Round 16 – Gold Coast V Melbourne

Dees Get Sun Burnt On The Coast

Liam Chambers

First quarter Demons still in holiday mode

After notching up a couple of minor scores, Gold Coast kicked their first major when Ben Long ran out to take an inside 50 mark. He had no problems converting the set shot to give the home team an eight point advantage.

Despite dominating possession and territory, the Suns were unable to convert all that pressure into a larger advantage. That changed in the sixteen minute, when Joel Jeffery’s kick from 40m sailed through, extending Gold Coast’s lead to seventeen points.

After the centre bounce, Melbourne became more serious about taking on their opponents and started to get the ball into their forward half. After repeat inside 50s by the Dees, Jake Melksham almost kicked the first goal for his side, but the effort was touched on the line, denying him what would have been a spectacular goal.

After the near miss, the Demons were back defending against another Suns’ onslaught; the only thing saving Melbourne from being completely overwhelmed in the first quarter, was Gold Coast’s inaccuracy in front of goal. Unfortunately, Jed Walter was gifted a 50m penalty, which meant he was kicking a set shot from the goal square and therefore almost uncertain to miss. He didn’t disappoint the home fans.

Next up Bailey Humphrey took a mark in the pocket 20m from goal and made sure with the set shot. Then Touk Miller made it three in a row for the Suns when he marked directly in front and converted the 30m set shot.

Quarter time couldn’t come quickly enough for Demon fans, and when Ben Ainsworth marked in the pocket, we all held our breath while he went back for the set shot. Thankfully he hooked the kick and Melbourne was able to hang on till the siren, going in at the break trailing by thirty six points.

The Dees get back into the competition

Melbourne needed to produce something special in the second term after an uninspired opening quarter. Straightaway it was obvious that the Dees’ pressure had moved up several gears and it paid off early when Harrison Petty snapped a goal, after Jack Viney’s effort at ground level got the ball to his teammate.

Ben King stretched the Suns’ lead back out to thirty six points when he took a contested mark in the pocket and made the set shot look easy. Then, another set back for the Demons when Petty took a concerning knock to the head and was walked off for an assessment.

Jake Melksham has kicked some great goals over the course of his career, and he can add number 200 to that impressive tally. The hook kick from 45m deep in the pocket was spectacular.

Clayton Oliver was the second casualty for the Dees after he connected with Touk Miller. Oliver came off after the collision, just before Ben Long converted the set shot from the resulting free kick. The margin was back to thirty five points.

After the centre bounce, Kozzy Pickett was awarded a free kick for tackling Bailey Humphrey, who was pinged for holding the ball. Max Gawn ran downfield to inside 50, where he then went up to mark Pickett’s kick. The Big Fella notched up his hat trick for the season with his accurate kick from 25m directly in front.

Then after the bounce, another inside 50 mark, this time from Melksham, also marking a Pickett kick. His 50m set shot reduced the margin to twenty three points. Unfortunately Ben King brought the Dees back to reality with his imposing contested mark, right on the edge of the square. His second goal was never in doubt, and it was back out to thirty.

Melksham was having a quarter to remember after he took a mark on the edge of 50 arc, then went back to slot his third goal from 55m.

Suns extend their lead

Melbourne started the second half in a much better position, but still trailed Gold Coast by four goals. Kozzy had been instrumental in two of his side’s goals in the second quarter, but his first individual shot of the game was classic Pickett.

It didn’t take long for the Suns’ response however, and it came when Ethan Read marked just inside 50. His set shot was good, and it was back to twenty four points. Bailey Humphrey stretched it out to thirty one when his snap from 40m went through.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen an old school all in melee, but we got one when Ben Ainsworth was collected high after marking in the pocket. Then Steven May was knocked to the ground and players were streaming from every quarter to get in on the action. Meanwhile Ainsworth played on to advantage and snuck one in while everyone else was otherwise engaged. I’m not sure that Ainsworth didn’t run more than fifteen metres before kicking the ball, but I was unable to see his full run, and the goal stood anyway.

