Cricket, convincing winners and bruise free footballers no more!

Darren Spence – our correspondent in Jakarta

The game on Saturday night reminded me of watching a game of cricket. A star studded batting line up against an inferior bowling attack hurtling down half volley after half volley only seeing it scream off the middle of the bat straight to a fielder. No run. It certainly felt like that for 3 quarters where the Dees were on pace for a record inside 50 count yet to only lead by 22 points deep into the 3rd. The flood gates finally opened in the last and the batsman finally found the gaps and in the end we ran out convincing winners by 69 points over the Suns.

83 inside 50s is a lot! Well only Norf have equalled it! I really enjoy watching our attacking game style and we will not lose many games with those sort of numbers. Yes some will say 21.20 is a below average return on those stats but some people are never happy. It was also another game where we didn’t have our all too common “mid game lapse” and we have now won 3 on the trot. I walked away with a lot of positives Saturday night (and probably more beers than I should have!).

Other positives on the night were TMac with 5 goals, Harmes with a career high 33 touches, Salem in a good patch of form had the ball 27 times and slotted 2 goals, Oliver (as always) with 29 (and 11 tackles).  Hogan is now one of the most dangerous forwards in the league in the way he covers so much ground and he finished with 3 goals and 22 possessions. Gawn with 41 hitouts and Fritsch, who is looking like one of the shrewd draft picks of the year, had a career high 26 touches in a dominant display by the Mighty Dees.

This Sunday we front up against the Blues. Of late there has not been much love lost between the 2 sides. From Robinson calling us “bruise free footballers”, Hogan and Lewis getting rubbed out and theories that the Blues “exaggerated” the injuries caused in the incidents at the tribunal, to Oliver getting a mouthful from a fan over the fence there is sure to be no love lost on the weekend. The Dees will win though. Enough said.

LUKEY TAPSCOTT VOTES (Rnd 8)
T.MacDonald 5
Harmes 4
Oliver 3
Gawn 2
Salem 1

LUKEY TAPSCOTT LEADERBOARD
Oliver 22
Hogan 21
Gawn 18
Petracca 12
Jones 8
Salem 7
Garlett 5
T.MacDonald 5
Melksham 4
Hibberd 4
Brayshaw 4
Harmes 4
Hannan 3
Bugg 1
Neal Bullen 1
O.MacDonald 1

ANB RISING STAR LEADERBOARD
Hogan 26
Oliver 26
Petracca 15
Salem 14
Tyson 10
Fritsch 7
Harmes 6
Hannan 4
Brayshaw 4
Neal Bullen 3
O.MacDonald 3
Bugg 2
Lever 1
Spargo 1

ANB RISING STAR (Rnd 8)
Harmes 5
Oliver 4
Salem 3
Fritsch 2
Hogan 1

Oliver has taken over the lead in the Lukey Tapscott and draws equal with Hogan in the ANB Rising Star. Hogan can probably count himself unlucky not to get votes in the “Tapscott” I just felt all his goals came when the game was probably over and that a few others were more deserving.

The pleasing thing was that I could have included another 5 in the votes such was our dominance so don’t worry Jesse… I still do love you!

Go Dees!

Round 8 – Gold Coast Suns Vs Melbourne and the Dees Reduce The Sun’s Glare

by Liam Chambers – our correspondent in Coffs Harbour

Another week another win. I could get used to this. The good news is we’re winning the games we should be winning which was not always the case in previous seasons. Carlton next week should be a win and then we have 3 tough rounds which will be the real test. I’m savoring the good times for now. Long may they last.

The game got off to a flying start and before I had time to pour myself a glass, the Suns had scored the first goal courtesy of Jack Martin. Despite controlling the majority of the play the Dees could only manage three behinds in the first ten minutes before young gun Charlie Spargo kicked Melbourne’s opener. Tom McDonald scored a minute later after some great play from captain Nathan Jones. Aaron Young evened it up for the Suns with another in the sixteenth minute before Tom added his second five minutes later thanks to a wayward kick from Jack Martin.

