Jump to content

Featured Replies

Hopefully it’s not used as another excuse, if we get rolled.

Β 
 

The Adelaide ruck O'Brien isn't a bad player.Β  He was very competitive against NicNat and Goldstein and moves around the ground pretty well.Β  He'll take care of Jackson and any other second ruck we want to throw in there.Β  If Gawn misses and Preuss is available he'd have to play.

Rest him.

I wouldn't be against him sitting one of these matches out anyways considering the limited recovery days and that we still need to catch up on the Essendon match.Β  Back in our midfielders and put some more responsibility on their shoulders (just for one week).

Β 


Why would you risk a further serious injury, play Pruessy. Lets shark to some other ruckman for a change.

We have become an open book for everyone to read in the last 18 months.

Edited by Win4theAges

I'd just give Jackson a crack at it i reckon

Give Maxy a rest

1 hour ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Rest him.

I wouldn't be against him sitting one of these matches out anyways considering the limited recovery days and that we still need to catch up on the Essendon match.Β  Back in our midfielders and put some more responsibility on their shoulders (just for one week).

Β 

Agreed.

And, as titan added earlier, I think we need to give Preuss a crack.Β  We got him to the club for this very thing and we know that he can go okay.Β  O'Brien is no slouch and I think having the bigger body there around the contest would be a positive for us.

Β 

Why the fork was Gawn still running around in the closing minutes of Thursday's game? With a short turnaround he should have been in his tracksuit by the 10 minute mark of the last quarter. More coaching masterstrokes from the master coach.

Preuss hasn't been on an injury list for months.Β  So why wasn't he in the first group to go into a hub?Β  Poor insurance imv.

We are now without Max, Preuss is only just out of quarantine and had no opportunity to train with the team for about a month.

Either he doesn't replace Max or he comes in underdone.Β 


2 hours ago, Lord Nev said:

2 games with a lat injury.

Don't hate it tbh, gives us unpredictability in the middle for a change.

Some people have talked about Preuss, but given he was one of the players left in Melbourne originally is he even out of quarantine yet?

Edit - Apologies, 2 games, not 2 weeks.

Saw Maxxie restingΒ to full advantage on one knee during the Power game. He looked sore, requiring a short rest with arms on his knee. Looked buggered, actually - so we need to worry. The likelihood of injury for him is ever-present based upon the way we overwork him.Β 

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Who will our kickouts go to????

I would suggest to fit within our existing systems, we put a big orange flag on one of our talls and always kick it to them. Always.

1 hour ago, Swooper1987 said:

The Adelaide ruck O'Brien isn't a bad player.Β  He was very competitive against NicNat and Goldstein and moves around the ground pretty well.Β  He'll take care of Jackson and any other second ruck we want to throw in there.Β  If Gawn misses and Preuss is available he'd have to play.

The Dees' turn to shark their ruckman. Could be beneficial - if they use Gus as an inside mid on the move to read the tap - and Clarrie to gobble to crumbs. Keep Viney out of the centre at rucking time - Viney runs through the centre well within an existing play, not a clearance from a ruck tap.


If Gawn is out it leaves a tricky decision.

If we're keeping TMac, then Jacko rucks. This is probably my preferred option.

I'm not sold on Preuss at all. He has some useful physical attributes but he's not a smart player and unless something significant has changed since last time we saw him, he doesn't have the tank to run out more than half a game.

I'm ok with any combination as long as it results in two talls in the forward line (not 1 or 3).Β 

I know some have called for Kozzy to be dropped but personally, I think he's our only genuine small forward and I wish we had two of him. His hard running and pressure work is under-rated.

3 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Who will our kickouts go to????

straight to the opposition - no changeΒ 

1 hour ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Preuss hasn't been on an injury list for months.Β  So why wasn't he in the first group to go into a hub?Β  Poor insurance imv.

We are now without Max, Preuss is only just out of quarantine and had no opportunity to train with the team for about a month.

Either he doesn't replace Max or he comes in underdone.Β 

I would say as he not in our plans. and would not be plan B if Gawn missesΒ 

2 hours ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

Cam Pedersen was the saviour during that period.Β  Was fantastic for us while Gawn was out.

edit -Β  dd36 beat me to it

Jack Watts also contributed in the period especially in the forward line ruck throw ins or ball ups.

Remember him ? GoodyΒ 

He had finishing skills conversion skills!!!

You find want them in players really!!

I’m not sold on Preuss either. As bad as he was last week, this could be the only thing from saving Tmac from being dropped. Although he may be undersized he could give O’Brien a bit of a run around. Giving Tmac a bit of freedom to run around might do him a world of good.


Play Preuss that's what he is on the list for to take Gawn's place if injured big ask for Jackson to ruck on his own at such a young age.

Is that our first soft-tissue issue for the year? Right on the back of a four-day break?

The AFL is putting livelihoods at risk for the sake of cash.Β 

I'm all for Jacko taking it on with either Tomlinson (if he plays) or Weid/Tmac giving him the chop out.

The players will have to shark O'Brien's taps regardless, and this gives us a more mobile body in the centre

Β 

If Preuss has played some scratch match minutes then I'd be bringing him as he played his best MFC game as the sole ruck against KreuzerΒ  last year.

But I don't think he is in contention.

So in that case Jackson takes first ruck with Tomlinson taking 5 minutes a quarter. Tomlinson took some centre bounces inΒ last year's finals series Β and also may have taken a few also at ourΒ MCG games we played earlier in the year.

T Mac survives and we revert to a two talls forward line as opposed to the three which didn'tΒ work against Brisbane and Port.

