DemonDave

9 hours ago, mo64 said:

Baker played well against the Dogs, and was clearly in the best. But his stat line was inflated by junk time disposals in the last qtr.

My assessment of Baker is based on both this season and last. I thought he was a prospect when he first arrived. But now I can understand why he's not in contention for senior selection. Yes he provides an outlet, but his decision making is poor.

Baker was clearly the best player on the ground all day, he used the ball better than most going inside 50, and was pretty much our leading possession gatherer after every quarter, how you can conflate that to junk time stats is mystifying.

At one stage in the second quarter, he turned it over, was dragged, got on the headphones with Corrigan and hit his next 3 targets lace out, it was the best game I've seen him play all year at this level. He probably won't get a game next week and will be delisted at years end, but is really putting in some great efforts this year.

Of the others:

Woewodin continues to show his footy smarts, once he gets some more physical conditioning in he'll be a fringe player, possibly as soon as the pre-season matches next year.  Got ran ragged by Lachie Hunter at times but still contributed well.

Howes played on the city wing, and was ok given how much footy he's missed. He has a nice size to him for a mid and moves well, needs some more size to him muscle wise  still gets pushed off it a bit too easily.

Chandler had very few touches early on, then flashed into the game with aplomb kicking two quick superb goals, some games he struggles to find the footy yet still impacts the scoreboard, surely due another look at senior level.

Bowey was a slow starter also, but really found the tempo of the game after quarter time. Is probably behind Hibberd and Rivers at the moment but his composure stands out at this level.

JVR - From standing close to the action on Saturday, he hits the contests hard, still struggles to find ways to get involved at times, but all the signs are he will be our next key position forward. Was a pretty good contest between himself and Tim O Brien.

Dunstan was always at the coalface, but I thought would dominate more than he did considering the conditions suited his lack of pace. He and Munro were certainly up for a fight with their Dogs opponents, there were multiple spot-fires instigated by these two.

Hunt still drifts out of games too easily, even at this level, didn't see him after the last change so he may have been held over, but at one stage went on one of his mazy runs that makes you remember the sort of impact he can have on games.

Turner - Was given the task of rotating between all of the Dogs talls, Schache, Sweet/Martin when resting and Darcy. So had plenty of opponents to keep his hands full, was ok and started getting his eye in with some reading of the play, still needs another run at VFL before being considered again.

Brown - Not a great day for forwards, see also JVR, he got on the end of a tonne of leads, but it kept slipping through his fingers frustratingly all day, cant fault his workrate but got little reward.

Laurie - A poor day after his last start at Geelong. Struggled to get up and down the ground looked slower than usual, not sure if he was carrying an injury? 

McVee - Like Deakyn Smith, just flies under the radar and isn't noticed very often for mine, cant see any attributes that stand out, but then again others may, just an average half back flanker for mine. 

We certainly very rarely kicked into gear in this game, conditions were always going to be a great leveller, and the Dogs had quite a lot of experienced and/or premiership players in this side, so we'll take the win and move on.

Rosman has done his left hamstring,  straight down the race.

Really not sure what caused the dramatic fall off in intensity from Casey in that last half, could barely get the ball past the centre wing in that last quarter, every time Frankston kicked a minor score, Tomlinson would run his required distance and bomb it to an outnumbered Mitch Brown, only for it to come straight back the other way, was extremely frustrating.

Tommo was clearly the pick of the Dees, found plenty of it, read the play well and worked within his limitations to find others.

Hibberd will no doubt have 2 or 3 qtrs of VFL next week looked well short of a gallop, then likely a full VFL game, there's no way or need for them to rush him. Same with Salem you'd expect at least 1 VFL hitout next week against Sydney in the curtain raiser.

Bakers workrate was immense, it mystifies me how we've had Melksham planted on a wing the last two weeks in the seniors when Baker plays the wing role perfectly, I guess it was to get Milkshake to his 200 and he'll be straight back down to this level next week.

A lot of our senior listed players are 'goers' at this level still, Laurie was only average today whereas I have seen him play a lot better games a month ago, Deakyn Smith has flashes of class followed by going missing for 20 minutes, same with the newer guys McVee and Woewodin Jnr, although his smother was magnificent.

Daniel Turner is the one for me, he's still too underdone given his long layoff from that foot injury, but he has all the traits we require in a young key position player, it was good to see they gave him a taste at the top level against Carlton in that pre-season game, so they obviously can see that potential like Casey watchers have. I don't think he'll get a game at senior level this year but look forward to seeing him in the seniors next year.

