The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 2nd June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we have a chat with former Demon ruckman Jeff White about his YouTube channel First Use where he dissects ruck setups and contests. We'll then discuss the Dees disappointing loss to the Saints in Alice Springs.

Your 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.

Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

It’s time the club stopped playing games in Alice Springs

I love the community work the club does up there but we’re giving up a competitive advantage not playing at the MCG, with three of our worst losses in the past three years being played at the venue

Edited June 1Jun 1 by demoncat

How long are we going to persist with going to NT? They all say they love going there, but so what? I like going on holidays too!

It is time to get real about this, we need to play home games in front of our home crowd at the G. Not some carnival in front of a couple of thousand opposition supporters.

Incredibly frustrating still be saying "bad kicking is bad football" halfway through 2025 season. May as well be our motto at this point along with being the expected score kings.

Obviously been discussed ad nauseum but so many of those set shots were gettable by my sons year 10 footy team. Obviously they haven't just run 10 + km so fatigue is definitely a factor in some of the Dee's kicks but that was atrocious. The hooks that some of them were kicking from directly in front speak of a flawed technique, which given that these problems have existed for years, you would think we would have sorted out. Chocco is simply taking the [censored] at this point.

We looked like we were at the beach. I lost count of how many handballs that failed to clear an opposition player 2 metres away. It looked like a classic fatigue game, the kind of slow motion car wreck where players are fighting for the ball in quicksand.

Binman do you think there is still as high a degree of loading in our training regime around this time of the year?

Also is the main culprit of this sloppy and lethargic display the weather, training loads or attitude?

Obviously all probably play a part but when you see us come out in the first being second to every ball, the constant skill errors throughout the game and then turn in a pressure rating of 130 in the last quarter when the game is on the line (worst in the Goodwin era) then the alarm bells do go off.

@binman this is all I’ve got at the moment. So disappointing today.

Our record at this [censored] hole in Alice Springs now reads 4 wins 7 losses and no idea how to play this ground. Time to move on, we win that by 5 goals if it’s at the G.

Edited June 1Jun 1 by Doug Reemer

Not going to blame the ground.

We can kick plenty of points on other grounds as well.

They just invited pressure by treating the shots as easy early on.

Something I will point out though, is that Trac was never given any prior opportunity at any stage today.

He was held before he had the ball.

He was held while he was trying to get the ball.

If the ball was held to him – bad luck!

This contrasted with times that Wanganeen-Milera was caught with the ball.

Not sure what the difference was?

Edited June 1Jun 1 by DiscoStu17

2 hours ago, demoncat said:

It’s time the club stopped playing games in Alice Springs

I love the community work the club does up there but we’re giving up a competitive advantage not playing at the MCG, with three of our worst losses in the past three years being played at the venue

It even feels like Kozzy plays some of his worst games up there. Pressure to perform in front of his indigenous crowd, maybe.

@binman Are there any stats on the accuracy when kicking around the corner vs a regular drop punt?

I for the life of me ( other than on the boundary line ) don’t understand why coaches allow players when directly in front to kick it round the corner.

For those obsessed by data and stats, what are our kicking for goal stats in the last four years? How often do our midfielders wait for the tackle or play for the free rather than attack the ball? ( I like Rivers and respect Sparrow sometimes). How regularly do we turn the ball over and give up an ‘out the back’ or ‘Joe the goose’ goals? Give me data and statistics- I don’t want to believe what I see with my own eyes. What do you think, George?

56 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

It even feels like Kozzy plays some of his worst games up there. Pressure to perform in front of his indigenous crowd, maybe.

Like his record breaking 6 goal game?

56 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

It even feels like Kozzy plays some of his worst games up there. Pressure to perform in front of his indigenous crowd, maybe.

Like his record breaking 6 goal game?

Today was sickly disappointing after the pst two weeks.

The game turned completely after Kozzie’s ridiculously lazy kick at goal. The whole team seemed to be spooked for the rest of the afternoon.

How much of this rubbish is physical and how much mental? A professional sporting organization should have the resources to work this out, and address this.

I find it just so frustrating to be repeatedly teased by these pretenders.

How many games have we just thrown away by our inability to kick goals?

Lever shouldn’t find fitness and form in the firsts: Petty could go back, or reinstate TMcD.

Johnson will go courtesy of Michael Christian: Jeffo and or JVR to return

Is it worth persisting with Windsor in defence? Looks all at sea one on one as a defender.

Blaming the ground or weather is just grasping at straws. Did SyKilda play today at the same ground in the same conditions? Goody outcoached by Lyon, and kicking skills at goal and around the ground just not comparable.

This game felt like a horrible replay of the very worst games from 22-23 including those two finals losses in 23. Teams clogging our forward line while we banged it in again and again kicking points from low percentage chances and getting cut up on the rebound while our opponent gets easy goals 10m-20m out in an open forward line. Will this team ever learn? I thought we were developing a new gameplan but we still seem to come unstuck against teams that want to "park the bus"" and kill us on transition.

