Guilty until proven innocent’: Are the Demons the real deal in 2021?

starts at 21:35

Fair enough discussion -  and hopefully keeps heads deflated.....

So the HS must've written an article giving it to Melbourne about our trading our first round pick with North to get Kozzie in.  I think we can be confident that Caro will regularly bring up Melbourne's shrewd trading - because every time she does she can give the HS a wack for getting it wrong.

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins. 

 

15 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins. 

 

Tend to agree

But prefer to go glass half full and see there's plenty of upside in our game ?

16 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins. 

 

So a media personality makes an unsolicited comment, and that means the team and/or Demonland members are now "getting ahead of ourselves"

You are insufferable, honestly. 

You are dead right Dr D. I am a very dedicated fan but don’t wear rose coloured specs.

We have shown some glimpses of what we can do but those are overshadowed by the ordinary football played in between. My belief is that the “improvement” is down to the Choco and Ooze influence. It is definitely there but to be frank, unless Brown and Weideman deliver when they get on the park, we will struggle to stay in the top 8 with the standard of football that has dominated our 2021 games so far.

 

21 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins. 

 

who's getting ahead of ourselves?  the media? Caro?   

clearly not us fans. we are happy with 3-0 and know we have only beaten decent opposition. When we play Port/Tigers/Lions/WC/Dogs we will see how good we are

4 minutes ago, ProperDee said:

We have shown some glimpses of what we can do but those are overshadowed by the ordinary football played in between. My belief is that the “improvement” is down to the Choco and Ooze influence. It is definitely there but to be frank, unless Brown and Weideman deliver when they get on the park, we will struggle to stay in the top 8 with the standard of football that has dominated our 2021 games so far.

Do you not think the fact we have been ordinary, as you put it, yet have still won our 3 games, is a big improvement in and of itself?

Just now, Dr.D said:

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins. 

 

This week will give us a much better indication Dr.   Very happy with the start but still room for improvement in terms of protecting the corridor on the counter and finding a KF target who is also a reliable multiple goal kicker.

I agree we have to be careful not to get too carried away as well, however in general things are looking as good as they've been since 2018 from where i'm sitting.  But look how that ended.  We need to keep building and improving to ensure this is a lasting dynasty and not a flash-in-the-pan anomaly.  With a bit of luck hopefully this includes going one step further than 2018.

23 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins. 

 

No one is buying Finals Tickets yet. 
I think we all know it’s early days. 
but we have been challenged seriously and have responded. 
Sunday is a big game. I expect to win

But it won’t be easy. 

1 minute ago, Better days ahead said:

Do you not think the fact we have been ordinary, as you put it, yet have still won our 3 games, is a big improvement in and of itself?

Yeah, sure Bda. But I also think that our opposition have simply been more ordinary than us on the day. I PRAY that our run continues and that the team clicks for a full game but I’ve been involved in footy long enough to see that there are better and more disciplined teams than us in the comp.

We still have too many players that go missing for long periods in games. We still don’t start well, give away too many easy goals and still have trouble kicking goals ourselves. The 4th point might improve soon but the better teams will tear us a new one unless we tighten things right up.

1 minute ago, ProperDee said:

Yeah, sure Bda. But I also think that our opposition have simply been more ordinary than us on the day. I PRAY that our run continues and that the team clicks for a full game but I’ve been involved in footy long enough to see that there are better and more disciplined teams than us in the comp.

We still have too many players that go missing for long periods in games. We still don’t start well, give away too many easy goals and still have trouble kicking goals ourselves. The 4th point might improve soon but the better teams will tear us a new one unless we tighten things right up.

I reckon the next 3 weeks will tell us a lot. 

Geelong are a streetwise outfit and are well coached. Can we out smart them? We have the talent to do it and i think we will

Clarko is still the master. Will he ambush us and take advantage of our complacency. 

Richmond on Ansac eve. They have been the benchmark for a few years now. Can we withstand their pressure and impose ourselves on the game. It would be an upset if we pulled it off. We will need to kick straight.

That is both finalists from last year plus Clarko's Hawk so should provide a real litmus test in terms of where we are at. I'm cautiously optimistic.

