great win - hawks are pretty average but the only negatives i'd say are AVB and Gus but probably not drop worthy after the wn  

Goodness me, that was absolutely sensational!

What a feeling!

I reserve a special cognac for after a great win.  Currently enjoying my first taste since 2018.  Delicious!

So........posters still want COliver dropped?

Lol....

I only managed to see the second half, but what really pleased me was in the third quarter Hawthorn were getting momentum and confidence but we responded and hit them harder. Viney and Gawn were huge in that 5min patch where the game could go either way. 

But Petracca, wow. He has to be considered one of the form players of the competition right now. Even when we weren’t getting the wins he was still playing well. He keeps going to another level, this week importantly his kicking was a lot better. 

Absolutely stoked for Weids, 3 goals, could’ve had 4 but for his wobbly last shot. I said leading into the match I’d love to see him kick 3+ goals and have a good outing. Maybe some day we’ll find out why it took so long for Goodwin to play him, but I’m just really enjoying seeing him taking his chance. 

It was also interesting that the commentators were discussing how Gawn came to be the player he is with a breakout game vs Geelong while Sam was on screen. They ended up talking about Petracca but I was thinking as a big man it was more relevant to Sam. Max worked hard and took his chance when it came, perhaps we’ll be saying the same about Sam in a few years time. 

Great win, great for our percentage. I can’t imagine we’ve been above 100 since 2018. Hopefully this is the start of something. 

5 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Just wanted to highlight this - while he will have some quiet games over the coming weeks, I think we got a real glimpse today of why we drafted Jackson at three.  He did it all - good skills, took some key marks, and even laid some really important tackles.  He has got plenty of strings in his bow and I'm excited to see him develop.

Absolutely! It was a real all-rounder sort of performance. He is so young, but is already thinking, looking around the ground etc. Also pumped to see how he'll develop. He's only just started and already doing some sweet things.

That was actually good to watch and not all that stressful which is a nice change. 

I hope posters took my tip of the line bet and a good go at over 24 points.

Because y mate and i didn't.

First 4 qtr performance for years. Showed composure when Hawks were coming in the 3rd.

Some exciting signs that we are well in the mix particularly with our lack of injuries compared to other teams losing players everywhere! 

No passengers,  a fantastic team effort with a few elite rising above. 

I especially love the thought of Dermott Brereton having to sit and watch every minute of that. After his endless condescending attitude towards everything Melbourne. And after a week where he suggested Hawthorn could be like Richmond of 2015 who bounced back to win two flags. And Clarkson will coach for the next two decades.

Time to turn down the heat on the hair straightener, Dermie. Your team is garbage. And how glorious it is.

Days when demonland is slow to load are good days

That was very good to watch. The opposition weren't much chop and the early O'Brien injury definitely helped us, but:

- our ball movement was excellent.

- our defensive zone was the best it's ever been (first time we've had the double wall up with so much space between the two zones - the double press, loved it).

- our forwardline pressure and energy was good (need to stick more of those tackles), but very 2018.

That was one of Max's best games. He's so much better floating across half back. Good support from Jackson and Weideman in the air too.

Oscar played one of his best games too. Spoilt everything and was always in the right spot. May panics a bit for my liking, and the defensive chemistry isn't quite there yet, but it's definitely getting there. Lockhart may well be a replacement for Nev afterall.

Petracca obviously so clean and in everything. I'm not sure what's happened to Oliver's field kicking between the arcs, but I was happy with his game as well. He's so pivotal to so much of what we do.

One of the other things I really liked was our ability to set up around stoppages and marking contests. It was very Richmond and the first time I'd seen us do it so consistently within game. Our big guys were just concerned with bringing the ball to ground for our smalls to go to work and we really ran well in waves.

Gus is still a big worry for me, but was involved in some good play too, but sides often play through his opponent when he's on the wing and they exploited this early in the game. 

Kozzie and Bennell really excite me. Kozzie has that awareness of Cyril and very Hawthorn in the way he taps it forward and to advantage. Langdon's running and cleanness was important too and overall, I think our team balance was the best it's been for a long time. We're a lot less predictable without McDonald and Jackson should definitely stay in next week.

Edited July 19, 20204 yr by A F

 loving abc radio saying 'maybe hawks aren't THAT bad - they've just played three of the best teams in the competition'

what is this commentary?!??

A few things.

 

Beating Hawthorn is the best.

 

In the last two weeks the structure and game plan have been changed. I have thought for the last year or so there is plenty of talent, but we keep playing guys out of position and they are being wasted. See Fritsch last year playing down back (even with the injuries we had), he’s a natural forward.

 

Bringing O’Mac back in has allowed Lever over the last couple of weeks to play the role we paid a tonne of draft picks for. A really good intercept marker. Not a 2^nd tall defender.

