The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 12th August @ 7:30pm. Join George, Binman & I as we analyse the Demons lossat the MCG against the Power in the Round 22.

You 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.

Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast

Call: 03 9016 3666

Skype: Demonland31

Ok, so when are we having the conversation about Salem and Sparrow?

Do they need to be in our list next year?

8 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Ok, so when are we having the conversation about Salem and Sparrow?

Do they need to be in our list next year?

Of course they do

How do we get more draft picks and some holes are appearing?

Mac Andrew would be a pretty useful player in our forward line…

The players look pretty confused with the gameplan right now and in this game we defaulted to players gravitating to the boundary. We aren't what we were when it comes to repeat stoppages, we needed to be bold and take the game on more through rhe middle.

I hope we stick with what we were trying to develop earlier in the year, teams need a good transition game at the moment and I'm confident this method while keeping elements of the old one will bear fruit.

what has happened to the centre square set-ups and the lack of defensive accountability at stoppages?

for a team supposedly built around the maxim of 'contest and defence' we are losing at the contest and not defending exits

it should be shockingly easy to rectify but that hasn't happened all season long

Tonight should prove again that the talk about 'conditioning' and 'fitness' is just so overblown. 

How can we be unfit last week but this week we magically look fit? 

It's nonsensical. 

Within an AFL environment, fitness levels do not vary to the degree that binman continues to bang on about.

Our game-plan, inconsistent level of execution of skills and inconsistent effort brought weekly are the main factors. Fitness and conditioning are a minor factor at this level. There's no disputing that, unless a quarter of your list are missing and the majority of your list are kids that haven't yet had enough pre-season. 

Which is not us. 

Questions and comments will close in just under 24 hours (Midday Monday).

Hi team, we’ve talked a lot about our lack of foot skills. When you see teams like Collingwood, Freo and Port nail those ambitious (often through the Centre) field kicks so well, along with their leg speed, how do you see the future of our game plan?

Obviously it’s hard to change a game plan - it becomes so ingrained and habitual. Goody has been shifting the dial this year.

But is there an interim style for us that will work to get back into top 4? The hybrid red and blueprint? Or are we transitioning to the full Monty as per those clubs as we refresh our list? 

or should we be looking at the next innovation? 

Does anyone have any insight on why we have been scheduled to have the most home Saturday night games this year? We also have the most free-to-air games this year (15 and 9 either Saturday or Thursday night). Surely part of this is club driven instead of the AFL fixturing luck of the draw?The Pies play most of the interstate teams on Saturday or Sunday afternoon time slots at the MCG, which have great attendance rates, while we’ve got them on a Saturday or Thursday night night which are really poorly attended. For 2025, Pert needs to request all games against small vic clubs or interstate teams to be moved to afternoon slots. These Saturday and Thursday night slots against interstate teams are killing our crowd numbers which has a direct financial impact. They also paint our supporter base in a bad light when we’ve been given the most unkind time slots for attendance this year.

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by At the break of Gawn

I'd like to hear your thoughts on Melksham being the sub this week. I know there were late changes, which may have had an influence, but it seemed a very inflexible choice. 

My own view is that to have a deep forward as a sub is counter-intuitive to the opportunity afforded of a tactical sub. Melksham's 'freshness' was seemingly wasted in the overall team objective. That freshness might have been better served by a midfielder where we were always going to struggle against Port.

A question to the panel, without fear of critique, who would you make hard calls on at the end of the season? (e.g. delist, trade etc.)

There is a lot of talk about what we need, but, what don't we need?

For me, I think it's time to move away from T. Mac, Tomlinson, Brown and Melksham. 

20 hours ago, layzie said:

The players look pretty confused with the gameplan right now and in this game we defaulted to players gravitating to the boundary. We aren't what we were when it comes to repeat stoppages, we needed to be bold and take the game on more through rhe middle.

I hope we stick with what we were trying to develop earlier in the year, teams need a good transition game at the moment and I'm confident this method while keeping elements of the old one will bear fruit.

I think they executed the game plan brilliantly. We actually could have won the game if we had kicked straight in Q4. How were we that close? Brilliant plan, brilliant execution.

6 hours ago, MurDoc516 said:

A question to the panel, without fear of critique, who would you make hard calls on at the end of the season? (e.g. delist, trade etc.)

There is a lot of talk about what we need, but, what don't we need?

For me, I think it's time to move away from T. Mac, Tomlinson, Brown and Melksham. 

Easy to say, but where do the replacements come from? We have already blooded some mid-sized, fast players. Key position players don't grow on trees.  I think Melksham has been a real plus, bringing some energy (OK, he can't chase that well) and some footy brains. Some of his foot passing is terrific(especially compared to some others in our team).

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by Go Lordie

21 hours ago, OhMyDees said:

Mac Andrew would be a pretty useful player in our forward line…

Sure, but am I correct in thinking we got JVR instead?

