Mid Season Report Card

[Demonland 64,789]

MELBOURNE
Couldn’t have been any more impressive with 10 wins from 11 and the only defeat by a solitary point. The Demons have discovered balance, the inside ball-winning ability now complemented by some outside run and far more efficient work up forward. Clayton Oliver leads the AFL Coaches award by a street, Max Gawn is a tremendous leader, the Christians Petracca and Salem superb, Steven May and Jake Lever imposing in defence and Tom McDonald reborn in attack. Best flag chance for 57 years.
Mark: A+

BRISBANE: A

SYDNEY: A

WESTERN BULLDOGS: A

ESSENDON: B

GEELONG: B

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY: B

PORT ADELAIDE: B-

ADELAIDE: C

GOLD COAST: C

RICHMOND: C

FREMANTLE: C-

WEST COAST: C-

CARLTON: D

NORTH MELBOURNE: D

HAWTHORN: D-

ST KILDA: D-

COLLINGWOOD: E

[WalkingCivilWar 31,399]

7 minutes ago, Demonland said:

MELBOURNE
Couldn’t have been any more impressive with 10 wins from 11 and the only defeat by a solitary point. The Demons have discovered balance, the inside ball-winning ability now complemented by some outside run and far more efficient work up forward. Clayton Oliver leads the AFL Coaches award by a street, Max Gawn is a tremendous leader, the Christians Petracca and Salem superb, Steven May and Jake Lever imposing in defence and Tom McDonald reborn in attack. Best flag chance for 57 years.
Mark: A+

Essendon got a B! How can this be accurate??? Maybe it is but my all-encompassing red-hot hate for them tends to cloud my judgement. Even so, a B?!?!

[whatwhat say what 18,909]

8 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Essendon got a B! How can this be accurate??? Maybe it is but my all-encompassing red-hot hate for them tends to cloud my judgement. Even so, a B?!?!

ask yourself...who does ro-co go for?

given that they're doing significantly better than was expected, a b rating sounds about right i think

win against the tiges are take their spot in the 8 on saturday evening and ro-co will bump that b to an a no questions asked

[Dee Zephyr 17,428]

3 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Essendon got a B! How can this be accurate??? Maybe it is but my all-encompassing red-hot hate for them tends to cloud my judgement. Even so, a B?!?!

They are much loved WCW, lots of talk about  the Baby Bombers 2.0 or 3.0 whatever they were labeled after their win in the west.They had 3 players under 22 against the Eagles. In fact, us and the Dogs fielded much younger teams than them last weekend. Let the spin continue.

[BDA 20,035]

21 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Essendon got a B! How can this be accurate??? Maybe it is but my all-encompassing red-hot hate for them tends to cloud my judgement. Even so, a B?!?!

He's an Essendon supporter and typical of Essendon supporters he's getting ahead of himself

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,394]

48 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Essendon got a B! How can this be accurate??? Maybe it is but my all-encompassing red-hot hate for them tends to cloud my judgement. Even so, a B?!?!

Connolly makes clear in his article that his rating is based not just on performance (that's what the ladder tells you) but incorporates subjective assessment against pre-season expectations. I don't think before the season began anyone expected Essendon to be as advanced as they are.

[3183 Dee 2,602]

53 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Essendon got a B! How can this be accurate??? Maybe it is but my all-encompassing red-hot hate for them tends to cloud my judgement. Even so, a B?!?!

My hatred for them is also irrational! I don't know what it is about them (everything, actually), but I despise them. And I'm a Buddhist!

[WalkingCivilWar 31,399]

12 minutes ago, 3183 Dee said:

My hatred for them is also irrational! I don't know what it is about them (everything, actually), but I despise them. And I'm a Buddhist!

I know right? I’m sure one day in the future I’ll be lying on a prison psychiatrist’s couch saying something like, “but I had to kill him, doc, he was an Essendon supporter...”

And sadly, getting off scot free on the grounds of justifiable homicide isn’t gonna happen. It will never. Otherwise there’d be no Essendon supporters alive. ?

[Dr. Gonzo 22,412]

14 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Connolly makes clear in his article that his rating is based not just on performance (that's what the ladder tells you) but incorporates subjective assessment against pre-season expectations. I don't think before the season began anyone expected Essendon to be as advanced as they are.

True, many were predicting them for the spoon.

[Mickey 4,173]

14 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Connolly makes clear in his article that his rating is based not just on performance (that's what the ladder tells you) but incorporates subjective assessment against pre-season expectations. I don't think before the season began anyone expected Essendon to be as advanced as they are.

Then St Kilda should have an F. An unmitigated disaster for a team that was supposed to be topping up for a flag.

[BW511 2,242]

Don't know what is going on at the Saints, but boy are they insipid

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,579]

2 hours ago, Mickey said:

Then St Kilda should have an F. An unmitigated disaster for a team that was supposed to be topping up for a flag.

I think St Kilda are having the equivalent of our 2019 season, except they never showed the same promise as us in 2018 and probably arn't quite as bad as we were in 2019 (yet).

I'm actually find it quite satisfying how relatively bad they are going this season compared to the projected performance and expectations on us and then respectively at the start of the season.  I personally never rated them particularly highly last year and never rated us so meekly, but that's probably somwhat due to my own supporters bias and lack of objectivity and a jealousy that a reciently struggling opposition team could have overtaken our development.

On a similar note, I think it's interesting that Carlton have been rated so lowly this season.  Despite not putting the runs on the board win wise, their competitiveness in games suggests to me that they could be much closer to becoming genuinely threatening that the rating given suggests.  It's quite possible they cross a threshold in correcting a few deficiencies in the second half of the season and start reversing their fortunes.  I haven't really watched enough of them and Harry McKay to from a substantial oppinion, but I was impressed by the gutsy effort of McKay to not only stay on the ground, but make an impact kicking goals against us when clearly significantly injured and in pain.  Not that I really want them to do well, it's just a sense that I get.

I honestly haven't been that surprised by our performance this season.  The building blocks of the players mentioned by Connoly have been there a few seasons now and I'm just a little frustrated we didn't put it together like this last year, when we were pretty compeditive and should have/could have won games against Richmond, Geelong and the Lions, which would have created a much different story for 2020.  Still to almost go 11 straight this season is sensational and I'm just hoping that we can continue to get better, dominate the second half of the season in an even more convincing manner and the carry that form, belief and killer instinct all the way to that one day in September.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

[Forest Demon 4,681]

16 hours ago, 3183 Dee said:

My hatred for them is also irrational! I don't know what it is about them (everything, actually), but I despise them. And I'm a Buddhist!

I’m sure even the Dalai Lama himself hates Essendon

[Dr. Gonzo 22,412]

7 hours ago, Forest Demon said:

I’m sure even the Dalai Lama himself hates Essendon

The Dalai Lama has a long memory and will never excuse the actions of Wallis, Long, Hardwick, Solomon and the Johnsons in the 200 GF.

Edited June 4, 2021 by Dr. Gonzo

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,394]

4 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

The Dalai Lama has a long memory and will never excuse the actions of Wallis, Long, Hardwick, Solomon and the Johnsons in the 200 GF.

The 200 GF? That is a long time ago!

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,579]

9 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

The 200 GF? That is a long time ago!

Think it might have been played with a possum skin back then.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,394]

2 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Think it might have been played with a possum skin back then.

And here's a picture taken of the crowd cheering at the game