 

Bennell is just looking better and better. Petracca is now elite. General Maximus was a beast.

 

Even the negatives (other than the first few minutes of the game) the players were actually trying to hit targets. Gus was pretty bad with disposal today, but even when it didn’t come off it was the right decision. You can practice the skills, just long bombing it has shown where we fall down for the last eighteen months.

 

Even Viney’s HTB towards the end of the game I was happy with, he was looking for good options and unfortunately the tackle stuck. At least that gives our defenders the chance to position, rather than the typical bomb that rebounds to the other side of the ground and we are out of position.

 

The Weed and Jacko have definitely taken on the “compete get it, get it to ground” mantra and it’s working. A few goals between them as well. Nice.

 

Our hard as nails midfield does work, as soon as we lower eyes. There will be mistakes cos I think they are playing a different style compared to the beginning of the year, but I’m not going to complain when we compete and play like we did today.

 

And that’s what I got from today, we are trying to play differently. Allow players to be good at what they are good at with a decent spine of KPPs. There will be mistakes, but I’d much prefer to watch an organised team trying to win than the Chaos Ball of 2019

 

Sorry for the essay.

 

Go Dees!

Weathered the early storm, got a lead, increased the lead in 2nd Qrt

Saw off the early 3rd term blitz

Increased the lead at every change and Won easy

Nice that we're talking about the Demons f

Like watching 2018.

All started with the inside 50 pressure tackling.

The midfield on fire led by terriffic trac and a leaders game in max.

 Oliver hitting targets all day

The frwd line was working with some awesome ball movement into it.

May and lever finally working really well together.

Add some great effort from some newcomers and this is the stuff we frustrated supporters believed we could do but could not understand why we dont.

Some great footage of a worried clarko all day was good to see.

Go dees.

We’re 3-2 with a percentage of 110 since the restart.

Harley's delivery inside 50 was great and playing Melky further up the ground makes a big difference

Like watching 2018.

All started with the inside 50 pressure tackling.

The midfield on fire led by terriffic trac who seemed dangerfieldish and a leaders game in max.

 Oliver hitting targets all day

The frwd line was working with some awesome ball movement into it.

May and lever finally working really well together.

Add some great effort from some newcomers and this is the stuff we frustrated supporters believed we could do but could not understand why we dont.

Some great footage of a worried clarko all day was good to see.

Go dees.

I'm starting to think Melbourne is the problem with Melbourne.

Stellar performance. We've got our dare back which is what makes our gameplan sizzle. The chaos ball thing is cliche but the constant rushing and surging and knocking the ball forward helter skelter is definitely the way we should play sprinkled with compsure when ball is in hand.

Gee these are the best ones aren't they? The ones where it's hard to choose votes because there were so many good team efforts. Christian Petracca you are a colossus, there's gonna be a lot of players with stud marks all over their bodies in future after Trac has run through l them! Max Gawn was officially the 'No fly zone' and he just cut off everything in the air. Sam Weideman I could not be more proud of. We see the end result and celebrate but I'm sure for the kid it's been a very difficult 12-18 months and just work, work and more work to get to a level where he is ready to compete regularly in this league. Kozzie and Hannan provided massive pressure, boy how good is it to have forward pressure! Clarry's game versus his fame against the Tiges are chalk and cheese. He kicked more, he looked forward more all while still doing the great things he does like extracting it from congestion quickly. 

The backline might get a little overlooked today but there is no doubt this is the back 6 to take us forward. Oscar a completely different player and chose the right moments to get up the ground. Lever looked solid. 

Gus is off the boil but he did come into it. Sometimes you're just going to have bad patches and I think the only thing he can do is to continue to work hard through it. There's no doubt a place in the side for him and he's just gotta get through this patch.

Then there the team as a whole. Everyone tackled their pants off! A brilliant across the board performance it terms of output. We were challenged in the 3rd but we just kept working and chances eventually came out lot way. I big step forward.

The coach needs to be given credit today, selection worked well especislly Luke Jackson who looked very handy. If we're at least breaking even with uncontested ball and locking the ball in 50 the gameplan looks very good. But any less than that doesn't cut it.

All in all great win Dees. Great to finish off a weekend happy for a change!

 

5 minutes ago, layzie said:

Sam Weideman I could not be more proud of

Hasnt had much game time of late either so a better performance than recognised imo.

Great win, strangled them and they could never get going.

Loved Weideman's play on the wing, got a hospital handball from a teammate and made the ball his goal while Stratton went for the cheap hit. Took a lot of guts.

Jackson is almost 200cm and is 18yo. You wouldn’t know it! He is such a smooth mover and has very good awareness and decision making. 
will be a beauty