The 3 teams we have beaten aren't contenders but we still won all 3

And that's a big positive because previously we could have been expected to drop 1 or maybe 2 of the games

We're definitely a better team in terms of how many players are being questioned on whether they should stay in the side... many here are saying no change (again)

Sparrow is a good example ... from all accounts he's doing a lot of the team aspects (1%ers) but is not racking up the possessions.  Previously, many would be calling for his absolute omission

And we kicked 15 goals against GWS despite not having a meaningful contribution from T-Mac (who, to be fair was up against 2 or 3 defenders in a crowded forward line for most of the game)

GWS shot themselves in the foot with those tactics as our backline ended up have an easy time of it (despite the Toby Greene cameos)

At the beginning of the season, I thought to myself, if we can just hang in their until BB and or Weid get back, claim back a decent fwd line. To have both our first choice keys out and be notching up wins has been beyond my expectation. 

We have though, had luck going our way with all three teams we've played having a fair injury list and previous week travel adversity. And this looks to continue with Geelongs key outs and I note Hawthorn are playing in the West next week ahead of our game. 

So I reckon we've had some fortune align our way. Not withstanding the umpiring was terrible last week and the opposition were decent, but certainly not at their best.

We have definitely improved on last year, that's a fact - we've had our method right, and with another key fwd I think we could really punish some sides on the scoreboard and not just general play. 

I’m happy that the team are focussing on the positives to grow confidence in themselves, each other and the game plan.

Beating yourself up because the win wasn’t a 4 quarter domination (which are rare) will only sow seeds of doubt and destroy morale. Goody is playing it perfectly - enjoy the win, back to work tomorrow and we’ve still got a way to go.

We won’t be flag contenders if we win on Sunday, nor will we miss the finals if we don’t. Our form in round 4 isn’t as important as our form in R22, but getting ahead of the W-L ledger is great as a pressure relief measure to keep the guys focussed on next weeks game and not the noise around Goody being the coach under the most pressure and he should go (that went away quickly, didn’t it?) 

Please dont let the media talk us up.

Its a conspiracy. Works all the time.?

Media ban for all players to be enforced asap.

Edited April 6, 20214 yr by leave it to deever

1 hour ago, Dr.D said:

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins. 

 

Are we? I haven't see any comments from within the club to suggest we have got anywhere ahead of ourselves.

What are you basing this on?

And the answer to Caros question is; Not Yet.

Proliferation of media channels/programs is definitely changing journalism. After 3 rounds 10 years ago most of the media commentary around an unproven team who goes 3 zip would be ‘wait and see’ but nowadays commentators are obsessed with taking an early position and making bold statements. ‘Can Melbourne win the premiership’ questions on podcasts are all about headline/traffic grabbing and very little about the reality of where we are at.

15 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

Please dont let the media talk us up.

Its a conspiracy. Works all the time.?

Media ban for all players to be enforced asap.

I agree Deever....shut the door and leave it to the media team.  We've done way too much talking over the years.  With such a good start it's easy to get ahead of things.  Have fun sure and enjoy your footy as a player but take as little notice of the external noise as possible.  No distractions....soldier on.  Next target is a hairy old [censored] cat.

Ah ok... is there media pumping us up? I havent seen it

The media aren't talking us up at all

All the experts got burnt in 2019 so no chance they'll get carried away with the Dees just yet

1 hour ago, Macca said:

We're definitely a better team in terms of how many players are being questioned on whether they should stay in the side... many here are saying no change (again)

Sparrow is a good example ... from all accounts he's doing a lot of the team aspects (1%ers) but is not racking up the possessions.  Previously, many would be calling for his absolute omission

I agree with the jist of what you're saying... but I think you'll find any time we win three on the trot there will be talk of minimal changes.  But as soon as we drop one (it won't be far away) watch the knives come out for the whipping boys (currently Jones, Sparrow, TMac, Jetta, Brayshaw).  

Dare I say it ........ The first of quite a few "Season Defining" Games coming up this week. Geez I hope we seize the day!

Went down to Casey twice today to check out training but No one there!!

However, I will bring a comprehensive P.F report of the Casey/ Williamstown praccy Saturday. 

If anyone notices me, Please say Gday!

Cheers PF