Round 9 – Melbourne V Hawthorn

So Close, Until It Wasn’t

Liam Chambers

Dees showed good form, staying in touch with the Hawks

With three wins under our belt, we could have been forgiven for feeling confident against a top four side that hadn’t been seriously challenged so far this year; okay, maybe Geelong.

Charlie Spargo had a chance to score the first major. It looked to be going through but suffered a late hook. A minute later Jacob van Rooyen had a set shot from a similar distance on the other side of the ground. It looked good initially but slipped passed the outside of the upright.

Then it was Hawthorn’s turn. Ruckman Lloyd Meek took a mark 40m in front of goal, then went back to make sure. Harvey Langford again showed his value as a Demon when he took a contested mark inside 50, then converted the 50m set shot to bring Melbourne level with the Hawks.

Luke Breust displayed why he’s still a goal scoring machine when he was on the end of Hawthorn wave, kicking from the edge of the square to give his side back the lead. Nick Watson increased it to twelve points when he slotted his 35m set shot.

Tom Sparrow had a chance to close the gap when he marked Clayton Oliver’s kick directly in front. No problems with the set shot. Melbourne almost made it a one point game after the siren but Bailey Fritsch’s boot couldn’t make clean contact, so it was a six point game at quarter time.

Inaccuracy in front of goal still a problem for Demons

Hawthorn started the second quarter by upping the pressure and making repeat entries into the Dees’ defensive 50. Melbourne eventually broke out and made some incursions of their own, deep into Hawks’ territory but were unable to make them pay. There were a couple of almost there, but no cigar.

The Dees would rue the wasted opportunities when Hawthorn made it back inside 50 and Dylan Moore marked and ran on, tapping the ball through from the edge of the goal square. Melbourne should have been a couple of goals up by the latter half of the term, but inaccuracy in front of goal continued to let them down.

It also didn’t help that a blatant foul on Kozzie Pickett in the square was ignored by the Umpires. The subsequent set shot would have been a certain goal. When Kozzie was fouled again less than a minute later, his set shot was cleanly taken. Up the other end, Nick Watson was awarded a free kick in the pocket and the margin was back out to nine points.

Just before the break, Jai Newcombe went to mark but left the ball on the ground. Harvey Langford pounced, collecting the ball and snapping it through for his second of the afternoon.

Low scoring quarter has sides neck and neck

Despite not being able to make the most of their scoring opportunities in the first half, there was a lot of positives for Melbourne, especially with respect to their younger players.  It continued to be a low scoring game, with inaccuracy in front of goal letting both sides down.

Eventually it was Josh Ward who scored the first goal of the third quarter, when he received the hand pass inside 50 and had enough space before chipping the ball from 20m out.

As mentioned earlier Melbourne has some very talented younger players and Harvey Langford is proving himself to be an important asset, as he showed again when he took a contested mark on the edge of the square. His set shot was efficiently taken and it was back to a two point game. Speaking of young talent time, Harry Sharp’s running kick from 40m was calm and clinical, giving Melbourne back the lead.

With three minutes to go, Hawthorn reclaimed the advantage when Jack Ginnivan marked in the pocket and converted with his round the corner 20m set shot.

Hawks press turbo and accelerate to the finish line

With such a slim margin going into the final term, it was anyone’s game. However, even the most optimistic Demon fan knows that, in recent times, we reserve our worst footy for the fourth quarter. Our opponents know that too and it is now so ingrained in our psyche that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We all crossed everything and hoped that it’s different this time.

Two minutes in and Max Gawn takes a contested mark inside 50. Everyone holds their but the kick is just off target.

Then Jack Gunston manages to get at the top of the square, receives the hand pass and taps the ball across the line. Five minutes later and Gunston, who couldn’t hit the side of a barn all afternoon, marks in the pocket and cleanly converts.

With the biggest lead of the game, the Hawks had the wind at their backs. Mabior Choi then took an impressive mark, edging Tom McDonald off the ball in the process. Again, the set shot was cleanly taken and the advantage was out to nineteen.

