What Brings Happiness? – Round 11 Match Review
By Darren Spence
‘Bruise free’ footy they say??….Bah Humbug. From the time the boys ran through the banner which read “Whatever it takes – mongrel or brilliance, go hard, go Dees, push the limits” the Demons had only one thing on their mind and that was to prove to the football world that this side is no push over and a side to be feared and reckoned with. And didn’t we how!!! Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard once was quoted as saying….”It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed”. Well Frank I know the answer!!….Nothing brings more happiness than beating Essendon on the big stage of a Friday night. And what was just as pleasing was how the boys fought back into the game after going behind in the 2nd quarter. That showed great intestinal fortitude and a strong desire to win – cornerstones I am confident that will be the hallmark of the club for the future.
The game had many highlights and it was very difficult to find a bad player on the night. All the more pleasing was that this was the youngest team we have had on the field since 1982 and, as hard as it seems to believe, our side on Friday night had actually played a combined number of games LESS than the Gold Coast Suns!!…AMAZING!
Some of the highlights…
Dean Bailey – let’s start at the finish. How good was the scene with Bailey thumping the roof of the dugout after the siren? A man not normally known for sharing his emotions, his public display says just as much about the media pressure he has been under as it does for his reward for all the hard work he has put in for this young side.
Bennell – Probably his best game for the Demons. He was quick, his disposal was top rate and basically he looked dangerous every time he had the ball.
Eyeballing Evans – Another great game from the rookie. He seems at ease at this level and his set up for Sylvia’s goal was a gem. He had 56 dream team points at half time and is showing great promise for the future.
Gawking at Gawn – how great was it to see big Maximus get his first game? Bound to be a cult hero at the club, he did some pleasing things on the night and another showing promise for the future. A player I will keep an eye on for the rest of the year.
Green – The skipper led from the front and kicked a goal in each quarter. I must say I love seeing him playing up forward and I think we will see more of that as our key midfielders get back on the park.
Heeding Howe – An amazing first game from Jeremy! His marking and kicking were first rate and he set up many key passages during the game. In the game turning 3rd quarter, Jeremy had 9 disposals. Another player under my watch for the rest of the year.
Manlove 1 update – Sadly another week confined to the rehab room at AAMI. Hopefully it won’t be too long till we see Luke back in the red and blue.
Manlove 2 update – Now where do I start! My manlove devotion is being paid back in spades with Jordan BOG and nominated for another Rising Star award. The Gys had game and career high 30 possessions with 11 to quarter time. The way he gets into packs and gets the ball is a pure delight. My manlove is growing.
Jetta – Neville is really starting to show signs that he belongs at this level and this is great to see. He is tackling well this year and playing with much more vigor and hardness.
Martin – just when you thought you had seen it all from Stef he continues to rise and rise. I would say it was his best game on the weekend. He ended up with a career high 25 possessions. Up against the three Bomber talls he took the points on the night and if there was ever an example of a breakout season this is it.
McKenzie – This man is an integral part of our side and I don’t think people realised how much we have missed him until he came back. He is so hard, tenacious and provides so much grunt for us. He had a career high 13 tackles on the night.
Morton – Cale got better as the match went on. He backs himself and is surprisingly fast for his size. He would have been happy with his game on Friday.
Rivers – Old Man had another stellar game! He was hardly beaten, was confident in delivery and is in career best form.
Scully – now where do I start???….to come back after 1/2 a VFL game all year and to put in that kind of performance shows the world why he was taken No.1 and why we must move heaven and earth to keep him. Most players take weeks to get up to speed but not our Tom – he is a gun!
Strauss – ‘Johann’ had his best game for the Dees by far. It was pleasing to see as he has been on the fringes for a while now. He had a career high possession count and hopefully will be able to string some great games together.
Trengove – Jack showed on Friday night how critical he is to our side. He brings that touch of class with everything he does. His disposal and decision making is beyond 1st class (if that’s possible:-))
Watts – How was his marking??…How was his decision making???…..How were his foot skills??…..How was his speed??…..How on earth did anyone question his status as No.1 draft pick????