Martin made amends three minutes later though when he scored again for the Suns. Though the scores were fairly even, the Dees were getting much more of the ball and Alex Neal-Bullen added his name to the score sheet to make it four for Melbourne. That was to be the last goal of the opening quarter and despite the Sun’s Alex Sexton’s best effort on the siren, the scores remained 23-29.

The Demons superior play went unrewarded and it was the Suns again who scored the first goal with Steven May slotting home followed by Alex Sexton two minutes later. It was a frustrating quarter for Demon’s fans who could only watch their team dominate play but fall behind to Gold Coast on the score board. Never fear though as Tom McDonald made it three from three on the stroke of seventeen minutes. Mitch Hannan then scored his first of the day swiftly followed by Tom again with his fourth. The Dees wrapped up the first half with Christian Salem kicking his first. Half time scores were 37-59.

Just to show he’s mortal, Tom McDonald scored his only behind of the day. Neal-Bullen got his second goal almost immediately to increase the Dee’s margin to 29 points. Sam Day hit back for the Suns but Max Gawn scored a minute later to cancel out the advantage. If Max isn’t careful people are going to expect a goal in every game he plays; not just dominating hitouts and marking efficiently. Next goal came from the brilliant Tom McDonald who notched up his fifth for the afternoon equaling his previous best when he kicked five against the Eagles last season; still brings a tear to my eye.

The Suns had their own high scorer in Jack Martin though, who got his third to keep Gold Coast’s hopes alive. Hopes which were further boosted when Nick Holman and Aaron Hall made it three unanswered goals in the latter half of the quarter. The Dees finally regained the initiative when Michael Hibberd got his only goal. Then Charlie Spargo added his second to ensure Melbourne finished the quarter with an increased margin taking the scores to 63-95.

It was looking very positive for Melbourne as the last quarter started and with back to back goals from Salem and Brayshaw (27 and 24 disposals respectively) the Dees could now focus on building up their all important percentage. It was all Melbourne when Mitch Hannan got his second.

In case you were wondering where Jesse Hogan was all afternoon, wonder no longer as the great man stepped up to slot home his first of the day. Actually Jesse had covered an enormous amount of the ground contributing greatly to the Dee’s success in all quarters; he just decided to save his best till last. Jake “Milkshake” Melksham didn’t want to be left out and kicked one home.

The Sun’s Sam Day got a consolation after Mitch Hannan had scored his second but Jesse was just warming up and went on to score back to back goals in two minutes. The best player for the Suns, Jack Martin scored his fourth just before the final siren but it was a bitter sweet goal. The Demons were the eventual winners by a margin of 69 points. Final scores were 146-77.

We’re back at the MCG next week to play Carlton. Let’s keep the momentum going!

GOLD COAST: 3.5 – 5.7 – 9.9 – 11.11 (77)
MELBOURNE: 4.5 – 8.11 – 13.17 – 21.20 (146)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Martin 4, Day 2, Young, May, Sexton, Holman, Hall
Melbourne: T. McDonald 5, Hannan 3, Hogan 3, Neal-Bullen 2, Spargo 2, Salem 2, Gawn, Hibberd, Brayshaw, Melksham

Jakarta Demons supporters group doubles in membership as James Massola joins to watch the Dees take on the Saints.

Darren Spence – our correspondent in Jakarta

This week was a momentous day for the Jakarta Demons supporters group. We doubled our membership size as The Age, SMH and Canberra Times SEA foreign correspondent James Massola joined me to watch the Dees take on the Saints. Then in, what can now only be described as a flood, I bumped into David Yates FH* #521 on Tuesday! Sadly, David was only in Jakarta for a few days, but to meet two mad Dees fans in the space of a few days was fantastic.

What was also fantastic was to top off the the last few days with a win against the Saints. It was the first time this year that we probably played a full game. Whilst I have read some comments on social media that people were disappointed that we didn’t win by more and I can see their point. But if that is the worst thing you can say after the weekend, I will take that every week!! The Dees led at every change and extended their lead to finally win by 39 points and head back to positive in the win/loss ratio.

