Disclaimer- I’ve never been one for starting a post, so please move or merge if this Is covered elsewhere.

While last night was a disappointing start to a game where we had the chance to showcase our new gameplan against a very good opponent. We didn’t handle the pressure, stopped running in waves and moving the ball forward by handball. While the team fell back into some old habits, I think understand that this will happen with a different style of play. So need to be patient.

This side is not a premiership side in its current form. Yes we will need to add some layers over the coming years. But I’m keen to hear what people think we can change this year to bolster areas of weakness.

For mine I see the Backline being an issue where we play sides with very good talls, or elite smalls. Freo, Bulldogs and Adelaide concerned me for the talls as do Brisbane, Hawks, GC for smalls. I think we are short 1 strong defender and 1 good utility and small defender.

So what do we have at our disposal this year. I think Petty and Turner can do a job, but we will need to look at Kentfield or AJ (if his body can handle it) down back. The 3rd Tall/interceptor is between Howes/Lever/Taylor. The quicker Taylor comes on the better. I want Lindsay to play on a wing for now.

Smalls. I think we will see AMW come in and hold that small defender role, Kolt is also earmarked as a defender when not tagging.

The other glaring one is the midfield. We did expect some issues here, but this year I can see Langford looks like he is not ready to play in the centre, so he might be better served at half forward. Koz is electric and Steele is workmanlike. Windsor is not a pure mid, Rivers looks a bit lost as does Sparrow.

I think we need to find the mix of energy, clean disposal- especially by hand and tackling ability. I’d like to see Chin play a bit of midfield time, but only when Koz rolls forward.

This is a very early review, things will change and I hope they do. We have some talent and some players who have been on the list a while and not yet taken the next step. Hoping that might happen this year with a change of role and freedom.

Keen to hear what people think on positional changes. Or anything they would like to see this year with what we have.

We're definitely thin down back

Edited yesterday at 00:531 day by lorn

I disagree on Langford.

He seems to need the touch of the leather to get things going so he should attend most centre bounces/toss.

What do you think of the Kolt figure and his defensive role?

5 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

I disagree on Langford.

He seems to need the touch of the leather to get things going so he should attend most centre bounces/toss.

What do you think of the Kolt figure and his defensive role?

I think for now that Langfords 2 way running is lacking as is his tackling pressure and clean hands. It will come, but I think confidence needs developing first. One thing that I’d say about modern footy, it you are not a great 2 way running, great at drawing tackles, great at tackling yourself and clean below your knees, you shouldn’t be in the middle. One thing that was noticeable from Freo is how they drive through tackles, forcing more Dees players to tackle, then they could find a team mate in space, it was brilliant.

Loving how Kolt is playing and listening to Kingy in the presser, he is a coaches dream.

The reality is that we are thin around the ball, and it exposes our defence, which is also not where it needs to be. I think AMW comes in, pushing XL up to the wing. Bowser back would help too, as would Viney when the chips are down in the middle.

We’ve got to stick with the young guys, and preferably in spots that support their development. I thought King held his nerve pretty well last night. We got absolutely slapped in the first quarter, but it was a lot to do with being clean with the ball - which King referenced in his post match. Windsor and Koz just weren’t clean, and Freo’s small forwards knew they had us for speed and took off on turnover. AMW helps. Howes might be nervous if XT finds form too.

Darren Burgess often made the point that he wanted three pre-seasons with young players for peak conditioning and fitness. I have heard him extend the comment further to encompass more experienced players – all of whom, in his mind, could benefit from a scientific strength and conditioning approach.

To a degree, similar comments could be applied to tactics and game style – a change at the head of things will take time to show. A root and branch reassignment of the MFC off the filed leadership, coupled with a strategic restructure of the playing list will result in both opportunity and challenge.

As a rusted-on member, I am a non-believer in the Petracca & Oliver blame game. And the coaches’ voting in 2025 reveals both these guys, although hardly performing at optimum were still at the sharp end of the playing list. A reasoned decision for the future can hardly be expected to have immediate success. So, one step forward, two (?) steps back.

Caleb Windsor and Koltyn Tholstrup are showing green shoots from a third AFL pre-season. Their last years were poor when assessed against undoubted potential, however in Burgess time this should be no surprise. And to extend that thought, both Langford and Lindsay, on a very small, two match sample appear to be on a similar trajectory. Deep breath and patience and while I reject “back to Casey”, man management is important. Going back to an easy kill in the VFL is not worthwhile but an additional managed “bye” round may well be.