Hello boys (oops, sorry, I've been listening to Roy and HG and remembering their Sydney Olympics show). I love the podcast. The great balance between analytics, wisdom and MFCSS soothes my troubled brow and fuels my optimism. Tonight I would like to contribute a little cooda-wooda-shooda theory that I came up with to make myself feel a little better after falling short by a fraction once more. This year we have lost to Carlton by one point, the Lions by 5 points. the Giants by 2 points and the Power by 2 points. Those losses - totalling 10 points - are the difference between us finishing 13th and finishing 5th (on the current ladder). And, while I haven't looked back at the first three losses, it was BAD KICKING at goal in Q4 on Saturday night that cost us the game. We missed three gettables in Q4 (and also had two posters during the night). If we can get May, Salem, Spargo, Windsor, Petracca, Oliver and Gawn back to full fitness, my conclusion is - forward 50 connection problems notwithstanding - we can look forward to a good year in 2025. Keep up the good work, chaps.

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by Go Lordie

22 hours ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Ok, so when are we having the conversation about Salem and Sparrow?

Do they need to be in our list next year?

Salo is a brilliant distributor. He has had an interrupted season. And Sparrow has had a down year, as many young players do. I expect him to bounce back in 2025.

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by Go Lordie

5 hours ago, MurDoc516 said:

A question to the panel, without fear of critique, who would you make hard calls on at the end of the season? (e.g. delist, trade etc.)

There is a lot of talk about what we need, but, what don't we need?

For me, I think it's time to move away from T. Mac, Tomlinson, Brown and Melksham. 

Definitely B Brown to retire. Personally, I’d give TMac and Melky one more year for depth / they’ve still got A game. Tommo I’d let go, even though I like him…

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by Spargonicus

Question to the 3 panellists: who are our unsung heroes?  Previously it was nibbler, but not the HHF role is well known and often trotted out by the media.  Who are the unsung heroes who have carried us this year, and who could step into the sunshine with a breakout 2025?

Did I travel back in time? This game felt exactly like the final against Carlton last year. A hard-fought, brutal, contested game. Our pressure and contested ball were good. Poor discipline taking away shots at goal. Each of our goals felt like it took 4 times the effort of theirs. Had chances to put the game away in the fourth quarter but didn't take them. Lose by under a kick.

I think this game underlines why the gameplan needed to shift this year. We don't have the forward line to kick goals in a congested forward 50. We need to change to a transition game plan so we can use the players we do have to score in an open forward line. Unfortunately we don't have the midfield players and defenders to execute it. This year was a tough one, but next year we could come back, the gap from worst to first in the AFL is pretty small at the moment.

Thinking ahead though, should we move beyond the transition game to whatever game style will be after that? Get ahead of the pack. What will be the game style to defeat the transition game? Can we rebuild into that more easily?

5 hours ago, MurDoc516 said:

A question to the panel, without fear of critique, who would you make hard calls on at the end of the season? (e.g. delist, trade etc.)

There is a lot of talk about what we need, but, what don't we need?

For me, I think it's time to move away from T. Mac, Tomlinson, Brown and Melksham. 

TMac was very, very good this year.

Had some lesser games late, but was one of the best returns on expectations.

Thanks for my favorite weekly podcast. 
Disappointed of course, but far from devastated, and more optimistic about the future than many of my mates.

Scoring from inside 50s seems a perennial problem.   Is it too simplistic to ask those deep inside 50 to all spread out in different directions to both draw the defenders and to create one on one opportunities?  As it is “kick it long” to a pack of 6 + players isn’t and hasn’t been working. Is this poor coaching or poor execution, or both?  By mids or by forwards?    Tony Lockett or Jason Dunstall would struggle in our forward line, and they didn’t have the luxury of 6-6-6.  
 

This is the biggest frustration for most of our fans, and probably our players. 

It was a great effort overall against Port.  I thought Port would be too good but we really made them earn it.

A few things in the last qtr were frustrating.  When Narkle tied the scores, was Clarry our best matchup for Rozee at the next CB. It was like the GWS game on repeat.

Then they ran down the clock too easily at the end. We played a zone like we were 30 points up, not 1 or 2 points down. They had 9 marks in the last 90 seconds. Last night Kane Cornes claimed we are a poorly drilled side on The Round so Far in relation to this.  We are 1W and 4L this year in close games, and this follows on from the horrendous final against Carlton last year.  Does Cornes have a point?

2 hours ago, Go Lordie said:

I think they executed the game plan brilliantly. We actually could have won the game if we had kicked straight in Q4. How were we that close? Brilliant plan, brilliant execution.

Spot on. We shut down a side that had just beaten top of the ladder by 100+

Those critical of Goodwin, won’t give him any credit for this, it was a master stroke of coaching.

Those wanting us to bite off more 45 angle kicks in, may I remind you of Tmac’s direct turnover off half back?