Just now, NeveroddoreveN said:

Time to switch the script from being the hunted to being the hunters.   We have been way too accommodating lately playing a slow predictable brand.   Manic pressure, a constantly moving forward line and we should still win enough games to play finals.

The switch needs to get flicked on with this mob, we can't cruise to finals without playing a finals type brand in regular season  games now.   Needs to be a lift from the entire team....Don't let this opportunity slip Demons!

Agree with all that.

The last 3 weeks, Freo, Sydney and Collingwood have all played at grand final like intensity (maybe less so Sydney) and have hunted and harassed us like nothing we'd seen in the first 10 rounds. Contrast that to the St Kilda game with their meek and mild first half against us.

As you said, we need to flick the switch, start playing finals type footy and get our methodology right which Goodwin mentioned about 8 times in the post game presser.

If ever Jacko had a perfect opportunity to press his claim for a juicy contract, this is it. 

If ever Weid is going to step the F up, this is it. 

If ever we are going to prove we are not the sum of one player, this is it. 

It sucks, but let’s not look at this as “we are [censored]ed” but look at it as the new Melbourne and say “bring on the challenge”. Rest up skip, get yourself right for the pointy end. 

41 minutes ago, one_demon said:

This is really bad.  Yes we have a very good backup ruckman but it's the work Gawn does around the ground that hurts the opposition 

Yes true. But Max has had a great run given the punishment he has been meted out over the past 12 months. I always had a feeling of doom watching Max each week wondering when he was going to come down with a serious injury. Most of the time, I have been thinking “knee.”

He has needed a rest for some time. He has looked spent for weeks. Now he has an enforced rest with a serious injury that will need time to heal. There will be no rushing him back. 

There has been no doubt that there have been a number of games this year when Max’s on field presence has been the difference. That will be missed along with his leadership, inspiration and ability to lift the team. Testing times ahead. 

 

23 minutes ago, von said:

It’s not the max injury in isolation but the trend of injuries coming through consistently and it’s effect on our ability to play out games on top of coming into loading. Max is the icing on the cake hopefully. Hard to get everything lined up for a strong run home from here I think. All good. We have a five year window with this squad and lots can and will happen. 

Bar the Harmes injury, all have been joint / concussion (Smith, Salem, Gawn, Tmac, Lever, May and now Max) which are a little more luck than training / loading.

We are now without Gawn for a few weeks, but aside from him and Tmac we are full strength football side with an upcoming ruck star (i get the jury is still out on that). 

Ideally we would be able to have a straight swap for both of these with reasonable depth, we don't. LJ must take the load now and im not sure he's completely ready for the challenge purely from a fitness standpoint.

40 minutes ago, layzie said:

Well that's just it, sometimes from these moments you're forced to shift to a new setup that catches teams by surprise with it's unpredictability. Remember when Cam Pedersen had to stand in for Max around 5 years ago? For the short term the opposition never knew what to expect at bounces and it actually benefited us.

 

Agree. We have been very predictable for a while, even kicking out from goal always to a pack on the left. It has hurt our quick ball movement and along with our fumbling, has caused heavy turnover scores against  us.

Max, Turner and M.Brown out with  May, Tomlinson and Weid in. May does what he does down back and Tomlinson and Weid help LJ out in the ruck.

The rest of the guys obviously need to lift.

I would drop Chandler and get Bedford and Hunt back to inject some more pace. Maybe ANB has a rest for a week.

Why not try Bedford and Hunt in the middle here and there or on a wing, as outside mids, to get some run from the clearance. Viney and Oliver get the ball to them and they take off. Something a bit different that catches the opposition off guard.

Hopefully Rivers is back soon too and Bowey maybe gets a week off to refresh. He is still young and a week off wouldn’t hurt him.

We don’t change the whole game plan, but rather get back to our manic pressure and just change it up a bit, which with Max out will happen anyway.

Go Dees!

I don't know Majak's current status, but I have watched every VFL game this year and he generally dominates the tap outs, regularly takes pack marks and plays a decent four quarters. He looks very fit to me. I can't see why you would hold him back when he was recruited for this very reason!

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Very disappointing  news re: Max. Hopefully it's more 4 weeks than 8.

