Jump to content

Featured Replies

Be interesting to know where his good mate and fellow Western Australian heads at in Trent Rivers. Will he want to go back home to and if so can we package the 2 in a trade to Freo for some gun Victorian boys in Young, Serong etc I understand they are all contracted but worth asking the question.

 

IMO Jackson will be a better player than Darcy in a couple more years. Darcy will be gettable but probably not this year. 

I had a conversation with Jason Taylor at the President's Club on Friday night. He played a pretty straight bat.

Me - "What's Dogga doing next year?"

JT - "He's going okay, isn't he."

I asked him again.

JT - "We'll be good either way."

Me - "How would Freo even come close to doing a deal if he does go? They'd have to get another club involved."

JT - "We've been having these conversations for a while now. We'll do well out of it."

 

His rucking was hopeless on Friday night. Kept mis-timing his leap

8 minutes ago, Tough Kent said:

I had a conversation with Jason Taylor at the President's Club on Friday night. He played a pretty straight bat.

Me - "What's Dogga doing next year?"

JT - "He's going okay, isn't he."

I asked him again.

JT - "We'll be good either way."

Me - "How would Freo even come close to doing a deal if he does go? They'd have to get another club involved."

JT - "We've been having these conversations for a while now. We'll do well out of it."

Thanks for posting.

Hopefully this sheds some light to those who keep banging on about Freo not being able to come to the party.

Trading picks has been around for how long now? I can only assume many supporters on here aren't aware of that given the angst.

The possibilities are many, people need to relax.


13 hours ago, old dee said:

Might be a champion in the future but right now he is an ordinary second ruck. Numerous second ruckman around the competition are producing a lot more. I reckon the Weid contributes as much when he has been second ruck.

Take out a good 10 minutes in the GF and he's nothing to write home about. 

Whilst this year is clearly still in play for a flag, I'm already excited for the off-season to see what moves we'll make.

Nothing much has changed this year from last as far as game-style and personnel go (bar the last couple of weeks with Melksham's inclusion and Gus going through the middle), which has given every other club a chance to go to town on us from last year to this year. Next year is a chance to tinker with personnel and game-plan (slightly) given the hand we'll have from Jackson leaving. We should be excited, it's come at the best possible time for us.

A few others made mention of Richmond targeting Lynch post 2018 and what his inclusion helped bring. Two flags.

We're in the same boat. We are so strong in so many facets but I think we're a couple of players short of being unstoppable.

Contest and defence won't stop. That's our foundation. But I really dislike it when posters talk down our obvious forwardline/half struggles. The notion that it doesn't matter how many goals we kick if we're keeping teams under 60 points a game is a silly one and our losses to Collingwood last week and the Dogs a few weeks ago is the evidence. Our defensive system is not always humming so we need to make the most of our opportunities going forward and this off-season is the time to address that.

Our biggest weakness is most obviously our inefficiency going forward as well as converting shots at goal in general play, regardless of the area we are sometimes instructed to kick due to our game-plan. Upgrade on personnel is vital. You can't tell me if we had McKay and Curnow instead of Brown and a resting ruckman we wouldn't be more lethal. Similarly some of our second string rotational players. Goody has a difficult task of looking at players like ANB, Harmes, Jordan and Sparrow and deciding whether we could replace one of them with someone with different strengths.

ANB brings so much off the ball. But we could have a player with slightly less gut-running ability and more potency with ball in hand. 

I look at what Geelong have done and they look like a completely different team with only minimal tweaks. The inclusion of a fit and firing Cameron and Stengle from this year alone. They look impenetrable.

So many times our inability to convert and connect going inside 50 has undone all our hard defensive and contest work. It burns us the other way because we've worked so hard going forward. We've had so many opportunities to bury teams once being up and simply haven't been able to mainly due to skill errors and poor execution. 

Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw. They're never losing a hard ball. Langdon's running ability is amazing for an outside player. Jordan solid in his role. Sparrow, Harmes, ANB all handy with ANB being exceptional for his off the ball running ability.

But one thing they all have in common is their inconsistent ball use and composure. We simply need to even up the ledger and add some players into the mix who use the ball really well so that at times we can pull the trigger and not always have to play default safe down the line as our game-plan wants. This is especially important given how predictable we are now in the way we play and what opposition teams are expecting. If you have a player with better ball use and composure. They're going to hit some kicks at angles and through the middle on occasions that could really give us great looks.

A genuine contested marking/goal kicking threat and a couple of dynamic X-factor players with class who can still play a half-forward role/mid rotation is what we're screaming out for. Address this and we're golden.  