By now it was looking as though the hill was too high for Melbourne to scale, but Bailey Fritsch’s mark just inside 50 gave fans a glimmer of hope. His kick from the 50m line had both accuracy and length and the Dees were still in it.

Ainsworth put some doubt back in Melbourne minds when he marked at the top of the square, then played on for his second goal. It seemed a bridge too far for the Dees after Connor Budarick launched from 40m to claim his first goal of the year. Then, with thirty seconds left on the clock, Jed Walter scored his second with a chip from 15m out to give Gold Coast a forty six point lead heading into the final term.

Mighty last quarter effort from Demons not enough for victory

The margin continued to hover around the forty six mark, as both sides had opportunities but were unable to convert.

Then, at the ten minute mark, Kozzy almost marked in the square, but recovered quickly to tap the ball across the line. A similar lapse in the Suns’ defence a minute later allowed Melksham to mark the ball a metre from the line, making it a formality for the 200 plus goal kicker to go back and slot his fourth of the afternoon.

With seven minutes left on the clock, Bailey Fritsch marked in the pocket and then converted to reduce the margin to twenty six points. The Dees had certainly rattled the Gold Coast, but it was probably too late for a record breaking comeback.

Still… When Kozzy collected the ground ball 60m out, then ran on, launching from 40m, and hitting the target in the process, there was suddenly a realistic possibility of that incredible comeback.

As the seconds ticked down though, the likelihood of an unlikely win began to fade, and when Ben King marked at the top of the square, the dream was over.

However, Jake Melksham still had one more footnote to add to the day’s proceedings. First he marked at the edge of the square and then successfully kicked the set shot, despite suffering some very uncomfortable leg cramps.

In the end Melbourne redeemed themselves, but a perplexing first quarter and a couple of relatively easy scoring opportunities in the fourth most likely cost them an important away victory. Having said that, there was plenty to like about our performance on the Gold Coast.

Next round is another away game. This time against the Crows at their home fortress, Adelaide Oval. Technically they haven’t lost a home game all year, so we’ll be the underdogs again.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

Round 13 – Melbourne V Collingwood

Great Game, Wrong Result

Liam Chambers

Good start for the Dees with both sides even at quarter time

Arguably the most important game of our season is the Round 13 clash against Collingwood. It’s definitely the most passionate. This time last year we were at the start of a downward spiral where we only won four of our last twelve games. The Pies beat us by thirty eight points on that occasion; our only consolation being Collingwood also failed to make finals that year.

This year has been a bit of a rollercoaster for us, with wins over Fremantle, Brisbane and Sydney, after a disastrous five losses in a row to start the season. Despite last week’s defeat at the hands of St Kilda, we have been playing some impressive footy lately. Also, the underdog status suits us well, and I was expecting a performance along the lines of our rampaging final quarter victory in Round 10 over the reigning premiers.

Tom Sparrow has kicked some great goals from the 50m arc, and he did it again to give the Demons their first major on the scoreboard. Melbourne was playing competitive footy and looked impressive, tackling hard and restricting the Pies from playing their favoured transitioning game.

In fact it was nearly twenty minutes into the first quarter before Collingwood registered their first goal, after Daniel McStay received a handpass in the pocket and kicked from 40m, sending the ball through the uprights.

With just under four minutes to go, Jamie Elliot wrong footed the Dees’ defence and took an uncontested mark in the pocket. With his 2025 record of successfully converting set shot opportunities, it was a foregone conclusion that Elliot would hit the target from 35m.

Melbourne’s response was immediate. Having won the hitout, they were straight back down the ground where Koltyn Tholstrup was award a free kick for his tackle on Harry Perryman. The young forward then went back and made sure with his 45m set shot.

Collingwood gain the advantage with a little help from their friends (in yellow)

With the Demons languishing behind Collingwood in the kicking efficiency stats, Kozzie Pickett’s soccering kick off the ground from 45m out looked more an action of hope than intention, but when the sherrin crossed the line, we all knew that he meant to do it. Unfortunately, the scores were back to even steven when Beau McCreery’s running kick from 52m also found the space between the posts.

