Morning all,

Last night I attended the annual Western Demons dinner. It's a great night for us Dee's fans who live over in the west. The playing group & coaching staff are in attendance and the players are allocated to sit on tables with the supporters. They allocate one player per table, and rotate the guys through the tables every 1/2 an hour or so. We had Barty, LJ & Grimes sit with us at various stages throughout the evening. Chris Connolly, Dean Bailey, Green, Davey & Chippa also spoke at various stages.

Thought I'd share a few things i took from last night;

Barty was really good value, more than happy to chat about anything and everything. Barty spoke about the teams "game plan" and the perception that they rely on turning the ball over at half back / fast breaks from defence. He said that basically they aim to get their hands on the ball where ever they can, and obviously focus on forcing turnovers in their forward half is the preference. He did say that they do focus on moving the ball quickly out of defence and turning defence into attack, so whilst it's not what they'd consider to be the game plan, it's a focus and something they work on. He also said that pressure for spots is getting really competitive; guys like Warnock, Joel Mac, Bate & Maric could all easily slot back in, and as a current member on the side you just have to hope you play well each week because the pressure is on to retain your spot.

LJ was surprisingly very talkative. Amongst other things he spoke about playing alongside Aussie, and how he feels like they have each others back when they're both out there together.

Let me just say Jack Grimes is a great bloke and i can see why he is rated as a future captain. One of the guys asked him about Tom Scully and Grimes said he was 100% sure Scully would stay. He said that Tom is a great guy who loves the club and family man to the point that he actually gets home sick (went home early from china), so he couldn't imagine him moving from the Dee's to live in Sydney. This is all stuff we hear in the press but to hear it from a fellow team mates mouth was pleasing! We also spoke about him growing up as a dees fan too. He said he used to sit at games and discuss deficiencies and get frustrated about why certain players weren't doing things, but it wasn't till he started playing that he realised how hard AFL actually is.

Bails was asked a range of questions, which he answered with the usual dead bat. He said he gets enjoyment from seeing guys like Ro Bail play some good footy, and also spoke about Cam Bruce moving on, and whilst it was unfortunate has opened the door for Tapscott etc.

Jamie Bennell wasn't at the function which i assume was because he'd gone to see his family? Also Addam Maric was in attendance so he may be in contention to get the call up?

Was Watts there there was a piece in the australian which suggested he was being left back in Melbourne?

He was there and looking in high sprits. Connolly introduced him as "Jack Watts, number 1 draft pick and #1 forward target"

LJ was surprisingly very talkative. Amongst other things he spoke about playing alongside Aussie, and how he feels like they have each others back when they're both out there together.

I think the exciting thing about these two is that they're both clearly talented individually, but they work so well together. Watching the partnership between them grow is an absolute pleasure, it's one of the things that makes me look forward to the footy every weekend even when the team as a whole is struggling.

Thanks for the report.

Are teams released today?

Are teams released today?

Usual time this evening.

Great post WD cheers great to hear that abt lj and wonna...it looks a bit that way.

He was there and looking in high sprits. Connolly introduced him as "Jack Watts, number 1 draft pick and #1 forward target"

Thanks. A very upbeat introduction. Was it a message to his team mates?

Thanks. A very upbeat introduction. Was it a message to his team mates?

haha maybe, who knows?!

Bailey was asked the usual "how far away is jack watts from a break out game" question. Along with the usual talk about him being 20, and lightly built, he did make mention that the more oppertunities he gets the better he will become, but not in terms of number of games, but more along the lines of number of marking contests and number of shots on goals, so again i'm not sure if this has been discussed with the players, but the FD seem aware of the fact that he needs to be gven the footy to be able to improve.

Thanks DemonWA.

It sounds like it was a great night.

Can't wait for tomorrow night, 11 days between games has been too long!!!

I have a feeling we will put in a good showing.

Thanks DemonWA.

It sounds like it was a great night.

Can't wait for tomorrow night, 11 days between games has been too long!!!

I have a feeling we will put in a good showing.

Hope your feeling is a good one.

However we need a win not just a good showing!

