1 hour ago, old dee said:

When he has bad games is not because he gives away goals or because of team play.

He just has a lot of poor games. 

He is either hot or cold, the main problem is there is little in between.

From memory he struggles when there is a bit of water around.  Seems to fumble and can't get those snappy direction changes in.

Edited February 20, 20178 yr by Guest

17 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Just as he got dropped a few times last year?  You must watch a different team.

And for the record, I'm a Garlett fan, but he has had his fair share of very quiet games where he has had minimal impact.  His best is sensational, his worst is very poor.

I agree with you Wiseblood. As I have said IMO there is not enough in between his good games and poor ones.

On 19/02/2017 at 11:53 AM, ProDee said:

What ?

Salem's soft ???

This is one weird Sunday morning. 

Fair enough. Most demonlanders who have replied share your view. I hope his play this season changes my opinion. 

I do acknowledge his build and nature is different to a Viney or brayshaw, I just wondered whether he had the opportunity to use his body more... maybe I'm judging far too harshly. 

Either way, great first up game! Thanks for the replies

 

Edited February 20, 20178 yr by Demons2riseagain

31 minutes ago, Demons2riseagain said:

Fair enough. Most demonlanders who have replied share your view. I hope his play this season changes my opinion. 

I do acknowledge his build and nature is different to a Viney or brayshaw, I just wondered whether he had the opportunity to use his body more... maybe I'm judging far too harshly. 

Either way, great first up game! Thanks for the replies

 

Nat Jones said that he thought Salem was a real tough nut and loved the hard stuff, that's good enough for me.

 

On 2/19/2017 at 9:54 AM, Redleg said:

Agree on Vince. Haven't seen the game yet as away, but was saying that in the last half of last season. He gets it and can kick a long goal, but he also turns it over and in defence that can be lethal. 

He is probably best now with bursts in the middle and spells in the forward half, where he can hurt  the opposition with a goal. 

We have enough half backs now and don't need him playing there. 

I agree and I reckon with Lewis and Hibberd playing back there, our ball use off half back will be a lot stronger anyway.

I have been a big OMac critic but i thought he was clearly our best defender on the weekend. Id much rather the ball in his hands then his brother who is simply a diabolical kick. Keen to really see him improve from here with each game.

Also thought both Weideman and Oscar were the two who looked noticeably bigger.

On 2/19/2017 at 11:30 AM, Demons2riseagain said:

Interesting stats... the one stat that surprised me was salem's contested possessions. 

I know he is an outside player, but I think he can be soft in the contest sometimes, has opportunities to go in hard and shirks...although the stats don't seem to agree. How did everyone else see this?

Not quite sure why people keep mistaking Salem for an outside midfielder. He can clearly play inside and out, and I've never seen him shirk a contest. For a bloke who isn't incredibly built and a beautiful kick, he's very tough IMO.

17 minutes ago, A F said:

Not quite sure why people keep mistaking Salem for an outside midfielder. He can clearly play inside and out, and I've never seen him shirk a contest. For a bloke who isn't incredibly built and a beautiful kick, he's very tough IMO.

I loved that he always kept the ball moving, a little toe poke, hand ball.  It always leads to goals, teams seem to do it to us every week.  Love Salem in the mid field, looking forward to him breaking away from packs, or being fed by Tyson, Viney, Lewis

I've only been able to watch the highlights on the MFC website so that's all I can comment on. So:

Good to see Jeffy involved in several goals where he took a (split-second) pause and summed up the situation, and ended up passing off to teammates. He could've had 3-4 goals to his name. 

Salem sounds and (from what I saw) looks in really good touch. I've been worried about him given our recruiting of other small-mid half backs but he looks like he can play in multiple positions and looks he's got quicker skills. I really hope 2017 is his blossoming year. 

Hogan taking pack marks, kicking goals, and even pulling off a Nietz-like fend off and goal, what more could you want from his first game?

The little bits I've seen of Lewis are what we wanted, calm, thoughtful, with leadership and good skill. 

As I said I got all this from highlights, maybe eventually I'll be able to see the game. Importantly a good solid bit out for the boys, sad about Wagner though. Hopefully it won't be a long lay off for him. We need plenty of competition for spots!

1 hour ago, BrisbaneDemon said:

I loved that he always kept the ball moving, a little toe poke, hand ball.  It always leads to goals, teams seem to do it to us every week.  Love Salem in the mid field, looking forward to him breaking away from packs, or being fed by Tyson, Viney, Lewis

I wasn't expecting Salem to play many midfield minutes this year, but if he does and plays like he did in this game, he will add another dimension and layer of class. We are building a seriously talented midfield.

I always like writing this out: Viney, Jones, Tyson, Oliver, Lewis, Petracca, Brayshaw, Vince and Salem. Take Jones, Lewis and Vince out of that group and we still have a formidable young midfield.

