Jump to content

Featured Replies

  On 12/07/2022 at 01:57, deespicable me said:

Van Rooyen who I'm a huge fan of was possibly earmarked for an earlier debut but played in the early game at the 'G' against the Swans and fair dinkum hardly touched it. Was hugely dissapointing. Given that he is just a kid, that is entirely excusable, but I think he was pumped up for a big game, seemed to be played as the key forward and the coaches looked at that and thought he needed a fair bit more time in the VFL, maybe even the rest of the year. 

Agree on Laurie,  but for JVR that game was 6 weeks ago and his first game in 3 weeks, potentially with a covid absence? 6 weeks is a long time for a first year kid.

He’s since played in the ruck to learn some new skills and travelled with the team as an emergency.

Expecting him to perform super well is foolish given his age but I think he can provide some spark in limited minutes.

 
  On 12/07/2022 at 02:40, mo64 said:

The idea of playing Petty at CHF is exciting, but based on what we've seen of Tommo at VFL and AFL level this year, he's not the player to fill Petty's spot. Barring another horrific run with injuries to our key backs, we shouldn't be seeing Tomlinson in the AFL again this year.

Turner would be the beneficiary here i'd imagine, maybe something to consider in 2023 - Wouldn't change the backline too much this season

  On 12/07/2022 at 01:57, deespicable me said:

Just a couple of cautionary tales about Laurie and Van Rooyen.

Laurie probably shouldn't debut this week. He reminds me of Brock McLean who was also slow but had very good games on wet decks. The only proviso to this is if the game in the heat slows down. But early on the game will be too quick for him. Just a note on this . The medi-sub becomes very important up in Alice and should be chosen and used wisely.

Van Rooyen who I'm a huge fan of was possibly earmarked for an earlier debut but played in the early game at the 'G' against the Swans and fair dinkum hardly touched it. Was hugely dissapointing. Given that he is just a kid, that is entirely excusable, but I think he was pumped up for a big game, seemed to be played as the key forward and the coaches looked at that and thought he needed a fair bit more time in the VFL, maybe even the rest of the year. 

Happy for either to debut but they are both players that need and should be given circumstances as much in their favor as possible. Someone suggested that Port and Dogs have weakish back line talls so this may be a good week for Van Rooyen but I'd rather see us in winning form and they force their way in as opposed to when we have come off a loss and just want to see something different.

You're dismissing Laurie as an AFL standard player without seeing him play at that level, and pigeon holing him as a wet weather specialist. 

Anyone who doubts Laurie's ability to cover the ground or fitness levels should re-watch the last quarter of Casey v Geelong. He goes from disposing of the ball to the next contest in a blink of an eye. And his clean hands in wet conditions, and overall disposal is sublime.

We're coming to the pointy end of the season with a top 4 position at stake. We've tried Weid and M Brown in the T Mac role with no success. We've changed the structure, and played an extra small in Bedford, with limited success. We need a change of personnel in our forward half, and IMO Laurie and JVR have to play this week.

 
  On 12/07/2022 at 02:40, mo64 said:

The idea of playing Petty at CHF is exciting, but based on what we've seen of Tommo at VFL and AFL level this year, he's not the player to fill Petty's spot. Barring another horrific run with injuries to our key backs, we shouldn't be seeing Tomlinson in the AFL again this year.

Bring in Joel Smith when fit.

Hunt is such a spark off HB. Salem, May, Brayshaw and Bowey dominate touches and want to open up the game with their boot rather than their feet. Hunt runs lines and can make mistakes but he gets us going when we are inert. And we are inert.

ANB, Harmes, Spargo, and Sparrow need to lift as the lower rung of players responsible for bringing the ball up the ground and into the forward line. Don’t know if any of those will get dropped however. So poor Bedford I guess but I can feel a debut coming in my bones…


  On 11/07/2022 at 22:14, DeeZone said:

Well Dlanders my wife and I are about to board our flight to Uluṟu and heading to the game in Alice on Sunday so dearly hope that the Dees are on fire on Sunday. It’ll be a sad flight home on Monday otherwise.!!!

Lucky bastard !!!!!

  On 12/07/2022 at 04:30, Ethan Tremblay said:

I’d like to bring in Rivers, Tomlinson and Hunt. 

I'd agree... mostly for Tomlinson. Essentially he would be familiar with the 2nd tall up forward role, and has around 2-3 months to prepare for it. I'm not sure that has happened of course.

