Jump to content

Featured Replies

2 minutes ago, BAMF said:

Based purely on my memory of the time, we were reported to have been after Amon big time. He didn't choose us. I really wanted him.

He didn’t choose us because  ..firstly he wanted to play midfield and not the wing & secondly because he got ridiculous money which we didn’t offer. Ironically he had ended up playing half back for the Hawks & still getting massive &’s

 

It's hard to fathom many people considered Grundy to be a better ruck than Gawn at the end of 2019. Grundy seems to be declining every year while Gawn's aging like fine wine.

Edited by Hopeful Demon

12 hours ago, deanox said:

I loved the idea, the thinking outside of the box. Had it worked everyone would have called our football department geniuses. If it worked, it had the potential to be devasting.

It didn't work, sometimes the gambles don't work. It proved Max needs to be the number one guy. We found out that Max's forward exploits can't be turned into a consistent performance. But we did try it. Pretty strange for a coaching staff described as stubborn hey?

 

It's was stupidity, not a gamble.  Why would anyone think that after 10 years in the AFL system, that Grundy would be capable of taking contested marks as a resting forward? The same applies to Max as a forward.

 
1 hour ago, sisso said:

Grundy grinds away all match but he doesn’t have much athleticism anymore, doesn’t do anything special at all no big marks or goals….just an old school plodder ruckman: he should have been able to take Fort to the cleaners but couldn’t.

i was amazed when he took a mark on the half back flank in a pack yesterday

haven't seen him do that for a long, long time

he played well, but i thought fort / daniher won the ruck battle over him / mclean

1 hour ago, sisso said:

Grundy grinds away all match but he doesn’t have much athleticism anymore, doesn’t do anything special at all no big marks or goals….just an old school plodder ruckman: he should have been able to take Fort to the cleaners but couldn’t.

Grundy’s ability has declined and is past his best but his ego hasn’t. Came to us with Number 1 star ego despite already being demoted at Collingwood. Slow developing hulks like Sweet and Meek who could never get a game have overtaken him. Darcy Fort is the consummate back up ruckman who knows he won’t get a regular game but always ready to give a solid contest when called upon. In hindsight we should have targeted unheralded back up ruckman like them who weren’t getting a regular game. 

Edited by John Crow Batty


3 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

Grundy’s ability has declined and is past his best but his ego hasn’t. Came to us with Number 1 star ego despite already being demoted at Collingwood. Slow developing hulks like Sweet and Meek who could never get a game have overtaken him. Darcy Fort is the consummate back up ruckman who knows he won’t get a regular game but always ready to give a solid contest when called upon. In hindsight we should have targeted unheralded back up ruckman like them who weren’t getting a regular game. 

Preuss?

24 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

Preuss?

Great at tap work and bullocking but too fragile and never gained required fitness. We could have gotten Meek as steak knives in the Jackson deal.

Edited by John Crow Batty

1 hour ago, Hopeful Demon said:

It's hard to fathom many people considered Grundy to be a better ruck than Gawn at the end of 2019. Grundy seems to be declining every year while Gawn's aging like fine wine.

Espicially since every time they played each other Gawn would give Grundy a bath.

 
3 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

Espicially since every time they played each other Gawn would give Grundy a bath.

Yep I remember in the Queen's birthday back in 2019 we got hammered but Gawn tore him a new one getting 30+ disposals.

45 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

Great at tap work and bullocking but too fragile and never gained required fitness. We could have gotten Meek as steak knives in the Jackson deal.

We tried very hard for Meek, in fact I believe he was plan A before Grundy.


1 hour ago, Deestar9 said:

He didn’t choose us because  ..firstly he wanted to play midfield and not the wing & secondly because he got ridiculous money which we didn’t offer. Ironically he had ended up playing half back for the Hawks & still getting massive &’s

Classic. Same trick Buckley pulled on Howe promising to play him as a forward when Roos refused to. Was back in defence before the bye.

