Join @george_on_the_outer, @binman & I on the Demonland Podcast Monday night 5th September LIVE @ 8:30pm for breakdown of the Qualifying Final loss to Sydney.

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Skype: Demonland31

Feel free to post questions or comments relating to the match or the upcoming Semi Final against Brisbane.

We forced more turnovers than Sydney 81 to 75 yet they scored 70 points from turnovers from their 91 points in total and we weren't able to capitalise when we turned the ball over?

We folded under the pressure of Sydney's high pressure. How can we combat that in the future? If we get through the Lions and somehow get through the Cats we are most likely going to have to play the Swans or Collingwood in a Granny and we've seen the results of our 4 matches against those 2 high pressure teams.

I couldn't make the trek down from Brisbane last Friday. Knowing we had the double chance I wanted to get to Melbourne for either the Semi or the Prelim (and hopefully a Granny).

In Round 23 I was able to watch us live at the Gabba and we played with a totally different strategy going forward. We seemed to revert to a kick it to the pocket strategy or just bomb it in this week.

Can any of you explain to me why that was as it was difficult to ascertain that from watching on the telly?

Would be interested in your thoughts on the 3 50m penalties, the Buddy flop and general ‘discipline’.

also we lacked overlap run and bombed into f50.  Was this forced on us by Sydney, or was it an unforced strategy?

too many key players were down, do you think with all the ‘new season’ talk, open training etc we got ahead of ourselves?  What changes will we make (or should we make) this week?

In a 2018 Preliminary Final Richmond played a hampered Dusty in a tacit admission that their chances of success hinged on his presence (they still lost heavily). With a similar injury (corky) to Trac do you think we might be tempted to do likewise and if so would we be sending out the same signals? 

Can the presence of an 80% fit superstar lift all his team mates enough to make up that difference? If so can you think of any famous examples where this has worked or backfired? 

It’d be great if you guys can discuss the strategy of playing Gawn as a forward for the majority of the game. Gawn has barely fired a shot as a forward, he provides little to no leads and almost tempts our midfielders to bomb it in long as opposed to lowering their eyes. 

Why has Goodwin been pursuing it for so long and is it finally time to just scrap the idea? 

What has happened to our turnover game? You cannot rely on clearance and stoppage goals all the time. This scoring source has all but dried up and it’s no surprise we rank in the bottom quartile in ball movement as well. 
 

Let talk about key stats.

We won the disposal count, inside 50s, free kicks, hitouts, contested possessions, marks inside 50, contested marks.

We got belted in the pressure department, pressure acts, tackles and hence turnovers and scores from turnovers.

Is the latter the reason we couldn't capitalise on the former?

I am convinced defending this premiership has left us very fatigued. We start well and fade. This has been the case for both the season itself and within most games. Rather than reaching our peak, i think we are just hanging on. A prelim appearance will be a good result from here.

Question for the pod - do we die wondering with the same 22, or do we do we roll the dice on some fresher names who are perhaps not as weighed down by a long season?

If we were to go out in straight sets, how does the Club respond during the player draft/trading period? Does it:

a. undertake minimal list changes in the belief that a couple of game style tweaks and natural improvement in player development and skills can deliver a flag in 2023,

b. undertake a minor list renovation, moving on a couple of good servants that are unlikely to play in our next flag,

c. undertake a moderately radical list renovation, moving on eight or so players, including at least a couple that played in the 2021 flag, or

d. do something else?

Thank you for a wonderful pod each week. I'm a big fan.

Edited September 4, 20222 yr by Queanbeyan Demon
typo

I think the time has come to roll the dice with Tmac, if we don't do it this week we can't wait till a Prelim to try has to be Friday night.

Gives him the extra game against higher quality opposition and gives us the extra Key Forward we have been craving since Tmac went down. This will allow Gawny to spend rucking and playing his more traditional role around the ground.

Its a risk but a calculated one, no point having him as a sub he needs to play to free up BBB, Gawny/ Jacko when up forward.

We won't be winning anything without another key Forward in our line up.

If we lose doing it so be it, we can't beat the other contenders with our current set up.

We need to roll the dice to alleviate pressure from BBB and the resting ruck.

This will bring the smaller forwards into the game and straighten us up significantly.

 

Edited September 4, 20222 yr by YesitwasaWin4theAges

JVR vs TMac for the Lions match. And will they pull the trigger or stick with the same structure that smashed them in the H and A?

 

Goodwin has always said that they trust their systems.

Question: do we still trust their systems?

1 hour ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

If we were to go out in straight sets, how does the Club respond during the player draft/trading period? Does it:

a. undertake minimal list changes in the belief that a couple of game style tweaks and natural improvement in player development and skills can deliver a flag in 2023,

b. undertake a minor list renovation, moving on a couple of good servants that are unlikely to play in our next flag,

c. undertake a moderately radical list renovation, moving on eight or so players, including at least a couple that played in the 2021 flag, or

d. do something else?

Thank you for a wonderful pod each week. I'm a big fan.

Might save this one for the post season show. Hopefully it’s not needed after a Flag. 

please bring this one up again should we lose this week (or the next). 

