5.5 years after costing us the game against the Cats why does Gawn still struggle with set shots within 30m directly in front? His miss on Friday was from almost an identical position to his kick that sealed the minor premiership for us in 2021, those shots should be like shelling peas.

What do you put our inaccuracy across the two finals down to? Fatigue because of gameplan (I don't buy this considering many missed shots early in the game). Overwhelmed by the occasion? Struggled to handle the 90k+ crowds favouring the opposition? Bad luck? Converting our chances is the single biggest issue facing us in the off-season so what can/should we do to address it?

After another disappointing end to the year where we fall short again where is the improvement coming from to take the next step or do you think we still have the list to win the flag and just got unlucky with injuries.

Oliver getting back late in the year seemed to unsettle the midfield, Fritsch looking NQR for the finals, Petty and Melksham going down, JVR getting suspended and don’t forget Brayshaw. Was it all too much in the end despite some brave efforts.

How long do May and Gawn have left at there current output and what does life look like post them and is the cliff coming sooner than we expect.

Love to here your thoughts 

Edited September 18, 20231 yr by Garbo

The bizarre choice of sub then non selection was not our coaching groups finest moment. What would you have done differently?

Questions for the podcast:

Do you think our poor kicking for goal was technique related or the associated pressure of playing in the finals? While we should/could have won both finals we didn't and in both finals we kicked very poorly for goal - unless we can solve this problem in a pressure situation (aka the finals) how can we expect to do better next year?

What impact did the chopping and changing of team selection have on our performance. Turner then Hibberd then Tomlinson. Laurie then Spargo. It felt like there was no consistency in who the slector's actually trusted.

How can the selection of Schache over Grundy be explained/justified.

Thanks for your efforts over the years - really appreciate all the time you put in. This one is going to take a long time to get over................

 

As always love the pod guys and looking forward to a cathartic listen!

The season ended because we can't kick goals. Is this psychological? Lack of talent? Or are we missing the Burgess mental edge he bought to the team and how do we get this back?

Hello Gents,

I came to this podcast late in the year. Binman had posted after a loss to Geelong how we would win 8 of the next 9 games and go into the final series as favorites for the flag ( or words to that effect ) and I replied suggesting he's kidding himself and how could you put such faith in a team that are so disappointing. 

So when we went on a winning streak just as Binman said I thought hmmm I better start listening to this podcast and wow, how great it has been. My personality is like Andy and if the sky isn't falling down then it is surely imminent and Georges tales and Binmans statistics offer me a safe and nurturing place for my wretched and tortured soul. 

Well done to you all I am now a deevoted fan and look forward to anything you may get up to podcast wise in the off-season and hopefully into next season. 

My question is mainly to Binman. I have grown to trust the side a lot more from listening to you and your statistics showing how we play a good brand of football, the right brand for finals and I know the team were unlucky and a victim of circumstances with injuries etc, but I think we have to recognise that there is something weird about our group, not quite right. A certain lack of synergy combined with an almost nervous mental condition. It was as if we lost the two games rather than our opponents winning. Big crowds. Two suspensions in finals. Carlton were really just waiting for the death blow that never came. Obviously recognising our dominance and flag winning exploits in 21, can you please discuss this ability we have to " not achieve " when it is within our grasp.

Thanks again for a great show and of course "Go Dees"

ps sorry Andy for the long post, its my first. I'll try to be more succint in future

On 9/16/2023 at 7:30 AM, Webber said:

Our movement from defence is elite league standard. Our forward line was as disrupted by injury as 2019, and that’s saying something. Petty, JVR, Fritsch, Melk available and together all season (along with our best smalls - Koz, Chandler), and Clarry in the middle all season to free Tracc forward, and we win this year’s flag. That was never even close to happening, sadly. It’s that simple. 

Sorry not quite that simple. But a bloodylotbetter. 

Whose choke was worse? Ours on Friday night, or Essendon in the 1999 Preliminary Final? They're on par with me. The two worst by a mile.

We all know the dumb 50s, frees & more missed shots, but will we ever know why Grundy wasn’t played & appears Goodwin ditched the idea long before the finals. Will go down as biggest balls up of a trade ever!

