Leaderboard

I've always liked their ratings. They're never wrong. I mean, they've been wrong every other year, but this year seems spot on to me.

It’s a challenge not to go full @ProDee on your first two paragraphs, hemingway. I want to say what I think of the supporters and media who lit a bunsen burner under Goodwin in the early part of the season. I’ll just say I thought at the time, and still believe, that their opinion demonstrated hopeless impatience and a thorough lack of understanding of where we were at and what was happening. I don’t think it’s either in Goodwin’s or the club’s interest to sign any more than 3 years, on pretty good coin. He has moved out of “establishing” to “established”. That length gives him a clear signal that we’re a fan of his work and believe he’s the right man to steer the ship, without reaming ourselves if the unexpected happens and it goes south. From his perspective, it’s good certainty in an uncertain industry, with the opportunity for a big payday in 3 years time if he’s still delivering. Medium term contract should be where both the club and Goodwin are at in my opinion.

“With his run and endurance Sparrow will be of great value to the Demons who already have a star midfield with Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Nathan Jones in the middle” Unrelated but these kinds of statements intrigue me. In naming our top three midfielders they’ve managed to leave out two of the top three in Brayshaw and Viney.

That's not quite true. Yes they base their output on stats. ...but it's the stats they use & the assumptions made based on those stats that can be argued with. If it was pure stats then they would just release the stats sheet (the raw numbers) & let us draw our own conclusions. They don't, they give their opinion. It's not infallible & is arguable.

...... and Harmes, whose last third of the season was outstanding by any measurement. Unfortunately, key omissions like these make me wonder about the credibility of everything else contained in the article.

Quite a few years ago, in a little bush tavern, I shared too many beers with Big Ditta. He lamented the fact that footy had lost its "pizzaz" ie it was too regimented. About 12 months ago, I was at a boozy barbarque with a bloke who had been a trainer, stats man and general dogsbody at Casey. He claimed his most pressing job was players asking him to repeat/explain coaching instructions to him. He reckoned many players were often just plain confused about their role. Petracca has all the tools and more. He is young and played ( without looking it up) 40 - 60 games. He seems to me the sort of player who is yet to be comfortable with his role and where he fits in the team. What for him is the balance between his individuality and his part of the team. Some players don't work it out but Goody has grown on me as a coach and I reckon he'll develop Petracca into a gun who oppositions will fear.

Adelaide knocked on his door before he chose us...so long as the club look after him he's not going anywhere.

I think Champion Data read the thread I posted late on Melbourne Cup night about celebrating a certain Demons’ flag in 2019. It was compelling stuff.

Champion Data is garbage.

Well we all know they said we had the worst midfield in 2017..so it's a turnaround for them i guess..... https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/champion-data-ranks-every-afl-clubs-list-for-2019-season/news-story/bbf9675e7653e4c21dedd9a8bade9684 "The Demons boast the league’s second-best backline, fifth-best forward line and No.1 midfield."

The 80s called. They want to know how you are accessing the internet. ?

FFS there's some ill-informed rubbish floating round. Petracca's issues are nothing more than: 1) He has / had no tank. Picture Jack Ziebell with loads more talent. It took North years to get Ziebell to run out a game. It's not an effing attitude issue. He's just building a tank - very slowly because that's his dna. He works incredibly hard but he'll never be an ANB on the track. 2) He had the goal kicking yips in 2018 Last year was a different picture IMO

To those poo pooing this because you haven't heard of her do not discount the "free" publicity things like this generate. She is A-list in Hollywood and this has gained a lot of media attention and gives the brand a small bump. All the online media outlets had our jumper front and centre for a few minutes in the 24 hour media cycle and I'm sure all the papers will have our jumpers front and centre (well maybe on the back page) tomorrow. This seemed to fall in our lap and I'm always jealous seeing other teams with celebs sporting their jumpers. Most definitely not going to win us a premierships, bring in memberships or make us money but it's better than being totally irrelevant and it's nice to see positive stories particularly after our bystander status during the draft.