4 hours ago, buck_nekkid said:

Would be interested in your thoughts on the 3 50m penalties, the Buddy flop and general ‘discipline’.

also we lacked overlap run and bombed into f50.  Was this forced on us by Sydney, or was it an unforced strategy?

too many key players were down, do you think with all the ‘new season’ talk, open training etc we got ahead of ourselves?  What changes will we make (or should we make) this week?

It was certainly a lacklustre performance by some of our boys.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Goody’s gastro impacted quite a few in our team, but we will never know if that was the case.  We don’t make excuses!

It’s been bugging me since round 7 that we suddenly became a lot easier to score against.  We have had all sorts of semi logical reasons thrown up such as loading, lack of forward pressure, injuries etc etc.  All have some merit. But last Friday none of these were a factor, May was unbelievable with 16 intercepts, and yet we still conceded scores from 42% of Sydney inside 50s versus our average of 31% in finals last year.

Any ideas why?  Are we missing Brayshaw as that defensive winger getting back into D50?  Max has had 33% fewer spoils this year than last. Do we need him back doing 80% ruck work in the defensive role to help out in D50 and rest him on the bench instead of up forward? Do we need Bowey in for defensive ground balls that cost us against Sydney?  Look forward to the podcast.

Can adversity bring a certain strength? We’ve got injury niggles, just lost on our own turf, looking at a steep climb ahead to have any chance at the flag. What can the coaches do to mentally prepare the team for what looks like a very difficult few weeks, after what was a very difficult year?

Edited September 4, 20222 yr by DeezNuts

1. Was the round 23 domination of the Lions, in hindsight, not ideal preparation for the ferocious pressure the Swans brought defensively ?  

Looking ahead to the Lions: 

2. Could we expect a few surprises thrown up by Fagan to test us tactically? (If you were Fagan, what would YOU do?)

3.  Even if something has served us well in the past, going back to it again and again, might be the fastest track to elimination, given our opponents are adapatable and can prepare for it. Are there some positional or tactical changes we still could make to what we did in round 23, to ensure we get the win? 

Edited September 4, 20222 yr by John Demonic

Are the 'incidents' in this game overplayed and were we just beaten by an all round better team on the night?

We really wanted to kick long to the pocket as much as possible in this one, despite it being the plan did this hurt us at times considering the Rd 23 game our delivery into the 50 was so varied?

I’m curious to know if the guys think the pre-finals bye worked against us (and to a lesser extent Geelong)? It seems both Collingwood and Sydney were able to apply enormous pressure during their respective matches despite the fact that @binman and others were anticipating those (relatively) younger teams would begin to run out of steam come finals time. I can’t help but wonder if the pre-finals bye helped Syd and Coll freshen up more than it helped us freshen up. It will be interesting to see how the pies fare against Fremantle having to back up again next week. While Sydney will obviously get to freshen up again ahead of their prelim.

 

 

Edited September 4, 20222 yr by Deetective Sgt. Taggert

I have a comment on last year's finals series.

 

We played Brisbane, Geelong and Western bulldogs. All teams who couldn't apply much pressure and didn't play man on man footy.

This year our hardest games have been against teams playing high pressure man on man, like Sydney, Collingwood and Carlton.

 

my question is: can the demons find a way to play against the man on man style and kick away again? It seems to me like our model stands up against certain teams but not others.

Im not saying they should bring in Tmac. But we were horribly exposed for the lack of a second key forward.

Even if Melksham kicked straight. We constantly win the ball in the middle and snap it out to CHF to only have ANB or Sparrow contest it and with Brayshaw not on the wing now we lack a link up down the line. We need one of Smith or Weid or JVR in to straighten us up.

In finals you HAVE to kick down the line and take territory when the pressure is on. You need big fwds to compete and at least half the contest. That IMO is not having Spargo ANB or Sparrow (who played well) trying to wrestle 2 opponents and if we go in and ask Petracca to play 80% fwd we are kidding ourselves.

48 minutes ago, Deetective Sgt. Taggert said:

I’m curious to know if the guys think the pre-finals bye worked against us (and to a lesser extent Geelong)? It seems both Collingwood and Sydney were able to apply enormous pressure during their respective matches despite the fact that @binman and others were anticipating those (relatively) younger teams would begin to run out of steam come finals time. I can’t help but wonder if the pre-finals bye helped Syd and Coll freshen up more than it helped us freshen up. It will be interesting to see how the pies fare against Fremantle having to back up again next week. While Sydney will obviously get to freshen up again ahead of their prelim.

The pre-finals bye was the one factor that we couldn't actually plan for based on past experience, given how much of a topic the training loads to replicate 2021, has been around these parts. The r23 pressure that Brisbanes defence put up can't have helped prepare us either! Curious indeed.

Edited September 4, 20222 yr by John Demonic

First time poster, long time listener. Love the pod!

Question I'd love your thoughts on that's driving me crazy... 

What is it about the MCG this year? It cannot be a coincidence we win almost every away game and feels like we've lost almost every home game at the G (the Carlton win was hardly convincing). Is it the Melbourne weather given nearly all the MCG games have been cold & drizzly which leads to the frustrating fumbling we keep seeing? Do we need the warmer conditions to execute cleaner?

Keep up the good work & go dees!