POSTGAME : Rd 18 vs Port Adelaide

[ANG13 2,063]

We were far from our best today but won, massive result. Pickett was outstanding and a joy to watch, hopefully we find some better form next week and put a massive dint in the Bulldogs finals chances. 

[Jaded No More 68,915]

I just came back to praise Kosi again. What a game. Absolutely magnificent in front of a crowd full of young kids who would be so inspired by him. A privilege to watch this kid in a Melbourne jumper. 

[mo64 5,874]

7 minutes ago, TheWiz said:

How good was that. Pumped for Kozzi. Looked like players from both teams were cooked in the heat. Will be against us travelling and -2 days from Bulldogs, so hopefully some light training.

Shhh!!! Don't mention training loads.

[BenF 56]

4 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

"Attacking"? Where?

I'm expressing general frustration here at a group of posters (no one in particular) who prior to the game said we were going to lose and then after the win complained about the manner of our win. It's inherently inconsistent, but all too common on Demonland.

Edit: read my other post above yours, you'll see I'm very happy with the win.

I know how to read thanks mate, don't need your suggestions for how to put one foot in front of the other and breathe air either so hold the phone on that too. Would just prefer you don't attack posters for feeling a way that is slightly different to you, but you'll do what you want anyway.

[bobby1554 1,244]

38 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Just a reminder for all the sad sacks on here

 

Yes, good to be in this position. BUT, our losses have been against teams currently 1st, 6th 4th and 5th, 3 of them at our HOME ground. Massive 5 weeks coming up, eh!

Edited July 17, 2022 by bobby1554
Incorrect information

[layzie 33,801]

A lot of sad sacks around 

[Deesprate 1,324]

20 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I've only seen patches of the game but will hopefully catch the replay later on.

Got belted in the clearances which is disappointing but not altogether unexpected for our first game without Oliver in years. Obviously Pickett's game is a massive positive, not just for its outrageous quality but just to see him getting back into form. Brown's stats suggest he played his best game for a long time, which is also a positive. Lever's potential injury is a scare but happily Tomlinson looks like he's in good enough form to keep playing seniors if required.

Major room for improvement in the middle, and the Dogs are not a good opponent to come up against if we're not on song in that area of the ground, but we get Oliver back and Gawn and Jackson surely will find form at some point.

But with the flatness of the ladder from 1st to 7th,  a win today helps solidify our buffer. Over the last three weeks only Geelong and Collingwood have managed not to drop a game you'd expect them to win. The rest of our top 4/8 competitors have dropped at least one. Our only loss was to Geelong, unbeaten for two months and down the highway. We're not as far off it as some think.

Meanwhile today Port were a B-grade ruckman short of full strength who have to treat almost every game as an elimination final, we were missing the league's best player and two structurally critical players at both ends of the ground, playing a one-off 22-degree game in the middle of winter (warm enough for Langdon to go the short sleeves!), went goalless in the first quarter and fell behind in the third, but had the game put to bed halfway into the fourth with a solid 31 point lead. This wasn't a walk in the park game going in - almost no game for any side is - but we did precisely what we needed to do, and more.

Great assessment. Was an awesome win in difficult conditions.

[DeeZone 9,841]

What a great venue, we were sitting in a small stand not far from the cheer squad, Kozzie did some of his best work right in front of us and we got right in behind him as did the locals. I was surprised how easy Power were able to beat us at clearances, they have a very good game plan that is well drilled and they always have players in the clear and hit them up with monotonous regularity. We really had to grind this win out. Kozzie and Tracc were clearly our best two players out there. There are a lot of distractions at the game, eagles soaring in the background, the locals and toilets that would bring a tear to your eye if you were female.😳😳.!! Forgot the west McDonald Ranges that run east west for 620km’s.!!

Edited July 17, 2022 by DeeZone
Forgot the McDonald Ranges.😀

[Boots and all 1,000]

1 hour ago, DubDee said:

Didn’t want to raise his arm during the song to put it around May’s shoulder. So not good 

Very brave to play on. I reckon he’ll be out next week. Hopefully only one week but who knows 

What was the injury, are there any specifics? Rotator cuff, maybe?

[IRW 1,387]

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Outrageous performance from Pickett, as good as any game from any player in the league this year.

