It's A Grand Old Flag: [FFX]

[OffCutters]

Good updates mate, i`m enjoying this story, keep it up

 

[Roofrom50]

Man oh man the Crows got flogged : oh well, it is Geelong, couldn't have done anything more.

 

[blake]

The 2009 odds for the AFL Premiership have been released, with Geelong and Hawthorn the two stand-out teams.

Melbourne are shocking odds at $170 to win the premiership and it seems the bookmakers think that there is absolutely no chance Melbourne will be able to scrape in anything. The next worst team is West Coast at $80.80.

Full Odds:
Geelong Cats: $3.05
Hawthorn Hawks: $3.90
Western Bulldogs: $14.00
Collingwood Magpies: $15.00
St. Kilda Saints: $19.10
Carlton Blues: $19.10
Richmond Tigers: $26.00
Brisbane Lions: $31.00
Fremantle Dockers: $34.30
Port Adelaide Power: $41.90
Sydney Swans: $43.80
North Melbourne Kangaroos: $47.60
Adelaide Crows: $47.60
Essendon Bombers: $52.30
West Coast Eagles: $80.80
Melbourne Demons: $171.10

 

[OffCutters]

Very surprising to see the Lions so low on the odds. Good to see the Saints 5th overall on the odds but Cats should win the premiership.

 

[Roofrom50]

Pretty surprised that Carlton have good odds. Good to see them getting their team back on track.

Bad sad to see my boys down the bottom of the betfair

 

[punterpupnroy]

Loving it,

It is just so neat and clean. Very good read.

Great work mate!

 

[blake]

Wednesday, 19 March, 2009​

The Melbourne Demons might almost have been glad to have been eliminated from the pre-season cup so early, as to avoid playing in the future matches of the pre-season which took a toll of no less than 7 players.

Already, 7 players have been ruled out for the season, with most developing osteitis pubis after tough training and very physical games. Leon Davis of Collingwood and Robert Campbell of Hawthorn are both expected not to play again in 2009. Another casualty is young draft-selection Steele Sidebottom for Collingwood who has been ruled out for almost a year. Brad Ottens and Josh Drummond have also both been dismissed with osteitis pubis, and they are unlikely to play again this season.

The pre-season was an extremely tight contest - the two preliminary finals were both decided by less than 10 points, and the final needed to go to extra-time in the final quarter for a winner to be decided.

Meanwhile, the Demons have been training intensely and Lynden Dunn has recovered. The Demons have no injuries to start off 2009 and will be looking to play a young, excited squad to kick off the season.

Pre-Season Rounds 2, 3, 4 - Match Reports

Round 2

West Coast 13.16.94 def Fremantle 5.10.40
The Eagles enjoyed a comfortable win as Fremantle failed to deliver in the Subiaco derby. It is believed the bookies and media alike think West Coast have no chance of producing anything this season, but after this performance they might be having second thoughts. The Eagles dominated the match, winning by 54 points. Quinten Lynch and Ashley Hansen both kicked 3 goals, whilst Andrew Embley picked up the man of the match for his 32 disposals and 2 goals. Ryan Crowley was Fremantle's best with 35 disposals.

Western Bulldogs 16.21.117 def Brisbane 4.5.29
After the Lions demolished St. Kilda by 89 points, it seemed this could be a close encounter. However, it wasn't to be as the Bulldogs thrashed the helpless Lions. Murphy was again brilliant, kicking 5.2 and picking up 24 disposals, making his pre-season tally 10 goals and 51 disposals from two games. Brad Johnson chipped in with 4 goals, whilst Bradd Dalziell was a shining light in a glum Lions side as the youngster picked up a cool 31 disposals.

Kangaroos 12.15.87 def by Hawthorn 14.14.98
This match was much closer as Hawthorn managed to defeat the Kangaroos in a very tough match. Lance Franklin was very good for Hawthorn and he could've had 7 or 8 if he kicked straight - instead he finished with 4.5. Robert Campbell claimed man of the match after the ruckman claimed a staggering 41 hitouts alone, compared to the Kangaroos total of 23 hitouts, as well as kicking 2 goals himself. Campbell's luck ended soon though as he was ruled out for the season in the next game. Drew Petrie and Brent Harvey both kicked 4 goals for the Roos but it wasn't enough to get them home.