With regards to the short break, the AFL were always going to put us and Brisbane on the Thursday night (next week) as both clubs were coming off the bye.

They couldn't put Dogs and Hawthorn on Thursday night as Bulldogs have already had a 5 day break. I'd imagine they also didn't want West Coast V Essendon as a stand alone fixture on a Thursday night given how terrible both sides are.

And there was no way for televise purposes, that Melbourne V Brisbane was going to be anything other than a Thursday or Friday night.

The AFL runs an 18 team competition. Unfortunately it doesn't exist just for Melbourne.

 

 

 

 

Do you work for the AFL?

Now is the time for the Coaches to all work together and devise a new Game Plan. 
 

we either lie down or fight through this

Every team should have the same bye length 

this is really poor 

The fixture is just a total shambles but i am sure the AFL couldn’t give a stuff

5 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Now is the time for the Coaches to all work together and devise a new Game Plan. 
 

we either lie down or fight through this

You are absolutely correct SWYL it’s backs to the walls now that we have lost the skipper and Turner out for four. We need to get Weid, Daw and Steven May into the side and use Thommo as the Medical sub. We need to get bigger, tougher and harder. We saw that our top 6 players last week were our highest ranking 6 for 2022, now need Sparrow, Kozzie, Spargs, ANB, Langdon and Salem up to their best. Also Rivers needs to come back into the side for his run and carry. This is action stations if you want to wear the Red and Blue.!!!

Ad astra per aspera.

Took us 57 years of pain, suffering and persistence to win a premiership. Made it all the sweeter because of it.

People writing us off left, right and centre, from within and without. Media types gleefully pulling out the stereotypical tropes about the club and its supporters, casting aspersions and salivating at the rise and fall narrative. Doubts over injuries, illness, form, hunger, method, whatever.

Bring it on.

Goody and the team need not look far for a simple purpose and motivation, now forged in fire, to succeed. Bunker down and prove ‘em all wrong, Dees; through adversity comes strength and triumph.

2 hours ago, OhMyDees said:

We really did have a great run with injuries in 2021.

The combination of a drop off in form, loading, injuries to key players and a very hard remaining fixture  - starting to feel like it may not be our 

I think we come out and beat the lions without our captain and  all of a sudden we will look invincible again.. 

32 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

I don't know Majak's current status, but I have watched every VFL game this year and he generally dominates the tap outs, regularly takes pack marks and plays a decent four quarters. He looks very fit to me. I can't see why you would hold him back when he was recruited for this very reason!

Daw has missed several matches for reasons that have not been stated which puts a question mark over expecting him to be in the team.  I too have watched every Casey game and felt Daw was not anywhere near as useful as you state.  Maybe he could stand at FF and at least make life difficult for defenders in the air.

Edited June 15, 20222 yr by sue

Given the treatment he cops every week, Max was a ticking time bomb to get hurt in some fashion - so not unexpected, but still not an easy pill to swallow. However, I’m gutted for Disco Turner, who will obviously now remember his first game for all the wrong reasons. We wish both a quick mend.

1 minute ago, sue said:

Daw has missed several matches for reasons that have not been stated which puts a question mark over expecting him to be in the team.  I too have watched every Casey game and felt Daw was not anywhere near as useful as you state.  Maybe he could stand at FF and at least make life difficult for denfenders in the air.

Daw is a training partner for Max and our other Ruckmen. He is lucky to be alive. I would be staggered if his body could play in the Senior Side again 

35 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Agree. We have been very predictable for a while, even kicking out from goal always to a pack on the left. It has hurt our quick ball movement and along with our fumbling, has caused heavy turnover scores against  us.

Max, Turner and M.Brown out with  May, Tomlinson and Weid in. May does what he does down back and Tomlinson and Weid help LJ out in the ruck.

The rest of the guys obviously need to lift.

I would drop Chandler and get Bedford and Hunt back to inject some more pace. Maybe ANB has a rest for a week.

Why not try Bedford and Hunt in the middle here and there or on a wing, as outside mids, to get some run from the clearance. Viney and Oliver get the ball to them and they take off. Something a bit different that catches the opposition off guard.

