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'Tracking the right way’: Demons confident of Pickett deal

It's one of the truly baffling parts of footy for me. Why doesn't everyone value good kicking and how hasn't it gotten significantly better over the past 30 years? Just look at Garry Lyon of Plugger kick it dead straight from 50. And don't get me started on the fact that most 18yos coming into the system can barely kick on their non-preferred foot. Too much emphasis on working out in the gym and not enough on kicking imo

Mark "Choco" Williams understand the importance of good kicking in football. That's why he gets AFL players to do various kicking drills and has designed AFL Sherrin footballs with the red or yellow tape on them to help improve kicking. Making Mark "Choco" Williams the goal-kicking coach makes sense. He was leading Collingwood goal kicker way back in 1984 and actually kicked 7 goals in a match against Hawthorn once. Not bad for a midfielder! Let's hope he can get Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver to kick more goals!

So we were bottom 8 for accuracy last year. That wouldn't be because we attacked from the forward pocket would it?

Hope he does play, he had front row tickets to the Bang, Bang, Bang show being in the midfield at the time.

I think you are on the money here... A few years back we were at the top end for accuracy. The game plan then was to bring the ball into an area that was easy to kick goals from. Pretty much in front and not too far out.

I'm still confident Jacko might stay for what it's worth

“He’s a terrific young player,” Goodwin said. “We’re really confident with where that [negotiation] sits with him, and I’m sure something will be done in the not too distant future.” - Simon Goodwin on Luke Jackson May 2022

If I were pedantic, I'd say there were 7 over 200cm, 12 over 195cm and 18 over 190cm. 😄

I am sure Stafford will continue his current role but having added responsibility placed on Choco in the role of Goal kicking Coach makes sense. Personally I do not see this as shuffling the chairs on the deck of Titanic but rather an observation made and respected from within the Coaching panel who "all" work together to bring the best out of and for the Team.

Greg Staford was/is our forwards coach and I'm not sure we need to rush in and replace him. From what I recall, JVR credited Staford with simplifying and breaking down a philosophy for JVR that really helped him develop his game in the second half of last season. I'm also not 100% sure that our goal kicking inaccuracies are all about technique as it could be somewhat of a result of where we end up leading to and taking our shots from. That said, it can't hurt to give Choco a go at the job either and perhaps he'll bring a fresh aproach that could really click for some players. As I've said elsewhere, if we can get a few more goals out of Trac and Clarry purely through better accuracy, that would add significantly to our scoring potentency.

