We can all speculate til the cows come home on how or why the penny has finally dropped and there’s no “right” answer. There can however be a temptation to dig too deep or look for too complex an answer.

If I had to reel them off, the main reasons for the season performance to date would be:

• a greater fitness base across the playing group that enables better execution of positioning on the ground
• key players hitting a critical mass of games played, otherwise known as maturity 
• Lever and May finally getting a stretch of games together and filling a leadership void 
• a functioning forward line with Fritta playing well and T Mac playing angry
• a genuine appreciation of roles on the field.

Having game changers of the ilk of Trac and Claz certainly doesn’t hurt, but without the rest, they would be the cream on a non-existent cake.

The coaches deserve some credit for the above, obviously, but it is the players who deserve most of the plaudits. 

Look at Hawthorn currently. You can have the greatest coaching group in the world but you’re going nowhere if you don’t have the cattle who are capable and want to take ownership of the outcome..

That said, the job is still miles away from done.

Edited May 12, 20213 yr by P-man

@Pollyanna is spot on.

And the singular thing that has us going 8-0 is the buy in the Demon Web or whatever they want to call it. It helps when you have May and Lever and Salem but the team defence is the difference.

When you trust yourself, and those around you and you all do what you expect your teammates to do - footy suddenly clicks and it is beautiful.

Not much has changed from a coaching perspective in his time.

The players have started to execute the plan through a combination of fitness and speed of transition.

The goalkeeper position is the only significant change in what we've been trying to execute that I can see.

 

18 minutes ago, Cheesy D. Pun said:

Not much has changed from a coaching perspective in his time.

The players have started to execute the plan through a combination of fitness and speed of transition.

The goalkeeper position is the only significant change in what we've been trying to execute that I can see.

 

Not necessarily.

Forward entry and lowering of eyes (maybe that's just better decision-making) is signifcantly different.

And the absolute manic forward pressure is huge.

Everything that is happening now is a direct extension of everything that has happened over the past four years, thanks to the vison of Simon Goodwin and 'learnings'. The biggest factor is maturity and it always has been. The second biggest factor is the personnel we've brought in - in particular Lever, May and Langdon. Tomlinson was a lucky bonus (and actually one of the few missteps, which we looked to correct last year with the failed recruitment of Isaac Smith).

Getting the right assistants on board has also been crucial, but: Adem Yze - I haven't noticed any massive midfield development this year, and; Mark Williams as development coach - none of the rise of our juniors is revolutionary. Jackson, Pickett and Rivers were already on track and anyone could see that. If you want to somehow delimit the influence of Goodwin, look to Taylor and Burgess. The former, I'm sure Goody has a huge influence, and the latter, I think it was Goodwin's connection that got him to the club. 

Each point of the OP is complete and utter bs. Confirmation bias gone mad. I can't wait till we win a few flags and see these posters try and wriggle some nonsense explanation. 

Edited May 13, 20213 yr by Skuit

38 minutes ago, Skuit said:

Everything that is happening now is a direct extension of everything that has happened over the past four years, thanks to the vison of Simon Goodwin and 'learnings'. 

Exactly.

And perhaps an extension of what has happened over the 6 years since goody has come to the club.

The narrative that there has been some silver bullet, or the penny has dropped, or the other shoe has dropped, or any other silly metaphor is complete and utter bollocks. 

As is any narrative that yze and Williams are the puppets masters.

We have not magically arrived at this point. 

Sure there have been some changes. But that occurs every year for every club.

But all are incremental. Even the biggest one - the total buy in, selflessness,  team first, enough is enough  time to deliver focus of ALL the players.

As many here have pointed out - and the players have been at pains to say (see traccs terrific sen interview on the mfc site) - this all a function of maturity.

Think back to goody's first pressers as senior coach. He made clear what his philosophy is and what he planned to build.

A game plan built on the fundamentals of contest and pressure. Territory. Strong in all three phases. Tough, uncompromising 

And above all two key elements:

- An idenfiable 'brand' that dees' fans recognised and loved to watch

- A game plan built for finals - not winning home and away games, not getting to finals  winning finals. A game plan that would set us up for a sustained period of success

And here we are.

We have yet to achieve anything so lets see about the sustained period of success. 

But all the other planks are all in place.

And goody deserves all the credit in the world for that.

 

 

2 hours ago, Skuit said:

Everything that is happening now is a direct extension of everything that has happened over the past four years, thanks to the vison of Simon Goodwin and 'learnings'. The biggest factor is maturity and it always has been. The second biggest factor is the personnel we've brought in - in particular Lever, May and Langdon. Tomlinson was a lucky bonus (and actually one of the few missteps, which we looked to correct last year with the failed recruitment of Isaac Smith).

Getting the right assistants on board has also been crucial, but: Adem Yze - I haven't noticed any massive midfield development this year, and; Mark Williams as development coach - none of the rise of our juniors is revolutionary. Jackson, Pickett and Rivers were already on track and anyone could see that. If you want to somehow delimit the influence of Goodwin, look to Taylor and Burgess. The former, I'm sure Goody has a huge influence, and the latter, I think it was Goodwin's connection that got him to the club. 

Each point of the OP is complete and utter bs. Confirmation bias gone mad. I can't wait till we win a few flags and see these posters try and wriggle some nonsense explanation. 

Thanks for this - saved me some effort. Spot on.

I should also give credit to our board for sticking fat in the face of widespread nuftiism. Like I said after our loss to Fremantle last year, we should have signed Goodie up for another two years there and then. 

