5 minutes ago, Ben E said:

Very light session this arvo. Boys were out on ground for about half an hour, in small groups doing kick-to-kick for a while before standing in zone formations for different positional stoppages (not using ball).

Only things to note were that Billy Stretch was running about, JKH appeared to be part of midfield group and TMac part of forwards (no surprise there, I guess).

Low-key and lots of mixing with the crowd afterwards. Very inclusive. Kids happy. Well done, Dees.

Crows out on ground now (including Lynch). Got a couple of boos from my girls. Time to go!

Much appreciated Ben. Enjoy the game and go the Dees!!!

I haven't bothered to read to full thread but I'll give my quick 2 cents. Ideally it would be nice for some of the players (perhaps two emergencies + young player) to get up there a day before the full team and do a clinic with a school, I'm not sure if anything like that has happened. 

In terms of recovery, we're coming off another 6 day break going to Darwin. I don't see any need to go over the top with much up there. The players recovering from injury (Watts, Tyson, Jones etc) are surely better placed doing this in Melbourne at AAMI Park rather than hopping back and forth on a plane. 

My impression of what PJ said earlier this year might disappoint a few on DLand. I think we've got at least a few more years of this and as others have said we need to be a team that is "anytime/anywhere". That said I do think PJ should say to the AFL, "if you want us up there make damn sure we have the bye the following week". 

On 13/07/2017 at 3:25 PM, beelzebub said:

If nothing else the notion of Darwin/or not makes for the most interesting of bedfellows  ( in a Dland sense ) 

The topic of interesting Dland bedfellows needs its own thread 

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Absolutely you can. It was 2 weeks after we played Darwin and we were still stuffed.

Oh, good.

I will let Cameron Schwab know and he can come back to work.

On 13/07/2017 at 6:02 PM, dl4e said:

Take it a step further. Darwin could cost us a place in the finals. I don't care what anybody thinks the game the week after will be really tough. 

Hang on I thought the majority had agreed the Freo and Hawks losses were the games that were going to cost us a place in the finals. Then some were saying the 3 consecutive 6 day breaks would be to blame, and now we're trying pin it all on playing in Darwin without even knowing the results of the following week (as likely as we think they may be).

Next we'll be blaming the awful AFL for cyclone Tracey.

50 minutes ago, CanberraDemon said:

Hang on I thought the majority had agreed the Freo and Hawks losses were the games that were going to cost us a place in the finals. Then some were saying the 3 consecutive 6 day breaks would be to blame, and now we're trying pin it all on playing in Darwin without even knowing the results of the following week (as likely as we think they may be).

Next we'll be blaming the awful AFL for cyclone Tracey.

No the AFL was not around then but it may have been Jack Watts Grand Mother.

1 hour ago, CanberraDemon said:

Hang on I thought the majority had agreed the Freo and Hawks losses were the games that were going to cost us a place in the finals. Then some were saying the 3 consecutive 6 day breaks would be to blame, and now we're trying pin it all on playing in Darwin without even knowing the results of the following week (as likely as we think they may be).

Next we'll be blaming the awful AFL for cyclone Tracey.

I have always been against the Darwin game. Can't we just play 2 games in Alice instead.

R18s results should give a pretty clear picture of the impact of playing in Darwin. The crows on a 6 day break playing the cats (tough ask) then us v Port. 

2 hours ago, TRIGON said:

R18s results should give a pretty clear picture of the impact of playing in Darwin. The crows on a 6 day break playing the cats (tough ask) then us v Port. 

How will it give a "pretty clear picture"?

Given injuries, home ground advantage, matchups, emotional state of teams, gamestyles, individual player performances, coaching moves, etc... you're going to use the results next week as a comment on playing in Darwin!?!

There's a delusion on this board that results can "prove" some theory/position...

why did Dons spank Saints last night? 

Who knows? 

Does Darwin sap teams and have them lose, who knows? But rolling out the results without including all the other factors (ie we were crap everywhere) is simplistic.

 

another aspect of the "Darwin question" is do we have an advantage in playing teams there?

and if we do, does it cancel out the potential physical toll the following week?

would a win vs Adelaide indicate an advantage?

i don't know, given we beat them at their home a couple of months ago...

Edited July 15, 20178 yr by PaulRB

We had some very bad loss records in the past. We must win 5 out of the the next 7 to be guaranteed a place in the the finals.If we lose we have to work much harder for the remaining rounds. I think our biggest disaster is the injuries to key players.

22 hours ago, CanberraDemon said:

.......

Next we'll be blaming the awful AFL for cyclone Tracey.

No. That was Clayton Oliver. 

1 hour ago, PaulRB said:

How will it give a "pretty clear picture"?

Given injuries, home ground advantage, matchups, emotional state of teams, gamestyles, individual player performances, coaching moves, etc... you're going to use the results next week as a comment on playing in Darwin!?!

There's a delusion on this board that results can "prove" some theory/position...

why did Dons spank Saints last night? 

Who knows? 

Does Darwin sap teams and have them lose, who knows? But rolling out the results without including all the other factors (ie we were crap everywhere) is simplistic.

