Leaderboard

Why isn’t the fixture equal?

I opened this thread hoping for a treatise on the death of football vernacular since the 1980's - namely 'tiggy touch wood' for an undeserved free kick.

Including accidental use of apostrophes.

I’d like to see the players enjoying their football. 2021, the team were clearly enjoying their football and celebrating each others success. They’re looked fresh, happy and enthused. 2022, they looked like they were ‘all business’ and it seemed to weigh them down come the second half of the year. I would like to see them hungry and happy.

Not a bad suggestion Dazzle at all. Now something else of interest. Spoke to a bloke ( Outside the Fence at Casey last training session) and he was checking out this venue and he said his son is playing at Casey this year, but didn't provide his name. He is ( was) a Bulldogs supporter and has been to training this year and he stated very emphatically that DEES TRAINING INTENSITY AND FITNESS WAS THAT FAR AHEAD OF DISHLICKERS IT WASN'T FUNNY!. Interesting !!!!🤩

Kossie and Fritta say HI BBB and Tmac when fit say HI JVR says give me a go!! ANB Spargs say we'll be better this year Chandler says just please give me a go also!!!

Having lunch at Aireys Inlet pub this afternoon and note that our South Australian contingent has arrived and sitting outside in the wind with girlfriends and pet dogs. Petty, Chandler and now ANB.

A toast to the downfall of Mordor; may it come in our lifetime and for long enough to enjoy.

Probably scans and then we will hear. Don’t think my source was joking.

Just too lazy to read after the auto borrecr

Did anyone else notice the team is really happy this year? It seems we have the right balance with things at the moment. The players are always smiling and cracking jokes in photos I see. Morale and training intensity is high, which can only be a good thing. I just feel like we are humming away ready to take the opposition to the sword. We are ready!

Someone kick a goal whilst doing a backflip.

A bit more versatility, free wheeling and enjoyment in the way we play. I love the defensive effort the players give and the joy they have in that but our best footy is fast, creative and brave. It trusts the next guy in the chain calling for the ball is either free or can win a contest. Do that and if the coaches and footy department make enough of the right calls managing the players we’ll be in with a shot.

A high-functioning forward line, with accurate and confident delivery to said forward line.

This take looks pretty good: - Pies 0 - Blues 0 - Bombers 0

I hope this isn't the proverbial Moz, but for the past two weeks I open DL with dread - then again, that's the kind of fella I am, I must be Polish or something - hoping that it ain't gonna produce catastrophic news about accidents on the Training Track. Thus far, with the usual shall we say minor mishaps, our boat is afloat. In the meantime, I also note that the injury/operation - dictation dictation dictation, three sausages went to the station - tally at Geelong follows a similar path to our post Premiership season. Without wishing the NOT Wells on someone, long may it continue. With their perpetual Home Draw advantage, they are not Cats at all, simply spoiled poodles.

Really don’t see Tomlinson (and probably Turner) as anything other than excellent depth for the backline if we lose Petty or May or Lever. I am not as sold on TMac as some others seem to be (hope I’m wrong and yes I know “structure, covers territory, etc”) Doesn’t seem that long ago he was the subject of regular derision. Would really like to see Schache (no. 2 pick and over 200cm) and of course JVR given opportunities, they are more where our future forward talls lie. BBB is a great forward but realistically, like TMac coming to the end of his career. One things for sure…Casey’s in for another top year.

Flag, obviously, but the thing that I want to see because I believe it's the best predictor ... I want us to be number 1 in the comp for forward 50 tackles again. We dominated that stat in 2021 (from memory, ANB and Kozzie were #1 and #2 in the league) and completely dropped away in 2022. Bring that pressure again, turn the ball over higher up, force oppo quick kicks to Lever/Gawn/etc., and we're well on the way to Cup #14.

What I'd like to see from the MFC in 2023? A flag at the G

True. but there are other blatant inequities such as why do we play in Geelong every year but other clubs haven't has to travel there in years

In 2022 our forward line was decimated. TMac and BBB were less than half themselves. Weid was Weid, so no loss there and Max (who ain’t a forward) was injured and had less than usual input. Jackson is an athlete and will never be a KPF. Trac could not kick a consistent goal, ANB and Spargo are plodders who complement structure. Only Kickett and Fritta can hold their heads up. That’s 2 out of 6/8 players who contributed in a forward line. The forward line is our big improvement area. As a collective, and when it functions it’s a problem for opposition teams. JVR, Chandler and Schache add another element for improvement too.

