A neglected positive

[sue 9,146]

In all the usual moaning and groaning that follows a loss. we should acknowledge that the poor start problem may have been solved.

Personally I think we had a lot of good excuses for the loss and it looks like even more next week. But some people will doubtless blast me with the usual NO EXCUSES doctrine. Well 'excuse me' for pointing out that when we have to even think of having a Casey RESERVES player as an emergency, we are running out of players. And no amount of heart/grunt can make up for fielding a team lacking proven talent/experience/fitness etc. Otherwise, we could wheel out the 1960's team to play and shout 'no excuses' at them till they beat Geelong at Geelong.

No excuses for those individuals not playing robustly, but is a reasonable excuse/ reason for the team as a whole struggling and why I haven't got out the razor blades yet.

[PeterJames 46]

Nah issue is soft leaders like Green and Davey. As the guys pointed out of the Sunday Footy show and even Chippa on Triple M they don't work hard enough when there not getting a easy kick. Not sure how on earth we gave Green the captaincy.

[sue 9,146]

Nah issue is soft leaders like Green and Davey. As the guys pointed out of the Sunday Footy show and even Chippa on Triple M they don't work hard enough when there not getting a easy kick. Not sure how on earth we gave Green the captaincy.

That is an issue, sure (as I alluded to in my last sentence). But even if they tried their guts out, you can't expect to much of the team as a whole. You can hope of course....

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

In all the usual moaning and groaning that follows a loss. we should acknowledge that the poor start problem may have been solved.

Personally I think we had a lot of good excuses for the loss and it looks like even more next week. But some people will doubtless blast me with the usual NO EXCUSES doctrine. Well 'excuse me' for pointing out that when we have to even think of having a Casey RESERVES player as an emergency, we are running out of players. And no amount of heart/grunt can make up for fielding a team lacking proven talent/experience/fitness etc. Otherwise, we could wheel out the 1960's team to play and shout 'no excuses' at them till they beat Geelong at Geelong.

No excuses for those individuals not playing robustly, but is a reasonable excuse/ reason for the team as a whole struggling and why I haven't got out the razor blades yet.

Hmmm. Ok. How long you been following the MFC Sue? Just curious

[rpfc 28,818]

Hmmm. Ok. How long you been following the MFC Sue? Just curious

What would prompt you to ask such a question? Just curious.

[sue 9,146]

What would prompt you to ask such a question? Just curious.

good question, since whatever I respond I can see it being argued that I'm either used to mediocrity or too new to understand the suffering.

But I'll answer anyway since 1956 . So you can guess my age.

And no I haven't got used to mediocrity since there was a big gap due to personal circumstances and only came back to football recently.

[demonique 314]

well we've cornered the market in excuses, personally I'm sick to death of them, I'm tired of making up excuses to friends/ relos/ work mates etc etc and I've been doing it for YEARS, NO MORE

I'm done with excuses

Something is rotten, I've thought for a long time now that our player development is poor, especially the mental side of things , certainly we do seem to get so many injuries as well!!

So both mentally and physically we are a basket case. WE JUST FALL OVER WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

So altogether I am very DEE_PRESSED. Is that what they mean by the Demon Press?

[Akum 2,660]

Nah issue is soft leaders like Green and Davey. As the guys pointed out of the Sunday Footy show and even Chippa on Triple M they don't work hard enough when there not getting a easy kick. Not sure how on earth we gave Green the captaincy.

What I can't understand is that he earned his captaincy by being so good as a key forward last year, but this year the brains trust came up with the brilliant idea that the best position for the team's captain is wing or flank, while we play thru the corridor. He looks much more at home as a forward target, he just has the kicking 'yips' at the moment.

[Demon Disciple 12,288]

The problem is, when the game starts to turn against us, we have got not one player able to make a stand and change the outcome. Not one player who can turn a game. Our leadership team is [censored] weak, mentally soft and aren't willing to get their bodies hurt but make a stand at the same time.

Where's our Pavlich or Judd or Selwood or J.Brown or Goodes or Franklin or Reiwoldt. We don't have one. Until we develop one or get one, we will be hopeless in trying to stop or start a momentum swing.

Edited May 15, 2011 by Demon Disciple

[Supermercado 2,802]

Hmmm. Ok. How long you been following the MFC Sue? Just curious

If the answer isn't 1859 this could get interesting.

[sue 9,146]

well we've cornered the market in excuses, personally I'm sick to death of them, I'm tired of making up excuses to friends/ relos/ work mates etc etc and I've been doing it for YEARS, NO MORE

I'm done with excuses

Something is rotten, I've thought for a long time now that our player development is poor, especially the mental side of things , certainly we do seem to get so many injuries as well!!

So both mentally and physically we are a basket case. WE JUST FALL OVER WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

So altogether I am very DEE_PRESSED. Is that what they mean by the Demon Press?

No need for wrist-slashing yet. Stop worrying about your friends - are their teams all winning premierships every year? - most will have played in fewer finals in the last 15 years than we have despite the rather second-rate teams we've had.

Don't forget we are now starting almost from scratch (and sadly are being let down by the few remaining older non-injured players). And now have hit a huge injury/suspension road bump which is likely to unravel a lot of progress. Expecting a lot of wins is unreasonable however depressing that is.