The Dees needed something special to give the faithful some hope; who would answer the call. Who else, but Kozzie Pickett. After some impressive get out of trouble hand passing in their defensive 50, they finally broke through and Pickett was the last player in the chain. His ran from the middle of the ground, evading the clutches of Bailey MacDonald, bounced the sherrin twice and launched from the 50m arc. The ball landed just over the line and the hope was back.

Mabior Choi got his second when he snapped from 25m in front and the hill became a little steeper for Melbourne. With each passing minute, the chance of a winning comeback became less and less lightly. The way things were now panning out for Jack Gunston, he could have closed his eyes, kicked the ball over his head and still nailed a goal. His casual 45m kick from the pocket sailed through with the greatest of ease.

After the centre bounce, Josh Weddle got in on the action by snapping one from 35m out.

There were no more goals but Melbourne had conceded six goals after being neck and neck with the Hawks all afternoon.

We played well for the majority of the match but in the end Hawthorn proved that they deserved to be in the top three.

Unfortunately the news doesn’t get any better for Demon fans. Next up we travel to Brisbane to face the reigning premiers at the Gabbatoir. We will be odds on favourites to get completely trounced, but Melbourne have a history of upsetting the punters when the odds are stacked against us.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

Round 8 – West Coast Eagles V Melbourne

Dees Make It Three In A Row

Liam Chambers

Dees dominance not reflected on scoreboard

The Demons have rediscovered that winning feeling after surviving a late challenged from Richmond in Round 7. Despite remaining winless so far in 2025, West Coast almost always raise their game at home, so Melbourne wouldn’t be leaving anything to chance in Perth.

Christian Petracca was first on the board when his snap from the pack sailed through the posts, giving the Dees an early advantage.

Five minutes later Jake Waterman returned the favour with a snap from a similar position but after a lengthy review, the ball was deemed to have been touched. It wasn’t a popular decision with the overwhelmingly biased home crowd, but a good result for Demon fans.

Bailey Fritsch got Melbourne’s second when he took a contested mark on the edge of the square and converted with the set shot.  The Dees were dominating in clearances but not making the most of their chances and leaving the door open for the Eagles. Luckily though West Coast had a similar problem; wasting the few scoring opportunities that presented.

Eagles up the pressure and reap the rewards

Jake Melksham once again reminded us why he is such a valuable player for Melbourne, initially with his cleanly taken mark just inside the arc, then with his quickly taken set shot from 52m out. Melksham’s judgement was perfect and his kick had just enough length and height to fall safely behind the goal line.

Max Gawn is having another stellar season but he has yet to score a goal. When he marked the ball 30m directly in front, it looked like he might break the 2025 scoring drought. Alas he hooked it to the left and it whistled past the outside of the upright. By the halfway mark of the quarter, Melbourne was only leading by three goals when the stats indicated that they should have had a more comfortable lead.

Then Jack Williams took a contested mark and converted the 35m set shot to score West Coast’s first goal. Two minutes later, Elijah Hewett found himself on the end of an Eagles hand pass chain. He ran on and chipped a 40m shot that just slid through the inside of the big post.

Continuing the age old tradition of former Demons scoring against their old club, Jayden Hunt kicked an impressive 40m curling goal from the boundary line. His shot drew the Eagles to within one point of Melbourne. Tyler Brockman put them five points ahead a minute later, with his 30m shot from the pocket.

When Archer Reid marked the ball next to the goal square, his set shot looked like a shoe in. Fortunately for Dees’ fans, Reid couldn’t get a good connection with his boot, and Melbourne went in at half time, trailing by a single goal.

Dees move up a gear

We travelled to Perth on a high, having won back to back games and with a view to getting our season back on track. On paper we were firm favourites, so why were we behind at the start of the second half? We couldn’t afford to be complacent and needed to kick early goals to get back in the driver’s seat.