Remarkable how he comes good when he is not been wasted at the kick in "defenders" role isn't it?

I recall someone suggesting it earlier this week  ....and being rubbished by experts !

You guys are just hilarious 

Edited July 17, 2022 by IRW

[Deemania since 56 6,637]

28 minutes ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

I’ve only read the first 3 pages, but surprised there hadn’t been a little more praise for Tomlinson. Thought he was pretty good today. Had one moment where he was out marked too easily, but otherwise he was really reliable. Played a good linkup role at times too. 

Must agree, Tomlinson was quite serviceable and handy. I have also noticed that he is getting back to his space-making habits to come into and out of the area play, thus avoiding some congestion at the ball - as he used to do when he was on one wing and Langdon on the other. He is certainly, on today's performance, getting much better in the air knocking on or clearing, and many of his kicks were commendable, to targets/zones. 

 

[layzie 33,801]

Bounce just baked Fritta. Mooney even called him a selfish pr***. Joking of course but still.

[dazzledavey36 54,938]

Just quietly, Michael Hibberd may be playing himself to another year on the list.

Really has barely put a foot wrong since he has come into the side and has done some good shut down roles.

Did the job on Robbie Grey today who had little influence up forward. It was only when Grey had to go into the midfield then that's where he had more influence.

[Jaded No More 68,915]

10 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Just quietly, Michael Hibberd may be playing himself to another year on the list.

Really has barely put a foot wrong since he has come into the side and has done some good shut down roles.

Did the job on Robbie Grey today who had little influence up forward. It was only when Grey had to go into the midfield then that's where he had more influence.

Old man calves aside, Hibbo is aging backwards. Hasn’t lost any speed and is doing a sensational job shutting down small forwards. 
 

I also thought Rivers was good today. I like the physicality he brings down back. In fact I thought our backline was very good today even without Petty and Lever being clearly injured. Tomlinson really stood up for mine. Especially once Lever was hurt. 
 

Midfield was very well beaten for large parts of the game and we are absolutely screaming for another tall marking target. Doesn’t help that Gawn is clearly not fit. 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Jaded No More

[DEE fence 5,015]

4 hours ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

I could not put into words how stoked I was for Kozzie to get that bag. The bloke is a constant ball of defensive pressure and harassment. His effort is sensational week after week. Alas, playing as a forward pocket is always tough as the amount of looks you get will always be limited. Today, the ball finally started to drop in his favor and his ability to press his luck, get his hand in and break for speed got him six (he should have gotten seven had Sparrow not cut off that lead of his).

^^^^THIS^^^^

He deserved every single goal, he ALWAYS does the defensive acts, today he got his richly deserved chocolates. Snap on the left and right, he is the best two sided player we have had since when? Honestly can't think of another, and seriously how dangerous is he at the 50? would rather he was kicking from 50 than Hogan, generates so much power in his kick.

A good tough win against a good tough side that has had the wood over us at this ground (anyone remember that old thread when will we break these embarrassing records?), Port were on, and we beat them when they were close to full strength. I guess the chicken little sky is falling types don't understand that we are not playing the Washington Wizards, the other team is trying to win. 

Viney had an ok game, (I am his biggest fan) but thought his disposal was more mixed today, however his hardness is invaluable, a key factor for finals. (Personally would have liked a bit more legal hurt on a couple of the power folks). 

Sparrow really nailed a couple of tackles and is getting better, is still a very young player, I think people need to rethink their benchmarks for him, no way he is dropped.

Our wings made up for the poor return from the midfield, both Lingers and Jordan worked their ar$e$ off, This is a good news story for us, Jordan has come on so strongly, another very young player doing everything asked.

We look better on a dry deck, not that our skills are bad but we play such a high pressure type team game that the margins for correct execution are very tight. I am reassured that playing finals with better weather works for us. Also our players seemed to hold their feet in today's game (they didn't in Geelong), which makes a massive difference in getting to the next contest, none of our blokes are shy of repeat efforts, but if you don't have your feet, you're not going to get there to the contest.

Trac played a good game, his ability to get another player into space and time is genius, and I just love his fair play, one of cleanest going around, always hard but always fair.

Brown (I am still out to lunch on whether he stays in the team, I was so frustrated with his recent form), but in honesty he looked good when they connected with him, really pleasing to see. 