Collingwood fans were expecting their team to be several goals ahead by this late stage in the second term, but twenty minutes were gone before they managed to kick a second major. Steele Sidebottom’s kick from just inside the 50m line, made it a four point game in favour of the Pies. Then two minutes from half time, that annoying rule about not moving off the mark (except when it favours the Dees) gave William Hayes a relatively easy set shot in front of goal.

Not to worry though, as Kozzie responded by scooping up the bouncing ball, then turning and snapping from 30m out to notch up his second of the quarter.

The Umpires were fast proving themselves to be Collingwood fans when Jake Melksham was penalised for being pushed into Jeremy Howe by Darcy Moore; it was beginning to look like serial favouritism. Just saying…  

Then, of course, Collingwood got the ball back up to their end of the ground and Tim Membrey marked it inside 50. His kick after the siren went through to make it an eight point game at the main break.

Demons win the quarter by a single point.

The Pies had the perfect start to the second half when Brody Mihocek marked in the pocket and converted the difficult 35m set shot. When Ned Long snapped a goal from 15m, it seemed that Melbourne’s hopes of causing a major upset was dead, buried and cremated.

The Demons of Rounds 2 to 5 would have by now been packing their bags and heading for the exits, after trailing by twenty points to the competition leaders. The Demons of Round 13 however are made of much sterner stuff and decided to ignore the negative vibes buzzing around their heads, instead choosing to get straight back into the game.

Having won the hitout, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver combined perfectly to get the ball inside 50, where Jake Melksham ran out to take the mark. His set shot was clean, and it was back to fourteen points. Next it was Bailey Fritsch’s turn to mark the ball in a scoring position. He was thrown to the ground after the mark and awarded a 50m penalty (the good kind, as it favoured us).

Now it was a seven point game. The Dees’ momentum was temporarily halted when Bobby Hills legs taken in a tackle inside 50, and the medium forward didn’t waste his opportunity

With just over a minute left on the clock, Harrison Petty was “surprisingly awarded a free kick” in front of goal after being held while attempting the mark. His set shot was on target, and we were back in the competition.

So close

When Bailey Fritsch opened the scoring, four minutes into the final quarter, Collingwood and Melbourne fans alike were wondering if they were dreaming.

Ed Langdon had been making a terrific contribution to the Demons’ game, shadowing Nick Daicos all afternoon. Somehow the Umpires had missed what a great job Ed was doing in restricting Collingwood’s best player in the first half, but were certainly making up for it in the second. Langdon was admittedly in the wrong, but Daicos was awarded a very generous 50m penalty, ensuring the goal was a fait accompli.

Despite the setback, Bailey Fritsch quickly returned the margin to a single point when he snapped from the top of the square, after Jake Melksham had punched the ball directly into his path. Then it got even better when Kozzie collected the bouncing ball and snapped from the pocket, landing the ball into the square and across the line.

Just when it looked like we were on the verge of an upset for the ages, Daniel McStay took a contested mark and converted from 20m, effectively ending the fairytale.

It was a fantastic performance from Melbourne and every fan will be proud of the players for the effort and determination they showed against a side that will probably win their second premiership in two years.

Next, we travel to Adelaide where we face the unpredictable Power. It won’t be easy but if we show the same commitment against Port, then I sense another victory is on the cards for Melbourne.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

Round 12 – Melbourne v St Kilda

Demons All At Sea In The Dry Centre

Liam Chambers

St Kilda own the first quarter after a slow start

With five wins from the last six games, Melbourne has made its mark as one of the inform teams in the competition. A win against the struggling Saints would put us inside the top ten and set us up for the more difficult match against table toppers Collingwood next week. It was a perfect start when Bailey Fritsch took an uncontested mark and converted the 50m set shot.

The Dees were looking good early on, with a few chances to extend their lead, but it was St Kilda who kicked the next major, when Max Hall found himself with plenty of space behind the Melbourne defence. He took an uncontested mark and played on, tapping the ball from the top of the square and across the line.

