Demonated

I’m still optimistic about the future. Some of our handballs in the first half were the worst I’ve ever seen. Oliver and Harmes were ok. VDB tried, and Tmac was our only decent player early. We we will become better from here. Petracca needs to decide if he wants to be a gun or coast on talent. Maxxy was exhausted so I can’t fault him. Brayshaw and a few others couldn’t handle the ball but with experience that should change.

He has been our best player over our 2 finals games. It’s strange because he isn’t as talented as Petracca or Brayshaw, isn’t as consistently brilliant (and talented) as Gawn and Oliver. However, he is made for this. He played about 2/3s of the game and did more than everyone. For some reason I thought we were putting a cooked Viney in our team for finals hoping that he would be better than a fringe player. Turns out he is almost in career form while playing limited game time. The bloke is a machine.

I’m going to share quite a boring story with you all. I was too young to actually appreciate the ox in his prime but when you’re young you are impressionable. A family friend absolutely revered the bloke so I jumped on board as a young fella. I’ve since watched tapes of him and highlights online and realised he was on to something. He was poetry in motion, big, strong but graceful. That goal he kicked after doing the blind spin is one of the greatest plays I’ve seen. To see a player that I never got to fully appreciate still feel what I do now, particularly after the struggles he has been through and we have been through as a club is a heartwarming moment. Thanks for sharing and best of luck to us (and him & his family). We’ve got something real brewing here, enjoy the ride.

It will probably be at least 850,000 a year so a mil isn’t unreasonable. Someone will offer him that for sure. he is only scratching the surface with some of his abilities such as pace, marking and kicking. Every chance to be the games best mid in 2/3 years. Gawn, Hogan and Oliver are who we look to keep at all costs. Even if it means losing Petracca or Brayshaw in time which I hope isn’t the case. Viney isn’t going anywhere and we have Tmac and Lever locked down. That’s our nucleus.

What a game that was. Even contribution across the field. Viney was pretty ineffective but will be much better for the run. For those saying that Hogan didn’t impact the game, I must insist that you look at our goals again. He must have directly assisted 4-5 which is a ridiculous number. He has become a supreme team player this year. Last year really transformed his from a boy to a man. Our best player wth Max so far this year. We have momentum now. It’s a 50/50 game against Adelaide next week, win and we really set ourselves up for a good year.

What I remember reading was that Sylvia was taking the [censored] out of him a bit for being so outspoken so early. Laughing and carrying on, etc.

We got smashed by Port in his first game but yeah he was probably our best that game. I also believe it may have been that day he was being vocal and trying to get his teammates up and Sylvia mocked him for it as it was his debut. It’s no shock to anyone which one is now our captain and which one is out of the league and accused of stalking his ex I guess.

Just a few passing thoughts- Gawn was absolutely dominant. I know him and the midfield haven’t been in sync in our losses but he has been absolutely huge this year so far. Hannan, Fritsch and Spargo gave a different sort of energy, liked it a lot. Melksham is getting form back. One of our best kicks into the 50 and for goals. Omac is having some sort of season. He is raw, lacks visible coordination but he has done the job most weeks. Coming along nicely. Brayshaw was really encouraging in the centre square. Let him be part of the rotation and give Salem a more ‘loose’ role. Suits both of them. I’d also like to give credit to one of our best players so far this year in Hogan. He had a bad ankle, bad knee but still flew for his marks today and created a contest. His (new found) mental toughness allowed him to not be a liability despite his physical limitations today. Has really became a team player this year and is levels above where he has previously been despite it maybe not showing up on the stat sheet.

I'm not the most one-eyed supporter but have told friends that I believe Watts is the best kick to a leading forward in the game. When you say lowering the eyes are you referring to that? Watch Watts' passes vs GWS in the 4th quarter and Hawthorn in the 4th quarter from last season. More or less perfection where he drew the forward to the ball and didn't allow for any chance of an intercept while completing difficult options. Kelly is obviously better at full speed but others like Stephen Hill are his equal.

I still need to see more from him. Completely agree he is far tougher than he seems. Completely destroyed Jeremy Cameron in a one on one either last season or the one before which took me by surprise. I'm still not sold on him having star quality rather than James Kelly-level reliable contributor ability.

It's hard to say. We made the right move going for 2 quality players over a potential star because we seriously lacked AFL quality players at the time. Now that we have the foundation for a midfield we need a balance of players running through there and ironically, Kelly would be one of the best fits in the league. We are set for the next 5/10 years for inside mids, we need more run and skill. It all depends on what Salem becomes as a player. He has the talent but for a number of reasons, some beyond his own control, he hasn't contributed anything significant or consistently yet. I feel as far as Melbourne supporters go, Salem is the one we overrate the most. Someone like a Stretch or Kent is just as likely to have as good a career as him. I've seen posters claim that Salem could be our best player previously and I just don't see that ability in him. Potentially a very important cog however and I will support him and give him time to show his worth.

I loved watching that last year. It happened in the first game of the year against GC where Watts brought Hogan into the game in the last quarter and they both got us the win. Watts is as good as kick to a leading forward as there is in a game. I rewatched the final 10 minutes vs Hawthorn last week, Watts' kicking to a leading forward is near on perfect. Low, fast and cuts the angles beautifully. He also allows the forward to come meet the ball which a lot of AFL players haven't mastered and makes it much harder for defenders to intercept the ball. Hogan can also drag a defender out of the space when they both find themselves deep to allow Watts a mismatch as he often finds himself on smaller opponents for minutes at a time. Great dynamic between the 2.

