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PREGAME: Rd 03 vs Sydney

Demonland
Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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He goes at the ball hard, he creates a contest and his follow-up at ground level is exceptional.


This is what I enjoyed reading about JVR, Brown anc TMac are both getting on, they’re not done but they have their limitations. Brown’s goal kicking is solid and his marking is at times too (our delivery and slow ball movement doesn’t help his cause) but if he doesn’t mark it then he ability to impact that contest is almost gone, he does lay the occasional tackle. Tmacs issues have been well documented on here. Having JVR and Chandler in the fwd line gives us something different, which is what we lacked last season, we’d become very stale.

 
On 3/29/2023 at 1:51 AM, defuture15 said:

or spargo for a few CB's?

I reckon Spargo would be a good call.

Edited by leave it to deever

29 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

He goes at the ball hard, he creates a contest and his follow-up at ground level is exceptional.


This is what I enjoyed reading about JVR, Brown anc TMac are both getting on, they’re not done but they have their limitations. Brown’s goal kicking is solid and his marking is at times too (our delivery and slow ball movement doesn’t help his cause) but if he doesn’t mark it then he ability to impact that contest is almost gone, he does lay the occasional tackle. Tmacs issues have been well documented on here. Having JVR and Chandler in the fwd line gives us something different, which is what we lacked last season, we’d become very stale.

Jvr is a welcome infusion of ball attack. I think Bbb is in good touch at the minute and will continue to be our leading goal kicker and be a real chance for the Coleman. I do think his impact at ground level has dramatically improved however.

The forward line is in a state of flux at the moment with changes occurring each week and hasn't had time to settle. Fritta just came back. The Gawn ..Grundy combo which was goal prolific in warm up games has now gone. Tmac does seem to be out of sorts which is a worry but it's early days. It's been a big difference not having an attacking chf taking several contested marks.

Hopefully Jvr can manage this task for us.

    • Like 3
     
    1 hour ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

    He goes at the ball hard, he creates a contest and his follow-up at ground level is exceptional.


    This is what I enjoyed reading about JVR, Brown anc TMac are both getting on, they’re not done but they have their limitations. Brown’s goal kicking is solid and his marking is at times too (our delivery and slow ball movement doesn’t help his cause) but if he doesn’t mark it then he ability to impact that contest is almost gone, he does lay the occasional tackle. Tmacs issues have been well documented on here. Having JVR and Chandler in the fwd line gives us something different, which is what we lacked last season, we’d become very stale.

    Mind you, it would be a bit surprising if the club wrote instead, "He's not noted for going at the ball hard, he's usually away from the contest and his follow-up at ground level is average". In other words, take all pre-game praise with a grain of salt and hope that he delivers on the main stage.

    Edited by La Dee-vina Comedia
    typo

    • Like 1
    18 hours ago, adonski said:

    Harmes soft dropped?

     

    14 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

    Possibly, but you’d imagine he’d be dropped regardless.

    Geez the compassion shown here is off the [censored] charts. You don’t know why Harmesy’s not available. Nor do I. But how about erring on the side of he may’ve suffered a personal loss, for example?


    It’s difficult to know what to make of last week. Clearly we were smashed around the ball, in every phase of stoppages and made many uncharacteristic defensive errors, including allowing players to get free 20m out from goal. Something we haven’t done since 2019-20.

    At the same time we were missing 3 incredibly important players, both for their ability, x-factor and structurally. I can’t see the same defensive errors happening to that extent with May leading the backline. Tomlinson did a serviceable job but Petty has looked under enormous pressure during May’s absence, which I think is because while Tomlinson is good one on one, he lacks May’s ability to goalkeep and structure up what has been a relatively inexperienced backline group. With May back I think we’ll see Petty back to his best as second key defender. 

    Also in Kozzies absence we lacked pressure around contest, his X factor is also missing but his physicality, pressure and speed were a key ingredient in our midfield and up forward in round one and we suffered without him. I had hoped Viney would pick up the slack but he looked a bit off. We looked sluggish and let Brisbane move the ball outside the contest with little pressure, that would not happen with Kozzie in there.
     

