Just now, Jjrogan said:

Having said that, I think the Giants were fitter last week due to the run in the opening round and Kingsley even flexed that in his pre match.  

Indeed.

And it's hardly surprising we fatigued given we had two kids (xl and Langford) and two mature age rookies (aj and hendo) coming of their first AFL preseason (and not even full ones, ie draftees commence after the preseason starts and AJ and hendo only started well into the preseason) and one kid coming of their second preseason (windsor).

That's five players who have just started their AFL career.

And we had two others coming of only third preseason (vr and jeffo).

Given all that we actually ran the game outright pretty bloody well -

By way of comparison, the only recent equivalent number of newbies and inexperienced players is the franchise clubs and they got obliterated. 

Great signs given senior players like Steve May, Spargo, Koz and Melksham, not to mention Turner and mcvee (not senior but both very fit) to come back into the side.

Took a few days to get through 22 pages but here we are. Nice to be back after the offseason, even better to be under cover in the members nice and dry while it was bucketing outside.

Did we lose it at selection? No. Lost by 3 points to a serious team while creating more and better chances. 

Should we have gone smaller? Goody has never been horses for courses, he’s best-22 each week and that’s what we picked. Where we lost it was having a young team who aren’t all match fit and running out of legs towards the end of the 3rd & 4th. Didn’t have the legs but we nearly rolled them anyway, I think it’s good signs. 
 

Of the newbies: Lindsay very good, Sharp ok but small and doesn’t seem to have a long kick, Henderson same. Jefferson class but needs more aggression, Johnson good aggression but needs more class. Langford hard to say. I’d say Sharp and Henderson are behind Kozz and Spargo when they come back but it’s only week 1. 

I didn’t see as much as I wanted from Oliver, tore the Roos a new one in the praccy but didn’t set the world on fire this week. Giants have a lot of big bodies in the mids so it’s a tough contest.

Annoying to lose but could’ve easily won it and if we were no good they would’ve toweled us. 7/10

32 minutes ago, binman said:

Indeed.

And it's hardly surprising we fatigued given we had two kids (xl and Langford) and two mature age rookies (aj and hendo) coming of their first AFL preseason (and not even full ones, ie draftees commence after the preseason starts and AJ and hendo only started well into the preseason) and one kid coming of their second preseason (windsor).

That's five players who have just started their AFL career.

And we had two others coming of only third preseason (vr and jeffo).

Given all that we actually ran the game outright pretty bloody well -

By way of comparison, the only recent equivalent number of newbies and inexperienced players is the franchise clubs and they got obliterated. 

Great signs given senior players like Steve May, Spargo, Koz and Melksham, not to mention Turner and mcvee (not senior but both very fit) to come back into the side.

Your comment on Oliver was spot on and a little overlooked on here. We all want the best of him on and off field. From a footy front, I was expecting more from him too. He didn’t have the same energy as he did against the Roos. Everyone can have a bad game, let’s just hope this was one of them. Matching up on Green is also no easy feat and Oliver probably lost that battle. 

 

1 hour ago, binman said:

Indeed.

And it's hardly surprising we fatigued given we had two kids (xl and Langford) and two mature age rookies (aj and hendo) coming of their first AFL preseason (and not even full ones, ie draftees commence after the preseason starts and AJ and hendo only started well into the preseason) and one kid coming of their second preseason (windsor).

That's five players who have just started their AFL career.

And we had two others coming of only third preseason (vr and jeffo).

Given all that we actually ran the game outright pretty bloody well -

By way of comparison, the only recent equivalent number of newbies and inexperienced players is the franchise clubs and they got obliterated. 

Great signs given senior players like Steve May, Spargo, Koz and Melksham, not to mention Turner and mcvee (not senior but both very fit) to come back into the side.

Not sure Langford would have been that tired after playing one quarter.

Never really felt like fitness was a real issue. AJ missed his shot and we got caught out defensively on the rebound.

We had one chance to try and get a score out of the final centre bounce but bizarrely decided to give Langdon his first go there and moved Petracca forward despite Trac being our most dangerous player from centre clearances all day.

2 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Not sure Langford would have been that tired after playing one quarter.