He complements our other mids so well. Has what we lack in very neat kicking skills and line breaking despite not being lightning quick. As soon as he kicked the ball in the 4th I knew it would be a goal, there are only 2 other players on the list (Watts, Salem) that I would have had the same confidence with right then. Has slipped under the radar a bit but has contributed just as much as our other young more fancied players. Also quite tough for such a slight player, should be very important going forward.

Seems a bit strange calling our best player and leader a [censored]. He got rubbed out by a bit of stupidity which doesn't even matter anymore. Geez we are going to struggle without him. He, Gawn, Hogan and Jetta are not replaceable in our team. I'm wishfully hoping VDB is fit enough to take some of his midfield minutes in the next month though.

After Jones, Vince, Viney and Tyson we are still looking to integrate Brayshaw and Vanderburg into The midfield more. The. We have to consider that there may very well be cameos with Petracca and Garlett. I'd be more than a little surprised if he got many midfield minutes early days unless he has a massive preseason and somehow overtakes some of those names.

I already stated I didn't really want to get Parish, this was based on my own perceptions of his highlights and profile more than any inside knowledge. For this reason alone I'm happy we looked elsewhere. I like the way Oliver seems to play. He plays like a more physical version of Dom Tyson in packs with head and ball fakes to create space for himself and his kicking seems effective. He is also a very willing tackler and good overhead, but he may take at least a year before he has the aerobic capacity to play many midfield minutes. It isn't really too important because he won't be a dashing line-breaking player at AFL level I wouldn't expect, but he is the worst bouncer of a footy I think I've ever seen in the AFL. It's almost comical how bad he looks at it, but like I said, I doubt it will be much of a factor.

I'd say he would be leading our votes per game for sure. Has been our most consistent performer this year IMO. Him coming back has been so very important to the team. You only need to look at how Vince and Jones have performed since his return to see how his defensive game and contested work frees up other midfielders. His impact on our midfield goes well beyond stats. I thought he stalled a little in his 2nd year, but he has made amazing progress this year. Roos is a perfect coach for a player like Viney.

Carey is actually my favourite person in the media. He isn't influenced by everyone else like so many in the media but actually says what he believes rather than conforming to the norm. Not afraid to give anybody a bit of a serve but also gives credit when it's due. It's pretty encouraging when you hear his speak of Hogan, he is one of his biggest fans. For Hogan there is no better endorsement than from the greatest player to ever play the game (In saying that, another of the greatest in Leigh Matthews obviously was making comments without understanding Hogan's game).Hogan is so damn impressive because he along with Jeffy are the ones that the opposition are trying to stop, and with the exception of the Fremantle game, he has still managed to have an influence every game. Just knows how and when to impose himself through work rate and sheer aggression. He doesn't have senior forwards to hide behind but rather than shy away I think he relished the opportunity. He wants to be the man.

Probably my favourite player at the moment. In the video before his debut when Roos told him he was going to be picked you could see the sheer joy and relief on his face. It's great to see that getting a game meant so much to him and he has taken the opportunity with both hands, this is probably a dream that he had almost given up on. His physicality is unmatched in our midfield, Jones and Brayshaw have the same tenacity but not the same brute strength and power. In regards to his disposal, it seems fine to me. Not amazing but it's not a weakness and he plays within his limitations. Will only get better.

Correct his instincts in tight and in that contest in particular were spot on and he showed no signs of hesitation. Was exciting stuff and perfectly executed.

yea I agree I guess. This is Roos challenge this year. How many games does he have Vanders, Brayshaw, Newton and Toumpas play if they all keep their form and how many of those games are as sub. It's important that they all get used to being able to play 4 quarters of AFL footy. A mate who plays in the league spoke to me of how most players will actually lose some fitness during the season due to the extreme nature of preseason now. The amount of running they do significantly decreases during the season and the very best they can hope to is maintain current levels. I'd love to see Vanders play as much as possible though as he gives our side another element which isn't probably replaced by any player on our list who didn't play on Saturday. I hope he is only rested 2/3 weeks throughout the season and made sub rather than play at Casey/rested so we can get about 18 games into him.

That hit on Rischitelli showed the sort of intent that we have been lacking for a decade. There are plenty of big bodied midfielders going around but plenty of them actually don't throw their weight around. Vanders showed he is completely comfortable with the physicality of the AFL game immediately along with the ability to take an overhead mark and decent foot skills. I think he should play most/all games for us this year as he can set the tone for us physically in the middle at times. Jones is hard as anyone but he gets himself hurt more than hurting others while Viney is a beast but not many are going to be intimidated by him. Vanders gives us a more unique mix through the middle along with Gartlett and Lamumba providing the speed.

He was easily in Sydney's best and by far their best in the first quarter when it was still a ball game. I thought he was BOG at quarter time.I'll be very happy to see Vanders get a game, looks to have some exciting attributes about him. As someone said, I wouldn't bother about having a designated defensive forward as the suns have great rebounders. Will just have to be a forward unit defensive effort.