Edited by JimmyGadson

23 minutes ago, JimmyGadson said:

Whilst this year is clearly still in play for a flag, I'm already excited for the off-season to see what moves we'll make.

Nothing much has changed this year from last as far as game-style and personnel go (bar the last couple of weeks with Melksham's inclusion and Gus going through the middle), which has given every other club a chance to go to town on us from last year to this year. Next year is a chance to tinker with personnel and game-plan (slightly) given the hand we'll have from Jackson leaving. We should be excited, it's come at the best possible time for us.

A few others made mention of Richmond targeting Lynch post 2018 and what his inclusion helped bring. Two flags.

We're in the same boat. We are so strong in so many facets but I think we're a couple of players short of being unstoppable.

Contest and defence won't stop. That's our foundation. But I really dislike it when posters talk down our obvious forwardline/half struggles. The notion that it doesn't matter how many goals we kick if we're keeping teams under 60 points a game is a silly one and our losses to Collingwood last week and the Dogs a few weeks ago is the evidence. Our defensive system is not always humming so we need to make the most of our opportunities going forward and this off-season is the time to address that.

Our biggest weakness is most obviously our inefficiency going forward as well as converting shots at goal in general play, regardless of the area we are sometimes instructed to kick due to our game-plan. Upgrade on personnel is vital. You can't tell me if we had McKay and Curnow instead of Brown and a resting ruckman we wouldn't be more lethal. Similarly some of our second string rotational players. Goody has a difficult task of looking at players like ANB, Harmes, Jordan and Sparrow and deciding whether we could replace one of them with someone with different strengths.

ANB brings so much off the ball. But we could have a player with slightly less gut-running ability and more potency with ball in hand. 

I look at what Geelong have done and they look like a completely different team with only minimal tweaks. The inclusion of a fit and firing Cameron and Stengle from this year alone. They look impenetrable.

So many times our inability to convert and connect going inside 50 has undone all our hard defensive and contest work. It burns us the other way because we've worked so hard going forward. We've had so many opportunities to bury teams once being up and simply haven't been able to mainly due to skill errors and poor execution. 

Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw. They're never losing a hard ball. Langdon's running ability is amazing for an outside player. Jordan solid in his role. Sparrow, Harmes, ANB all handy with ANB being exceptional for his off the ball running ability.

But one thing they all have in common is their inconsistent ball use and composure. We simply need to even up the ledger and add some players into the mix who use the ball really well so that at times we can pull the trigger and not always have to play default safe down the line as our game-plan wants. This is especially important given how predictable we are now in the way we play and what opposition teams are expecting. If you have a player with better ball use and composure. They're going to hit some kicks at angles and through the middle on occasions that could really give us great looks.

A genuine contested marking/goal kicking threat and a couple of dynamic X-factor players with class who can still play a half-forward role/mid rotation is what we're screaming out for. Address this and we're golden.  

A good post in the wrong thread. We shouldn’t lose out if Jackson leaves, and the above puts some meat on that bone.

 
1 hour ago, Tough Kent said:

I had a conversation with Jason Taylor at the President's Club on Friday night. He played a pretty straight bat.

Me - "What's Dogga doing next year?"

JT - "He's going okay, isn't he."

I asked him again.

JT - "We'll be good either way."

Me - "How would Freo even come close to doing a deal if he does go? They'd have to get another club involved."

JT - "We've been having these conversations for a while now. We'll do well out of it."

Excellent. It's been my opinion all along that we lose the trade as soon as he elects to leave, however we should get decent compensation. It's reassuring to know that JT feels good about it. There will be a number of posters on here who will cry about us 'losing the trade' (which we will. Jackson is a great talent) but will get a few good picks out of it which JT no doubt has lined up as some good kids.

Also, Jackson moving will free up the salary we had planned for him. If we can use that cash to get a free agent like Amon then we might come out ahead in the end.

17 minutes ago, JimmyGadson said:

Whilst this year is clearly still in play for a flag, I'm already excited for the off-season to see what moves we'll make.

Nothing much has changed this year from last as far as game-style and personnel go (bar the last couple of weeks with Melksham's inclusion and Gus going through the middle), which has given every other club a chance to go to town on us from last year to this year. Next year is a chance to tinker with personnel and game-plan (slightly) given the hand we'll have from Jackson leaving. We should be excited, it's come at the best possible time for us.

A few others made mention of Richmond targeting Lynch post 2018 and what his inclusion helped bring. Two flags.

We're in the same boat. We are so strong in so many facets but I think we're a couple of players short of being unstoppable.