Instead, the Eagles scored first when Jayden Hunt saw Jamie Cripps loitering inside 50 and sent the sherrin in his direction. Cripps ran on, hesitated, then finally took the kick, snapping it through the uprights. Melbourne now needed to ensure that West Coast didn’t seize on their new found momentum and extend the lead further.

Fortunately, the tables turned quickly when Max spotted Caleb Windsor unmarked on the wing and sent the ball in his direction. The young gun marked and ran on, shrugging off a tackle, before having a quick bounce, then launching from 53m to close the gap to six points.

The next goal came quickly, catching the Eagles off guard, as Ed Langdon took advantage of a hold on Max Gawn in the stoppage, running on to slam the ball into an open goal. After winning the clearance, the Dees were immediately up the ground, with Jack Viney launching a long kick inside 50. Bailey Fritsch took the contested mark and went back to kick his second of the match.

After the bounce, there was a mad scramble for the ball but it was West Coast who managed to break away, eventually getting the ball to Jake Waterman; the key forward running out to mark the sherrin. His conversion evened up the scoreline again.

Kade Chandler has kicked some great goals, but his individual effort in collecting the ground ball, then running around and beating three Eagles before snapping from the edge of the square was a glorious sight. The Demons were now in their element, grasping the momentum and driving forward.

Daniel Turner took a strong contested mark in the pocket and successfully executed the set shot, giving Melbourne a fourteen point advantage. Jack Viney took a nasty late knock after marking the ball and was awarded a 50m penalty. His shot from the top of the square gave the Dees a game high margin of twenty two points.

Kade Chandler was involved in the next goal when he initiated a transition up the wing, getting the ball to a Jake Melksham and Charlie Spargo combination. Jake Melksham’s vision in locating Kozzie Pickett with his centering kick, while going full pelt was excellent. Pickett’s kick was careful and clean and Melbourne was twenty eight points ahead.

Melbourne gets the job done.

Last week, the Dees let Richmond back into the game late in the final quarter and they would have been mindful of not repeating that error.

Daniel Turner helped ensure his side stayed well ahead when he snapped from 15m in front, having first sold Matt Flynn some candy as he ran around the Ruck.   Turner then showed that he is no one trick pony when he marked deep in the pocket, then converted the difficult set shot.

After the clearance, Elijah Hewett became an accidental hero for West Coast when he his right boot made contact with the sherrin as it dropped after a stoppage. The ball somehow found its way across the goal line. Another clearance and after much fumbling on both sides, Harry Sharp pounced on the loose ball, scooping it up, then speeding forward before chipping it from the top of the square.

West Coast wasn’t finished though. Jake Waterman was taken high on the edge of the square and had no difficulty with his around the corner set shot to claim his second goal.

With just over ten minutes to go and thirty four points separating the teams, the scenario was eerily similar to same time last week. Simon Goodwin wasn’t about to take Max Gawn off for a rest this time, and the big fella stayed put. Just as well, because after Jack Viney was fouled in the centre, Max took off, heading inside 50. Viney launched goalward and the Skipper ran out to mark. He went back and finally kicked his first goal of the season. There was much rejoicing.

The margin was back out to forty, but not for long.

Jake Waterman again marked in the pocket and again opted for the around the corner shot. Back to thirty four points. A mistake in defence allowed Jamie Cripps to nab his second and now the gap was twenty eight points.

Charlie Spargo clawed it back to thirty four with his tackle on Jayden Hunt resulting in a holding the ball free kick. Elijah Hewett returned serve when he beat Spargo to the mark and converted for his hat trick.

Ed Langdon doesn’t score many goals and multiple goals in a single game is rare, but his snap from 45m while under intense pressure was exceptional.

While some concerns still linger, we can’t be unhappy with three wins in a row. Next we play Hawthorn at the MCG and that’s a whole other kettle of fish. I’m confident though that we can rise to the occasion.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

Round 7 – Richmond V Melbourne

We Won Again!

