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PREGAME: Rd 24 vs Sydney

Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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Hate to say it, but I only want this game to facilitate our not playing finals interstate.

If we lose we stay in fourth place and probably play the pies at the G. 

If both Brisbane and Port lose, we must win to go to 2nd place. 

If just one of Brisbane or Port win, we must lose to avoid playing interstate, Unless the Pies lose, Brisbane win and Port lose, then we must win to play the Pies in 2nd place. 

Ours is the last of those 3 games. 

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    1 hour ago, Stu said:

    My inclination was if they decide they want to rest May, who looks like he’s carried lower back pain all season. Just a guess though. 

    He’s really the one player I’d like to see rested this week. As we’ve seen in the past, Maysie’s body doesn’t seem to hold up as well as others come the pointy end of the season. He’s lost a noticeable amount of mobility in recent weeks. Though many will argue that playing through his soreness is optimal. I just worry about that hammy of his. 

    • Like 3
    3 hours ago, Binmans PA said:

    Given the ins, I'd like Turner to get a go for Tomlinson, but I can't see a way that happens. So TMac in, Laurie to sub, if no TMac, then Turner to CHB and Fritta and Smith to rotate between Laurie's high half forward position and playing deeper. 

    I think this is what I'll go with.

    McVee May Bowey

    Salem Smith Lever

    Langdon Oliver Hunter

    Petracca TMac Fritta

    Kozzy JVR ANB

    Gawn Viney Gus

    Rivers Sparrow Chandler Melksham

    Laurie

    Yep Yep like this A lot!

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    7 hours ago, Mel Bourne said:

    I’m not sure I really buy this. Whoever we play first in the finals is not going to be afraid of us because we beat the Swans. I don’t think any of the top teams would have any of this so-called “fear” going in any direction. Everyone is gettable this year. There are no true monoliths, and it’s made for a great season. 

    Funny you should mention this because Sunday’s banner warns the rest of the comp to “BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID” 😝

    5 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    Funny you should mention this because Sunday’s banner warns the rest of the comp to “BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID” 😝

    Ha! I think the only thing the players are genuinely afraid of is the score review system. 

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    First time in a while Grundy hasn’t at least been named on the extended bench….?

    Edited by SFebes

    • Like 2
    9 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

    I'd be surprised if he was but don't know why Turner was named.

    The Dees need Tomlinson in as he is getting quite adept in the backline and assists in the release of interceptors such as Lever and Salem - the former in the air/packs and the latter off the ground/around the packs.

    • Like 7
    7 hours ago, Mel Bourne said:

    He’s really the one player I’d like to see rested this week. As we’ve seen in the past, Maysie’s body doesn’t seem to hold up as well as others come the pointy end of the season. He’s lost a noticeable amount of mobility in recent weeks. Though many will argue that playing through his soreness is optimal. I just worry about that hammy of his. 

    I don’t agree with the assessment that May has lost a noticeable amount of mobility in recent weeks. If anything, he looks the best he’s looked all year. I think it was Montagna the other day that mentioned Lever and May are rated 1 and 2 for defenders the last 6 weeks.

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    7 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    Funny you should mention this because Sunday’s banner warns the rest of the comp to “BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID” 😝

    I think it has to be said that no one in the top 8 has won a flag other than Melbourne

    They would all be worried about meeting Melbourne in the finals.

    Particularly at the MCG 

    We have an aura that others don't have (well, maybe the Pies at their best)

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    Tbh...  i just want us to go out and do a 'matter of fact, workmanlike' job on Squibney.  Just an unfussed professional hit job on them.   Walk off the ground with 4pts..and probable 4th and take a breath...refocus. 

    All back to the garage and we changeover the gearbox and put our racing gear on. 

    Time to take it up ... 

    Just get the job done , unscathed and let the others start worrying ( if not already ) .

    September is different...  not all the protagonists have an A+  game for the coming month

    • Like 11
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    I think naming Turner, Laurie & Woewodin on the extended bench is more about ensuring that Jordon, Grundy, Spargo and others get a full game at Casey and can therefore be called into the senior team over the next week or so if required.

    If we are picking a sub and a non-playing emergency for a (relatively) inconsequential game at this stage of the season, we want these to be players who are not next in line for a senior call up.

    As much as I want both Fritsch and McDonald in the senior team for finals, I'd be surprised if they both play this week. That said, Smith averaging 6 touches a game over the last three weeks is not doing him any favours. The sub role still looks the best fit for him in the finals.

