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Sorry Saty, couldn't resist...

These were some of Josh Mahoney's slides from the night.

On Greg Stafford being the goal kicking coach: As a player, he had a conversion rate in the ballpark of those of Lockett and Lloyd, and a superior conversion rate to Richardson, Dunstall and Franklin. And we're talking about a guy who played 204 AFL games for 141 goals, including 5 hauls of 4 goals (4.1, 4.0, 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2) playing as a ruckman - we're not talking about a 5 game wonder. He is a professional coach that has been kicking around for years, who has had Max Gawn under his wing forever. He obviously knows how to coach. If anyone still wants to challenge his credentials as a goal kicking coach, I'm interested to know why.

Training for 3 hrs from 9 am. In rehab, Harrison Petty, Kade Chandler, Aaron Vandenberg and Austin Bradke. On lighter duties, Sam Wiedeman, Josh Wagner, Jake Lever, Aaron Nietschke, Neville Jetta. No Bailey Fritsch, Charlie Spargo, Mitch Hannan or Joel Smith. Oskar Baker walking laps. Adam Tomlinson and Jack Viney walking and running laps. Bernie Vince out there helping them. The warm up was different to last year. It went longer, slower and appeared more inventive and varied. Great to see them working all the muscle groups. They used GT (thick yellow down the middle) stripped balls for the warm up kicks. Helps see the rotation and flight of the ball. They were into drills with 3 stations. The simulation game was handball only disposals with the teams broken into three and the group not competing are wrestling on the side lines. Then they split into the line teams and rotated around three more stations. Forwards included Nathan Jones, Alex Neal-Bullen Jayden Hunt and Toby Bedford. Backs included James Harmes, Jay Lockhart and Kade Kolodjashnij. Mids included James Jordan, Tom Sparrow, Christian Pettraca, Kyle Dunkley and Ed Langdon. Last on the field Braydon Preuss, Christian Petracca, James Harmes and Corey Wagner kicking goals together, and Christian Salem, James Jordan and Toby Bedford craft work. Thought Langdon showed good speed and decision-making in the simulations. Impressed with Christian Petracca, Tom Mcdonald, Nathan Jones and Michael Hibberd. Clayton Oliver left the track early. A punter talked to him and the punter told me he said 'he was good, just wanted to leave early'. Noticed he was favouring his left arm.

He's better than Natanui below his knees, more of a footy brain and better by hand and foot. He doesn't have Natanuis leap or explosiveness but I see a player with more mobility who covers more ground and can actually take contested marks on regular occasions. Contested marking will be what is attracting us I think

I was standing no more than 5 metres from Clarry after he came off and he was clearly in discomfort favouring his left arm. Having said that, he was in good spirits and heard him say to KK that it was only a 'stinger'. One can only hope. Would say that the training thus far has been as tough, long and brutal as anything I've seen.

Baker has a groin injury and hopes to resume straight after X-mas. Spargo injured his ankle ligament last Friday - unless he did them badly, should be back next week. I think Petty had a minor knee clean-up post-season. Not sure why Smith wasn't there, but he looked really strong last Friday. He has bulked up more and was working with backs - if fit will play on Jack Darling in Rd 1 IMO. Most impressive today was Ed Langdon - ran hard, kicked well and looked eager.

Only on Demonland can you get such detailed reports.

One thing I love about demonland is the complete lack of nuance. Something is either true or "TOTAL BS". Goodwin was making a point in the context of a discussion about playing a contested brand of footy, cohesion between players and efficiency in implementing the game plan. He's talking about what for what of a better word is now described as a "brand". I read it as Plan A is how we want to play. What happens when it's not working is shifts in tempo, individuals put into different positions, using one stopping player or two, or none at all. Plan A is our strategy. Those shifts in-game are tactics. Tactics change according to how the opposition wants to play, but the way we want to play - Plan A - does not change. Shifts in tactics are intended to enable us to play to our agreed strategy.