Liam Chambers

Demons in control, but last minute mistakes prove costly

After Round 6’s drought breaking performance, there were high hopes of back to back victories when we lined up against the Tigers for the Anzac Eve game. Richmond’s confidence was also given a boost in Round 6 with their unexpected win over potential finalists Gold Coast Suns.

It took ten minutes for the first goal to register on the scoreboard. Ed Langdon, the recipient an uncontested mark, was then tackled and dragged to the ground, resulting in a 50m penalty. Langdon’s set shot from 40m in front was cleanly taken and the Dees were away.

Both sides had chances to add to the goal tally, but it took almost another ten minutes for the second major. This time, an unguarded Bailey Fritsch was gifted the sherrin just to the left of the square. His quickly taken shot went through for a thirteen point advantage.  Then it was Kade Chandler’s turn, when he launched from the 50m arc to send the footy straight through the uprights.

Just before quarter time, Sam Lalor took an uncontested mark just inside the arc. He converted from 50m to give the Tigers their first goal, with a minute remaining in the term.
It looked like Melbourne would go in at the break leading by eleven points, but with literally one second left on the clock, Tim Taranto was fouled in front of goal. He went back and kicked the goal, reducing the margin to five.

Demons and Tigers play ping with the scoreboard

The Demons dodged a bullet very early in the second term, when Tom Lynched missed an easy 30m set shot.  Steely Green didn’t miss though, with his difficult set shot from deep in the pocket, giving his side the lead for the first time in the match.

Melbourne then had a bit of luck when a Richmond free kick was reversed after Jake Bowey was hit just outside the 50m. The shot was taken quickly in the goal square by Harrison Petty, giving the Dees back the lead.

Rhyan Mansell took it back again after he was deemed to have been held at the top of the goal square. Then the normally stingy Nick Vlastuin kicked the ball straight to Harrison Petty, who then made no mistakes with the 35m set shot.

Melbourne builds up an imposing buffer

Melbourne had the perfect start to the second half when Charlie Spargo’s long kick from the middle of the ground found Kysaiah Pickett, who leapt up to take the uncontested mark. After scoring five majors in Round 6, Kozzie had his first of the afternoon when he slotted the 30m set shot.

The Dees next goal was pure poetry in motion, as Christian Petracca managed to find some space by zig zagging around the Tigers’ defence, ably assisted by Chandler and Gawn, before snapping from 40m.

We didn’t have to wait too long for the next goal and it was classic Fritsch. After some frantic hand passing on the edge of the 50m arc, Bailey Fritsch found enough space to run and snap a banana shot that floated back beautifully through the uprights, extending the Demons lead out to twenty two points.

It wasn’t all one way traffic though, and when Tom Lynch’s attempt at a singled handed mark didn’t yield the desire result, he had enough time to turn and control the bouncing sherrin, before tapping it across the goal line.

Tom Sparrow redressed the balance almost immediately with his desperate tackle on Nick Vlastuin near the top of the goal square. Sparrow went back and made no mistake locating the space between the big sticks.

Surely Kolton Tholstrup must be up for the most complicated mark of the year with his incredible juggling feat 20m from goal. His was neat in his execution of the set shot, and it was a twenty nine advantage to the Dees.

Christian Petracca is back to his best and strongest; his pinpoint accurate 50m set shot was impressive.

Dees victorious but let guard down in latter half of final term

Going into the last quarter thirty five points up was a scoreline to gladden the hearts of the Demon faithful. Then, when Kade Chandler kicked the first goal to make it a forty one point advantage, it would be a brave punter to bet against a Melbourne win.

Kozzie Pickett should have had another goal, but his 40m snap was deemed touched before it landed in the square and bounced across the line. The review ruled against the goal Umpire, which is rare but them’s the breaks.

With seven minutes left on the clock, the Dees were forty four points in front. A win looked assured, but also the margin would also help boost to our percentage.