 

Fort has been very good for several years. Would probably be starting ruck in most clubs. 
Brodie didn’t play that badly. Swan’s midfield stars did not show up.

15 hours ago, Earl Hood said:

Ummh Brody was actually their best player, not that that is saying a lot. Won the hit outs and at 3 quarter time he was leading the Swans for disposals. He did his job. As did Jordan. 

I didn’t think Brodie was that bad at all

His Midfield around him were disgraceful 

15 hours ago, Swooper1987 said:

Nah, he wasn't.  His stats looked ok but once again, played like a little man in a big man's body.  He had no impact.  Rowbottom was actually their best player, and by some margin. Grundy just piled up a bunch of fairly irrelevant handballs and took the grand total of one contested mark for the game.  The Lions would be stoked with Fort's game.  

Yep. I feel like people saying Grundy was good are just reading the stat sheet. Collectively his and his mids performance let the team down.

Far from their worst but that's not saying much. Rowbottom, Florent and maybe even Fox were better.

15 hours ago, picket fence said:

Ur are kidding a Brodie Grundy was EASILY Swans BEST PLAYER....

 BY A MILE

Much as I hate to cite him, M Lloyd pegged Grundy very nicely on the Nine Footy Show for being shoved aside by Fort who then set up a goal. In fact, Lloyd was kind because it happened more than once. If he was the Swans' best it is an indictment on the rest of them.


16 hours ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

Said it multiple times that money at that time should have been invested into a Power Forward not a ruckman.

Yes that's how i saw it as well.  May have cost us a prelim and/or GF

Never liked the idea before or during his short tenure.  Still not sure what the thinking was that lead to it.

Fort's cameo yesterday is living proof (and has been for decades) that you don't need a star ruckman or even a very good + back up.  Just a big man (with height) that can halve the ruck contests and occasionally impact around the ground with some relief / outlet marks and spoils.

Edited by Demon Dynasty

5 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Yes that's how i saw it as well.  May have cost us a prelim and/or GF

We’ve been chasing every decent and half decent power forward for the past 5 years. It wasn’t a decision to not recruit a power forward.

Grundy was plan f as plans a to e were not successful 

Im baffled as to how anyone can see it any different

You honestly think we saw some quality forwards were available and said no thanks, let’s go for Grundy?

11 minutes ago, DubDee said:

We’ve been chasing every decent and half decent power forward for the past 5 years. It wasn’t a decision to not recruit a power forward.

Grundy was plan f as plans a to e were not successful 

Im baffled as to how anyone can see it any different

You honestly think we saw some quality forwards were available and said no thanks, let’s go for Grundy?

I would've taken plan G to Z ahead of plan F (Fail) for Grundy all day every day Dub.  Even if it meant getting a tall big bodied B grade forward in that could chop out for 15 min in the ruck for peanuts.

Free up cap space for a potential classy outside mid, running HB with skills by hand & foot.

Edited by Demon Dynasty

41 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

I would've taken plan G to Z ahead of plan F (Fail) for Grundy all day every day Dub.  Even if it meant getting a tall big bodied B grade forward in that could chop out for 15 min in the ruck for peanuts.

Free up cap space for a potential classy outside mid, running HB with skills by hand & foot.

we have the cap space now, reckon we’ll get any of the above?

FA chance in my opinion

my point - Trading grundy in for one year did not cost us a flag

56 minutes ago, DubDee said:

We’ve been chasing every decent and half decent power forward for the past 5 years. It wasn’t a decision to not recruit a power forward.

Grundy was plan f as plans a to e were not successful 

Im baffled as to how anyone can see it any different

You honestly think we saw some quality forwards were available and said no thanks, let’s go for Grundy?

I just don't understand why we are so obsessed with playing tall when the available talls can't get the job done.

Decent smalls are much easier to find and are worth their weight in gold in high pressure finals.


Ruckman are the least important part of a premiership team…. Unless you ruckman happens to be Max Gawn (or Dean Cox).
 