He'd be looking elsewhere if he doesn't get a gig soon surely?

 
  On 12/07/2022 at 01:57, deespicable me said:

Just a couple of cautionary tales about Laurie and Van Rooyen.

Laurie probably shouldn't debut this week. He reminds me of Brock McLean who was also slow but had very good games on wet decks. The only proviso to this is if the game in the heat slows down. But early on the game will be too quick for him. Just a note on this . The medi-sub becomes very important up in Alice and should be chosen and used wisely.

Van Rooyen who I'm a huge fan of was possibly earmarked for an earlier debut but played in the early game at the 'G' against the Swans and fair dinkum hardly touched it. Was hugely dissapointing. Given that he is just a kid, that is entirely excusable, but I think he was pumped up for a big game, seemed to be played as the key forward and the coaches looked at that and thought he needed a fair bit more time in the VFL, maybe even the rest of the year. 

Happy for either to debut but they are both players that need and should be given circumstances as much in their favor as possible. Someone suggested that Port and Dogs have weakish back line talls so this may be a good week for Van Rooyen but I'd rather see us in winning form and they force their way in as opposed to when we have come off a loss and just want to see something different.

If Laurie is as slow as you suggest, we should be prioritising Chandler for AFL selection?

 

Edited by 1964_2

  On 12/07/2022 at 05:14, 1964_2 said:

If Laurie is as slow as you suggest, we should be prioritising Chandler for AFL selection?

 

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic, but Chandler is clearly one of our top performers at VFL level. Laurie is a year behind Chandler in the system and last year he had a bad injury. He is having a great year at VFL level and still improving. He is probably equal with Chandler now and they are just below Bedford who is coming off a poor showing against Geelong. Spargo as a 50 gamer and Premiership player is well ahead of these 3 but at times goes missing. I would love one of Bedford, Chandler or Laurie to put their hand up to take Spargos spot or alternatively go with a taller classy player like a Salem, Hunt or Rivers even. It's all still a work in progress. Spargo has the runs on the board. It's his spot.

Just for the record I think Moniz-Wakefield has the best chance of owning that spot in time.

 


  On 12/07/2022 at 05:40, deespicable me said:

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic, but Chandler is clearly one of our top performers at VFL level. Laurie is a year behind Chandler in the system and last year he had a bad injury. He is having a great year at VFL level and still improving. He is probably equal with Chandler now and they are just below Bedford who is coming off a poor showing against Geelong. Spargo as a 50 gamer and Premiership player is well ahead of these 3 but at times goes missing. I would love one of Bedford, Chandler or Laurie to put their hand up to take Spargos spot or alternatively go with a taller classy player like a Salem, Hunt or Rivers even. It's all still a work in progress. Spargo has the runs on the board. It's his spot.

Just for the record I think Moniz-Wakefield has the best chance of owning that spot in time.

 

No sarcasm, was a genuine question. 

I haven't watched enough of the VFL, for a read on Laurie being fast or slow. But, can obviously get away with a lack of pace easier at VFL level. 

Have seen enough of Chandler to know that he is not far away, but Laurie more of an un-known for me. 

  On 08/07/2022 at 21:26, Ungarieboy said:

It's about structure and players playing there role to allow it to work.  A good structure will cover perceived dips in form.  This then feeds the "soldier in soldier out" approach to success.

Unfortunately these last few weeks we've lost a bit of this structural shape: 

To date we have not found a player to come in and do Tmac's role. This had consequently made things harder for BBB, forced Fritsch to play a different role, which meant there's also no (soldier in) to play his role. Combine these two factors and suddenly our smalls are struggling to "be offensive" - but that's not due to form, as any replacement will suffer the same fate.

We also suffered a similar problem with May out, as no-one could fill his role (backline general, gorilla keeper, interceptor and long release kicking)  - resulting in weaknesses elsewhere as other defenders tried to cover this.

To keep the structure working, I'd bring in JVR to play Tmac's role in place of Bedford; or conversely Tomilson to replace Bedford and swing Petty into Tmac's role.

Dunstan for Oliver is a no brainer if injuref, though he could also come on for Sparrow.

And that's about it. More than a couple of changed will only further erode the structure?

 

Couldn't agree more.   Fritsch needs to play his usual game where we often get 4 goals from him - I think its time for JVR as his mobility is similar to TMac and he hits packs hard so at least the ball comes to ground.  Dunstan for Oliver  Rivers for Salem wouldn't upset the system and give it more energy.   Wish either Turner or Smith weren't injured.