The goal had an instant inspirational effect on the Saints. After winning the hitout, St Kilda headed straight back towards goal, where Isaac Keeler took a hand pass from one the pack of players on the ground. His quick turn and snap gave the visitors they’re second six pointer in less than a minute. Dan Butler was deemed held at the top of the square and his subsequent set shot gave his side a thirteen point lead. Suddenly it was all Saints.

St Kilda’s next goal was messy and chaotic but they got the job done when, after many fumbles and drops, Isaac Keeler took a hand pass on the edge of the line and snapped through the ballWhen Tobie Travaglia snapped one from 20m, the Saint had five in a row and were twenty five points in front. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, Max Hall kicked a second when he launched from 40m.
Jake Melksham clawed one back right on the siren, when his 45m set shot from deep in the pocket sailed through, reducing the margin to four goals even.

Demons launch comeback, stumble, then relaunch

The Saints started the second with the wind at their backs, metaphorically speaking. Melbourne needed to put early goals on the board, but it was St Kilda who kicked the first when Hunter Clark’s hopeful snap from 15m just managed to cross the line.

Despite all of the Demons’ defensive pressure, they only added three minor scores for the first ten minutes of the term.

Then Christian Petracca took a mark inside 50 and made sure with the 45m set shot. When Kade Chandler made it three in a row with his running snap from 20m in front, it looked like the Dees were on track to take back control from St Kilda.

Melbourne had a couple of scoring opportunities but the accuracy hoodoo that has afflicted the Dees for a long time was again rearing its unwelcomed head.

Unfortunately, accuracy was not a problem for the Saints. Dan Butler marked the ball at the top of the square, then had little problem chipping it through from directly in front.
Butler next found himself in an almost identical position when he again took a mark and kicked the goal from point blank range.

After all Melbourne’s hard work, they found themselves two points worse off than they were at quarter time. Tracca decided he’d had enough, and when presented with a scoring opportunity, he launched from 52m to reduce the deficit to twenty points. Harry Sharp almost made it back to back for the Dees, but his excellent shot hit the post for another minor score. Aiden Johnson’s set shot from the pocket was on target though and his effort made it a thirteen point game.

Melbourne unable to capitalise on their opportunities

Both sides started the second half with the best of intentions but the space between the uprights was proving elusive for all concerned. The Dees seem to be having the best of the play though.

Just as Melbourne looked to be taking control, Brad Hill decided to kick a difficult 48m set shot from the pocket.

Harrison Petty kept the Dees in the running with his around the corner snap set shot, making it a two goal game. Then it looked like Xavier Lindsay was about to kick his first AFL goal, but the accuracy jinx struck again and the ball went behind for another minor score.

Dan Butler’s new best friend was the top of the square when he scored his fourth after collecting the ground ball, then turning and snapping from 10m out. Margin back out to seventeen.

Dees throw everything at St Kilda, but the visitors lead only mounts

It seemed to be a perfect start for Melbourne when we won the hitout and Daniel Turner ran out to take the mark. Disappointedly he hooked the shot and the minor scores continued to build up.
Less than a minute later, Jake Melksham had a free kick awarded for interference on his attempted mark. Again the ball veered right.

Up the other end Mitch Owens ran out to mark before converting to stretch the lead out to twenty one points.

Xavier Lindsay was left to continue the search for his maiden AFL goal after his latest attempt drifted left. Tom Sparrow’s set shot from 52m fell short and was rushed behind.
As the seconds continued to tick down, the finish line appeared further away than ever.

Then Isaac Keeler’s round the corner set shot gave the young forward his hat trick and effectively sealed Melbourne’s fate.

Judd McVee and Christian Salem each had a scoring shot in the final minutes but sadly, it was not to be. Caleb Windsor’s effort was on target but was touched on the line.

