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POSTGAME: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne

Demonland
Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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  On 23/03/2025 at 11:04, Pirlo said:

Replacing him mid year with a coach who will play simply and to the team's strengths would create a lot of optimism. We just hung on to three of our best players last season, and a year like this one threatens to be will surely see them all go

In hindsight I am not sure we shouldn’t have tried to manage the exit at a good price, of several of our best or better players for early draft picks over the last 2 seasons. Petty, Viney, Tracc, Oliver were trades all talked about but never happened. Get 2 of those done for first round picks (plus some) or swaps for the right player, we would be better off as a team. 

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:15, waynewussell said:

    It can turn around quickly!

    In round 1 PA lost by 91, in round 2 they won by 72

    In round 1 Geelong won by 78, in round 2 they lost by 7 to St Kilda (who lost by 63 in round 1)

    In round 1 WC lost by 87, in round 2 they lost by three goals to the Premiers away from home!

    But we lost in round 1 and round 2. We needed to respond to last weeks defeat. 

    Im not calling it yet, but we are starring down the barrel of an 0-4 start. If that comes to pass then the damage would have already been done.  

    There is a reason why so many pundits had us outside the 8. Perhaps I was too blind to see it or wanted to admit it. 

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    I'm still waiting on "Simon's sign-off" video from the club. It's a bit weak to just do it for only one week.

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      On 23/03/2025 at 10:38, Superunknown said:

    it’s early but I’d be planning … 
     

    Go and Get Longmire …. Not an accumulator (now there’s a throwback!)

    be prepared to trade #5 and Pickett and be ready to be ruthless 

    Been thinking Longmire is enjoying a refresh before taking the Tassie job.

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    I don’t get the Max narrative.

    He didn’t have a great day but a) I don’t believe that alone (obviously) cost us the game. He’s done so much for the club. Carried us on many an occasion.

    My question is: so what? If he has a personal family issue, firstly that should remain personal, and secondly what about everyone else? Did they all have personal family issues? Because the team pretty much as a whole and almost without exception, were shocking.

    In round 2, the ‘newly reborn’ team collectively capitulated to a bottom 4 team. That’s the story, not Max. 

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:17, Hellaintabadplacetobe said:

    Confirmed just now on First Crack that he has a family member unwell 

    Life sucks - I know that feeling all too well and can empathise with him, especially if it is still raw. Hopefully he has some time to process it as it can take some time to come to grips with it. 

    I know he is trying to lead - but i think It doesn’t help the team if he’s not mentally fit to compete. Should have played TC today. He competed well against Xerri earlier this year.

    Just make the hard call Goody FFS, we are losing at selection. 

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      On 23/03/2025 at 10:14, chook fowler said:

    If the AFL needed an enema, the tube would be placed there.

    Expensive enema. Cost them $200m

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:30, GS_1905 said:

    There is a reason why so many pundits had us outside the 8. Perhaps I was too blind to see it or wanted to admit it

    This season was always about whether Trac and Oliver could get back to prime form and they haven’t. They may get there. We’ll see what we get against GC. Mids got smashed today, as did everyone else. We’re also missing 4 of our best 22. 

    We can still play finals but need to win next week and beat the Bombers or we’ll be out of the running. 2-3 has us alive, 0-5 or 1-4 and we’re cooked. 

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      On 23/03/2025 at 08:58, Demon Dynasty said:

    We've been saying that for a few years now but have not progressed.  In fact we've seriously dropped off.

    So much so that we are now being passed by teams that finished in the bottom four last season ie;  The Crows & Norf.

    We can actually get worse in a relative sense vs 2024 and could well end up lower than 14th!

    Personally i love what Simon brought to the table that lead us to the 2021 Flag but he has probably extracted about as much as he can from this group now.

    I'm happy to wait till Rnd 8 or thereabouts but subject to an immense turnaround between now and then, his days as head coach appear to be numbered.

    Yeah, feel the same!!

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      On 23/03/2025 at 08:58, Demon Dynasty said:

    We've been saying that for a few years now but have not progressed.  In fact we've seriously dropped off.