Then Tom Lynch ran out to take a contest mark 25m in front. He made sure with the set shot to claw one back for the Tigers. Lynch got another two minutes later when he kick an around the corner to claim his hat trick. Tim Taranto also got another when he snapped one from 15m to reduce the margin to twenty five points. Toby Nankervis made it four in a row when he slotted his 35m set shots.

Luckily, there was only just over one hundred seconds left on the clock, otherwise Demon fans would be getting extremely nervous. The fact that Richmond scored all their four goals for the quarter after Max Gawn was taken off is somewhat concerning, but overall back to back wins is encouraging.

We head to Perth for Round 8 to play the winless West Coast. The Eagles played well in their Round 2 game against Brisbane; mainly in the first half. The Lions recovered to win but we don’t want to have to play catch up if West Coast come out swinging hard early.

If we focus on what we’ve been doing well in the last couple of weeks, then my money’s on Melbourne.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

It’s that time of the year again…

Nigel Dawe

Just before season 2025 gets underway, instead of rambling on with your wishful, one-eyed run-of-the-mill hypothetical blurb (though I will say, to emphasize a wonderful omen of sorts – there was a four-year gap between our previous two premierships of 1960 and 1964).

I thought I’d whet our red and blue appetite with a half-a-century old blast from the coach of the century himself – Norm Smith. During the off-season I got hold of an original (long lost) 1965 newspaper article that featured our master coach’s views on what he considered to be the complete player, among countless other fascinating, albeit highly insightful, footy related things. In the very least, it is a reminder of what not only drew, but drove, and subsequently made the Melbourne Demons of the 1950s and 60s the most successful side our game has ever known.

The Complete Player… By Norm Smith (The Sun, Monday, August 2, 1965)

It is not easy to pinpoint the qualities that make a man the complete footballer because footballers, thank goodness, don’t come from the same mould. Footballers have different ways of performing their skills, and any coach who tries to make his players conform to one set method is being foolish.

One of the reasons for our success at Melbourne is that we allow players to be individualists. We allow them to play in their own styles so long as they incorporate their efforts into our overall strategy. Barassi, Tunbridge, Vagg, Mithen, Mann come from different moulds and we didn’t attempt to change them.

In most sports, certainly in tennis and cricket, as well as football, I think it’s probably best for young players, after learning the fundamentals, to develop naturally without being over-coached. All I have shown my son, for instance, is how to hold a ball, how to keep his eye on it, how to drop it.

What every League player must have is courage. Every man’s a squib at heart, and I like to tell my players that courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.

Sometimes you can help a youngster to find courage. You build up his confidence in subtle ways until he surprises himself. But if you have the most brilliant recruit of all time and you can’t help him to gain confidence it is better to unload him.

Ken Melville is my No.1 player for courage. He was our vice-captain in 1955-56 and although he lacked physical strength – he was 11.5 st, and 5ft. 10 – he did more courageous things on the ground than any other player I have seen. I don’t mean he went round knocking blokes down. Ken inspired his mates by taking marks while running into difficult positions.
Courage was something he taught himself, and yet he was such a gentle man, and, as you know, became a Presbyterian minister.

These days people are surprised why so many good players in the Reserves never quite reach the first team. The fact is that physical attributes count for a lot in Australian football. A man can be an outstanding rover in the seconds, but lack just that fraction of pace or strength to be able to cope with the greater tempo in League football.

Players who come to Melbourne are thrown into a melting pot. They are told they will have to accept direction and take their chances when they come, irrespective of their personal preferences. I remember Roy Dowsing came to us in 1939 after he had kicked 160 goals in the Caulfield-Oakleigh League. Melbourne took one look at him and thought what an excellent rover and wing man he’d make. And he did.

Alan La Fontaine kicked 180 goals in the amateurs and became a wonderful centreman, and Jack Mueller, who was a centre half-back, became a ruckman and forward pocket.

Even Ron Barassi went through a stage where we didn’t know what to do with him. He wasn’t a success at full-forward or on a half-forward flank, and it wasn’t until Peter Marquis was out injured that we put Barassi on the ball – and saw the start of a legend.