  On 12/07/2022 at 03:54, rpfc said:

Hunt is such a spark off HB. Salem, May, Brayshaw and Bowey dominate touches and want to open up the game with their boot rather than their feet. Hunt runs lines and can make mistakes but he gets us going when we are inert. And we are inert.

ANB, Harmes, Spargo, and Sparrow need to lift as the lower rung of players responsible for bringing the ball up the ground and into the forward line. Don’t know if any of those will get dropped however. So poor Bedford I guess but I can feel a debut coming in my bones…

Hunt hasn't really been a spark of halfback for a couple of years. They seem to prefer using him to lockdown the opposition's quickest forward which he has done mostly a good job at when required. I think they prefer to have the ball in boweys and Salem's hands due to more reliable kicks. Issue is neither have been that great lately at being attacking with their kicks and we are paying for it with very slow, safe ball movement into our attacking half

Edited by Bates Mate

  On 12/07/2022 at 05:59, stinga said:

Couldn't agree more.   Fritsch needs to play his usual game where we often get 4 goals from him - I think its time for JVR as his mobility is similar to TMac and he hits packs hard so at least the ball comes to ground.  Dunstan for Oliver  Rivers for Salem wouldn't upset the system and give it more energy.   Wish either Turner or Smith weren't injured.

A bit optimistic. Fritsch has played 101 games and kicked 4 goals in 5 games (plus 6 goals in 2 games and 7 goals in 1 game). So, just on 8% of the times he plays he kicks four or more goals. I don't think that's "often".

How times have changed, though. Peter Hudson has the highest average of all comers with 5.6 goals per game over 129 games. Imagine going to the football knowing your full forward is more likely than not going to kick 5 or more goals every game.

Note: I know Fritsch is not our full forward.

  On 11/07/2022 at 21:50, picket fence said:

He is more a forward than Spargo or Bedford!

πŸ€£πŸ€¦πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈcmon mate you have to be kidding.  Spargo was instrumental in us winning a flag and has more forward craft in his little toe than what Hunt has.


  On 12/07/2022 at 01:57, deespicable me said:

Just a couple of cautionary tales about Laurie and Van Rooyen.

Fair enough, and not disagreeing with you, but development of young players is rarely linear. Even on the cusp of selection in the firsts, younger players can still have what look like dud games.

Suspect though that the FD isn't necessarily watching for what we are, so who knows how close the likes of JVR and Laurie are. But if they are going to be in contention, surely better to get them in sooner rather than later with a view to finals?

  On 12/07/2022 at 09:44, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Out: indigenous guernsey 

In: Traditional home guernsey 

Yeah, that’ll do it…

You Got It Ok GIF

  On 12/07/2022 at 03:07, cantstandyasam said:

Bring in Joel Smith when fit.

IF and when, poor guy.  So many opportunities this year - defence, attack - but never available. Feel so sad for the guy.


Assuming with training today, we might see at least one social media clip of a debutant announcement.. hopefully two! 

  On 13/07/2022 at 00:19, SPC said:

Assuming with training today, we might see at least one social media clip of a debutant announcement.. hopefully two! 

Expectation:

In: JVR, Laurie

Out: Bedford, Spargo

Vs

Reality

In: Melksham, Mitch Brown

Out: Bedford, Oliver.

 

  On 12/07/2022 at 10:03, chook fowler said:

Time for another lockdown - it worked for us big time last year.

But just one of those short ones please.

Not the ones that extend through to October like the last 2 years.

 
  On 13/07/2022 at 01:28, dazzledavey36 said:

Expectation:

In: JVR, Laurie

Out: Bedford, Spargo

Vs

Reality

In: Melksham, Mitch Brown

Out: Bedford, Oliver.

 

Sounds about right

  On 13/07/2022 at 01:28, dazzledavey36 said:

Expectation:

In: JVR, Laurie

Out: Bedford, Spargo

Vs

Reality

In: Melksham, Mitch Brown

Out: Bedford, Oliver.

 

Oh god I can see it already πŸ˜…

I think we really need to commit to using players who at the very least are going to be on our list next year. Whether that is Weid and Dunstan or LVR and Laurie.

Far be it from me to criticise Goody and co's selections, but I think I speak for most people when I say the time for selecting M. Brown and Melksham over players with longer term futures at the club is just about over.

