John Demonic

Carn Sunny boys

....playing against Kosi

Gawn/LJ ruck combo with sprinkles of Weid to get him involved imo. 40/40/20 perhaps. We continue covering our bases for the future.

Just an idea but I really loved the ruck rotation tonight with Jacko and Weid, not only for Jacko's game to get some continuation that helped him gradually get on top of BIG O around the ground, but for Weid to get involved and gain some confidence. SO when Gawn comes back, how about a 3 way ruck rotation. It was great to see Jackson in the ruck more, but it's a stop gap, there's no way he has the endurance to keep this up consistently for the next 12 weeks imo, so we need to work on a schedule that keeps Jackson and Weideman involved around the ground and up forward. So they can hone both crafts for the finals and the future, LJ develops forward craft, Weid develops ruck craft. It's a Delicate balance, but if LJ is sticking around, he will be the main ruck within 2 years possibly even next year, so he can bide his time. Gawn in ruck, Jackson half forward, Weid forward with BBB Jackson ruck relief, Gawn forward with BBB, Weid bench Gawn ruck, Weid forwards with BBB, Jackson bench Weid Ruck, Jackson forward with BBB, Gawn bench Gawn/Jackson ruck again, Feel of the game dictates who rucks/plays forward/sits on bench Or something along those lines anyway,

I like the placement of "supposed" because it clearly refers to the media. Anyone that's seen Fremantle replicate our defensive systems and restrict oppo's to 50-60 points knows they are out biggest competition. And those that have compared Geelong forward line to everyone else's, and now seen Chris Scott talk of loading, should be prepared for them to be up there too. There was a reddit post earlier this week with a Brisbane fan [censored] on Todd Goldstein for 'wasting his career' - I kindly remarked, that Toddy has played in 2 prelims in 2014/15, how many have these Lions players played in? 1. Three years at the top and North are still ahead of them for their achievements. So yeah, not to [censored] too hard on them, but they are in serious danger of squandering this window and coming out of it with close to nothing, if they can't step up and be a true contender like their ladder position often reflects. We all like Fagan, but maybe they need to shock the competition and appoint somebody else if they go out in straight sets or get demolished in a prelim again.

Are you sure LJ isn't wearing high heals? Silliness aside, Let's hope he re-signs and keeps growing. The ceiling will get even higher for him.

"I don't know why you're tipping Melbourne" with a laugh, and then tipping Brisbane "to win convincingly" - Just like he tipped every team 'to get it done' against us in each final last year 🤦‍♂️ Ross The Toss predictably sour that we got it done last year, still.

Who's going to hand us a few goals from ill-disciplined 50m penalties at a crucial moment in the 3rd now?

He's stated on numerous occasions he wants to be a one club player and has turned down Geelong advances. I don't think he's in the picture. We should be targeting Hayden Young & Rory Lobb (and any pick swaps to be more equitable) or Pick 1 & Jack Darling. Both players can play forward and ruck

There's an alternate universe out there with a 2021 pre-finals bye, with the Lions kicking straighter in their WB semi, Daniher kicking 8 on us without May in the side and a 70 page "We should've taken Daniher over Brown" post on DL. 🤮

Correct. No contract to see Club is moving him on

Don't worry, you'll also have an army of outraged men climb out of the woodwork when a girl you're hitting on at a bar pulls your pants down and exposes your willy on camera

The type of company JDG's keeps, clueless about the inappropriateness of someone unconsentingly exposing her (or anyone else) breasts in public. News at 6

Are you cranky because your prospective employers keep googling your name and rejecting your applcation because of your past record?

If Jackson was to leave, the solace (and denial) I'd take on, would be that he hit his ceiling in a GF, even at the young age of 20,. How? Because the opposition were completely unprepared for it - Gawn takes an extended rest at the most crucial period of the game, and this unicorn draft freak, Luke Jackson comes in and his follow up allows us to have an extra mid and exit the centre bounce at an advantage that nets us 3-4 crucial goals - a lightning strike if ever there was on. Much like with Boyd, the true Norm Smith of 2016, Sydney were completely unprepared for Boyd to go into the ruck and dominate - Jacksons legacy might be just like Boyds - Helped turn a game, because the opposition did not do their homework and prepare, because there were bigger threats to prepare for - and he got under their guard. And I probably will be completely wrong about it, but who knows - maybe what we get for Jackson in a trade if he wants to go- will even the ledger, or put us ahead with what we get/draft: because Jackson was simply a lightening-in-a-bottle freak of nature that dominated for a 5-10 minute patch of 1 grand final that ends up defining his career, because he never reaches the same heights over in WA. Haha. Let's hope so, if he goes.

