that it’s unlikely for this matchup to turn into a standoff. To the contrary, it’s going to be a good, old wild, west ugly massacree with Melbourne winning bad by 49 points. THE GAME Sydney Swans v Melbourne at the SCG Thursday 7 March 2024 at 7.30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Sydney Swans 117 wins Melbourne 96 wins 2 drawn At the SCG Sydney Swans 14 wins Melbourne 9 wins Last 5 meetings Sydney Swans 2 wins Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Longmire 7 wins Goodwin 4 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 11.11.77 defeated Sydney Swans 7.14.56 in Round 24, 2023 at the SCG The Demons prevailed after a see saw game, thanks mainly to its midfield dominance in the personage of Jack Viney, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver and an outstanding return from injury of Bayley Fritsch who overcame a knock to his foot in mid game to finish with five goals. Scores were close until three quarter time but a four goal to nil final term sealed the deal. In form forward Jake Melksham suffered a devastating blow with an ACL injury that placed his career in jeopardy. THE TEAMS Injury and Suspension List: Round 0 Ben Brown — knee/ available Charlie Spargo — Achilles/ available Kysaiah Pickett — suspended/ 1 week Harrison Petty — toe/ 2 weeks Lachie Hunter — calf/ 3 - 4 weeks Daniel Turner — hip/ 7 - 8 weeks Shane McAdam — hamstring/ TBC Jake Melksham — knee/ TBC Joel Smith — suspended/ TBC

Following successive comprehensive defeats by fellow Top Four heavyweights the Demons play down a division this Sunday against the highly promising Cats. Strangely, no games against the Cats for five seasons and now we play them twice in one season. With the blueprint on how to defeat the Dees available on the dark web the real question is, will we crumble again under the finals pressure cooker or will we rediscover our #DemonSpirit and execute a turnaround? Make no mistake this semi-final against Geelong is an enormous challenge. In Round 5 at Mordor, they stayed in the contest for three quarters but ultimately it was our record breaking forward efficiency that won the evening. Our high scoring has vanished these past two weeks, kicking only 9 and 28 points respectively. Against Top Eight teams this year our record is not so strong with a percentage of 98% whereas it’s 323% against the bottom eight teams. The weather forecast looks good for Sunday, 24 degrees and sunny. So, come along to IKON if you can and support our wonderful team. Noting there are a couple of milestones this week to celebrate: Midfield dynamo Liv Purcell’s plays her 50th game (including 19 games with Geelong), and Mick Stinear is coaching his 75th game. Good luck to the milestoners on Sunday. Selection this week Eliza West is back to boost our contested midfield pressure while Georgia Cambell is omitted. Rhi Watt, Charlotte Wilson and Sammie Johnson are named as emergencies. Geelong has lost goalkicking dynamo Chloe Sheer to a collarbone injury. Our opponents, Geelong The Cats have a strong engine room led by league stars in Georgie Prespakis and Nina Morrison. Support comes from 3-time best and fairest winner Amy McDonald, Zali Frizwell, and Mikayla Bowen. Meg McDonald leads the Cats’ defence along with former Dee Chantel Emonson, Claudia Gunjaca a strong intercept mark, Becky Webster, and Georgie Rankin. Ex Dee Jacqui Parry is having her best season up forward with 13 goals and 46 marks. It’s nice to see Shelley Scott back playing against her old team but the loss of Scheer will weaken their forward line. The danger player is tall athletic Irishwoman Aishling Moloney. She was on fire last time we played kicking 3 goals and will no doubt be a handful for Birch and Gillard again. Expect their coach Dan Lowther to have extra pressure planned