Must have been very short kicks

Mid sized, muscular frame, long hair, orange boots

Folks here have done a pretty good job of covering the night so I'll only add a couple of clarifications. Pert said the proposed social club and other facilities were wanted "within walking distance of the MCG", which probably kills the Bartlett oval speciation. His speech is online so no need to go into anything else here except he stressed the Alice Springs game would only come home when it made financial sense. We're there for at least the next four years. The clown who ripped into Oscar identified himself only as "Ian" and said he went to the football with his brother. Goodie in response pointed out that Oscar had double hip surgery off season, missed four months of training and was unable to build his strength to the level he needed to do the job being asked of him. He said Oscar would not have been satisfied with his year. Goodwin finished with: "I have unwavering faith in Oscar McDonald becoming the player we want him to be." The question why keep Oscar and get rid of Frost had already been answered, sort of, when Goodwin talked about players needing to have cohesion and the ability to know what their team mates were going to do before they did it. That rules out Frostball, I reckon. The most telling part of the presentation was Mahoney's chart on the time midfielders spent in pre-season. Apart from Gawn none of the regulars with more than 48% prep time. I also liked Goodwin's response to the Plan B question which might raise a few eyebrows here: "There are not too many clubs with a Plan B: you get Plan A right you are a successful club" (Not an absolutely direct quote. I missed a few words there but that's the gist.)

Doesn’t anyone else feel, that they have reduced the coaching budget and pushed it into the strength and conditioning budget? It’s almost like Goodwin has said, give me a fit team and just let me coach them.

Is this the result of Goodwin wasting his time flying to the US when he still hasn't reviewed the 2017 preliminary final and Hawthorn have already won eight flags during the off-season?

While it’s been 55 years since we tasted ultimate success, at least the club has a plan and isn’t taking knee jerk reactions to this years poor results! The number of AFL players when asked why they had such good seasons often attribute it to having a complete pre-season. Little wonder our year was poor, with many last quarter fade outs, when you look at limited pre season of our midfield, then injuries we kept getting during the year, add lost confidence and it all led to a poor year, only 5 wins was due to throwing away a few games, Crows loss immediately comes to mind. As with a few others comments, being caught by the 666 impact, doesn’t look so good, but KK and VDB not making it due to injury didn’t help! It highlighted needs for specialist wingers and the game became more about running both ways than ever, lack of preseasons for many of our midfield players just accentuated the problem. Going into 2020, hopefully with good pre seasons behind the majority of the team, some good positional drafting and a better draw, should lead to a huge improvement in 2020! It will be really interesting to see how Viney goes after a full pre season, boy did a lot of supporters unfairly tip a bucket on him last year! I think back to a few games he dragged us to wins in 2017/2018 games, finals in 18, that away game against WC, off one leg against Port, At his best a beast! 2019 was crap, but the club is holding the course, and let’s hope it pays off with a flag or two in the next 4-5 years! Panicking and throwing all the toys out of the pram doesn’t work, Richmond - Hardwick and Collingwood - Buckley just highlight the point.

See now, Saturday Morning Runs mean something completely different for me. Especially after Friday night work drinks...

I am sure we will see plenty of omac this year. And barring injury to him expect him to play most games. He is important to our structure. Will take an opposition big freeing up may and lever to be more aggressive and play ood their men. And his reliable kicking will be important. Would not be surprised to see him take a fair share of kick outs. Had to laugh when I read who made the omac comments - an 'Ian' apparently. Funny because my name is Ian. I promise it wasn't me. Unless I've gone rogue. On a serious note it is great that people at the forum and on here rightfully derided Ian's borish comments made in a public forum. Id love it if posters on dl considered this site a public forum and applied the same expectations of respectful criticism and comment. On the number of games omac plays happy to take bets, with choice of avatar the stake. Which if I win will be a picture of omac. I'm 2 for 2 on such bets (Hi prodee and Dr d) so betting with the bank's money. So to speak. Maybe Ian can put his money where his mouth is.

