1 hour ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Reading this forum, I notice that a lot of posters think we have the AFL’s best list. I think that’s because we’re so familiar with our players.

Here’s how I would group last Friday’s 23 on this year’s form:

Great season: Petracca, Oliver, May, Petty.

Good season: Viney, Langdon, Lever, Fritsch, Brayshaw, Gawn.

Average season: Pickett (occasionally good, but too often missing or undisciplined), Harmes, Hibberd.

Disappointing season: Brown, Melksham, Neal-Bullen, Spargo, Salem, Jackson, Rivers, Hunt, Sparrow, Smith (although often injured).

Not everyone will agree with me, of course. But as I see it, 10 of our last game’s 23 had disappointing seasons. I can’t imagine that would be the case for Geelong, Collingwood or the Swans.

It’s not surprising that we didn’t perform in the finals when we rely on so few. We have some top players, but hardly the AFL’s best list. 

 

 

Fair comment although I think Hunt was more than decent in his role.

9 hours ago, DeeZee said:

Premiers last year, then win our first 10 games of the season.

In comes the Bye, then we fall into a huge hole and out of finals in straight sets.

What the hell happened??

Simple answer, injuries. We just didn't have them last year. Injuries, or lack of, can decide who is going to be premiers.

10 minutes ago, Bobby McKenzie said:

Simple answer, injuries. We just didn't have them last year. Injuries, or lack of, can decide who is going to be premiers.

Max had to have been playing sore for most of the 2nd half of the year, Trac too. TMAC really hurt us structurally. Our backline never really got going with so many players in and out making it hard to settle (Salem in particular).

But hey that’s football.

Privileged enough to see Clarrie put on a show for most of the year (now hoping he gets the Brownlow), so in that sense it hasn’t been as waste.

Well every season when you dont win the flag is a waste.  last year i though we were the best team, this year i think we were about the 4th best.  So we havent lived up to that.

Then again it is all about talent and we are lacking goal kicking talent.

People have to move on. We lost and it sucks. Much to look forward to over summer with the NBA and cricket, we'll get a good pre-season under our belt... I'm honestly excited about what list changes will take place.

7 hours ago, Bobby McKenzie said:

Simple answer, injuries. We just didn't have them last year. Injuries, or lack of, can decide who is going to be premiers.

No doubt that the health & fitness of your list as well as the total luck in the way your Club’s fixture happens to work out in a particular season of AFL are critical to success, and this year, our fixture was clearly the hardest in the AFL.  

That said, I believe that I have never seen a footy Club in any particular season, team selected & coached on game day with less creativity & imagination.  This, despite having so many back up players in form at an undefeated Casey.

27 minutes ago, goodwindees said:

No doubt that the health & fitness of your list as well as the total luck in the way your Club’s fixture happens to work out in a particular season of AFL are critical to success, and this year, our fixture was clearly the hardest in the AFL.  

That said, I believe that I have never seen a footy Club in any particular season, team selected & coached on game day with less creativity & imagination.  This, despite having so many back up players in form at an undefeated Casey.

I haven't commented on anything post Friday night as I wanted to let the emotions die down.

But i have to agree. I was on board (and still am) with the stategy that won as a flag last season. And I liked how Goody backed in his players and the plan.

But from halfway through the season even us mug supporters could see that our offense was an issue. And the last 4 mins of the SF proved how wrong we were by not trying things.

How good did we look with Petty taking grabs and being an ariel threat? I didn't buy in to the lack of creativity until i saw that. We butchered this season there is no doubt. Goody and the boys need to have a look in the mirror, we have enough defenders (all be it not always fit), to expeirment with a Smith as a KPD and Petty as a CHF.

If we can't improve significantly in offensive conversion for season 2023 then dont' worry about turning up again.

18 hours ago, dimmy said:

Bit of a problem . Smith was injured for a good part of the season.

JVR is not JC . He is a young kid growing into his body and learning what footy is about. It is important to allow kids to develop e.g we did not get the full potential out of Jack Watts because we used him as a marketing tool and sent a skinny kid out on Queens B'day well before his body (and mind) was ready for it.

Alistair Clarkson made a comment one day about the introduction of a young player who had been in the system for a while. He said that you can get the best out of younger players by providing consistency in their development not by thinking they are the Club's saviour. 