I think Petracca is judged very harshly and is the victim of media hype and supporter expectation. 24 disposals, a goal and 3 tackles a game plus making the AFLPA best 22 Under 22 team - all in a supposedly average season that saw him hospitalised with blood poisoning... At 22, he's still years off his peak and when compared to a player like Dustin Martin, his statistical output at this stage of their respective careers is comparable. I think he'd find life a lot easier on the field if he was able to shed 5kg, but while at times he looks laid back, he's never struck me as a 'lazy'.

one of those tables where averages are easily skewed. Just like total games where Lewis skews the figures for ourselves. Median ages of players selected with weighting for games played in 2018 season would probably be a far more revealing statistic.

Yarra Park is still the dream. Otherwise I remain convinced a partnership with one of the leading Private schools is worth exploring. High quality ovals - tick Inner/middle suburban or even ‘heartland’ location - tick Either existing or a desire for gym/pool/indoor facilities This press release from Xavier shows you how serious they are about strengthening and promoting their footy program. It’s obviously very important to the schools PR efforts. Surely one of the schools out there would welcome a partnership with an AFL club, giving them credibility and access to the elite environment. Id be calling Melbourne Grammar immediately and asking if they want to build a facility with us at their Port Melbourne training fields. Leverage Steve May and Toby Bedford for an Indigenous angle, that will get the AFL and Goverments involved. Tie it in with Fisherman’s Bend residential development. Easy!

Give the man a 5 year deal. Hes is building a serious dynasty where players actually enjoy playing under him and wanting to play under him! His development and relationship building with players is right up there with the best in the competition when it comed to player coach relationship.

Luckily the club doesn't read Demonland. the amount of crap Goody copped most of the year by some on this site was ridiculous. Lost again at selection! Goody has no plan B, etc He will be a great coach imo and it is terrific to have stability for the club. He has the combination of desire, high standards and man management, footy knowledge. He commands respect and his selections are consistent and in line with form/effort - not your draft pick or seniority. play well at casey for long enough and you will get your chance. Can't wait to see this bloke lift the Cup with Viney!!

Would love to see how their track record is with this stuff. I remember only a year or two ago they were saying that Collingwood had the best midfield, and we all laughed. Obviously this year they nearly pinched a flag. I'm all for unwarranted criticism, but if they have a history of their figures proving to show a high level of success, then I will go and get my premiership tattoo for Christmas!

Jordon sounds like a real prospect: "... will provide some great outside run to the Demons with his best work done on the outskirts of the ground and delivering the ball into the forward 50. Jordon is renowned for his accuracy by foot and good decision making with ball in hand which will be beneficial to Melbourne who at times lacked composure when entering their forward half. He can often play as that link-up player who can connect passages of play and impact the contest with his high footy IQ". Still only 17 but what an asset he will be if all those attributes are developed. Imagine: Salem and Jordon with good decision making, high footy IQ and accurate kicking to our forwards. Happy days! ? He may turn out to be the gem of the draft!

Bernie is coming out of retirement for one day only!

Apparently norf have already offered her 5 years at $1.2 mil a year

An assessment of Melbourne’s 2018 draft picks from AFL Draft Central AFL Draft review: Melbourne

Did I read that Goodwin's status rose on "6 good games" ? Sometimes I wish I could say what I really think. I'm with you. I would never give any coach longer than three years. It's completely unnecessary.

Garlett hasn't started 'officially'yet but check out his Insta account, has been putting in extra away from the club The last part of your post is offensive, were you by any chance getting hypothermia at North Port Oval when he won the final for Casey?

Clubs pay many $000s for CDs standard stats package and many more for custom packages. I don't think they regard them as useless. What seems to missing here is the realisation that CD correlate stats with game outcomes to determine the important stats. It's an emerging and imperfect science but it's not "opinion".

? What’s a Cheque? Is my credit card about to be replaced by new technology?

