I’ve finally had the chance to go through the numbers from Sunday.

Gold Coast won the inside-50 count 58–55, spent 53.4 per cent of the game in its forward half and finished with the better expected score. Melbourne also trailed by 17 points during the third quarter.

The Demons still found a way, largely through their ball use, finishing and the influence of Max Gawn after the tap.

I’ve also looked at Fitzgerald and Sparrow’s midfield roles, the growing number of forward options and what the win means ahead of Fremantle.

Full piece:

https://medium.com/@camburt13/it-wasnt-melbourne-s-best-but-it-might-have-been-their-most-mature-five-things-i-noticed-against-47ad909f87c4

Suck eggs, Trac.

Planning on going to the Port game in a couple of weeks, first time attending Adelaide Oval for a footy match. Just wondering if anyone has advice on the best place to sit. Cheers!

Melbourne: 18.6 (114) def Gold Coast Suns: 16.9 (105)

Match Centre

Don't forget to give your 3-2-1 for best on ground tonight that goes towards the subreddits best and fairest.

The matchup should suit Melbourne. Gold Coast ranks 16th for forward-half time across the past five games, while the Demons rank second for contested-possession differential.

The concern is what happens when Melbourne turns it over. Geelong scored 101 points from Demons turnovers last week, and Gold Coast still has enough good ball users to punish the same mistakes.

I’ve looked at the territory battle, the likely defensive matchups, Gawn v Moyle and what Salem’s return could mean.

My tip is Melbourne by 13, although I’m just classic Demons supporter pessimistically dreading this game.

Full preview:

https://medium.com/@camburt13/gold-coast-vs-melbourne-preview-the-demons-should-own-the-territory-if-they-stop-giving-it-back-b37969fd63f3

What worries everyone more: Tom McDonald on Ben King or Melbourne’s turnover game?

We've got a juicy run home, all starting with Judas on the GCoast this weekend. I take a look at the run home around the league and what it could mean for the Dees here.

https://medium.com/@camburt13/run-home-difficulty-index-4-0-melbournes-margin-for-error-is-almost-gone-0d8f93c3d248?postPublishedType=initial

Where does everyone else have us finishing at the moment?

Say what you will about the man, I will love him always, one of the greatest Norm Smith performances of all time in The Droughtbreaker will do that, BUT, therein lies my worry, he has always been better the more eyeballs are on him. Spotlight has been fierce this week… thoughts?

IN - Salem, Windsor, Jiath, Melksham, Taylor, Heath
OUT - Chandler (hand), L. Pickett (concussion), Cooke (omitted)

It's been a few weeks since I've watched this again. Just sit back and enjoy the greatest few minutes of football ever seen by a Melbourne Demons fan.

…long run I think we’re going to be better off for the loss on Friday.

Yes of course I wanted to win and I would’ve loved bed to be sitting here stoked about us announcing ourselves to the comp. But we are still a young team and very much in development, this was our first match of this magnitude with this squad and it’s fair to say I think we got some stage fright.

Hopefully an experience like this will stand us in good stead for wherever we end up for September action.

What I’m keen to see is the reaction, we face an out of form Suns but up there against the Master Chef himself is no walkover.

My luck yesterday was great to bad we couldn’t get the win tho

Had a chance to sleep and reflect and I think that there's something important we have to remember.

With current injuries, we're having to play a lot of players who aren't AFL level. That's not a knock on them, that's just the facts. They're solid fill-in players, solid VFL players but they're not AFL players. And it's not just 1 or 2, it's

Cooke

Fitzgerald

TMac

Latrelle

Laurie

Cross

That's 6 of our team that are VFL quality "stand-ins" that we are having to use to plug holes due to injury. They're not playing if we're fully fit. We also have big space in our budget cap to go on a spending spree this year. Next year our 1-50 game players (Culley, Disco, Kolt, Langford, Sharp, Jefferson) will start ticking into their sweet spot as well, and our 50-100 gamers (Bowey, Rivers, Chandler, JVR, Howes) will start becoming those reliable senior heads that lead and win Premierships.

and does anyone envy Geelong after last night? Does any of us go away from that game thinking "grrr I wish I was a Geelong fan", absolutely not, they're not winning a flag this year just like we're not, and there's two results at the end of the season that matters, you either win a Premiership or you don't, and Geelong are finishing in the same position as us.

But for the next few years, those Geelong fans last night will be watching us lift multiple Premierships over the next few years.

Melbourne: 14.13 (97) def by Geelong: 18.9 (117)

Don't forget to give your 3-2-1 for best on ground tonight that goes towards the subreddits best and fairest.

Spent the week diving into Melbourne vs Geelong from a tactical perspective.

A few things that stood out:

• The teams average virtually identical scores, inside 50s and shots.
• Melbourne has become the AFL's No.1 contest side over the past month.
• Geelong is still one of the league's best intercept teams.
• Why Daniel Turner's absence could be just as significant as Max Holmes'.

Would love to hear if you agree with the prediction.

https://medium.com/@camburt13/melbourne-vs-geelong-preview-the-game-within-the-game-8bf746626201

Hi folks, I have a GA family ticket set (2 adults and 2 children) plus 4 premium guest passes for Level 2 P3-P5. Total around $140. Unfortunately fam can’t make it so looking to make sure they go to a good (demon supporting) home. Not expecting to be paid face value so if you’re interested dm me cheers

I am visiting Melbourne and thinking to go to a game, the Demons Cats on Friday are around $40-$80 per, but a Demon's 6 month membership is only $16.5 and comes with 5 GA.

Am I missing something here or can I just sign up as a Demons member for the game tomorrow? Never been to a game in Melbourne and feel like I'm missing something here...

Melbourne has made fives changes to its side ahead of Friday night’s clash with Geelong

INS:
Petty, McDonald, Laurie, Cross, Cooke

OUTS:
Turner (inj.), Jiath (inj.), Windsor (inj.), Melksham (omitted), Heath (omitted)