Main points: 1. Loss coming, but covered from cash reserves( I’d check this when financials released) 2. Training facility still being discussed with up to 8 government institutions.( Have heard this multiple times before) 3. Injuries were the reason, not an excuse. Of the mids only Lewis and Jones completed more than 50% of preseason. 4. Board were aware of this prior to season, but hoped to have players returning. We just got more injuries. 5. Coaches aware of lack of outside run. Addressed with Langdon and Tomlinson.. 6. Greg Stafford to take up goal kicking coaching along with rucking. Beat 3 others viewing for the role. 7. Only 3 players had post season surgery compared to 16? last year. All of those last year were classed as essential surgery’s. 8. At round 22 Goodwin had a review with the players to vent their frustrations with the year. Big positive. 9. Plenty of Muppets asking questions after. They should read Demonland if they want to know the latest about all manner of things. Some must live in isolation with their lack of knowledge about players and the club.

Has there been any announcement on the club astrologer yet? The autumnal equinox falls on the same weekend we play in Perth whilst Mercury will be in retrograde. They still haven't reviewed the spring equinox debacle over there in 2018.

Yep, I already said my bit on this in the Members Forum thread in response to a few having a cry over this appointment. I was surprised (not really) at how many jumped immediately to pff, what would a ruckman know about goal kicking? without looking any deeper at all. On paper I can't see how he could be any more credentialed: As a player, had a conversion rate that compares on par with or favorably with the very very best, with a good sample size Is already a coach at the club and has been for a long time, so there will be no surprises at all in terms of coaching capability Messiah is probably a stretch, but it looks a good appointment to me.

Good for Bartlett, he could have also made the comment as per the McCarthy hearings, "Have You No Decency, Sir" It sounds like his nastiness backfired on him as it should. Frankly, I would have thrown the guy out of the meeting. What a person needs is support not abuse when things are not going right. The mental health issues that we see and read about daily should be sufficient reminder.

Thanks to all those who reported on the evening Terrific reading!!!!!

I'm a renowned happy clapper so the informative midfield pre season graph is preaching to the converted. It was interesting when Lamb was addressing the Frost trade he reeled off backline players but didn't mention Petty. Later on Goodwin said one experiments from the 2nd half of the season that worked and we'll persist with is Petty forward. Ironically for the first questioner that means we'll see plenty of OMac back in 2020. @binman fortify your defences and sharpen your spears. Also interesting was Jones small forward and Smith back.

Mainly the way the questioned was delivered: agresssive tone, derogatory language, repetition of these by rewording them and the completely implausible accusation that the club keep Oscar so they can keep Tom. The guy made a fool of himself and as he went on there were gasps, boos and the odd clap. I thought the panel handled it very well with Bartlett asking the audience to show respect to a person as they have a right to ask their questions and by Goodwin who briefly but convincingly stated his faith in Oscar. I've seen similar comments made on here but I can't remember who it was. I don't think it was the perennial Oscar non-fans; STMJ nor Pickett Fence. I've never seen them talk of Oscar in the terms the fellow did last night.

From the Club website. “We’ve got a new Head of Sports Science in David Regan, who’s been involved with the New York Mets and the Miami Dolphins. “Previously, he’s also been a teacher, so he brings a good balance of the data knowledge, but also an understanding of the best way to communicate it. “The other appointment we have made is Robert Younger, in the role of Performance Data Scientist. “That role is going to sit across the performance team, coaching, list management and recruiting.” “Decisions have been made on the back of 12 months of gathering information on where our program can get better, but also looking across other clubs and across the world about the trends in sporting departments,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of conversations about data, and like any business or any sport, there is so much data available to everyone. “The key parts we’re looking at are that we’re capturing the right data, analysing it properly and then utilising it in the right way.” The specialised approach will see the club streamline its collection methods, before efficiently applying the information to assist with decision making. With two dedicated staff members joining the sports science team, the Demons will rely heavily on personnel to oversee and manage the success of the concept, across several areas of the club. “We think there are some real opportunities within this area, and those opportunities have been created by bringing in some different people with different skillsets, who can analyse data in a different way,” Mahoney said.