In the end, St Kilda took their chances and Melbourne was left to rue what could have been. Our inaccuracy in front of goal has haunted us for a long time and I don’t know what can be done to remedy this problem. Our game is strong and the players are talented, but the lack of confidence in front of goal is really hurting us.

We will be the underdogs again for our game against Collingwood. Like our performance against Brisbane in Round 10, the pressure is off. When that happens, don’t rule anything out.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

Melbourne v Collingwood – Rivalry in red, blue, black and white.

Nigel Dawe

According to Western folklore, the word ‘rival’ stems from the old Roman word ‘rivus’ (meaning stream, river, or water source) and by extension ‘rivalis’ meant “one who uses the same stream as another [for sustenance and survival].” In the same vein, some of the oldest definitions in English for the word and notion ‘rival’, denote it as “having the same pretensions or claims, holding the position of rivals… To stand in or enter into competition with another; to strive to equal or emulate.”

Which could not more encapsulate what the Collingwood Football Club has meant to the Melbourne Football Club since having first met ‘in earnest’ on the 19th of June in round 6 of season 1897. That day Melbourne came away 7-point victors, but that initial success was far from how things would pan out across the years.

As such, our record against the Magpies is the worst of any team we have played. In the 246 official encounters against Collingwood, the MFC have left the ground only 85 times with a ‘W’ in their win/loss column. But fascinatingly, and this is where the necessary friction and deep factional divides are required for a rivalry to take flame; Melbourne have the best record against Collingwood when it matters most – that being in the beautiful month of September.

Of the 23 times we’ve played Collingwood in a final, the Demons have won on 16 occasions and drawn once. That draw (in 1928, the first in a finals match, let alone in a Preliminary Final) signaled, albeit demarcated a point (and pardon the pun) of no return in the rift that still healthily exists between the two clubs.

That day, which was defined by scribes as being gale force to downright dangerous (with scraps of paper and debris of all kinds swirling about and above the MCG) ended in a draw that should’ve resulted in a one-point win to Melbourne. Incredibly, a point was awarded to Collingwood’s Bruce Andrew after the 3-quarter time siren. In his later years, Andrew embellished his version of events with the stipulation that the point was never awarded, but that’s the nature of research-based evidence, it does eventually catch up to what is said with regards to what actually takes place.

In itself it ‘wasn’t much’, but if that solitary point hadn’t been awarded in 1928, then Collingwood’s famous ‘Machine’ that won a record setting 4-premierships in row, from 1927 to 1930 would never have occurred. The following week, history shows that Collingwood won by 4-points, going on to then beat Richmond in the Grand Final. But luckily for the rest of the competition, Melbourne had also won the 1926 Grand Final against the ‘Pies, ensuring that we didn’t have to hear all about their potential 5-peat for the next hundred years.

And there’s the rub, rivalries aren’t concocted or manufactured overnight, and if they are – then they simply aren’t! True rivalries are built piece by piece and rivet by meticulous rivet, from the ground up, on a traded blow-for-blow basis; they evolve, take emotional shape and are constructed upon their own comparative, and collective accord. Parts equally equal the whole, as the whole more than equals its parts. That Norm Smith grew up following Collingwood, as did Christian Petracca, gives an insight into the personal and at times conflictual nature of playing for a club and being loyal to it, in a sport as traditional, and as time-honoured as ours.

No discussion of a Melbourne-Collingwood rivalry could exclude the ‘upset of the century’, that being the 1958 Grand Final, the unlosable one really, for Melbourne, and the one that would’ve earned us the mantle of winning an eventual 6 flags in a row (from 1955-60). But such is the nature and the brutal meanderings of rivalry; full credit to a young Magpies side who had suffered 9 losses and a draw in their previous 10 encounters with Melbourne leading up to that big dance, a dance they would win by an ‘all-or-nothing’ 18-points.