Thanks @Collar-Jazz-Knee - Mmm, as I've got sfa to do this afternoon i thought i'd alter the table - Lewis, Jones and Garlett had their ages dropped to a mid table 25. Which drops the team to 23.64 - a comfortable 15th on the ladder. Though personally if the gap is 24.86 (Hawthorn) to 23.24 (Gold Coast) - I'd argue it means sfa and that there are far more useful metrics as have been detailed above.

Take out Lewis and Jones and suddenly we would be a similar age to Carlton (that is a scary thought for them). We will have manyyyyy years in the finals based on our current side. Plus we can just use free agency to top up with experienced players as we need.

The critics of Goodwin in the other thread were only the hysterical type supporters who have no idea of how to build a successful team or groom individuals to perform at their best for a sustained period of time.If anyone also thinks there will not be hiccups along the way over the next few years also has no understanding of this. Goodwin deserves a contract extension of at least 3 years, I would offer 5 if it were my decision.

I really struggle with any player using the homesick card to get out of a club. If the day comes where a senior coach is lured by the "go home" factor, then the AFL world might as well shut up shop.

This isn't correct. It's a full two seasons finishing at the Grand Final. It's also weighted with more recent games having a heavier loading than round 1, 2017. Even the second half of 2018 has more weight than the first half of 2018. Every player in the competition who has played at least 5 games is measured individually and then the algorithms spit out the values attributed to each player and then determine the list rankings. The above can be attributed to a spokesperson from CD who was just interviewed on SEN.

It's based on a rolling 40 games I believe and Gawn was rubbish when he came back from his bad hamstring in 2017. Note: the above isn't quite true. See a few posts down.

The support the State Government has given other clubs is a precedent for some help for us...Yarra Park or elsewhere. The Age is today reporting that the Bulldogs have reported a profit of...wait for it...$18 MILLION! That's not increased jumper sales,; it's mostly the value of the freehold of the Western Oval which has been assigned to them as part of the WO redevelopment. In other words, either the State or the Council has handed them this asset. Geelong has been looked after over 20 years starting with Bracks and it's depressing to think of the help given to other clubs since. I hope something comparable is coming our way. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/western-bulldogs-record-18m-profit-20181128-p50izu.html

El was disappointing Wadda. Let’s just say connections aren’t too happy.

Another highlights video for new demon Tom Sparrow

I presume you mean her acting talent? Well she is certainly not better than Judy Dench, Helen Mirren and probably Julia Roberts, but Daryl Hannah, seriously? She has won an Oscar for best actress and is a top box office draw. Is Daryl Hannah still playing mermaids?

Massive fan and has caused me to throw things at the TV. In saying this, I believe the step up of Harmes and Brayshaw will drive him. I think this will be the year we see what he can do.

He averaged 20 disposals per game and kicked 19 goals from his 24 games. Player rating 79. At the same age Martin averaged 24 disposals and kicked 23 goals from his 23 games. Player rating 95. Petracca is tracking well. He did about what I thought in 2018. I reckon he'll elevate his game next year. That said, the incremental improvement has been slower than I expected. I thought he'd be at de Goey's level by 2018. But I'm a big fan and think he's only at about 60% of what he'll become.

it truly blows my mind. he had a very solid season and because he didn't kick 50 goals people see it as a failure.

Now you've completely thrown him.

Destination Club ✅

Just the start, folks. More is coming without doubt. We are entering a 'dominance' phase for the competition - and the exciting brand of football that we play (the best at the moment amongst all the teams) will drive that success.

Waiting on Natalie's full report. Any other news to report?

LBeen awesome watching NFL live over here... Rams & KC was unreal. Thanksgiving was good apart from Falcons @ Saints! Saints @ Dallas should be a good one on TNF before I flight out Friday morning!

Trust me, if you ever find yourself at odds with Picket sleep well at night.

I wonder what the philosophy behind this choice was?