Again @WERRIDEEI think your starting 18 is very similar to mine, though obviously Adams is replaced by Payne and it's a toss of the coin for me between the 34 year old Zorko with a dodgy hammy and the the 31 year old Jarryd Lyons who played every H&A game last year but was overlooked for the finals. Effectively they've both been replaced in the midfield by Dunkley and will play limited minutes through the middle anyway barring injury. So the draw: The Lions play Us, Freo, Collingwood, GCS, Adelaide, and Saints twice. Based on last years form they should easily account for the last two but the Suns should be a more difficult proposition this season. They have four tough games to start the year against Port (although admittedly the Lions are the Power's bogey side), Us, the Doggies and Pies. The rest of the draw seems pretty favourable and they play a lot of last years finalists (Swans, Tigers, Cats, Freo) at home. They've almost a certainty to play finals (currently on the third line of the betting for the premiership at $8.00 on sportsbet) and many have them locked into the top four, but I'm still doubtful. 1. Brisbane for mine are the quintessential faux tough side - they beat up on sides at home, but they tend to fold under real physical pressure. Which isn't to say that they don't have some footballers I admire very much. Lachie Neale, Charlie Cameron, the big O, Starcevich are all fighters that give their all. I'd put McStay and Robinson in that category too, but they're gone. Of course this might sound like sour grapes after last years final series, where they beat us when we've had the wood on them and managed to win at the MCG for the first time in 7 years, but the counter argument to that was their two finals wins were against Richmond without Prestia (narrowly) and of course our issues at the end of the season were well known. Yes this really does sound like a Melbourne supporter cracking the sads and my opinion means SFA, but the expectations of the footy world are pretty high for the Lions to do it again and not revert to type like when they won only 1 final in 6 appearance in the previous three seasons. I'm betting on them reverting to type and here's why. 2. The best defensive sides in the competition usually play off for a place in the GF. I expect this year it will be pretty much the same as last year in terms of the three stand out defensive teams - namely Us, Geelong and Freo. Brisbane were 10th. Here's the rub they just lost Marcus Adams for the year with concussion. He was an unspectacular, but solid defender and until he was concussed in rd 21 last year had only missed two games for them- how much worse will they be defensively without him? His likely replacement Jack Payne is tall enough (197cms) but has 27 senior appearances including 12 last year (so not a regular) which places a lot of heavy emphasis on Harris Andrews being the general back there. It's a responsibility I don't think he has shouldered well - but more on him later. The third tall gets covered by the 192cm Gardiner who tries hard, but he's undersized*, the only other options are the similarly undersized Ryan Lester or Darragh Joyce the ex Saints defender whose been thrown a rookie life line. The rest of the defence looks solid and they have good (at time excellent) users of the ball back there but there would be concerns on the ability of the ageing legs of Zorko and Rich and the risk of injury. Starcevich and Coleman are both very, very solid. Connor McKenna is unknown, but his final year before he left Essendon wasn't flash and to me he's all sizzle and no steak as a defender. In short the issue with the Lions defence wasn't using the ball coming out of the fifty it was the ability to stop scores once it got in there - that hasn't been fixed in terms of personnel from what I can see, in fact it's likely to be worse. 3. Scoring hasn't been the Lions problem in the last few seasons, but again the issue for me is who kicks the goals for them. Ostensibly their main man in attack is Charlie Cameron, he's been their leading goal kicker for the last four seasons which begs the question for me as to where the hell are Daniher and Hipwood? For the record only in 2021 did one of them (Joe) kick more than 40 goals in a season for the Lions. They appear to be the mercurial tall forwards who can turn it on, but rarely do it consistently - they certainly aren't dominating like key forwards. Maybe that will be Jack Gunston, the three time leading goal kicker at the Hawks if his back holds up. But Jack is no Dan McStay who also didn't kick many goals for the Lions but he did do a power of work up and down the lines a la Tommy 'Carnivore' McDonald. He isn't a like for like replacement. That puts the heat on one of Daniher or Hipwood to shoulder that burden - and let my bias shine through even more brightly here - I doubt either of them has the ticker for the work load required - not that I've seen anyway. 4. The additions of Dunkley, Ashcroft and Fletcher will make the Lions midfield stronger, but the issue is when. We see that sometimes it takes at least a season even for experienced players to gell with a new side. No pressure on the first year draftees either to step in and do what Nick Daicos did ... Dunkley found himself playing more HFF at the Dogs at the end of last year, he's brave and gets first hands on the ball (260 contested possessions last year). Along with Neale (400 ), McCluggage (216) he makes a more than adequate replacement for Lyons(205) who finds himself relegated. I like Dunkley and the Lions like that he runs both ways - but he does butcher the ball by foot. So here's another interesting stat... Neale and McCluggage were the top two for disposals last year - followed by the 33 year old Rich, the 31 year old Lyons and the 34 year old Zorko - Lyons was also 10th in the competition in terms of clearances (Neale was 2nd and Clarrie was of course 1st) so it might be premature to right Lyons off just yet. Rich and Zorko make sense they are wonderful kicks of the footy, but like I said before... father time. I like Robertson as an option. 5. The positive for me with the Lions is that I like their ruck division, the Big O and Fort should be able to play more time together with five on the bench now. They are both imposing ruckman, and they have adequate coverage. Big O is similar to Max in that he wins a lot of clearances and contested possessions himself and he covers the ground fairly well. I think they're one of very few sides that won't be as worried as others over the thoughts of how the combat the tap brothers. 6. Their most important player. - Given their defensive issues it has to be Harris Andrews. It's a massive problem if he goes down - i've already discussed their lack of cover for defensive talls - the problem I have with Harris is that he seems to have very little lateral deviation when he plays at the moment. He's stuck on tram lines so against more mobile players he's just not the same AA defender we saw a few years ago, but he does organise their defence - which is probably why he looks distracted at times allowing his direct opponent to slip away. I saw signs that he was improving these issues towards the back end of last season - but I think he's even more critical than Lachie Neale to their fortunes because without him the hole in their defensive dyke becomes a massive structural failure. Finally the assumption that I need to challenge for myself is that the Lions will revert to type and will continue to falter against teams that bring the heat and continue to struggle to win away from the Gabbatoire which makes a top 2 finish essential for them to have any realistic shot at a premiership. Yes, they've improved in the midfield (at least on paper at this stage), but I just can't get past that their defence has been their achilles (and let's not forget against Geelong in the Prelim they got pantsed) and will actually be worse this year than in previous years. Premierships are usually won by one of the best three defensive teams and that aint the Lions. I think they could easily be in the top four, but for me I'm tipping them to finish just outside. * yes I know Adams was 192 cms as well, but he was a very good one on one defender who used his body well - he'll be missed.

