Yes.

Turner cracked ribs and CJ with ruptured plantaris tendon.

Do we see Salem in for CJ and Petty down back for Turner?

Yesterday I went to watch the Demons play North Melbourne at Marvel. I spent the first 3 quarters in our supporter area. I noticed something that really stood out.

In our supporter section, there were plenty of North fans mixed in, and our supporters were totally welcoming to them. No one gave them grief or told them they shouldn't be there.

But when I decided to head down to the other end in the fourth quarter to watch us kick some goals, I sat in the North supporters area as the only Demons guy there. That's when things got ugly. North fans started threatening to throw beer on me, verbally abused me, and called on the porter to check my ticket. He was visibly shaken at having to walk down there to check my ticket. He eventually moved me out.

It got worse for another Demons supporter a few aisles across. He got verbally abused by North fans, stood up to them, and they escalated it into a physical confrontation by shoving him. He ended up fighting with them and both he and the North supporters got arrested. It's disappointing that there's such a stark difference in how supporters treat each other depending on which section you're in. Our fans showed real class, but their section was genuinely hostile and foul.

I've been to Every game at the G this year, and have not seen any hostile conduct by Melbourne supporters to supporters of other teams. We're all Australians, and just come to watch the footy together!

Edit: wasn't sitting behind goals, but two aisles to left.

I wrote up a "Five Things I Noticed" after rewatching the game.

The biggest takeaway for me was that Melbourne actually won in almost the opposite way I expected heading into the match.

Some of the things I looked at:

• the centre-clearance turnaround after quarter time
• why Jefferson and van Rooyen looked so promising together
• Tom Sparrow's career-best game
• how Melbourne won despite losing the inside 50 count
• the impact of losing Turner and Jiath

Interested to hear whether others saw the game the same way.

https://medium.com/@camburt13/melbourne-was-beaten-for-volume-but-won-through-quality-five-things-i-noticed-against-north-25be097fc946

Rather than looking at ladder position, I wanted to dig into how these sides actually play.

Some interesting numbers:

• Melbourne is No.1 over the last 10 rounds for centre-clearance differential (+3.7)

• North is 18th in that same span (-2.9)

• Melbourne averages 60 inside 50s over the last five games (2nd)

• North averages just 47.8 (16th)

Yet...

• North leads the AFL in disposal efficiency.

• They're one of the best teams at retaining the ball inside 50 and converting entries into scoring chances.

So the question becomes: can Melbourne's ability to generate territory outweigh North's efficiency?

Full preview here if anyone's interested:

https://medium.com/@camburt13/melbourne-vs-north-melbourne-preview-demon-pressure-meets-norths-precision-e1810170b2e9

I tried to explain to someone the history then got carried away with AI. Sorry.

MELBOURNE

In: B.Fritsch, M.Heath
Out: A.Johnson (omitted), B.Laurie (omitted)

Petty still not ready

Quick data-based rundown before the North game, from my injury tracker (InjuryIQ). Four Demons on the cusp of AFL recall:

Christian Salem — foot fracture sustained Round 5 (Gather Round vs Essendon; first reported as a knee). ~12 games missed. Played a VFL game last week — his first back from the injury — so he's in line to return to the AFL side this week (expected return 18 July).

Harrison Petty — hamstring. Onset R14, returned, then a match-day withdrawal from the R18 side vs Richmond. Recurrence-flagged, listed POSSIBLE for R19 — a fitness-test call.

Also listed as tests: Bayley Fritsch (finger) and Max Heath (shoulder), both with an expected return of 18 July.

How the two lists compare (InjuryIQ Round Health, R18 snapshot):

North go in as the healthier side on my rankings — currently the best Round Health score in the competition — while we're mid-pack and carrying more long-term absences and more games missed (plus two medical retirements).

North's outs: Toby Pink (shoulder surgery, season), Blake Thredgold (Lisfranc, season), Jackson Archer (ACL, 2027) long-term; Tom Blamires (concussion, ~R20), Tom Powell (groin, ~R20), George Wardlaw (hamstring, ~early Aug) shorter-term. Josh Goater and Jacob Konstanty were managed rests in R18 and are available again.

Still out for us: Jack Viney (Achilles, ~mid-Aug), Xavier Lindsay (hip/groin, ~R20), Brody Mihocek (neck fracture, ~Oct), Jai Culley and Andy Moniz-Wakefield (both ACLs, 2027).

Who are you most keen to see back for the Dees against North? I'd go for Petty & Fritsch to return with Salo & Moose another week in the twos.

Game + injury detail: https://injuryiq.vercel.app/games/d10b861d-b5b2-4dd5-bbc8-abb8dd02ac55

(I run InjuryIQ, where these numbers come from — not medical advice, going off club lists + publicly available info.)