Contest and defence won't stop. That's our foundation. But I really dislike it when posters talk down our obvious forwardline/half struggles. The notion that it doesn't matter how many goals we kick if we're keeping teams under 60 points a game is a silly one and our losses to Collingwood last week and the Dogs a few weeks ago is the evidence. Our defensive system is not always humming so we need to make the most of our opportunities going forward and this off-season is the time to address that.

Our biggest weakness is most obviously our inefficiency going forward as well as converting shots at goal in general play, regardless of the area we are sometimes instructed to kick due to our game-plan. Upgrade on personnel is vital. You can't tell me if we had McKay and Curnow instead of Brown and a resting ruckman we wouldn't be more lethal. Similarly some of our second string rotational players. Goody has a difficult task of looking at players like ANB, Harmes, Jordan and Sparrow and deciding whether we could replace one of them with someone with different strengths.

ANB brings so much off the ball. But we could have a player with slightly less gut-running ability and more potency with ball in hand. 

I look at what Geelong have done and they look like a completely different team with only minimal tweaks. The inclusion of a fit and firing Cameron and Stengle from this year alone. They look impenetrable.

So many times our inability to convert and connect going inside 50 has undone all our hard defensive and contest work. It burns us the other way because we've worked so hard going forward. We've had so many opportunities to bury teams once being up and simply haven't been able to mainly due to skill errors and poor execution. 

Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw. They're never losing a hard ball. Langdon's running ability is amazing for an outside player. Jordan solid in his role. Sparrow, Harmes, ANB all handy with ANB being exceptional for his off the ball running ability.

But one thing they all have in common is their inconsistent ball use and composure. We simply need to even up the ledger and add some players into the mix who use the ball really well so that at times we can pull the trigger and not always have to play default safe down the line as our game-plan wants. This is especially important given how predictable we are now in the way we play and what opposition teams are expecting. If you have a player with better ball use and composure. They're going to hit some kicks at angles and through the middle on occasions that could really give us great looks.

A genuine contested marking/goal kicking threat and a couple of dynamic X-factor players with class who can still play a half-forward role/mid rotation is what we're screaming out for. Address this and we're golden.  

Great analysis @JimmyGadson.

The foundations of our game - contest and defence - are in great shape and will set us up for multiple shots at the flag. Regardless of what happens this year, Dees fans should be excited for what this club can do over the next five years. 
 

Having said that, every great team needs to continually evolve their game-plan and upgrade their personnel - particularly when you’re the reigning premiers and other teams are so focused on picking you apart. 
 

Clearly the biggest chinks in our armour are a lack of a pack crashing key forward who can take a contested mark and bring the ball to ground, and classy ball users who can deliver the ball inside 50. Obviously if we dominate general play to the extent that we did in last years finals series and the Brisbane and Freo games, we can put on large scores without those personnel. But as we’re finding out this year, that isn’t always going to be the case.

That is why regardless of what happens this year, this off season could be so exciting presuming that Jackson leaves. We would be in good stead to bring in players who could address these needs - like Richmond in 2018 - and re-prime ourselves for more tilts at the flag.

Obviously this is all easier said than done, and we don’t know what the trade landscape will look like at seasons end, but there is still enormous upside with this group!


1 hour ago, Tough Kent said:

I had a conversation with Jason Taylor at the President's Club on Friday night. He played a pretty straight bat.

Me - "What's Dogga doing next year?"

JT - "He's going okay, isn't he."

I asked him again.

JT - "We'll be good either way."

Me - "How would Freo even come close to doing a deal if he does go? They'd have to get another club involved."

JT - "We've been having these conversations for a while now. We'll do well out of it."

This is why, as much as I'll be disappointed he leaves (but understand of his circumstance), I'll be fairly excited what the Jason Taylor/Tim Lamb combo can produce.

If we're a able to get an early draft pick or two and recruit another Pickett/Jackson like gems that can come in and impact straight away then it's a win in my eyes.

If we can get a key forward early or an elite midfielder with class, then it'll go a long way to making sure we're in contention for the next few years at least.

1 minute ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This is why, as much as I'll be disappointed he leaves (but understand of his circumstance), I'll be fairly excited what the Jason Taylor/Tim Lamb combo can produce.

If we're a able to get an early draft pick or two and recruit another Pickett/Jackson like gems that can come in and impact straight away then it's a win in my eyes.

If we can get a key forward early or an elite midfielder with class, then it'll go a long way to making sure we're in contention for the next few years at least.

Add a ruck to that otherwise we could be in big trouble.

Our ruck lineup next year could be - Gawn.... that's it.