Never really felt like fitness was a real issue. AJ missed his shot and we got caught out defensively on the rebound.

We had one chance to try and get a score out of the final centre bounce but bizarrely decided to give Langdon his first go there and moved Petracca forward despite Trac being our most dangerous player from centre clearances all day.

That was so frustrating but I think it was player driven.... not sure why but I'm guessing the coaches will be asking this question.

3 hours ago, KozzyCan said:

He's limited but he works very hard. Think he'd provide more than Chandler right now but really we just need more smalls in our forwardline who can put on pressure at ground level, stop the ball from coming out so easily.

I cant believe I'm saying this but give me spargy pants over Chandler anyday, but having said that  I'd go with Brown Dog Jnr!

4 hours ago, Roost it far said:

Personally I think you pick your best 22 so at times that’ll be 3 talls and at others it won’t be. 

IMV. Yes pick best possible side but that needs to be coupled with how we intend to beat the opposition and who, where and when we play next. 
no point in player the top 6 players against a side that some of our other players can do well on.  As long as you win of course.

then we might have a physically fit top 15 players in September.

i thought we lost because GWS had the benefit of the previous weeks game and got on top towards the end of each quarter 

but only watched the second half might be wrong 

33 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Not sure Langford would have been that tired after playing one quarter.

Never really felt like fitness was a real issue. AJ missed his shot and we got caught out defensively on the rebound.

We had one chance to try and get a score out of the final centre bounce but bizarrely decided to give Langdon his first go there and moved Petracca forward despite Trac being our most dangerous player from centre clearances all day.

Yes. Love Langdon but that was a mistake. I would have gone Windsor

1 hour ago, GS_1905 said:

Your comment on Oliver was spot on and a little overlooked on here. We all want the best of him on and off field. From a footy front, I was expecting more from him too. He didn’t have the same energy as he did against the Roos. Everyone can have a bad game, let’s just hope this was one of them. Matching up on Green is also no easy feat and Oliver probably lost that battle. 

 

From what i saw he only lacked energy at the end due to fatigue. He was up and about most of the game. 

1 hour ago, KozzyCan said:

Not sure Langford would have been that tired after playing one quarter.

Never really felt like fitness was a real issue. AJ missed his shot and we got caught out defensively on the rebound.

We had one chance to try and get a score out of the final centre bounce but bizarrely decided to give Langdon his first go there and moved Petracca forward despite Trac being our most dangerous player from centre clearances all day.

Yeah..

That last centre bounce has been stuck in my head ever since.

It was funny because from level 2 I could see Max and the others congregating on the back corner of the centre square on the Warne side just before the bounce and thought that Langdon was just part of it because the meeting happened to be out there. 

3 hours ago, binman said:

Indeed.

And it's hardly surprising we fatigued given we had two kids (xl and Langford) and two mature age rookies (aj and hendo) coming of their first AFL preseason (and not even full ones, ie draftees commence after the preseason starts and AJ and hendo only started well into the preseason) and one kid coming of their second preseason (windsor).

That's five players who have just started their AFL career.

And we had two others coming of only third preseason (vr and jeffo).

Given all that we actually ran the game outright pretty bloody well -

By way of comparison, the only recent equivalent number of newbies and inexperienced players is the franchise clubs and they got obliterated. 

Great signs given senior players like Steve May, Spargo, Koz and Melksham, not to mention Turner and mcvee (not senior but both very fit) to come back into the side.

I reckon people who haven't played the great game underestimate just how taxing the opening round is. Nothing can really prepare you for that degree of pace and energy requirements.

Gws were better for having a game under their collective belts and I think it was the difference in the end.

The final analysis around these parts seems to be that we did very well. Most of us acknowledged pre game how good a side the giants are and that they are giants in the department of run and carry. We did so very well to match them .

In some senses it was a win. I think we played better and we also had a great many young players on debut. How wonderful to see them join the elite club of first goal in first game.

There were quite a few unlucky bounces and interesting calls by the umps and the usual suspects in set shots. 

While we both had players out of we had probably one of the closest clones of T.G. in K.P. not playing. So add all these factors up and my math makes for four points. 