Melbourne had clear winners across the ground which was pleasing. Brayshaw played arguably his best game for the club with 32 touches and a goal, Gawn was dominate with 34 hit outs (many to advantage), Oliver just gets better and better – he had the ball 36 times, Hogan won plenty of the ball himself and kicked 3, Hibberd was good as were Jones, Tyson and Fritsch.

All in all Melbourne did what they needed to do and that was win. And win is what we should do again on Saturday. We are back up in BrisVegas to play the Suns. The Suns are travelling better than many pundits predicted this year but this is a game that we must win and we will.

LUKEY TAPSCOTT VOTES (Rnd 7)

OLIVER 5
BRAYSHAW 4
HOGAN 3
HIBBERD 2
GAWN 1

LUKEY TAPSCOTT (after Rnd 7)

Hogan 21
Oliver 19
Gawn 16
Petracca 12
Jones 8
Salem 6
Garlett 5
Melksham 4
Hibberd 4
Brayshaw 4
Hannan 3
Bugg 1
Neal Bullen 1
O.MacDonald 1

ANB RISING STAR (Rnd 7)

OLIVER 5
BRAYSHAW 4
HOGAN 3
TYSON 2
FRITSCH 1

ANB RISING STAR (after Rnd 7)
Hogan 25
Oliver 22
Petracca 15
Salem 11
Tyson 10
Fritsch 5
Hannan 4
Brayshaw 4
Neal Bullen 3
O.MacDonald 3
Bugg 2
Harmes 1
Lever 1
Spargo 1

This week was hard trying to fit blokes into the votes but I went with Oliver as my BOG. Hogan can probably count himself unlucky not to get 4 votes but regardless he still holds his lead in both awards.

Go Dees

* FH – Foundation Hero

Round 7 – St Kilda Vs Melbourne – Saints Marched Off The Field

by Liam Chambers – our correspondent in Coffs Harbour

Back to back wins for the Dees. How sweet it is. Even though St Kilda have only registered one win this season, they’ve looked dangerous at times and certainly gave GWS a scare.

The Saints opened aggressively and for the second week the Dees again seemed content to let the opposition come to them, judging their tactics. The first goal went to the Saints’ Jake Gresham before rising star Charlie Spargo opened the scoring for Melbourne. Each side traded points before Big Max Gawn marked and scored, this time in front of goal. Gawn has missed several, what must be considered easy chances, this season. He made no mistake this time however, when he slotted home the Dee’s second of the quarter.

Next up Jesse Hogan snapped a tidy goal to make it three for the Demons. Five minutes later Christian “the dog separator” Petracca scored his comeback goal at the end of a beautiful run of play from the Demons which started in their defensive 50. Great team effort! Unfortunately, Armitage scored for the Saints one minute later. Despite that effort, Melbourne were definitely dominating play with Neville Jetta and Angus Brayshaw showing how consistent their game has become. Also showing some consistency was Jesse Hogan who kicked his second to give the Demons a 14-point lead 17-31 at the end of the quarter.

The Dees started the second quarter looking confident. It seemed like captain Nathan Jones had kicked a beautiful goal on the run in the fifth minute but sadly it went wide for a behind. It wasn’t until the eleventh minute that the mighty Tom McDonald, who had been playing and marking superbly, got the first goal of the quarter. Then three minutes later Nathan Jones finally kicked the goal he deserved to put the Dees 25 points ahead. Alex Neal-Bullen, who looked promising in both quarters and made some good plays that didn’t quite succeed, then kicked a behind from a good position. A goal from the Saints’ Tim Membrey was sandwiched by another behind from Neal-Bullen. Finally, Melbourne added to their goal tally when Dom Tyson kicked what was to be the last six pointer of the quarter. Half time score was 26-54.