    Lastly losing Max hurt and will continue to hurt. He’s huge around stoppage, he’s our number one contested marking option forward and behind the ball, he helps out the defense, he kicks goals and he worries opposition. I think it’s easy to forget but this is the best ruckman of this generation, possibly all time, he dominates games in a way no other ruckman does and he plays a selfless team brand that makes us better on every line. He’s also a brilliant leader, an onfield coach and the spiritual heart of our team. I have no doubt if Maxy plays out the game last week we win. How we cover for him will be a huge challenge, the inclusion of May behind the ball will help cover Maxy a bit, it’s also clear we’re hoping JVR will offer us better contested marking down the line and Grundy will cover the stoppage work.  But it’s a huge challenge for us. 
     

    I’m not too down on last week, take the FB, the explosive X factor forward mid and the number one ruck out of any team and they will struggle, let alone our team where these three are in our best 6 or 7 players comfortably and on field leaders for us. Imagine Sydney with no Ladhams, Papley and T McCartin, they would struggle. Our depth makes it feel like we should still be very good, and we should, but we’ve had huge outs throughout this early season and if we get through these three weeks with a couple of wins that’s a massive result. 
     

    Ultimately if we can reach round 8, when Max should be back,  at 5-3 or better, we’ve done well. Our best team, with Max, Kozzie and May all fit and in form will belt almost everyone the way we did the bulldogs. The challenge we failed to meet last week is without these players can we still eke out a win against good opposition. Hopefully we can do that against Sydney this week. 

    For me it’s:

    Out: Tomlinson, Harmes, Gawn, McVee, Melksham(sub) 

    In: May, JVR, JJ, Hibberd, Laurie(sub)

    Edited by deejammin'

    • Like 5
    14 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

     

    Geez the compassion shown here is off the [censored] charts. You don’t know why Harmesy’s not available. Nor do I. But how about erring on the side of he may’ve suffered a personal loss, for example?

    Your very level headed WcW. Much needed here. 

    • Like 3

    Any updates circulating on May yet?

    Spoke to my physio this morning and he's not surprised (if true), says they are called old man injuries for a reason and referenced that he was good mates with Dawes who happened to suffer from the same issue late in his career. 

    • Sad 1
     
    1 minute ago, leave it to deever said:

    Your very level headed WcW. Much needed here. 

    I’m so over the (sometimes thinly veiled) player bagging. Especially the likes of Harmsey. He is arguably the most popular amongst the players (he and Salo, actually) because of his forever upbeat mood and the fun he brings to the group, always. He’s a fiercely loyal friend (some of the stories I’ve heard would melt your heart) and for him to be out for personal reasons is really sad because it must be pretty serious. People should think before they post. Or even not post it at all.

    And Soz if I sound like a broken record but I’ll defend players like Harmesy, Melks and all the other whipping boys ‘til the end. So get used to it y’all. 😠

    33 minutes ago, deejammin' said:

    It’s difficult to know what to make of last week. Clearly we were smashed around the ball, in every phase of stoppages and made many uncharacteristic defensive errors, including allowing players to get free 20m out from goal. Something we haven’t done since 2019-20.

    At the same time we were missing 3 incredibly important players, both for their ability, x-factor and structurally. I can’t see the same defensive errors happening to that extent with May leading the backline. Tomlinson did a serviceable job but Petty has looked under enormous pressure during May’s absence, which I think is because while Tomlinson is good one on one, he lacks May’s ability to goalkeep and structure up what has been a relatively inexperienced backline group. With May back I think we’ll see Petty back to his best as second key defender. 

    Also in Kozzies absence we lacked pressure around contest, his X factor is also missing but his physicality, pressure and speed were a key ingredient in our midfield and up forward in round one and we suffered without him. I had hoped Viney would pick up the slack but he looked a bit off. We looked sluggish and let Brisbane move the ball outside the contest with little pressure, that would not happen with Kozzie in there.
     

    Lastly losing Max hurt and will continue to hurt. He’s huge around stoppage, he’s our number one contested marking option forward and behind the ball, he helps out the defense, he kicks goals and he worries opposition. I think it’s easy to forget but this is the best ruckman of this generation, possibly all time, he dominates games in a way no other ruckman does and he plays a selfless team brand that makes us better on every line. He’s also a brilliant leader, an onfield coach and the spiritual heart of our team. I have no doubt if Maxy plays out the game last week we win. How we cover for him will be a huge challenge, the inclusion of May behind the ball will help cover Maxy a bit, it’s also clear we’re hoping JVR will offer us better contested marking down the line and Grundy will cover the stoppage work.  But it’s a huge challenge for us. 
     

