THE 25 DEGREE SAUNA

[titan_uranus 25,042]

It's nice to win in the Darwin conditions, and hold off a side that came hard in the fourth.

But we need to look at this game for what it was.

Port are awful. The worst side in the comp. Their skills are atrocious. Whilst we looked great in patches, I felt that overall we were pretty average and most other sides in the comp would have either gotten a lot closer or beaten us.

Of course, you only need to beat the side that's out there on the park, but I felt that we should have won this game by 40+ points easily.

Still, Martin, Petterd, Maric, Jurrah, Green and Watts combined to form a pretty nice forward line, which is a good thing. Frawley dominated in defence too. Sylvia and Moloney had good games through the middle. And in the end, we get 4 points, which is great.

I fear for us next week, despite having and 8 day break. Coming back from Darwin, against the Hawks, coming off a bye and probably getting players back.

[w00dy 146]

Maric was great tonight. So was Strauss, and i have not been his biggest fan in the past.

I thought Strauss was okay tonight without standing out, then looked at the stats... he had 6 posessions, whilst his opponent Hitchcock had 20 and kicked 2.1... not exactly a great game...

[east gippsland demon 7]

I thought Strauss was okay tonight without standing out, then looked at the stats... he had 6 posessions, whilst his opponent Hitchcock had 20 and kicked 2.1... not exactly a great game...

Yeah i dont think hes up to it to be honest... telling stats.

[Striker475 696]

Yeah i dont think hes up to it to be honest... telling stats.

Was Hitchcock his actual onfield opponent though? Didn't really keep up with the matchups admittedly, but every time Strauss was near it that I noticed we seemed to do well.

Also, oh god did we miss Bull punting it 55 from a kick out.

[east gippsland demon 7]

Was Hitchcock his actual onfield opponent though? Didn't really keep up with the matchups admittedly, but every time Strauss was near it that I noticed we seemed to do well.

Also, oh god did we miss Bull punting it 55 from a kick out.

I didnt realise how good he is on non prefferred side .... wow.

[Rod Grinter Riot Squad 5,654]

But, I hope you see my point about how the conditions in Darwin affected tonight's game ?

Never debated it, if you go back to my first post I acknowledge it and point out though that the Tigers example is wrong.

Blowing a gale Queenie, reckon even I could have kicked the ball 30 meters today

[Jack7 528]

I don't think we fell away,after getting 40+ points up we just took the foot off the pedal a bit,Bailey made some changes in light of next weeks tough game against the Hawks who have the bye this week and will be as fresh as.

[Jordie_tackles 354]

Shifted bars at 3QT and before the fourth started they put on le tour.....with 75 Km's to go......maybe worth not watching though...still was fuming

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I read somewhere that they sung the song in the coldroom, and Scully was in the rooms...

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Understand your comment east gippsland demon, but time to push the envelope!

Where would you push it?

All you do is create expectations above and beyond the reality of the situation.

Its a young team and there maturing slowly but well. Every game they get together is important.

[jabberwocky 2,301]

How good was Stef Martin in the last quarter?

We might've lost the game without some of his efforts when Port looked like stealing it from us. Rucking, following up with the clearance, then pushing forward and kicking the goal while all of his team mates had run out of legs... A supurb effort.

Was great. He isn't just a follower picking up cheapies either. He is winning contested possession on the ground and jumping fro his grabs. Last night he influenced the result. He hasbecome a weapon.

There was a large gulf between our best and worst players.

The standard of the game was horrible probably due to the conditions. Like so many games we have played this year I came away from it with no better gauge on where we stand in comparison to the other 16.

[jumbo returns 6,741]

It was.

Complete journalistic fail, and not for the first time where Scully is concerned

Not so sure about that - I saw him picking himself out of a pack, clutching his knee....

[Tarax Club 3,942]

G'Day fellow demonlanders, I have read the match report 'the 25 degree sauna' and some of the following posts with a little bemusement. I am a resident of darwin and was at the game last night. I can report the evening's weather conditions for attending supporters and followers of the game were quite pleasant. Of course for players not used to the conditions with the possible exception of player # 24 it was very physically demanding. I sat with family and friends on the grandstand wing in close proximity to the interchange benches of both teams and was able to observe the rotations of players throughout the game. I was most impressed with the quality of the team management. The on field team is magnificently backed up by a mostly unheralded team of ancillary support staff of runners, interchange marshall(s), physio, water girls and boys etc. If I may indulge myself with a few observations about the game; The game was played at a frenetic rate throughout in a mostly attractive attacking style by both teams. Except for the final stanza of the last quarter with the power threatening, when the demons 'iced' the game by some powerful whacks and discreet taps of the ball to the boundary line and congested contesting of the ball ins. The demons commenced superbly and threatened to blow port away. To port's credit they regrouped and made a stoush of it particularly during the 2nd and 4th quarters. Excuse the pun the game in some sense reflects the team performance throughout the season a tendency to be 'hot or cold'. The demons were in the ascendency during the 1st and 3rd quarters where they exhibited some superb skills by hand and foot and teamed together splendidly. Highlights included Liam Jurrah's magical 2nd quarter cameo, (a graceful, supremely skilled athlete), Colin Garland's comprehensive defensive blanketing of his opponent(s), James Frawley's counter attack from the backline, Ricky Pettard's commitment to the contest and precision foot passing (contrary to some reports), Adam Maric's opportunist performance as a small forward, Stephan Martin's continuing football development (some great contested marks), James Strauss and Daniel Nicholson emerging, exciting new talent, Brent Moloney, Colin Sylvia on ball grunt and leadership, Jordan Gysberts , Jordie Mckenzie footy smarts and work inside the pack and Brad Green's and Jarred Rivers's experience and leadership. Overall all players contributed positively to a comprehensive victory at various stages. Kick outs were a concern though, frequently resulted in turnovers and port goals. Final observation we need a big powerful goal kicking forward to compliment our talented small to mid-size forward line and move the team into the top half of the competition.