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Really was a nice bloke. Before I started recording ask me how I was doing down in Melbourne in lockdown. I told him it was hard home schooling 3 kids. At the end he wished me the best of luck with the kids and hopefully life will get back to normal soon. All the players we've had on the podcast have been well spoken and polite. Aaron seemed to be really genuine and it was a nice touch re: the follow up to wish me and the family well with lockdown. Not a knock on anyone else we've interviewed just further praise for Aaron.

A nice break from the Lynch sniping, great little story here

Think it was Taylor Adams doing the praising. demons-heartfelt-gesture Good to see no grudges by either side. As it was, I thought Reid pushed AvB while in mid air that made the knock on Brody more forceful. An amazing recovery by Brody to get up and play this wek. Aaron seems a top bloke as evidenced by his stoicism and hard work in 2017-2018 thru his injuries, his father's passing and running the family business (in NSW) from Victoria. It looked like he might leave the Dees for Sydney and who could blame him given his personal circumstances. Its a measure of the man that he chose to stay with us and still carry on his family affairs. I reckon it is not only his physicality on field that makes his teammates walk taller. Sets a great example on and off the field.

Whilst I think AVB has shown genuine concern and represented both himself and the club beautifully, the collective response from Collingwood has been equally first class - firstly Mihocek's parents and now this from both Adams and Bucks. Rare example of the game looking after itself.

It might becoming clear why I have been Aaron van den Berg’s greatest fan on this site. If you haven’t listened to the Podcast, do yourself a favour and you’ll understand what a great influence he would be around a young group. You’ll also understand that he barely trains such is the delicate nature of his foot. Importantly, how important is he for a Club that has had a reputation amongst the footy industry for being “private school” soft for many, many years. AVB would be one of those players that Sheedy would have adored.

The Bucks praise was from this tweet.

What a champion! A beast on the field And a gentleman on the streets

Pure Class by Vanders. Could have kept this in-hub, well done Adams for sharing.

And a bloody good leader to boot. Heard him a few times on Saturday directing players and encouraging in a loud voice. Glad he is on our side.

Actual Dimwit quote: “Because I guarantee you a few players out there making comment, mainly David Schwarz, I played a Grand Final (in 2000) against that bloke and within 20 minutes of the game he was crying, so (he should) have a look at himself at some stage.” I have always hated every one of the thugs from that 2000 team of scum: Wallis, Hardwick, Long to name a few. Indeed, it has carried over to the point where I abhor Richmond more than any other team in the AFL and I am hoping like hell there's an Adelaide oval elimination final coming up. If I was Goodwin, I'd get the Ox to address the boys during the week.

I may well be in the minority, but I just don't understand why people think Smith might be selected because of "flexibility" (he's as much a jack of all trades, master of none, as Tomlinson is) or "pace" (which exists, but is countered by his unpredictability). If we want more pace, would we not look at Hannan or Hunt, who can both play a defined role (and could slot in to replace Jones, Sparrow or vandenBerg, rather than Smith, who has no real role in this side?

If neither Preuss or Gawn are ready to go my left of centre idea would be to bring in Joel Smith and ruck him. Can leap and is strong of body. It would Give us more options to ruck TMac or Tomlinson at a pinch and slot him in as second forward or third defender. It would also make us highly unpredictable an provide some more speed around the ground.. There is no perfect option but I would back this if needed over blooding Bradtke or robbing us initially of our preferred forward and backline set ups.

didn't see the hero Dimma getting involved in that clip. OX wasn't crying he was flying the flag after one of the guys guys was laid flat in a cheap shot. If Dimma think Ox is such a baby I would love to see him step in the ring with him!

Vaccines SHOULD be mandatory unless you have a medical reason. It is because we make it difficult for people not to vaccinate that we are free from literally hundreds of deadly but preventable diseases. Anyone who doesn't vaccinate their children is a goddamn crap parent. It is the same as not feeding or educating your children. Abuse. Anyway I'm going to stop being baited or I will literally lose my damn mind.

Good clip - Schwarta took on 3 of them and then slammed the great Bomber hero Jimmy into the turf. Looked like he knew how to take care of himself.

Hardwick - what a scumbag. Wallis fractured Brad Green's larynx and sent him to hospital and Long nearly paralysed Troy Simmonds and that scumbag is lauding this as some kind of great example! Lynch is a sniper and a sook - very hateable.