Anyway, we don't always fall over when things get tough, eg. against the Swans this year. We are currently missing a lot of experience, so more likely to fall over than not.

[Little Goffy 14,662]

good question, since whatever I respond I can see it being argued that I'm either used to mediocrity or too new to understand the suffering.

But I'll answer anyway since 1956 . So you can guess my age.

And no I haven't got used to mediocrity since there was a big gap due to personal circumstances and only came back to football recently.

1956? Good start time if ever there was one.

I choose to believe that your return will herald the new era of triumph!

As for the slow-start issue, I remeber a couple of years ao reading a series of very interesting articles about approaches to 'firing up' for a game, from a sports psychology perspective. One thing that came up a few times was that if a team (or individual) was too keyed up at the start, and came out too pumped up at the beginning of a long contest like AFL or Tennis, as opposed to a sprint race, then the 'down' as the intitial adrenaline spike faded could actually be more damaging than the benefits of being fired up in the first minute.

It is certainly the case that after quarter-time on saturday most of the team seemed to lose that urge to hunt relentlessly, and that was the unmistakable death of us for the day. Maybe on this occasion it could be put down to being over-hyped pre-game... maybe not. As for the other game and halves where we've just lost the drive to hunt, I dunno the answer, but it is clearly the big 'question' on the Demons at the moment.

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

good question, since whatever I respond I can see it being argued that I'm either used to mediocrity or too new to understand the suffering.

But I'll answer anyway since 1956 . So you can guess my age.

And no I haven't got used to mediocrity since there was a big gap due to personal circumstances and only came back to football recently.

Thanks. Just wondered. Curious as to your age more than what you've seen or been through. And no, before there's any clever comebacks (Super!) i'm not looking to ask Sue out! Cheers mate

Edited May 15, 2011 by Rusty Nails

[demonique 314]

No need for wrist-slashing yet. Stop worrying about your friends - are their teams all winning premierships every year? - most will have played in fewer finals in the last 15 years than we have despite the rather second-rate teams we've had.

Don't forget we are now starting almost from scratch (and sadly are being let down by the few remaining older non-injured players). And now have hit a huge injury/suspension road bump which is likely to unravel a lot of progress. Expecting a lot of wins is unreasonable however depressing that is.

Anyway, we don't always fall over when things get tough, eg. against the Swans this year. We are currently missing a lot of experience, so more likely to fall over than not.

I have to say Sue, I don't worry about friends re excuses nor anybody else . I have been following my beloved Demons since 1954.

I don't have that optimistic feeling about our team and I am usually a glass half full sort.

I didn't expect stacks of wins either just expected more FIGHT. The main theme of my say was about the player development progress or lack of. I am sure we have the talent but we don't appear to be bringing that talent on as well as we might.

I can't understand why our captain has gone AWOL either. I just feel there is a hidden agenda, things just feel on the nose to me!!

[Cheesy D. Pun 1,765]

In all the usual moaning and groaning that follows a loss. we should acknowledge that the poor start problem may have been solved.

Personally I think we had a lot of good excuses for the loss and it looks like even more next week. But some people will doubtless blast me with the usual NO EXCUSES doctrine. Well 'excuse me' for pointing out that when we have to even think of having a Casey RESERVES player as an emergency, we are running out of players. And no amount of heart/grunt can make up for fielding a team lacking proven talent/experience/fitness etc. Otherwise, we could wheel out the 1960's team to play and shout 'no excuses' at them till they beat Geelong at Geelong.

No excuses for those individuals not playing robustly, but is a reasonable excuse/ reason for the team as a whole struggling and why I haven't got out the razor blades yet.

Right on Sue.

[old dee 23,880]

The problem is, when the game starts to turn against us, we have got not one player able to make a stand and change the outcome. Not one player who can turn a game. Our leadership team is [censored] weak, mentally soft and aren't willing to get their bodies hurt but make a stand at the same time.

Where's our Pavlich or Judd or Selwood or J.Brown or Goodes or Franklin or Reiwoldt. We don't have one. Until we develop one or get one, we will be hopeless in trying to stop or start a momentum swing.

Spot on DD We have not had one for years, The big hope was Watts he may end up a good player but not the type that can swing a game.

Oh well I keep dreaming, one day, one day.

[old dee 23,880]

Good work Sue keep on keeping on.

all the writing on Demonland is only our opinions.

Although some seem to be right all the time!

Edited May 15, 2011 by old dee

[Striker475 696]

Spot on DD We have not had one for years, The big hope was Watts he may end up a good player but not the type that can swing a game.

Oh well I keep dreaming, one day, one day.

I have hope for Gys in this regard, actually.

[Radar Detector 1,347]

I have hope for Gys in this regard, actually.

I have hope for several, including Scully, Trangove, Gysberts and Watts. Problem is, these guys are all under 21 and so can't reasonably be expected to perform this role yet. I hate to come back to the old argument of how much time we need to give these guys but there's clearly a way to go.

Unfortunately, we don't have any game-changers in our 23-27 age group and that kills us. Sylvia can be the guy, but doesn't have enough mates in that regard.