Demonbracket 2016 preview

It's nearly that time of the year, where we gather to decide the fans' choice for the #1 Demon. If you're joining us for the first time you might want to run through the four previous competitions to get an idea of what's going on...

Honour Roll

2012 - James Frawley d. Nathan Jones
2013 - Tom McDonald d. Mitch Clark
2014 - Nathan Jones d. Jack Watts
2015 - Nathan Jones d. Dom Tyson

This year's tournament will kick-off with the Preliminary Round starting Monday 1 February, and playing through to the exciting conclusion on Tuesday 16 February where the latest name will be engraved on the Demonbracket trophy.

Nathan Jones has enjoyed the championship feeling for almost 24 months, but this year faces his stiffest competition yet. The draw will be revealed live in a glittering ceremony starting 9am on Monday 25 January for those of you who are still sober enough from the previous day to operate an internet connected device by that point.

For now, please welcome competitors from all over the globe.

Rules

• The voting criteria for each match-up is your personal business. It need not having anything to do with football if you don't want it to, but if you do then good luck to you. We won't ask questions, and nor should anyone else
• Voting will be conducted between 7am and 7pm AEDST unless otherwise noted
• You must cast a valid vote for every match that day or none of your votes on that day's matches will count (I'll try and remind you where possible by there are no guarantees).
• You must pick a winner in every match up. No half votes, no "I can't split them". Yes you can, and you must.
• Non-MFC fans are more than welcome to vote as long as you follow all other rules
• Players are more than welcome to use social media, real media or paid advertising to promote themselves. Outright bribery, however, is not permitted.
• Players may vote for themselves as long as they also vote in the other matchups of the day as per the above rules
• In the event of a tie both players will advance to the next round, except in the case of the Grand Final where a replay will be held the following day.
• If a match features three or more players and two or more tie for the most votes they will advance with all other players eliminated.
• We reserve the right to refuse an excessive number of multiple votes from the same person using multiple accounts
• Voting will once again be conducted in an open format (Twitter, BigFooty. and Facebook) to keep it interesting but if you're really keen on your privacy or have an intense hatred of social media you can email me daily via demonblogger AT gmail.com
• The decision of the Demonbracket Organising Committee is final. Unless somebody takes us to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lucerne.
• Speaking of the Court of Arbitration we're not a signatory to WADA, so Jake Melksham remains eligible to compete in the bracket despite being banned for a year.

The stars

Last year's champion is automatically #1 seed, followed by the top seven surviving finishers in the 2015 Best and Fairest.

1. Nathan Jones
2. Bernie Vince
3. Jack Viney
4. Tom McDonald
5. Jesse Hogan
6. Colin Garland
7. Jeff Garlett
8. Lynden Dunn

Non-seeded players with a bye to Round 1
The 12 byes into the first round are awarded based on the most games played by the remaining combatants.

9. Jack Watts
10. Jack Grimes

11. Jack Trengove
12. Neville Jetta
13. Matt Jones
14. Chris Dawes
15. Max Gawn
16. Dom Tyson
17. Jake Spencer

18. Dean Kent
19. Cameron Pedersen

20. Dean Terlich

Players entered in the Preliminary Round (11 regular matches and one triple threat)

21. Christian Salem
22. Jay Kennedy-Harris

23. Angus Brayshaw
24. Heritier Lumumba
25. Viv Michie
26. Aaron vandenBerg
27. Ben Newton

28. Billy Stretch
29. Alex Neal-Bullen
30. James Harmes
31. Sam Frost
32. Oscar McDonald
33. Mitch White
34. Jayden Hunt

35. Max King

36. Christian Petracca

37. Jake Melksham

38. Ben Kennedy

39. Tomas Bugg

40. Clayton Oliver

41. Sam Weideman

42. Mitch King

43. Liam Hulett

44. Josh Wagner

45. Joel Smith

The Draw

Preliminary Round

Monday 1 February (7am to 1pm)
[1] vs
[2] vs
[3] vs

Monday 1 February (1pm to 7pm)
[4] vs
[5] vs
[6] vs

Tuesday 2 February (7am to 1pm)
[7] vs
[8] vs
[9] vs

Tuesday 2 February (1pm to 7pm)
[10] vs
[11] vs
[12] vs - vs 

Round 1

Wednesday 3 February

1. Nathan Jones vs
vs
vs
vs 8. Lynden Dunn

Thursday 4 February

5. Jesse Hogan vs
vs
vs
vs 4. Tom McDonald

Friday 5 February

3. Jack Viney vs
vs
vs
vs 6. Colin Garland

Monday 8 February

7. Jeff Garlett vs
vs
vs
vs 2. Bernie Vince

Round 2

Tuesday 9 February

vs
vs
vs
vs

Wednesday 10 February

vs
vs
vs
vs

Quarter Finals

Thursday 11 February

vs
vs

Friday 12 February

vs
vs

Semi Final

Monday 15 February

vs
vs

Final

Tuesday 16 February

vs