 

We'll see how well both sides run out the next game.

On 13/07/2017 at 1:44 PM, Deespicable said:

I just read the following and was shocked to see we had again not taken advantage of what Darwin offers in terms of rehab, not to mention the team bonding component of a week away.

I was already shocked and disappointed when our club hierarchy tried to make out we were getting out and conducting training sessions in Alice Springs in late May. In actual fact all bar Dion Johnstone, Declan Keilty and I think one other attended an outback community clinic - the rest spent just one night in Alice Springs.

That was somewhat understandable - Alice Springs is very much a backwater and has poor recovery facilities.  So getting Virgin Airlines to agree to a late night Saturday return flight to Melbourne can be viewed as highly practical ... even clever.

But this is different.

We are now in the middle of winter and have already seen a spate of soft-tissue injuries. And Darwin is not a backwater - it has genuinely good facilities and a sporting precinct.

It is a perfect place for our players to get away and put in a solid week of preparation without having to don tights and fear sprinting full pelt. It could have been a godsend for the likes of Nathan Jones, Wattsy, Salem and Dom to get some decent speed sessions in as they attempt to overcome their injuries. But more importantly it was a rare chance for someone like Jack Trengove, who is deemed to be too slow, to get in some serious sprint work - without having to fear whether they had sufficently warmed up enough bracing Melbourne's cold.

It was also the chance for our players to really embrace the NT community - to conduct special clinics with the talented locals and really spruik our brand in the region.

To me, we have come a really long way under Jacko.

But we continue to pay NT lip service and just take the money and run.

Are we really that poor still that we cannot afford to spend a week's accom in Darwin on our team?

Or is there something more sinister at brew - we are about to ditch the NT program outright?    

Anyone with inside information feel free to comment. 

 http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-07-13/no-darwin-trip-for-injured-demon-duo

What a complete load of garbage

1 hour ago, ENYAW said:

We had some very bad loss records in the past. We must win 5 out of the the next 7 to be guaranteed a place in the the finals.If we lose we have to work much harder for the remaining rounds. I think our biggest disaster is the injuries to key players.

Most pundits believe 12 wins will get you into finals this year. We've already won 9 so if most pundits are correct then we only need to win 3 out of the next 7, especially if we don't suffer any blowouts given our superior percentage over all those chasing us. If we win 5 out of our 7 we could be looking at finishing 4th!

to win 3 out 7 you would expect the Dees current percentage to be less than the existing percentage.I doubt 12 wins will be enough to make the 8.

5 minutes ago, ENYAW said:

to win 3 out 7 you would expect the Dees current percentage to be less than the existing percentage.I doubt 12 wins will be enough to make the 8.

I think you are right enyaw.

For 12 wins to make the eight it means that there will be widely spread wins and losses which in turn means there will be around 3-4 teams on 12 wins at least who will all be fighting for spots 7 and 8. Percentage will play an enormous part.

If wins and losses are unevenly distributed between the contenders you will need 13 wins

On 13/07/2017 at 2:15 PM, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I Hope so.

If we come out flat next week V's Port and lose badly, then that's the final straw for me.

Let's take a look at the results the week after all our Darwin trips:

2010 - Carlton 41 points loss

2011 - Hawthorn 54 point loss

2012 - North 54 point loss

2013 - North 122 point loss (LOL!)

2014 - Geelong 66 point loss

2015 - Essendon 9 point loss (after Essendon copped a 110 point loss the week before amidst the Hird crisis)

2016  - St Kilda 36 point loss (completely ran out of gas in the last qtr)

 

2010 we played the Cats at Simmonds and lost by 54.

Let's look at how the opposition fared the week after Darwin.

2010 - Port. Lost to Richmond by 47.

2011 - Port. BYE. (Rotating byes this year)

2012 - Port. Lost to Freo by 27.

2013 - Brisbane. Lost to Port by 9.

2014 - Freo. Beat GWS by 76.

2015 - Port. Beat Bulldogs by 38

2016 - Port. Beat Collingwood by 68.

 

56 minutes ago, ENYAW said:

to win 3 out 7 you would expect the Dees current percentage to be less than the existing percentage.I doubt 12 wins will be enough to make the 8.

Its possible to have 12 wins and miss out on percentage. Gotta keep any loses close.

it's a [censored] disaster alright 

How many more years of this rubbish is there

the crowd is Pro Camary Crows

i mean really. We need HOME GAMES!!

 

Saints have played 12 at shitihad 

We've played 8 at the G.

The AFL and Darwin can get stuffed.

5 hours ago, TRIGON said:

We'll see how well both sides run out the next game.

People need to keep in mind we played Adelaide. Does anyone else know what its like in Adelaide ? Anyone else ever lived ib SA ? I have

Crows have NO acclimatisation to worry of going to Darwin. We do.

Dumbest deal ever.

End this [censored] immediately.

We will lose to Port next week too thanks to this Darwin crap.

Anyone see the five talking points re this game in the afl website. There are rumors it seems that there will be more games in the nt not less in the future.  

So much for us cancelling the contract...