Round 1 – Melbourne v Western Bulldogs

Liam Chambers

After the disappointments of last year, there would have been much soul searching in the Dees’ camp over the off season. With all the hard work and team effort displayed during the Premiership win in 2021, Melbourne looked guilty of being too casual in their approach to the game in 2022. The behind the scenes fracturing in camaraderie only exacerbated the problems on the field. Then the 2023 pre season games showed a side with a renewed determination and though we were missing some star players, fans would have to be delighted with the opener on Saturday night.

A surging Dees’ side had the Bulldogs on the back foot early on in the first quarter. With the inclusion of Brodie Grundy in the ruck, Max Gawn could roam freely around the ground, popping up in defence and up front to take important marks. Grundy is also a versatile player and though it’s early days, the combination has the look of a winning formula.

Melbourne’s first was beautifully set up after an initial race to the footy between Clayton Oliver and Bailey Smith. Adam Tomlinson collected the erratic ball and hand passed to Kade Chandler, who ran to the edge of 50 before launching directly to Kysaiah Pickett. The crowd favourite marked and converted with an around the corner kick. The Demons had their second when Captain Gawn took a mark from another Chandler kick. Max kicked his first of the night from a tight angel and it was a two goal margin.

The Dogs didn’t take the Dees’ dominance lying down though and eventually hit back when Marcus Bontempelli took advantage of the spilled ball to snap the visitors’ first. The goal energised the Bulldogs and their second came courtesy of a Jamarra Ugle-Hagan mark just inside the 50m line. His kick was well executed and his team took a one point lead. Up the other end, Tom Sparrow had a kick from a similar distance and his accuracy restored Melbourne’s advantage.

The Bulldogs started the second term with a bullet from Bailey Williams whose 55m shot sailed through. Aaron Naughton stretched their lead with a contested mark and a successful set shot. As with recent clashes between the great rivals, the game had swung with the Dogs now dominating in the fashion that gave Melbourne the ascendancy in the first quarter. Ben Brown arrested the momentum when he marked in the pocket and showed he doesn’t need a long run up to to hit the bullseye.

It was a brief respite however, with Jason Johannisen snapping a goal from 30m in front. After that the Dogs wasted several opportunities to extend their lead significantly, only managing a few minor scores before relinquishing the upper hand to the Demons.

In fact the game turned quickly in Melbourne’s favour with Charlie Spargo getting his first via a running kick from 45m. When you’re hot, you’re hot and Christian Petracca’s acceleration after receiving the tap from the centre bounce was pure magic. He launched it deep inside 50 and the Dees were back in control. Kozzie Pickett was awarded a free kick 30m out and slotted his second, to retake the lead.

Spargo also got his second when Ed Langdon’s brilliant kick from the pocket was marked by the small forward in front of goal. The next six pointer came quickly after Brodie Grundy got a free kick just on the centre bounce due to an infringement in front of goal. The ensuing scramble inside 50 resulted in Ben Brown collecting the loose ball. His snap goalward was rewarded with a fortuitous bounce in the square, securing his second of the night.

Max Gawn also got another when he marked a Petracca kick (on the second attempt) and directed his set shot kick cleanly. The final ten minutes of the half was all Melbourne and the Bulldogs finished on the back foot; trailing by nineteen points, having led by eleven early on.

Melbourne started the third quarter with a comfortable margin but couldn’t afford to rest on their laurels as the Dogs struggled to regain the edge. Their attempted assaults on the Demon’s defence proved fruitless and it was the Dees who would strengthen their grip on the game with the opening goal of the half. A big Trent Rivers’ kick from the square to deep inside 50 was marked superbly by Pickett. Having secured the sherrin, he ran towards goal, even managing a “don’t argue” while in full flight, before sealing his hat trick by sending the ball high into the stands.

Melbourne didn’t have it all their own way and a rare mistake in defence allowed the turnover which sent the ball back to the edge of 50m, where ex Demon Oskar Baker was waiting to kick his debut goal for the Bulldogs. In a low scoring quarter, the Dogs’ resurgence continued when Adam Treloar was awarded a free kick and found the target with his set shot, reducing the gap to fourteen points.

