Jump to content

The seed that bore fruit! You reap what you sow

picket fence
picket fence
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

Posted

As we have a bye to assess our strategies and planning for next week, I revisited  one of my earlier training reports ( Feb 12 ) to see how the seeds planted are ready to bear a remarkable fruit in Finals 2021.I reprint for those of you who might have missed it Cheers PF

ORIGINALLY POSTED 12TH FEB

Ventured to Casey this morning to find the arena "bathed" in light. Thinking I might have stumbled on part two of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, I was somewhat intrigued to see that the lights at Casey had in fact been turned on!!

Warmups consisted more or less of similar to last Friday, before segueing into a full scale practice match between the navy blues and the royal blues. Unless you knew the numbers, the colors were somewhat indistinguishable!

Here is my report.

NO SHOWS,  VINEY, KOSSIE, BEN BROWN, HIBBO, JOEL SMITH??? There might have been others but being outside the ground again made it difficult to distinguish

LIMITED DUTIES    MITCH BROWN, SPARGO, GUS , MELKSHAM

MATCH REPORT   The match ups were interesting with the navy blues containing what I believe to be the probables against the possibles, although having said that players who made up most of last year’s  list were sprinkled between the two sides.

RANDOM HIGHLIGHTS AND A FEW LOW ONES AS WELL

Game split into 4 about 15-20 min quarters, stiff wind blowing northerly away from the city, umpires were AFL list, I hink.

Trent Rivers played well across HBF and has become more at home and composed with the footy.

Ed Langdon was all over it on the wing and won possession after possession.

Harry Petty was played down back and whilst he did a few nice things, was not noticeable. 

James Jordan has skills and played well in a variety of roles.

Vanders was back and was involved in a few bone jarring tackles and was his usual imposing self. At one stage Max took umbrage to his fierce tackling and let him know about it.

Clayton "Minestrone" Oliver was in everything and was the catalyst to so many clearances. His disposal was crisp and clean. It was between Max, Langdon and for BOG. The name "Minestrone" for me conjures up the fact that in one you get everything ... That was choo choo today!

L.J WOW ... has he come of age? Took  marks, kicked three goals, rucked, roved and was a catalyst - is ready to impose this year!

Harmes played ON BALL resting on a half forward flank and was back to his best. Expect to see him more in midfield this year.

Bailey Laurie and Jake Bowey -  take a bow recruiting team led by team Jason Taylor. Both are quick, decisive with hand and foot and both are excitment machines destined to play early this year, probably Bailey Laurie more so at this stage.

Fraser "The Freak" Rosman, WOW, Today took the MOTD and also kicked TGOTD. Was instrumental in some set ups and will play early. Faded towards the end but ... is exciting.

Trac just cannot be tackled he is soooo elusive just reminds me of myself in my heyday LOL ... Played like he did last year.

Tom McDonald was quiet early (matched up against Steve May) but kicked 2 or 3 good goals.

Similar to last week where I singled out Chunky Jones, today it was NEV JETTA'S turn to wind back the clock with a really good display down back.

Fritta was fritta laconic BUT dangerous.

Max did as he liked and whilst this is good please God if he or Clarry gets injured >>>>> ?

Others to impress were Aaron Nietschke, will be a formidable ruckman, Jay Lockhart, Toby Bedford, Kade Chandler and Aaron Bradke, Hunt was busy of the hbf and Chunky decisive

POSITIVES   As above, plus plenty of endeavour skills seemed better under pressure and players looking for smart options, we should have plenty of scope for multi options and a very strong second tier who are sure to put pressure on for game day spots in the ones.

NEGATIVES  We still have issues with kick out strategies. other teams seem to be able to do this at will but we struggle and a few times played on only to bomb hopefully. we stiil will over rely on our core group , but i can see visible narrowing of superstars and next tier. Hitting targets under pressure needs to be the focus

No slitherers seen today thankfully 

Cheers PF

Edited by picket fence

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
    • Love 1
     

    Thanks for this excellent report.

    What an indictment of player development at the club.  The only player that seems to have improved since February is Harrison Petty.  😁

    And I cant resist but has Fritta become any more talkative?

    And can you check your training archives for that early Roos training session where Fitzpatrick? attempted to kick and missed the ball.  That would be a good read.

  • Quote
    • Author

    Not meant to be an indictment Jontee , in fact if you read between the lines and in subsequent reports I was very happy and saw discernable improvements in training quality, execution of skills, drills replicating real game scenarios and professional coaching and training standards by the players

    Edited by picket fence

  • Quote
    • Like 1
     

    Yep nice report...in stark contrast to the vitriol you sprout at Viney, Spargo and the rest of the team during any given Game Day thread the minute we are 2 goals down....but carry on.

    Edited by Wadda We Sing

  • Quote
    • Haha 2
    • Author
    1 hour ago, Wadda We Sing said:

    Yep nice report...in stark contrast to the vitriol you sprout at Viney, Spargo and the rest of the team during any given Game Day thread the minute we are 2 goals down....but carry on.

    If you read my comments re last game I iterated that it was Vineys Best game for a while and I also praised Spargo as well.... but carry on.

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    23 hours ago, picket fence said:

    Not meant to be an indictment Jontee , in fact if you read between the lines and in subsequent reports I was very happy and saw discernable improvements in training quality, execution of skills, drills replicating real game scenarios and professional coaching and training standards by the players

    If injury free and with a pre-season under his belt, where do you see Laurie slotting in Picket?

