deanox

For completeness, going back further 11 of the previous 21 premierships were won by non-Vic teams, so despite the tough run the last 5 seasons they've done ok in the big dance, given there was significantly less non-Vic teams for most of that time. That makes 12 of the last 27 premierships non-Vic, still over representing for the number of teams. Further 11 of the losing teams in that period were non-Vic, so 23 of the 54 grand finalists since 1992 are non-Vic. Pretty good considering there was only 5 non-Vic teams out of 16 until 1995, and were 6 of 16 until GWS and GCS joined.

tl;dr the interceptor isn't the problem. It is the other defender who isn't actually contesting the mark, but trying to prevent the attacker from contesting. If you kick to a one on one the attacker will mark or win a free kick a lot of the time, especially if the kick is to advantage. It is for this reason coaches work so hard to avoid defensive one on ones. The AFL seem to think that 6 6 6 will bring back one on one and reduce congestion, and it might help a little bit it won't be long until a coach works a way around it. Making the interceptors accountable won't solve the issue as they'll still leave their players, the way Lever does. That's what zones are for. A better solution is to pay a free kick for any sheparding in a marking contest. The reason the intercept is so successful is because the one on one defenders role is no longer to contest the mark, but to hold position. Force the only physical contact to be part of a legitimate attempt to contest a mark (which is almost word for word from the rulebook), and the value of the cheap uncontested interceptor will diminish quickly.

@rpfc your list is ok, not far off mine. Imo, when we lost games it was one of two things: lack of midfield defensive running, or poor kicking (particularly into 50). Might first priority is then skilled kicks in the midfield. With 59.8 i50s per game (the most of any team) I'd like to see us hit targets more often going forward. 2nd priority is hard running and skilled mids. Our hardest running players are also some of our weaker disposals. 3rd priority is a true medium defender who can mean up the Menzels, Breusts, Stringers. That is currently done by Hibberd. Lever isn't the right guy. 4th priority is a KPD. A 2nd ruck is also a high priority but less critical. I think we are chasing Preuss because we know Hogan is gone. We then play him as a ruck forward. The small forward is a need but I think it can be ignored because we have such depth on that space, although losing Kent and perhaps VDB will test us. Getting May may improve us, and could free Frost to be the medium defender, but I'm not sure Frost is better in that role than his current role. So I think we'd still have that weakness. I'm concerned May is overpriced for 3-4 years of service. I think we are better spending that high amount of currency on priorities 1, 2 and even 3, as those priorities basically don't gauge any incumbent.

You're right I didn't add the prelim but we we were torched in the midfield not in defense. Kent Kingsley would have kicked a bag against us that day. I should correct my statement. I don't think full back is our "biggest" problem. We successfully contained key forwards on plenty of other days when the midfield fired. In creating that list, what jumped out to me was actually how often a medium forward kicked 3+ against us (not listed). We don't have true medium defenders, just rebounders. Maybe bringing May in releases Frost to play that role?

This. To me, we didn't lose many games because of our defense. WCE prelim: our mids went missing. The whole team really. Collingwood, Richmond, Hawksduring season: our mids didn't run hard enough, allowing easy ball to enter our D50 on the rebound. We didn't tackle enough, and got comprehensively beaten all over the ground. PA, Sydney, Geelong x 2, St Kilda, we comprehensively won the inside 50 count but delivery i50 was bombing it long. The second Geelong match we allowed Hawkins to go nuts, but that was lack of midfield pressure more than defense. The following key forwards, who May might play on, have kicked goals on us this year: R1: Menzel 4.2, R2: n/a R3: Brown 4.1, Waite 3.1 R4: Roughhead 3.1, O'Brien 3.0 R5: Reiwoldt 2.2 R6: Stringer 3.3 R7: n/a R8: Day 2.2 R9: McKay 2.1 R10: n/a R11: n/a R12: Cox 5.1 R13: bye R14: Westhoff 2.1 R15: McCartin 2.3, Battle 1.2 R16: Cox 2.0 R17: Schache 2.2 R18: Hawkins 7.0 R19: n/a R20: n/a R21: Franklin 2.5 R22: Vardy 1.1 R23: Cameron 1.4 Other than Franklin, Hawkins and Cox, no one got of the leash. I just don't see big key defender as our weakness.

Frost is a funny sort of player, and reminds me a bit of the former New Zealand Zealand Bob Cunis, neither one thing nor the other. He isn't big and strong enough to be the gorilla keeper. He is quick but not quite agile enough for the small forwards. His disposal and decision making aren't good enough to be the premier rebounding medium defender. With May, the back 7 will be: Lever, May, Jetta, Hibbard, Salem then one of group A OMac and Frost, and one of group B Lewis, Hunt, and Joel Smith. The only way Frost and Omac play in the same team as Lever and May is if Omac is picked and then Frost forces his way into competition with group B, as a small/medium defender. Personally I think his skill set is "amazing run, carry, closing speed etc. for a tall defender, that makes up for some of his weaknesses as a tall defender" rather than "great strength and aerial skills that make up for his weaknesses as a rebounding defender". Thus is why I'm not super enthusiastic about getting May. I know he is a good player who will improve us. But for the cost in picks too gain him, minus the value of the incumbents who he will push out of the team (rather than reposition) I think we can get better value by trying to improve other areas of the ground.