Hopefully Rivers is back soon too and Bowey maybe gets a week off to refresh. He is still young and a week off wouldn’t hurt him.

We don’t change the whole game plan, but rather get back to our manic pressure and just change it up a bit, which with Max out will happen anyway.

Go Dees!

Not sure how you get back that manic pressure when our opponents are bringing more manic pressure each week than we are. Our pressure and run on the overlap are down. I can’t see how it can just reappear. It may be a combination of mental and physical fatigue over 12 months, training loads, the relentless pressure each week. Mental fatigue brings with it physical fatigue. The team effectively conquered Everest in 2021. It’s hard to do that twice particularly in successive years. It’s almost impossible to maintain that edge or appetite. That’s why talking of dynasties was always going to be premature and unwise. We are facing other teams that are playing with the energy and dare that we had in the latter half of 2021. 

I just reckon that the team looks fatigued. We look slow in mind and body. 

Time will tell. They need a few wins to rediscover that winning feeling.

2 minutes ago, hemingway said:

Not sure how you get back that manic pressure when our opponents are bringing more manic pressure each week than we are. Our pressure and run on the overlap are down. I can’t see how it can just reappear. It may be a combination of mental and physical fatigue over 12 months, training loads, the relentless pressure each week. Mental fatigue brings with it physical fatigue. The team effectively conquered Everest in 2021. It’s hard to do that twice particularly in successive years. It’s almost impossible to maintain that edge or appetite. That’s why talking of dynasties was always going to be premature and unwise. We are facing other teams that are playing with the energy and dare that we had in the latter half of 2021. 

I just reckon that the team looks fatigued. We look slow in mind and body. 

Time will tell. They need a few wins to rediscover that winning feeling.

How much pride and fight have they got?

You are giving up too easy Ernest 

Max has been very durable considering the amount of punishment he takes every week. He’ll get a good rest now and will hopefully be fighting fit come September. That’s when we really need him

Jackson is still too callow and can’t carry a heavy load. A big body needs to do the lions share of ruck work. I thought Daw was on our list for this reason. Not sure the Weid is the answer but would love to be proved wrong

Not ideal scenario but you can’t go back to back without enduring some adversity. We had a dream run last year. We’ll have to show plenty of grit this time and the coaches need to re-invent the game plan but its far from a lost cause. I reckon 15 wins will get us top 4. IF we’re healthy come finals we’re still the best team In it. An inter-sate prelim should hold no fears

The season is far from over. Just need to grind through this tough patch, get healthy and have a proper crack at September again

13 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

How much pride and fight have they got?

You are giving up too easy Ernest 

Yes you are right thanks mate. 

Must be the rain and cold inducing the blues. 

Weid has been gifted one last opportunity to make it. I hope it’s the making of him. He needs to be told to play with some visible intensity. Don’t let players out mark you. Hurt them if they do. Play like someone playing for their career, because you are.

11 minutes ago, hemingway said:

Yes you are right thanks mate. 

Must be the rain and cold inducing the blues. 

I want to see how fierce the Demon is. 
Last year we had the perfect Season, the challengers weren’t up to it

This year we have to win it through adversity, which is what I expected 

15 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

Weid has been gifted one last opportunity to make it. I hope it’s the making of him. He needs to be told to play with some visible intensity. Don’t let players out mark you. Hurt them if they do. Play like someone playing for their career, because you are.

In the VFL game on Sunday he was flat footed at contests (like he can often be) but instead of just letting his opponent mark it, he lunged desperately into 3 contests (that I saw) and effected the spoil. Two of those occasions led directly to goals. 

I imagine that’s the “big man” game type stuff Goody has instructed him to work on. Hopefully he can replicate that at AFL level. 

1 hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Now is the time for the Coaches to all work together and devise a new Game Plan. 
 

we either lie down or fight through this

Ah yes, a completely new game plan half way through the season... What could go wrong?

I expect we will be more dynamic, 2017 style without Maxy in the team.

Clearly it’s time for some “Majak” 

He was in good form at Casey and I think was brought in for this situation as ruck cover.  
 

Why not give him the chance? Perhaps he’ll surprise a few and be a great story.