We now draw our attention to the QB Monday and our traditional clash with our traditional enemies. Our record of late has been more than admirable against the Pies and we will go in with a great deal of momentum. Yes we still have a few key injuries but so do the Pies and anything short of a similar effort on Monday as was shown on Friday night would be a disappointment. I finish with a confession…..when I said nothing brings more happiness than beating the Bombers – I lied…….beating the Pies on QB Monday….I think that will take the cake!
Melbourne v Essendon Live on the Big Screen at 7.40pm tonight
Melbourne v Essendon Live on the Big Screen at 7.40pm tonight
Join the NSW Demons to watch the two debutants, Max Gawn and Jeremy Howe who are joined by Jack Trengove, Tom Scully and James Strauss in a welcome return to the team.
Join us to watch the game at the Camelia Grove Hotel, 146 Henderson Rd, Alexandria. Ph: 02 9516 5611. Check out www.nswdemons.com and www.thecammy.com.au for more information.
ROUND 10 MATCH REVIEW
ROUND 10 MATCH REVIEW
By Darren Spence
Last week saw the Demons parade themselves on the big stage of Friday Night football. Unfortunately the game mirrored reading a copy of Hansard as a spectacle but with an injury list that has the World Health Organisation contemplating issuing a hazard warning at AAMI Park it is hardly surprising that the game was such a dour affair. With everything seemingly going against the Demons at the moment, the fact that we were still in touch at half time gives us the glimpses of hope for that which we are so desperately searching.
Let’s look at some of the highlights…….
Jetta – he was very lively early and continues to tackle hard. He has been a solid improver this year and hopefully he can string some good performances together as he has his chance now with all of our outs.
Watts – Killer is going from strength to strength at present. He was used by Bailey as an extra defender and picked possessions up at will. He has played at least 6 games in a row in our best I reckon and I am loving watching every minute of him.
Bennell – Great to see Jamie back. He played a fantastic game on the dangerous Garlett and definitely can hold his head up high after the weekend.
McKenzie – Jordie has taken off from where he left last year – leading our tackle count. He is a tough nut and boy have we missed him in our engine room.
MacDonald – In Joel’s 100th AFL game he finished with a game high possession count for the Demons. He marked well and applied a high level of pressure.
Martin – Stef has definitely stepped up (as has been mentioned before). Without a doubt our most improved player this year. He had a career high hit out count and presented himself around the ground. If there can ever be a good thing that has come out of the Russian going down then Stef Martin is the silver lining.
Sylvia – quickly becoming Colin’s most consistent year as he continues to be hard at the ball and led the team for contested possessions on the night.
Manlove 1 update – sadly still confined to the rehab room at AAMI Park.
Manlove 2 update – Another solid game by the Gys. Clearly had more influence on the game than Brock which brought a huge smile to my face. He spent some time tagging some of the Blues elite midfielders which augurs well for his experience and future development.
Eyeballing Evans – not as eye catching as his debut but Michael tackled hard and like Jordan spent some time on Judd, Murphy et al and as the say in racing parlance….’he will be better for the run’.
Jones – another player arguably playing his best season, Nathan continues to win plenty of the hard ball and his physicality at the ball has gone up on previous years.
Jimma – watching big Jim belting out tunes with Russ Robertson and ONJ just has to get a mention. It is fair to say though it is the most uncomfortable I have ever seen Big Jimma on the MCG….But I don’t think he will mind me saying that.
We look forward now to another Friday Night game and again against one of the big Victorian teams. With Dermie’s and Mitch Robinson’s words still ringing in their ears I for one cannot wait to see the response this week against the Bombers. Nothing cuts more to the bone than to be called ‘soft’ and I have no doubt that the Demons will come out all guns blazing come Friday. The game can’t come soon enough………
Melbourne v Carlton Live on the Big Screen at 7.40pm tonight
Join the NSW Demons to watch the game at the Camelia Grove Hotel, 146 Henderson Rd, Alexandria. We will also draw the prizes for the shareholders of the Jamie Bennell and Jack Grimes Sponsorship Group at half time in tonight’s game.