I saw this. IIRC, they were discussing the ability of teams to generate scores from their forward halves, as well as from their defensive halves. The analysis suggested that Geelong, West Coast and Richmond were in the top bracket for both, whereas Port and Brisbane were only in the top bracket for one of them (I don't remember for Brisbane, but for Port it was scores from forward half). Essendon would be a side which traditionally under Worsfold generates scores from its defensive half, as a counter-example. Their argument was that successful sides can do both, which is as close to Plan A vs Plan B as you'll get. Obviously with us we know what Goodwin wants: aggressive forward half press, high % time in our forward half, turnovers in our forward half, generating scores (and limiting scores to our opponent). The knock on us, under Goodwin, has been whether (like Port this year) we can generate winning scores when the game isn't played in our forward half. Our win over Collingwood was hugely important on this issue because we didn't dominate time in forward half (at least I don't think so, I haven't seen figures), yet we didn't go to water but instead were able to absorb, rebound and score. If we can now have the confidence that our system is beginning to hold up well enough to ensure we can generate scores from anywhere on the ground, that is IMO the missing step to taking us beyond what we were capable of achieving in 2018.

That may well be correct, but the two aren't mutually exclusive. You don't escape being a conspiracy theorist simply because it's an unoriginal term. Nothing is "going on" other than you, and people like you, making everyone's lives unnecessarily more difficult than they otherwise already are.

Agree, fantastic insight. His injury history, even before getting to the AFL is insane. His commitment to the rehab and work required to get back to AFL level on multiple occasions is next level and must be so inspiring for his teammates. The interview is really top shelf. Andy's interviews (and this one a great example) are a terrific balance between well researched questions, good interviewing technique and coming from a shared place of passion for the club. I listen to a lot to the player and club interviews on radio and websites etc etc. More often than not they are by the book, with not much real insight and pretty dull. Vander's interview (and the others) was the opposite, genuinely interesting and insightful. As an example i didn't realise vanders isn't training between games. Provides context for his relatively average disposal efficiency. Also how close he came to permanent injury his eye is truly frightening.

Haha. AVB knocks a bloke out and then starts making moves on his girlfriend. Old-school legend.

I know Grundy is well below his best, but TMac seemed to have good enough body position against him so the ball consistently hit the ground only a meter or so from the bounce/throw up when he went up against him. So while he could get jumped all over, if he uses his body well then it gives our mids their best chance. It's a really interesting match up, because I think our mids have that see ball get ball attitude where the ball heading straight to ground would favor us, while the doggies players, besides libba, tend to like the ball a little wider so they get it already on the move as compared to moving to it. If we can stop them getting easy breaks then it goes a long way to defeating them, while if they can get quick ball out of the center we could be in trouble. I still think one of Gawn or Pruess will play, but TMac/Tommo bringing it straight down isn't a bad option, as long as they can do that. I'd happily bring back OMac to cover in defense and have Tommo play more ruck time, I agree there is no way (except for the odd Fwd50 contest), should Weid ruck at the moment.

You certainly need to be able to do all aspects of the game, but there are some things you do better than other teams and you need to ensure that your strategy exploits that. Richmond does that with their forward pressure by drafting and playing a bunch of quick, agile small forwards. West Coast does a lot of different things well, but their success is mostly based on Hurn, McGovern, Shepperd and Barrass marking the ball at half back, so they defend very aggressively and rebound before the zone can set up by going for intercept marks more than other teams. We are, generally, about setting up strongly behind the ball with our gun talls (May, Max, Jake) to force teams to slow down and chip to a team mate. That usually leads to slow play and a long kick to a contest which we can kill out of bounds or ball up (or win a fall of the ball contest). This then allows us to play our one wood, by getting Max and our big mids together, where we have a big advantage and can use that to win games. It has taken time to get us strong enough behind the ball to let us use our strength in this way, but our strong defence allows us to use our biggest strength more often to win games. You would love to be perfect at everything, but you've only got a certain amount of draft/trade/financial resources to spend on players so you have to prioritise your strategy to give you competitive advantages that you can use consistently.

I dont think its worse... but www.conjunctivitis.com is a site for sore eyes.

