Presenting all you need to know about the Melbourne Demons ahead of the annual Queen’s Birthday blockbuster against Collingwood on Monday afternoon.
Recent form
Fresh off the bye, the Demons will be looking to break their W-L-W-L-W run that has them positioned ninth of the ladder at the half way mark of the season.
After starting the season with two convincing victories over the Saints and Blues, the Demons enter at the Queen’s Birthday clash with a 5-5 record after plaguing themselves with inconsistent performances.
And despite playing in their last game two weeks ago, the Demons will still come into Monday’s game on a winning note, having beaten the Gold Coast Suns by six goals at Metricon Stadium in round 10 before the break.
The Demons’ most impressive victory of the season came in round eight when they defeated league leaders – the Adelaide Crows – by 41 points at Adelaide Oval. If Melbourne can string performances like these together, they may be well placed to embark on their first final series since 2006.
Bernie Vince leads the Demons off Adelaide Oval after crushing the Crows in round eight. Image: AFL Photos.
From the coach
After taking over as Melbourne's senior coach, Simon Goodwin has described his club’s first half of the year as “interesting”.
“For the club, we’ve faced a lot of challenges, with injuries, suspensions and some personnel issues that have gone through the footy club,” Goodwin told melbournefc.com.au.
“You look at some of our key statistics that we go through – and we’ve improved. Have the wins spanned where we want them to be? The results have been the results, but the key statistics show that we’re in good shape.
“We’re five [wins] and five [losses] and I think we’ve set ourselves up to have a real tilt and crack at the last half of the year.”
Goodwin addresses his players during a quarter-time break against the Gold Coast Suns. Image - AFL Photos.
Players to watch
In just his second season at the helm, Melbourne youngster Clayton Oliver has emerged as one of his side’s most important midfielders.
The 18-year-old is averaging 31 disposals (15 contested), seven clearances, and seven tackles per game in 2017.
Melbourne is an outstanding contested ball team, and Oliver is one of the main reasons why.
The other Demon to keep an eye on is small forward Jeff Garlett. The speedster has already kicked 25 goals in his first 10 games this season (he kicked 29 goals in 2016) and is a key to Melbourne’s resilient pressure around the ball, having averaged a career best in tackles to date.
Garlett applies one of his eight tackles against the Dockers in round four. Image: AFL Photos.
Injury list
The Demons appeared to rule out Jesse Hogan from making his return against the Pies on Monday, as the key forward continues to recover from testicular cancer surgery.
"He's unlikely for (Queen's Birthday), but you never know how quickly he can get back out there after that," Demons football manager Josh Mahoney told SEN earlier this week.
Melbourne’s ruck stocks will return to full strength in the coming weeks as Max Gawn and Jake Spencer work back from their respective hamstring and shoulder injuries.
"(Gawn has) been training pretty strongly now for the last three or four weeks in running and he's starting to do some football work this week," Mahoney said.
"He's probably two weeks away at the moment.
“(Spencer) will be available this week, all things going well, so that'll be a decision at match committee whether he comes straight into play or we go with the same structure we've had over the last few weeks."
The Demons also confirmed this week that Aaron vandernBerg’s season is likely to be over after having surgery on a stress fracture in his heel.
Injured Demons - Gawn and Hogan - contest during a ruck drill at training. Image: AFL Photos.
In the mix
Defender Christian Salem looms as a likely inclusion for the Demons after completing his one-game suspension.
Melbourne also has a crop of small forward/midfielders playing at for its VFL squad which it can tap into for the Queen’s Birthday clash, with Jay Kennedy-Harris (47 disposals), Billy Stretch (23 disposals), Dean Kent (28 disposals) and Ben Kennedy (23 disposals, three goals) all performing well over the weekend.
