Demons Ordinary Skill Level

[bing181 9,193]

" He has forecast more pain for Richmond and Melbourne supporters, who he tips to fight out the wooden spoon. After doing his homework over summer training and looking at all 16 AFL teams, he says the Demons' skill level in the pre-season has been ordinary."

Shane Crawford in the HUN.

Tipping us to fight out the wooden spoon with Richmond.

B

[Jerry Lundergard 420]

I would be surprised if Crawf has been out to watch Melbourne train more than once for a full session over the preseason. I certainly wouldn't expect that he has driven out to Casey, so i am not taking to much notice of his claims.

For instance, he watches the Demons train for an hour and on this day there may be a few players who are a bit off with their skills, so he automatically assumes we are still poor.

Conversley, if goes to watch the Bulldogs train and sees the same thing, he would dismiss it as the Dogs having an off day because he knows already the are a highly skilled team.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Jerry Lundergard

[Whispering_Jack 29,773]

" He has forecast more pain for Richmond and Melbourne supporters, who he tips to fight out the wooden spoon. After doing his homework over summer training and looking at all 16 AFL teams, he says the Demons' skill level in the pre-season has been ordinary."

Shane Crawford in the HUN.

Tipping us to fight out the wooden spoon with Richmond.

B

After years of seeing Crawford act the fool on The Footy Show I still can't take him seriously. While the proposition that our skill levels are below par might be correct (especially as we have the AFL's youngest list), I don't believe that it's possible to make that assessment on the basis of a number of attendances at pre season sessions - especially if that number is, as I suspect, one or none. For heaven's sake, we haven't had an intraclub match yet, let alone a NAB Cup game and we all know how unreliable they are as indicators of skill levels and of how teams are likely to perform in the coming season.

My guess is that Crawford is doing what he's best at when he tries to be humurous on TFS i.e improvising and, as usual, he's not being funny or clever. That said, we have a lot of work ahead of us to get off the bottom but Crawf's been good enough to hand us that little bit of incentive for the season ahead. Not that it's needed in football these days, but we do play his old side Hawthorn in the opening round and the Hawks will be vulnerable without Buddy and a few others. Round 1 would be a good time to prove Crawf wrong IMO.

[Still Waiting 94]

Purely guess work by that little bag of mischief. I would take no notice of what he writes as he has a poor general record in tipping.

I would add that our skills, whilst a bit better, are still a fair amount away from being acceptable at this level.

I regularly attend training at Casey and still shudder at times with our kicking, handball and ball handling skill errors. Don't count the number of times they drop for punishment/push ups when this happens!

The goal conversion rate by forwards from 30-55 meters out on non acute angles, is actually disappointing.

They are working on it but are still ordinary at best in this area.

It is however still preseason, so we should rest in the fact that it will be better for the real season openers to come. At least our boys look bigger and fitter than previous years.

Having seen another team at training recently we need to aim for their level of ball skills quickly.

[Benny & The Jett 0]

Crawford's assessment based on what?? 30 minutes of a single training session?? Give me a break...

The fact he rates Freo higher than us shows he has no idea..

You also have to factor in that our improvement will come from our talented youngsters getting games, kids not necessarily 'standing out' at training just yet... A number of them will show rapid improvement throughout the year, and this, combined with good performances from our senior players will see us winning games..

Our skills aren't great at the moment, but when you consider the fact that highly skilled players like Trengove, Scully, Grimes, Bennell, Strauss, Blease, Gysberts, Tapscott and Maric will become more prominent, the overall skill level will increase.

I think we can finish around 11-12th. That's about what we 'should' be aiming for.

If we were fighting out the woodenspoon with Richmond i'd have serious concerns..

Edited February 6, 2010 by Benny & The Jett

[Keyser Söze 0]

After years of seeing Crawford act the fool on The Footy Show I still can't take him seriously. While the proposition that our skill levels are below par might be correct (especially as we have the AFL's youngest list), I don't believe that it's possible to make that assessment on the basis of a number of attendances at pre season sessions - especially if that number is, as I suspect, one or none. For heaven's sake, we haven't had an intraclub match yet, let alone a NAB Cup game and we all know how unreliable they are as indicators of skill levels and of how teams are likely to perform in the coming season.

My guess is that Crawford is doing what he's best at when he tries to be humurous on TFS i.e improvising and, as usual, he's not being funny or clever. That said, we have a lot of work ahead of us to get off the bottom but Crawf's been good enough to hand us that little bit of incentive for the season ahead. Not that it's needed in football these days, but we do play his old side Hawthorn in the opening round and the Hawks will be vulnerable without Buddy and a few others. Round 1 would be a good time to prove Crawf wrong IMO.

Exactly. Crawf is an attention seeker, hence his claim the doggies will win the flag. He's taken a different stance to get noticed.

Beyond that there is nothing insightful or clever in that article; it looks like it has been written with the bare minimum of effort.

