Join @george_on_the_outer, @binman & I on the Demonland Podcast Monday night 29th August LIVE @ 8:30pm for preview of our Qualifying Final against the Sydney Swans.

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If you have any questions for us about the match whether it be tactics, team selection or the finals in general let us know here and we will read it out on the show and attempt to answer it.

While you are waiting for the Podcast check out our interview with journalist Ian Munro author of Between the Flags, a book that chronicles the events during our 57 year Premiership drought and tries to make sense of almost 6 decades of heartache.

Here's the link to the website if your interested in buying what should be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of those whose hearts beat true ... Between the Flags

 

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I've held this one over from after the Carlton game: 'Okay, we've seen Plan A (move it deliberately along the boundary line) Plan B (Move it more quickly with some switching). How likely is it we're going to see a Plan C?'

Q.  Assuming Salo is fit, can we fit both him and Bowser into the team?  They both add value with their ball use.

Who is our best matchup for Buddy?

Please just tell us if we are going to win or not. Can’t handle the suspense 🤣

5 hours ago, Demonland said:

If you have any questions for us about the match whether it be tactics, team selection or the finals in general let us know here and we will read it out on the show and attempt to answer it.

How do we cope with Sydney’s flooding ???Experts at clogging up our forward line

9 minutes ago, Rhino said:

How do we cope with Sydney’s flooding ???Experts at clogging up our forward line

This us a very good question. Longmire will have done his homework. We won’t get what we got against Brisbane or Port. They will come with a plan. We need to be able to adjust. 

54 minutes ago, Rhino said:

How do we cope with Sydney’s flooding ???Experts at clogging up our forward line

Not just their flooding but their short passing game chipping through our zone which worked against us earlier in the year as well as against Freo later in the year.

Edited August 28, 20222 yr by Dr. Gonzo

1 hour ago, Rhino said:

How do we cope with Sydney’s flooding ???Experts at clogging up our forward line

I think the reason our forward line was flooded last time had more to do with us than them. We moved the ball way too slow which allowed them to flood back in numbers. Probably due to fatigue.

If you watch last year's finals you'll see that our transition play from d50 excellent. We switched the ball more often with the likes of Langdon but the key was our forwards sprinted the other way causing an outnumber up forward because the teams couldn't go with us. I may be wrong though and we aren't allowed this freedom now for whatever reason, but I'd like to hear what the boys on the pod think.

As far as I am concerned, it will be the midfield battle that determines the outcome. Our mids are well schooled in the transition from attack to defence and vis versa. 
 

Agains Brisbane we did not look to tag their most effective mids in Neale, McCluggage etc we opted to make them accountable by making sure they had attacking players on them. I like that we did that. With a tag some players have the freedom to attack as they wish without precaution, and  not be accountable for an opponent. 
 

So part off the discussion I want to hear is do we do as we did against Brisbane and trust in our attacking midfield or do we tag players from the start? I think we attack from the outset proactively and, if required look to tag players that are hurting us as a plan B.

Where does the panel think the game will be won or lost, and what is the way that Sydney will try and beat us?  I cant really get a handle on their game so would be interested in your take.

Patrick McCartin is a key worry for me, was AA worthy this year - I feel like he is really going to shine in these finals. Personally I think we have to attack with smaller types providing running pressure. I think he would eat Tmac alive at the moment.  

Looking at @WheeloRatings stats on another thread Sydney and Melb are pretty well matched.  If Sydney have weaknesses they are relatively poor (not terrible) in defending marks on lead, causing opposition clangers (interested in the panels thoughts on why as they are ranked #2 on tackles and #3 on tackle difference - do they lack structure at stoppages?), stopping opposition shots on goal, and bottom 6 for centre clearances.

Considering where they rank poorly, what tactics do you think we will use this week? I’m guessing we will try and play a typical forward 50 game and it will all be decided on our forward 50 pressure and scores we generate from forward half turnover but interested in your thoughts. If we generate reasonable score from turnover Sydney can’t win.

Who will go to Isaac Heeney?

 

Does either Sydney or Melbourne have a particular advantage due to the field geometry, relative to the SCG/MCG and will this be a factor? Does it enhance or make our tactics more difficult to execute?

Does Sydney try similar manning up tactics that Carlton did a couple of weeks ago?

I'm also thinking we're likely to play our game our way, without adapting to counter Sydney too much. However we do have a penchant for picking 1-2 key opposition players and countering/ negating their influence. Interestingly we have often been a bit left field in our choice of target: Bailey not Neale last week was an example.

Will we try to unexpectedly seek to curtail the influence of a 2nd tier but surprisingly important cog? If so, who?

And for Heeney, could we try an option like Hibberd because Heeney plays high and will drag Hibberd to the ball where he can use his kicking to our advantage?

I assume that James Jordon did not play for Casey because he was not eligible due to not having played enough games in the 2s during the season.

If James is not selected to play for the Demons this week and barring injuries it is unlikely that he will play who do we play on the other wing?

What is the single most important KPI the team needs to be ahead of the opposition?

For me it looks like against Sydney the contested footy metrics will be the deciding factor. 

Reports were that Trac left the training track on the weekend with a calf complaint. The club insists that he will be fine to line up against the Swans. Someone in the thread about his injury claims that Tony Jones reported that Trac cancelled his media commitments for today. 

If Trac fails to prove his fitness for Friday who comes in to replace him?

1 hour ago, ElDiablo14 said:

What is the single most important KPI the team needs to be ahead of the opposition?

For me it looks like against Sydney the contested footy metrics will be the deciding factor. 

Goals 

Prediction and Preference time. 

If we lose this week we will be playing the winner of Brisbane and Richmond at the MCG? Who would the panelists prefer to play and why?

If we win this week we go straight into a Prelim and potentially face Geelong, Collingwood, Fremantle or Bulldogs at the G. Who of that quartet would you prefer to face off in a Preliminary Final?

And finally if you could have your pick who would you like to play in a Grand Final?

2 minutes ago, Lefty said:

Prediction and Preference time. 

If we lose this week we will be playing the winner of Brisbane and Richmond at the MCG? Who would the panelists prefer to play and why?

If we win this week we go straight into a Prelim and potentially face Geelong, Collingwood, Fremantle or Bulldogs at the G. Who of that quartet would you prefer to face off in a Preliminary Final?

And finally if you could have your pick who would you like to play in a Grand Final?

Easy answer IMO, Brisbane and Freo

Enjoying the podcasts gentlemen, your efforts are appreciated.

Not so much a question more a topic of discussion if I may.

Reflecting on this season and how it stacks up against last season, we finished 2021 H&A games with a percentage of 130.8

We finish 2022 H&A games with a percentage of 130.5

Not wanting to get to get too far ahead of this game but Friday night against the Swans (a very well coached and drilled team), the opportunity to have a finals series like last year begins and wouldn’t it be great if we matched or went close to our 2021 finals campaign percentage of 213.1, or even better eclipse Geelong’s record of 227.1.

We’re set up for it. Let’s make history.

Last year we arrived at the finals with almost a full list to choose from, this year similar. We came in with momentum last year and I believe that momentum is building in a similar way.

The team and football department have got us to where we want to be, the opportunity to repeat last year on our home ground in front of mfc members and fans.

I wait with great anticipation.

Tried to PM you George, good on you for the shout out to Kongwak last week.