GAME DAY (NIGHT)

[RalphiusMaximus 6,048]

Really good post mate and think you did a great job are you a coach? could not have said it better well done.

LOL. I've played one match of Aussie Rules in my life. I'm a soccer player.

[Undeeterred 3,123]

not at the MFC, this is the club where extremely average players like Bate get to 100 games because of what passes for 'really good'

Are you this unrelentingly negative just to stir people up, or do you actually believe it?

If everything is SO terrible ALL the time, why bother coming to discuss it?

[BIG JIM 508]

LOL. I've played one match of Aussie Rules in my life. I'm a soccer player.

maybe its time for a change of sport

[Pennant St Dee 13,172]

Well, I finally got a chance to watch the games, and all in all I'm less worried than I was last night. I think things were significantly better than the radio coverage made them out to be.

Game one we were killed by small things that stopped us from nailing regulation scoring opportunities. The chemistry between Watts and Clark isn't quite there, a few players missed shots they would normally have nailed and the out of bounds rule hit us pretty hard. While we probably should have won anyway, I think it's pretty clear that we outplayed them for most of the match but didn't put them away on the scoreboard.

Game two looked to me like the players were under far more rigid instructions. The first half they were told that they would only play plan A, regardless of the situation. It seems pretty clear that they were ignoring options they were taking in the first game and following the plan of push down the line and force a stoppage. This is basically what Sydney did in their premiership year, and while it is a failure in the NAB cup due to the aforementioned out of bounds rule, it is a way to win ugly.

The second half they were given a slight change of playing primarily plan A with the option of using plans B or C if they had the time and opportunity. This is where we saw the gameplan actually work. We suddenly had the option of the fast switch if there were no choices down the line, and also made use of the quick handball to a runner as a way to get the ball quickly into the forward line. Both of these plays worked well and aided us in scoring.

To me it looked a lot like Neeld was teaching our players a bit of a lesson. They played a half using only a single set play and held the opposition to seven points, then played another half using only three set plays and won. Whether this was always the plan for the second match or it was a reaction to the loss in the first I will probably never know, but that is how I see it.

I also think that the radio coverage was unduly harsh on certain players. Watts, despite his low numbers, was actually not bad. He put a lot of tackling pressure on and presented well in the forward line. He could easily have had a couple of goals in game one had Clark not charged in and spoiled him. Bennell I still say can't be trusted in the backline, but in the middle or forward he is a viable option and did some good things. I also see why people raved about Tynan. He's a bit like the Waterboy. He sees the ball and gets the ball.

Overall, nowhere near as bad as I expected. There were signs there that we have a side that will be able to win ugly if it needs to and possibly win pretty when it has the opportunity. We now have some serious beast in the middle as well, which is always a good thing.

Thank Christ someone who watched the game in it's entirety and with an eye on the overall picture for the season ahead. Good post from one life time soccer player to another (although I also played footy for a good few years as well), you pretty much summed up the games very well.

[binman 42,903]

I also think that the radio coverage was unduly harsh on certain players. Watts, despite his low numbers, was actually not bad. He put a lot of tackling pressure on and presented well in the forward line.

Couldn't agree more. I listened to SEN for the first game and watched the replay this am. Watts's intensity was fine (despite what is being said on the Jack Watts thread). I watched the second game live down the pub and again thought his intensity was good. Sure Brennan out bodied him on one occasion but thats to do with his strength not his application.

I was a pretty big critic of Watts' intensity in 2010 and felt he really needed to step up in this area to make it as an elite player (little lone fulfil his potential). As i have written previously i thought he was terrific in this regard last season. I can't quite understand the pretty negative vibe of many comments about his game (s) last night or where he's at

[Guest djdemons]

Spot on there. Totally agree. Wasnt too concerned by the ugly footy but we got to see what the coaches have installed for the season.NAB cup is designed for teams to trial their game plans and thats exactly what Mark Neeld and co did. I thought the players stuck to the game plan and changed game plans really well. Yes skills were awful but in better conditions I have full confidence we have the bodies and skills to adopt to the new game plans in no time.