Geelong 16.18.114 def Port Adelaide 12.8.80
It was Steve Johnson the difference between the two sides as Geelong ran out 34 point victors at Skilled Stadium. Steve Johnson was simply on fire, kicking 4 goals and picking 34 disposals. He was the top tackler with 7 tackles and put it inside Geelong's forward 50 no less than 8 times. Dean Brogan also worked tirelessly in the ruck for Port Adelaide - amassing 47 hitouts in comparison to Geelong's 28 - but it didn't matter. Brendon Lade kicked 4.2 in a good day out for the tall man, but Port Adelaide lacked the run through the midfield that Geelong had.

Round 3

West Coast 12.16.88 def by Western Bulldogs 13.19.97
The Eagles would've been licking their lips after drawing their third consecutive home game, but somehow a brilliant effort from the Bulldogs allowed them to pull off a thrilling comeback. Despite trailing by 2 goals at three quarter time, it was again Robert Murphy the star as he picked up 9 disposals and kicked 2 goals in the last quarter. Murphy finished with 4.3 and 25 disposals to become the leading goalkicker of the pre-season. After just 3 games Murphy had 14 goals alongside 76 disposals and was looking in red-hot form for the Bulldogs. Quinten Lynch worked hard but his 4.4 went to waste as the Eagles failed to convert their chances.

Hawthorn 9.14.68 def Geelong 9.7.61
In a good old-fashioned slug-out it was Hawthorn managing to pip Geelong in a great game, on points alone. Despite Brad Ottens kicking 4 goals to back up his 4 in the round before, premiership favourites Geelong just couldn't overcome Hawthorn who were tipped to finish second, in a thrilling match. Goalsneak Rioli was excellent, kicking 3.1 whilst Lance Franklin was again inaccurate, kicking 2.5. Franklin now had a tally of 6.10 from the past two games alone and desperately needed to improve his accuracy. However, despite a 45-disposal effort from none other than Gary Ablett, it would be Hawthorn moving on to the final.

Final

Western Bulldogs 16.17.113 def Hawthorn 17.9.111
And now to the pre-season final, and what a thrilling encounter it was. It was an unbelievable finish, as neither team could manage to break the deadlock. A huge amount of game time was played - and in the end, the game-time was showed for the players as a massive 219 minutes - compared to the normal 80 minutes. The match ended up finishing two and a half hours late due to an unbelievable finish. Due to the extra time being played, there were some record disposal counts being etched up - Clinton Young had a staggering 53 disposals and kicked 3 goals, alongside Birchall who also had 53 disposals. Shane Crawford had 49 disposals whilst for the Bulldogs, Boyd had 41 disposals and Johnson had 41 disposals and kicked 5.3 to become the star of the Bulldogs winning side. It was truly a match to remember, and it felt almost like a grand-final as Johnson celebrated his best on ground efforts.

After the pre-season, there would undoubtedly be some tired teams in the mix which would surely work to the Demons advantage, after they were knocked out in the first round.

Melbourne, after remaining injury-free from training on Monday, have announced their round 1 side. Melbourne are scheduled to take on a troubled Kangaroos side at the MCG, which Melbourne definitely have a good chance of winning. The Kangaroos did manage to stretch Hawthorn to 11 points though, so they were definitely a top quality side, and with the class of Petrie and Harvey it definitely wouldn't be an easy match.

Round 1: Melbourne Demons vs North Melbourne Kangaroos

MELBOURNE: 2.00
KANGAROOS. 1.75

F Lindsay Thomas - Drew Petrie - Corey Jones
B Matthew Warnock - Colin Garland - James Frawley

HF Sam Power - Josh Smith - Ben Ross
HB Kyle Cheney - Jared Rivers - Matthew Whelan

C Adam Simpson - Daniel Wells - Jesse W Smith
C Colin Sylvia - Cameron Bruce - James McDonald

HB Ed Lower - Michael Firrito - Brady Rawlings
HF Brad Green - Matthew Bate - Russell Robertson

B Leigh Harding - Joshua Gibson - Daniel Pratt
F Clint Bartram - Paul Johnson - Aaron Davey

R David Hale - Brent Harvey - Daniel Harris
R Mark Jamar - Nathan Jones - Brock McLean

Interchange: Matt Riggio - Shannon Watt - Nathan O'Keefe - Andrew Swallow
Interchange: Brent Moloney - Cale Morton - Jack Watts - Ricky Petterd

 

[OffCutters]

Hmm, this is a tough one, I reckon demons by a goal or two. Kangas has got a good side with Petrie, Gibson, Harvey and Simpson, but the Demons got Green, Robbo, Davey and alot more so yeah. Good stuff.