In no particular order

• We have the cattle with a good mix of young and experience. Top marks to the recruitment team
• Top notch coaching set-up. Goodwin now has the team around him to help him execute his vision and game plan
• Strength and conditioning. We are super fit. Burgess is the best in the business. He will be hard to replace.

I don’t think you can be successful without all of the above in place.

We are in great shape.

2 hours ago, Skuit said:

Like I said after our loss to Fremantle last year, we should have signed Goodie up for another two years there and then. 

Reckon you were a lone voice in the wilderness there.

I’m curious. What did you see in that defeat to make you want to offer a contract extension.

8 hours ago, P-man said:

We can all speculate til the cows come home on how or why the penny has finally dropped and there’s no “right” answer. There can however be a temptation to dig too deep or look for too complex an answer.

If I had to reel them off, the main reasons for the season performance to date would be:

• a greater fitness base across the playing group that enables better execution of positioning on the ground
• key players hitting a critical mass of games played, otherwise known as maturity 
• Lever and May finally getting a stretch of games together and filling a leadership void 
• a functioning forward line with Fritta playing well and T Mac playing angry
• a genuine appreciation of roles on the field.

Having game changers of the ilk of Trac and Claz certainly doesn’t hurt, but without the rest, they would be the cream on a non-existent cake.

The coaches deserve some credit for the above, obviously, but it is the players who deserve most of the plaudits. 

Look at Hawthorn currently. You can have the greatest coaching group in the world but you’re going nowhere if you don’t have the cattle who are capable and want to take ownership of the outcome..

That said, the job is still miles away from done.

Bang on however keep in mind North started like this 5 years ago and it amounted to nothing. The centre clearance issue is a huge concern. I hope we get that sorted quickly otherwise team will exploit that before long.

6 minutes ago, phuket demon said:

Bang on however keep in mind North started like this 5 years ago and it amounted to nothing. The centre clearance issue is a huge concern. I hope we get that sorted quickly otherwise team will exploit that before long.

Agreed that we need to fix the centre clearance issue, although with the personnel we have in there, it seems inevitable we will get that right.

I’m not worried about a North-like drop off, even as a chronically wary Demon supporter. Our talent level alone is streets ahead of North’s at that time.

North also had a legitimately soft draw at the start of that season. Many predicted their strong start on the ledger.  By comparison, our 8-0 start includes a domination of both last year’s grand finalists.

But one week at a time, etc etc ?

2019 draft where by we picked up Kossie and Johnson was a great get.  Picking up B.Brown and the resurgence of T.Mac and the pick up of Langdon were get plusses. Trac and Oliver along with Jordan has improved our midfield. May and Lever in defence are also great gets. Given all these players we should end up in the top four.

I started to get excited watching the Richmond practice game . I think it was the Richmond list manager  who commented during the game that Melbourne looked faster . The commentator said that the team plan was to move the ball quicker . The RFC coach said it wasn't that . He said that they looked faster over the ground . I thought if we can do that for the whole year it would make a difference .

11 hours ago, Craig Hutchinson said:

I started to get excited watching the Richmond practice game . I think it was the Richmond list manager  who commented during the game that Melbourne looked faster . The commentator said that the team plan was to move the ball quicker . The RFC coach said it wasn't that . He said that they looked faster over the ground . I thought if we can do that for the whole year it would make a difference .

Remember that too. Was sufficiently surprised to start hoping. The sustain factor has so often been the problem though. 

Our recruiting in both draft and trade has been exceptional with few errors, and to a deliberate plan, player types and competitive mindsets. 
Tomlinson

Langdon

May

Lever

Brown

all pieces in a deliberate build of a finals worth team, all good pick ups and good blokes. Only Harley Bennell was a fail, and it was a worthwhile low cost gamble. 

Jackson

Pickett

Rivers

From 2019 draft was like drawing three aces from a deck of cards, all now being walk up best 22 with big futures. 

Lots of reasons, lots of work and a bit of luck has gone into building this team to where they are today (capable of winning it), and it’s encouraging as we’ll need more to win a flag.

here’s hoping...

???

 

 

I think the two biggest things we have improved on which has made a huge difference, and neither are a measurable quantity.

BELIEF....in each other more than anything.  We have had some great players for years and i am sure they believed within themselves, just not so much in the players and structures around them.

TRUST...in each other, the game plan, and all our coaches.  Why we were so often in the past like bees to the honeypot was a complete lack of trust.  We now hold our structures to have players as options in many different positions for an outlet or quick transition.

The last one i would like to add that i think is also important!

SIMPLICITY....in our gameplan.  It has been clarified that players actually understand what they are required to do in all 3 phases of the game.  Players no longer drift through games waiting for their moment/s.  It is a team effort and every player is depending on their mate to either win the ball back, hold structure or run to create options.  The players have bought into all these things.

I can imagine Williams coming into our club and saying to our players that Richmond where/are no better than we "could" be. They built their belief and their confidence surged, Williams would look at our list and drool, perhaps even better than the Richmond and Port Adelaide teams he had a part in that won flags.  Listening to the way the players speak about him, and the way he talks during interviews, my guess would be he is building on these intangibles of belief and trust and is the refreshing voice our players needed to play the way they are.  

I remember not so long ago Blues tagged as bruise free. We have come a long way, and we could be building something special.  Starting to believe and trust in my team makes each game a pleasure to watch.   It feels like the start of a dynasty....not that i would know what that feels like!

Aborted post.

Edited May 14, 20213 yr by Skuit