I took alot of positives out the games. Our rookies looks promising..Magner is gonna play this year is a bargin at $87000 in the dreamteam. Love the bloke already, Tynan looks the goods as well,

Clark, Howe,Watts, Jurrah,Martin,Pettard and co if they work it all out that forward line could potientally be the most dangerous foward in the comp.

Defense is solid and think Sellar would be a great get. Versatile and has a crack.

Overall more impress from what ive seen so far this pre-season than last.

Cant wait for the real things to start.

36+ point win at home is what we should expect.

[the fork 357]

I understand some things on Demonland are written in the heat of the moment or off the cuff to satisfy ones disappointment at our players, our coaches and our club. Here on this great website for avid supporters of the greatest club in the world, we should expect the same composure, accountability and restraint from our posters, that we expect from our players (who are operating in the real heat of the moment). So for me the following posters are on notice... Seriously it was a hokey-pokey game played within a questionable competition in atrocious conditions. It was Neeld's first game at his new club, the first wiff of a game plan that was forced to fit within a restrictive set of rules. The over reaction of several supporters on here is pathetic. Bagging players and the team under the circumstances listed above is unacceptable. No I'm not happy with mediocrity, I'll just call it at an appropriate, justified time.

PeterJames

Bennell's last game in demon colours, enjoy casey. Gysberts has cement boots. Has anyone seen davey since 2010?

BIG JIM

I am a bit angry we could not knock of a poor team like the gold coast it is the nab cup but we should be putting teams like this away bennel was shocking

Striker475

I'm at the game - the umpiring was a genuine joke, Bennell was awful and the whole team looked half-arsed.

demoniac

Jamar stupid, just stupid.

RalphiusMaximus

This is disgraceful

Juicebox

The score really doesn't reflect how bad we've played. Hard to find any positives thus far.

Still Waiting

This was a game to be won...........we lost..........against the GoldCoast, FFS.

Same old pathetic skills by us............ not them!

It's gunna be a long 2012 .

tatu

what a joke of a performence! were going too lose both games against poor sides.... positive is compo picks, with efforts like this, we'll get picks 1&2.....Tanking? no where just [censored]!

Gotzy15

Absolutely pathetic!!!!! Geez what a disgraceful half! Bring back Bailey!!!

stranga

Leopards don't change their spots unfortunately. Attricious skills and decision making, conditions considered.

Haven't seen anything I wanted to see in terms of structure and game plan.

The bombing into 50 will not work. Can only hope that was partly due to the weather.

Chook

Jack Watts was pretty disappointing, and I really don't want to see Jamie Bennell in the side until he learns how to either get more possessions or become significantly more accountable.

Jaded

Bennell is looser than a cheap street corner hooker.

Franky_31

Those who did the training reports really need to look at themselves...

Curry & Beer

we sucked

can anyone recall a single passage of play that impressed them? I can,t

business as usual down at the MFC

Curry & Beer

Whispering_Jack, on 25 February 2012 - 10:33 PM, said:

Matthew Bate might well have reinvented himself as a midfielder.

surely you jest? did not do a single positive thing all night, succeeded mostly in gifting the opposition the football

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING POSTER’S OPINION WAS GATHERED FROM LISTENING TO THE GAME ON THE RADIO, NOT WATCHING THE ACTUAL GAME!:

RalphiusMaximus

I'm very worried about our movement into the forward line. We seem to have reverted to the "bomb it long and hope for the best" tactic that served us so badly for the last few years.

RalphiusMaximus

I'm also hearing a lot of us getting clearances and immediately turning it over. Unacceptable.

RalphiusMaximus

Why do none of our forwards ever take a shot? I'm hearing a lot of people taking the ball at the hot spot and passing. Not a lot of picking it up and snapping for goal.

RalphiusMaximus

Sounds like Watts will be lucky to play round 1.

Edited February 26, 2012 by the fork

[Chook 15,012]

I stand by my comment about Jamie Bennell. You can keep me on notice if you want, but I saw last night what I saw last season from him. I said something negative, but I was specific in my criticism and gave what I see are the areas he needs to improve on. I was also disappointed by Jack Watts, but more because I just so desperately want him to magically come out, kick butt, and shut everyone up about him. Take me off your list, I beg you. I won't be able to sleep at night if you don't!