Mahoney said at the Info night that we were forced to use 16 players unsuited on the wings this year. I think VDB and KK out for the year hurt us there. He said we specifically targeted Langdon and Tomlinson from over a year out for that position and the great thing about them is that they are strong aerobically and don't need to come off and that means we can concentrate rotations on the midfield group. IMO KK training with the backs looks like he's been pushed out and if he can get up he can fill a deficiency we have back there. Fascinating to hear Harmes is with the backs. Don't know what to think there.

That's what I said!! (LOL)

A shoulder/neck injury that pinches or stretches the nerves in the brachial plexus that results in a burst of pain down the arm but most often no long term damage.

Harmes and Lockhart with the backs. Jones forward. Jordon mids

I like it, Jones is either midfield depth or defensive forward IMO. He can't play other roles e.g. wing or defence. According to Goodwin he has come back in best shape this year. I'd prefer Jones to ANB.

Seen him earlier in the year against Subi, heavily rotated between forward and Ruck, and got plenty of the footy, not sure on his kicking though because he looked to bring the outsiders into the game, which he did by hand frequently He was clearly very athletic and raw, but I'll be honest away from TV and a few games I haven't seen enough of him to say we must take him. I'm going to have to trust Taylor's expertise if he decides to take him at 3. I do know both WA clubs rate him very highly and both would have taken him with their first pick if he was available and that has been the talk over here for the entire season. I think we're getting a potentially very good player, but our need for outside ball users has me quesioning if I'd take him at 3.

There was a little bit of joviality between drills, but my impression is that they are down to business. The volume and numbers of calls, voice and instructions seems to have increased. Body language looks like they missed the place and are ready to go. Even on a hot day like this morning they remained positive and disciplined. Yes, they appear united. Gus look bulked up a bit, I would say he has come back a little under done. He hangs out a lot with Oliver and seems to have great relationships with numerous others. So I'd say he is invested emotionally.

You played much footy? Having the confidence to Extend your arms and mark at full stretch is critical when marking on a lead. Prevents the defender from being able to reach the ball. A defender loves it when a forward bends their arms, as you simply need to put your chest on their shoulder and reach for a spoil. No timing required. But hey, go criticise a high level afl player who has based his game on one on one marking contests because of a photo

I beg to differ. If it was a detailed report we'd not only know where they went for lunch but what each person had. And who paid.

That's a copy and paste from doctor google if I've ever seen one. Marks deducted for an absence of referencing.

Looks? - needs a hair cut

Possibly because slowing things down for a few minutes is not really much of a Plan. I assume Plan A is the club's basic game plan. A real Plan B would be an entirely different game plan which I doubt any team could implement on the fly. So it seems to me that Plan B's can't amount to much more than slow things down, move player X into defence or onto opponent Y etc. Doubtless every team has a list of the latter sort of moves ready to implement during a game, either on paper or in the coaches' heads. If anyone believes there can be 2 substantive plans, I would be interesting to see a list of such A & B plans for every club. I'd be surprised if it could be produced.

Forwards: Hunt, McDonald, Jones, Beford, ANB, C Wagner Backs: May, Oscar, Harmes, Salem, Hore, Hibberd, Lockhart, KK Mids; Gawn, Preuss, Dunkley, Oliver (inj), Petracca, Sparrow, Brayshaw, Jordon, Langdon

I’d be amazed if someone didn’t ask “why don’t we just kick it more?” Like the majority of peanuts say every week in the MCC.

