Bang Bang Bang

Etihad Stadium, our new fortress. Not a fan of 'Coach of the Year' nominations at the halfway point, but seeing as the media are doing them, Goodwin should be in the discussions with Bolton, especially with most of the year sans Gawn.

He was pretty much the pioneer of internet trolling over at BigFooty, I remember him sucking a few in that he was getting drafted one year, amongst many other things. As I said, I'm almost certain he still posts here although he's not as controversial as he once was. He is a Petracca fan.

Definitely. Geelong are making September, no doubt about it. The race for the vacant three spots in the 8 from 2016 will be incredibly interesting. At the moment Richmond and Port are looking likely and Essendon are starting to look scary. Then there's the Saints, who are napping but will awaken soon you'd think. Then there's us. Five teams vying for three spots, but it can become four if West Coast start to falter. So yeah, Go Cats tonight.

Geelong EASILY have the best fixture out of any club every year. It's not really their fault, in fact they've done extremely well off the field to get to where they are. But facts are facts. 8 home games a year with 95% crowd support, tricky winds and narrow dimensions is an enormous advantage and on a par with the interstate team home grounds. The one hour drive is tricky too - clubs have tried doing it on the day, others stay the night before, with little success. Then they get another 9 or so games in Melbourne where they have a large fanbase and is easily accessible for locals. Crowds are often 50/50 or weighted in Geelong's favour and the grounds don't pose any 'foreign' conditions. Then they travel 5 or so times like all Vic teams do. They have a significant advantage over Victorian teams, whose home games are often neutral, and interstate teams, who travel every second week. It's little wonder they have never finished in the bottom 4.

Yze_Magic still posts on Demonland under another alias. 95% sure of that. Not familiar with Hibby Hibbert but may he rest in peace. Hope he got to see Watts' magnificent goal on Monday as his final MFC memory.

Another 4 votes in the AFLCA. By count that's 8/11 games this year he's gotten votes. A teenager.

We're 6-2 with Lewis and 0-3 without. I dunno, he was poor today but I'd still do the trade.

Technically a throw I think. The ball bobbled in the air then he punched it.

Yep, referring to his poise at the end to seal it. The other Jack? I'm a bit disappointed by his output this year. Maybe Oliver is stealing his 'first dibs' possessions but he's well done on beast mode Viney of 2016.

Full credit to the Dees supporters at the ground today. A few (deserved) boos for Howe but none for Lynden Dunn, and they even gave him a standing ovation for his courage when he went off towards the end. Good respect shown to a loyal servant of our club.

Cometh the hour cometh the Jack. Still some obvious flaws in the team but at 6-5 with Hogan and Gawn to come back in, you couldn't ask for much more.

I don't think that's true. I seem to remember Roos stating publicly that McCartin, Petracca and Brayshaw were the clear standouts and we were always going to take the two St. Kilda didn't. I think Emma Quayle quoted our recruiters as rating McCartin first in one of her books (I read that second hand so don't take it as gospel). Certainly, Lever was in the mix and would have been a better pick than Gus but that's hindsight for you. In fact if we had our time again I'd be taking Petracca and Peter Wright, not Lever. Hopefully Weid ends up being the goods because Charlie Curnow is well ahead of him at this point in time too. Taylor has done an excellent job but you can't get them all perfectly right. We also took Salem ahead of Cripps. Not a bad decision per se, just not the perfect one.

I think GNF has a point but it's also worthwhile to keep tabs on posters' strike rates from a personal view point. My opinion is that GNF plays the percentages and has got a few right over the journey, but has gotten a fair few wrong too (Dangerfield, Kennedy, Prestia were all coming to us apparently, plus this latest Hogan tidbit). The only time I've ever seen Dangerfield to Melbourne grow traction was on here and that was largely due to GNF and another poster (Generation Dee) who has since proven to be full of [censored]. But let's face it, he's probably no different to a lot of journos who get some inside intel but for the most part are guessing (see Josh Schache as the most recent example). For these playing along at home, Chook in Perth and gwsampo have much higher strike rates. Good to see Dunny having none of the disrespect Adams showed us. I still remember his classy farewell message when he was traded in October and am happy to see him do well. Hopefully no boos for Dunny on Monday. Howe is a different story. https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/06/09/he-threw-me-under-the-bus-says-dunn/

I pretty much said the same thing as I did here. Gameday threads are a no-go zone and POST MATCH threads are frustrating to sift through. For those who have been hyper-critical of Lewis' game, he got 4 votes from the coaches and to the naked eye it looks like he would have received those votes from both of them.

