Jump to content

Featured Replies

Our midfield is not 15 goals worse than Freos…

That was a whole team debacle. I don’t think we are that good this year. We lost depth, we are changing how we play in the defensive half when we have the ball, we still don’t have a reliable tall, our best midfielder was absent for preseason, some core players are out of form, and we spent the last two years trying to eke out another ‘prelim or better’ performance through dour dumping of the ball to protect the mids (2022) and focussing entirely on a front half game where we were dominated ‘territory’ except in crucial moments (2023).

We are rectifying some past mistakes with our onfield style of play and I hope we can rebalance our list and plug some easily foreseeable gaps.

For me, 2025 is a better show but we are running out of time.

 
1 hour ago, kozzyisalegend said:

Fyfe is cooked

Brayshaw, serong are both gun players

We had the chance to draft young but elected to pick a WA boy who checked out half way through his stint at Melbourne

I don't understand why Goodwin let harmes Jordan and Grundy walk. Having those 3 in our squad now would be a big help

They were happy to see Harmes go. Grundy too. Different reasons at play. 
JJ left for $$$

11 minutes ago, JJJ said:

They were happy to see Harmes go. Grundy too. Different reasons at play. 
JJ left for $$$

The way JJ was used with us, it would be reasonable to think his career was hanging by a thread. I’d be concerned if he didn’t take the dollars.

 

 
28 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Our midfield is not 15 goals worse than Freos…

That was a whole team debacle. I don’t think we are that good this year. We lost depth, we are changing how we play in the defensive half when we have the ball, we still don’t have a reliable tall, our best midfielder was absent for preseason, some core players are out of form, and we spent the last two years trying to eke out another ‘prelim or better’ performance through dour dumping of the ball to protect the mids (2022) and focussing entirely on a front half game where we were dominated ‘territory’ except in crucial moments (2023).

We are rectifying some past mistakes with our onfield style of play and I hope we can rebalance our list and plug some easily foreseeable gaps.

For me, 2025 is a better show but we are running out of time.

Sorry rpfc but I beg to differ a bit here. Maybe not 15 goals but maybe 10. Way back in 21 our midfield was young, quick and damaging plus the X factor in Jacko. Whilst they are still Ok other teams with young guns like Freo are just running past our guys and making our guys look slow and silly. Look at who went through their midfield today. Brayshaw, Serong, Jacko, Darcy, Clark (mainly Def but wandered through the mid), Fyfe (not so young), O'Meara, Sharp, Switkowski & Young. Have a VERY close look at these guys compared to what we dished up today. Chalk and Cheese.

2 hours ago, kozzyisalegend said:

I'm just surprise the club opted for a project tall who will take a few years rather than a ready made mid who can play day dot and contribute to our midfield depth which is clearly lacking

Which mid would that be ? Pray tell. 


58 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Our midfield is not 15 goals worse than Freos…

That was a whole team debacle. I don’t think we are that good this year. We lost depth, we are changing how we play in the defensive half when we have the ball, we still don’t have a reliable tall, our best midfielder was absent for preseason, some core players are out of form, and we spent the last two years trying to eke out another ‘prelim or better’ performance through dour dumping of the ball to protect the mids (2022) and focussing entirely on a front half game where we were dominated ‘territory’ except in crucial moments (2023).

We are rectifying some past mistakes with our onfield style of play and I hope we can rebalance our list and plug some easily foreseeable gaps.

For me, 2025 is a better show but we are running out of time.

I think a lot of what you said - is making excuses. But Freo did similar a couple years back. We play chaos football, and heavily rely on momentum. Longmuir simply deconstructs that, takes away our strength, and leaves us standing there with our pants down. Which is, our midfield do not defend, we don’t spread, man up, or play zone. The only bloke out there I saw today with half a clue, was Petracca, when he was imploring teammates to press up. 

59 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Our midfield is not 15 goals worse than Freos…

That was a whole team debacle. I don’t think we are that good this year. We lost depth, we are changing how we play in the defensive half when we have the ball, we still don’t have a reliable tall, our best midfielder was absent for preseason, some core players are out of form, and we spent the last two years trying to eke out another ‘prelim or better’ performance through dour dumping of the ball to protect the mids (2022) and focussing entirely on a front half game where we were dominated ‘territory’ except in crucial moments (2023).