The comeback was quickly quenched however when Ben Brown somehow controlled a chaotic ball in the goal square before finally managing to tap it through for his third and Melbourne’s eleventh. Still the Dogs refused to lie down and an incredible snap effort by Jack McCrae kept his team in touch with the home side.

That was as close as the Bulldogs would get though because two minutes later, the hard working Kade Chandler took advantage of his inclusion in the team by scoring his debut goal with a sensational snap off his left boot. Then with less than a minute to go, Pickett kicked his fourth with his right foot while simultaneously shaking Bontempelli off his left leg.

With a thirty two point lead, it was a relaxed looking Melbourne that took to the field for the final quarter. Their first goal started from a defensive play that released the ball to Pickett who launched a massive kick from the 50m line to well passed the centre to an unmarked Jake Melksham. The midfielder decided not to risk being run down and booted the ball from 60m out where it bounced three times through the goal square before crossing the line.

With the clock ticking, the Dogs were going to have to do something very special to have any chance of staying in touch. Tom Liberatore provided a faint glimmer of hope with his impressive snap from 45m but it ultimately proved futile, as Brodie Grundy’s round the corner set shot minutes later effectively put a lid on any remaining Bulldog dreams.

When Ben Brown kicked his fourth from 40m out, it was just jam on top for the Demon supporters. But wait there’s more. Alex Neal-Bullen trickled one in from 20m to add his name to the list.

All in all, a very promising start to the season for Melbourne. The squad is strong with a depth of talent the envy of the league. Kozzie made Simon Goodwin’s decision on who to include in the squad a little easier by getting himself sidelined for two weeks.

The hunger and fighting spirit is definitely back and it looks like the Dees are not giving anything away this year. We travel to Brisbane for Round 2 and though the Gabba is a formidable ground for away teams, I have a feeling it’s the Queenslanders who’ll be chewing their fingernails on Friday night.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

Welcome Matthew Jefferson and Beyond Bank in 2023

Sally Trevena

We are delighted to announce Matthew Jefferson as our sponsored player and Beyond Bank as a NSW Demons supporter in 2023.

We are sponsoring Matthew this year and invite you to join us. We’re excited to watch Matthew and Jacob van Rooyen develop into our key forwards over the next decade – shades of Schwartz and Neitz!

JOIN NOW

Our sponsorship gives us access to a range of goodies including exclusive events, signed jumper and player updates. You will also have the opportunity to win double passes to Sydney Kings home games at Sydney Olympic Park courtesy of our supporter Beyond Bank.

Most importantly you are directly supporting Matthew in his development at the Dees.

Join the sponsorship and support Matthew and the Dees in 2023.

JOIN NOW

** – The NSW Demons will contribute $1,745 to sponsor Matthew and support the Melbourne Football Club in 2023. Each $50 share you buy is a vital a part of this contribution and enables the NSW Demons to continue to sponsor Matthew and support the MFC.

Go Dees

An evening with Daisy Pearce

Star-struck young girls and boys were among an enthusiastic crowd of Melbourne Football Club fans who came to see Daisy Pearce talk about life, the universe and the AFL Women’s Comp last Thursday night at the Pullman Quay Grand on Sydney Harbour. Despite the classic Sydney views visible from the hotel reception room’s windows, all eyes were on Daisy as the iconic Sydney ferries sailed by ignored.

Autographs were signed and some very junior hands shaken before the humble, generous and self-possessed Melbourne Football Club’s women’s comp captain told the audience of her love for AFL as a kid growing up in the Victorian country town of Bright. Disappointment followed when she reached an age where she could no longer play in games with the boys.

The older Melbourne-born women among us sighed in recognition and regret, remembering the 1970s when girls who dared bring their Sherrin to primary school had it confiscated until the end of the day with that infuriating headmaster’s refrain: “Football’s too dangerous for girls.”