Theres been a bit of debate re Fritta. I don't want him dropped like some but perhaps he gets a run on the wing or in the backline  again. Just in the first quarters to get his mojo going. He's what I deem an 'on or off ' player and I think it may come down to confidence levels.  

The other changes posters have alluded to is swinging May up fwd and with Petty excelling back where he belongs, it's probably not a bad idea. Alas he's injured so not so much an issue. Maybe Jeffo will keep building and Jvr will stand tall. Or Disco show us a few moves if he's up and about.

Again, going back to the overall calculations....with our three power forwards in Jvr...one goal....Fritta no goals...and Kozzie sidelined we so could have, would have, should have😀.

And speaking of changes, I'm guessing by your no reply , you don't consider moving Bowser up fwd as a crumber. I will say he seemed to be more like his old self.

Lastly , last season we lost five games by less than a goal, including one to Gws. Perhaps a revision of our final five min strategy is in order and I dare say a decent amount of set shot rehearsals for the captain.

Bring on the thrashing of North this week and the Jeffo bandwagon. Toot toot. 

3 hours ago, picket fence said:

I cant believe I'm saying this but give me spargy pants over Chandler anyday, but having said that  I'd go with Brown Dog Jnr!

It's a fair call. Spargo and Nibbler kicked 25 goals each in 21 . With Anb gone and Kp suspended it really made a difference.

Sparticus has often been played out of position . He's best keeping up in a fwd pocket to pick up the crumbs from Roo smashing the packs. Chandler has shown glimpses of super skills but he's definitely not consistent.  And yes Brown jnr is definitely someone to get excited about. You were right about Jeffo so I'm sure your right about pup.

4 hours ago, GS_1905 said:

Your comment on Oliver was spot on and a little overlooked on here. We all want the best of him on and off field. From a footy front, I was expecting more from him too. He didn’t have the same energy as he did against the Roos. Everyone can have a bad game, let’s just hope this was one of them. Matching up on Green is also no easy feat and Oliver probably lost that battle. 

 

I haven’t analysed the game in detail, but it seemed that we were keen on not letting Callahan and the other GWS Mids get free and run riot through the middle. Worked for 3/4 quarters. Should be interesting next time.

Took me a few days to get over that close loss to the Giants.

Very frustrating! 😵‍💫

All the new Demon debutants gave me hope for the future though.

So I've only been able to see the mini-match on FF so obviously small sample size but the standout point from it was seeing a lot on young/fresh faces involved in key positive moments, Caleb Windsor in particular looks an absolute jet and with an extra season seams to have got some core strength added to make him harder to tackle.

Again small sample but I will say that it's so disappointing that like so many times last season we have the lead late only to give it up. We have a very big issue with defending from transition, it's telling that the final goal of the game came from deep inside our forward 50 (albeit from a kick in) and to me it just screams that we have the same major deficiency that we had when we lost that final to Carlton. Yes the kick in was a scrubber, yes there was an element of luck with the bounce of the ball, and but ultimately it appeared that GWS in that single moment wanted it more.

It'll be interesting to see who comes out and comes in vs North, but it has to be a statement game. North aren't going to be the same easy beats as previous seasons, neither are the tigers for that matter, so we have to play to our absolute best and show that we are a team that is desperate to play finals footy again.

On 17/03/2025 at 20:49, dazzledavey36 said:

This is poor on Oliver.

 

First time I've seen this. Unforgivable from Oliver. The first goal was worse, but with the second I can understand how he may have got sucked into the contest a little bit, but overall, just really poor defending from him. 

Anyone see how this is a holding free kick to Greene - he has a fist full of his opponents jumper but somehow gets a free kick and goals 

Astonishing imo 

 

20 minutes ago, Sydee said:

Anyone see how this is a holding free kick to Greene - he has a fist full of his opponents jumper but somehow gets a free kick and goals 

Astonishing imo 

 

I was furious watching live

 

What about the handball on the goal-line that was straight to a Melbourne team-mate, but the behind post got in the way?

Given as deliberate OOB. Goal to Cadman….wrong decision, ultimately that goal won the match.

On 17/03/2025 at 21:16, Macca said:

They don't need to take marks ... just punch it out of bounds will do

Or punch it to ground and then gather the ground ball. No need to worry about our front & square crumbers ... we don't have them

That's spot on.  We more often than not don't get those basics right consistently.