Gave Lynch an absolute bath (again) a week after taking care of Gunston.

Don't think I can recall the last time Disco had a bad game.

An absolute champion player for his age and too often not given his due.

Updated my Run Home Difficulty Index after Round 18.

A few interesting things stood out:

• Melbourne's RHDI stayed at 225.
• Hawthorn now has the easiest remaining run of any finals contender.
• GWS became one of the biggest winners after beating Geelong.
• I also looked at the games Melbourne supporters should be watching this weekend and how they could reshape the finals race.

Interested to hear what everyone thinks.

https://medium.com/@camburt13/run-home-difficulty-index-3-0-melbournes-road-didn-t-get-easier-everyone-else-s-did-742dec663173

For those who haven’t seen the show it’s hosted by Andy from Hamish and Andy, it usually has 3 panelists competing on the show (they’re generally comedians/actor/presenters) and every now and again they bring in a celebrity/public figure who has to take part in the show regarding how many people recognise them. That’s where Max is coming in

He will be on the episode about midway through and one hundred regular people will have to say whether they recognise him or not and then he will talk a bit about his career/life and ask the hundred questions based off stuff to do with him

Surely it should officially be crowned a Van Rooyen Flush, no?! The folks at Crown might even stump up a few dollars for a tie in!

Random Monday Football Question

Which players traded for your football team past and present did/have you got a soft spot for still and hope they had/have success and which players that were traded do you just dislike?

For me:
Always liked after they were traded/left:
Jeff Farmer
James McDonald (not traded but played at GWS)
James Frawley (mums least favourite player so I always jumped on his bandwagon)
Jack Watts
Jesse Hogan
Luke Jackson
Alex Neal-Bullen

Disliked either at the club or when they left:
Tom $cully
Brock McLean
Jeremy Howe
Christian Petracca
Judd McVee

Don't know if it's just me, but CJ looks like he improved a lot on his decision making. His athelticism was always great but he seemed to lack the footy IQ. Since he came back into the side I really like how he performed. Cut out almost all of his boneheaded panic kicks and is doing a great job in the half back line. A few weeks ago someone here stated that CJ would be great if he had a brain (or something along those lines) - looks like he's developed one. Could be a real weapon for us down the line.

I'm almost convinced. I reckon this pairing is starting to develop into the forward threat you can build a strategy around.

Roo has shown that his ceiling is very high, and Jeffo is just a bloody good pack grab target.

Punt road end, southern stand side. This guy stands 10 metres in from the boundary and still delivers them in short. Every time.

Id have thought there be some pre requisites in being a boundary umpire.

Anyone who watches the VFL know how he is travelling? His stats looking like they’re improving a lot, and his intercept numbers look good but just wondering how he is travelling form wise.

Was very highly touted but like any key position player or defender, it takes time but just wondering if we should expect to see a lot more of him this year or he’s a work in progress.

Melbourne: 16.15 (111) def Richmond: 9.11 (65)

Don't forget to give your 3-2-1 for best on ground for the Dees subreddit bnf.

There are many reasons why people can't get to games in person. People's lives are difficult and no one could be criticised or judged for not getting there.

Get the fuck up and be at the G in round 22 when Freemantle visit. It will look better at the ground than it will on your television. I'm sure the players would appreciate your efforts in return for theirs.

Hi everyone, I was hoping someone might know when the fixture will be released for this round? (22-23 August)

I can’t help but feel his selfish demeanour/attitude has rubbed off on Gold Coast.

This of course is purely my opinion, you also can’t solely blame one bloke, and I’ll always have love and respect for our Norm Smith hero… But how does that club go from making finals and actually look like they’re starting to roll as a cohesive unit, to so poor that they’ll potentially finish bottom 4 after starting a flag favourite.

Sure rule changes and everything also play a part, but I just can’t help but feel there’s some negativity that’s crept its way into that club.

Kingy and the board made the right move in moving on all the negativity from the team, as my old man says “the bad apples” in Petracca, May and Clarry (Clarry is a bit different as he attracted unwanted media attention, I don’t doubt he loves the club and I always felt he is a team kind of guy as opposed to the other two… at least that’s what their body language gives to me).

Both because he has not looked good apart a couple games this year and because their pick might actually be in the top 5 of the draft. I would have been open to moving on a pick in the 9-12 range for him given he has shown a lot of potential to start his career but at this stage, sending the suns pick back to them (god forbid ours too) would be a massive overpay.

When both the dees and suns were in the 8 before round 11, I didn’t anticipate to be consuming draft summaries at the end of the year but there’s a good chance we could fill a hole with a talented mid or forward.

Gus Teixeira looks like a similar mould to Humphrey that we could land without having to bargain with the suns during the trade period.

What a funny turn of events that I doubt anyone expected this time last year!