Brown similarly to Baker has an endless workrate, he continually presents at this level, and could be considered as Weideman was again abysmal at senior level.

Elllison as has been mentioned was the standout of the Casey listed players, he looks like he could play if he gets drafted next week, hopefully for our sake he doesn't and we get to watch him develop for the rest of the year for Casey.

A workmanlike win in the end after that 2nd quarter dominance.

3 hours ago, chook fowler said:

Naughton was the only forward that did anything for the dogs and I doubt anyone could have stopped him. As a unit our backs were very good 

The irony that our best defender who was still fit in May was the one who got soundly beaten!

If we had to bring in a tall, I'd have Mitch Brown in, he's a meat and potatoes footballer but wouldn't be found out like a rookie would. Clearly they think that Turner will be the next long term key defender given the looks he had in pre-season but he's not quite ready yet..

Yes! Very important win.

Some great coaching moves tonight,  Shelley Heath completely blanketed Kearney. And I like Maddie Gays move to a half back role. 

What are the odds of the same player having a kick after the siren against the same opposition twice? Assume the free was for holding the ball against McGee she was pretty unlucky, but the result is the same both times!

Purcell looked like a really good midfielder to add to our depth. 
Zanker was almost non-existent.

Good coaching from Mick Stinear to move Daisy to defence and shift Bannon from the wing to deep in the pocket to offer another tall foil so Harris wasn't continually triple teamed.

West continues to improve, she just needs to have a bit more confidence in her own kicking, should never have handballed to Hore from only 15 metres out from goal. Hore was also quiet again.

Pearce of the Lauren variety continues to influence the coalface, her ability to make second efforts at ground level after a stoppage are first class, as is her ability to take the ball from the ruck and throw it on her boot (the latest example this week lead to Harris' 2nd). Parry tried it a couple of times when filling in  in the ruck too.

Gillard was pretty impressive for a first gamer, can only get better for the experience, her height will be welcome in an undersized backline since Downie retired. 

Hanks, Paxman both continue to rack up possessions and metres gained in the engine room, as does McNamara on a wing.

What a great win!

Well done as well @Macca !

Congrats to the Rams, worthy winners.

And thanks for organising the tipping comp again Macca, it keeps me engaged in all the other games results beyond my own team.

Bring on the next season and SuperBowl LVII in Arizona

Are you going to a pub to watch the game @Gorgoroth? 

Are there Rams supporters groups in Aus to watch it with?

I loved it in 2020 when I got to hang out with a bunch of 49ers fans and share the experience, even though the result didnt go our way, it was still a great day...Enjoy!

Bengals 21 Rams 24

Going to try and avoid the score at work and watch a replay when I get home..

22 hours ago, layzie said:

Not going to be saying a lot just yet as theres still a bit of heartbreak. 

Congratulations to @Gorgorothand the Rams, they played their hearts out today. Defense handled our run game and they found a little of their own. But when it came right down to the do or die moments for QBs to stand there and hit the dart board, Stafford made the plays and Jimmy didn't. Full credit.

Tartt's dropped interception will stick in the mind for a very long time..

Oh I'll have nightmares about that Tartt dropped sitter I know it, it was very uncomfortable watching the after match pressers as he was one of the ones that got called up. You just don't see that in the AFL where the 'villain' is made to stand before the press asking if he should've done better. 

Shout out to the 49ers faithful who still made LA a sea of red, despite the Rams attempts to block them from getting tickets.

Well done to the Rams though, they've loaded up with veteran talent (Von Miller, OBJ, Stafford) to try and get to a Superbowl and they've done it. I bet Stafford wished he got out of Detroit sooner.

It was another absolutely ripping weekend of playoffs, the Chiefs-Bucs game was a corker, for Burrows to get out of the pocket as much as he did and still find targets, it was great to see a young QB emerging, edging out another great young QB.

Bring on the Superbowl!

49ers 17 Rams 10

Bengals 14 Chiefs 28

And agree with everyone here, quite possibly the most exciting weekend of playoffs ever! 

KC ended up with the biggest winning margin of the weekend, but had to come from behind twice in the last minute to do so.

4 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

One of the greatest games of all time to end what surely is the greatest weekend of NFL games, ever?

There's no doubt the main reason the Bills lost is giving up a FG in 13 seconds.

But...