No disrespect to those two however - they've been great servants of the club and in their own ways have contributed to the success we are seeing now.


Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

Featured Content

  • PREVIEW: Brisbane

    And just like that, we’re Narrm again. Even though the annual AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round which commemorates the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to our game has been a welcome addition to our calendar for ten years, more lately it has been a portent of tough times ahead for we beleaguered Narrm supporters. Ever since the club broke through for its historic 2021 premiership, this has become a troubling time of the year for the club. For example, it all began when Melbourne rebranded itself as Narrm across the two rounds of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round to become the first club to adopt an Indigenous club name especially for the occasion. It won its first outing under the brand against lowly North Melbourne to go to 10 wins and no losses but not without a struggle or a major injury to  star winger Ed Langdon who broke his ribs and missed several weeks. In the following week, still as Narrm, the team’s 17 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Dockers. That came along with more injuries, a plague that remained with them for the remainder of the season until, beset by injuries, the Dees were eliminated from the finals in straight sets. It was even worse last year, when Narrm inexplicably lowered its colours in Perth to the Waalit Marawar Eagles. Oh, the shame of it all! At least this year, if there is a corner to turn around, it has to be in the direction of something better. To that end, I produced a special pre-game chant in the local Narrm language - β€œnam mi:wi winnamun katjil prolin ambi ngamar thamelin amb” which roughly translated is β€œevery heart beats true for the red and the blue.” >y belief is that if all of the Narrm faithful recite it long enough, then it might prove to be the only way to beat the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday. The Lions are coming off a disappointing draw at Marvel Stadium against a North Melbourne team that lacks the ability and know how to win games (except when playing Melbourne). Brisbane are, however, a different kettle of fish at home and have very few positional weaknesses. They are a midfield powerhouse, strong in defence and have plenty of forward options, particularly their small and medium sized players, to kick a winning score this week after the sting of last week’s below par performance.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 4 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Hawthorn

    There was a time during the current Melbourne cycle that goes back to before the premiership when the club was the toughest to beat in the fourth quarter. The Demons were not only hard to beat at any time but it was virtually impossible to get the better them when scores were close at three quarter time. It was only three or four years ago but they were fit, strong and resilient in body and mind. Sadly, those days are over. This has been the case since the club fell off its pedestal about 12 months ago after it beat Geelong and then lost to Carlton. In both instances, Melbourne put together strong, stirring final quarters, one that resulted in victory, the other, in defeat. Since then, the drop off has been dramatic to the point where it can neither pull off victory in close matches, nor can it even go down in defeat  gallantly.

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • CASEY: Footscray

    At twenty-four minutes into the third term of the game between the Casey Demons and Footscray VFL at Whitten Oval, the visitors were coasting. They were winning all over the ground, had the ascendancy in the ruck battles and held a 26 point lead on a day perfect for football. What could go wrong? Everything. The Bulldogs moved into overdrive in the last five minutes of the term and booted three straight goals to reduce the margin to a highly retrievable eight points at the last break. Bouyed by that effort, their confidence was on a high level during the interval and they ran all over the despondent Demons and kicked another five goals to lead by a comfortable margin of four goals deep into the final term before Paddy Cross kicked a couple of too late goals for a despondent Casey. A testament to their lack of pressure in the latter stages of the game was the fact that Footscray’s last ten scoring shots were nine goals and one rushed behind. Things might have been different for the Demons who went into the game after last week’s bye with 12 AFL listed players. Blake Howes was held over for the AFL game but two others, Jack Billings and Taj Woewodin (not officially listed as injured) were also missing and they could have been handy at the end. Another mystery of the current VFL system.

      • Thanks
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Brisbane

    The Demons head back out on the road in Round 10 when they travel to Queensland to take on the reigning Premiers and the top of the table Lions who look very formidable. Can the Dees cause a massive upset? Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 136 replies
    Demonland
  • PODCAST: Hawthorn

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 12th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Demons loss to the Hawks. 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.

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 52 replies
    Demonland
  • POSTGAME: Hawthorn

    Wayward kicking for goal, dump kicks inside 50 and some baffling umpiring all contributed to the Dees not getting out to an an early lead that may have impacted the result. At the end of the day the Demons were just not good enough and let the Hawks run away with their first win against the Demons in 7 years.

      • Clap
      • Love
      • Like
    • 376 replies
    Demonland