    Ive pictured him in the Sam Mitchell mould?

     

  • Quote
    • Author

    I think the Dees brains trust would have seen Laurie developing better this year than Bowey, but Laurie had quite a few setbacks with injury and therefore confidence. Bowey on the other hand has made every post a winner as we have seen. Laurie could be another Sam Mitchell as he has a nice skill set. Will be interesting to see what a big pre season creates for him next year

    Edited by picket fence

  • Quote
    • Like 2
    32 minutes ago, picket fence said:

    I think the Dees brains trust would have seen Laurie developing better this year than Bowey, but Laurie had quite a few setbacks with injury and therefore confidence. Bowey on the other hand has made every post a winner as we have seen. Laurie could be another Sam Mitchell as he has a nice skill set. Will be interesting to see what a big pre season creates for him next year

    They were my intitial thoughts PF. I'm certainly not over it to your extent but try and keep up. 

  • Quote
    •  

    Ahh, those pre-season reports were an age ago. Much appreciated, too, Mr Fence.

    Someone should ask the club  if there have been any slitherers out at Joondalup. We also need a rating on the pies/bacon and egg rolls.

    Bit of grassroots connection would be a nich touch while we're all going mad.

  • Quote

    • 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...
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • NON-MFC: Round 05

      Gather Round is here, kicking off with a Thursday night blockbuster as Adelaide faces Geelong. The Crows will be out for redemption after a controversial loss last week. Saturday starts with the Magpies taking on the Swans. Collingwood will be eager to cement their spot in the top eight, while Sydney is hot on their heels. In the Barossa Valley, two rising sides go head-to-head in a fascinating battle to prove they're the real deal. Later, Carlton and West Coast face off at Adelaide Oval, both desperate to notch their first win of the season. The action then shifts to Norwood, where the undefeated Lions will aim to keep their streak alive against the Bulldogs. Sunday’s games begin in the Barossa with Richmond up against Fremantle. In Norwood, the Saints will be looking to take a scalp when they come up against the Giants. The round concludes with a fiery rematch of last year's semi-final, as the Hawks seek revenge for their narrow loss to Port Adelaide. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons besides us winning?

      • 6 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Geelong

      There was a time in the second quarter of the game at the Cattery on Friday afternoon when the Casey Demons threatened to take the game apart against the Cats. The Demons had been well on top early but were struggling to convert their ascendancy over the ground until Tom Fullarton’s burst of three goals in the space of eight minutes on the way to a five goal haul and his best game for the club since arriving from Brisbane at the end of 2023. He was leading, marking and otherwise giving his opponents a merry dance as Casey grabbed a three goal lead in the blink of an eye. Fullarton has now kicked ten goals in Casey’s three matches and, with Melbourne’s forward conversion woes, he is definitely in with a chance to get his first game with the club in next week’s Gather Round in Adelaide. Despite the tall forward’s efforts - he finished with 19 disposals and eight marks and had four hit outs as back up to Will Verrall in the second half - it wasn’t enough as Geelong reigned in the lead through persistent attacks and eventually clawed their way to the lead early in the last and held it till they achieved the end aim of victory.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Geelong

      I was disappointed to hear Goody say at his post match presser after the team’s 39 point defeat against Geelong that "we're getting high quality entry, just poor execution" because Melbourne’s problems extend far beyond that after its 0 - 4 start to the 2025 football season. There are clearly problems with poor execution, some of which were evident well before the current season and were in play when the Demons met the Cats in early May last year and beat them in a near top-of-the-table clash that saw both sides sitting comfortably in the top four after round eight. Since that game, the Demons’ performances have been positively Third World with only five wins in 19 games with a no longer majestic midfield and a dysfunctional forward line that has become too easy for opposing coaches to counter. This is an area of their game that is currently being played out as if they were all completely panic-stricken.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Essendon

      Facing the very real and daunting prospect of starting the season with five straight losses, the Demons head to South Australia for the annual Gather Round, where they’ll take on the Bombers in search of their first win of the year. Who comes in, and who comes out?

        • Like
      • 210 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • NON-MFC: Round 04

      Round 4 kicks off with a blockbuster on Thursday night as traditional rivals Collingwood and Carlton clash at the MCG, with the Magpies looking to assert themselves as early-season contenders and the Blues seeking their first win of the season. Saturday opens with Gold Coast hosting Adelaide, a key test for the Suns as they aim to back up their big win last week, while the Crows will be looking to keep their perfect record intact. Reigning wooden spooners Richmond have the daunting task of facing reigning premiers Brisbane at the ‘G and the Lions will be eager to reaffirm their premiership credentials after a patchy start. Saturday night sees North Melbourne take on Sydney at Marvel Stadium, with the Swans looking to build on their first win of the season last week against a rebuilding Roos outfit. Sunday’s action begins with GWS hosting West Coast at ENGIE Stadium, a game that could get ugly very early for the visitors. Port Adelaide vs St Kilda at Adelaide Oval looms as a interesting clash, with both clubs form being very hard to read. The round wraps up with Fremantle taking on the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in what could be a fierce contest between two sides with top-eight ambitions. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons besides us winning?

      • 273 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Geelong

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 7th April @ the all new time of 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect another Demons loss at Kardinia Park to the Cats in the Round 04. 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. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human.

        • Thanks
      • 56 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland
    View All