The frustrated calls for dropping players is human nature, as is revisiting old list decisions. I cannot see that Casey is dripping with talent knocking at the door for game time. Reports from yesterdays’ game indicate that the cupboard, if not quite bare, lacks compelling ingredients. The injury list, while quite extensive, only has Viney and Bowey who might be considered starters - but o not add any speed.

AMW had his return game at Casey, and on possessions alone stood head and shoulders above his Demon listed teammates. Heath allegedly went OK. Jefferson and Kentfield are still weeks away and personally give little excitement.

When the list changes from 2025/6 are considered the age profile gives little upside. Certainly, there is a concerted effort to improve the “Pert culture”, which solid citizens like Steele and Mihocek strengthen. And yet with their playing bio, when stacked against a team profile at Fremantle – slow and ineffective by hand and foot, and critically between the ears. Foot speed is always going to be shown up when not in possession, but it was shown up glaringly. The successes of six days earlier, were out the window. Spread and run appeared a foreign concept.

Even if the generational change comes quickly – excluding Max – is the group of Melksham, Mihocek, Steele, Lever, anything more than timeservers on field. Character they have, but kicks??

The difficulty for a coaching staff is development. Since 2021 GF who has progressed? Pickett, granted - but what about Sparrow, Salem, Rivers? Stagnating if not regressing.

It’s a long winter.

2 hours ago, lorn said:

We're definitely thin down back

2 hours ago, lorn said:

We're definitely thin down back

Thin all over

I completely agree that we are short a power defender. I think the selection for this week was terrible because we knew Freo had several key forwards and we went in with just Petty and Turner – I don't count Lever, because body on body is not his thing. TMac should have been played, and that was obvious at the time, not just in hindsight. But the future really worries me. We had hoped that Adams would be the man but it seems that he is not. AJ probably has the physical attributes but even if he could be played in defence, it will obviously take a long time for him to learn the craft. And whether he is talented enough is open to question.

Even though we unexpectedly lost May just before the season commenced, he was definitely losing his powers. So I just don't know where we go.

Upfield, we certainly will miss the physicality of Oliver and Petracca. Langford has the body size so perhaps he will be the person to take over. But at the moment, he seems to be struggling with the pace of the game.

The other thing is not a positional change, but simply, we have to learn to stick tackles. The modern game seems to be very much based on players running in waves and it seems to me that the way to defeat that is to make sure that when the opposition has the ball, anyone who is in a position to run past and receive a handball must be closely checked and then tackled as soon as possible – effectively! It would be nice, too, if umpires decided to pay holding the ball - or throwing it.

Demonland is where clarity and perspective go to die.

I can see where we are going and I am ok with it. There will be bumps along the way but all I want is hope. Small sample size but my only concern is that we still allow a lot of uncontested possession….that cannot continue because the good sides will punish us. We are on the right path and I am supportive of every decision the club has made post 2025.

Has Kentfield played any footy down back?

5 hours ago, SPC said:

Disclaimer- I’ve never been one for starting a post, so please move or merge if this Is covered elsewhere.

While last night was a disappointing start to a game where we had the chance to showcase our new gameplan against a very good opponent. We didn’t handle the pressure, stopped running in waves and moving the ball forward by handball. While the team fell back into some old habits, I think understand that this will happen with a different style of play. So need to be patient.

This side is not a premiership side in its current form. Yes we will need to add some layers over the coming years. But I’m keen to hear what people think we can change this year to bolster areas of weakness.

For mine I see the Backline being an issue where we play sides with very good talls, or elite smalls. Freo, Bulldogs and Adelaide concerned me for the talls as do Brisbane, Hawks, GC for smalls. I think we are short 1 strong defender and 1 good utility and small defender.

So what do we have at our disposal this year. I think Petty and Turner can do a job, but we will need to look at Kentfield or AJ (if his body can handle it) down back. The 3rd Tall/interceptor is between Howes/Lever/Taylor. The quicker Taylor comes on the better. I want Lindsay to play on a wing for now.

Smalls. I think we will see AMW come in and hold that small defender role, Kolt is also earmarked as a defender when not tagging.

The other glaring one is the midfield. We did expect some issues here, but this year I can see Langford looks like he is not ready to play in the centre, so he might be better served at half forward. Koz is electric and Steele is workmanlike. Windsor is not a pure mid, Rivers looks a bit lost as does Sparrow.

I think we need to find the mix of energy, clean disposal- especially by hand and tackling ability. I’d like to see Chin play a bit of midfield time, but only when Koz rolls forward.

This is a very early review, things will change and I hope they do. We have some talent and some players who have been on the list a while and not yet taken the next step. Hoping that might happen this year with a change of role and freedom.

Keen to hear what people think on positional changes. Or anything they would like to see this year with what we have.