for our stars Kate Hore and Tyla Hanks. He has two ready-made terrorisers to unleash in Darcy Moloney and Rachel Kearns. Meggs view Supporters’ confidence is understandably low following the recent defeats. There have been external comments about the Dees having illnesses last week so let’s hope we are fully fit and ready to give it red hot go on Sunday. Meggs is confident that we will bounce back and see an even team contribution. In leading goalkickers Hore, Zanker, Bannan, Harris and others we have the firepower to win. Our defence with Tahlia Gillard, Libby Birch and Goldrick is solid, and our engine room led by Liv Purcell, Tyla Hanks and Loz Pearce is a real strength. Reducing the impact of Prespakis and Ash Moloney is a key to winning. All of our players must win or at least halve the one-v-one contests, its finals footy. We are looking for more energy and physical pressure this week, a rediscovery of our trademark run and carry game and hoping our all-conquering forward line stars get their mojo back. Go Dees! Melbourne to win by 7 points THE GAME Melbourne v Geelong at IKON Park, on Sunday 19 November 2023 at 3:05pm (Melbourne time) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 1 win Geelong 0 wins At IKON Park Melbourne 1 win Geelong 0 wins (Against others - Melbourne 7 wins 1 loss Geelong 2 wins 1 loss The Coaches Stinear 1 win Lowther 0 wins MEDIA TV – 7 mate, Fox Footy, Kayo Mobile – AFL Live Official App Radio – ABC, AFL Nation, Tagalog FIL THE LAST TIME THEY MET (Season 8, Round 5) MELBOURNE 2.1.13 5.4.34 7.5.47 11.8.74 GEELONG 1.0.6 2.0.12 4.1.25 4.1.25
 GOALS MELBOURNE Hore 4 Paxman Zanker 2 Gay Hanks Mithen GEELONG A. Moloney 3 Morrison
 BEST MELBOURNE Hore Purcell Paxman West Gillard Hanks GEELONG Morrison A. Moloney A. McDonald Prespakis Webster INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil 
GEELONG Nil
 CROWD 4,312 at GMHBA Stadium The Dees proved once again that they were the team to beat in Season 8 running away with a comfortable 49-point win. It was an intense battle and Geelong challenged us. Nina Morrisson was best with a game-high 30 possessions while Irish sensation Aishling Maloney was dominant everywhere and kicked three goals. Liv Purcell, with her typical ferocious play, contested strongly and was well supported by vice captain Tyla Hanks, Lily Mithen, Paxy, and Westy. Kate Hore had a fantastic game kicking four goals and our efficiency in the forward half was brilliant and the reason why we kicked away to win by so much. Mick Stinear said it was an even battle, the contest felt much tighter than the final result. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B L. Birch T. Gillard HB S. Goldrick M. Gay S. Heath C B. Mackin T. Hanks A. Mackin HF M. Fitzsimon P. Paxman E. Zanker F K. Hore T. Harris FOLL L. Pearce O. Purcell L. Mithen I/C A. Bannan M. Chaplin E. McNamara J. Ivey E. West EMG S. Johnson R. Watt C. Wilson IN E. West 
OUT G. Campbell (omitted) Milestones Olivia Purcell (50 games), Mick Stinear (75 games coached) GEELONG B C. Emonson C. Guniaca HB R. Webster M. McDonald G. Rankin C M. Bowen G. Prespakis N. Morrison HF R. Garing J. Parry K. Surman F S. Scott A. Moloney FOLL E. Hoare A. McDonald J. Crockett-Grills I/C K. Darby G. Featherston Z. Friswell R. Kearns D. Moloney EMG M. Bragg A. Kennedy B. Plummer IN K. Darby G. Featherston 
OUT M. Bragg (omitted) C. Scheer (collarbone) Injury List: Semi Final Rhi Watt - Concussion | Test Gaby Golvin - Achilles | 1-2 weeks Sarah Lampard - Wrist | 2 Weeks Casey Sherriff - Arm | Season