ANB had a good game, having another strong season provided some good connection and great pressure, it is a measure of his improvement, that the bad day is the aberration that disappears between one week and the next.

Salem is (will be) the good news story of our finals campaign, I have absolute faith he will get better, just in time to remind everyone of his potentially Norm Smith winning form. He isn't right yet and we are still winning, so when he comes good I think our rebound and goal scoring will boom.

Which leads me to say Kudos to Brayshaw and Hibberd, who do a power of good work defensively, seriously would have a heart attack without them.

Lever showed huge courage to stay out in obvious pain, dead set worried about his shoulder, we need him as part of our Spartans down back.

Spargo some good moments, glad the haters have to STFU. Didn't mind his cameos on the ball, got a few tricks that fella, stealing the ball out of a Port players hands would've burnt.

The UGLY - I know I am entering dinosaur territory, but when for Gods' sake will we stop these Port cee u next TuesdayS hitting Max off the ball, we know it is going to happen, I don't see any pressure coming back. So many cheap shots, I actually see this as a team and coaching fail. Onya Max for not giving up, love you to bits.

Bedford did enough, stays, was always doing repeat efforts and plenty of pressure, played all the team rules. 

Melksham turned up, his best game since 2018, but makes way for Clarrie. But I really loved his kick to Brown. edit, I now read he laid 5 tackles FMD the penny dropped at a minute to midnight on his career.

Harmes has found his mojo again, would be interested to know his KM, I think the amount of work he puts in goes unremarked compared to the running of Lingers/ANB's. 

Tomlinson had an solid game back after his 'mare earlier in the season, super happy for him. What to do with Petty, I hope we make sure Petty is properly over the 'rona, we have had a bad run with players having low energy levels after having the bug. Some more magnet spinning coming I think. 

May is still a little off the boil, but better than last week trajectory headed in the right direction thankfully, he'd never miss that spoil normally.

Jackson not sure what to make of his game, need to re-watch, loved the goals but he felt a bit invisible, it's not like he is a small forward. 

Lastly center clearance, there was a 127 game sized hole, normally filled by a red headed clearance God; you don't swap Thor with a Falcon without noticing a reduced output, yes they are all heroes on the team, but it just makes clear how invaluable Clarrie is. We would of course get better in the middle over time if he was out for longer (please god I do not wish to test this). But think in any other era of the last 50 years, if we lost a Clarrie, we would have all been at the train station at 3/4 time, the team found a way and we will welcome back our red-headed god with a big smile. I am super happy they rested him.

Edited July 17, 2022 by DEE fence
little boo boos and some elaboration.

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

9 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Just quietly, Michael Hibberd may be playing himself to another year on the list.

Really has barely put a foot wrong since he has come into the side and has done some good shut down roles.

Did the job on Robbie Grey today who had little influence up forward. It was only when Grey had to go into the midfield then that's where he had more influence.

His postioning and they way he works off his man, often getting front position for the intercept or spoil.  The mop ups.  Then there's the 2nd efforts.

He was really on today and improving little by little with each game it seems.

[At the break of Gawn 4,460]

2 hours ago, Antioch said:

BT always barracks against the Demons. Worst commentator ever.

Never rated us all last year until 4th qtr of the grand final. Reigning premier this year and still doesn’t rate us.

[Nasher 33,616]

2 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Fair dinkum, it’s hard to please some people. Those who want to keep digging for negatives good luck to you, Mondays are always better with a win.

No one said doing a repeat is easy, most should be happy we are at least giving ourselves a chance. 
 

Did my usual “dodge Demonland after a poor loss for my own mental health” trick  this week, and glad I did if this the mood after a grinding win!

[Diablo Rhino 22]

Dear Simo

 

Please pick a 2nd key forward for the remaining matches of the minor round and the coming finals season.  A solid victory today, but we are not the imposing, humming product we were of August and September last year.  Our structure looks better with a 2nd pillar that isn’t an undersized, rangey & enigmatic 188cm utility.  Also, it brings our small forwards into the contest where they look more dangerous with pressure in the F50 & big pack crumbs.

