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Goody’s Reflections on 2022

Demonland
Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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That interview is interesting. But it’s what follows that’s THE BEST to watch. 😍

 

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    Lots of learnings for the Melbourne Demons.

    Hopefully, Simon Goodwin has a good break too and recharges his batteries.

    I want him and the rest of the coaching staff and players fully focused on having a successful season in 2023.

    GO DEMONS! 🔴🔵👹

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    That was a bit beige. We got stuck back in our 2020 cycle. I am hoping hulking JVR shakes things up a bit, and that he and Petty can straighten us up.

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    19 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    That interview is interesting. But it’s what follows that’s THE BEST to watch. 😍

     

    My favourite part of this is the first 10 seconds when Luke Darcy is immediately made to look foolish for insisting Gawn has "just gotta" take the ruck. Classic LD.

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    Just go and be proactive Dees that's all the fans want to see improvements all over the board and address our weaknesses.

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    When I was a young man I heard Norm Smith talking to some reporters after a premiership and he said that unless you recruit some fresh blood who is good enough to play in the 18 then you tend to go backwards the next year.

    Unfortunately the MFC thought the improvement would come from within rather than improving the list, sometimes coaches have to listen to history and not put your head in the sand.

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    2 hours ago, durango said:

    Unfortunately the MFC thought the improvement would come from within rather than improving the list, sometimes coaches have to listen to history and not put your head in the sand.

    You're not only making assumptions as to the attitude of the coaches/club, but ignoring history yourself: for a club coming off a premiership and with very few picks in hand, we were very proactive in the draft and brought in Luke Dunstan who is more than capable of filling a role in the first 22.

    But have a look at the players who were available and changed clubs in 2021 and let us know who we should have picked up to "improve the list". Mabior Chol?

    Edited by bing181

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    Holy hell, did we come 17th? 😂

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    16 minutes ago, bing181 said:

    You're not only making assumptions as to the attitude of the coaches/club, but ignoring history yourself: for a club coming off a premiership and with very few picks in hand, we were very proactive in the draft and brought in Luke Dunstan who is more than capable of filling a role in the first 22.

    But have a look at the players who were available land changed clubs in 2021 and let us know who we should have picked up to "improve the list". Mabior Chol?

    I think (hope) the difference this time round is that the coaches say day 1 of pre-season that they start as a blank slate and everyone has to earn their spot.  There were too many players that were given the benefit of the doubt based on past performance that never turned the corner... while our 2nds lost only one game for the year.

    There's about 5 of AFL quality that didn't get a look in last season plus one or two more from the draft / trade period this year.  That should be enough

     

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    Does he admit that he was too stubborn to change his game plan, should have rewarded in form Casey players and how kicking out to the left every time is one of the dumbest ideas in the history of the AFL? 

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    6 hours ago, bing181 said:But have a look at the players who were available and changed clubs in 2021 and let us know who we should have picked up to "improve the list". Mabior Chol?

    Chol would’ve been a great pick up. 39 marks i50, and 44 goals. Would’ve been second in our goal kicking with that output. 
     

     

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    11 hours ago, durango said:

    When I was a young man I heard Norm Smith talking to some reporters after a premiership and he said that unless you recruit some fresh blood who is good enough to play in the 18 then you tend to go backwards the next year.

    Unfortunately the MFC thought the improvement would come from within rather than improving the list, sometimes coaches have to listen to history and not put your head in the sand.

    Quite right Durango too much loyalty afforded some of our 2021 heroes and although not public there is no doubt that our fitness levels prevented an all out assault to defend our premiership. 
    Too many players carrying injuries others prematurely rushed back to Senior footy and our Casey side players not used deservedly nor strategically to  assist our cause.

    Also BING 181 has completely missed the wisdom of Norm Smiths comments about new players each year. Dunstan as a sole  recruit was never going to be enough and our improving players at Casey were largely overlooked when the injuries and hastened return proved critical in our run home.

    We now need  SIX AFL standard recruits from draft trade and existing stocks of  some young talent at Casey to launch a strong  and  purposeful assault on the 2023 Premiership.

    It is entirely achievable if the Coaches  FD and players respond in the right manner. I believe we have all teams except Geelong covered if we do that and they may be like us and have one of those seasons that not quite right! 

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    16 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

    Holy hell, did we come 17th? 😂

    No ..5th ,playing like it was still AFL 2021

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    24 minutes ago, IRW said:

    No ..5th ,playing like it was still AFL 2021

    Still can't believe we canme 5th. Still feel we are the second best in it. 

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    4 hours ago, layzie said:

    Still can't believe we canme 5th. Still feel we are the second best in it. 

    That's another story..At years end, banged up and very badly managed managed we were probably 4th best; not far off on the  scoreboard but still an insurmountable gap

    Edited by IRW

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    He kind of hit the nail on the head, we need to keep improving. we tried to run the 2021 playbook back and refused to budge, and while there were other factors as well, we need to keep evolving to continue to push for more premierships. 

    i'd imagine in 2023 we will be more daring with our ball movement, look to tidy up our defensive structure to hold up better against teams who run the ball at us, and overall look to get the forward line functioning in a more healthy fashion

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    12 hours ago, 58er said:

    Also BING 181 has completely missed the wisdom of Norm Smiths comments about new players each year.

    I know this is Demonland, a fantasyland where reality doesn't count and there are no consequences, but go ahead: with hindsight we know the players who were available as trades last year, who would you have brought in? And how would you have got them without giving up Van Rooyen, Howes etc., i.e., you have no draft swaps available for compensation. (And let's stay in fantasyland and ignore that at least some of the players available might not have wanted to come to the Demons.)

    As for Norm Smith, apart from the fact that he didn't have to deal with salary caps, drafts (at all), bidding, points, father-sons, academies and the whole heavily regulated palaver, he was at the club when training was Tuesday and Thursday nights after work but heh, let's run the club the way it was run in the fifties. 

    Back in Norm's day, you would pick up some kid up from the country, give them a month of training, a few matches in the under-nineteens and they'd be ready to park down on the HFF in the firsts. Yes, he was bringing players in but in those days, bringing players in meant the equivalent of drafting. Which we were very proactive in, so rest in peace Norm, we're following your guidelines.

    In any case if we're talking about trading as opposed to drafting, the "if you want to go back to back you have to bring new players in the year after a premiership" is demonstrably untrue. e.g., the last team to win back-to-back was Richmond in 2019 and 2020, and outside of the draft they didn't bring in any new players in either of those years.

    Edited by bing181

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    And speaking of fantasyland, the idea that we would have won the premiership by bringing in the likes of Weideman, Mitch Brown or Baker is just that.

     

    Edited by bing181

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    I don't think the issue was that we didn't recruit from other clubs. For mine I'd have liked more senior game time into the young developing players like Chandler, Bowey, Laurie and Turner. It is true of every coach. They have players they trust and those they trust they give extra opportunities to find form and these kids (mostly) haven't been give the opportunity.

    Petty to move forward and Turner to be the developing third defender with Bowey distributing the ball off half back appeals to me. Obviously JVR is going to come in to senior calculations although like others mentioned it's overdue. Hopefully he stars and we all have to eat our words as the footy department is vindicated by his readiness to compete at the highest level.

    I'm less keen about Grundy  he is not our need but the brains trust knows plenty I don't.

    Baker has been mentioned here but he has not shown enough to be part of the discussion IMO. 

    It was encouraging to hear Goody talk about changing the game plan. In hindsight we do seem to have been overtaken by several clubs.

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