Fails badly on the simple test - how many clicks does it take to get to what you want When I used it for the first time earlier in the year I couldn't believe how hard it was to find the match centre/results page. They used to have a nice graphic at the top of the homepage that showed each game for the round. Now it's this annoying pop-up that is not user friendly at all.

Damn. I'd forgotten how sick that bump was. I'm not normally a big lover of "flying the flag" but I love seeing the Ox in that instance. How about the body slam on Hird. Even though that was a hundred years ago now, it's hard to not still hate that f-ing club.

Exactly. Maybe someone in the media should remind Hardwick of that incident and why Schwarz was so upset ("crying") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D772QjpqD7o

What a bizarre comment - he was crying in the GF so he should have a look at himself? WTF does that mean? at least have a decent crack if you going to do it. If it had of been about the OX hitting someone behind play it would make sense Dimma might be losing the plot. comes across like a pathetic loser

I don't think any single game is important enough to put the rest of Gawn's season in jeopardy. Even with Preuss potentially out, my position is still not to take any undue risks with Gawn. He only plays if he's 100%.

Dimma: “Real men don’t cry, they grab each other’s balls and butts in the change room”

Heres their website from THIRTEEN YEARS AGO! Everything you need right here on the front page with one click.

Ox brushed it off. Said if you give it out in the media, you're going to have to take it sometimes. He disagreed with Dimma's view of the GF in 2000 and Ox crying, but he didn't hit back. But then, he didn't need to. Dimma did enough damage to his own reputation with those comments. Made himself look like a massive sook and a sniper, which he has always been. Also, that clip from 2000 makes my blood boil... until you see Lloyd come flying in with the softest effort I've ever seen. Still makes me laugh to this day.

I have a big feeling Tommy will find some form they struggle against talls.

Very Ordinary comment there from Hardwick. he is backing himself into a corner here That same Grand Final we had guys in Hospital before the game was over, and that does not include Troy Simmonds F U Damien...

Hardwick is taking over from C. Scott on the coaches whinging ladder. If its not ops free kicks, its offensive remarks about Syd ? defence tactics and now its shooting off because the media dares take his protected little darlings to task hardwick-lashes-out-at-lynch-critics-says-richmond-targeting-should-stop He takes quite a swipe at our Schwartz: "They should have a good, hard look at themselves as I guarantee a few guys making comments, and I'm looking at David Schwarz here – I played a grand final against this bloke and 20 minutes into the game he was crying, so he should have a look at himself at some stage." Nasty, Nasty, Mr Hadwick. I guess a leopard never changes its spots. Tbh, that is pretty stupid and pretty low for an AFL coach to shoot off at the mouth like that. They have become mighty smug and entitled at Tiger land. IHope they go out in the Elimination Final. Edit: Update: damien-hardwick-richmond-tom-lynch-david-schwarz-comments-melbourne-vs-essendon-2000-grand-final "But Schwarz told Foxfooty.com.au he wasn’t concerned with the comments, which were cut out of the press conference video clip on Richmond’s website". Club embarrased by their coaches comments.

Really enjoying this thread. Seeing a different side of one of my favorite players makes me love him even more!

Agree, if we lose to the Dogs but Max is 100% for the rest of the season it's still alive. Beat the Dogs but Max out for 6-8 with a PCL is less desirable IMO.

Same with me mate.

Hannan out until he replaces one of Melk or fritz. We need to stick with the 2 big, 2 medium and 2 small mix.

In a rare instance on Demonland I've come around on Aaron (noting, again, that I once thought he was the second coming of Carey). Didn't think he was much chop. Clichés such as the team standing taller, barometer etc. didn't persuade me against kicking efficiency. Now I'm completely sold. I want this bloke in my team. Not only his hardness but his persistence is probably inspiring for teammates.

I think his foot injury gave me context for his kicking and even the balance on the handballing. He really is a fascinating player though, because I maintain he doesn't need to even register 5 tackles before he's had a big influence on a game. And we definitely miss his hardness around contests when he's not there.

Yep, really loved his interview on the @Demonland podcast the other night. Seems like a really nice bloke.

Seems to be one of those guys that is a cut above at VFL but just can't get it together at AFL. Can't fault his effort maybe just doesn't quite have the ability to match. Hope he does well if picked. You know he will try his heart out to prove himself. Has shown he is capable, if not always consistent

If Max and Brayden are both out then Brown has to play IMO and do some rucking with TMac. The other alternative is to play OMac and move Tomlinson Fwd/Ruck but I like this less.