    I’m not too down on last week, take the FB, the explosive X factor forward mid and the number one ruck out of any team and they will struggle, let alone our team where these three are in our best 6 or 7 players comfortably and on field leaders for us. Imagine Sydney with no Ladhams, Papley and T McCartin, they would struggle. Our depth makes it feel like we should still be very good, and we should, but we’ve had huge outs throughout this early season and if we get through these three weeks with a couple of wins that’s a massive result. 
     

    Ultimately if we can reach round 8, when Max should be back,  at 5-3 or better, we’ve done well. Our best team, with Max, Kozzie and May all fit and in form will belt almost everyone the way we did the bulldogs. The challenge we failed to meet last week is without these players can we still eke out a win against good opposition. Hopefully we can do that against Sydney this week. 

    For me it’s:

    Out: Tomlinson, Harmes, Gawn, McVee, Melksham(sub) 

    In: May, JVR, JJ, Hibberd, Laurie(sub)

    Great post but I feel sorry for Tommo. 

    • Like 3

    13 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    And Soz if I sound like a broken record but I’ll defend players like Harmesy, Melks and all the other whipping boys ‘til the end. So get used to it y’all. 😠

    Which is some way off now since I just got the results of my mammo and I’m so happy and relieved that the cancer hasn’t returned!

    And just like this time last year I’m telling DL before telling even my own sons!😆

    Maybe I shouldn’t spend so much time on DL 🤔 

     

     

    Yeah nah. 💜

    58 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

     

    Geez the compassion shown here is off the [censored] charts. You don’t know why Harmesy’s not available. Nor do I. But how about erring on the side of he may’ve suffered a personal loss, for example?

    Absolutely fair point, and as posters we sometimes forget that these players that represent our club have families and lives outside of football to worry about.

    From a selection integrity point of view, Harmes's form has been waning since the mid season rounds of last year to the point where he lost his spot in the 22 late in the season, after a fantastic start to 2022 where he was a 20 possession/1.5 goal a game player.

    He clearly hasn't reclaimed his form this year, and JJ has taken his spot accordingly.

     

    Edited by Bring-Back-Powell

    29 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    I’m so over the (sometimes thinly veiled) player bagging. Especially the likes of Harmsey. He is arguably the most popular amongst the players (he and Salo, actually) because of his forever upbeat mood and the fun he brings to the group, always. He’s a fiercely loyal friend (some of the stories I’ve heard would melt your heart) and for him to be out for personal reasons is really sad because it must be pretty serious. People should think before they post. Or even not post it at all.

    And Soz if I sound like a broken record but I’ll defend players like Harmesy, Melks and all the other whipping boys ‘til the end. So get used to it y’all. 😠

    I totally agree with you WCW, we must separate the person from the player.

    However, we should still be able to judge their performance on the field. 

    Knowing that you are close to a lot of the players, what a privilege btw, it must be hard for you to read some of the comments here.

    Let's just try and focus on the ins rather than the outs of this week (JVR the outstanding one🔥)

    2 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

    I totally agree with you WCW, we must separate the person from the player.

    However, we should still be able to judge their performance on the field. 

    Knowing that you are close to a lot of the players, what a privilege btw, it must be hard for you to read some of the comments here.

    Let's just try and focus on the ins rather than the outs of this week (JVR the outstanding one🔥)

    I'm sorry but if JVR doesn't kick 5 in the first quarter then it's delist material for me.

    • Haha 6
    1 hour ago, deejammin' said:

    It’s difficult to know what to make of last week. Clearly we were smashed around the ball, in every phase of stoppages and made many uncharacteristic defensive errors, including allowing players to get free 20m out from goal. Something we haven’t done since 2019-20.

    At the same time we were missing 3 incredibly important players, both for their ability, x-factor and structurally. I can’t see the same defensive errors happening to that extent with May leading the backline. Tomlinson did a serviceable job but Petty has looked under enormous pressure during May’s absence, which I think is because while Tomlinson is good one on one, he lacks May’s ability to goalkeep and structure up what has been a relatively inexperienced backline group. With May back I think we’ll see Petty back to his best as second key defender. 

    Also in Kozzies absence we lacked pressure around contest, his X factor is also missing but his physicality, pressure and speed were a key ingredient in our midfield and up forward in round one and we suffered without him. I had hoped Viney would pick up the slack but he looked a bit off. We looked sluggish and let Brisbane move the ball outside the contest with little pressure, that would not happen with Kozzie in there.
     