We are rectifying some past mistakes with our onfield style of play and I hope we can rebalance our list and plug some easily foreseeable gaps.

For me, 2025 is a better show but we are running out of time.

Our midfield depth is a major concern

If you watched Casey you’d agree we have nobody looking remotely likely to make it as an AFL midfielder coming through. 

Viney appears injured 

Trac is a gun but is needed in our F50 because we have a pretty weak forward line with the exception probably being Fritta and Pickett (sometimes) 

Sparrow looks like a player but produces little

Oliver - disposal by hand is usually good - disposal by foot is comical 

ANB - not an AFL midfielder imo he is a good pressure small forward 

Pickett - see ANB 

Max - a one man ruck band - unsustainable in all respects. JVR is not terrible as a backup but he’s supposed to be our big KPF. Our rucking depth is frankly non existent 

 
4 minutes ago, Sydee said:

Our midfield depth is a major concern

If you watched Casey you’d agree we have nobody looking remotely likely to make it as an AFL midfielder coming through. 

Viney appears injured 

Trac is a gun but is needed in our F50 because we have a pretty weak forward line with the exception probably being Fritta and Pickett (sometimes) 

Sparrow looks like a player but produces little

Oliver - disposal by hand is usually good - disposal by foot is comical 

ANB - not an AFL midfielder imo he is a good pressure small forward 

Pickett - see ANB 

Max - a one man ruck band - unsustainable in all respects. JVR is not terrible as a backup but he’s supposed to be our big KPF. Our rucking depth is frankly non existent 

I don’t think we are lacking depth in our midfield. We have players who could run through there - who we don’t run through there. Rivers looks a likely candidate. McVee could be effective. ANB is a liability as a midfielder. We have too many of a similar type, and no one like Liam Baker - who is great by foot. We have bulls, but no polish. Unfortunately for us, even if they have polish, we have no forwards. Petty is a promising key back, Turner is an experiment gone wrong, who could be a promising key back, BBB is cooked, JVR is a target, and was missed today, but is unproven. 

4 minutes ago, KingDingAling said:

I don’t think we are lacking depth in our midfield. We have players who could run through there - who we don’t run through there. Rivers looks a likely candidate. McVee could be effective. ANB is a liability as a midfielder. We have too many of a similar type, and no one like Liam Baker - who is great by foot. We have bulls, but no polish. Unfortunately for us, even if they have polish, we have no forwards. Petty is a promising key back, Turner is an experiment gone wrong, who could be a promising key back, BBB is cooked, JVR is a target, and was missed today, but is unproven. 

Throwing HBFs into the midfield doesn’t mean they will be successful in that role and then who replaces them at HB ? Howes doesn’t deserve a recall he butchered the ball time and time again this weekend at Coburg and it seems the coaching group don’t think AMW has what it takes 

Our list is overrated imo - we have quite a few who don’t look that hungry and seem happy to take their paycheck and just show up when it suits 


1 hour ago, JJJ said:

They were happy to see Harmes go. Grundy too. Different reasons at play. 
JJ left for $$$

and replace them with….??

(Harmes was a different situation) but the other 2 I think the Club handled badly. 

2 hours ago, kozzyisalegend said:

Fyfe is cooked

Brayshaw, serong are both gun players

We had the chance to draft young but elected to pick a WA boy who checked out half way through his stint at Melbourne

I don't understand why Goodwin let harmes Jordan and Grundy walk. Having those 3 in our squad now would be a big help

Grundy wanted out when Gawn wouldn’t let him have the number one ruck spot so that was just bad judgment by the club thinking they could play together.

Harmes could barely get a game last year and was clearly trending backwards and we drafted Windsor who had taken Jordan’s spot.

Brayshaw is the one that hurts and would have allowed more flexibility round the midfield mix without robbing the backline between him Rivers and Salem.

With Oliver having the preseason he did it’s no surprise he’s gone backwards and Viney been the wrong side of 30 it’s not surprising his output has dropped

If you look at most teams it’s rare they stay up more than 3 years in a row so think this step backwards was inevitable 

8 hours ago, 1858 said:

It has been an issue for some time.

It is really coming home to roost now though.

12 months ago I said we were heading for a midfield cliff and got laughed at.

Now, James Jordon is no superstar, but he was at least a genuine developing midfielder. Im not suggesting he would have been a major difference for us but it's the mindset of our football brains trust that is the issue.