1 hour ago, JimmyGadson said:

 

A genuine contested marking/goal kicking threat and a couple of dynamic X-factor players with class who can still play a half-forward role/mid rotation is what we're screaming out for. Address this and we're golden.  

Great overall post Jimmy and particularly been thinking about your point above the last 24 hours. I think we are a few out in our balance of X factor vs blue collar role players. No disrespect to the following but we need to shift a few of Melksham, ANB, Spargo, Jordon, Sparrow. They are quality hardworking role players but we need some more spark and polish. 

23 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Add a ruck to that otherwise we could be in big trouble.

Our ruck lineup next year could be - Gawn.... that's it.

I think we have to look at someone like a Lloyd Meek, Sam Hayes and Matt Flynn to come in and play a support role next year. 

There's no doubt we have to recruit a developing ruck in the national draft as well. 

I'd even add a delisted free agent just for extra insurance. 

Edited by dazzledavey36

8 minutes ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

Great overall post Jimmy and particularly been thinking about your point above the last 24 hours. I think we are a few out in our balance of X factor vs blue collar role players. No disrespect to the following but we need to shift a few of Melksham, ANB, Spargo, Jordon, Sparrow. They are quality hardworking role players but we need some more spark and polish. 

Melksham has plenty of class but not much gas left in the tank

Spargo likewise is one of the classiest players we have but doesn't get a heap of the ball 

ANB & Sparrow are the two biggest issues for mine

Suspect Bowey also comes in for Hibberd this week

Edited by adonski


Just now, adonski said:

Melksham has plenty of class but not much gas left in the tank

Spargo likewise is one of the classiest players we have but doesn't get a heap of the ball 

ANB & Sparrow are the two biggest issues for mine

One thing that frustrated me about our entries on Friday…the number of times Spargs was completely open in the forward line and he was just ignored. 

There’s one way to get his possession rate up…use him instead of dump kicking it to our outnumbered and outsized fwd line.

4 hours ago, Hunt29 said:

IMO Jackson will be a better player than Darcy in a couple more years. Darcy will be gettable but probably not this year. 

Darcy will be gettable? Really? What's this based on? A F/S rarely goes.

4 hours ago, JimmyGadson said:

Thanks for posting.

Hopefully this sheds some light to those who keep banging on about Freo not being able to come to the party.

Trading picks has been around for how long now? I can only assume many supporters on here aren't aware of that given the angst.

The possibilities are many, people need to relax.

Well, hang on. Where does he say Jackson goes to Freo? He doesn't. He allegedly says they've been having these conversations for a while. Not the same thing. Your interpretation is often what happens on Demonland and becomes gospel.

I'm not saying he isn't referring to pick swaps, but it's certainly not certain that he means Freo are involved.

Having worked with a few politicians now, unless someone specifically states something, they'll give themselves room to move. Bit like Goody in his press conference this week in the lead up to the game RE Harmes being selected. The journalists made the assumption and Goody didn't bother correcting him.

Edited by A F

 

8 minutes ago, A F said:

Darcy will be gettable? Really? What's this based on? A F/S rarely goes.

Sean Darcy from Freo is from Cobden Victoria

16 minutes ago, Damo said:

 

Sean Darcy from Freo is from Cobden Victoria

Gotcha. Derps. Thought the post meant Bulldogs' Darcy...

Edited by A F


Jackson reminds me of Grundy. An undersized ruckman.

I think paying massive overs for him isn't justified. Good luck to Freo if they go down that path.

16 hours ago, A F said:

Darcy will be gettable? Really? What's this based on? A F/S rarely goes.

I was talking about Sean Darcy. I reckon Jackson will end up a better player and Darcy will be gettable in next couple years. 

22 hours ago, Tough Kent said:

Me - "How would Freo even come close to doing a deal if he does go? They'd have to get another club involved."

JT - "We've been having these conversations for a while now. We'll do well out of it."

It’s amazing how one little word says so much. 
Had JT said “we’d” (we would) instead of “we’ll” (we will), there’d still be a question.

 
31 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

It’s amazing how one little word says so much. 
Had JT said “we’d” (we would) instead of “we’ll” (we will), there’d still be a question.

It's only the supporters with their head in the sand who believe that Jackson hasn't made his decision to leave. And that includes those who think he'll stay if Melbourne aren't adequately compensated. 

I've said all along that our Football Dept / List Management team have always been forward thinking around the trade and draft periods. They like to get deals done early so that they can move on to the next deal. They're not like Dodo at Essendon, who will hold out just so that he thinks he's won the deal. 

I have faith in Tim Lamb and JT, and believe that they understand what a realistic trade with Freo looks like. And they'll use that draft capital to broker other deals. They wouldn't be wasting everyone's time by making ambit claims for Andy B, Young or Serong, as some suggest they should. 