A sunny Sunday afternoon feast of finals footy awaits at our team’s favourite home ground, Ikon Park. Great vibes at Princes Park where we remain undefeated from 7 matches and counting. Expect the Dees to come out strongly, sparring and outmuscling the Kangaroos in the middle. With Paxy back firing and our gun forwards mesmerising, hopefully we catch ‘em on the hop. Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane have filled ten of the twelve Grand Final spots in AFLW history, and this dominance looks well placed to continue with all teams finishing Top 4 in Season 8. The North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos are desperately hoping to shatter this stranglehold. Kangaroos superstar Jasmine Garner is the runaway 2023 AFLCA best player for an incredible third time. Her team relies on her dominance because when she does, they do. Her leading midfield buddy Ash Riddell has 320 disposals this season, an average of 32 per game. No Demons come close to besting this stat. North has won 67.2% of its matches since entering the competition in 2019. Prima facie, a great record but stats can be misleading. History shows us that the Demons, Crows, and Lions have been the Kangas persistent nemesis. The Roos record against the Big 3 is miserable. Only 2 wins from 16 matches or 12.5%. Whereas its record against the rest of the competition is an impressive 88.1%. Listening to Goldie and Heathy during the week you can tell that we’ve moved on from last week’s disappointing match. The Demons coach was highlighting our impressive Season 8 home and away record of 8 wins, finishing second with a double-chance, and kicking the highest ‘points for’ by any club since the competition began. We also have goal kickers Captain Kate Hore and Eden Zanker with 20 goals each, an AFLW record. Plus having two players from the same team winning the goalkicking has never happened in men’s or women’s footy either. Melbourne’s emerging young talent was recognised during the week with Tahlia Gillard, Eliza McNamara and Alyssa Bannan named in the AFL Player’s Association’s 22Under 22 Squad. No rain but some wind this Sunday. It should be ideal playing conditions between two closely matched hard working teams. Please come along if you can and be entertained by two exciting and super talented teams. Selection this week Importantly Paxy has been greenlighted for Sunday. We need her run and creativity. We hear that Georgia Campbell is in the mix to replace Rhi Watt who is out with concussion. Armchair selectors are hoping Georgia plays this week and that Harris and Zanker stay forward, not seconded as backup rucks. Aimee Mackin and Maddi Gay are seemingly available too which is great news. Unfortunately, Casey Sherriff has broken her arm again and now out for the season. Her clever ball use, which has led to many goal-assists this year, will be missed. Georgia Gall, a surprise replacement last week, will be one omission. Our opponents, North Melbourne North has midfield bull Mia King as a test with neck soreness. Utility Lulu Pullar is also a test. With key defender Nicole Bresnehan now returned from a serious ankle injury, North is at full strength. The North engine room is highly respected by the Melbourne brains trust. Garner, Riddell, Mia King, tagger Amy Smith and the highly skilled Jenna Bruton are a formidable group. Kim Rennie and Emma King do the Kangas ruck work, but our wonderful Loz Pearce has had the edge lately and Georgia Campbell scored a goal last time they played. Statistically North has the best defence with only 213 points against. The defence is led by their illustrious skipper Emma Kearney, the only player to be named All-Australian in every season of AFLW’s existence. With the reliable Bresnehan (who didn’t play in Round 8), and talls Ferguson, Wright, Shannon plus the speedy Irish player Erika O’Shea, the North defence is the best in 2023. Expect to see O’Shea mark up on Banno again. Forward wise, we kept them to 2 goals last time. Kate Shierlaw, Tahlia Randall and Emma King resting are all capable and