Either up forward or around the ground at down the line marking contests.

Unfortunately it's just not happening alot under Simon's watch.  Not since 2021 anyway.

I'm starting to wonder if some past Premiership players' decisions moving on and rumblings from other key players recently, such as Claz, have had something to do (partially or to a large extent) with the way Simon coaches now.

Edited March 18Mar 18 by Demon Dynasty

7 hours ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

What about the handball on the goal-line that was straight to a Melbourne team-mate, but the behind post got in the way?

Given as deliberate OOB. Goal to Cadman….wrong decision, ultimately that goal won the match.

I agree JJC but also if you watch Langdon's reaction to that hamdball, he pulled his arms back at the last second as if to say "i'm not near that or wanting that handball".

Other team's players would just run towards the receive with hands out stretched as if they wanted it or were close to receiving, evem if they weren't, to try and fool the umps.

I'm not sure why but we too often play "too nice and fair" when the bulk of opponents rarely if ever do so.

Another great example was Bowey calling his shot at goal touched after the goal was given.  Then i think Rick followed, as if to tell everyone to prepare for a kick in as it was a behind.

Yet watching the replay it was not clear at all!   I can't recall any other players from other teams pulling this rubbish.  In fact they're the exact opposite.

Look at the ghost touch call on the goal line by the Blues against us which cost us the match not long ago.

Also the touched mark they took against Freo last season that resulted in their win.  Ok maybe the player taking the mark didn't realise, but one or two Blues players around him must have seen it and said nothing.

The shaking of Mayturd's hand before the match last year.   WTF was that.

Sadly we just don't play unsociable footy, nor look to max out every potential free or try to deceive the men in white like other teams do once we cross the white line.

We also don't punch, kick or tap the 'in dispute' bouncing ball on and run on to it (or towards our general player advantage / colours) like some of the better clubs tend to do a fair bit.  Don't get me wrong we do it occasionally but most of the time we try and pick the ball up and end up either under alot of pressure when attempting to dispose and/or getting caught.

We just don't seem to play instinctive footy very often or well from where i sit anyway.

Edited March 18Mar 18 by Demon Dynasty

8 hours ago, Sydee said:

Anyone see how this is a holding free kick to Greene - he has a fist full of his opponents jumper but somehow gets a free kick and goals 

Astonishing imo 

 

Not that astonishing if it was Ump No.38

Some amazing stuff being pulled out of his behind on the day

The boys should have been furious at some of those calls.

Especially the one on the point post that was called deliberate!

Is the club bringing these up with the AFL post match?  If not why not?

Edited March 18Mar 18 by Demon Dynasty

17 hours ago, KozzyCan said:

Not sure Langford would have been that tired after playing one quarter.

Never really felt like fitness was a real issue. AJ missed his shot and we got caught out defensively on the rebound.

We had one chance to try and get a score out of the final centre bounce but bizarrely decided to give Langdon his first go there and moved Petracca forward despite Trac being our most dangerous player from centre clearances all day.

Rivers was coming along nicely and we start rolling Langdon through there instead, who in my humble opinion looks lost in there in the matches i've watched so far.

Makes no sense at all.  Both players and others around must be scratching their heads a little surely.

Edited March 18Mar 18 by Demon Dynasty

13 hours ago, DiscoStu17 said:

I haven’t analysed the game in detail, but it seemed that we were keen on not letting Callahan and the other GWS Mids get free and run riot through the middle. Worked for 3/4 quarters. Should be interesting next time.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT, How about clubs paying our MIDS same courtesy and us winning a close game for a change??!

17 hours ago, picket fence said:

I cant believe I'm saying this but give me spargy pants over Chandler anyday, but having said that  I'd go with Brown Dog Jnr!

You're not alone Mr Fence.  Much rather Spargo or Browny.

I'd take Roy George over the lot also.  In a talent sense he's well ahead of all our smalls bar Kozzy.

But may not have the AFL tank & defensive mindset.  Or possibly the will to get there?

Will be interesting to see how he goes at Casey this season.

Edited March 18Mar 18 by Demon Dynasty