Fielding questions from magazine editor Jackie Frank and later from an engaged and responsive audience, Daisy spoke of the contrast between the more DIY-style women’s AFL – where you strap up your own ankles and even clear rubbish from the ground before you play – and the newly established professional AFL Women’s comp where physios and other assistance are all on hand.
But before we get too pleased with the progress of women’s AFL, let’s remember that unlike her AFL competition-playing male counterparts for whom it’s a full-time gig, Daisy still has a day job.
She works as a midwife at Melbourne’s Box Hill hospital, something she says she also loves and that keeps her grounded. So there’s still a fair distance to go. But to quote an old advertisement: “You’ve come a long way baby.”

Sonya Voumard
2 March 2017

Fred Fanning

Nigel Dawe

For the past few months, I’ve been meaning to draft up a tribute piece to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a feat that may never be beaten, let alone ever remotely challenged.

I’m of course referring to Fred Fanning’s haul of 18 goals, 1 behind in the last round (30th August) of 1947, a game that would also be his last (at 25-years of age) for the Melbourne Demons.

Fittingly, a movie released in the very same month of that very same year was called ‘Brute Force’ and starred an equally young ‘take no prisoners’ Burt Lancaster.

Another omen of sorts just one month prior to Fred Fanning’s final round goal feast against the Saints, was something equally otherworldly in the form of what’s become known as the Roswell Incident, in which debris of not just a UFO spacecraft was found, but allegedly the bodies of its alien pilots as well.

Relatedly, I have a number of framed pictures of Melbourne players in my house, but none feature more prominently than the one I have of Fred Fanning in ‘full flight’, having just launched one of his right foot rockets: it reminds me of an ancient statue of the god Hermes. For those that might not know, this fleet-footed deity with his be-winged sandals was apparently able to move between the worlds of the mortal and the divine, in addition to being the god of athletes, speed, thieves, magic and dreams.

While time lends many a feat the ‘quality’ and gleaned quandary of exaggerated myth and fable, the legacy of Fred Fanning is one that has shone confirmably, albeit unrepeatably from the very day he hung up his boots in the VFL at the Junction Oval, some 75-years ago.

If the 18 goals, with just the one ‘poster’ that came in the third quarter, in front of the sticks in his last outing (which totals 109 points alone) is not enough to make you shake your head in disbelief, then how’s the story Don Cordner would often recount about how running onto the field that day, Fred apparently turned to him with a grin and said, in Babe Ruth fashion: “I’m gonna bag 18 today!”

And that he did, after threading 10 goals the week before, taking his tally to 33 majors in the last three matches he played for Melbourne, that being an average of 11 goals in each of those games. No one in the history of the sport has gone even close to matching this ‘hidden’ statistic.

Magpie great, Gordon Coventry bowed out with 16 goals in his last three outings; even arguably the game’s greatest sharpshooter of all – John Coleman (who debuted with 12 goals in his first game and kicked a neat 100 majors in his first season) finished up his career with 21 goals in his final three appearances.

Seemingly, there was nothing diminutive about our burly #6 wearing Demon forward. That he couldn’t do anything by halves, constitutes Fanning’s most defining trait: as his mention in the Guinness Book of Records testifies – you’ll find him listed next to the longest kick (in any code of football) in the world. A young Fred Fanning dobbed a goal on the full from the very centre of the MCG (or exactly 105.5 mts) in the reserves Grand Final of 1939, the same day he kicked a lazy 12 goals for Melbourne!

Add to Fred Fanning’s footy CV – the most goals by a Demons player in one season (97 in 1947) and the highest average goals per game by anyone to wear the red and blue (3.95) in 104 games; the club best and fairest award in 1945, and you get a glimpse of what it takes to become an all-time great at a club like the Melbourne Demons.

After seeing a newspaper article written by Tony De Bolfo, 12-months before Fred Fanning passed away in 1993, a young Dees fan sent the legendary spearhead a self-addressed envelope with a myriad of questions and a card for him to autograph.