And isn’t it great to see Jamie back in the team for the game tonight against Carlton. Come along and cheer on Jamie and the Dees!
Round 9 Match Review by Darren Spence
Another game at Etihad and another loss. I don’t know about you but I reckon we should petition to say that we play every game at the MCG. After all we are the traditional and spiritual owners of the ground and as every game we play at the ‘G” highlights, we are the ‘MASTERS OF THE MCG’. Somehow I don’t think we will get my wish but we will need to find a way it to win away and we need to find it soon. I read somewhere that during Dean Bailey’s tenure we have a win success rate against other Victorian clubs of 8% and nearly all of the wins have been against Richmond. I am sure the brains trust are working on ways of overcoming this telling statistic. Alas this last weekend did nothing to arrest this.
Last week we did put in a spirited contest for three quarters when our burgeoning injury list began to take its toll. I lost count of how many times our shots for goal in the 2nd quarter were cut off on the line. We managed to dominate clearances throughout the game and at 3 qtr time we were leading all the key indices of tackles, contested footy, inside 50s and clearances. Now let’s look at some of the highlights from the Dees perspective.
Green – the skipper has put in two fine games in a row now and is starting to get back to the form we know and love. He has his kicking boot on again and completely dominated his well credentialed opponent in Nick Del Santo.
Manlove 1 update – some American crackpot claimed the world was ending over the weekend. Well for me my world ended in the back pocket half way through the 2nd quarter. Seeing Luke grasp his hamstring after kicking the ball must go down as one of the great football tragedies of the season. We will surely miss his aggression and drive out of defence and I for one will be counting the days till he is back in the red and blue. Let’s hope that his days recovering are few – we sure as hell do not need any more injuries!
Manlove 2 – on a more positive note the Gys played a ripper game and was arguably our best player. He has great disposal, is constantly winning his own hard ball and his physicality is improving every week.
Eyeballing Evans – in the absence of a Manlove 1 update for the foreseeable future I thought it might be prudent to spotlight another up and coming youngster. What better player than Michael Evans who debuted on the weekend. Evans played like he was a 100 game veteran and 27 possessions and 5 tackles is an impressive game in anyone’s standards let alone a debut. I look forward to writing more glowing reports on him throughout the year.
Indigenous update – in tribute to the indigenous round I thought it might be apt to look at the good games of our indigenous brothers. Jetta played a pretty good game on the weekend. Close behind was LJ who finished with 3 goals in another dangerous game.
Martin – Stef continues to rise to any challenge given to him. He surely must now be our most improved player this year. The fact we dominated centre clearances is a testament to his game on the weekend.
Jones – in his 100th game for the club Jonesy put in another stellar performance. His seven inside 50s shows just how damaging he was on the day.
McKenzie – just how good was it to see Jordie back? We have missed his grunt work at the clearances and his tackling is top shelf. He will be good for the run and we certainly need him up and firing in our team.
Rivers – Jared played another solid game down back and had the better of his opponents throughout the day.
Beamer – This man is on fire this year! Again he led the clearances for us on the day and his work around the stoppages is A grade. He is showing that without Jamar he is still one of the best clearance players in the league.
Warnock – Matty played arguably his best game for the club. He collected a career high number of possessions and won the vast majority of contests against his opponents on the day.
Watts – Like Big Kev used to say….’I am excited! Played in a variety of roles on the weekend Killer handled all of them with aplomb. His decision making continues to bring more than a smile to my face and he is getting better and better every week.
This week we look towards our first Friday night game for the year against the Blues. I for one am looking forward to seeing how we rise to the challenge. The game will also be memorable for being Brock McLean’s first game against his old club. I love reminding my Carlton friends that the Blues gave up pick 11 for Brock……and who did we draft?……none other than Manlove 2!!….What a deal that was! Also the game will be memorable for another Demon with the debut of Daniel Nicholson. A debut on the big stage of a Friday night game is a boyhood dream. We wish him all the best for a great game and promising future in the Red and Blue.
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