When we are recruiting, we look for basic potential – whether a player has speed, marking and kicking ability and so on. But I tend to study more closely those who are not outstanding in their skills, because I reckon if they’ve been recommended to me they must have some other hidden qualities, such as strength and courage…

One of the questions often put to me is whether the players of today compare favourably with those of the past. I think they do. Some people make the mistake of comparing champions like Nash, Bunton and Reynolds with the average players of today. It is more reasonable to compare the average players.

Certainly, many players of the 30s wouldn’t have measured up to the pace we have today, although I concede that with intensive training they would have been just as fast. Because of the pace, our fellows today have not perfected the skills of the old-timers. Yet often on training nights, when the pressure is off, you see players make beautiful stab kicks and high marks.

For quite a while one of my contentions has been the rules must be modified to bring these skills back into the game. There is too much negative, frustrating play in football today. We, at Melbourne, are as guilty as anyone else, I suppose. We kick wide because it is realistic to do this. And we drive the ball down the ground unscientifically simply to make ground. Too many Rugby features are coming into our game.

I think for a start we should award a free kick when the ball is kicked out of bounds in the vicinity of the goal. It might be said that this would be unfair on the attacking team, but there are 21 yards of space to shoot at – the biggest scoring area in the world – and players who miss don’t deserve much sympathy.

To conclude, I’d like to touch on our six premierships over the past decade and suggestions that we are lucky by playing the finals on our own ground. The only time I had much doubt about any of those premierships was in 1957. At the end of 1956 we had farewelled Cordner, McMahon, Melville, Spencer, McGivern and Lane. We lost the first semi-final, but we still took the flag – our third in a row. It was one of my greatest thills.

Last year we were said to be fortunate, although I maintained we were as good as Geelong and we knew that we had beaten Geelong about 12 times over the past 15 or 16 games. The critics who claim we have a big advantage playing the finals on the MCG should remember that the ground to us is merely a place where we do hard work. The other sides must get a greater lift than we do in playing in the MCG atmosphere. This has been one of the factors helping Richmond. As for the crowd it is usually anti-Melbourne round most of the outer.

I am supposed to know all about the wind pockets at the MCG, but I don’t think anyone does. Kevin Murray once asked me which way he should kick when he was captaining an interstate team on the MCG and I told him: “I wouldn’t have any idea.” The winds at the MCG are unpredictable.

There are several good reasons why Melbourne has won six premierships since 1955, but I don’t think our familiarity with the ground could be included as one of them.

THE END

Round 23 – Gold Coast Suns V Melbourne

Melbourne’s Walking On The Sun

Liam Chambers

The heat is on

With no chance of qualifying for finals, the Demons could concentrate on playing their best footy, and enjoy themselves in the process.

The Suns have forged a formidable home ground reputation this season so it would no mean feat for Melbourne to prevail on the Coast. They would also have to compete against the heat and humidity, whereas their hosts have had ample time to adapt to the conditions.

It took nearly ten minutes for the first goal, and the honours went to the home side when Nick Holman was awarded a free kick before slotting his 45m set shot. After the goal, the Suns continued to dictate play by dominating contested possessions and repeat entries inside 50. It was unsurprising then that they kicked the second some five minutes later when Sam Flanders received the hand pass near the top of the square and casually tapped through for the goal.

The chances for the Dees were far and few between, and when we did get a sniff of a major, the wind carried the sherrin off course.

With under five minutes left in the opening term, it looked like another goalless quarter was looming for the Demons. Then, Daniel “Disco” Turner got on the end of a Jack Billings kick, after first disposing of his opponent and then beating his pursuers to the square, before getting his right boot to the ball, seeing it across the line.

The scores were level a minute later when Jacob van Rooyen took a handpass from Kysaiah Pickett and snapped from the top of the square. Another minute and Turner kicked his second after crumbing the ball from a stoppage and snapping the 20m shot.

When it looked like Melbourne would take the lead into the break, a turnover proved costly as the Suns made the most of the opportunity and got the ball to Alex Davies, who then converted the 40m shot after the siren.

Dees just get the upper hand in a ping pong quarter

Despite the hiccup at the end of Q1, the Demons continued to build on their momentum after the break when Harrison Petty took a contested mark in front of goal before going back to make sure with the set shot. Unfortunately after the bounce, Tom Sparrow was involved in an incident which saw him limp off the ground before being eventually subbed off.

Then the Suns retook the lead when Jarrod Witts was awarded a free kick in front of goal and kicked the set shot. Jack Viney flipped it back when he marked 40m from home, then nailed the set shot. Ed Langdon extended it to eleven points when he snapped from 30m.

However, Sam Flanders arrested the Dees momentum, launching from 30m, after the Gold Coast took control of the ball post the centre bounce. Then Lachie Weller gave the lead back to the Suns when he kicked from just inside the 50m arc.

Bailey Fritsch finally got his only goal when a beautifully weighted centering kick from Jake Melksham found the target and the Magnet ran on to see the ball across the line.

Jarrod Witts kicked his second after winning the ball in the ruck, selling some candy and hitting the target from 15m.

Harrison Petty bookended the quarter with his second goal by drilling the ball from 50m.

All coming together for Melbourne

It was the prefect start to the second half for Melbourne when Jacob van Rooyen was awarded a free kick in front of goal after wrapping up Charlie Ballard, who was penalised for holding the ball. It was all going according to plan when Koltyn Tholstrup (now sporting Ben Brown’s old headband) took an uncontested mark 25m in front of goal. His set shot slipped through nicely.

After the bounce, it was straight back inside 50 when Alex Neal-Bullen sent long shot for Harrison Petty to mark. He may have had a mixed season, set shot wise, but his 45m kick bent perfectly and it was a four goal lead for the Dees.

All good things come to an end eventually, and the Demon’s run of three unanswered goals was checked when Ben King took a mark and converted the set shot.

Demons get the job done

A seventeen point lead is not to be sniffed at, but the Dees would have been acutely aware that their fourth quarter performances this season have not been up to the usual standard; so there could be no letup in pressure from the visitors.

In case you were wondering where Kysaiah Pickett was for most of the first three quarters, then he definitely made his presence felt in the opening minute of the fourth. His initial crumbing of the ball from a clearance, his zig zag through the opposition, a hand pass to Viney, who passed it back and finally the perfect centering chip to Melksham, was an exercise in footy brilliance. Jake Melksham is continually showing how experience can instill confidence in his team mates and the set shot was perfect.

The good news is that Jack Viney has renewed his contract for another year and the even better news is that he is playing some of the best football of his career. First he plucked the sherrin out of the air, one handed, when it looked like it was sailing out of bounds. The he kicked an around the corner set shot that bent perfectly to notch up his second goal.

It was all but over when Jake Melksham was taken high and went back to kick the 40m set shot. Judd McVee had a chance to score his first AFL goal earlier in the quarter but couldn’t connect. His second opportunity was a little more difficult but he nailed the 50m set shot. There was much rejoicing. Koltyn Tholstrup was denied his second by the review; a mischarge of justice in my view but with a lead of forty three points to the Demons, nobody was too upset. He was robbed though.

Ben King was having one of his famous off days, but he was able to slot his second with five minutes to go.

Turner continued to paint the picture of a near perfect performance when he marked and converted to claim his hat trick. Straight after the centre bounce, the Dees were back inside 50 where van Rooyen marked in the pocket, then lined up to score his own hat trick. Another centre bounce and a massive Alex Neal-Bullen kick landed the ball in the lap of the high scoring Turner. Again he lined up to make his fourth goal of the afternoon look easy.

After the week long glare of the media, as well as the speculation about several of our players, the Dees performance on the day was a perfect retort to the detractors.

Only one game left now and with no chance of playing finals, the pressure is well and truly off. We can use this victory as a confidence boost and, more importantly, to make short work of the Pies.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!