23 hours ago, Redlagged said:

Take out a good 10 minutes in the GF and he's nothing to write home about. 

I hope SWYL doesn't read this post.

He thinks we only won the flag because Jackson played the best quarter of footy in living memory, and that he's going to be the best player of all time.

On a side note, Nathan Buckley on SEN has urged us to ask for Griffen Logue  in return and thinks he could significantly improve our forward line next year.


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

  • GAMEDAY: West Coast

    It's Game Day and the Demons have a chance to notch up their third consecutive win — something they haven’t done since Round 5, 2024. But to do it, they’ll need to exorcise the Demons of last year’s disastrous trip out West. Can the Dees continue their momentum, right the wrongs of that fateful clash, and take another step up the ladder on the road to redemption?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 36 replies
    Demonland
  • FEATURE: 1925

    A hundred years ago today, on 2 May 1925, Melbourne kicked off the new season with a 47 point victory over St Kilda to take top place on the VFL ladder after the opening round of the new season.  Top place was a relatively unknown position for the team then known as the “Fuchsias.” They had finished last in 1923 and rose by only one place in the following year although the final home and away round heralded a promise of things to come when they surprised the eventual premiers Essendon. That victory set the stage for more improvement and it came rapidly. In this series, I will tell the story of how the 1925 season unfolded for the Melbourne Football Club and how it made the VFL finals for the first time in a decade on the way to the ultimate triumph a year later.

      • Love
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREVIEW: West Coast

    Saturday’s election night game in Perth between the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne represents 18th vs 15th which makes it a tough decision as to which party to favour. The Eagles have yet to break the ice under their new coach in Andrew McQualter who is the second understudy in a row to confront Demon Coach Simon Goodwin who was also winless until a fortnight ago. On that basis, many punters might be considering to go with the donkey vote but I’ve been assigned with the task of helping readers to come to a considered opinion on this matter of vital importance across the nation. It was almost a year ago that I wrote a preview here of the Demons’ away game against the Eagles (under the name William from Waalitj because it was Indigenous Round).  I issued a warning that it was a danger game, based on my local knowledge that the home team were no longer easybeats and that they possessed a wunderkind generational player in Harley Reid who was capable of producing stellar performances playing among men a decade and more older than he.  At the time, the Eagles already had two wins off the back of a couple of the young man’s masterclasses and they had recently given the Bombers a scare straight after their Anzac Day blockbuster draw against the then reigning premiers.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 1 reply
    Demonland
  • NON-MFC: Round 08

    Round 08 of the 2025 AFL Season kicks off on Thursday with a must-win game for the Bombers to stay in touch with the top eight, while the struggling Roos seek a morale-boosting upset. Friday sees the Saints desperate for a win as well if they are to stay in finals contention and their opponents the Dockers will be eager to crack in to the Top 8 with a win on the road. Saturday kicks off with a pivotal clash for both sides asthe Bulldogs look to solidify their top-eight spot, while Port seeks to shake their pretender tag. Then the Crows will be looking to steady their topsy turvy season against a resurgent Blues looking to make it 4 wins on the trot. On Election Night a Blockbuster will see the ladder-leading Pies take on the Cats, who are keen to bounce back after a narrow loss. On Sunday the Sydney Derby promises fireworks as the Giants aim to cement their top-eight status, while the Swans fight to keep their season alive. The Hawks, celebrating their centenary, will be looking to easily account for the Tigers who are desperate to halt their slide. The Round concludes on Sunday Night with a top end of the table QClash with significant ladder implications; both Queensland teams are in scintillating form. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons?

    • 156 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: West Coast

    The Demons hit the road in Round 8, heading to Perth to face the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. With momentum building, the Dees will be aiming for a third straight victory to keep their season revival on course. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
    • 563 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Richmond

    The fans who turned up to the MCG for Melbourne’s Anzac Day Eve clash against Richmond would have been disappointed if they turned up to see a great spectacle. As much as this was a night for the 71,635 in attendance to commemorate heroes of the nation’s past wars, it was also a time for the Melbourne Football Club to consolidate upon its first win after a horrific start to the 2025 season. On this basis, despite the fact that it was an uninspiring and dour struggle for most of its 100 minutes, the night will be one for the fans to remember. They certainly got value out of the pre match activity honouring those who fought for their country. The MCG and the lights of the city as backdrop was made for nights such as these and, in my view, we received a more inspirational ceremony of Anzac culture than others both here and elsewhere around the country. 

      • Love
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland