The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 28th April @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we analyse the Demons 2nd win for the year against the Tigers.

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does this weekend of games between casey and the seniors spell the end of melk, billings and others in a similar spot? with all the young blokes improving week in and week out consistently and the likes of adams, howes, sestan, aj, hendo and culley all sitting down in the 2's hard to see them getting a game again tbh when we are back at full health

I know the game was essentially wrapped up early in the final quarter when we pushed the lead out to 44 points, but is it a worry that everything seemed to fall apart once Max was rested? We conceded the last four goals, and during that period our skills, execution, and overall system completely broke down. It really took the shine off what should have been a comfortable and enjoyable win especially given the season we've had so far. And let’s not forget, percentage could matter. I know it might sound like nitpicking, but that last quarter left a sour taste.

3 votes to the umpires. First 5 tiggers goals were all free kicks!

Thoughts on the performance of the officials?

2 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

3 votes to the umpires. First 5 tiggers goals were all free kicks!

Thoughts on the performance of the officials?

Dorothy Dixer right there.

One qtr of football and we won…

4 goals given up at the end, whist resting Max and May. Looked like the queue was in the rack.

Do you think this part of a ‘long season’ approach? Should we have put them to the sword in the last to help our percentage?

Do you guys worry that most of our 'scoring runs' coincide with scores from stoppage?

Are you seeing enough in terms of scoring from back half transition?

On the plus side we seemed to be back to a high level in scores from turnover.

I’m not buying that performance from Fritsch, nothing has changed, he just kicked a couple of goals. A good team will run off him and expose his lack of pressure without the ball.

Question, did Fritsch’s presence lessen Fullerton’s impact leading up at the ball?

TBH I’d rather Melk in the team over Fritsch on this years current form.

Last night, in a post-match interview, Max “my hero” Gawn,  openly talked about the “yips” he feels when lining-up, close to goal.

I went back and compared his technique when he’s kicking from the arc to when he is kicking in-close.  When he’s closer in, he slows everything down. His run-up becomes tentative and he even seems to swing his leg through slower.  

I might be way off here, I know nothing about the mechanics of AFL kicking, but when you swing a racquet, or throw a netball, slowing down your natural motion leads to inconsistency and loss of accuracy.

Have any of you noticed this with Max’s kicking?   

Was great to have 2 wins in a row.

Thought Xavier Lindsay was amazingly cool headed and plays like a 150 gamer already. How wonderful is it to have some excellent kicks in the team?

Max Gawn was a colossus for the Demons. An incredible game. But how disturbing was it that we let Richmond dominate the last 10 minutes of the game when he was resting on the bench in the 4th quarter?!

Is Tom Fullarton up to it? Or should be play both Tom Campbell and Max Gawn together in the same team?

Jake Bowey also deserves some credit. His game was fantastic in that "quarterback" role on the half back flank. Would Jake Bowey be currently leading the Best & Fairest for the Demons?

The past 2 weeks have given us some hope, when before there was little. Fast flowing, attractive football with a semblance of system, albeit in patches. At least one obvious concern remains, however. The question I raised here 2 weeks ago and by others this week, are our last quarters.

After 7 games, our total kicked in last quartes is 7.20 62pts, to 33.14 212 pts. Our percentage for the year is 74.7%. Our percantage based on just the first 3 quarters of matches is 96%, whilst based on last quarters alone, it is 29.2%.

Max hasn't gone off every last quarter this year so, to use a new 2025 catchphrase, it is not an event, but a pattern. In a racing parlance, we look like a middle distance racehorse running in a Melbourne Cup. We simply can't stay! The difference in last quarter accuracy emphasises a fitness issue. As we tire, we spray our shots and lack the capacity to prevent the opposition from getting opportunities from close range.

We are letting our opponents off the hook psychologically as well. No team playing us will feel beaten at 3/4 time, no matter what the score. It must also play on the minds of our players and coaches as we will expect to run out of steam. It is no use planning to peak in September if we can't qualify to be there. Hopefully this is being teated as seriously as ball movement and all the other components that make up a winning team.

More of a statement than a question I suppose, but do you forsee a change in time for us to be considered a contender this year?

On 24/04/2025 at 14:50, buck_nekkid said:

3 votes to the umpires. First 5 tiggers goals were all free kicks!

Thoughts on the performance of the officials?

I listened to AFL Nation as I couldn't watch the game. The commentators felt at times that the umps blew the whistle only after hearing loud crowd protest. They went on to say when they watch NBA games, referees generally have over 15 years experience. Often over 20 years. They then commented on the inexperience of the referee crew at our game and we have lost a lot of ump experience in the last 2 years. AFL Nation said running 15kms per game and each ump expected to take their turn bouncing the ball in the middle loses talent and experience and the game suffers.

Last year the AFL earned $2 billion revenue and an operating surplus of $45m. Why isn't there an independent review of officiating? Why don't they make referees full time professionals?

The Club can't say anything publicly as discussion of umps is off limits and they risk massive fines.

The AFL needs to hear from We The People. Can Demonland start an online petition that goes viral??

Final Quarters are still a major factor

I have no problem with Max being rested, but that doesn’t mean that everything has to fall apart in his absence.