I do my best for you guys.

18 hours ahead of Mitch Clearly. 7 might have to slot you in as deputy chief footy reporter in behind Tommy B

I found this interesting "...competition for forward spots is strong " We're struggling to find a good forwards

Dave Misson working his magic at St Kilda already.

A soggy moggy indeed

I hope the Cats get squashed

Fixed it for you Gonzo 😁 And I agree with the premise of the rest of your post Upon analysing the VFA competion from 1877-1896 (pre those years the competition was too small and disjointed) I'd be more inclined to count the premierships from 1885 but they will probably recognise all or nothing A number of big footy names have got behind the idea/concept (Sheahan, Sheedy, Fitzpatrick et al) so I wouldn't be surprised to see a change of view (recognising premierships pre 1897) About a 15% - 20% chance right now but down the track (say 5 years time) the likelyhood could be more like 50%. Needs more weight of numbers for change. Especially from those within the Commission But right now you'd imagine the Blues, Cats & Dons voting in favour! Maybe the Demons too! (for the 3 extra Premierships) Footnote: Every footy season from at least 1870 has it's own Wiki page so people here can do their own analysis

Daniel Menzel is tipping us for minor premiership.. https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/02/03/ex-afl-forward-names-his-minor-premier-for-the-2023-afl-season/

Pickett to signed a 6 year deal. Flag.

Jnrmac Still haven't answered my question of why if we recruited Hunter snd he is training on the wing we would prefer other "wingers" to him? He prob could play HF flank but no indication so far as wing is his to lose on the training notes.

Do not agree that Club are just awaiting Tommo to be out if contract. Clubs can't afford to generally cast aside 3 or 4 players as finished as no one knows how good or bad injuries strike. On the contrary Tommo for his part has lost some weight with a view to greater mobility flexibility and pace. All to give himself a chance of returning to AFL more consistently. Unfortunately Goody seems to write players off occasionally ( Lockhart, perhaps Bedford and Chandler last Year ) . Guess we won't know the full story till the end of 2023 but I believe Tommo May even as a depth player perform a part in our season if he recovers more from the ACL this year along with his fitness program. Could be Tmac all over again!!

Do port’s flags in the sanfl count? What about south Freo in the wafl? both part of their history but contextually irrelevant to modern afl

He's been going on about this for ages, it's a ridiculous notion. Check out how some of those premierships were "won" pre-1897. It was a different comp, with different teams and different rules. Club's can celebrate their own achievements but as far as competition records are concerned they should and do commence in 1897 with the breakaway VFL.

What is everyone's thoughts on the having a forum that is just dedicated to photos taken by demonlanders of the players? We used to have the most incredible cameraman at demonland (better than the MFC crew imo)... haven't seen any this year?

1/ Better player management; that is both injury management and performance management. 2/ Play with a more attacking mindset, last year we were far too conservative 3/ A better functioning forward line. If we do all of the above then I believe we will win the premiership in 2023.

I agree history should be recognised. Pre-1897 VFA can and should be recognised as the premier competition in Victoria. But it was not the same competition so when you're talking about competition records they don't count for the VFL/AFL. It's the same reason we don't count SAFL/SAFA/SANFL, WAFL, TFL, WAFL etc records in VFL/AFL records. The SAFL or WAFL could make an argument they were the pre-eminent competitions in the country pre-1897, even post-1897 for a period of time. You can argue those state comp premierships/achievements are equivalent to the achievements of those in the VFL. But they were not in this competition which is why they cannot and should not be included in the official records. I feel we are both just as passionate on this, I have Colin Carter's book which I will read, I've read Geoff Blaineys book and many other books on the history of the game. I am all for more recognition of the history of Aussie Rules. But if we are talking about VFL/AFL records/premiership tallies those commence in 1897 because that is when the competition commenced and it is the same continuous competition that still runs today. The pre-1897 premierships should be celebrated by the club's as part of their achievements and honour board etc but they don't count towards VFL/AFL premierships because they were not won in the VFL/AFL competition.

I reckon it's only fascinating for a very small minority ... a broken fingernail to Clarrie would gain more traction on these boards! But for those few who are interested, it is fascinating