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Shoulder surgery and delayed return to full training is a lot different to cleaning up a thumb issue and straight back into full training.

Melbourne player Troy Broadbridge passed away on this day in 2004 while on his honeymoon at the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand. He was one of an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries who perished as a result of the Boxing Day Earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Indian Ocean - one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Always remembered.

Purely as a contingency, I'll be death-riding Port as well as Freo in 2023, just to make sure they can offer us at least a top-5 pick and change. ;) But seriously, Kysaiah Pickett is a rare player. Not many forwards - let alone small forwards - top 40 goals in a season in consecutive seasons, and he has managed in every full season he's played!

I don't get Richmond...they've picked up 2 good to very good (not great) mids. They replace Edwards and Lambert who to date have been better. Prestia is a big injury.. Lynch is struggling with injury. Grimes another injury concern. Cotchin is done and Reiwoldt not far behind. Martin is the mystery...will he or won't he.

You realise how much public interest in cricket has waned when AFL 'predictions' click bait in December is more newsworthy.

Happy birthday Simon, are you still the right guy? 😏

Maybe we should poach Ben Cousins from his recently appointed role at Perth? (See @Rodney (Balls) Grinter thread) He could assist the slow players to inject some speed and show the whole team how to ice a game.

I did wonder... Maybe a new brood, in due course, will help the healing gently along? 'Landers all, I'm struck by the personal stories that surface here and, most particularly, by the preparedness of the storytellers to be vulnerable to strangers (though maybe we're not strangers here, so much?) Though one story might seem less, or more, momentous than another to we readers, we respect (I hope) that it is the teller's experience that sets the moment.

So for tall fwds we have 2 kids that have never played, 2 injury prone old blokes and Schache who couldn’t secure a fwd spot in 8 years at the dogs. Oh and 2 rucks who arent fwds in 2022 lack of tall forwards was our biggest issue. im hopeful JVR will be a player but we can’t hang out hopes on a kid. And I’m hopeful T Mac can get his body right. But a quality fwd in his early 20’s wound be a good get

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all on DL. We got more flags in 2022 which was awsome and well deserved for Daisy, Paxy, the women's team and the Casey guys. I'm still craving watching a senior one at the MCG with all the faithful.

I admire Goody, because he is always so calm and measured. Hoping he has a great birthday and he's invited Kozzie to his party and gets him to sign an extension. That'd be the best present of all.

Kozzy is such a special player and only 21! I can't even imagine what he will be doing at 24/25 years of age at his prime... 😩

Indeed. Then there's his non-goal plays. Rewind to the Heavenly Day for his frightening of Williams for Spargs' Q1 goal (which I now realise involved a bit of Spargs' frightening as well!🤩) and his blocks, first on Duryea then famously on Dunkley, for Tracc's Q3 'goal' (such an inadequate label...). Of course, he can combine the two; viz, the intercept on Moore in the OP vid.

Us winning the flag and Freo the spoon would be the ultimate double.

"You do not win flags relying on goal sneaks" Did he watch last years granny! Can't take a best 22 seriously without Bowza

I received a new Bigger guernsey. Lol.!!!

Forever a MFC player.

Thanks for acknowledging Troy. x

So, did any of you score any decent presents today? All I got was two shrink-wrapped batteries with a sticker saying "Gift Not Included".

I'm a Dees man, but loved Barry Round. Fair, talented, footy brain par excellence, legitimately tough, ornament to the game. Barry and Rod 'the Tilt' Carter were the best reasons to watch the Swannies every second Sunday back then. May you continue putting it down the throat of those nippy rovers ever more Barry.

Merry Christmas and happy new year to everyone Here is to another flag in 2023.

A very Merry Xmas to all Demonlanders, it is the best time to be a Demon that I can remember.🤘❤️💙🔥

So I will pick you up at 10 am then. As Kramer said in a Seinfeld episode to Jerry and Elaine, “come on you two, stop fighting, you know you love each other “.

You've got to get a better family, Mr Stone!

Happy Birthday Simon I hope that you have a great day and I hope that you can recreate that 2021 team spirit and unbeatable aura in 2023.!!!

DD I amazes me we have JVR ready to debut and MJ starting on his training wheels plus Tmac BBB, the resting rucks Petty and Adams who has played forward and the Schache about to erupt at his new Club. oh and Fritta best medium forward in the game. 50 goals plus every year. Why do we need another tall forward???

Merry Christmas all. Show us your Dee gifts.

You had me until the last line Jordon will be Mr. Fix it, Hunter a lock for the wing

JJ started the year in very good form, yes, his reluctant slow plays were frustrating but: 1. He replaced Brayshaw, let’s not pretend they were looking for Robbie Flower out of him. 2. We lost our CHF with McDonald down. Without a lead up target it’s hard to pull the trigger on quick kicks to smalls 3. The backline lost a lot of bounce with Salo out/down on form and Lever not intercepting at his best 4. He copped a pretty nasty injury and then lost a bit of zip/change of direction (neither were his strong suit to begin with) Three of those issues should be fixed and he has all summer to work on moving the ball on faster. From what I saw of one training session he was doing just that and looking good doing it. He’s had an elite tank for a couple of years now but his frame has been that of a strong kid more than a man. He’s only just turned 22, he’s only entering the age and game range where he can use more power and acceleration I’d still back him to retain his spot wing and Hunter will get used in versatile roles.

certainly worthy of discussion Percentage football may only get you so far

Jordon was not the problem it was purely game plan going city end play the southern side, punt road end play members side and when they tried to swap no player movement or just one kick forward then hold up till players tried to spread, even bringing the ball forward there were players trying to make position inboard but they never looked, just went down the line, even the coaches admitted it need to change but all to late in the season.

Aaron Davy could kick with pace but I think he slowed down at the last second before he kicked it. We have the best midfield in the league, let's not worry about leg pace

More than half of JJ's play stifled the momentum in the wing but it doesn't happen when he is on the ball. So the excuse is not realistic. He and the midfield coach should develop patterns for him to kick to teammates.

Speed is predominately from ball movement - leg speed does factor too but nowhere near as much as we think. The main factors that contribute to fast ball movement are (as others have stated) kick to handball ratio - but its not that simple. You also need to look at what part of the field is used as well. The teams that looked lightening quick moved through the corridor - we hardly used the corridor, instead elected to play through the wings (kick to Gawn game-plan has to be scrapped). Mark and play on rates will also contribute. MFC would take a mark, stop, evaluate and kick to wing (exaggeration but you get the point). Teams that look quicker would usually mark, overlap handball, next kick and within 5 seconds the ball would have moved 50-80m. That is enough to go from D50 to F50. It is what Collingwood's do or die gameplan in 2022 was built on. High risk, high reward. it can break defensive and isolate forwards. My opinion is that the game will ultimately shift to this style - it contributes to high scoring and highly entertaining football. It is what the AFL wants at the end of the day.

I accept what you are saying, but being live at every game this season, sitting on the members wing, this wasn’t always the excuse. There were several occasions where we had plenty ahead of the ball and his hesitation stifled us.

You may be right, but I think to be fair to Jordon we should also consider the possibility he was playing to instructions. Often when he had the ball it was because he had made space on his wing so the ball could be safely delivered to him. Once he had it, though, there was often no-one for him to kick it too as the players in front of him were often still on the "Langdon" side of the ground. It's possible he was told to wait for the players in front of him to present opportunities rather than just bombing it forward in hope. PS: This is the sort of analysis which is only possible by being at the ground and watching the game live. TV coverage doesn't show this because it's not possible to show simultaneously the ball in play and also what's happening further up the ground.

Yes and particularly ‘spread’ from half back which is what the OP is desiring. Its decision making and movement ahead and commitment to share and run on that line. Now Hunt provided that last year when others didn’t. He was the crutch of a few. The HB line will need to lift.

Petracca and Oliver are two of the best burst players from stoppages and are rarely caught once ahead of someone. Leg speed is over rated and rarely the actual game breaker, ball speed was our issue last year. Unfortunately with Salem and Tmac injured for majority of the year it took away alot of our ability to move quickly. Salem back, and possibly Bowie, plus fwd options means we can move the ball faster, with more precision and also get ANB, Spargo and Kossie more involved who are our speedier players.

One of the key reasons for slow ball movement, IMHO, was the move of James Jordon to the wing. He stifles ball movement. Takes far far too long to make a decision. I think it’s the nerves of being young and not a regular 22 player. Scared to make mistakes. Many times he got the ball on a wing and held play up, which resulted in killed momentum. Lachie Hunter may fix this issue. Just my take

And that was the crux of the problem all year.

Maybe we'll rookie Trent Burgoyne

Kozzzy has the elite speed in the forward 50. He need to prioritize to retain him. ⭐️ Hunt is a loss given that he covered a lot of small defenders in 2022 (except when Hibbo took Charlie Cameron). Rivers might have to fill that role more. Bedford looked good when given an opportunity but needed to show more. Baker didn’t play so not missed … he simply was behind Langdon and Brayshaw and not called upon. Jonti Schuback in my view was the best youngster who missed out getting drafted, I’d like to see us either pickup him or add him to Casey Demons roster. He has excellent pace and skill. I have called out that now is the time to look forward to get youngsters with midfield speed and another half back rebounding runner in the 2023 draft.

Chandler should be ready. Re Laurie, very hard to significantly increase pace.

None of them are premiership players. Just sayin.

Isaac Smith is still a great runner and Gary Rohan has excellent chase down tackling but the Cats didn’t sprint their way to a flag. The thing we need is less guys with suspect mobility - busted Lever, Tracc with a broken leg, Salo with no groins, Ben Brown, Gawn rucking 80% without an ankle. Talls really being able to cover the ground and pressure should be a big step forward on last year. Even in first halves when Ben Brown could move we looked like a great side, once he was cooked at half time we couldn’t score. If JVR can establish himself as a mobile and physical presence we’re looking better, even if he doesn’t do much with the ball. Apart from that we can get bounce from half back with Salem, Bowey, Rivers. We can pressure with Pickett, Nibbler, Spargo and who knows Fritsch might chase a guy once in his life. Could do with some more outside run which Hunter hopefully helps with. A healthy JJ, Sparrow, Harmes and Gus should all fight for midfield spots. Grundy hopefully provides some inside burst too whilst holding up in the ruck. I think we’ll miss Bedford and Hunt to an extent. We didn’t really replace either of them. Bedford would’ve been good depth especially if Pickett goes on ball more, and Hunt’s defensive spread was undervalued. Even if you didn’t like him in the best 22 he could provide 10-15 solid games that help you win in May and June. Taj Woewodin might be a chance to be a depth defender with so toe who can give us a bit of what Hunt did. Is Chandler good enough forward cover? Can Andy MW take a big leap despite an interrupted summer? Does slimmed down Bill Laurie suddenly run twice the speed? Is Ollie Sestan so good that we have another mobile marking target and the smalls can work around him (unlikely but that’s the joy of the offseason).