What in god's name was going through their mind in letting him go. Could they not see our ageing, one paced midfield needed all the help it could get going forward?

Pickett was severely under utilised in the guts last season to mix it up. Used only occasionally this year in light of Brayshaw.

Goodwin continually blind to the elephant in the room.

Wasnt JJ a free agent?

The timing of Angus’ retirement really hurt us - as I recall it was after trades and after draft day. So no possible replacement. 

29 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Wasnt JJ a free agent?

The timing of Angus’ retirement really hurt us - as I recall it was after trades and after draft day. So no possible replacement. 

from memory it was about a month opening round

shocking timing


58 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

and replace them with….??

(Harmes was a different situation) but the other 2 I think the Club handled badly. 

Who they replaced them with wasn’t my point. 
 

I’ve mentioned this before but we had a crack at Harry McKay last off season.

4 hours ago, JJJ said:

LDU from North and Lukosius from GC 

Would love both and they would make a difference.

19 minutes ago, JJJ said:

Who they replaced them with wasn’t my point. 
 

I’ve mentioned this before but we had a crack at Harry McKay last off season.

Yes i know. Other Clubs can make those big trades come off. We just cannot crack it 

1 hour ago, monoccular said:

Wasnt JJ a free agent?

The timing of Angus’ retirement really hurt us - as I recall it was after trades and after draft day. So no possible replacement. 

Yeah he walked.

From the outside looking in it doesn't seem like we did much to keep him though.

To think he is getting game time in Sydney's midfield, of all teams - kind of puts it into perspective.

Gus hurts but irrespective our midfield stocks are way too thin going forward IMO.

To my mind it is a biproduct of Gawn  Trac, Oliver being so dominant at the CB in years gone by and a football ideology which simply doesn't value quick transition between the arcs.

Listening to Nathan Brown (who I rate as a good football brain and impartial) on MMM he suggested McVee to the midfield. Not the worst suggestion I've heard.

4 hours ago, rpfc said:

Our midfield is not 15 goals worse than Freos…

That was a whole team debacle. I don’t think we are that good this year. We lost depth, we are changing how we play in the defensive half when we have the ball, we still don’t have a reliable tall, our best midfielder was absent for preseason, some core players are out of form, and we spent the last two years trying to eke out another ‘prelim or better’ performance through dour dumping of the ball to protect the mids (2022) and focussing entirely on a front half game where we were dominated ‘territory’ except in crucial moments (2023).

We are rectifying some past mistakes with our onfield style of play and I hope we can rebalance our list and plug some easily foreseeable gaps.

For me, 2025 is a better show but we are running out of time.

I’d go a bit more and set up for a longer stint of success. Mini rebuild for me. 2-3 top 20 draft picks, one of LDU, McCluggage  (both would be awesome) and to reinforce our midfield. 

Id trade a few players too - Oliver and Petty would definitely get us at least 2 possibly 3 Round 1 picks. 

Sounds a bit over reactionary but this list cannot play the modern football style. It was built a decade ago by Roos and co in a style that has now changed and we didn’t.

 

 


People go on about cripps and daicos, but you know what they give there team, consistency each week. 

Oliver isn't what he was & I think his lack of pressure season is catching up with him, sparrow isn't performing as well & trac when he's on he plays like the number 1 player in the comp but he doesn't do it consistently.  

Talent is being wasted here

2 hours ago, dees189227 said:

People go on about cripps and daicos, but you know what they give there team, consistency each week. 

Oliver isn't what he was & I think his lack of pressure season is catching up with him, sparrow isn't performing as well & trac when he's on he plays like the number 1 player in the comp but he doesn't do it consistently.  

Talent is being wasted here

That big bodied midfielder who can win you a clearance when the game is on the line is key and it really shows how much of a game changer it is when you see the drop off we're seeing with Oliver. Having what he gave us at the top of his game was a multiplier effect. 