To this day, it’s one of my most prized possessions, and creates a direct mercurial link for me to one of the game’s most enigmatic figures. Interestingly, in Fred’s hand-written response, he made mention amongst other things, that his toughest opponent was South’s Jim Cleary; that kicking the first goal from the boundary line in the 1940 Grand Final was ‘unforgettable’, before rounding out with: “I was aware of Coventry’s record (of 17 goals).”

Which you can just imagine our red and blue colossus, fathoming how he was about to play his last game in the big league, thus set himself the challenge of bowing out with a bag that no one would ever forget, let alone come close to ever replicating again.

With that fantastically said, and signing off now for the last time in 2022, on behalf of the NSW Demons, whether or not you support the grandest team of all – have a wonderful festive season.

After claiming last year’s men’s premiership and this year’s women’s silverware (along with the men at Casey ‘flying the flag’) here’s to the thought of a bountiful, truly beautiful, red and blue hued 2023!

AFLW – Grand Final Brisbane V Melbourne

Nigel Dawe

Watching, and then trying to convey something about a team winning a grand final at any level, let alone your own team’s inaugural premiership, at the most elite level – is like seeing a pinata torn wide open from a great height, and then trying to determine which goodie you want to find and explain first.

Well, after seven seasons the AFLW crown has finally gone to the Daisy Pearce-led Melbourne Demons, at a location that few of us had even heard of little more than a fortnight ago… but one now, that none of us will ever forget – Springfield.

Heading to the game by car, I knew it was going to be a good day when the first turnoff from the highway to the ground heading north was #31, and the second was #11, all we then needed was a turnoff #2, and that would’ve been the most famous three guernsey numbers in the club’s history.

There was no turnoff #2, but once we arrived at the ground it became quite evident that the numbers were stacked in the Lions favour… to the tune of 20 (Lion fans) to each of our 1.

Which only meant the barracking had to be more vigorous and committed than at any other time or at any other game we could ever be in the attendance of (as such, I’m hoping I get my voice back at some stage between now and Christmas!)

Having watched footy my entire life, I can’t recall a game (let alone a grand final) that was more on a knife-edge for the whole duration of play, than this one. Throughout the day I kept pondering a comment Norm Smith once made along the lines, “Football is one hundred minutes of agony, but it’s an agony I love.”

Never did solitary acts and singular, selfless deeds across the entire field become so consequential and determining of a final result. As such, if Hanks’ lunging contested mark on the outer wing with 20-seconds of the game to go, didn’t seal the win, then her next possession – a laser-like pass to Purcell, forward of the centre square – certainly did.

With little more than one straight kick in it all day, the final result provided an eerie parallel with Melbourne’s first ever VFL premiership, 122-years prior – which was by the same margin against the same team – a four-point win against the then Fitzroy Lions!

But that said, November 27th, 2022 will eternally belong to the women in the team of the red and the blue, they clocked and thoroughly locked in this day as their very own, forever! With grit and a steely-eyed will to win, they took the grand old flag to a place – against all odds, it has never been before – the Premiership dais of the AFLW.

As a doting Dad who took his own 9-year-old daughter to her very first game of footy on the weekend; the beauty and lasting resonance of this occasion wasn’t lost on me for a second. It’ll be something I tuck away at the back of my mind in highlight fashion, like the day she was born and handed to me wide-eyed and curious of her surrounds. Or the day I wrote her the haiku poem: ‘Every daughter is a rainbow across the sky of her father’s soul.’

But it’s thanks to the women, both on and off the field last Sunday, like Daisy Pearce and Kate Roffey who have paved the way – so my own little girl might one day share the big stage (of whatever forum) without any constraints caused by gender, or because of any subsequent preferential bias given to boys.

Thus, leaving the stadium, holding my daughter’s hand and both of us singing A Grand Old Flag, I couldn’t have been more chuffed; at not just the game our team had won, but what it represented for my own little girl, and girls like her across the country – for the dreams and opportunities it now makes infinitely possible.

That my Alina was the happiest and most delighted I’ve ever seen her, is a measure and gleaming testament to something I just can’t wait to see much more of.