     

     

     

    • Like 2

    Great to see Disco rewarded with a place on the extended bench for his great first up effort at Casey after missing several weeks with injury. 

    However, I’m not that sure that he will get a run against the Swans on Sunday because I believe he’s not AFL ready just yet. He’s listed at 194cm 88kg but with a big preseason and some extra kilos on him, I expect that 2024 will be his breakout year.

    • Like 1
    9 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    Funny you should mention this because Sunday’s banner warns the rest of the comp to “BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID” 😝

    Two thoughts WCW. The Demon Army should hold of using that quote until we play the Pies - it's from The Fly 

    Using a tagline from a horror film gives me an idea for a future banner WCW (replace jack with Goody):

          REDRUM

                                                                  image.jpeg.525c4b35c5f6a4203851c57c1ea1b360.jpeg

    • Haha 3
    2 hours ago, jnrmac said:

    I think it has to be said that no one in the top 8 has won a flag other than Melbourne

    They would all be worried about meeting Melbourne in the finals.

    Particularly at the MCG 

    We have an aura that others don't have (well, maybe the Pies at their best)

    That’s what the Club wants to convey, too.

    Besides warning the other clubs to “BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID” (prefaced by “THE DEMONS ARE COMING”) on the banner, our theme this year centres around one word which I’m not allowed to share but which will be revealed after this weekend when our finals campaign begins. This word denotes having complete control over others and is disconcerting, or even menacing, for the other seven sides. 

    Edited by WalkingCivilWar


    11 hours ago, Rob Mac...... said:

    Hate to say it, but I only want this game to facilitate our not playing finals interstate.

    If we lose we stay in fourth place and probably play the pies at the G. 

    If both Brisbane and Port lose, we must win to go to 2nd place. 

    If just one of Brisbane or Port win, we must lose to avoid playing interstate, Unless the Pies lose, Brisbane win and Port lose, then we must win to play the Pies in 2nd place. 

    Ours is the last of those 3 games. 

    We read and hear so much throughout the season about integrity - whether it's the draw, playing (or not) games in Geelong and score review glitches. So it's quite surprising how little is discussed about the need for integrity reasons to play all nine games of the last round at the same time. I realise it will never happen, for many reasons, not the least because of the time difference between east and west coast Australia. Nevertheless, the lack of discussion suggests that the rest of the media obsession with integrity of the competition is confected in the first place. 

    • Like 2
    2 minutes ago, binman said:

    Two thoughts WCW. The Demon Army should hold of using that quote until we play the Pies - it's from The Fly 

    Using a tagline from a horror film gives me an idea for a future banner WCW (replace jack with Goody):

          REDRUM

                                                                  image.jpeg.525c4b35c5f6a4203851c57c1ea1b360.jpeg

    I didn’t know it was from The Fly. I didn’t even know it was from a movie. First time I heard of it was at the cricket when Pakistani great, Shahid Afridi was playing. A fan was holding up a sign that said, “Be Afridi. Be very Afridi” 🤣 Another sign that day said, “Thank god it’s Afridi” 😂😂

    Anyways, our finals campaign won't just be about self-belief and confidence etc. There’ll be an air of foreboding. We want the others to dread facing us. It’s not aggressive, it’s better than that, it’s unsettling. 😏

    12 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

    Hey @binman are Sydney favourites in this game because the punters think we are going to try and lose to stay in 4th?

    Noticed this too. Must be on account of the ‘dead rubber’ status for us. Not that we’ll deliberately try to lose, only that our incentive to win just doesn’t exist. Will be very weird to watch. Assuming Tmac gets a run, and possibly Disco, I reckon it’s all about them and their exposed form. Bailey Laurie, too, and of course Fritta. For the rest, just no injuries, please. 

    • Like 4
    9 hours ago, Mel Bourne said:

    Ha! I think the only thing the players are genuinely afraid of is the score review system. 

    … and the Demons!

    Unless of course by ‘players’ you mean our players in which case I agree… the score review system is the only thing we should fear. 

    2 hours ago, jnrmac said:

    I think it has to be said that no one in the top 8 has won a flag other than Melbourne

    They would all be worried about meeting Melbourne in the finals.

    Particularly at the MCG 

    We have an aura that others don't have (well, maybe the Pies at their best)

    Melbourne hadn’t won a flag for quite a while before ‘21. Do you think they were “worried” about the other teams going into those finals  

    We’re talking about elite athletes in professional organisations here, not “The Karate Kid”. All the contenders know that on the right day, it’s theirs to win. 
     