16 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

Didn't we win this same match last year Ernest?

I never place any importance on these matches except maybe a fast start to the season proper if your team is showing very solid winning form throughout this series.

thanks for the reality check rusty!

15 hours ago, old dee said:

I agree with you Wiseblood. As I have said IMO there is not enough in between his good games and poor ones.

Agree OD. i think this is what we are always going to get with Garlett. 

Sometimes the case with the "will of the wisp" types. 

They are frustrating to watch but there is always the feeling that they can remain kick less for most of the game yet still have the ability to kick an important goal or win the game at a critical moment. Jeff Farmer had plenty of poor games where he did little but we still remember his magic and unpredictability. He always drew a couple of defenders away from the contest,

1 hour ago, hemingway said:

Agree OD. i think this is what we are always going to get with Garlett. 

Sometimes the case with the "will of the wisp" types. 

They are frustrating to watch but there is always the feeling that they can remain kick less for most of the game yet still have the ability to kick an important goal or win the game at a critical moment. Jeff Farmer had plenty of poor games where he did little but we still remember his magic and unpredictability. He always drew a couple of defenders away from the contest,

It is a while ago now but my memory of Farmer was way better than Garlett. By that I mean he had a lot more average games than Garlett.

5 minutes ago, old dee said:

It is a while ago now but my memory of Farmer was way better than Garlett. By that I mean he had a lot more average games than Garlett.

Farmer's best was the equal of anyone who ever laced a boot- but outside of 2000 he was an inconsistent, temperamental yet utterly brilliant player.

I didn't see any of the game, but I was amazed to overhear Angus Brayshaw say at the family day that he was surprised at how close the scoreboard was at the final siren.

Given our appalling record in close games in recent times, I would have thought that every player would have been made aware of the scoreboard with five minutes to go and that we would have taken the opportunity to practice running down the clock in a match situation.

Winning and losing practice matches is not important, but getting your game plans and strategies sorted is.

Jeff Garlett's one of the most exciting players we've had on our list in a very long time. Thanks Mick.

And thanks Alastair for Jordan Lewis. Another remarkable gift for us.

It used to be the other way around for this club.

 

Edited February 21, 20178 yr by Ron Burgundy

15 hours ago, poita said:

I didn't see any of the game, but I was amazed to overhear Angus Brayshaw say at the family day that he was surprised at how close the scoreboard was at the final siren.

Given our appalling record in close games in recent times, I would have thought that every player would have been made aware of the scoreboard with five minutes to go and that we would have taken the opportunity to practice running down the clock in a match situation.

Winning and losing practice matches is not important, but getting your game plans and strategies sorted is.

Lewis was the only one who seemed to really know the situation and reacted accordingly by sitting in the goal square

This team still has much to learn about winning in my humble opinion

55 minutes ago, jackaub said:

Lewis was the only one who seemed to really know the situation and reacted accordingly by sitting in the goal square

This team still has much to learn about winning in my humble opinion

And what would you say if the entire team reacted as wisely as Lewis and filled the goal square?  Isn't it just as likely that Lewis was the man to go to the square rather than facilely conclude 'the team still has much to learn' (which of course it does or we'd be premiers).

1 hour ago, jackaub said:

Lewis was the only one who seemed to really know the situation and reacted accordingly by sitting in the goal square

This team still has much to learn about winning in my humble opinion

In their defence both Jones and Vince also were playing in the backline late . They just had Lewis as the deepest, likely due to his superior kicking ability.. I thought the whole team structured well in the dying stages... The execution was a bit so-so but they scraped away with the win. so thumbs up from me with some handy lessons.

I was watching on my phone whilst out on the beers with a couple Melbourne supporters up here in Sydney and we were all impressed by the fact that at not one stage throughout the game did we look like we would lose.
The way we attacked the play was really exciting andthe Simon Goodwin is really looking to take effect.
Wicked to see Spencil was on form and looks to be a really good partner to big Maxy, They'll provide a few headaches this year for opposition teams with weak ruck stocks.

Hoges looked matured, not better or worse, he obviously had an impact on the game but he just looks so settled with his footy now that all this contract talk is behind him, it's great to see.

Fast footy, that's what we were playing, and most the time it payed off.

Clarry is going to explode this year, In my humble opinion, this year he will prove to be the best performer out of the 2016 draft class.

Looking forward to seeing Hibberd, Tyson, Jetts, Watts, Pedro, in the coming weeks.

I remember saying on the Melbourne Demons News facebook group around 18 months ago that I thought Oscar McDonald would surpass his brother and was getting ready to eat my words at the start of last year but I am glad the coaching staff had seens omething we didn't because he is quietly becoming a very handy defender and I am really looking forward to his 2017.