Many teams have won with mediocre rucks who just gave a physical contest, and Sydney would have lost just as badly yesterday if Fort was their ruckman instead of Grundy. 

1 hour ago, Jaded No More said:

Ruckman are the least important part of a premiership team…. Unless you ruckman happens to be Max Gawn (or Dean Cox).
 

Many teams have won with mediocre rucks who just gave a physical contest, and Sydney would have lost just as badly yesterday if Fort was their ruckman instead of Grundy. 

I'd argue that Max and Cox are not ruckmen but Utility players who cover heaps of ground and are dominant in aerial contests and in stoppages and therefore play in the ruck.

6 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Yes that's how i saw it as well.  May have cost us a prelim and/or GF

Never liked the idea before or during his short tenure.  Still not sure what the thinking was that lead to it.

Fort's cameo yesterday is living proof (and has been for decades) that you don't need a star ruckman or even a very good + back up.  Just a big man (with height) that can halve the ruck contests and occasionally impact around the ground with some relief / outlet marks and spoils.

Brisbane Lions won 3 flags with second string ruckman Clark Keating who was understudy to Beau McDonald. Undersized Keating didn’t play much during the regular season but starred and dominated finals in their flag years including the GF’s. Joke going around at the time was that Brisbane saved Keating during the regular season to keep him fresh for finals.

Edited by John Crow Batty

 
9 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

We tried very hard for Meek, in fact I believe he was plan A before Grundy.

Harry Boyd is the answer from Norwood a big chested who can ruck and play forward 26 y.o.

Plays exactly like Meek.

1 hour ago, John Crow Batty said:

Brisbane Lions won 3 flags with second string ruckman Clark Keating who was understudy to Beau McDonald. Undersized Keating didn’t play much during the regular season but starred and dominated finals in their flag years including the GF’s. Joke going around at the time was that Brisbane saved Keating during the regular season to keep him fresh for finals.

Otherwise known as ‘Mr September’! Absolute legend I might say too! 


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

  • GAMEDAY: Rd 16 vs Gold Coast

    It's Game Day and the Demons are back on the road again and this may be the last roll of the dice to get their 2025 season back on track as they take on the Gold Coast Suns at People First Stadium.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 546 replies
  • PREVIEW: Gold Coast

    The Gold Coast Suns find themselves outside of the top eight for the first time since Round 1 with pressure is mounting on the entire organisation. Their coach Damien Hardwick expressed his frustration at his team’s condition last week by making a middle-finger gesture on television that earned him a fine for his troubles. He showed his desperation by claiming that Fox should pick up the tab.  There’s little doubt the Suns have shown improvement in 2025, and their position on the ladder is influenced to some extent by having played fewer games than their rivals for a playoff role at the end of the season, courtesy of the disruption caused by Cyclone Alfred in March.  However, they are following the same trajectory that hindered the club in past years whenever they appeared to be nearing their potential. As a consequence, that Hardwick gesture should be considered as more than a mere behavioral lapse. It’s a distress signal that does not bode well for the Queenslanders. While the Suns are eager to remain in contention with the top eight, Melbourne faces its own crisis, which is similarly deep-seated but in a much different way. After recovering from a disappointing start to the season and nearing a return to respectability among its peer clubs, the Demons have experienced a decline in status, driven by the fact that while their form has been reasonable (see their performance against the ladder leader in the Kings Birthday match), their conversion in front of goal is poor enough to rank last in the competition. Furthermore, their opponents find them exceptionally easy to score against. As a result, they have effectively eliminated themselves from the finals race and are again positioned to finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 4 replies
  • NON-MFC: Round 15

    As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

      • Like
    • 287 replies
  • REPORT: Port Adelaide

    Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 3 replies
  • CASEY: Essendon

    Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

      • Clap
    • 0 replies
  • PREGAME: Gold Coast

    The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

      • Thanks
    • 372 replies