History shows that Collingwood bashed and crashed their way to defending their 4-peat of premierships that day, but it also created a fire-brand resolve in the Melbourne side that saw it train over the summer months of ’58 and early ’59, for the first time in its history. The Demons of course came storming back to win the next two pennants, but to a player, those two premierships never erased the disappointment of losing the ultimate of battles with destiny itself in 1958. Up to the day Ron Barassi died, he would mention that if he could do just one thing over again – it’d be to play that 1958 Grand Final, and win! He even suggested that at some stage he might get the chance to do so, up in heaven.

When it comes to the greatest individual performance by a player in a red and blue guernsey against Collingwood, it would have to go ‘hands-down’ to our first dual Brownlow Medallist – Ivor Warne-Smith. In the dying stages of the Preliminary Final of 1925, Warne-Smith (who unbeknownst to trainers and officials, had sustained broken ribs the previous week against the Cats) with just 15 players on the field (through injury), he took 9 marks in an 11-minute spell during the dying stages of the match, a match that saw Melbourne soundly defeated, which makes his ‘efforts’ all the more admirable, if not outright extraordinary – that he refused to give in, even when all hope of victory was lost.

The celebrated Frenchman Victor Hugo once said of his beloved Paris, “He who contemplates the depth of Paris is seized with vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime.” And when it comes to ‘unpacking’ the Demons – Magpie rivalry it feels very much the same, there is just so much you could touch upon that still wouldn’t suffice for scraping the surface of such an enthralling topic.

That half of Norm Smith’s 10 premierships (as both a player and a coach of Melbourne between the late 1930s to the mid-1960s) came against Collingwood as a direct opponent, goes some way to explaining what ‘part’ this black and white-hued club played in the mind, not to mention the legacy of our game’s greatest ‘coach of the century’. Fittingly, Smith would often respectfully bellow: “You’re not a footballer until you’ve played Collingwood at Victoria Park. If you could hold your head high after a match there…you were a man.”

And with that said, my favourite image of this wonderful rivalry, and the above sentiment of Norm Smith’s, is of Ian ‘Tiger’ Ridley in the 1956 Grand Final (a game which saw hundreds, if not thousands stream onto the ground after having stormed the gates to see the two mightiest teams compete for the ultimate prize). But Ridley is literally looking up to the heavens, with his head held high, exhausted – seemingly imploring the gods and himself to get the job done, all while being held aloft by his Collingwood foe, without whom the spirit and pure impetus of competition would not exist.

And so, may these two ‘rival’ teams long have each other in their sights, bringing out the best in themselves, and all that the game means to those of us who revere it.

Round 11 – Narrm V Sydney

Early Trickle Turns Into A Torrent For Narrm

Liam Chambers

Demons get off to a good start

Max Gawn has been a consistently reliable captain and player and leads by example. When he kicked the opening goal with an around the corner snap from a stoppage in front of goal, he set a great example.

With the Swans held goalless at the halfway mark of the first term, Narrm was looking good. They looked even better after Kade Chandler’s accurate kick to inside 50 was marked by Kozzie Pickett in the pocket. The high scoring Pickett thought about the set shot, then played on, taking the Sydney defence by surprise and notching up his first major of the afternoon.

A minute later, Peter Ladhams finally put the visitors on the board when he marked directly in front, then slotted the 20m set shot.

Jake Melksham had a brilliant game in Round 10 and with his set shot from 45m, signaled his intention to have another blinder this week.

Ladhams was keeping the Sydney scoreboard respectable with his around the corner set shot from the pocket.

Narrm dominate but Swans hang on

Isaac Heeney had a quiet first quarter, but it didn’t take him long to make his presence felt in the second term. His snap from 15m in the pocket was easy pickings for the sharpshooter.

Even though it feels like Christian Petracca has been at Melbourne forever, it’s still a shock to realise that he’s played two hundred games for the club. What better way to celebrate than by collecting the ground ball at the arc and snapping a goal from 50m.

Tom Sparrow may not have even reached Tracca’s milestone, but his set shot from 50m was perfect, and the Demons were out to a sixteen point lead. Coincidently, Joel Hamling was playing his one hundredth game, and he made sure it was a memorable one when he marked 20m in front and converted with the set shot.