[RalphiusMaximus 6,048]

...

I concede the point. In my defence I was listening to the SEN coverage and they made us sound VERY bad. As you can see above, my opinion has changed somewhat having actually seen the game.

[the fork 357]

@Chook

You see my point though huh? Yes Bennell didn't play terribly well but did he deserve the above? Who knows what his instructions were? For me he's a bottom six player, but I'm not going to write him off for having a crack in the NAB Cup and failing.

I just think after playing in the conditions we did under a contrived set of rules and a new format it is unfair to pass such harsh abusive judgement on our players.

Love the sarcasm at the end of your post, truly.

[BIG JIM 508]

good call bad call?

[Striker475 696]

@Chook

You see my point though huh? Yes Bennell didn't play terribly well but did he deserve the above? Who knows what his instructions were? For me he's a bottom six player, but I'm not going to write him off for having a crack in the NAB Cup and failing.

I just think after playing in the conditions we did under a contrived set of rules and a new format it is unfair to pass such harsh abusive judgement on our players.

Love the sarcasm at the end of your post, truly.

I'll stand by what I said about Bennell. Normally I actually think he's quite good as a small defender, and I think he went under-recognised in 2011.

But his job on Saturday night was awful. Seriously. His man was Aaron Hall - who kicked 2 goals and was dangerous every time he went near it. By comparison, in the Suns game he was completely locked down by McGrath and had nowhere near the impact. Bennell was second to the contest, didn't push hard at all and genuinely looked disinterested.

And as for the game itself, the umpiring was atrocious - they refused to take the conditions into account, paid totally random free kicks and were generally awful. And much of the team did look in second gear. Certain players were very good - Clark, Jones, Bate, Magner all come to mind - but others, such as Nicho and Gysberts just didn't seem to want to get involved and chase.

Sure, I was [censored], but I was [censored] for a reason.

[rpfc 28,386]

Ok, this thread took those games on Sat Night far too seriously...

[stranga 328]

I understand some things on Demonland are written in the heat of the moment or off the cuff to satisfy ones disappointment at our players, our coaches and our club. Here on this great website for avid supporters of the greatest club in the world, we should expect the same composure, accountability and restraint from our posters, that we expect from our players (who are operating in the real heat of the moment). So for me the following posters are on notice... Seriously it was a hokey-pokey game played within a questionable competition in atrocious conditions. It was Neeld's first game at his new club, the first wiff of a game plan that was forced to fit within a restrictive set of rules. The over reaction of several supporters on here is pathetic. Bagging players and the team under the circumstances listed above is unacceptable. No I'm not happy with mediocrity, I'll just call it at an appropriate, justified time.

This is the problem with Demonland, you cant speak your mind with any negativity at all (i thought my post was quite balanced) without being told that your opinion is wrong and that you are pathetic and have no idea.

[rpfc 28,386]

This is the problem with Demonland, you cant speak your mind with any negativity at all (i thought my post was quite balanced) without being told that your opinion is wrong and that you are pathetic and have no idea.

Land is extremely tolerant, you have no idea what you're talking about. (IWUAEIIUE)

[Hardnut 327]

OK, a considered comment for discussion. Look at the draw for the real season. We might have two wins by Round 12.

[drdrake 3,163]

Had a chance to sit down and watch both games again yesterday we did Ok, our ball handling was bad, we didn't have to many clean pick ups. If you have been to training there has been a big focus on contested handballing to create space, we shelved this on Saturday and revert to what is the bail out option long done the line, our ability to handle the ball in the conditions dictated this. We dominated the Gold Coast should have put them away in the first 15min and again in the last 10min we just rushed and it seemed pre planned to kick long at all cost. Brisbane should have smashed us in the first 10min, it was like we went into defend mode take the sting out of them, wear them down.

We have to remember our players have been coached over the last 10 years to take risks and hit the corridor, it is not about taking this out of our game but teaching our players another option and for them to pick the right one, rather then one option you use all the time. To teach this the coach may have said to the boys this week stick to the boundary.