53 minutes ago, The Sailing Demon said:

I was watching on my phone whilst out on the beers with a couple Melbourne supporters up here in Sydney and we were all impressed by the fact that at not one stage throughout the game did we look like we would lose.
The way we attacked the play was really exciting andthe Simon Goodwin is really looking to take effect.
Wicked to see Spencil was on form and looks to be a really good partner to big Maxy, They'll provide a few headaches this year for opposition teams with weak ruck stocks.

Hoges looked matured, not better or worse, he obviously had an impact on the game but he just looks so settled with his footy now that all this contract talk is behind him, it's great to see.

Fast footy, that's what we were playing, and most the time it payed off.

Clarry is going to explode this year, In my humble opinion, this year he will prove to be the best performer out of the 2016 draft class.

Looking forward to seeing Hibberd, Tyson, Jetts, Watts, Pedro, in the coming weeks.

I remember saying on the Melbourne Demons News facebook group around 18 months ago that I thought Oscar McDonald would surpass his brother and was getting ready to eat my words at the start of last year but I am glad the coaching staff had seens omething we didn't because he is quietly becoming a very handy defender and I am really looking forward to his 2017.

I too thought Oscar was the best tall defender on the day. He seemed more composed and spoiled well in the air.

On 20/02/2017 at 1:31 PM, ProDee said:

While it's no doubt a work in progress, outnumbering the opposition at the contest is very much part of Goodwin/McCartney's game-plan.  Once the ball is won they try and spread in multiple directions and if there's a turnover the aim is to get back in as quickly as possible.

There's no doubt that while they're mastering the new style players will get caught out of position or not get back into the contest quickly enough, but they were able to noticeably outnumber the Dogs at contests on numerous occasions. 

If we didn't have enough sweepers I'm sure it's something they'll address in their reviews.

The Dogs game-plan is now second nature, while we're working towards that.

Agree with this, however, my point is the structure of where the numbers are around the ball. We have too many in close which means some can't do anything whereas they could if they stayed out as receivers. The Bulldogs are already set up like this. It's not brain science and I'm just a bit surprised we aren't doing it already. Hopefully you're right about them addressing it. 

Despite saying this, now that I've watched the replay I must say it looks better than it did on the day. Probably because being there you can see what's happening or not happening off the ball. But seeing what was happening on the ball on the tv was pretty impressive. It was more attacking, play on, fast ball movement than I remembered. We are definitely distributing the ball out of contests better, thanks to having options in the right places to extract, whereas just a few seasons ago we didn't have anyone to go to in those positions. 

I still treat the Saints as a yardstick of our improvement in the competition. So round 1 is going to be interesting. 

Bring it on. 

25 minutes ago, It's Time said:

Agree with this, however, my point is the structure of where the numbers are around the ball. We have too many in close which means some can't do anything whereas they could if they stayed out as receivers. The Bulldogs are already set up like this. It's not brain science and I'm just a bit surprised we aren't doing it already. Hopefully you're right about them addressing it. 

Despite saying this, now that I've watched the replay I must say it looks better than it did on the day. Probably because being there you can see what's happening or not happening off the ball. But seeing what was happening on the ball on the tv was pretty impressive. It was more attacking, play on, fast ball movement than I remembered. We are definitely distributing the ball out of contests better, thanks to having options in the right places to extract, whereas just a few seasons ago we didn't have anyone to go to in those positions. 

I still treat the Saints as a yardstick of our improvement in the competition. So round 1 is going to be interesting. 

Bring it on. 

Yep it was pretty bad at times but then they also corrected when they had to. I think one of the main reasons Lewis will play on a wing is because he'll be used to the Hawthorn system that maintains space around the ball.

Oh and it is brain science! The dogs haven't just trained it they've used computers to study it.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/personal-technology/western-bulldogs-gain-from-artificial-intelligence/news-story/dcfdf70ec2d4acdccc6776348412b47e

4 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Oh and it is brain science! The dogs haven't just trained it they've used computers to study it.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/personal-technology/western-bulldogs-gain-from-artificial-intelligence/news-story/dcfdf70ec2d4acdccc6776348412b47e

I wondered where they got their brains from. Computer implants. It makes sense. Old Dougie Hawkins could have used some of that.

6 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Yep it was pretty bad at times but then they also corrected when they had to. I think one of the main reasons Lewis will play on a wing is because he'll be used to the Hawthorn system that maintains space around the ball.

Oh and it is brain science! The dogs haven't just trained it they've used computers to study it.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/personal-technology/western-bulldogs-gain-from-artificial-intelligence/news-story/dcfdf70ec2d4acdccc6776348412b47e

Really interesting article. Thanks for sharing. This is why I love Demonland. You get info here you don't get anywhere else. It's a great footy community.