Kozzie’s second goal was a mixture of skill and luck. His running kick from the pocket landed just outside the square, then bounced the right way to cross the line. With five minutes remaining in the term, Narrm were completely dominating the game but that dominance wasn’t translating to the scoreboard with four consecutive minor scores in a row.

The post wasn’t doing us any favours either, again refusing to play fair when it jumped out to thwart Melksham’s round the corner kick from a 25m set shot.

Narrm inaccurate early but find their mojo to convincingly win the quarter

Sydney would have been grateful that the score wasn’t beyond reach at the start of the second half. An early goal would have them right back in the game. Jake Melksham had other ideas, and his pick up and spin inside the Dees’ forward 50 gave his side the chance to reset their attack, eventually getting the ball to Pickett, who turned quickly and snapped his third of the match.

Nick Blakely kept the Swans in touch after he was awarded a 50m penalty and made sure with his 30m set shot. Sydney’s next goal was also courtesy of a 50m penalty. This time the recipient was Will Hayward and gladly accepted the challenge, hitting the target and reducing the deficit to eighteen points.

At this stage it was seven goals thirteen to five goals one; Narrm’s inaccuracy had so far prevented them putting the game out of Sydney’s reach. Luckily Caiden Cleary hooked his set shot from just inside the arc, letting the Demons off the hook. When Will Hayward missed a seemingly easy 25m set shot, it appeared the Swans had caught the same infection that had afflicted Narrm all afternoon.

Kozzie proved himself immune to the inaccuracy virus when he nailed a difficult 50m set shot from deep in the pocket. The margin was back out to twenty two points. Bailey Fritsch has had a fairly ordinary season so far but when he took a contested mark at the top of the square, he didn’t miss with the set shot.

Christian Salem made it three in a row for the Demons with his 40m chip to extend his side’s advantage to thirty four points. Pickett had five when he played on to advantage after Charlie Spargo was taken high inside 50.

Braeden Campbell pulled one back for the Swans when he took a contested mark and converted the set shot.

Swans mowed down in race to the finishing line

Isaac Heeney gave the Sydney faithful a ray of hope with his snap from 25m in the opening minute of the last quarter.

Straight after the bounce, Harrison Petty was awarded a free kick when he was held 20m in front. Petty was spot on with his set shot extending the lead back out to six goals.

Callum Mills temporarily revived a sense of belief for the Swans with his excellent 15m snap from a tight angle.

Harry Sharp has scored some great goals this season, and his run to inside 50 before launching from 40m was right up there.

Clayton Oliver has had plenty of detractors over the last two seasons but it all seems to be finally coming together for him. His set shot from the 50m arc was a just reward for his recent efforts. Also good to see the Dees gelling as a team again.

With the Swans trailing by forty two points, Isaac Heeney’s third for the game was consolatory at best, but it may have given some hope to Sydney fans that they could narrow the margin further.

Tom Sparrow’s snap from the top of the square less than a minute later quickly put paid to that hope and the margin was out to forty two. Super sub Harry Sharp even had time to pick up the ball in front of goal, drop it, collect it again and snap his second. Jake Melksham’s turn and snap from 20m was a popular goal with fans.

By now, Narrm was fifty five points ahead and confidence was sky high. Bailey Fritsch then took a contested mark and pushed the margin out to sixty one. Max Gawn took an inside 50 but didn’t hear the “touched” call and was set upon by a flurry of Swans. Chad Warner collected the ground ball and tapped it off the outside of his boot for a Sydney goal.

Jake Melksham had played superbly again and he wasn’t finished yet. He took a great mark just inside the boundary, then played on, kicking from 51m to notch up his hat trick. With a minute to go, Hayden McLean marked in the pocket and converted to claw back the margin to fifty four points.

With five wins from our last six games, you’d have to say that the Demons are back on track. We play St Kilda at Traeger Park in Round 12. Our last visit is not a happy memory, but we are in a better place now than we were twelve months ago, and I believe that we can continue our renaissance against the Saints.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!