Jump to content

Salem ready to make his mark

Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Salem was training with the midfield group over summer with the expectation that he would play there this year. And I think in the first few games he did. If my memory is correct I wonder whether he was moved to the backline as a necessity (because the backline needed strengthening) or whether the coaches felt he wasn't a success as a midfielder. Either way, it's good to know that he is clearly a superior backman who has some practical midfield experience should the need for him to play there ever arise.

  • Quote
    • Love 1
     
    Just now, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Salem was training with the midfield group over summer with the expectation that he would play there this year. And I think in the first few games he did. If my memory is correct I wonder whether he was moved to the backline as a necessity (because the backline needed strengthening) or whether the coaches felt he wasn't a success as a midfielder. Either way, it's good to know that he is clearly a superior backman who has some practical midfield experience should the need for him to play there ever arise.

    Every Time I've seen him go into the midfield he dominates the clearances, so I would assume a necessity?

  • Quote
    33 minutes ago, MSFebey said:

    Every Time I've seen him go into the midfield he dominates the clearances, so I would assume a necessity?

    Disagree, thought while he did OK in the midfield, he didn't do enough to justify getting time in there and taking it away from some other players that give us more.

  • Quote
    • Like 2
     

    Salem still has a few things he needs to work on if he is to become a full time midfielder. He over commits too often and it affects his ability to remain in the play. If he is to be effective as a midfielder he will need to find a way to remain in the play - like Oliver does. He appears to be better as a back line player at the moment, but I still think he will eventually make a good midfielder. If he did have ambitions on being a full time midfielder he would want to be overtaking Jones next year. 

  • Quote
    1 hour ago, KingDingAling said:

    Salem still has a few things he needs to work on if he is to become a full time midfielder. He over commits too often and it affects his ability to remain in the play. If he is to be effective as a midfielder he will need to find a way to remain in the play - like Oliver does. He appears to be better as a back line player at the moment, but I still think he will eventually make a good midfielder. If he did have ambitions on being a full time midfielder he would want to be overtaking Jones next year. 

    It’s almost an invisible ability that the top players seem to have. Brayshaw is getting better at it as well. 

    Personally I like having Salem off half back for a bit of class coming out of defence. He has that ability to hit that crucial pass into the centre of the ground that opens teams up. 

  • Quote
    • Like 3

    I think people forget/underestimate how injury/illness interrupted his career has been. If nothing else I'm just glad he's managed to put a consistent season of footy together without being injured (fingers crossed!) Another season like this next year and he'll be primed to enter his peak and step up a level in effectiveness.

    Edited by Dr. Gonzo

  • Quote
    • Like 2
    40 minutes ago, Pates said:

    It’s almost an invisible ability that the top players seem to have. Brayshaw is getting better at it as well. 

    Personally I like having Salem off half back for a bit of class coming out of defence. He has that ability to hit that crucial pass into the centre of the ground that opens teams up. 

    I agree although one thing I hate about him playing that far downfield is we lose a guy with legitimate goal sense up the other end. Unfortunately we need him down back but I'd like to see him further down ground in future (or float forward more for some goals ala Lewis last week).

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    Always liked this guy. 

    Needs to chill with his his tackling at times, though. Seems to give away a lot of frees by being a bit over earnest. 

     

  • Quote
    •  

    He's had a decent year, not outstanding, and he's still tracking behind where he should be after 5 years. He's had injury and health issues, but he appears to be past them now and has finally got a clean run at it this year. 

    I thought he was good in the midfield earlier in the season. He's been poor down back though. He could potentially become a good rebounder off half back, but he's poor defensively, often fails to spoil (directly cost us two goals on the weekend failing to spoil a smaller 9 game player!), and overcommits and goes to ground. I'd rather develop him as a midfielder where he belongs. He should be playing on a wing to make use of his kicking skills going inside 50.

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    48 minutes ago, Deemented Are Go! said:

    Always liked this guy. 

    Needs to chill with his his tackling at times, though. Seems to give away a lot of frees by being a bit over earnest. 

     

    Yes, I've noticed a few 'in the backs' against Salem, not rolling in the tackle maybe

  • Quote
    • 4 weeks later...

    On 2/28/2018 at 9:17 AM, Demonland said:

    Looking forward to big things from Salem this year. He has threatened for the past few years to have his "breakout" season but obviously injuries, illness and suspensions have hampered him. Apparently came back to preseason training already in great nick.

    I just loved this from the linked article below.

    According to Champion Data, Salem attended the second-most centre bounces (21) of any Melbourne player against North Melbourne in Saturday's JLT Community Series hit-out in Tasmania, just one less than clearance specialist Clayton Oliver.

    Salem gathered 19 disposals at 84.2 per cent efficiency, winning five clearances and contributing two goal assists in a standout performance.

    http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-02-27/bulkedup-dee-set-to-make-his-midfield-mark

    Salem has delivered in 2018...  the boy has arrived.  

    Perhaps the best kick in the entire AFL.  And he is hard as hell and a great tackler.  Worth every bit the pick 9 we paid for him.

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    Roos likened him to McVeigh from the Swans the other night.

    I get that, he's becoming a really smart player, setting up play & cutting the lines (opposition attacking moves).

    He's maturing nicely and tough as nails.

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    His willingness to throw himself at the ball is a seriously underrated trait of his considering how elegant he is by foot.

    The kid knows how to tackle as well.

    Edited by Demon Jack

  • Quote

    • Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
    Reply to this topic...
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • PREVIEW: Gold Coast

      The Gold Coast Suns find themselves outside of the top eight for the first time since Round 1 with pressure is mounting on the entire organisation. Their coach Damien Hardwick expressed his frustration at his team’s condition last week by making a middle-finger gesture on television that earned him a fine for his troubles. He showed his desperation by claiming that Fox should pick up the tab.  There’s little doubt the Suns have shown improvement in 2025, and their position on the ladder is influenced to some extent by having played fewer games than their rivals for a playoff role at the end of the season, courtesy of the disruption caused by Cyclone Alfred in March.  However, they are following the same trajectory that hindered the club in past years whenever they appeared to be nearing their potential. As a consequence, that Hardwick gesture should be considered as more than a mere behavioral lapse. It’s a distress signal that does not bode well for the Queenslanders. While the Suns are eager to remain in contention with the top eight, Melbourne faces its own crisis, which is similarly deep-seated but in a much different way. After recovering from a disappointing start to the season and nearing a return to respectability among its peer clubs, the Demons have experienced a decline in status, driven by the fact that while their form has been reasonable (see their performance against the ladder leader in the Kings Birthday match), their conversion in front of goal is poor enough to rank last in the competition. Furthermore, their opponents find them exceptionally easy to score against. As a result, they have effectively eliminated themselves from the finals race and are again positioned to finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

      • 1 reply
      Demonland

    • NON-MFC: Round 15

      As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

        • Haha
        • Like
      • 276 replies
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Port Adelaide

      Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

      • 3 replies
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Essendon

      Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Gold Coast

      The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

        • Haha
      • 145 replies
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Port Adelaide

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 16th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Power.
      Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show.
      Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 33 replies
      Demonland
    View All