King was out coached, now im not one for stats but to allow 69 more uncontested possessions means players are not manning up when not in possession or they are ball hunting and I would love to ask the coaches why particularly in the first quarter they didn't stop the bleeding and why the let it go on.

Great Post SPC ,WELCOME TO DEMONLAND

When you have certain old Dinosaurs dribbling on need to have have people like you putting in .Went to see the seconds play the Doggies . Interested in our 1st round picks etc ,new era . What stood out to me they were so tired by the last Q, hands on knees ,being shrugged off when tackling , NOT manning up on opposition at contests all basics of the game and a real lack of intensity .The only player who impressed me was a no 20 an absolute terrier threw himself at the contest ,and did make things happen I wonder if if it is more mental than psychical with younger guys because they have been training sine OCT ..Last night game ,our second game unfortunately gone 15 mins in ,but unlike days of old were still trying to the final siren .I think this side will surprise TMAC down back with Jake ,Max needs to have a true ruckman coming off the bench to give him a bit of a breather to really shine and get to game 300,also obvious we need a bit of muscle love to see AJ running off the bench with another like him to give our more skilful players a bit of cover in critical times .I think this year could be real rollercoaster but see how it is in Sept .Rember 87 .

16 minutes ago, JOHNNY DEE said:

Great Post SPC ,WELCOME TO DEMONLAND

When you have certain old Dinosaurs dribbling on need to have have people like you putting in .Went to see the seconds play the Doggies . Interested in our 1st round picks etc ,new era . What stood out to me they were so tired by the last Q, hands on knees ,being shrugged off when tackling , NOT manning up on opposition at contests all basics of the game and a real lack of intensity .The only player who impressed me was a no 20 an absolute terrier threw himself at the contest ,and did make things happen I wonder if if it is more mental than psychical with younger guys because they have been training sine OCT ..Last night game ,our second game unfortunately gone 15 mins in ,but unlike days of old were still trying to the final siren .I think this side will surprise TMAC down back with Jake ,Max needs to have a true ruckman coming off the bench to give him a bit of a breather to really shine and get to game 300,also obvious we need a bit of muscle love to see AJ running off the bench with another like him to give our more skilful players a bit of cover in critical times .I think this year could be real rollercoaster but see how it is in Sept .Rember 87 .

No 20 is Matthews, he's likely to debut very late in the season or early next year. What will hold him back is fitness or lack of it due to an interrupted pre-season.

1 hour ago, demon3165 said:

I would love to ask the coaches why particularly in the first quarter they didn't stop the bleeding and why the let it go on.

Seriously?

At the end of the season you can also ask them why we didn't win the flag.

The truth is we got absolutely smashed on turnover yesterday. It doesn't matter if our backline personnel was the best thats ever played when you get opened up like that off turnover. And the turnovers were a result of skill errors.

I'm pretty disappointed that so far Rivers and Sparrow haven't stepped forward. Biggest, best timed and most obvious opportunity an AFL player is likely to see. It is like being a depth player at one club and then right as you hit your peak age you are traded to another which is desperately in need of your exact type.

Anyway, the shortcomings of the midfield on saturday really exposed the shortcomings of our defence.

My feeling is that the defence will need time to get organised but will be at least adequate soon enough.

The midfield should be doing better, but right now after Steele there's a real lack of the resolute style of leadership.

1 hour ago, bing181 said:
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Seriously? did not win the championship At the end of the season, you can also ask them why we did not win the championship.

Well, you know nothing about football; that's what good teams do; they adjust. Now I know they are getting used to the new style, and during that game, they reverted to the old style of bomb kicks down the line, but I doubt you notice that.

a

2 hours ago, bing181 said:

Seriously?

At the end of the season you can also ask them why we didn't win the flag.

What?

Langford is built for the midfield I don't care if he can't 2 way run. He has to play midfield minutes it's the only way he will learn.

Rivers has been disappointing in the middle probably time for him to go back.

The difference between van Rooyen's best and worst is far too great. He was a CHB at under 18 level time to put him back there.

Petty has lost me as a defender too loose and too slow. He's better at CHF IMO. He competes that's what we need for a CHF.

Windsor is a wingman. Was great as a wingman in his first year. They have decided to make him something that he is not which is a inside midfielder and half back flanker. Keep him at the spot he was best at.

The team I'm looking for in the future is:

B: Salem, Kentfield, Turner

HB: Rivers, van Rooyen, Bowey

C: Windsor, Langford, Lindsay

HF: Chandler, Petty, K.Pickett

F: Fritsch, Mihocek, L.Pickett

FOLL: Gawn, Steele, Viney

IC: Taylor, Tholstrup, Moniz-Wakefield, Jefferson, Heath

Had enough of Lever does nothing these days. Can't intercept like he used to, too slow. He's a burden ATM.