    So much so that we are now being passed by teams that finished in the bottom four last season ie;  The Crows & Norf.

    We can actually get worse in a relative sense vs 2024 and could well end up lower than 14th!

    Personally i love what Simon brought to the table that lead us to the 2021 Flag but he has probably extracted about as much as he can from this group now.

    I'm happy to wait till Rnd 8 or thereabouts but subject to an immense turnaround between now and then, his days as head coach appear 

     

     

    Edited by picket fence

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      On 23/03/2025 at 08:58, Demon Dynasty said:

    We've been saying that for a few years now but have not progressed.  In fact we've seriously dropped off.

    So much so that we are now being passed by teams that finished in the bottom four last season ie;  The Crows & Norf.

    We can actually get worse in a relative sense vs 2024 and could well end up lower than 14th!

    Personally i love what Simon brought to the table that lead us to the 2021 Flag but he has probably extracted about as much as he can from this group now.

    I'm happy to wait till Rnd 8 or thereabouts but subject to an immense turnaround between now and then, his days as head coach appear to 

     

    Edited by picket fence

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      On 23/03/2025 at 08:58, Demon Dynasty said:

    We've been saying that for a few years now but have not progressed.  In fact we've seriously dropped off.

    So much so that we are now being passed by teams that finished in the bottom four last season ie;  The Crows & Norf.

    We can actually get worse in a relative sense vs 2024 and could well end up lower than 14th!

    Personally i love what Simon brought to the table that lead us to the 2021 Flag but he has probably extracted about as much as he can from this group now.

    I'm happy to wait till Rnd 8 or thereabouts but subject to an immense turnaround between now and then, his days as head coach appear to be numbered.

    Yeah, feel the same!!

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:41, Fromgotowoewodin said:

    This season was always about whether Trac and Oliver could get back to prime form and they haven’t. They may get there. We’ll see what we get against GC. Mids got smashed today, as did everyone else. We’re also missing 4 of our best 22. 

    We can still play finals but need to win next week and beat the Bombers or we’ll be out of the running. 2-3 has us alive, 0-5 or 1-4 and we’re cooked. 

    It’s either 1-4 or frighteningly 0-5. I cannot see how we win next week. GCS will repeat what we saw today and will have better forward weaponary to maximise score.

     

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    Lots on here kidding themselves about the quality of the list, and the impact of injuries. Someone commented on playing Henderson straight in from the VFL, and what it says. What it says it that the 4 (or more) guys ahead of him - Pickett, Tholstrup, Melksham and probably McAdam based on pre-season form - are all unavailable.

    As for the list, one of the downsides of having A-graders (and we still have a few) is that to keep them you have to pay them big bucks. Which leaves you with little cap space. I was surprised that we were even in the race for Houston as I'm not sure how we could have afforded him. 

    While I'm not all that optimistic, at least with McVee, Windsor, Tholstrup, Melksham, Pickett and May back in the side we'll be not just a bit more competitive but faster and a bit more skilful - which is where the game is heading.

     

    Edited by bing181

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:47, GS_1905 said:

    It’s either 1-4 or frighteningly 0-5. I cannot see how we win next week. GCS will repeat what we saw today and will have better forward weaponary to maximise score.

     

    Well if we keep playing like today we’re 0-5 (and 0-23 cos today was literally uncompetitive). We can play better and should take it up to the Suns, but will we? Hopefully May back at least. 

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:35, Red But Mostly Blue said:

    In round 2, the ‘newly reborn’ team collectively capitulated to a bottom 4 team

    North aren't going to be bottom 4 for long. They're chock full of high draft picks and eventually the cream will rise.

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:03, Dr. Gonzo said:

    Howes, Woewodin, Henderson, Sharp - you can carry one or two but not four.

    Then there's Spargo, Turner,  Jefferson,  Fritsch,  T-Mac,  Petty & Lever

    Their combined input was negligible 

    I'm not sacking all of them, just making a comment on the input

    But it was the form of our better players which is the much greater concern.  We can replace the NQR's

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:59, bing181 said:

    North aren't going to be bottom 4 for long. They're chock full of high draft picks and eventually the cream will rise.