There is not a player in any AFL Team that has the peripheral vision and consequent evasive qualities of this player playing today. To me that puts him in the irreplaceable category in that , and several other positions on the ground. We have TWO of everyone else, nearly..... There is only one of him, when he is on song, playing well, my OP is our whole structure revolves around him, but shushhhh. This is a secret. Required player, absolutely necessary, and we would be a laughing stock if we lost him unnecessarily.

Hoping to see JVR, Laurie, Howes, Woewodin and McVee, a long stretch given the quality of our trades but important to keep young players invested in our system. We won a granny with 7 players under 21 and may need another injection of youth to achieve our next flag. Also want to see Chandler given a decent shot.!!

JVR, Howes and Laurie

Or the WalkingCivilWar Stalking Gallery

There's a few reasons why we struggle with this. Where we taker our shots from is one part of it and doesn't help. Another part is psychology and the mental aspect with a lack of set shot routine, then another is fatigue especially with the way our game style demands pressure and repeated sprints. There's no magic bullet cause but moving Chocco into this position and being able to look at the mechanics of how the ball is being kicked at goal, surely it can only be a good thing.

Great news. Hopefully Gawn and Petracca spend a lot of time with our new goal kicking coach.

McVee is progressing well. Those who have attended pre-season would be aware that he is highly regarded and is doing well as a defender in match sim... more likely to get an extension than be delisted.

On this day 65 years ago, the Secretary of the Melbourne Football Club, Mr. James H. Cardwell issued an invitation to a young Ronald Matthews to attend the MCG to meet fellow prospective third and fourth XVIII players ahead of the forthcoming season. I wonder whatever became of young Ronald?

The SSP ends tomorrow and we’re still none the wiser as to whether Melbourne will sign up one of the candidates. I have my doubts as to whether either has put up a convincing enough argument to warrant a list place.

Choco mentioned this before a player sponsors event on Saturday but here it is confirmed by Channel 7 in the last 10 seconds of the clip.

Find another deadbeat named Dayne I guess.

burgoyne for mine - offers a point of difference compared to what else is depth on the list

JVR round 1 Blake Howes mid year and I’m going to throw a Smokey out there…. Deakyn Smith to take over from Hibberd at one stage

Yes but they have obviously used poetic licence - someone on the list who is yet to play AFL

Reminds me of that book “ The Art of Prevaracation”, which I just can’t decide whether or not to read.

Thanks for the mention

An article that @mauriesyposted in the Kozzie thread says: "Richardson said the Demons are likely to wait until Wednesday morning, just hours before the supplemental selection period closes, to determine whether former Port Adelaide rookie Trent Burgoyne, the son of Power great Peter, or Old Haileybury backman Kye Turner, win a spot on the club’s rookie list". Not giving much away as that could be read as either will win a spot or neither will. We will know by this tine tomorrow. I don't mind the idea of keeping the spot open for a mid season draftee in case of a LT injury.

Feel free to post them.

I suspect that a man of his talent, and ingenuity, may enjoy the challenge of multitasking.

Anyone know what the good news is regarding Treloar? Assume he's tracking well for our round 1 game after an interrupted pre season. As for a goal kicking coach, something needed to be done. The second Collingwood loss and the Brisbane final was lost in the accuracy department. One side took their opportunities while the other didn't.

I think it should be noted that Rivers in the midfield is as a relief and another option of players rotating through. It might only be a preseason trial at this point. I wouldn't expect extended time in the midfield to start with. I guess if it is successful then we will see Rivers flow through the guts more often.

Nothing revolutionary about this to be fair. Just kick it through the bloody middle.

Keep it up Grazman love the analysists.

Crikey 3 of our players look almost Anorexic 🤯 put a bit of weight on guys!!

From Fox Footy article.

Again, love your work @grazman. I thought Dunkley might balance the toughness ledger a little. I really like Payne - there is a lot of potential/talent there but I see him as still a little raw and prone to the odd brain fart. I have to agree with your backline assessment, particularly without Adams. I still find Hipwood and Daniher to be potential liabilities when they either don't show up or crack the sads/wobblies. Having Gunston could make all the difference.

I flew in this morning from the Central Gippsland wetlands to Casey, to check out MFC training, for the first time since Grand Final week 2000, and maybe even to give a report. Perhaps the fact that I was obviously the only observer, for several hours, should have been a dead giveaway, but a genial Richo enlightened me. ''How did you get in, don't you know it's a closed session, and do you work for a club?" ''Mate'', I say, ''Richo,''' I say, ''I'm just a retired schoolteacher with too much time on my hands!'' ''No worries'',says a grinning Richo. Anyhow, I'd love to give a scintillatingly informative report, but [1]. it would probably all be redacted, and [2]. duck season is imminent.