Anyone with expertise on the matter feel free to weigh in. The doctor quoted Hogan as 4-8 weeks when it was diagnosed. I'm guessing he was thinking of Jesse's mindset and mental demons rather than the operation itself taking that long to heal? If he plays against Collingwood it would be only 3 weeks or so. No rush of course but I hope he does. Imagine 70,000 fans roaring when he takes his first mark and 22 red and blue jumpers swamping him after a goal. It would be the best story of the year to date.

Very interesting to see what other Demon fans think of this place...I have to say I tend to avoid the first couple of hours after a loss. Haven't read a gameday thread since people were calling Petracca the new Toumpas IN HIS FIRST GAME. The first few pages of post match discussion are normally at least 40% negative unless it's a truly magnificent win. I don't bother reading it at all after a loss. But there are some great posters here which make me keep coming back!

Just to join in on the backslapping in other threads, Wiseblood is my nomination for best Demonland poster. Great thread. Best game so far: Adelaide but I took more satisfaction in beating St. Kilda. Worst game so far: North, we played like [censored], Ben Brown predictably carved us up, umpiring was disgraceful and Cunnington's a thug (and Higgins soft as butter for going at a guy on the deck). I really hate those guys even sans Harvey. Most improved player: Oliver. He was good last year but is already pushing the elite bracket and in AA discussions. Moving at the speed of light. A player who needs to lift: Jack Viney. Numbers are way down on 2016. Who is currently leading the Bluey?: Probably Oliver but wouldn't surprise me if N Jones and Hibberd are close. Best recruit: Hibberd. Lewis has been mildly disappointing but still pretty good. Hannan has been a revelation. But still Hibberd. Will we make the finals?: No. Our inability to make the MCG a fortress, if anything it's become a bogey ground, will lead to our downfall.

Demonland needs a dislike button.

His first half had me convinced he still had shares in the Hawks and we were in for a long three years. But he was very important after half time behind the ball. I think it was him that gave the boys a spray at half time before going off. Whatever he said worked! But I do agree with the general consensus, his 'elite kicking' is actually quite inconsistent.

It's funny because I shared your bemusement when Rohan Connolly left him out of his top 10 recruits earlier in the week. But the same Rohan Connolly made a snide remark about Hibberd missing All Australian in 2014 in article #1 and also included him in his 2013 midway AA squad for 2013 in article #2. So this would confirm that Hibberd indeed was a bloody good player at Essendon in the eyes of Essendon fans at least. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/allaustralians-a-team-brimming-with-new-faces-20140915-10hakg.html http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1570050/half-a-season-produces-team-full-of-talent/

And not just that, his poise, decision making and skill are all elite. A good interceptor too. When the McDonalds get it and even Frost, Hunt and Lewis, there's the occasional heart in mouth moment. But when Hibberd gets it you know you can relax. Gun.

Tyson was very good, I suppose 'prolific but wasteful' or 'slow and ineffective' templates didn't quite fit today so 'a front runner' had to be inserted. I do agree with the rest though. Lewis played the classic yin yang game. We do hold Oliver to incredibly high standards. 35 touches from a teenager is crazy but it's really just business as usual for Clarry. I don't think today was in his best 5 performances of the year. He's a freak.

I have no doubt if we brought 4 quarters every week then we'd be a chance for the flag. Unfortunately we're still yet to see it but 1.5 was enough for an easy win. Jones and Harmes were the catalysts. Hibberd is elite even when the chips are down, and biased [censored] Rohan Connolly didn't have him in top 10 recruits for the year. LOL. Hannan is a winner, a bit like Breust at the Hawks, just bobs up for goals every week. I'll [censored] take that win. Halfway through the third and it was season over, now it's alive again. Goodwin-ball has it's flaws but it's like a tsunami when it works.

FWIW I was at the Shanghai game in 30 degree heat and the Suns were absolutely horrendous. Stick the conditions and the break excuses up your clackers. We play for 4 quarters we win. We play for 2.5 or 3 like we seem to do too often, and we might not. FWIW it's a sorry state of affairs when our home ground is the worst ground to play at. Look at our results this year in order of performance. Crows (away), Saints (Etihad), Cats or Dons (both Etihad), Blues (MCG), North (MCG), Freo (MCG), Hawks (MCG). A worrying trend is emerging and for that I'm thankful this game is in Alice Springs.

Vandenberg's lower body must be made of glass. Had serious injuries every year since joining us. He looked pretty good at stages in 2015 and is clearly a coach favourite but his days are numbered IMO.