On 9/16/2023 at 9:43 AM, Webber said:

But it’s a relative spectrum across the clubs, layzie. Every club has greater or lesser problems with injuries across the season. Some have a dream run (which are rare), others a horror, and everything in between. I suspect we were probably mid-table for ‘games unavailable’. If we had a full fit list, we would have done better, which obviously means finishing second, or first, and gone straight to a preliminary final, and been odds on for the flag. Then the whole argument of big changes goes away. In truth, we actually did well for our injury stats. Which suggests that big change is NOT needed, and we did well at managing what could be controlled. But, of course, every club seeks to change for the better after every season, and we will. The current MFC is a very high performing club, that I think should be praised for how it managed the season, despite that we all wish it had ended better. 

We got too many injuries in one part of the ground:

Bbb

TMac

Petty

Melksham

Fritsch.

Could connection have been better - definitely. 

Could goalkicking have been better - definitely. Just this component improves 10% and we are playing this weekend in the Prelim finals.

If Petty & Melksham were available in finals, both of the above would have been better!

Question - Who would you chase as a forwards coach?

Forwards you would chase?

Edited September 18, 20231 yr by D4Life
Spelling

Cutting off the questions here. There's a lot to unpack here and my motivation is low. I just hope I can bring some energy to the podcast because I'm still not over the loss.

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

Cutting off the questions here. There's a lot to unpack here and my motivation is low. I just hope I can bring some energy to the podcast because I'm still not over the loss.

Is that why you didn't do it yesterday Andy?

My MFCSS has taken me to dark places...

1 hour ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Is that why you didn't do it yesterday Andy?

My MFCSS has taken me to dark places...

It was my daughters birthday but even if it wasn’t I would have been hard pressed to get the motivation up. I’ll be low energy tonight as it is. 

Do you believe there are really questions to be answered in terms of how we’re treated by the umpires? Does the club need to officially make some point about Max getting clobbered on and off the ball, or the severity of our suspensions, etc etc. Does it need to appeal these suspensions more vociferously?

Is this really an issue just against us? Or is the umpiring of the game more generally in trouble and all supporters of all clubs feel they’re hard done by. (The ARC is obviously a whole separate issue that everyone is unsatisfied with). Or should we just straighten up our kicking in which case we win most of the games we lost this year, umpires be damned…?

3 hours ago, Demonland said:

Cutting off the questions here. There's a lot to unpack here and my motivation is low. I just hope I can bring some energy to the podcast because I'm still not over the loss.

Oh sorry, just saw this!

@binman I was listening to the poddy.

I think you got something wrong re efficiency.

More Inside50 and shots at goal are not efficiency, that is volume.

Efficiency is how many points we can generate from that volume.

Similar to NBA, there are players with high usage/volume but inefficient. Even greats like MJ were high volume/usage but mediocre efficiency (he would score high but from many shots).

Or did you mean we were efficient at generating volume/opportunities?

Edited September 20, 20231 yr by ElDiablo14

13 hours ago, Demonland said:

Thank you to Andy, George and Binman.

An excellent podcast as always. 😎👍

I also greatly appreciate your efforts during the difficult circumstances of our disappointing finals loss to Carlton.

All the best, and I hope that all 3 of you get a bit of a break and a holiday for a few weeks. We all definitely need time to recuperate from such a devastating finals loss!

On top of that, losing the great Ronald Dale Barassi has made it a very unfortunate and saddening time as well. He was a legend of the Melbourne Football Club, the Carlton Football Club, the North Melbourne Football Club, the Sydney Swans Football Club and Australian Rules Football in general and will be deeply missed! Fingers crossed the AFL decides to call the AFL Premiership Cup the Ronald Dale Barassi Premiership Cup as it would be a fitting tribute! 🤞

Then, after the dust has settled on this 2023 AFL Season, for those inclined, it will be time for the trade period and then the drafts later in the year.

GO DEMONS IN 2024! 🔴🔵👹

Is it l just me or have others been putting off listening due  to the lingering pain?

I finally started listening on today’s commute

You guys are legends 

Now  I’m going to sit in a dark room and have a little cry 

5 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

Is it l just me or have others been putting off listening due  to the lingering pain?