This might be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of the current OT rules. For Allen not to get to touch the ball after the game he had is just not how that game should have ended. Both defences were stuffed which meant too much rested on who won the coin toss. It shouldn't be that way.

Absolutely incredible game that one between KC and Bills, I only managed to watch the last quarter live, but what a quarter!
Simply one of the most amazing finishes to a game ever, had to feel for Josh Allen, threw what looked to be about 3 game winning TDs, and agree with you titan_uranus, and watching some of the post match reaction on youtube, the experts are calling for a College Style extra time system whereby both teams get a chance with the ball.

Some of the best quarterbacks in the league, on both winning and losing teams this weekend, flinging some beautiful passes in between the wide receivers numbers (a teardrop pass from Brady to Fournette in Q2, Stafford's darts to Kupp in that final drive, Allen and Mahones both in Q4), I love to see it. 

Was a very scrappy game at Lambeau,  as is to be expected with the frigid conditions. Special teams ended up being the difference. 

The niners first 11 offensive plays went for -10 yards,  yet somehow we went in at the break only a single score down.  The offence finally found a bit of rhythm in the second half,  but Jimmy G still didn't end up with a TD. At least he started hitting Kittle and Deebo more often,  and we managed to quieten the cheese heads. 

It was ugly, but it was winning ugly so I'll take that, that's 0-4 for Rodgers in play off's against the niners  now, onward to the NFC championship game!

OK Here goes, cant wait for these games some ripping match ups..

Bengals 21 @ Titans 10

49ers 27 @ Packers 36

Rams 10 @ Bucs 31

Bills 35 @ Chiefs 38

Some big score blowouts in the Super Wildcard weekend so far. Does anyone else think the extra week of games is too much?
As a Niners fan I'd say no now, am still riding that high from this morning, but it really seems some mediocre teams made the playoffs this year.

Was also talking to a friend who doesn't follow the NFL, but does follow AFL about how it all works, and we both wondered when the AFL may try and introduce a 'Wildcard Weekend' given less than half the team currently make the finals.

Raiders 7 Bengals 24

Patriots 27 Bills 30

Eagles 17 Buccaneers 41

49ers 17 Cowboys 14

Steelers 6 Chiefs 31

Cardinals 34 Rams 27

Great to see the girls back and hear the song played after the siren. 

Hanks and Birch were our best 4 quarter players, however it was Zanker that steadied the ship in that 3rd quarter when dogs had the momentum,  her ability to break not only tackles but lines was crucial,  she's just so good at evading in traffic. 

Thought Maddie Gay was the other pick of the mids, Paxman and to a lesser extent Mithen and Hore were down on their usual output. 

Carris was excellent on debut as a 2nd ruck, means we don't have to rely on Zanker for that any more,  and Loz was her usual excellent self as the #1 ruck. 

After a slow, patient, fluent possession game early on,  it devolved into a bit of a scrappy turnover affair late,  but a win and blowing off the cobwebs is banked. 

Chiefs, Packers, Colts

6 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

 

Oh and after the first play of the game, Ramsey punched Rapp in the face so our D is loving each other too.

Who wouldve thought this was going to be only the second most  bizarre thing from this mornings highlights, 

very unusual to see two team mates scrapping. But no, then Antonio Brown goes and completely loses it,

at least coach Arians made a quick decisive call to jettison the noxious person that Brown is.

Chiefs,  Bucs, Eagles

Niners, Rams, Buccs

Patriots, Cardinals, Cowboys

Jack Hutchins has retired from VFL and joined  Mansfield.

Cory Machaya has joined Cora Lynn in West Gippsland

Aaron VandenBerg has joined old Xavs

Plenty more player movements here: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/localfooty/locked-in-100-of-the-best-recruits-set-to-light-up-local-footy-in-2022/news-story/fe2de9dc666d8ea2986d4e305c296128

Of our list, we've got 17 players with 100 games or more, of which only 3 didn't play in the Grand Final (Tomlinson, Melksham and Dunstan).  So thats 14 out of our 23 in the GF, means they've generally played a fair bit of footy together now.

With Hunt and Fritsch on the cusp they should both pass the 100 game mark next year.

No-one on our list has played 200 games, Melksham on 195 may reach that, Mcdonald on 193 will.

11 guys on our list, including recent draftees, have played 10 games or less.

To me, thats a pretty well balanced list. We would have no real need to top up with experienced players in the next couple of trade periods, unless a lack of depth in any particular area is uncovered.

Source of stats: https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/tp-melbourne-demons?year=2022&sby=13