Melbourne Demons v Geelong Cats; AFL 2021 round 4 match preview and team lists

Melbourne Demons v Geelong Cats, AFL 2021 round 4 match preview and team lists, MCG, Sunday 11 April 2021 15:20 AEDT
Ben Jensen Updated with announced teams; see further down GEELONG and Melbourne clash at the MCG this Sunday, the undefeated Demons keen to atone for recent defeats against the Cats while in rare form. In the brave new world where teams are not named until the evening before matchday the guessing game continues, we know for certain Shaun Higgins and Francis Evans face stints on the sidelines with thumb and ankle injuries respectively. Higgins originally left the field in the round 3 win over Hawthorn with a hamstring complaint but was later found to have fractured a thumb. In other injury news Sam Menegola is a possibility to return from a shoulder complaint.

Star recruit Jeremy Cameron remains some way off getting over his hamstring injury, this teaser from coach Chris Scott leaving the football world puzzled what he actually did to injure it in the first place: “He had a desperately unlucky mechanism to give that hamstring a minor tweak again, to the point where you think it’s almost impossible for it to happen in a game.” While the team announcements now lag the umpire appointments are still being made in a timely fashion; field umpires being Justin Power, Jeff ‘Kenny’ Dalgleish and Daniel Johanson.

Team announcement Geelong has made at least three inclusions while Melbourne has made just one. The biggest name is Sam Menegola returning from a shoulder injury. Other inclusions for the Cats are Zach Guthrie and Bradley Close and the Demons welcome back Jake Melksham. As we already knew Shaun Higgins and Francis Evans are out through injury while Max Holmes is axed one match and Charlie Constable is nominally ‘omitted’ though he was the substitute last week anyway. 

AFL ROUND 4 2021
MELBOURNE DEMONS V GEELONG CATS
MONDAY 5 APRIL 2021, 15:20 AEDT
MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND (MCG)

PREDICTIONS
Ben – Cats 15 points
Oscar – Cats 10 points
Cassie – Demons 17 points

GEELONG CATS – SELECTED SIDE
IN: Sam Menegola, Bradley Close, Zach Guthrie
OUT: Max Holmes (omitted), Charlie Constable (omitted), Shaun Higgins (thumb/hamstring), Francis Evans (ankle)
B: Lachie Henderson, Mark Blicavs, Jed Bews
HB: Tom Atkins, Tom Stewart, Jake Kolodjashnij
C: Isaac Smith, Mark O’Connor, Zach Tuohy
HF: Mitch Duncan, Gryan Miers, Luke Dahlhaus
F: Sam Menegola, Tom Hawkins, Brad Close
FOLL: Rhys Stanley, Cameron Guthrie, Joel Selwood
INT: Jack Henry, Brandan Parfitt, Jordan Clark, Zach Guthrie
EMER: Charlie Constable, Max Holmes, Josh Jenkins, Quinton Narkle

MELBOURNE DEMONS – SELECTED SIDE
IN: Jake Melksham
OUT: Tom Sparrow (omitted)
B: Neville Jetta, Steven May, Jake Lever
HB: Jayden Hunt, Adam Tomlinson, Trent Rivers
C: Angus Brayshaw, Clayton Oliver, Ed Langdon
HF: Kysaiah Pickett, Tom McDonald, Alex Neal-Bullen
F: Charlie Spargo, Luke Jackson, Bayley Fritsch
FOLL: Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney
INT: Nathan Jones, Christian Salem, Jake Melksham, James Jordon
EMER: Michael Hibberd, Tom Sparrow, Harrison Petty, Kade Chandler

UMPIRES
FIELD: Justin Power, Jeff Dalgleish, Daniel Johanson EM: Luke Porter
BOUNDARY: Michael Marantelli, Ben MacDonald, Damien Cusack, Lachlan Rayner
GOAL: Chelsea Roffey, Matthew Dervan EM: Luke Edwards