The pressure rating shows the team was just not up for it again, expecting to turn up and let it happen. It has been an MFC constant that whenever we string a couple of good wins together the players start drinking their own bathwater and expecting the result based on form instead of hard work. Different players, same culture.

4 hours ago, monoccular said:

Like his record breaking 6 goal game?

That's why I said some, not all.

Can George please get in touch with Kozzy and let him know that tagging isn't effective? He seems to have missed the memo.

Is there a football equivalent of a broomstick putter or claw grip that can cure the goal kicking yips?

We just have SO many terrible set shot kicks now in this team. Watching Gawn, AJ, Fritsch ( this year) Trac, Kozzie or Sharp shoot for goal is a complete frikn lottery …every time. How the hell do we turn this around? Is it even possible? I’m sure they practice but it seems whatever they’re doing is just making them all more nervous!

We’re now the worst in the comp for set shot accuracy by a decent margin, but even that damning stat isn’t the worst of it. It doesn’t track how often we see opposition teams go the length of the ground afterwards for a 2 goal turnaround... from simple misses. Twice that I remember yesterday . The 2 goal turnarounds cost us the game v GWS and again yesterday. As a supporter it makes me want to tear my hair out...and as I havent got that much left I need answers soon!

Supporting your Footy club is an emotional thing. Where to begin? The disappointment.  The despair.  The embarrassment. We are the joke of the footy world.  Texts from mates saying “Dees would have to kick themselves in the bum for losing, but they’d probably miss that too”.  Our short lived positivity was simply destroyed.

Questions - yes a few from me, my wife and my 4 kids

Do we honestly think they practice goalkicking and real goalkicking simulation? 7 goals 21 behinds.  2 out of bounds. 2 not making the distance. At least 6 or 7 shots were easy and within 30 metres. 1.12 after half time (Petty goal from 9 metre out) 8 behinds in the last qtr. Unforgivable on any level. Sunny. No breeze to mention. Dry.  Question @binman is it still just technique or a mental frailty in kicking for goal? I think now it’s both.

@george_on_the_outer can we ban players taking shots for goal around the corner kicks on their wrong foot from 20 metres out directly in front. It’s so so bad. Koz, Melksham, Petty, Trac. Some easy shots ended as bad misses in the last few weeks.

Inside 50s Dees 57. Goals 7.  Yes 12%. Probably one of the teams worst ever conversions. We regressed back to high up and under dump kicks.  Bad habits as Ed Sheeran would say !

The transition footy.  Dees went side and slow and attacked from wide. It simply allowed a congested forward 50.  We allowed Saints to run the corridor.  @binman with the game in the balance, we played back and zoned , with little pressure in the last quarter. your stats… Saints had an anmaxing uncontested possessions 250.

The coaching. The summary is that Lyon totally smashed Goodwin today. Saints had a strong tag on Kozzy and Clarry. Windhager was almost BOG & Zac Jones negated Clarry.  Lyon commented how he told his team at halftime to take away Mays intercepting. In the meantime, Wilkie took 11 intercepts as we kicked it to him. Also Wanganeen-Milera and Sinclair were allowed to roam free. They never had a body side by side. In his presser Goody said he put time into them. Time? There was no pressure on them. Sparrow looked to at one stage be on WanganeenMilera who just ran off him with disdain and ease. @george your view on the absence of a plan to negate the Saints runners!!!

There were some individuals as positives.

McVee had a good game& restricted Higgins to one goal. He’s a ripper

May’s intercepts in the first half.

Chandler contested hard & gives 100%

Gawn in my view edged out Marshall in a good ruck contest.

Trac kicked 2 nice goals and again had a nearly game (some other missed chances)

Bowey had a very good 2nd half. Saints tried to negate him

Turner had a good 3/4 in defence and took a great mark.

Fritta was active and had 4 tackles !!

Not much to say about others unfortunately

Kozzie’s missed shot for goal in the first was so casual and deflating it seemed to set the tone for the day.

Did we get ahead of ourselves, and assume it would just happen?

It certainly set the tone for Kozzie. Lazy effort, then dropped his head for the rest of the game.

Here we go again! Last year this game was the start of our plunge. Freo by miles, if i remember.

This was different:

Kossie lazy shot and they sling shotted for a number of goals, where we lost the contest and had poor defensive structures.

!/4 time wed fixed this, but couldn’t kick straight. Frustrating as all get out, because we were not terrible, and should have an easy four points.

Any thoughts on why we were so poor in Q1, and then so inaccurate thereafter??

If it is mental, what are we/should we do about it?

Following this mob can be hard sometimes….

Edited June 2Jun 2 by buck_nekkid

Can you ask Jeff what he think’s our ideal starting 4 midfield is? The days of Oliver, Viney & Tracc starting in the middle together are over.

Also what he see’s as our second starting mids are? As in when our 2nd ruck is on & our prime movers are resting fwd or on the bench.