 

This season is mirroring 2021 in more ways than one, including the undersized forward line experiment where it failed in one of our last losses last year against GWS @ the G in a low scoring contest.  From then on we selected a 2nd big focal point to support BBrown and were kings.

 

I believe we are still kings.  I know you believe too, Simo.

 

Faithfully

Rhino

The Utmost for the Highest

[dazzledavey36 54,938]

15 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Old man calves aside, Hibbo is aging backwards. Hasn’t lost any speed and is doing a sensational job shutting down small forwards. 
 

I also thought Rivers was good today. I like the physicality he brings down back. In fact I thought our backline was very good today even without Petty and Lever being clearly injured. Tomlinson really stood up for mine. Especially once Lever was hurt. 
 

Midfield was very well beaten for large parts of the game and we are absolutely screaming for another tall marking target. Doesn’t help that Gawn is clearly not fit. 

Rivers was good.

Said in another thread that with his size and strength he doesn't get pushed off the ball due to body size unlike Bowey.

This is no criticism of Bowey BTW who I think has been exceptional, but Geelongs body strength last week just got to overwhelming for him. Another pre season and he'll be fine.

For me Rivers stays in the team for the rest of the year. When he's up and about he gives us good drive and hardness off half back.

[Cassiew 1,903]

I was so proud of Kozzie today. Man of the match by a mile. Brown was really good too.

I’m very relieved to have won. It really took a lot out of us to dig deep and win. I know it was under difficult conditions but we really did struggle. I really hope we can come back hard against the Dogs, who are improving. Still a tough way home. I know we’ll be there, but I really hope we can at least keep a top four spot. We really couldn’t have afforded a loss today.

Edited July 17, 2022 by Cassiew

[layzie 33,801]

The performance was average, but the win was brilliant! We go up to this beautiful ground without our best player. our extractor, our fire starter, they may as well have been playing with a handycap against us Port. Disagree? Let's take Wines or Boak out and see how that goes for ya?

I'm not going to bullfart around, we were not good and we have some issues but a win like this gives us a fighting chance to get it right the next week, or the the week after, or the week after. As long as we are banking the wins I couldn't give a rat's toss. These guys are dealing with all sorts of spanners and wrenches being thrown at them right now and let's not forget that only two years ago this team would have folded in a game like this. It is time to stand up, say you're not happy with the performance, but be happy with the result, we have given ourselves a great fighting chance to go up against the dudes from Grand Final week last year and that is all that one can ask for.

Kozzie Pickett played a game for the ages. I think it's fair to say we don't win without his efforts today. We made our own luck at times and these are the moments that separate the best from the rest. I think had we played Port in the Grand Final last year we would have pulverized them into oblivion like Jens Pulver. There is absolutely no question in the world about it and if you want to take me on about it I'll see you in the car park. Anyway back to the game, Petracca was good, Viney was encouraging even without getting as much hard ball, I also think that Jack is moving as well as he ever has. Positive Lingers gave us the usual width, thought Spargo kept going and going, Sparrow did his bit. I think their were a lot of below par performance, I thought there were a lot of poor skill errors. Who cares.

Melksham made an excellent chase late in the game, he did play a role. I would love to get a little bit more out of him possession wise just because he's so good with it! We'll see what happens at selection. We seriously need Clarry back, I hope he never misses a game ever again and I hope Jack Crisp gets a corky next week. 

Counting down the days till loading ends, I'd like each and everyone of you to think about what flavour potato chips and chocolates you'll be brining along. In the meantime there's gonna be a few 'grinders' to come and that's what this team can do better than most in my view. 

We'd like to hear your views, answers in a postcard! 

[Sydney_Demon 1,175]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

What were Jake's stats I saw two missed kicks and low interest after that

He only had 6 disposals, but the run-down tackle and goal he scored were important. He was brought into the side to limit Aliir's influence and he did that. Importantly, he paid 7 tackles. I'm no Melksham fan but credit to the selectors for picking him.

1 hour ago, 3183 Dee said:

I guess we won away from home against one of the in-form teams of the comp (they are only outside the 8 because they lost the first 5), without Oliver and continued forward line problems. Put it in the bank and move on.

Well said. Frankly, I would have taken a 1-point win pre-game. Port were virtually playing for their season today. 