I agree he sulks a bit instead odd playing the whistle, but he has an above average shot conversion and probably deserves the frees he doesn't get. But he isn't over rated. He is one of the top key position forwards in the competition and is only 23. His perceived "weakness" is mostly associated with being double/triple teamed and also games where delivery is worse. One out he is close to the best mark we have. He covers heaps of ground, gets a lot of the ball and has beautiful field kicking. The injuries are a bigger concern than the rest, given he is a heavy set running. That being said, two first rounders is the going price for any player of that age and quality. The only question is how early should the first rounders be? Personally, I'd want to finish with a top 6 pick as one of them.

I could never be truly annoyed if he left after what he has been through this last 18 months. He is a young bloke making hard decisions with a million people buzzing in his ears. It helps to know that we'll be handsomely compensated if he does leave. I hope he stays with us, because I love the sentiment in footy. But I also felt for Bernie when he missed games and the VFL premiership, was happy to cheer and celebrate Hibberd and Melksham, and I consider both Jeff White and Jeff Farmer MFC players despite their time at other clubs. Some players move because they have poor character. Others move despite their loyalty. I hope he gets success with us.

Id be more inclined to say "That month at Casey looks to have had its intended effect. What a masterstroke of coaching and personal development from Goodwin."

I'd take 5 and 6, and we return our 2019 first round pick.

Ok so the player numbers listed here http://vfl.com.au/clubs/vfl-clubs/casey-demons/ aren't correct, they have JKH in 24 and Machaya in 33.

The trade thing is unofficial. It is no different than trying to get big crowds through other scheduling devices. The official line is here: http://m.afl.com.au/fixture/fixture-explained Everything else is magic.

I was sure it was 24 (possibly both of them)? Either way, why not just wear a long sleeve? I'm also surprised it's allowed; remember when yze wasn't allowed to wear a custom made 3 quarter length sleeve jumper?

Oh how did they pay that?????

Is JKH wearing a short sleeve jumper over a long sleeve jumper??

I'd love to know the stats. They have not paid at least 4 holding the balls to us and just paid that one against.

Fwiw from a list management perspective, they set themselves up at the end of 2014 when they traded out: Beams, Lumumba and pick 67 for Jack Crisp, Travis Varcoe, Levi Greenwood and pick 5 (de Gooey). This is the trade that saw us get Lumumba for Clarke (probably a break even).

Have the pies gone past us, or are they nearly past it? Even though I personally I didn't think they'd come good, this year is their window. They'd need it to all work next year for another chance. Looking at the Pies list age profile: Name Current Age D Wells 33yr 7mth L Dunn 31yr 4mth T Goldsack 31yr 4mth S Pendlebury 30yr 8mth T Varcoe 30yr 5mth C Mayne 29yr 10mth L Greenwood 29yr 7mth B Reid 29yr 4mth J Blair 28yr 5mth J Howe 28yr 2mth S Sidebottom 27yr 8mth M Cox 27yr 6mth 8 of their "best 22" will be 30 or older next season. And 4 more are pretty close. Meanwhile our list: Name Current Age B Vince 32yr 11mth J Lewis 32yr 4mth C Pedersen 31yr 6mth N Jones 30yr 8mth J Garlett 29yr 1mth M Hibberd 28yr 8mth N Jetta 28yr 7mth T Smith 27yr 7mth J Melksham 27yr C Maynard 26yr 11mth M Gawn 26yr 8mth A Vandenberg 26yr 6mth T McDonald 26yr T Bugg 25yr 5mth D Tyson 25yr 3 mth Of our 2018 best 22, only 2 players will be over 30, 4 players will be over 28 and 8 will be over 26 during 2019, and I'd argue Lewis would drop out of that, and VDB might be fringe with Hogan/Lever back, making it 1 over 30, 3 over 28 and 6 over 26.

Honestly, I'd always rather play a team that looked bad in a loss: the form team always goes through. The question is: did Collingwood already play their grand final?

Exactly. He wasn't involved in the play, so went should he have to defend himself by bracing? The idea that it is his responsibility to keep his feet when someone sprints at him 60m of the ball, just so the game looks tougher, is ludicrous.

When you say big ground, are you referring to the ground that is smaller than the one where played on the last 3 weeks?

If anyone is interested in how many grand final tickets were allocated to where in 2017 (exact break downs): https://preview.tinyurl.com/y7qzr92z

Also you can bring doggos or pat doggos if you don't have one yourself.

I'm not against this, but would like specifics. Who is matching up on who?

I'd be inclined to send him to Yeo and make Shuey accountable for Viney or Brayshaw.