An in-depth analysis of Melbourne Demons’ best roster, chances of playing finals footy this AFL season

Just had a read of this article by Ben Gibson, couldn't tell you much about the bloke, can't tell you if he is a Demons fan or not but this is a really good write up on us.

His best 22 for this year is more than fair and is surprisingly insightful.

Reading all this positive press for our boys is not only great for us as supporters but will give our playing group a really good morale and confidence booster.

Looking forward to a belter of a year with our current group.

NOTE* 1 omission who wasn't mentioned in this list was M . Jones, while he will never be a Viney or Brayshaw, I have been really happy with how he has been managed by Roos and Goodwin and respect the clubs patience with him, granted in the past he has had some absolute howlers there is something about him that I really enjoy when he plays well, the kid isn't afraid to kick a goal or 2 either. Hope this year is kind to him and he can really come out of his shell, I think he was only on the field for 11 minutes on Sunday and managed 6 possessions prior to his head knock. Good on him.

A pretty all round decent summary. Like he reached deep inside my brain.

I am not sure how much of an outsider this bloke, Ben Gibson, is? To me, he seems like the consummate closet Demon supporter. Maybe he was the guy behind me down at the pub typing into his laptop during all three matches of the NAB Challenge? I only hope that we can see this group all fit and available when we hit the last half of the season.

My only query: are we better served by Frost/Pedersen rather than Dawes this year?  I guess it depends to a degree on whether Max stays uninjured and can run out games.

Edited March 17, 201610 yr by CBDees
Added name of reporter.

Pretty much spot on. Summed up Frost perfectly.

The surprise for me was this: 'The classy wingman will be a great addition to the side next season, but the Melbourne faithful will have to be patient before watching Melksham strut his stuff on the MCG.

A new, objective take on what Melksham brings to the team. 

He erroneously states that Melksham was banned for using AOD. It was actually TB4, like all the Bombers.

2 hours ago, CBDees said:

I am not sure how much of an outsider this bloke, Ben Gibson, is? To me, he seems like the consummate closet Demon supporter. Maybe he was the guy behind me down at the pub typing into his laptop during all three matches of the NAB Challenge? I only hope that we can see this group all fit and available when we hit the last half of the season.

My only query: are we better served by Frost/Pedersen rather than Dawes this year?  I guess it depends to a degree on whether Max stays uninsured and can run out games.

I hope Max doesn't need it.

11 hours ago, The Sailing Demon said:

An in-depth analysis of Melbourne Demons’ best roster, chances of playing finals footy this AFL season

Just had a read of this article by Ben Gibson, couldn't tell you much about the bloke, can't tell you if he is a Demons fan or not but this is a really good write up on us.

His best 22 for this year is more than fair and is surprisingly insightful.

Reading all this positive press for our boys is not only great for us as supporters but will give our playing group a really good morale and confidence booster.

Looking forward to a belter of a year with our current group.

NOTE* 1 omission who wasn't mentioned in this list was M . Jones, while he will never be a Viney or Brayshaw, I have been really happy with how he has been managed by Roos and Goodwin and respect the clubs patience with him, granted in the past he has had some absolute howlers there is something about him that I really enjoy when he plays well, the kid isn't afraid to kick a goal or 2 either. Hope this year is kind to him and he can really come out of his shell, I think he was only on the field for 11 minutes on Sunday and managed 6 possessions prior to his head knock. Good on him.

Haven't you heard? The players don't read the papers. 

If Ben Gibson isn't a Melbourne supporter then he's being very generous in much of his assessment. Eg, "prestigious squad"???

A decent write-up, with my only major issues being the author picking Dawes over Pedersen and confusing the word "then" with the word "than".

2 hours ago, Moonshadow said:

If Ben Gibson isn't a Melbourne supporter then he's being very generous in much of his assessment. Eg, "prestigious squad"???

I saw this too! Re-reading, I think he is referring to the leadership group, as it's mentioned in the previous sentence or two, I think.

Good read. Predicting a ladder during the pre-season is pointless. Especially this year where the gap between 5th and 12th will be miniscule. 

4 hours ago, SaberFang said:

He erroneously states that Melksham was banned for using AOD. It was actually TB4, like all the Bombers.

He also erroneously states that Melksham is a "classy wingman".

As an aside, it surprises me how many so called experts in the media expect Melbourne to improve upon last year while still predicting that we'll finish 14th this year.

6 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

As an aside, it surprises me how many so called experts in the media expect Melbourne to improve upon last year while still predicting that we'll finish 14th this year.

Dunno, but perhaps they are expecting teams similar to us, such as St K and GC, to also improve.

Reads like a kid wrote it - a demon-supporting kid at that.

13 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

As an aside, it surprises me how many so called experts in the media expect Melbourne to improve upon last year while still predicting that we'll finish 14th this year.

Makes some sense with the draw we have.

Wow, you win a few NAB games and everyone loves ya. 

Vince will not play half back; the team looks to lack pace (Stretch and ANB will be picked before Trengove). And considering his injuries, Dawes will not go into a game as the 2nd ruckman.

Sam Frost has played 3 games for Melbourne, one of them in defence and one he got injured early, so it is unfair to say he looks out of position up front and cannot read the ball in flight after only one game...

Edited March 18, 201610 yr by ickey_11
added more

Vince will not play half back; the team looks to lack pace (Stretch and ANB will be picked before Trengove). And considering his injuries, Dawes will not go into a game as the 2nd ruckman.

Sam Frost has played 3 games for Melbourne, one of them in defence and one he got injured early, so it is unfair to say he looks out of position up front and cannot read the ball in flight after only one game...

Kennedy only with 25 games under his belt. He really is a wildcard for us. I have no idea what to expect, his preseason form suggests that maybe we didn't get pounded in the rear on the Howe/ Toumpas trade.

 

 

11 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

As an aside, it surprises me how many so called experts in the media expect Melbourne to improve upon last year while still predicting that we'll finish 14th this year.

Agreed WJ - my definition of improvement is with respect to everyone else, not improvement from our own team last year

10 hours ago, ickey_11 said:

Vince will not play half back; the team looks to lack pace (Stretch and ANB will be picked before Trengove). And considering his injuries, Dawes will not go into a game as the 2nd ruckman.

Sam Frost has played 3 games for Melbourne, one of them in defence and one he got injured early, so it is unfair to say he looks out of position up front and cannot read the ball in flight after only one game...

Vince will play half back because it will mean he won't have to rotate to the bench to get a breather.

I think that all teams will leak goals as more mids are asked to play foreign roles across half back.

I am quite excited to see how this season starts, I am sure coaches will mitigate the issues but I expect to see some higher scores.

I actually reckon this reads like it was written by the work experience kid.

25 minutes ago, Ricky P said:

I actually reckon this reads like it was written by the work experience kid.

I actually think you might be right!

Maybe a 1st year cadet who is trying to get himself a regular spot on one of the larger media sites...

A bit of a fluff piece but echoes majority of our thoughts on here really... The fact that we are in for a much more enjoyable next block of years as Melbourne faithful