 

[Roofrom50]

It will be good to see young Jack Watts to play his first official game for the club.
I think that Melbourne could possibly win this match as the Kangaroos half forward line looks young and inexperienced. That's where they'll break down across half forward, and a lot of the Melbourne scoring opportunities will come from there.

Drew Petrie will have a day out though, i rekon he'll kick 6.

 

[blake]

I'm going to update this tomorrow after school. I was planning to do this tonight, but instead I spent a couple of hours doing my Battle of the Strikers competition and I don't have enough time tonight to play a full game and write it up.

Tomorrow afternoon.. will get this thing rolling.

 

[Roofrom50]

Looking forward to this update then

 

[blake]

Sunday, 23 March, 1:00PM​

Welcome to the MCG as we present you with the round 1 clash - the Melbourne Demons vs the North Melbourne Kangaroos. It should be an interesting contest with both sides electing to play a few young players in their teams. Melbourne will be unleashing Jack Watts on the Kangaroos. Watts will start on the bench but should hopefully make his way on to the field. It looks a good side from the Demons, and it will be interesting to see how they will perform.

For the Kangaroos, they performed well in the pre-season, losing in the end to eventual pre-season premiers Hawthorn in a close game. Petrie, Jones and Brent Harvey are the danger-men for the Roos - Melbourne will have to shut them down if they want to win. The Kangaroos were slight favourites, but overall it looked to be a pretty close contest.

It isn't a beautiful day for football, but it should still be a good contest. There is a light wind blowing to the western side of the ground, and it is 12 degrees Celsius - a bit chilly, but the players should quickly warm up.

And, we head down live now to the coin toss. Harvey is the away skipper, and he calls heads.. and it's a tail. Melbourne make the decision to kick with the wind early, and that's that. So Melbourne will be kicking to the left side of screen, with the wind. It should be a good match.

1ST QUARTER

The Kangaroos got off to a great start as a brilliant bit of work through the half-forward line from Petrie allowed Corey Jones to take a set-shot 15 metres out just a minute into the game, which he converted. Not even a minute had passed and the Kangaroos were a goal up. Melbourne soon rebounded though, thanks a to good effort from Clint Bartram as he nailed the goal from 30.

As Clint Bartram jogged off after scoring his goal, a loud cheer came up from the small crowd - Jack Watts joined the field for the first ever time. Immediately Watts impacted on the game, taking two marks across the midfield. Watts seemed to be everywhere, and then, he took a great mark 14 metres out, on a extremely tight angle. It seemed he had no nerves, however, as he kicked the Demons second goal to level it at 12 points all. Watts was on fire early with 3 marks.

The Watts show wasn't finished though, as just two minutes later he received the ball 60 metres out. He continued running, broke through a tackle and kicked an unbelievable goal from 52 metres out, through an open goal square. The Demons fans were up and cheering and there was a real buzz around the Demons players now, with Watts playing so well early. It wasn't long before Russell Robertson converted another with a great snap, making it 4 goals to 2, in favour of the Demons.

Each team was playing well and what resulted was a high-quality, fast-paced encounter, much to the delight of the 14,000 fans that had come to watch. There were eight straight goals kicked at the start of the game before Robertson finally kicked a point, making the score 5.1.31 to 3.0.18 in favour of Melbourne. Melbourne clearly looked the better side, however, and as Bruce kicked another goal for the Demons it seemed they were starting to get the better of the Kangaroos.

As usual, Cameron Bruce was having a great game, picking up 14 possessions in the first quarter. Gibson was also playing superbly for the Roos, equalling Bruce's tally of 14 possessions. At quarter time, it was the Demons leading the Roos at the MCG, by 18 points. Second quarter action will come later.

