The second of Sunday’s AFL Round 7 matches is between Melbourne Demons and Gold Coast Suns. The game is set to commence at 4:40 PM local time with the game to be played at the MCG. Home team Melbourne Demons go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Melbourne Demons and Gold Coast Suns.

Round: Round 7 4:40 PM May 12, 2013
Stadium: MCG
Weather: 20° Cloud increasing.

Featured Bookmakers:

Melbourne Demons $1.83 vs Gold Coast Suns $1.98 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Melbourne Demons $1.80 vs Gold Coast Suns $2.00 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:

Melbourne Demons	1.83	1.80	1.80	1.80	1.83	1.85
Gold Coast Suns	1.98	2.00	2.00	2.00	1.98	1.99

Preview:

The Dees host the Suns on the Sunday with the market struggling to separate the two sides given the lack of form displayed by both thus far this season.

It appears to be a case of selecting a team that is the least worst!

Each of the Demons six opponents this years have managed to register in excess of 100 points – including the struggling GWS and Brisbane Lions outfits.

This sees Melbourne with clearly the worst defence in the league.

The Suns fair much better defensively and last week against Fremantle, where within three goals of the Dockers into the third quarter before a poor last quarter let them down.

The start prior was a 44 point win over GWS who the Demons beat by 41 when meeting them in Round 4.

Just can’t take $1.83 about Melbourne and sticking with the Suns.

Teams:

Melbourne Demons:
B: Lynden Dunn, James Frawley, Dean Terlich
HB: Daniel Nicholson, Tom McDonald, Colin Garland
C: Rohan Bail, Jack Viney, Matt Jones
HF: Jeremy Howe, Chris Dawes, Colin Sylvia
F: Luke Tapscott, Max Gawn, Shannon Byrnes
Foll: Jake Spencer, Michael Evans, Nathan Jones
Int: Jordie McKenzie, David Rodan, James Strauss, James Sellar, Dean Kent, Aaron Davey, Troy Davis

In: A.Davey, D.Rodan, J.Sellar, C.Dawes, T.Davis
Out: J.Grimes (collarbone), J.Trengove (calf)

Gold Coast Suns:
B: Trent McKenzie, Thomas Murphy, Sam Day
HB: David Swallow, Rory Thompson, Greg Broughton
C: Matt Shaw, Gary Ablett, Jarrod Harbrow
HF: H. Bennell, T. Lynch, Jesse Lonergan
F: Charlie Dixon, Stephen May, Aaron Hall
Foll: Zac Smith, Jaeger O’Meara, Dion Prestia
Int: Jack Hutchins, Brandon Matera, Jared Brennan, Luke Russell, Danny Stanley, Tim Sumner, Campbell Brown

In: C.Brown, L.Russell, S.May, J.Hutchins, T.Sumner
Out: M.Rischitelli, K.Hunt (hamstring)

Demons lose Trengove to calf strain

Luckless Melbourne have suffered another blow, with co-captain Jack Trengove to miss up to three weeks with a calf injury.

Trengove failed to complete training on Thursday.

With the Demons’ other co-captain Jack Grimes on the long-term injury list after breaking his collarbone, midfielder Nathan Jones will don the skipper’s armband on Sunday against Gold Coast.

Melbourne coach Mark Neeld said Trengove’s injury flared up again on Thursday morning after being detected during last Sunday’s loss to Carlton, when he could only amass six possessions.

“Trenners reported two days after the game a little bit of soreness in the calf so we scanned it and it revealed a minor calf strain,” Neeld said.

“Sometimes with those particular injuries some players can get through training and play. Obviously Jack didn’t get through training so he won’t be playing.”

Melbourne will also be without Jack Watts and Mark Jamar, although the situation has been relieved to some extent with the news that key forward Chris Dawes will finally make his debut for the Demons following his recruitment from Collingwood.

Dawes has been battling a hamstring issue for most of the year but two games with VFL affiliate Casey have convinced the club to green-light him for this week’s crucial MCG match against the Suns.

The pressure on Neeld is sure to ramp up further if the Demons are beaten by Gold Coast.

Neeld said he was looking more for an improved performance on Sunday but emphasised the young group would be severely lacking in experience.

“Clearly we’re not after a short-term fix, we’re in a development long-term phase and that’s fairly obvious,” Neeld said.

“We’ll go in on Sunday with less experience out there than Gold Coast.

“At the moment we’re playing with an average experience of 50 games.”

Neeld brushed aside rumours that unless he could turn the Demons’ fortunes around quickly he would be sacked, with Sydney premiership coach Paul Roos the man mentioned as a possible replacement.

“I don’t feel I need to add any commentary to a rumour that has already proven to be wrong,” Neeld said.