 

Would love to see Taj given a run in the middle and Rivers as a defensive Mid. Viney is in such bad form he was almost standing on Maxys foot at every centre bounce and got torched on the spread. Oliver isn’t working hard enough so should go back to VFL in my eyes. Sparrow is a lost cause. Bowey over time could play midfield, but we need some big bodies in there at the moment. Cupboard is empty 

 

Cant keep reflecting on past decisions, no doubt some decisions look incorrect in hindsight.  The key now is recruiting real FA talent and trading in the right players, not top up.  I know every club is trying to do that however if we dont win well in October with trades and signings, 2025 will be another disappointing year


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • PREVIEW: Brisbane

    And just like that, we’re Narrm again. Even though the annual AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round which commemorates the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to our game has been a welcome addition to our calendar for ten years, more lately it has been a portent of tough times ahead for we beleaguered Narrm supporters. Ever since the club broke through for its historic 2021 premiership, this has become a troubling time of the year for the club. For example, it all began when Melbourne rebranded itself as Narrm across the two rounds of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round to become the first club to adopt an Indigenous club name especially for the occasion. It won its first outing under the brand against lowly North Melbourne to go to 10 wins and no losses but not without a struggle or a major injury to  star winger Ed Langdon who broke his ribs and missed several weeks. In the following week, still as Narrm, the team’s 17 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Dockers. That came along with more injuries, a plague that remained with them for the remainder of the season until, beset by injuries, the Dees were eliminated from the finals in straight sets. It was even worse last year, when Narrm inexplicably lowered its colours in Perth to the Waalit Marawar Eagles. Oh, the shame of it all! At least this year, if there is a corner to turn around, it has to be in the direction of something better. To that end, I produced a special pre-game chant in the local Narrm language - “nam mi:wi winnamun katjil prolin ambi ngamar thamelin amb” which roughly translated is “every heart beats true for the red and the blue.” >y belief is that if all of the Narrm faithful recite it long enough, then it might prove to be the only way to beat the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday. The Lions are coming off a disappointing draw at Marvel Stadium against a North Melbourne team that lacks the ability and know how to win games (except when playing Melbourne). Brisbane are, however, a different kettle of fish at home and have very few positional weaknesses. They are a midfield powerhouse, strong in defence and have plenty of forward options, particularly their small and medium sized players, to kick a winning score this week after the sting of last week’s below par performance.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 5 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Hawthorn

    There was a time during the current Melbourne cycle that goes back to before the premiership when the club was the toughest to beat in the fourth quarter. The Demons were not only hard to beat at any time but it was virtually impossible to get the better them when scores were close at three quarter time. It was only three or four years ago but they were fit, strong and resilient in body and mind. Sadly, those days are over. This has been the case since the club fell off its pedestal about 12 months ago after it beat Geelong and then lost to Carlton. In both instances, Melbourne put together strong, stirring final quarters, one that resulted in victory, the other, in defeat. Since then, the drop off has been dramatic to the point where it can neither pull off victory in close matches, nor can it even go down in defeat  gallantly.

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • CASEY: Footscray

    At twenty-four minutes into the third term of the game between the Casey Demons and Footscray VFL at Whitten Oval, the visitors were coasting. They were winning all over the ground, had the ascendancy in the ruck battles and held a 26 point lead on a day perfect for football. What could go wrong? Everything. The Bulldogs moved into overdrive in the last five minutes of the term and booted three straight goals to reduce the margin to a highly retrievable eight points at the last break. Bouyed by that effort, their confidence was on a high level during the interval and they ran all over the despondent Demons and kicked another five goals to lead by a comfortable margin of four goals deep into the final term before Paddy Cross kicked a couple of too late goals for a despondent Casey. A testament to their lack of pressure in the latter stages of the game was the fact that Footscray’s last ten scoring shots were nine goals and one rushed behind. Things might have been different for the Demons who went into the game after last week’s bye with 12 AFL listed players. Blake Howes was held over for the AFL game but two others, Jack Billings and Taj Woewodin (not officially listed as injured) were also missing and they could have been handy at the end. Another mystery of the current VFL system.

      • Thanks
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Brisbane

    The Demons head back out on the road in Round 10 when they travel to Queensland to take on the reigning Premiers and the top of the table Lions who look very formidable. Can the Dees cause a massive upset? Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 136 replies
    Demonland
  • PODCAST: Hawthorn

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 12th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Demons loss to the Hawks. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human.

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 52 replies
    Demonland
  • POSTGAME: Hawthorn

    Wayward kicking for goal, dump kicks inside 50 and some baffling umpiring all contributed to the Dees not getting out to an an early lead that may have impacted the result. At the end of the day the Demons were just not good enough and let the Hawks run away with their first win against the Demons in 7 years.

      • Clap
      • Love
      • Like
    • 376 replies
    Demonland