[Benny & The Jett 0]

Exactly. Crawf is an attention seeker, hence his claim the doggies will win the flag. He's taken a different stance to get noticed.

Beyond that there is nothing insightful or clever in that article; it looks like it has been written with the bare minimum of effort.

Yeah, it does actually sound like he's throwing a number of curveballs just to distinguish himself from popular opinion.

As far as i'm concerned,

1. St. Kilda are flag favourites.

2. Geelong are 'still' a top 4 side.

3. Collingwood even with Jolly, are probably not a top 4 side..(St. Kilda, Geelong, Bulldogs, Hawthorn, and Adelaide are ahead IMO)

4. Cooney will probably not win the Brownlow

5. Melbourne will not be fighting out the wooden spoon with Richmond

Probably couldn't get a feature article out of that, but at least its closer to the truth.

[Ned 156]

I didn't have a problem with any of Crawford's predictions, outside of Freo and our beloved Demons. The Dockers are pathetic away from home and Mark Harvey can't coach. But I was shocked that he rated Melbourne so poorly. My fear is he may have a point. We often look like we're playing in slow motion and our turnovers are terrible, and in games against good sides they seem to play down to our standard. The exception was the West Coast game after the announcement of Jimmy's illness. We looked like a proper football team then. I really hope Crawford is wrong, or at least the young guys can stand up and make the second-half of the season decent.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

I didn't have a problem with any of Crawford's predictions, outside of Freo and our beloved Demons. The Dockers are pathetic away from home and Mark Harvey can't coach. But I was shocked that he rated Melbourne so poorly. My fear is he may have a point. We often look like we're playing in slow motion and our turnovers are terrible, and in games against good sides they seem to play down to our standard. The exception was the West Coast game after the announcement of Jimmy's illness. We looked like a proper football team then. I really hope Crawford is wrong, or at least the young guys can stand up and make the second-half of the season decent.

That's just not true, the season was characterised more by not being able to play our best footy for more than a quarter or two. There were plenty of stages where we took it up to the best sides but couldn't sustain it. I'd have thought flogging Freo by 10 goals is worth a mention too.

[Keyser Söze 0]

Having had time to sit down and actually read his entire article in the paper... Shane Crawford's effort here is pathetic.

He has only regurgitated old articles and so-obvious-Robert-Walls-could-see-it viewpoints.

He constantly refers to his 'spies' and sounds much more informed about anything involving Hawthorn or ex-Hawthorn players.

The rest is filler because he has actually done no research into what is going on; merely he has made what he thinks are educated guesses.

Don't waste your time reading it.

[Ned 156]

That's just not true, the season was characterised more by not being able to play our best footy for more than a quarter or two. There were plenty of stages where we took it up to the best sides but couldn't sustain it. I'd have thought flogging Freo by 10 goals is worth a mention too.

The Freo win was terrific. But they are a lamentable team. West Coast came to play and Melbourne beat them with aggression, desire and skill. It's only my opinion, of course, but to me that was the win of the season. I would like to believe Crawford is completely wrong. But I agreed with almost everything else he wrote.

[titan_uranus 24,971]

I'd love to know what makes Crawford believe our pre-season has been so terrible. Apparently we've been shocking, so bad that we're only a '4/10'.

Like the author, this article is total rubbish and a waste of time.

[olgreydingo 51]

When do you believe a clown?

[CHAMP 347]

I'd love to know what makes Crawford believe our pre-season has been so terrible. Apparently we've been shocking, so bad that we're only a '4/10'.

Like the author, this article is total rubbish and a waste of time.

I predict that after several years as a commentator and so-called expert he'll have earned a reputation along the lines of Tony Shaw as one who is strangely paid to state the obvious, take the clicheed (sic) safe line and unashamedly back-pedal. In his own Finley parlance he's a dill. I admit though that he has few, if any, peers as far as smashing raw eggs on his forehead and that sort of thing is concerned.

[JACKATTACK 17]

The HUN made two sets of predictions today, Crawf's one with us finishing 15th next year and the other one saying that due to our drafting over the last few years we will be a top team in 2012-2014. I'm happy with that result, unfortunately history tells us that these kind of predictions at this time of the year are usually off the mark.

[The Big Ticket 94]

Pfft Shane Crawford lol.

Round 1 now has something else to it.

[Lost Highway 31]

Pea-brained nincompoop he may be, Herald Sun he may be 'writing' this filler-pap for, but let's suppose for a moment that he or one of his 'spies' (like 'informed sources', their very existence is questionable) actually went to a training session for a half-hour or so. It is possible that they were watching mainly Miller, Newton, Bell, Bartram and the like in action. It's as hard to hide the poor ball-handlers and deliverers on the training track as in real match-play.

The Demons played some good football in the second half of last season despite a long injury list (several good players probably rested early to have their ops and treatments), but were hamstrung several games from the end by the need to lose every other game than the Freo one, which let's face it, was un-losable (what a dilemma what would have been without Jordan McMahon's earlier brilliance). They showed in the first half of the last game against St Kilda that they could match it with them - and I don't think StK were coasting either - after that as we all know, winning players were shifted and the match became a vehicle for Robbo and the other retirees to get a goal each.