Looking forward to a little unpredictability. Soul destroying how Brisbane and Port leveraged off Gawn's ruck work. Simply not acceptable from our midfield and coaching staff.

I'm absolutely in the 'if any doubt, rest Gawn'.Β  I think it would do him and the midfield good, too.Β 

Good for him because he could spend a game watching live and thinking through what is going on in a way that isn't possible when just reviewing the tapes - grasping better what is going on and what he needs to tweak.

Good for the midfield because it should help shake off the taint of complacency that is in their game - too often they expect things to go their way from the tap and even the greatest ruckman won't give much better than a 60/40 win rate consistently., let alone a true hitout to advantage.Β  If it forces the midfield to play more accountably and to be ready with defensive spread, it could be an important moment in out season.

Also... if we lose to Adelaide, with or without Gawn, we're in serious crapbuckets.Β  North just belted them, with some of their most important players our to injury or dropped for career-worst form.

Rest Gawn if there's the slightest question on him.Β  If there's still any doubt, feel at peace to lay him over until it is time to face off against Grundy.


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...

Featured Content

  • NON-MFC: Round 13

    Follow all the action from every Round 13 clash excluding the Dees as the 2025 AFL Premiership Season rolls on. With Melbourne playing in the final match of the round on King's Birthday, all eyes turn to the rest of the competition. Who are you tipping to win? And more importantly, which results best serve the Demons’ finals aspirations? Join the discussion and keep track of the matches that could shape the ladder and impact our run to September.

    • 25 replies
  • PREVIEW: Collingwood

    Having convincingly defeated last year’s premier and decisively outplayed the runner-up with 8.2 in the final quarter, nothing epitomized the Melbourne Football Club’s performance more than its 1.12 final half, particularly the eight consecutive behinds in the last term, against a struggling St Kilda team in the midst of a dismal losing streak.Β Just when stability and consistency were anticipated within the Demon ranks, they delivered a quintessential performance marked by instability and ill-conceived decisions, with the most striking aspect being their inaccuracy in kicking for goal, which suggested a lack of preparation (instead of sleeping in their hotel in Alice, were they having a night on the turps) rather than a well-rested team. Let’s face it - this kicking disease that makes them look like raw amateurs is becoming a millstone around the team’s neck.

    • 1 reply
  • CASEY: Sydney

    The Casey Demons were always expected to emerge victorious in their matchup against the lowly-ranked Sydney Swans at picturesque Tramway Oval, situated in the shadows of the SCG in Moore Park. They dominated the proceedings in the opening two and a half quarters of the game but had little to show for it. This was primarily due to their own sloppy errors in a low-standard game that produced a number of crowded mauls reminiscent of the rugby game popular in old Sydney Town. However, when the Swans tired, as teams often do when they turn games into ugly defensive contests, Casey lifted the standard of its own play and … it was off to the races. Not to nearby Randwick but to a different race with an objective of piling on goal after goal on the way to a mammoth victory. At the 25-minute mark of the third quarter, the Demons held a slender 14-point lead over the Swans, who are ahead on the ladder of only the previous week's opposition, the ailing Bullants. Forty minutes later, they had more than fully compensated for the sloppiness of their earlier play with a decisive 94-point victory, that culminated in a rousing finish which yielded thirteen unanswered goals. Kicks hit their targets, the ball found itself going through the middle and every player made a contribution.

    • 1 reply
  • REPORT: St. Kilda

    Hands up if you thought, like me, at half-time in yesterday’s game at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs that Melbourne’s disposal around the ground and, in particular, its kicking inaccuracy in front of the goals couldn’t get any worse. Well, it did. And what’s even more damning for the Melbourne Football Club is that the game against St Kilda and its resurgence from the bottomless pit of its miserable start to the season wasn’t just lost through poor conversion for goal but rather in the 15 minutes when the entire team went into a slumber and was mugged by the out-of-form Saints. Their six goals two behinds (one goal less than the Demons managed for the whole game) weaved a path of destruction from which they were unable to recover. Ross Lyon’s astute use of pressure to contain the situation once they had asserted their grip on the game, and Melbourne’s self-destructive wastefulness, assured that outcome. The old adage about the insanity of repeatedly doing something and expecting a different result, was out there. Two years ago, the score line in Melbourne’s loss to the Giants at this same ground was 5 goals 15 behinds - a ratio of one goal per four scoring shots - was perfectly replicated with yesterday’s 7 goals 21 behinds.Β 
    This has been going on for a while and opens up a number of questions. I’ll put forward a few that come to mind from this performance. The obvious first question is whether the club can find a suitable coach to instruct players on proper kicking techniques or is this a skill that can no longer be developed at this stage of the development of our playing group? Another concern is the team's ability to counter an opponent's dominance during a run on as exemplified by the Saints in the first quarter. Did the Demons underestimate their opponents, considering St Kilda's goals during this period were scored by relatively unknown forwards?Β Furthermore, given the modest attendance of 6,721 at TIO Traeger Park and the team's poor past performances at this venue, is it prudent to prioritize financial gain over potentially sacrificing valuable premiership points by relinquishing home ground advantage, notwithstanding the cultural significance of the team's connection to the Red Centre?Β 

    • 4 replies
  • PREGAME: Collingwood

    After a disappointing loss in Alice Springs the Demons return to the MCG to take on the Magpies in the annual King's Birthday Big Freeze for MND game. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Clap
      • Love
      • Like
    • 232 replies
  • PODCAST: St. Kilda

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 2nd June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we have a chat with former Demon ruckman Jeff White about his YouTube channel First Use where he dissects ruck setups and contests. We'll then discuss the Dees disappointing loss to the Saints in Alice Springs.
    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/

      • Like
    • 47 replies