Cool as a cucumber
The Coach's Office video on the Melbourne website during the week revealed a sign behind Mark Neeld's desk that reads 'Keep calm and carry on'. In the first quarter, Neeld had reasons to throw that mantra out the window - an errant kick across goal from Jack Trengove went out of bounds, and a kick inside 50 from Luke Tapscott to a two-on-one contest, which Mitch Clark lost. But as the coach kept a cool head, even pausing for a quarter-time interview with Channel 7, so did his Demons. They won the contested possessions and clearances to the break, and consequently, were leading at half-time for the first time this season.

Bad Bombers
Meanwhile, in the other camp, James Hird would have had smoke coming out of his ears at half-time. Wayward kicking saw the Bombers score nine behinds for the half - and just one goal in each quarter - and his players looked sleepy, sluggish, and trailed by six points at the break despite smashing the Demons in inside 50s, 35 to 23. As a result, the Bombers lost just their second first-half for the season, with the only other one coming in their round five loss to Collingwood. 

Keeping the punters guessing
Speculation about the fitness of Dustin Fletcher soared pre-game when emergency defender Tayte Pears was spied warming up on the MCG two hours before the bounce. Fletcher missed last week with groin soreness, so it was understandable the veteran backman was touted as the reason Pears looked like playing. But, when the team sheets were submitted, it was Cale Hooker who was out after pulling up sore this week. The Demons made their own last minute adjustment with Rohan Bail failing to come up from concussion.

Banner banter  
The Demons' banner displayed the motivational message of, 'Fire up Demons / Raise hell tonight / Whatever it takes / Win the fight', in bold red lettering on their traditional blue background. But what really caught the eye was the number of holes in between the letters that punctuated the banner from one side to the other. It was hard to tell if, a) the cheer squad was going for the "vintage, distressed look", b) someone dropped the banner in the Yarra on the way to the game, or c) their crepe paper provider had a shortage this week. 

Garland gold
Career defender Colin Garland lined up in attack opposed to Tayte Pears in a role he hasn't played since his early AFL days. While the backman presented well all night, his kicking left a lot to be desired early on. But, when it mattered most, the 24-year-old marked and kicked just his fifth League goal midway through the fourth quarter to give the Demons the lead. He nailed a second six minutes later, and marked a further two times late in the game for a pair of behinds.

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.