We already know who the spuds are; the only questions worth asking are how long the likes of Scully, Trengove, Strauss, Gysberts, Tapscott and so on will take to settle in and display the high level skills they are known to possess, and whether players like Jones, Moloney, Frawley, Petterd and Jetta will continue to improve their decision making and delivery.

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

Pea-brained nincompoop he may be, Herald Sun he may be 'writing' this filler-pap for, but let's suppose for a moment that he or one of his 'spies' (like 'informed sources', their very existence is questionable) actually went to a training session for a half-hour or so. It is possible that they were watching mainly Miller, Newton, Bell, Bartram and the like in action. It's as hard to hide the poor ball-handlers and deliverers on the training track as in real match-play.

The Demons played some good football in the second half of last season despite a long injury list (several good players probably rested early to have their ops and treatments), but were hamstrung several games from the end by the need to lose every other game than the Freo one, which let's face it, was un-losable (what a dilemma what would have been without Jordan McMahon's earlier brilliance). They showed in the first half of the last game against St Kilda that they could match it with them - and I don't think StK were coasting either - after that as we all know, winning players were shifted and the match became a vehicle for Robbo and the other retirees to get a goal each.

We already know who the spuds are; the only questions worth asking are how long the likes of Scully, Trengove, Strauss, Gysberts, Tapscott and so on will take to settle in and display the high level skills they are known to possess, and whether players like Jones, Moloney, Frawley, Petterd and Jetta will continue to improve their decision making and delivery.

Well said. I enjoyed reading that.

[Swampfox 190]

" He has forecast more pain for Richmond and Melbourne supporters, who he tips to fight out the wooden spoon. After doing his homework over summer training and looking at all 16 AFL teams, he says the Demons' skill level in the pre-season has been ordinary."

Shane Crawford in the HUN.

Tipping us to fight out the wooden spoon with Richmond.

B

If it was 2004 then i would agree with him not that he has much credibity to be reporting on us

Would it be we are playing Hawthorn in Round 1?

Bailey and the FD have addressed the skill issues with the players added to the list over the last few years

Bailey says they need gametime and that might take some time

Cant expect any better assesment than that

When (If) we knock off a team we are not suppose too might just get the ball rolling and that is how ladders can be climbed quickly

Cant think of a better way to do that than winning Round 1

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Interesting to read in today's Herald Sun that a system devised by some over-enthusiastic banker reveals that our drafting over the past few years has been the best of every club in the competition.

What's more - the focus of our recruiting over the past few years has been very skills-based. This team should be an incredibly highly skilled team in due course.

[Dee Dee 1,105]

To be honest our skill levels over the last two or three years have been pretty bad! How many times have you seen a Melbourne player misdirect a handball or kick to an opposition player then see the ball sail through the opposing team's goals? Far too often! And against most teams (Richmond and Fremantle the exceptions, I'd suggest).

However I noticed a shift towards the end of last season and against StKilda I thought the team was putting "it" all together quite nicely (until the last must loose quarter that is)!!!!!

Anyway, I'm sure the players and coaching staff have all read the article and will be as one in wanting to stick it up Crawford as the season gets going.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,023]

I can't argue that we have skill issues, but that article really was a load of rubbish. Did anyone else notice how gentle he was with his old Hawk buddies? Anyone connected with the club can do no wrong apparently. Still, it tells us not to worry about him in tipping and supercoach. He's already lost.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

let's just all wait until Saturday when we get to see the whole list live in a match situation

[Sir Why You Little 36,963]

Lets just remember that we demonlanders and ology people plus a few thousand Demon supporters are the only people really watching the Club over the last 3 years.

To everyone else in the Footy world we are a joke and a waste of space.

I have heard it repeatedly. Opposition supporters are waiting for us to go Belly Up.

We are not rated at all.

And why should we be. Do any of us Rate the Tigers? i would suggest not.

He may be an idiot on TV but Crawf did win a charlie and got to play in a premiership team.

This Club is heading in the right direction but still has not put the scores on the board.

It all starts this year...show the article to the players..let them prove crawf wrong, not just in round 1 either.

[Ned 156]

Lets just remember that we demonlanders and ology people plus a few thousand Demon supporters are the only people really watching the Club over the last 3 years.

To everyone else in the Footy world we are a joke and a waste of space.

I have heard it repeatedly. Opposition supporters are waiting for us to go Belly Up.

We are not rated at all.

And why should we be. Do any of us Rate the Tigers? i would suggest not.

He may be an idiot on TV but Crawf did win a charlie and got to play in a premiership team.

This Club is heading in the right direction but still has not put the scores on the board.

It all starts this year...show the article to the players..let them prove crawf wrong, not just in round 1 either.

Nice one. Couldn't agree more.