9 hours ago, BoBo said:

Lots of great points in this thread, IMHO, this game will come down to basic pressure and physicality around the ball. 
 

Mccrae is a smart coach and will have something up his sleeve to alter the game plan that us and Brisbane had figured out by blocking the corridor. 
 

Collingwood don’t appreciate being bullied around the ball. I’m talking Geelong V Sydney last GF. Geelong won that game by making Sydney players think more about the Geelong player that was about to tackle them, than by what their disposal should be. 
 

Slow the game, don’t let them dictate a fast tempo, be vicious around the ball, make our pressure rating off the scale.
 

If we do that we’ll win.

 

 

 

Imho... two recent hitouts seem, to my eye, show we understand the importance of plans B through whatever. Or in other words not only the ability to change up, or simply just change; but a necessity to do it when you HAVE to.

Something i often lamented was our oblivious adhesion to a "protect the space" as opposed man-up .

Against the Hawks and possibly a little late we changed tack and not quite man o man  ( imo ) but certainly tightened the rein.

This stymied their game.

Against Sydney and the half kick difference in their ground we also had to ( eventually) move closer to the corridor when able with a little less chaos and bit more possession. 

Both these ploys will be staples come this Thursday if we are to prevail.

Collingwood like to do two things... play bursts..and swarm forward...but controlled towards their lead ups.

They are unlikely to bomb away..  our defence will need to wear them like gloves.  No space can be given....or they WILL take it and hurt us.

Very important we play the Pies with serious intent. Need to hurt them and not just the scoreboard but exacerbate any injuries they already carry. This is finals.

No prisoners taken.

Go Dees

 

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

 

94,000 expected. Nervous? Who’s nervous? Certainly not I 

I wonder if the Dees will also get a closed session at the G

 

2 minutes ago, Demonland said:

I wonder if the Dees will also get a closed session at the G

 

We'd better, unless King has gotten into the AFL's ear about extra advantages for the ladder leaders.

1 minute ago, Chook said:

We'd better, unless King has gotten into the AFL's ear about extra advantages for the ladder leaders.

The AFL will probably gift us a closed session at GMHBA Stadium.

I think all teams train on the ground they are playing at during finals. 

7 minutes ago, Chook said:

We'd better, unless King has gotten into the AFL's ear about extra advantages for the ladder leaders.

A Pies tragic told me today that being the higher team, the Pies got to choose which day to play and they adopted Thursday, to deny us an extra days rest.  He seemed in the know. I can't believe it.

Is this true????

The following Demons players are out of the Casey side to play the Bulldogs on Saturday given that there is only 5 days from the Casey Final until the Dees Final on Thursday.

OUT: L. Dunstan (knee), B. Grundy, J. Jordon, T. McDonald, J. Schache, C. Spargo, T. Woewodin (AFL)

Just now, Demon17 said:

A Pies tragic told me today that being the higher team, the Pies got to choose which day to play and they adopted Thursday, to deny us an extra days rest.  He seemed in the know. I can't believe it.

Is this true????

If true then they also denied themselves an extra day for Darcy Moore's hamstring (and possibly Nick Daicos' knee) to heal.

20 minutes ago, Demonland said:

The following Demons players are out of the Casey side to play the Bulldogs on Saturday given that there is only 5 days from the Casey Final until the Dees Final on Thursday.

OUT: L. Dunstan (knee), B. Grundy, J. Jordon, T. McDonald, J. Schache, C. Spargo, T. Woewodin (AFL)

Looks like Casey will be out for 2023 too

15 minutes ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Looks like Casey will be out for 2023 too

Unfortunate for Casey but they do exist as a feeder club.

On 8/30/2023 at 12:15 PM, Wadda We Sing said:

Is it time to get the countdown clock back again @Demonland>?

199.5 hrs to go !

Great idea Wadda, ask and you shall receive. 

28 minutes ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Looks like Casey will be out for 2023 too

Bulldogs reading about all of Casey's outs:

41 minutes ago, Demon17 said:

A Pies tragic told me today that being the higher team, the Pies got to choose which day to play and they adopted Thursday, to deny us an extra days rest.  He seemed in the know. I can't believe it.

Is this true????

Tell the pies tragic that that may be the story the pies are leaking out to the nuffies.

But the real reason they picked the Thursday night (which i think is true actually) is they know they are going to get beaten and are desperate to get as much time as possible between the loss and the semi final against the blues - which will surely be Friday week.

On 8/30/2023 at 12:15 PM, Wadda We Sing said:

Is it time to get the countdown clock back again @Demonland>?

199.5 hrs to go !

 

10 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Great idea Wadda, ask and you shall receive. 

I've been meaning to do this all year (and last year) but kept on forgetting

4 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

I've been meaning to do this all year (and last year) but kept on forgetting

You do too much as it is. Cheers

18 minutes ago, binman said:

Tell the pies tragic that that may be the story the pies are leaking out to the nuffies.

But the real reason they picked the Thursday night (which i think is true actually) is they know they are going to get beaten and are desperate to get as much time as possible between the loss and the semi final against the blues - which will surely be Friday week.

I actually thought it was to do with maximising crowds travelling from Sydney for Friday night / Saturday afternoon.

I'm really reluctant to go in with the Gawn/Grundy combo after the results of last 4 games (1-3) that they've played together.

However, if you cast your mind back to our pre mid season bye rounds, the combo wasn't a complete disaster in a few of the games.

Round 1 V Dogs - Gawn got 5 coaches votes, Grundy had 17 touches and a goal as they easily defeated this year's All Aust ruck. The combo was at its best on opening night.

Round 7 V North - Grundy had a very impressive 18 touches and 2 goals.

Round 8 V GC - the combo kicked 4 between them. Gawn got 3 coaches votes.

Round 11 V Freo - Gawn got 2 coaches votes. Grundy had a solid 19 possession 1 goal game. Bad loss though.

Round 13 V Collingwood - Gawn got 2 coaches votes and Grundy kicked a clutch 3rd qtr goal to put us in front for good.

So there has been a smattering of games where the combo has worked to an extent.

However the most recent 4 games were terrible for the combo, but 3 of those games were wet weather footy which we lost. Name me a ruckman in the comp that is flawless in wet weather. The one game we won was under the roof V St Kilda, but Marshall was near BOG and the writing was on the wall for Grundy.

You'd imagine Goodwin will adopt recency bias and not play Grundy

 

Edited September 1, 20231 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

Played golf today with a Pies insider. If Murphy plays he’ll be far from fit. Struggled to train last night. Glut issue. Will play on Fritta if he gets through training on Sunday.

Just now, M_9 said:

Played golf today with a Pies insider. If Murphy plays he’ll be far from fit. Struggled to train last night. Glut issue. Will play on Fritta if he gets through training on Sunday.

What about Moore and daicos?

1 minute ago, Roost it far said:

What about Moore and daicos?

NFI. Played with Murph snr.

1 hour ago, Demon17 said:

A Pies tragic told me today that being the higher team, the Pies got to choose which day to play and they adopted Thursday, to deny us an extra days rest.  He seemed in the know. I can't believe it.

Is this true????

No both teams benefit cause whoever loses had an extra days break than Carlton or swans if god forbid we lose a as nd play next week

15 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

What about Moore and daicos?

If Nick Daicos plays I'll eat my hat!

His dad said he can't see it happening, Nick was less than convinced, and the Pies expect him to only start running next week.

Hope he plays, because he will break down 2.5 seconds into a Viney tackle. 

So I just heard on the news the pies had a closed training session in the G. We better get that option