We have seen some excellent football over the last 2 weeks in patches, but Goodwin and the Coaching staff have still got some major work ahead of them, in terms of a Plan B

Two questions for Binman's stats file discussion:

1) If Viney had an amazing 15 tackles and the 2nd highest off-the-charts pressure points, why was his player rating the 2nd worst on the team at a poor 3.3? 🤷‍♂️

2) You've mentioned many times Goody's game style is taxing and your explanation makes a lot of sense. Our 3rd quarter team pressure rating of 219 was immense, worthy of a grand final. I believe the TV commentators said the team pressure rating was over 230 in the 3rd quarter. Are there stats revealing how taxing this quarter was compared to the other 3 quarters? Perhaps this, together with 3 games in 12 days, with two crucial talls in Max and Maysie off a good chunk of the 4th, helps explain the 4th.

BTW, huge shoutout of thanks to @WheeloRatings, you're awesome, I think I have a Bromance with @binman and love the work of Andy and George

Taking Max off in the last quarter was obviously a strategic move taking advantage of the scoreboard to give him a much needed rest. Given that it's unlikely that we will be in a similar position in many games this season how should the coaching staff balance player load management in games especially in games that aren't yet secured?

On 24/04/2025 at 23:31, jaydenh10 said:

does this weekend of games between casey and the seniors spell the end of melk, billings and others in a similar spot? with all the young blokes improving week in and week out consistently and the likes of adams, howes, sestan, aj, hendo and culley all sitting down in the 2's hard to see them getting a game again tbh when we are back at full health

What's that? Hard to see Adams , Howes, Sestan, AJ, Hendo and Culley getting a game when we are back at full health?

Can we take a moment to give some well-deserved kudos to Jake Bowey for the fantastic start he’s having to the 2025 season? After his brilliant entry into the AFL, including that incredible 17-game winning streak, it felt like his development plateaued a little, and at one point, he was even dropped to the twos. Last year, after getting injured in Round 1, I thought he struggled to recapture his best form.

But fast forward to this season, and Bowey has been nothing short of outstanding. To put it in perspective: he averaged 17 disposals per game in 2021, 16.71 in 2022, 16.13 in 2023, and 16 in 2024. So far in 2025, he’s averaging a massive 24.43 disposals per game, including a 32-possession effort this week, the second-highest of his career.

At this rate, he’d have to be right up there behind Max Gawn in the Best and Fairest standings. Well done, Bowser.

Edited April 27Apr 27 by smurf

On 24/04/2025 at 23:50, buck_nekkid said:

3 votes to the umpires. First 5 tiggers goals were all free kicks!

Thoughts on the performance of the officials?

Three of their first four goals...

Hey Guys

Good win and some promising signs, people should not look into the last 10 min of the game. we shouldn't have, but did put the Que in the rack and i don't think we will get to many opportunities to do that.

I do have one real worry, and that's out midfield make up, we are trying things and that is needed, but.... it isn't until we go back to Petracca, Oliver and Viney that we get control back in there. I have faith that Langford will get to the level but i'm not sure who else. Rivers will be a solid mid in time but he will be just a good solid player, and still needs to work on his short passes. I do think Lindsey and Windsor will become full time mids, but have a couple of years on the back flank first.

Also May seams to be in the wars atm, i know it was just an ankle and he wont want a rest but i would like to see turner get another run in the side, i think he and Petty are our future Full Back and Centre Half Back. No petty is not a fwd, but fills a need for now.

Going to cut the questions off here. See you tonight at 8:00pm.

We will be LIVE in 1 hour at 8:00pm.

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Cheers for the shout out @binman, I think 😉. Yes, I was very harsh on the game, but will stand by my assessment of the first half. It was the most awful display of footy in my recent memory - slow, sloppy, mistake-ridden - poor sub-standard VFL stuff, both teams. And Richmond’s defensive strategy doesn’t soften that. Having straw-polled footy-smart non-partisan friends who saw it has universally confirmed as much. I happily admit though, that a big part of my frustration comes down to flawed expectation. The Freo game was a joy to watch for precisely the opposite reasons, so that’s where my head was at.

I will offer a complete mea culpa though on the match-winning third quarter, and my failure to admit that this was exceptional footy rather than just a relief from the first two. My bad. Should also have acknowledged the continued miracle season of Jake Bowey (Chin not far behind). I reckon he’s currently the best back half distributer in the AFL. Also to reiterate that Max is simply the best ruck-captain the game’s seen, grinning now, arm in arm with Robbie Flower on that pedestal.

I do reckon you’re being generous on the last quarter (taking the red and blue specs off, the Kosi ‘non-goal’ DID in truth deviate off the Tiges defender’s hand). It was back to horrible, marked by the absence of Maxy of course. It’s a truism that you’ll be worse without your best player, but we were verging on uncompetitive at stoppages when he went off. Fullerton vs Nank was comical, and even sadder was the truth that we were all watching, in real time, the end of a player’s AFL aspirations.

Overall, I reacted badly, and should have tempered my expectations for the team and game (love the Anzac eve fixture, and am used to us offering a version of our best) before spewing my distaste all over demonland’s notorious post-game distaste banquet. Such is the life of a footy fan I guess.