     

    • Like 1

    2 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

    All the contenders know that on the right day, it’s theirs to win. 

    Yeah, nah, not that simple I think. 

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    Of course we have incentive  to win... it's called form...momentum. 

    We just arent incentivated to kill ourselves doing it.

    Others can

    • Like 2
    4 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

    Melbourne hadn’t won a flag for quite a while before ‘21. Do you think they were “worried” about the other teams going into those finals  

    We’re talking about elite athletes in professional organisations here, not “The Karate Kid”. All the contenders know that on the right day, it’s theirs to win. 
     

     

    With respect, and you likely don’t realise it, but this sort of talk undermines the whole intent of our finals series. The message the Club is trying to send is YOU SHOULD FEAR US… COZ WE DON’T FEAR ANYONE. The idea is to instil this sentiment. Everyone needs to be onboard with it, fans included. 

     
    2 hours ago, beelzebub said:

    Tbh...  i just want us to go out and do a 'matter of fact, workmanlike' job on Squibney.  Just an unfussed professional hit job on them.   Walk off the ground with 4pts..and probable 4th and take a breath...refocus. 

    Yep, agree.

    And i think that's what we'll get.

    At the risk of patting myself on the back too hard the post bye phase of the season has followed the pattern i thought it would:   

    • Struggle immediately post bye (the cats)
    • Incrementally look better and start running out games better (GWS, Saints) 
    • Very much running out games better and get back to our early season fast flowing, high scoring football (Lions, Crows, tigers, roos)
    • Start reintroducing tempo footy and a greater emphasis on deefence, taking the sped out of the game and limiting oppo scoring (blues, hawks and i think also swans)

    I thought that would be the pattern, but hoped is probably more accurate as it is dependent on fitness and ability to run out games.

    And that is an unknown at the post bye stage - having a group of 40 odd players peak in September is a science, but a very inexact one, with a million variables that can mean it never quite comes together. 

    For example, all season, up til the last few weeks, the Pies were lauded by Sanderson as 'the fittest side in the AFL, by some margin'. And maybe they were - pre bye.

    But it is increasingly evident that, just like us last year, the Pies are really starting to paddle.

    And the Pies' game plan is more reliant on a super running power and fitness than any other team. We at least had an elite defensive system to fall back on last year. 

    The most pleasing thing for me, and the thing that fills me with most confidence, is, in stark contrast to last year, we are clearly the fittest team of the contenders atm. We are the only team increasing our pressure rating in the last quarter and the only contender regularly winning our final quarters  (i think we have lost three last quarters since the bye).

    The other contenders are all starting to paddle late in games, like we did last year. And this year the contenders will have played an extra home and away game, which makes things that much more taxing.  

    I can see us going into full on deefence mode on Sunday and completely shutting the game down.

    Come into the game with the goal of keeping them to 50 points.

    Create density and don't allow the Swans any space to run into - partic players like Goulden and the lizard man (the size of the SCG will help this).

    Control the tempo and don't allow it the game to become a fast, ball in motion transition game.

    Make it look like the sort of game plan (the anti pies method) that everyone hated in the first half of 2022 - suffocate the oppo.

    And using that method i think we will not only win, it provides the opportunity to use the bench to manage players loads and try and engineer a game that isn't the brutal tackle fest the Swans will want to turn it into (for example by doing what we did late in the 3rd and 4th quarter against the hawks - chip it around and have lots of kick marks).

    Of our key rivals only Port is likely to have bruise free, low intensity game. The tigers have put the cue in the rack so we can expect bugger all defensive intensity. Or any intensity. No tiger player wants to cop an injury that might ruin their prep for next season.

    But surely the bombers will want to show something after last weeks embarrassment. It is the very definition of their grand final. At the very least i hope they physically smash the Pies. 

    The saints will go super hard against the Lions, and i actually give them some sort of chance of winning with their strong  defensive system. 

    And no matter what happens in the Dogs v cats game, the Giants will look to physically smash the Blues (a team they may well face in week one of the finals).

    Edited by binman

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    43 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    This word denotes having complete control over others and is disconcerting, or even menacing, for the other seven sides. 

    Is the DA trolling Demonland, and every team in the comp, and going to run with a huge banner that reads…

    ’Loading.’

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