Quarter Time:
Melbourne 6.2.38
North Melbourne 3.2.20

Melbourne
Goalkickers: Jack Watts 2, Cameron Bruce 1, Russell Robertson 1, Clint Bartram 1, Aaron Davey 1
Top Possessions: Bruce 14, Jones 8, Morton 7, Watts 7

Player Watch: Jack Watts was inspirational for the Demons in his first ever quarter of AFL footy. In the 13 minutes Watts played on the field, he picked up 7 disposals, 3 marks and 2 goals for the Demons - a superb start for the number 1 draft pick.

North Melbourne
Goalkickers: Jesse W Smith 1, Ben Ross 1, Corey Jones 1
Top Possessions: Gibson 14, Harding 9, Harvey 9, Power 8

Player Watch: Joshua Gibson is having a great game so far - picking up 14 disposals in the first quarter alone. Gibson helped out a lot in the backline, and he is looking superb, with three rebound 50s and one inside 50 already.

 

[hedger_14]

melbourne with a 18 point lead at quarter time. Jack Watts is having a nice game so far on his debut.

 

[Roofrom50]

A wonderful debut for the youngster. His first quarter has given the Demons a inspiration in this first match of the season. North Melbourne need a forward, they can't rely on their small forwards to do all of the work. Petire of Hale needs to step up

 

[blake]

Game Day - 2nd Quarter​

The action continues at the G, with wooden spoon favourites Melbourne off to a flying start in round 1, leading the Kangaroos by 18 points at quarter time. Could they keep up the intensity and pressure they applied in the first quarter? Or, would the Roos bounce back into the match through some goals from their key forwards. It all remained to be seen.

2ND QUARTER

The second quarter started out in a scrappy affair. One notable change to the match was that a ball in the first quarter that had been ruled as a behind had been un-ruled to nothing. The ball had seemingly gone over the line and then bounced back into play, but AFL officials confirmed that it was actually play on, and the behind was removed from the Kangaroos tally. The start to the quarter was tough as both sides struggled to win the ball. Melbourne had many chances in the first 5 minutes, but suddenly their accurate kicking had turned bad, as they missed set shot after set shot. It was in fact the Kangaroos striking the first blow, through Drew Petrie.

It was twelve minutes into the quarter when Petrie's goal came after a tough quarter - it was Gibson delivering a great ball to Petrie on the lead, who kicked the goal truly. The match continued on, as the Demons missed chance after chance, until finally, Russell Robertson produced one of his trademark hangers, to mark the ball in the goal square. He slotted it home, and suddenly the lead was back out to 25 points.

The rest of the quarter continued in scrappy affair, until finally Ben Ross weaved some magic through the middle of the ground. He dodged two Demons, shrugged off a tackle, and blazed it home from 55 metres out through an empty goalsquare. He was ecstatic, but the Kangaroos needed more of it.

There was only one more score in the second quarter - a point to the Demons, and at halftime it was still Melbourne leading by 21 points. However, if Melbourne had've kicked straight at all in that quarter the lead could've been over 6 goals.

Half Time:
Melbourne 7.10.52
North Melbourne 5.1.31

Melbourne
Goalkickers: Jack Watts 2, Russell Robertson 2, Cameron Bruce 1, Clint Bartram 1, Aaron Davey 1
Top Possessions: Bruce 27, Jones 18, Johnson 15, Watts 13

Player Watch: Cameron Bruce is starting to tear the game away from the Kangaroos. At halftime he already has a staggering 27 disposals - all of them effective, believe it or not. Bruce has kicked a goal and put it inside the forward 50 seven times for the Demons - a superb effort from the midfielder. He isn't currently being tagged, and that is something the Roos might need to think about.

North Melbourne
Goalkickers: Ben Ross 2, Jesse W Smith 1, Corey Jones 1, Drew Petrie 1
Top Possessions: Gibson 18, Harvey 18, Ross 17, Simpson 12

Player Watch: Ben Ross is starting to step up for the Kangaroos - kicking two goals of his own as well as picking up 17 disposals at the halfway point of the game. Ross has contributed to his team's effort with four inside 50's and three clearances. He is playing one of the better games of his career so far, but the whole team needs to lift if the Kangaroos can win. Ross has played the full game so far, but he isn't looking tired at all. A good effort up to half time.

Bruce takes an uncontested mark in the middle of the ground​