    Lastly losing Max hurt and will continue to hurt. He’s huge around stoppage, he’s our number one contested marking option forward and behind the ball, he helps out the defense, he kicks goals and he worries opposition. I think it’s easy to forget but this is the best ruckman of this generation, possibly all time, he dominates games in a way no other ruckman does and he plays a selfless team brand that makes us better on every line. He’s also a brilliant leader, an onfield coach and the spiritual heart of our team. I have no doubt if Maxy plays out the game last week we win. How we cover for him will be a huge challenge, the inclusion of May behind the ball will help cover Maxy a bit, it’s also clear we’re hoping JVR will offer us better contested marking down the line and Grundy will cover the stoppage work.  But it’s a huge challenge for us. 
     

    I’m not too down on last week, take the FB, the explosive X factor forward mid and the number one ruck out of any team and they will struggle, let alone our team where these three are in our best 6 or 7 players comfortably and on field leaders for us. Imagine Sydney with no Ladhams, Papley and T McCartin, they would struggle. Our depth makes it feel like we should still be very good, and we should, but we’ve had huge outs throughout this early season and if we get through these three weeks with a couple of wins that’s a massive result. 
     

    Ultimately if we can reach round 8, when Max should be back,  at 5-3 or better, we’ve done well. Our best team, with Max, Kozzie and May all fit and in form will belt almost everyone the way we did the bulldogs. The challenge we failed to meet last week is without these players can we still eke out a win against good opposition. Hopefully we can do that against Sydney this week. 

    For me it’s:

    Out: Tomlinson, Harmes, Gawn, McVee, Melksham(sub) 

    In: May, JVR, JJ, Hibberd, Laurie(sub)

    Really good summary and a lot of what had to be discussed after such a two game start to season.

    • Thanks 1

    1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

     

    Geez the compassion shown here is off the [censored] charts. You don’t know why Harmesy’s not available. Nor do I. But how about erring on the side of he may’ve suffered a personal loss, for example?

    Does it surprise you 

    1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    Mind you, it would be a bit surprising if the club wrote instead, "He's not noted for going at the ball hard, he's usually away from the contest and his follow-up at ground level is average". In other words, take all pre-game praise with a grain of salt and hope that he delivers on the main stage.

    Ok, I get that so I’ll put it this way….

    JVR is like a jack in the box. 
    TMac and BBB play at times like they’re broken men.

    1 hour ago, Gawndy the Great said:

    Any updates circulating on May yet?

    Spoke to my physio this morning and he's not surprised (if true), says they are called old man injuries for a reason and referenced that he was good mates with Dawes who happened to suffer from the same issue late in his career. 

    No update. I just hope he takes an Uber to the G on sunday

    • Haha 3
    38 minutes ago, DubDee said:

    No update. I just hope he takes an Uber to the G on sunday

    Too expensive lately, get a Didi or a Taxi. 

    4 minutes ago, layzie said:

    Too expensive lately, get a Didi or a Taxi. 

    E-Scooter

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

    3 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

    E-Scooter

    Just so long as it leaves it right in the middle of the G, that's where most would leave it yeah?

    • Like 1
    • Haha 2
    1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    Which is some way off now since I just got the results of my mammo and I’m so happy and relieved that the cancer hasn’t returned!

    And just like this time last year I’m telling DL before telling even my own sons!😆

    Maybe I shouldn’t spend so much time on DL 🤔 

     

     

    Yeah nah. 💜

    Fantastic result WCW really thrilled and thanks for sharing 

    • Like 1
    • Love 1
    1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    Which is some way off now since I just got the results of my mammo and I’m so happy and relieved that the cancer hasn’t returned!

    And just like this time last year I’m telling DL before telling even my own sons!😆

    Maybe I shouldn’t spend so much time on DL 🤔 

     

     

    Yeah nah. 💜

    YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

    • Like 1
    • Love 2
     
    1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    Which is some way off now since I just got the results of my mammo and I’m so happy and relieved that the cancer hasn’t returned!

    And just like this time last year I’m telling DL before telling even my own sons!😆

    Maybe I shouldn’t spend so much time on DL 🤔 

     

     

    Yeah nah. 💜

    That is such great news wcw.

    So happy for you. 

    • Like 1
    1 hour ago, ElDiablo14 said:

     

    Knowing that you are close to a lot of the players, what a privilege btw, it must be hard for you to read some of the comments here.

    LOL I was the same before I ever got to know a single one of them. Only now it’s more so. The critique is tolerable. The insensitive comments aren’t.


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