Kentfield should be tried down back. He, van Rooyen and Turner can be used as swing men.

Lindsay to the wing hasn't come on as much as I would have liked.

6 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Has Kentfield played any footy down back?

He played some games at Casey as a defender...

10 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Langford is built for the midfield I don't care if he can't 2 way run. He has to play midfield minutes it's the only way he will learn.

Rivers has been disappointing in the middle probably time for him to go back.

The difference between van Rooyen's best and worst is far too great. He was a CHB at under 18 level time to put him back there.

Petty has lost me as a defender too loose and too slow. He's better at CHF IMO. He competes that's what we need for a CHF.

Windsor is a wingman. Was great as a wingman in his first year. They have decided to make him something that he is not which is a inside midfielder and half back flanker. Keep him at the spot he was best at.

The team I'm looking for in the future is:

B: Salem, Kentfield, Turner

HB: Rivers, van Rooyen, Bowey

C: Windsor, Langford, Lindsay

HF: Chandler, Petty, K.Pickett

F: Fritsch, Mihocek, L.Pickett

FOLL: Gawn, Steele, Viney

IC: Taylor, Tholstrup, Moniz-Wakefield, Jefferson, Heath

Had enough of Lever does nothing these days. Can't intercept like he used to, too slow. He's a burden ATM.

Kentfield should be tried down back. He, van Rooyen and Turner can be used as swing men.

Lindsay to the wing hasn't come on as much as I would have liked.

I agree with Windsor on the wing, as for Roo, presented a day-and-night difference in how the ball was delivered to him. In the first game compared to Saturday's game against the Saints, the ball came in quickly, and he had space. Saturday's game saw the ball bombed in, reverting to last year's style. King mentioned that he was interested to see if they would do that under pressure, and he found the answer: they did. However, they should learn from that.

5 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

I agree with Windsor on the wing, as for Roo, presented a day-and-night difference in how the ball was delivered to him. In the first game compared to Saturday's game against the Saints, the ball came in quickly, and he had space. Saturday's game saw the ball bombed in, reverting to last year's style. King mentioned that he was interested to see if they would do that under pressure, and he found the answer: they did. However, they should learn from that.

Hardly any space at all for poor Roo. Same with Check.

Lessons to be learned.

10 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Langford is built for the midfield I don't care if he can't 2 way run. He has to play midfield minutes it's the only way he will learn.

Rivers has been disappointing in the middle probably time for him to go back.

The difference between van Rooyen's best and worst is far too great. He was a CHB at under 18 level time to put him back there.

Petty has lost me as a defender too loose and too slow. He's better at CHF IMO. He competes that's what we need for a CHF.

Windsor is a wingman. Was great as a wingman in his first year. They have decided to make him something that he is not which is a inside midfielder and half back flanker. Keep him at the spot he was best at.

The team I'm looking for in the future is:

B: Salem, Kentfield, Turner

HB: Rivers, van Rooyen, Bowey

C: Windsor, Langford, Lindsay

HF: Chandler, Petty, K.Pickett

F: Fritsch, Mihocek, L.Pickett

FOLL: Gawn, Steele, Viney

IC: Taylor, Tholstrup, Moniz-Wakefield, Jefferson, Heath

Had enough of Lever does nothing these days. Can't intercept like he used to, too slow. He's a burden ATM.

Kentfield should be tried down back. He, van Rooyen and Turner can be used as swing men.

Lindsay to the wing hasn't come on as much as I would have liked.

Nailed it @WERRIDEE CJ and Lever to Casey and Xavier to the wing or HFF.

Unfortunately Xavier is hearing foot steps at the minute and needs to go higher up the ground and work on his kicking, handballing accuracy and tackling intensity.

If there is no spot up the ground back to Casey and work on your craft, need to be stronger lad.

Xavier is not going to improve staying in the back line and getting pumbled and buckle every single time and lose confidence.

Why is it every f kn other team can find run and overlap and we seem to invite pressure constantly?

We need kickers/smart decision makers off HB that can handle the heat and make smart, efficient choices by hand and foot.

Not panic merchants that are like rabbits in the spotlight.

Plus Max G needs help we need to prolong his career not shorten it, time for Moose to come in the side Sunday.

Ins- Moose, AMW, Tmac

Out- Lever, CJ, Turner (inj)

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by YesitwasaWin4theAges

19 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Has Kentfield played any footy down back?

He's listed as a Key Defender on the club website.....