100% happens, I used to umpire junior footy 10 years ago and the kids would say "the players on tv do it", these kids were 12-16 and thought it jumper punches and tummy taps were just apart the game.

Interesting stuff AF. A good coach has to lead his players and his team. He or she needs to be knowledgeable, experienced, intelligent, insightful, flexible and empathetic. They need to know their players and know their buttons. They need to practice the old adage of different strokes for different folks. Most good coaches have this ability and insight regarding player management. In other words they are good people managers. The great Norm Smith despite his image as an authoritarian, used different approaches with different players. He would pick out and criticise Barassi because he knew that he reacted to personal criticism. Anger drove Barass on the field. However, he would leave others, like Brian Dixon and the scholarly Geoff Tunbridge well alone. Both were secondary school teachers and not receptive to a roast. Tunna told me once that Norm never criticised him even when he was having a shocker. He knew that Tunna was a free spirit who may not get a kick for 3/4 of the game but could win the match with 2 or 3 goals in the last quarter. Good coaches have the ability to inspire individual players to perform their best for the team. At the end of the day, the coach has to have a good list. Norm Smith had great lists but in his early coaching days at Fitzroy and Melbourne, he struggled. Irrespective of the tragic end to his coaching days at Melbourne, the days of the great Demon sides were over and arguably Norm’s remarkable record would have suffered if he had continued to coach MFC. There is no doubt that times have changed and coaches can no longer abuse or intimidate players. About 6 years ago, Ron Barassi told me that he realised that his coaching days were over at Sydney when he was giving his young players a spray and realised that they were not listening or paying any attention.

If he's playing it generally means we've hit an injury crisis. With that being said the club is going to have to be careful with the Freo game in Cairns off a 4 day break, so perhaps he might get a gig in that game if multiple defenders like Hibberd, Lockhart and Rivers need a rest.

I've never seen any evidence of physicality in Wagner's game. To me he is a " beige" player & a long way down the pecking order.

Refining the system is a good way of describing Goodwin approach. He has made a number of adjustments to his system. I guess it an exercise in semantics in terms of how immutable a system needs to be over time to be considered the same sytem but I agree with aob that he had a model in mind and he has been putting the blocks together. As an example I think he is prepared to add Harley now (and for that matter take the punt on Jackson and kozzie) only because he thinks he has got all the pieces of the puzzle in place. It is really interesting, in the last couple of weeks (coincidentally since this thread has started- though that might be classic confirmation bias hey EO?) all the talk from goody and players about our game plan is how critical defence is. Variations on, it all starts with our defence. I listened to lever on the zoom session tonight and he said much the same. Said they pride themselves on how hard they are to score against. He made a couple of very interesting comments relevant to our game plan. He said that in the early 2000s defence was your back six versus the forwards. But that now it is an all team concept that requires all team buy in. No surprises there. But he said that what many fans perhaps don't grasp is that low possession numbers are not an indication a player has not played well. That they often don't see how hard that player has worked to play their role in the all team defence and how important their contribution is. Specifically mentioned harmes in this respect, saying his numbers are much lower this year but he is as valuable. On possessions he said they can be a misleading stat for us as we are a low possession team that looks to kick long to a contest and battle from there. The really interesting comment was that the big improvement in our defence wasn't as result of the back six or forwards defending better it was the midfield buying into the all team defence and now really working hard both ways. He used gus getting six (I think) intercept marks in the pies game as an example. Said mids have all been star juniors used to being offensive. Working hard the other way takes some time to learn. Implied the penny has dropped. And I reckon we are seeing the result. Conceding three second half goals in the last 3 games, in total, is evidence of that.

Ludicrous that this didn't warrant a suspension. It's a terrible look for the game. Imagine Mums and Dads contemplating a winter sport for their 8 year old to take up, and we have this cowardice going (effectively) unpunished. Nibbler gets 4 weeks for a sling tackle - a penalty manufactured by the AFL's wish to stamp it out; their inaction here and with the gut punches says they're happy for this to continue. High profile players are idolised - they should if anything be held to a higher standard than the rank-and-file players, not protected. Pathetic.