The pow wow

On 7/29/2022 at 6:36 PM, binman said:

As regulars readers of Demonland know, I believe the biggest factor in our form over the last two months is loading.  Not the only factor. But by far the most impactful factor. 

Regulars reader will also know how frustrating i find the media analysis of our great game.

There is a thread asking if people have enjoyed this season. I was reflecting on that question and realized that last season i lapped up every media mention of the dees, whereas as this year i can barely watch anything, such is my frustration with the pathetic level of analysis and how completely wrong it usually is.

Demonstone made the reasonable point sometime back that if i get so wound up by David King, then i should just stop watching or listening to him. And i have largely taken that advice.

But my issue is how analysis that is just so wrong shapes fans' perception and opinions.

Both of these things (loading and rubbish analysis) came crashing together when i watched David King on the 'watchlist' segment on 360 on Wednesday night.

I am amazed how few comments there has been on Demonland about the segment, and as far i have seen, not one person pushing back or critising David King.

I am still livid.

Why?

Because David King insulted our players. Insulted our leaders. Insulted our team. Insulted Trac. Insulted Clarry. Insulted Max. Said there was 'no investment there in your teammate. It's every man for himself '.

I am ropeable. 

And on his analysis he is so so wrong.

In short his thesis is that teams are 'switching against the demons more than anyone else' in the last 6-8 weeks and that they are able to do so because we are not invested, we are not working hard enough, we are complacent, we have lost our hunger.

To make his case he showed a clip from the 2021 round 8 game against the Swans where with our incredible all team defence we completely covered the corridor kick and the switch, forcing the Swans down the line to an aerial contest.

He is right in saying that is our method. He is also right in saying that we have not been doing that in the last 8 matches.

And to demonstrate that latter point he also showed a clip from the dogs game last weekend where, after a free to the dogs deep in their defence, we had time to set up our grid but didn't and allowed the ball to exit our forward line with relative ease. 

But he is completely wrong as to why that is the case. 

If King had chosen any other game we played between round 11 and round 19 instead of that Swans game he literally could have chosen dozens of similar examples of us not covering the switch or failing to get the game looking how we want it to look.

Hell, he could have chosen the exact corresponding round 19 game from last year against the same side, where the dogs won because we could not stop them switching or force them down the line.

I freely admit that there is fair dose of confirmation bias here, but the three players he highlighted, Trac, Clarry and Sparrow all looked completely exhausted to me. Sparrow was gassed, and bent over sucking in the big ones.

Again, i'm not looking for debate, so please don't worry about rebutting me, but we have been fatigued because of loading in EVERY game since round 11 (with the exception of the lions game - which came after the bye and the enforced break). That is why we have been overrun in the second half in EVERY game since round 11 (except the lions game).

And that is why we are not stopping teams switch as well as we normally do.

Only the Tigers and Freo have an all team defensive system anywhere near as aerobically taxing as ours. Fatigue renders our system sub optimal at best, dysfunctional at worst. And all parts of our method have the defensive system as their foundation.

Take that defensive spread away and we are a completely different team. As we all saw between rounds 11 and 19 LAST season. And as we have seen again between rounds 11 and 19 THIS season. And as we will see between rounds 11 and 19 NEXT season (assuming we are top 4 contenders next year). 

So, King is wrong. Dead wrong.

But Joe the average footy fan doesn't know that. Joe the average footy fan laps up the [censored] narrative about the complacent premiers, full of leaders who are not 'invested'. 

And when we smash Freo tonight, will lap up next weeks equally [censored] narrative about the dees flicking a switch, rediscovering their hunger yada, yada yada. 

And the pow wow?

I have no idea what he was referencing, but he reckons we had a pow wow and that was evidence of our lack of investment (ie because we had to come together to address this issue).  I immediately checked Demonland because i had not heard of any such meeting. And there was, and has not been since, anything on here about any 'pow wow'.

Perhaps we did have some such meeting. But if not, i am assuming he was referring to our intense training session that got quite a bit of attention.

If so, again he is way, way off the mark. As 3183 noted in another thread, we did exactly same thing ahead of our round 20 clash last year, and super intense, match like training sessions were standard for the rest of the season. So, all part of the program, not some line in the sand palaver. 

I'm not looking for a debate. I understand that many people don't agree with my position on how impactful loading has been on our game. I simply wanted to put this out there before it all gets lost in this next, exciting phase we are about to enjoy.  

I'm not sure about others, but i for one won't cop our club and our players coping such pathetic, ill informed nonsense.

I don't have the technical skills to put the clip on here. Andy will add the clip at a later date, but if someone else has the skills to do that would be great. The date of the show is 27 July and the time stamp is 46.48 to 46.48

Another post of the year contender.

I'd take David King to task more often Binman but like you I've largely cut his input out of my diet. Nothing against the guy but I think he has us all wrong this year.