Let's develop a dynasty ala Hawthorn, MFC in 50 & 60's. Short term "solutions" do not work in the long term.

The general tenor of this topic is one of extreme negativity. You would think that MFC finished 12th this year.

At no point in my post or in the season at any point did I say anything even remotely close to JVR being a saviour so I assume you have quoted my post as a more general vibe of Demonlands hopes on JVR.

To clarify my opinion, I think the players we selected against Brisbane were the correct choices. The team we put out there were our clear best players.

They issue was that a number of them were playing injured and couldn't run out the game at the important part of the season. I've mentioned in other threads that we put these players out there to give ourselves the best chance of going back to back but we probably underestimated the demands on a long season to our players as it had worked last year.

I love the positive talk about JVR, but also think that supporters think that his VFL form will translate more or less directly to AFL. We have seen with Weideman and Mitch Brown that they can dominate at Casey and do sweet [censored] all at senior level.

It would have been great to have given him a taste of AFL level at some point this year. It could have been 2 games and he would have been better for it knowing how hard the higher level is.

I agree with part of your Watts analogy. Watts should have been introduced into the season at a suitable time to give him a taste. He wasn't. Schwab was desperate for anything to market the club and pushed the saviour thing even though Dean Bailey had said only a few weeks before that he wasn't ready.

JVR isn't Watts and we are the same club. He could have easily been introduced to the team around the middle of the season for a few games without the fanfare. 

11 hours ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Reading this forum, I notice that a lot of posters think we have the AFL’s best list. I think that’s because we’re so familiar with our players.

Here’s how I would group last Friday’s 23 on this year’s form:

Great season: Petracca, Oliver, May, Petty.

Good season: Viney, Langdon, Lever, Fritsch, Brayshaw, Gawn.

Average season: Pickett (occasionally good, but too often missing or undisciplined), Harmes, Hibberd.

Disappointing season: Brown, Melksham, Neal-Bullen, Spargo, Salem, Jackson, Rivers, Hunt, Sparrow, Smith (although often injured).

Not everyone will agree with me, of course. But as I see it, 10 of our last game’s 23 had disappointing seasons. I can’t imagine that would be the case for Geelong, Collingwood or the Swans.

It’s not surprising that we didn’t perform in the finals when we rely on so few. We have some top players, but hardly the AFL’s best list. 

 

 

I agree with your assessment

50 minutes ago, COVID Dan said:

I haven't commented on anything post Friday night as I wanted to let the emotions die down.

But i have to agree. I was on board (and still am) with the stategy that won as a flag last season. And I liked how Goody backed in his players and the plan.

But from halfway through the season even us mug supporters could see that our offense was an issue. And the last 4 mins of the SF proved how wrong we were by not trying things.

How good did we look with Petty taking grabs and being an ariel threat? I didn't buy in to the lack of creativity until i saw that. We butchered this season there is no doubt. Goody and the boys need to have a look in the mirror, we have enough defenders (all be it not always fit), to expeirment with a Smith as a KPD and Petty as a CHF.

If we can't improve significantly in offensive conversion for season 2023 then dont' worry about turning up again.

Also we could use Turner in Petty's role and still use Petty forward and maybe Smith as a swingman

1 hour ago, praha said:

People have to move on. We lost and it sucks. Much to look forward to over summer with the NBA and cricket, we'll get a good pre-season under our belt... I'm honestly excited about what list changes will take place.

Couldn't care less about NBA, Horse racing , cricket or tennis myself.

On 9/10/2022 at 7:21 AM, Clint Bizkit said:

During the season I called out that we didn’t use enough players and the nuffies here said “well it worked in 2021”.

The result we saw this year was a team of burnt out players, not a surprise at all.

And this was with a relatively healthy list.

Our forward line in the past month would have looked far more dynamic with the likes of JVR and Joel Smith (the hill I will die on) instead of Brown, ANB, Spargo and Melksham.

Specifically which players that were running around for Casey yesterday would have made a difference? Assessing the available playing list they are either developing youngsters or excellent mature age VFL players. Personally I think we suffered from too many injuries to too many key players when it counted.