All very valid questions. The club has a big call. Two other factors are relevant I reckon. The most important of those is that really, really good bigs are very hard to find. The draft is stacked with good flankers (could be rhyming slang?) and mids. So perhaps we get ash instead of young. But we won't get another jackson. The second factor is more speculation on my part. I wonder, given his athletisim, whether jackson might actually be played as a mid (ie with gawn still rucking). Say rotating wirh petracca. Would be formidable I would have thought.

I recall Stafford being an excellent shot for goal during his Richmond days, and his stats back it up. During 2002 and 2003 he kicked 46.15 over two seasons as a forward/ruck hybrid. Over his career went at 69%.

The decision Taylor has to make is not on who is the best footballer now. Or even in the next 2-3 years. But who is the best over 10 years. One assumes most experts think jackson is untapped and given he has played relativey little footy and is still growing has a tonne of upside. Young gives us what we need but it is hard nor to be excited by a player who could become an out and out star. Or not. Same vibe as for buddy in his draft year.

I thought tonight was a great initiative and the speeches as open and transparent as an AFL club can be in such a dog eat dog environment. As Saty said some of the questions were excellent and other made me cringe. Bartlett was quick to point out that questions had to be respectful. Goody want s the players to be instinctive but he wants cohesion and consistency. I can see that what is lost with so many injuries and no pre season that we never had a settled team. The best back 6 never got to play together. This is so important and builds confidence and a knowledge that each team member knows what the others will do. Burgess wants them training 80 % of the time with a footy, practising drills and getting buy in from everyone. That is one of the keys to Richmonds success.

Would love to be a fly on the wall, I reckon the conversation went down like thus Taylor: We really need players with outside run and can kick well Goodwin & Mahoney: Get me an inside contested beast, we need more Taylor: There are none around the top of the draft Goodwin & Mahoney: Then improvise Taylor: *Proceeds to draft a ruckman who plays like an even bigger inside contested beast with even poorer skills*

Some other key point were. The 666 rule means wingers are now critical specialist role . We tried 17 players in that position to no avail. Hence Tomlinson and langdon targetted. Both had 3 to 4 other clubs intereste. Jones will be playing higb forward and providing leadersip in that area. Frost moved on due to perceived lack of opportunities for him now. Goodwin mounted a strenuous defence of oscar after a particularly moronic and nasty question from the floor Dees had the highest number of total team changes at selection for the year. Ahead of next biggest by 50%. Illustrated depth of injury woes Burgess believes the game is won by marking and kicking well and will have preseason programs built on 80% with footballs. Running laps at traing doesn't win games. He seemed right on top of his subject. Bpown away by condition players have presented themselves in at start of pre season.. . Huge wrap for Bruckner Petracca to now have significant more time in midfield in 2020 Josh Jenkins was never considered.

Your sticking an insulting label (educated moron) on someone you don't agree with (Jara and/or the company this individual keeps). You are officially virtue signalling by your own definition now. Well played * slow clap *

Main session done. Corey Wags and Preuss are doing some kick mark. Harmes running goals tracc set shots Beford, Salem and JJ are working on a quick kicking drill. The second time I’ve seen Salem and JJ doing touch skills after a session.

Don't take this as a slight on Weid, I think he'll be a player for us, but it was passed on to me that a few former Dees think Jackson would be a very good chance of starting ahead of Weid round 1 next year. They're not recruiters obviously, but have played the game at the highest level so I'd give it some kind of weight.

I assumed Green was off the table. If not, that would be delicious. Oliver and Green. ?

Coaching Structure. Reporting to Richardson (Director of Coaching): Forwards: Plapp as Coach and Rooke as forward development Stoppage/Midfield: Matthews as Coach and Stenear as midfield/stoppage development Backs: Chaplin as coach with Radford as backs development. I like that structure in that it focus the development resources to each specific area. Not so sure I like the lack of experience in our line coaches in Chaplin and Plapp. Time will tell. Reporting to Egan (Head of Development): Ruck/Goal kicking coach: Stafford Specialist Coach: Lewis Not sure about a ruckman teaching forwards how to kick goals but there it is.