He was there and looking in high sprits. Connoly introduced him as "Jack Watts, number 1 draft pick and #1 forward target"

Either that's a clever gag about the media targeting him or he's extracting the urine - Jack has been kicked to in the forward line about once this season.

DemonWA,

i am flying over tomorrow from melbourne to see the game and was wondering if there were any after match functions or anything planned?

thanks

Either that's a clever gag about the media targeting him or he's extracting the urine - Jack has been kicked to in the forward line about once this season.

I'd have to see the tape before I believed that, was it a mis-kick? (must have been from Grimes).

DemonWA,

i am flying over tomorrow from melbourne to see the game and was wondering if there were any after match functions or anything planned?

thanks

Im not aware of anything to be honest mate. They did a pre match function (dinner last nigth) becasue the boys are basically straight on the plane after the game so cant see much chance of anything happening in terms of formal functions. The training session tonight is an open session, but again i doubt that is much help to you as you're not flyign over until tommorow! If we get up i'm sure you wouldnt be the only bloke wearing red and blue who might be looking to enjoy a few post games beers, so i'd follow the crowd to one of the pubs near by (maybe even to drown our sorrows!)!

On a side note, apparently the club want everyone to bring their flashing horns to the game. As its the first night game for the year they are keen to light them up when we kick goals etc haha. if i bring mine they wont be going near my head, but the idea of a flashing sea of red amongst the eagles dominated crowd could be pretty cool.

to be honest i said donate them to a kid so i didn't pick them up. but yes i would like to hve a few victory beers tomorrow night all being well.

cheers

I'd have to see the tape before I believed that, was it a mis-kick? (must have been from Grimes).

There was the CONTESTED MARK he took against Hawthorn, the superb 3-on-1.

Morning all,

Last night I attended the annual Western Demons dinner. It's a great night for us Dee's fans who live over in the west. The playing group & coaching staff are in attendance and the players are allocated to sit on tables with the supporters. They allocate one player per table, and rotate the guys through the tables every 1/2 an hour or so. We had Barty, LJ & Grimes sit with us at various stages throughout the evening. Chris Connolly, Dean Bailey, Green, Davey & Chippa also spoke at various stages.

Thought I'd share a few things i took from last night;

Barty was really good value, more than happy to chat about anything and everything. Barty spoke about the teams "game plan" and the perception that they rely on turning the ball over at half back / fast breaks from defence. He said that basically they aim to get their hands on the ball where ever they can, and obviously focus on forcing turnovers in their forward half is the preference. He did say that they do focus on moving the ball quickly out of defence and turning defence into attack, so whilst it's not what they'd consider to be the game plan, it's a focus and something they work on. He also said that pressure for spots is getting really competitive; guys like Warnock, Joel Mac, Bate & Maric could all easily slot back in, and as a current member on the side you just have to hope you play well each week because the pressure is on to retain your spot.

LJ was surprisingly very talkative. Amongst other things he spoke about playing alongside Aussie, and how he feels like they have each others back when they're both out there together.

Let me just say Jack Grimes is a great bloke and i can see why he is rated as a future captain. One of the guys asked him about Tom Scully and Grimes said he was 100% sure Scully would stay. He said that Tom is a great guy who loves the club and family man to the point that he actually gets home sick (went home early from china), so he couldn't imagine him moving from the Dee's to live in Sydney. This is all stuff we hear in the press but to hear it from a fellow team mates mouth was pleasing! We also spoke about him growing up as a dees fan too. He said he used to sit at games and discuss deficiencies and get frustrated about why certain players weren't doing things, but it wasn't till he started playing that he realised how hard AFL actually is.

Bails was asked a range of questions, which he answered with the usual dead bat. He said he gets enjoyment from seeing guys like Ro Bail play some good footy, and also spoke about Cam Bruce moving on, and whilst it was unfortunate has opened the door for Tapscott etc.

Jamie Bennell wasn't at the function which i assume was because he'd gone to see his family? Also Addam Maric was in attendance so he may be in contention to get the call up?

Thanks for this post - really great info.

Go Dees!