potentially dangerous marks. Our defenders led by young Gillard and co will match up well. Meggs’ view Adelaide and Brisbane have shown the competition how to beat Melbourne. The Demons coaching staff know this and will be expecting North to emulate the physical attack on the ball carrier, bring numbers and apply high intensity to turn over the ball. Melbourne must match the pressure, swarm like Brisbane did last week, lower their eyes and attack. The playing surface at Ikon is superb so there are no excuses for poor skills this week. Heathy hinted that she might be shadowing Garner. As we’d expect. Meggs would like to see Mithen take on Riddell. Eliza Mac could be an interesting match-up on the emerging Taylah Gatt. North has the best backline, and Melbourne the best forward line. It’s going to be a cracker of match watching Zanker, Hore, Tayla Harris, and Alyssa Bannan strut their stuff. Eyes on the prize, a week off. Meggs fears an uncomfortably close one coming up. Go Dees! Melbourne by 1 point THE GAME Melbourne v North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos at Ikon Park, on Sunday 11 November 2023 at 3:05pm (Melbourne time) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 6 wins North 1 win At Ikon Melbourne 2 wins North 0 wins The Coaches Stinear 5 wins Crocker 0 wins MEDIA TV – 7 mate, Fox Footy, Kayo Mobile – AFL Live Official App Radio – ABC Radio, NEMBC Media (Spanish Radio). THE LAST TIME THEY MET - Season 8 Round 8 at Ikon Park, 21 October 2023 NARRM 1.1.7 3.4.22 4.5.29 5.7.37 NORTH MELBOURNE 2.1.13 2.1.13 2.1.13 2.2.14 GOALS NARRM Campbell Hanks Hore Sherriff Zanker NORTH MELBOURNE Craven Martin BEST NARRM Hanks Purcell Hore Mithen B. Mackin Gillard
 NORTH MELBOURNE M.King Kearney Riddell Garner O'Shea INJURIES 
 NARRM Nil
 NORTH MELBOURNE Nil LATE CHANGES NARRM Aimee Mackin (ankle) and Gab Colvin (Achilles) replaced in selected side by Megan Fitzsimon and Charlotte Wilson
 NORTH MELBOURNE Nil CROWD 2,704 at Ikon Park It was an impressive defensive display by Narrm at our favourite home ground, with North scoring a solitary point after quarter time. Our Vice-Captain Tyla Hanks was clearly the best player on the ground and earned the 10 coaches votes. Hanksy had great support in particular from Purcell, Hore, Mithen, B. Mackin, Gillard and Heath. Heathy ran with AFLW Coaches favourite, Jasmine Garner, and limited her usual output, earning praise from Mick Stinear. The Dees kept the Roos under constant pressure and Darren Crocker commented afterwards that his team couldn’t move the ball like they have against lesser sides. By the end of the night, it was Narrm, with our trademark #DemonSpirit, just too good for too long and back on top of the AFLW Season 8 premiership ladder on percentage. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B L. Birch T. Gillard HB S. Goldrick S. Heath M. Chaplin C B. Mackin T. Hanks A. Mackin HF A. Bannan M. Fitzsimon E. Zanker F T. Harris K. Hore FOLL L. Pearce O. Purcell P. Paxman I/C (from) G. Campbell M. Gay J. Ivey S. Johnson E. McNamara L. Mithen E. West C. Wilson IN G. Campbell M. Gay S. Johnson A. Mackin P. Paxman C. Wilson
 OUT G. Gall (omitted) C. Sherriff (arm) R. Watt (concussion) NORTH MELBOURNE B E. Shannon J. Ferguson HB E. Kearney S. Wright E. O'Shea C A. Smith M. King T. Gatt HF B. Eddey K. Shierlaw A. O'Loughlin F T. Randall E. King FOLL K. Rennie J. Garner A. Riddell I/C (from) N. Bresnahan J. Bruton L. Burke T. Craven L. McGrath N. Martin L. Pullar R. Tripodi IN L. Burke M. King L. McGrath L. Pullar OUT E. Gavalas (omitted) Injury List: Qualifying Final Maddi Gay -Hamstring | Test Aimee Mackin - Ankle | Test Paxy Paxman - Hamstring | Test Rhi Watt - Concussion | 1 Week Gabby Colvin - Achilles | 1-2 Weeks Sarah Lampard - Wrist | 3 Weeks Casey Sherriff - Arm | Season