If we prepare well and aren't hit too hard by injuries, we should finish top 2. But I take your point, I reckon after last year, we can win from anywhere in the top 8. But the variable will be how much of a rest the GF/Prelim opponents will have. And are we back to the round 24 bye, or do we have another pre-gf bye?

Unfortunately this topic only seems relevant if we're trading Jacko to WCE for their pick.

TMAC streaming out of the centre square from the ruck contest and giving the handball to GREENY for the open goal and one fingered salute in the 3rd quarter of last years grand final. What a funny image.

Not sure how much credibility he has now that he is pursuing the hot take media route after flopping as a coach.

19-3 or 18-4?

I think in the long-run, we can be better for the period without him if we learn some alternative strategies that stand us in good stead. As you said, marking inside 50, looking for the more precise option, rather than the safer - When he returns, the habits we form, if we use this period wisely, will fit Max back into the forward line as 1 of 3-4 options in space, rather than be the centre of gravity again for a dump kick. Also centre clearances, we may not be as proactive and thus can work on reading the other ruckman, being more defensive and corralling opposition, When Gawn returns, we perhap can combine the two approaches and be far more resilient to opposition momentum swings - switching our approach to contain. The players that step up over this next month will be getting some invaluable experience that could Also stand them in good stead. Weideman and Jackson most notably. This could actually be a catalyst for Weid as a ruck/fwd, if we go with him, and boy does he need something like this for him to step up - and Jackson of course, gets to hone his craft further. I'm sure the next month will be very difficult, and we will be debilitated, but i think we match up well enough with Bris/Geel to come out even or win both, and we should be professional enough to just get it done over in Adelaide. What might help us is that I'm sure Bris/Geel have been doing 9 months of homework on how to beat us with Max lol, and that gets thrown out the window and introduces an element of randomness to our encounters, which could benefit us, in a weird kind of way. It's not going to be something sustainable, but it could be the kind of chaos that gets us a much needed win to keep us in the top 2 calculations. There was a segment on Wednesdays 360 with Montangna talking about how our mids have reverted to the 2019 style of bombing it long from 1 or 2 steps, instead of doing what we were doing earlier in the season and last, and running extra yards up to the 50-60 range and pin-pointing passes into the 50. Apparently Trac/Oliver for every inside 50, have only hit 2 marks out of 50 or so entries. I know the loading topic is floating around so far, but this seems like one aspect of our game we can tweak pretty easily that will radically help with the marks i50 if we are fit enough to improve there. Just trying to be positive about it though, this could all get thrown out the window if we don't respond positive/creatively to the opportunities there for the taking in the next month.

Even though we hate to admit it, the domino effect Steven May's omission has had on us defensively and collective-defensively is an issue we will only be able to assess over the next few months. And tbh I look forward to it. Rance went down and Grimes stepped in. May goes down, and no one steps up, we lose 3 games. But If May comes back in, and we instantly click back into gear and win the premiership over the next few months, then it won't be a slight on us, but a recognition that we are truly living in the time of a great CHB, the likes of which a player can be compared to a Wayne Carey on the defensive end. If you told a North supporter in the 90's, No Carey no North, they'd answer with "No [censored] Sherlock" - I really don't mind if this was us, for May. Long way to go yet. Obviously.

I'm not too worried about Lever. He is absolutely at the mercy of what happens up the ground. Sure he makes a few glaring mistakes that stand out, but so would all players that aren't at the AA level of a Steven May type - Perhaps we need to re-adjust our expectations. Lever is only 15 months older than Weideman, when you consider how Lever has basically kept his spot in the team on merit for the past 5 years, that's a pretty extraordinary effort. The real story here is not Lever, but how fantastic Petty has been over the past season and continues to grow, overshadowing Lever. If we can get May & Petty back into the team as our foundations down back, then we can worry about whether Lever or Smith take that 3rd tall role, and how much/if any of their mistakes are mitigated by all of our other key pillars.

That was infuriating until he actually saved it. I honestly thought the dancing on the line would prevent him from being nimble enough to jump left or right. Whatever works!