I finally started listening on today’s commute

You guys are legends 

Now  I’m going to sit in a dark room and have a little cry 

I have not left the dark room.

Please LIKE our videos and SUBSCRIBE to our Channel

 

Your questions and comments form a large part of our podcast.

So thanks to these posters this week that posted questions/comments.

@Supreme_Demon @Demonised @danielE288 @rpfc @DemonWA @Webber @At the break of Gawn @monoccular @Clintosaurus @Doug Reemer @BDA @layzie @Gunna’s @Great Northern Summer @deespicable me @Pipefitter @Demons Rule @buck_nekkid @Dr. Gonzo @everythingsablur @Roost it far @Demonsone @Hawny for Gawny @spirit of norm smith @Wodjathefirst @nedleg @Super Sub Schache @Jibroni @deanox @whatwhat say what @ElDiablo14 @John Demonic @Bates Mate @OhMyDees @Garbo @58er @D4Life

Don't forget to leave us a 5 Star Review on Apple Podcasts and write a review and we'll read it out on the show.

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We'll be back after the Grand Final for our annual Season Review show. I'll post a thread in a few weeks to advise of the format and open the floor up to questions and comments.

Then after the trade and draft period I will see if I can get Jason Taylor back on the podcast to chat about our trade and draft picks.

Thank you to all the Demonlanders who provided content for us in the form of your questions and comments. We really appreciate it.

The best way you can help the Podcast out is by providing us with a 5 Star Review on Apple Podcasts.

Bring on 2024.

I listened yesterday morning. I'm rarely able to listen live on Mon night and I didn't see that it was Tuesday so I assumed I was late to the party so that's probably the best thing that's happened to me in these last two weeks.

Excellent show guys, I think a lot of our questions were laced with some chili due to the mood we were in but you guys dealt with them exceptionally well. You struck the balance between positivity and complete despair well too and I think a lot of people would have found this a good listen and easy to relate. 

The 87 prelim feeling was a great comparison which I hadn't thought of, mainly because I was very young at the time. For some reason the reference point I compare this feeling to the most is the end of 2017 when we missed finals. Different scenarios of course but if then there's so many questions, what ifs and promises of being so close but for whatever reason just fluffing it. 

Binman nails it when he talks about the need for elite or at least very good field kicking skill.

The main catchcry is for a KPF which we do need but I’m not convinced it’s all we need. One or two elite kicks of the footy through the middle would open up more possibilities when it comes to moving the ball through there.

Another thing Binman noted which I’ve been too annoyed to realise is that most teams are playing the forward half pressure game in these finals. So while I still wonder if the gamestyle is giving us the best chance with the players we have, I do see that this is still a proven method in finals. The difference is that when the forward 50 isn’t open, the Pies, the Lions and Giants have that bit more skill and are able to thread a few more passes into 50 than we are. That and we need to kick a lot straighter. 

Andy also brought up something that I’ve never heard one person in the media, commentary or expert opinions say. How is a player considered an A-grader if they aren’t an elite or at least very good kick? This to me is a requirement of an A-grader, if you are excellent at winning the ball or make great decisions but have Simon Godfrey level kicking then you are B-grade at best along with names like Parrish, Libba, Mcrae, Steele etc. 

Great stuff, I really need to stop thinking about it for a bit. Both of these games I've felt progressively worse as the week has gone on for some reason. Thanks anyway though guys. 

 

Edited September 21, 20231 yr by layzie

33 minutes ago, Demonland said:

We'll be back after the Grand Final for our annual Season Review show. I'll post a thread in a few weeks to advise of the format and open the floor up to questions and comments.

Then after the trade and draft period I will see if I can get Jason Taylor back on the podcast to chat about our trade and draft picks.

Thank you to all the Demonlanders who provided content for us in the form of your questions and comments. We really appreciate it.

The best way you can help the Podcast out is by providing us with a 5 Star Review on Apple Podcasts.

Bring on 2024.

I propose we don't speak about the GF at all if the Filth are premiers 🤢(feel nauseous just thinking about it). Go Dees.