A few days have gone past since our frustrating and deflating loss to the Sydney Swans in the Qualifying Final.

I thought I would have a bit of a look at the statistics from the game last Friday night.

While you don't expect to kick every single goal. I still think that inaccurate goal kicking has really affected the Demons this season

Both Jake Melksham and Alex Neal-Bullen need to really focus more on their goal kicking for the Demons. Christian Petracca missed a goal too but I am a lot more forgiving for him due to the later discovery of his injuries.

Anyway, that's 5 shots at goal that we missed. That could of been the difference between winning and losing against the Swans but I understand there are other factors in the game that need to be taken into account.

In contrast it was wonderful that Clayton Oliver kicked 2 goals. That is the final element that he needs to add to his game to  really become an AFL superstar. Goal kicking midfielders win you matches. A 30+ possession game is great but a 30+ possession game with 3 goals can be the difference between winning a crucial final.

I greatly encourage Clayton Oliver to really focus on kicking more goals for the Melbourne Demons.

However, this goes for all our forwards! You gotta hit the scoreboard!

We need our forwards to really continue on setting aside as much time as possible on kicking goals from all different angles and in all different situations (e.g. crumbing, set shots, snaps etc etc).

Anyway, no excuses for our semi-final against the Brisbane Lions.

If we are going to win we MUST kick straight!

Fingers crossed the Demons can win on Friday night! 🤞

Poor goal kicking, much like umpiring, is tempting to blame because it implies that we outplayed them in the remaining aspects of the game.

We didn't. They had more scoring shots than us in any case.

We might have been in a position to commit daylight robbery and pinch the win if we'd converted our opportunities in the last quarter - but up until that stage, we'd kicked remarkably well. That's not the reason we lost.

We won the inside 50 count 56-50, led contested marks 17-6 and led inside 50 marks 11-7. That's encouraging, because those numbers are strongly correlated with winning footy matches. These stats are indicative of a game plan, systems and personnel that are largely doing what they are supposed to do.

The key stat we got belted in was the inside 50 tack count: 13-25. That's where the game was won and lost right there. That's where the vast majority of their scoring opportunities came from, and we weren't able to generate many of our own.

This isn't such a bad thing: this is an area we can address with an attitudinal tweak, rather than reflective of a broader systematic problem. If we get the chance to play the swans again in 3 weeks, I'll back us in.

 

 

 

 

In contrast the Swans kicked goals out of their jackson. Hayward from the boundary 50m, Lloyd off one step on the boundary , Rowbottom a dump kick that bounced over our defenders heads, Papley kicked a quick snap out of a pack from 50m. 

Plus the 3 goals we gifted them from 50m penalties. And the goal Gawn gifted them kicking across goal

 

Thats 9 of their goals. We weren't that bad

Edited September 5, 20222 yr by jnrmac

Our entries need to stop going to the pockets and flanks

On 9/4/2022 at 3:57 PM, Supreme_Demon said:

I greatly encourage Clayton Oliver to really focus on kicking more goals for the Melbourne Demons

Wasn't it great how focused he was.

When he puts his mind to it, beautiful.  The rest can learn how important goals are in finals and how to use the will to get everything right.

Melksham and ANB both play as forwards and their craft has to be solid. Head over, drive the ball like they own it, and snaps have to follow the eyes.

Disappointed, mids are good to score but the bread and butter are the forwards. 

Edited September 5, 20222 yr by kev martin

Need more than a few good patches in games too. Patches don't win matches.

Question time Demon fans;

Which player feasted himself to his first two goals of the year against our mighty club?

Edited September 5, 20222 yr by YesitwasaWin4theAges

An old saying goes, you don't need to kick goals if you kick enough points. Setup the wall and launch barrels from outside 50.

Melksham on the run, snap, around the corner and banana is deadly but hopeless on regulation set shots. 

We could have covered the set shot misses if we'd kicked more than a couple of goals from open play.

Our forward line is clogged, we bomb it up and always have two big guys contesting. There is no space, and we barely have a strong leading forward running into open space. The problem lies directly with the coaching staff. 

They need to go back, and look at videos of the 80's, when forwards were given opportunity to contest, one on one, and kick goals. 

We have one of the most talented marking forwards I've ever seen in the Melbourne colours, in Fritsch. Why net set him up similiar to how they set up Modra. Using Ben Brown and Jackson at CHF, in a roll similar to Stuart Lowe at the Saints in the 90's.

7 hours ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

Question time Demon fans;

Which player feasted himself to his first two goals of the year against our mighty club?

Has to be Llyod. Was shocked when he got his first let alone second

On 9/4/2022 at 3:57 PM, Supreme_Demon said:

Both Jake Melksham and Alex Neal-Bullen need to really focus more on their goal kicking for the Demons. Christian Petracca missed a goal too but I am a lot more forgiving for him due to the later discovery of his injuries.

In contrast it was wonderful that Clayton Oliver kicked 2 goals. 

Jake was kicking most of his set shots at training SD.  Unfortunately for whatever reason not quite as accurate on Sat night.

Tracc seemed to be going at about 50% - 60% at training.  Does Tracc lean back a little too much?  Some training vids i've seen suggest your body needs to be more upright/vertical when connecting with the ball.

Clarry suprised me a little at training converting about 50% - 70% and really taking his time with very deliberate method/action.  Obviously appeared to work on Sat night.

I did notice that most of the set shots being take were from around 35 - 40 meters.  Didnt seem to be much variation in the distance or the angles (maybe one slight change) in which the boys were taking their shots.

In the end i think whether it's going to work or not is obciously much to do with routine / technique and then a % is above the shoulders and this probably varies from player to player and their ability to stick to the routine/execute under heat on the big stage.  Easy for us to critique from our lounge rooms of course!

The little master talks about the mental factor and how he prepared himself mentally to take a bit of the pressure off and make it more about routine, method and executing (see start of his tutorial below).  No doubt with a ton of practice behind all that.  What a master he was and beautiful to watch in full flight...

 

Edited September 5, 20222 yr by Demon Dynasty

Both Tracc and Melksham lean way too far back when they kick it. Its a recipe for disaster. I can't believe Stafford hasnt picked up on that.

Look at TMac. Keeps his head over the ball, runs straight at the target and raises his leg straight and high. He 'places' the ball on his foot rather than drops it.

He doesn't twirl the ball around either.

 

Its infuriating they haven't copied him when he has been successful. BBB aint bad either.

2 hours ago, BAMF said:

Has to be Llyod. Was shocked when he got his first let alone second

Correct,✅️slotted them like he'd been doing it for years.🙈

Edited September 5, 20222 yr by YesitwasaWin4theAges

The ‘lean back’ motion is something you’d probably be emphasising when you’d looking for distance over accuracy. Starting with your head over the ball then ripping into it. 

I don’t think that you need to keep the head perfectly over the ball all the way through the motion but inside 30 or 40 metres I’d be hoping for a more vertical finishing position. It might be a balancing act because you always want to make sure you have the measure but leaning back like those photos suggests introduces another variable which is balance. If the balance is slightly off on the follow through, well, you know what will happen.