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Midfield Performances Minus Clarrie

Demon17
Demon17
in Melbourne Demons

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This item on the AFL website today analyses the stats on the midfield roles without Clarrie.  Fascinating especially the Brayshaw changes. But no mention of the Viney engine room which was dissappointing. , but focusses more on the midfield members and their step up.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1003964/oliver-twist-shock-stats-show-how-dees-lifted-without-clarry

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    • Demon17 changed the title to The Midfield Performances - Excl Clarry
     

    Also doesn't mention the impact of Gawn as the sole ruck.  That has made a significant difference in the last month.

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    3 hours ago, adonski said:

    Propaganda

    He sure is.

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    46 minutes ago, Swooper1987 said:

    Also doesn't mention the impact of Gawn as the sole ruck.  That has made a significant difference in the last month.

    Correct..... Grundy was taking approx 56% of CBs before he was dropped and roughly 50% of around ground ruck work.

    Since then Max has taken approx 80% to 90% of CBs with JVR providing the chop out for the balance.

    Ruck contests, Max anywhere between approx 60% (eg; vs Nth) to 90% (eg;  vs Lions).

    Max vs Grundy, especially at CBs....chalk & cheese!  Momentum in matches too often lost whenever Grundy takes up significant time in the middle.

    Yes JVR took 38% of ruck contests against North.

    Now admittedly the FD were no doubt looking to manage Max but this is still a hefty ask for the young forward to take on in any match.

    With Petty gone for the year, we now have only one genuine tall KF who is fit and firing at AFL level.  Albeit still learning the ropes as a rookie.  JVR doing a sterling job though, both in the ruck and in a general forward sense.

    We 'might' see T-Mac available in a few weeks.  Yes i realise he his available now but i'm talking getting him up to speed for AFL via the VFL.  That's still at least two weeks or more away imo.

    In the meantime we can't afford to risk JVR in the ruck.

    Hence it is looking like Grundy comes in to play a role and no doubt cover for Petty along with taking the bulk of the forward ruck work and CB chop out role instead of JVR.

    While that's great from a ruck POV and protecting our young colt, i still feel Grundy is not the medium to long-term answer.

    Much rather we gave Scache a run in the next two weeks.  He's a better forward vs Grundy In every sense but can also take most of the ruck contests up forward and at CBs instead of Roohey.

    Won't happen but imho a mistake and an opportunity (to trial Scache in the next 2 weeks) lost.

    Edited by Demon Dynasty

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    I would say JVR has benefited significantly from Grundy being dropped.

    He likes being involved and it doesn’t always happen up forward. This gives him a chance to be around the ball and lay a bump or tackle and get some easier ball.

    Edited by BW511

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    Don’t listen to that bulltish, footy classified is a joke, Eddie even said that it was disrespectful of Clarry carrying on that he’s done his Hammy  again with Chandler 

    Just two young blokes having a bit of fun & Eddie makes out he’s a public disgrace 

     

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    1 hour ago, Billy said:

    Don’t listen to that bulltish, footy classified is a joke, Eddie even said that it was disrespectful of Clarry carrying on that he’s done his Hammy  again with Chandler 

    Just two young blokes having a bit of fun & Eddie makes out he’s a public disgrace 

     

    I turned it off after that ridiculous statement, Eddie of all people have no right to criticise Clarry, he needs to look into his own backyard. 

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    This is playing out perfectly for us Goodwin did say early in the season he wanted more rotation through the middle, now the likes of Gus Kossi JJ can have  significant minutes in the middle and Clarry can ease back in.. just hope he is absolutely fit maybe a half at Casey would of been better this week.

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    1 hour ago, Rednblueriseing said:

    This is playing out perfectly for us Goodwin did say early in the season he wanted more rotation through the middle, now the likes of Gus Kossi JJ can have  significant minutes in the middle and Clarry can ease back in.. just hope he is absolutely fit maybe a half at Casey would of been better this week.

    This is like suggesting the Queen of England fly on AirAsia and eat ham and cheese sandwiches. 

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    13 minutes ago, Skuit said:

    This is like suggesting the Queen of England fly on AirAsia and eat ham and cheese sandwiches. 

    Having a half at Casey means something different at a club in Cranbourne.

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    Just now, binman said:

    Having a half at Casey means something different at a club in Cranbourne.

    I should have written toasted sandwiches. 

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    4 hours ago, Demonland said:

    The following came from the clip at the bottom. 

    IMG_7713.jpeg

     

    I love how ‘3rd’ Is in red - how terrible!