1 hour ago, cantstandyasam said:

Also we could use Turner in Petty's role and still use Petty forward and maybe Smith as a swingman

100%, we have the cattle, it is all about leadership and flexibilty towards structure now.

Hmmm….straight after the game on Friday night the emotion of going out in straight sets had me thinking we’ve wasted a year….but a couple days on and I’m now feeling grateful that our footy team won the first ten games of the year, finished second on the ladder when the other grand finalist from last year limped into the top 8 and one of the other preliminary finalists from last year didn’t even make the finals! And I was at the Gabba a few weeks ago to see an incredible show put on by the boys.

Now thinking of next year….we still have the list to beat anyone. So the outlook is really positive for me.

 

It's only a wasted season if we don't correct what went wrong.

Now we're thinking, CovidDan. Just one tweak.

There are several tweaks that could have been tried and most probably, were shelved.

To get over the loss against Brisbane, I set time aside to watch the Mighty Casey game and by hell, we have some talent down there. Not playing Bowey was a terrible mistake. TMac looked fit to play well. JVR is very competent. Mitch Brown knows where to lead and can take a reliable mark 1-on -1. Moniz-W could be a star with some specialist coaching. Bedford is wasted at Casey. Chandler is solid on-ground and a great team asset hand and foot. Tomlinson is a good defender but his forte is on the flanks, preferably wing, where he still finds terrific space and delivers well to teammates. JSmith is a straight-line mover and kick with several assets required at AFL level. It's more than depth, it is a cue for immediate development for the AFL side. There are others, unmentioned, some with great untapped potential. 

Edited September 11, 20222 yr by Deemania since 56

20 hours ago, BillyBeane said:

It's only the beginning.

Agree.

21 hours ago, layzie said:

Why is the word 'disgrace' tagged in the thread title. That's a bit much isn't it?

Macquarie Dictionary:

Wow! I am glad my original post for this thread stirred up so much debate.

I have cooled down alot since Friday night. And I apologise if people don't agree with my harsh thoughts.

Nevertheless, I am sure we can all admit that it was a disappointing end to season 2022.

But oh well....let's hope the Melbourne Football Club learns from it's mistakes and can fix the vulnerabilities it has.

As for being a "fickle" supporter....that's a laughable comment. I have been a member of the Melbourne Football Club since 1998 and the last 2 years I have spent over $2,000 on reserve Redleg memberships for me and family members. I went to every home game and finals. My Parents call me a Demons fanatic. I love the Melbourne Football Club and will until the day I die.

You may not agree with the unpleasant comments I said but this is a discussion forum afterall and I have a right to give my view about how upset and angry I was after going out in straight sets in the finals after finishing 2nd on the ladder.

I guess it just shows how much emotion and passion we put into Aussies Rules Football and how we all dearly love the Melbourne Demons. Nothing pisses me off more than losing finals!

I will try my best to now move on and look forward to seeing the Melbourne Demons use the harsh lessons we learnt this year as motivation to strive for a Premiership once again in season 2023.

On 9/10/2022 at 9:05 PM, 1858 said:

A true supporter is honest with themself. A lot of our players busted their guts for 6 months to snare a top 2 spot only to fall short in a demoralising manner.

The coach has a lot to answer for. Gameplan, player management and forward setup all hopelessly inadequate. By midyear we could see the team was starting to lose steam as players got more banged up and worked painfully hard to enforce a taxing and (at times) counter intuitive gameplan.

We can't even say we blooded some promising up and comers to give them some momentum into the pre-season.

It was an utterly wasted season in the end.

Any season is “wasted” if you didn’t win one. I agree though I wish we blooded more players that made 0 sense to me.

5 hours ago, Supreme_Demon said:

Wow! I am glad my original post for this thread stirred up so much debate.

I have cooled down alot since Friday night. And I apologise if people don't agree with my harsh thoughts.

Nevertheless, I am sure we can all admit that it was a disappointing end to season 2022.

But oh well....let's hope the Melbourne Football Club learns from it's mistakes and can fix the vulnerabilities it has.

As for being a "fickle" supporter....that's a laughable comment. I have been a member of the Melbourne Football Club since 1998 and the last 2 years I have spent over $2,000 on reserve Redleg memberships for me and family members. I went to every home game and finals. My Parents call me a Demons fanatic. I love the Melbourne Football Club and will until the day I die.

