The first game on Sunday for AFL round 10 is between Melbourne Demons and Hawthorn Hawks. The opening bounce is set to commence at 3:20pm with the game to be played at MCG. The favourite for the match is away team Hawthorn Hawks. View our preview and teams for the game between Melbourne Demons and Hawthorn Hawks.

Round: Round 10 3:20 PM June 02, 2013
Stadium: MCG
Weather: 16° Morning shower or two

Featured Bookmakers:

Melbourne Demons $16.00 vs Hawthorn Hawks $1.001 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Melbourne Demons $26.00 vs Hawthorn Hawks $1.01 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:

Melbourne Demons	16.00	17.00	26.00	17.00	21.00	21.00
Hawthorn Hawks	1.001	1.01	1.01	1.01	1.001	1.01

Preview:

The first of two games scheduled for Sunday is the tale of two stories.

The first is that of the high-flying Hawthorn club that, after losing their opening game of the season to Geelong with a kick after the siren, has strung together eight straight wins and sit atop of the competition ladder.

A fright last week where, in the third quarter they found themselves behind against the Gold Coast Suns, will serve as a timely reminder that the Hawks need to be switched on against all opponents.

The second story is of that of the struggling Melbourne Demons.

From their nine matches thus far this season, they have the one win to their credit and during this time, have conceded a whopping 1190 points, or an average of 132 per game.

The closest the Demons have got to Hawthorn in their five clashes since the opening round of the 2010 season, is 21 points (Round 20, 2010) with the most recent match a 56 point win to the Hawks.

Hawks will win this one and think last week’s effort, despite winning, they will want to better. If they are on their game, this could be a blowout of GWS proportion.

Teams:

Melbourne Demons:
B: Lynden Dunn, James Frawley, Dean Terlich
HB: Jack Watts, Cameron Pedersen, Colin Garland
C: Jack Trengove, Michael Evans, Matt Jones
HF: Luke Tapscott, Jeremy Howe, Rohan Bail
F: David Rodan, Chris Dawes, Aaron Davey
Foll: Mark Jamar, Jordie McKenzie, Nathan Jones
Int (from): James Sellar, Dean Kent, Jack Fitzpatrick, James Strauss, Joel Macdonald, Daniel Nicholson, Jake Spencer

In: D.Rodan, J.Macdonald, J.Strauss, J.Spencer, J.Fitzpatrick, C.Pedersen, D.Kent
Out: S.Byrnes (wrist), J.Magner, N.Jetta, M.Gawn

Hawthorn Hawks:
B: Ben Stratton, Brian Lake, Brent Guerra
HB: Josh Gibson, Grant Birchall, Sam Mitchell
C: Isaac Smith, Luke Hodge, Liam Shiels
HF: Bradley Hill, Lance Franklin, Jordan Lewis
F: Paul Puopolo, Jarryd Roughead, Luke Breust
Foll: David Hale, Brad Sewell, Shaun Burgoyne
Int (from): Kyle Cheney, Michael Osborne, Taylor Duryea, Sam Grimley, Max Bailey, Shane Savage, Jonathan Simpkin

In: M.Osborne, D.Hale, G.Birchall, S.Savage
Out: J.Gunston (calf)

Neeld confident of Demons board support

Under-pressure Melbourne coach Mark Neeld is confident he retains the support of the AFL club’s board.

There has been speculation the Melbourne directors could move on Neeld as soon as Monday’s board meeting, if the Demons suffer yet another heavy defeat against Hawthorn on Sunday.

That match is followed by another difficult encounter against Collingwood before the mid-season bye.

Neeld is less than halfway through a three-year contract, but insists he is not being distracted by calls for his removal from those with no formal connection to the club.

“The external pressure or external noise, that only impacts on your day-to-day job if you let it,” Neeld said on Thursday.

“And I’m not letting it.

“I’m pretty clear on what my job is, which is to coach the Melbourne footy club and that’s what I’m doing.”

Neeld said he would make a half-hour presentation to the board on Monday, just as he did every month.

“It’s just a regular monthly board meeting where there’s robust discussion about a whole lot of issues and progress and all that sort of stuff and I presume it will be the same,” he said.

“I talk to board members on a regular basis.

“I chatted to (president Don McLardy) this morning, it was just a normal conversation with him .. about some ideas about who’s in line for selection and who’s not.

“Just an everyday president and coach conversation.”

If the Melbourne board were to dump Neeld midway through the season, they would likely replace him on an interim basis with another member of the coaching staff such as Todd Viney, Neil Craig or Jade Rawlings.