    Yes but they still struggle to match / win against reasonable to quality oppo.  We showed that we're a long way from even reasonable today.

    We might improve somewhat with the return of some key outs but we aren't gonna trouble many, if any, of the top liners and we certainly ain't finals bound.

    Likely we'll be bottom five again or worse.

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    Sluggish, uninspired and almost depressed-looking team out there today.

    Roos fans in the crowd were asking who Chandler was all game. He was the only player they noticed, as we were otherwise invisible. 

    As much as we’d like to hope the Roos are some kind of surprise package this year, they aren’t. Still plenty they need to fix and a lot of it was on display today. And yet they beat us by 59 points. 

    So much to dislike about what happened. Set shots were a disaster. JVR, Langdon, Sharp, Fritsch all missing absolute gimmes. Players totally lacking spatial awareness and moving like treacle under the pump, constantly choosing the wrong option or butchering the right ones. 

    This was definitely a game for Campbell. Gawn needs cover. 

    That team looked genuinely uninspired out there, and I believe that a lot of that is down to an uninspiring coach. I don’t question his commitment or intent. I do believe he takes the job with all the seriousness and dedication it requires. But I have thought for a long time now that he lacks the ability to inspire with his words, and the emotional/psychological nous to get the best out of his players, and to work with coaching staff/press etc. 

    And at times like this, those kinds of skills are crucial. I fear that we’re really in for it this year, and it will be a new coach next year or sooner. 

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    Pretty good summation of the game on YouTube by the "Deebrief".

     

    He poses an interesting question, maybe we need to rebuild our list?

     

    Edited by Supreme_Demon

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:33, At the break of Gawn said:

    I'm still waiting on "Simon's sign-off" video from the club. It's a bit weak to just do it for only one week.

    When has this club ever faced the music in the post Roos/Jackson era? I didn't watch last week's video, but the decision to can a new fan segment a week into the season would suggest he continues to shy away from criticism. I've never personally liked Goodwin, or identified with him. Grateful for the flag, but it would be great to have a coach like Daniher or Roos who really gets it again.

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      On 23/03/2025 at 11:59, bing181 said:

    North aren't going to be bottom 4 for long. They're chock full of high draft picks and eventually the cream will rise.

    100% 

    I quite like the team. Lots of future guns. And they played with fire and heart today. Good on them. 

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      On 23/03/2025 at 12:35, Supreme_Demon said:

    Pretty good summation of the game on YouTube by "The Deebrief".

     

    He poses an interesting question, maybe we need to rebuild our list?

     

    I think it is a rebuild. Our current midfield don’t have what it takes to be  a fast transition team. Athletically and skill wise. We will need to replace them with the likes of Windsor, Lindsay, Langford, Tholstrup who all appear to be more balanced and skillful. But that will take at least 3-4 years to mature.

    In that time though Gawn, Maysie, Viney are all gone. Trac and Oliver in twilight. Lever likely done as well. 

    You can only hope that Jeffo and JVR come on, Kozzy stays and Kalani chooses us. 

    Every supporter dreams their team will contend for the flag every year, I just thought the dream would last longer than 2 rounds in 2025. Oh well.

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      On 23/03/2025 at 12:35, Supreme_Demon said:

    Pretty good summation of the game on YouTube by the "Deebrief"

    Really? Zero mention of Gawn getting slaughtered by Xerri in the last quarter, particularly in the first 10 minutes of the quarter when the game was on the line.

    Still don't understand why TC wasn't selected, given the selection panel knew of the personal issues faced by Max during the week. TC must have been very close to being selected - he wasn't training with the twos on Tuesday as reported by @Harvey Wallbanger

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    The players have to take ownership of their insipid performance today

    Top players should always have the wherewithal to be self motivated. Lesser players need a rev up

    We had a stack of experience out there today and by default, a truckload of leadership

    So where was it?  We can't just blame the coach and the gameplan, that's a cop-out

    Where was the fight and the never-say-die attitude?  Soft tackles and half-hearted chasing?  Gut running to position to provide a target? 

    A distinct lack of energy, effort, endeavour and enthusiasm prevailed today

    Embarrassing

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