1 hour ago, DubDee said:

Those thinking the win was average or not too impressive. Port were 7-3 coming the game. If they lose they are basically out of finals. They had only one injured player

enjoy the win guys

8-3 actually. 1 bad loss to Geelong in Geelong (35 points) . The other 2 losses were by 12 points to Richmond at the MCG, and 8 points to the Dockers at Optus.

1 hour ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Given there are only two 13-4 sides with just a few % points between them I would say we are equal best...

And we've had a much tougher draw (which will continue for the rest of the season).

1 hour ago, The heart beats true said:

Yeah, wonderful job by headquarters. The Dogs get 2 full days extra break, and we have to travel back from Alice. Ridiculous.

This has been the issue all season. Looking at the draw pre-season Western Bulldogs looked to have the toughest draw, just ahead of Melbourne, but for Melbourne the issue has been the travel and the fact the AFL inevitably give us a 9 or 10 day break following a Thursday or Friday night game.

1 hour ago, CYB said:

Have we got nobody that can step into Oliver’s role?  We got smashed in the middle and are coming up against the best clearance team in the comp. 

You bank the 4 pts and applaud Kozzie but there was nothing in that performance that says we are exiting the form rut.

 

Oliver is the best player in the comp. Obviously we haven't got someone to replace him. Rather than bring Dunstan in the Club decided to bring Melksham in to play a role (which he did). In retrospect given Bedford's lack of impact it might have been better to have played JVR/Dunstan rather than Bedford/Melksham but overall the win justifies the decision even if we did lose clearances.

1 hour ago, von said:

Expectation is brutal

It is. I'm so over Demonland posters who say we've beaten no-one yet. We've beaten Port twice, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, St Kilda. The sides we've lost to are currently 1st, 4th, 5th & 6th. The draw this year for Melbourne is particularly tough because the teams we play twice are Port, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, Fremantle, Collingwood (at worst all in the Top 10). We got Collingwood, Geelong got North. We play Geelong once and it's in Geelong. We get a home game against Port In Alice Springs, they get a home game against us in Adelaide. 

44 minutes ago, MurDoc516 said:

Brown showed up for 1 quarter,  we didn't do anything differently to make him play better he just randomly started clunking marks.

Really think we need to run another tall forward, Bedford was nowhere near the ball today. If McDonald is injured surely JVR has a tank to do the running that Brown just can't do.

Not true. BBB gets up and down the ground better than nearly all KPFs in the Comp, with the exception of Jeremy Cameron. He didn't show up for 1 quarter only. 14 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals. Could have kicked another couple easily.

25 minutes ago, mo64 said:

History doesn't always repeat. The fact is we are playing at 70% of our best, with a tough run leading into the finals. Our injury record is far worse than last year, and Gawn and Jackson have been bog ordinary since returning.

People are just calling it as they see it, and their assessment is basically correct. Will you come out of the woodwork and admit you were wrong, should we not make top 4, or crumble in the finals?

Our record is 13-4 with a percentage of 132.6%. We've been off our best over the past 7 weeks, but we've lost to good sides in form. We've lost to the 1st, 4th, 5th & 6th teams. If we're playing at 70% of our best then our best will be a GF win like last year. We've beaten last year's Grand Finalist, beaten one losing Preliminary Finalist twice. Fremantle & particularly Collingwood have been much better then last year's ladder positions would have indicated. We're not going to finish with a 17-1-4 record this year because our Draw is at least 15% tougher than 2021, and as it turns out much tougher than all our rivals. We could not finish Top 4 and still have played better on average this year. People are entitled to their opinions, but it's not just those who are more positive in their opinions who need to admit it when they get it wrong!

5 minutes ago, adonski said:

Thought Sparrow was admirable in effort and reasonably good today in patches but his fundamentals are non AFL standard. 

Complete BS IMV. You only need to look at last year's Grand Final to see how good is fundamentals are!

[Smokey 4,389]

Took the 4 in a trot really. Let’s build on it boys 

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

44 minutes ago, layzie said:

Bounce just baked Fritta. Mooney even called him a selfish pr***. Joking of course but still.

Good. He needs to hear it and get it out of his game. It effects the whole team. 
 

Trac today was the opposite, could have had a ping 40-50m on a couple of occasions but instead lowered the eyes and hit a target closer to goal.