The Saints started the third quarter positively with two goals from Ben Long and Tim Membrey in the first five minutes. However, Hogan stepped up to steady the ship with his third goal. Then it seemed like every Melbourne player wanted to add their name to the score sheet. James Harmes put one away then Tom McDonald added a second for the day before Brayshaw got a richly deserved first goal. The Saint’s replied with a Luke Dunstan score. Sam Weideman increased the Dee’s margin before St Kilda’s Tom Hickey got the last goal of the quarter. Melbourne had stretched their lead to 36 points with the scores at 52-88.

At the start of the fourth, Melbourne looked determined to make the most of their win and increase their percentage on the ladder. Two goals from Weideman and Clayton Oliver (36 disposals for the game) in the first five minutes pushed Melbourne’s total to 100. When Alex Neal-Bullen scored in the twenty third minute it looked like a 50 plus winning margin for the Dees. Unfortunately our celebrations were premature as the Saints kicked two unanswered goals in the last five minutes to pull the scores back to 67-106.

Melbourne has continued to build on their good form of the last three rounds. The fact that Richmond is playing so well makes our effort in Round 5 all the more impressive. We will need to bring our best game to the Gabba next Saturday when we play Gold Coast. Take nothing for granted. The good news is the temperature will be milder than when we played the Lions. This should help us to keep a cool head under the Sun’s glare.

ST KILDA 2.5 – 3.8 – 7.10 – 9.13 (67)
MELBOURNE 5.1 – 8.6 – 13.10 – 16.10 (106)
GOALS
St Kilda: Membrey 2, Long 2, Armitage 2, Gresham, Dunstan, Hickey
Melbourne: Hogan 3, T. McDonald 2, Weideman 2, Spargo, Gawn, Petracca, Jones, Tyson, Harmes, Brayshaw, Oliver, Neal-Bullen

There aren’t many things better than beating “Essedon”……well maybe beating Collingwood….it’s a toss of the coin. I am sure they have some lovely supporters, I just haven’t met many. Take exhibit A – that mug that threw a barrage of abuse at Big Maxy over the fence on the weekend. I have written this before but I really don’t have time for supporters that can’t even pronounce the team they support correctly!

So an early Sunday morning start (10am Jakarta time) had me filled with anticipation and hope that we could deliver more heartache to ever deserving Dons supporters and turn around our season after the last 2 weeks of hiccups.

It is fair to say that the start was not the most inspiring of games. With only 3 goals in the first quarter and ourselves with one it appeared that our recent absence of scoring power would continue. The second quarter wasn’t much better but then “Essedon” did a Melbourne allowing 7 goals to 1 after the main break as the Dees treated their opponents like witches’ hats and we ended up cruising to a solid, and much needed 6 goal win.

There were many positives in the game, Big Maxy was dominate, TMac showed just how critical a player he is to our side. Not to be outdone his younger brother OMac blanketed the dangerous Daniher and our young forward line of Fritsch, Hannan and first gamer in Spargo were dangerous all day combining for 8 goals between them.

We are back at Docklands this Sunday against the Saints. They haven’t been in great form of late but they have been a side we have struggled to beat in the past. But it won’t happen this Sunday as we look for 2 wins in a row and climb back up the ladder where we belong.

LUKEY TAPSCOTT (Rnd 6)

Gawn 5
Salem 4
Hannan 3
Hibberd 2
O.MacDonald 1

ANB RISING STAR (Rnd 6)

Salem 5
Hannan 4
O.MacDonald 3
Fritsch 2
Spargo 1

LUKEY TAPSCOTT LEADER BOARD (After Rnd 6)

Hogan 18
Gawn 15
Oliver 14
Petracca 12
Jones 8
Salem 6
Garlett 5
Melksham 4
Hannan 3
Hibberd 2
Bugg 1
Neal Bullen 1
O.MacDonald 1

ANB RISING STAR (After Rnd 6)

Hogan 22
Oliver 17
Petracca 15
Salem 11
Tyson 8
Fritsch 4
Hannan 4
Neal Bullen 3
O.MacDonald 3
Bugg 2
Harmes 1
Lever 1
Spargo 1

Hogan continues to lead both awards but with a quieter night from our key forward it has seen Big Maxy Gawn close the gap in the Lukey Tapscott.

Go Dees!