    And then ‘4th’ is in green - how good!

     

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    5 hours ago, Demonland said:

    The following came from the clip at the bottom. 

    IMG_7713.jpeg

     

    So over Barrett being Barrett.

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    So rather than the media going “wow how good are the Dees, they not only covered but improved their midfield performance without the best inside mid in the competition”, they’re like “Oliver is trash” 

    Sounds about right. 

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    • Whispering_Jack changed the title to Midfield Performances Minus Clarrie

    It's not really apt to compare pre Clarry with post Clarry.

    Pre Clarry we were going -1 at stoppage, post Clarry we've levelled up numbers at the stoppage and given Rivers free reign to play the intercept role (Brayshaw's 2022 role).

    One of the more interesting aspects of Clarry's return is whether we'll revert to the -1 at stoppage, so we can generate a tall interceptor behind the play, or whether we'll stick with even numbers at contest.

    My feeling is we'll stick with even numbers and with Grundy in the side, it actually gives us the chance (as @Abyssal writes) to play Max behind ball, which will automatically free up interceptors, as the opposition will be drawn to Max. But at the same time, we also lose nothing from the stoppage with Grundy's ruckwork replacing Max's. A great privilege to have.

    Edited by Binmans PA

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    6 hours ago, Demonland said:

    The following came from the clip at the bottom. 

    IMG_7713.jpeg

     

    Jimmy Bartel is ok. The other 3 are nuffies.

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    17 minutes ago, Skuit said:

    This is like suggesting the Queen of England fly on AirAsia and eat ham and cheese sandwiches. 

    I think at this stage the Queen might need a run in the twos for a while.

    But, back on topic! Oliver had his role dramatically changed earlier this season to be a much more rounded midfielder with an exceptional intercept possession game. Considering how many effective clearances he sets in motion and how many contested possessions he gets, his intercept count was extraordinary. A genuinely never-seen-before midfielder. That the Footy Classified mob reduced his absence to 'derr how many centre bounces are they winning' is hardly surprising but also pretty shamefully shallow on their part.

    I'd actually argue that our game style had to adapt to losing Oliver by focusing more on directly winning clearances because without him we couldn't rely as much on regaining the ball in general midfield play.

    Still, full credit to Viney for shouldering the load and for Brayshaw for once again transforming himself to meet the team's needs - from 11 clearances and 19 tackles in the entire season up to round 9, to then averaging about five of each since then.

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    8 hours ago, Demonland said:

    The following came from the clip at the bottom. 

    IMG_7713.jpeg

     

    With Oliver;

    Stoppages won - low rank

    Scores from stoppages - high rank

    So it is quite simple. Our tactics are to either win a stoppage decisively or to nullify the effectiveness of opposition clearance - causing rushed disposals to feed our vast collection of intercepting defenders, and intercepting midfielder Oliver!

    There's a reason the Demons are number one for both 1%ers and intercept possessions.

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    4 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

    So rather than the media going “wow how good are the Dees, they not only covered but improved their midfield performance without the best inside mid in the competition”, they’re like “Oliver is trash” 

    Sounds about right.

    Massive facepalm. 

    They've pointed out exactly what I pointed out. And you're doing the old "omg people think Oliver is trash" nonsense. 

    We are better balanced when we don't have Trac and Oliver playing full midfield minutes together always. Period. For a few reasons. 

    The evidence is there for all to see. 

    Clearance is up, contested footy is up, first possession. I remember you were trying to argue we were down on clearance without him. 

    Do you see that we're far less predictable with him and Gawn always being the tandem tap and go duo? Which has clearly had a positive impact for us. Viney is playing his best footy. Brayshaw looks like a new player. 

    Oliver's absence has been nothing but a blessing in my eyes. 

    It just shows he doesn't need to always be the man. And hopefully Goody will play him forward more often so not to mess what is working so well for us right now. 

    Oliver is a gun at extracting a contested footy. But he gives the ball up way too easily as well which dilutes his amazing ability to win contested ball. And unfortunately for him, we have a midfield full to the brim of contested specialists. He is an offensive, proactive mid who is almost always the go to player for Gawn around the ground which makes it predictable for oppo. 

    It's really not that hard to understand why we might be playing better footy as midfield unit whilst his been out.

    And when he plays this Friday, I really hope that Goody has him and Trac swapping a bit deep forward so that Gus, Viney, Sparrow and Jordan can continue to build through the middle. 

     

     

    Edited by JimmyGadson

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