[BIG JIM 508]

Had a chance to sit down and watch both games again yesterday we did Ok, our ball handling was bad, we didn't have to many clean pick ups. If you have been to training there has been a big focus on contested handballing to create space, we shelved this on Saturday and revert to what is the bail out option long done the line, our ability to handle the ball in the conditions dictated this. We dominated the Gold Coast should have put them away in the first 15min and again in the last 10min we just rushed and it seemed pre planned to kick long at all cost. Brisbane should have smashed us in the first 10min, it was like we went into defend mode take the sting out of them, wear them down.

We have to remember our players have been coached over the last 10 years to take risks and hit the corridor, it is not about taking this out of our game but teaching our players another option and for them to pick the right one, rather then one option you use all the time. To teach this the coach may have said to the boys this week stick to the boundary.

I think you will find the corridor will be no mans land all year.

[Hells Gates 505]

OK, a considered comment for discussion. Look at the draw for the real season. We might have two wins by Round 12.

Yes myself and I think rpfc have mentioned this in other threads but yes there's going to be some pretty distressed people by then. Should finish the season strongly, I hope.

[BIG JIM 508]

OK, a considered comment for discussion. Look at the draw for the real season. We might have two wins by Round 12.

Maybe but we might have 8 wins guess we have to wait but we do have a good draw maybe the best if we can get 5 or 6 wins in the first half of the year it will give us a real crack at finals.

[Striker475 696]

Maybe but we might have 8 wins guess we have to wait but we do have a good draw maybe the best if we can get 5 or 6 wins in the first half of the year it will give us a real crack at finals.

Agreed, if we get 5 wins we'll surely make finals with the draw as easy as it is after the bye

[drdrake 3,163]

I think you will find the corridor will be no mans land all year.

I don't think that will be the case, you will see us attack through the corridor like we did last year when this is the best option but also have the ability to go around the boundary, slow the play down be defensive when we need to be.

[BIG JIM 508]

1. Brisbane m.c.g win
   
2. West coast p.s lose
   
3. Richmond m.c.g win
   
4. Western bulldogs m.c.g win
   
5. St kilda m.c.g win
   
6. Geelong skilled lose not by 189 maybe 30 points
   
7. Hawthorne m.c.g lose
   
8. Sydney s.c.g win
   
9. Carlscum m.c.g lose
   
10. Essendon m.c.g win
    
11. Collingwood m.cg lose So i have us down for 6 wins and 5 loses my crystal balls is telling me
    

[furious d 464]

Tell ya what , if you 2 are right I'll happily come on and say how correct you both were . That both of you really know your footy .

But , if you're both wrong ................................

What do you two base your attitude on ? Just throwing a comment out there isn't good enough . Please explain .

I'll tell you why we'll win at least 4 - 6 games by round 12 - because we will be much better than last year . That's it .

Cheers ®

My guess is they're basing their attitude on the draw Macca. It's pretty tough before the bye

I agree with Striker, if we can win 5 of our first 11 we should make finals. We could win 8 or 9 of our last 11, it'd be like 87 all over again.

[Macca 16,961]

My guess is they're basing their attitude on the draw Macca. It's pretty tough before the bye

I agree with Striker, if we can win 5 of our first 11 we should make finals. We could win 8 or 9 of our last 11, it'd be like 87 all over again.

Yeah it's a tough 1st half of the year 'furious' but in my opinion we'll get more than 2 wins out of our games against Brisbane , Richmond , St Kilda , Bulldogs , Essendon and Sydney

Winning at least 4 of those 6 is not unrealistic . A win against any of the top 5 right now is a bit of a stretch .

Also , there's nearly always one of the top sides that comes back to the field . Your guess is as good as mine on who that might be but it often happens . Injuries can play a big part as well . Last year St Kilda , Fremantle and the Bulldogs dropped off the pace . The year before it was Adelaide and Brisbane .

Here's the ladder from 2009 ...........

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/seas/2009.html#lad

Cheers ®

Edited February 27, 2012 by Macca