You may not agree with the unpleasant comments I said but this is a discussion forum afterall and I have a right to give my view about how upset and angry I was after going out in straight sets in the finals after finishing 2nd on the ladder.

I guess it just shows how much emotion and passion we put into Aussies Rules Football and how we all dearly love the Melbourne Demons. Nothing pisses me off more than losing finals!

I will try my best to now move on and look forward to seeing the Melbourne Demons use the harsh lessons we learnt this year as motivation to strive for a Premiership once again in season 2023.

While I don't 100% agree with the original post and idea of a wasted season, I've got no problem at all with you making the post. No-one has any right to tell others how to feel and although I've made some jokes that might have said otherwise please know they are just jokes.

It's been a total whirlwind of emotions for a lot of us. Going out in straight sets after following a while season of us looking at top 4 is very new to me and I do understand the people that do think it's a waste. For example, yes the Kozzie winning goal against Carlton was an amazing moment, but the fact that it didn't really lead to anything after that apart from a brilliant last game of the season was a shame as that moment still feels very recent. 

We're still right in the middle of the emotions, it's going to take time to process. It's going to be hard to see another team lift the cup and again this is all going to be new territory for a lot of us. Don't apologise for speaking your mind. 

21 hours ago, Salems Lot said:

Specifically which players that were running around for Casey yesterday would have made a difference? Assessing the available playing list they are either developing youngsters or excellent mature age VFL players. Personally I think we suffered from too many injuries to too many key players when it counted.

Dunstan (for Sparrow), Bowey (for Salem)  and one of Chandler/Bedford (for Spargo) & Macca/JVR (for Melk).

While Melk would feel unlucky given his form just prior to the finals, his first finals performance was that bad* it was not a risk worth taking hoping he would bounce back in a follow up do or die final.  Besides it was clear that we needed a second tall KF to help BB out... yet we went with the same line up making it easier for Brisbane to defend in the air.

*Same with Salem

Spargo & Kozzy didnt fire a shot in the first final and also didnt bring enough pressure inside 50.  But again...no change.  Too easy for Brisbane to defend at ground level.

They had us covered in the air and on the ground in defence.

The first final was 'the tell' we were in trouble and that some players were a mile off AFL level let alone finals level, yet SG stuck with the same team & format.

Edited September 11, 20222 yr by Demon Dynasty

On 9/10/2022 at 8:41 PM, Demon Disciple said:

Started year 10-0, only to go out in straight sets.

The fact that teams cottoned on to how to play us and that we had no plan B or C and only became more stubbornly reliant on an ineffective style is an indictment on the entire coaching team.

A wasted season indeed.

The only half decent teams we played in the first ten rounds were Richmond and Western Bulldogs, both of whom bowed out quickly in the finals. 

1 hour ago, Antioch said:

The only half decent teams we played in the first ten rounds were Richmond and Western Bulldogs, both of whom bowed out quickly in the finals. 

Firstly I don’t disagree with you, the facts are the facts and we didn’t get it done enough against quality opposition. What kind of bugs me with this hindsight view that people and media always seem to take is that it doesn’t tell the whole story. 

-    We play the Dogs in Rd 1 in a GF rematch with the opposition desperate to atone and kick things off on the right foot in 2022
-    We play Essendon in Rd 3 who although lost the first 2 were still a finals side from last year and looking to get on the board with what was still a decent team before becoming a basket case.
-    We play Port in Rd 4 on their home deck. Again, a prelim finalist from the previous year needing to make a massive statement at home to get their season back on track
-    We play GWS in Rd 5, another previous year finalist sitting at 1 and 3 and needing a win
-    We play Richmond on Anzac eve, finalist.
-    We play St Kilda in Rd 8 who were sitting 5 and 2 and giving a lot of teams problems around that time.

Now I know a lot of these teams nose-dived but it’s easy to forget that there were a lot of big challenges here that we passed with flying colours at the time. If people think our 10-0 start was all easy wins then they are out of their mind. 
 

Edited September 12, 20222 yr by layzie

Roger the Demon Dog is of the opinion that the Football Department 'screwed the pooch' this year.

I respect his opinion because he is a topic expert.