Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Yes agree, but over the course of a season it's not a huge gap to peg back either, particularly when you consider that when many of the teams currently above us are yet to play many or any games against quality opposition, playing closer to the first full 17 rounds of the draw should even that up to an extent. If you were sitting two games and percentage out of the top eight with 6 weeks to play out of the season, that's a position you would very much still give a team in good form a chance of pegging back.

I honestly feel that if (and from our season to date, it's a BIG if) we can somehow dig deep tonight and beat the Swans on their home deck, then knock off St Kilda next week that with a bit of form and confidence we would be a reasonable prospect of beating Richmond. From there our season could be back on a reasonable course. Sounds far out, but stranger things have happened. I recall us winning one very much against the grain in Adelaide Vs the Crows in 2017 and I think everyone expected us to loose to both West Coast and GWS in the run home last year. So tonight I watch I hoping, without fully expecting to win, but also that beating the Swans should also be well within the capabilities of the list we have. It's got to turn at some point doesn't it?

Whilst I was personally never in the camp of expecting that the MFC would sail through to a grand final birth with ease this year, it would be a huge understatement to say that I've been disappointed in our performances so far this season. Putting the disapointment of going zip and three so far asides, I'm not yet prepared to say we are cooked. Looking for reasons without trying to stray into the area of excuses, our preseaon preperation was rubbish and I think that has had a clear impact on our system and perhaps even fitness levels nessacery to complete in the modern game. We were hit with a number of injuries to key players like AVB, Hannan, Lewis, J Smith, Garlett, May on the cusp of the season that has significantly impacted our game style and particularly our ability to score. If I try to look less emotionally at our performances to date, Geelong game asides, we have been in compeditive positions against two potential top 8 sides, whilst playing some of the worst football in the club's recient history. Despite what the statistics say, we currently sit just two games/8 premiership points outside the top 8 and only 4 games behind mooted top 4 aspirants Collingwood and Richmond. Whilst I don't see much of a future for our season playing at the level we have been, I really struggle to see how we could play that badly for the entire season. If we can correct the defensive issues that have plagued our season to date, I still see pleanty of opportunity for us to build our season once we are playing a much better brand of football and hopefully start getting much closer to a full list to pick from. I think we have a more mature list than many of the teams presently over achieving as well as one a younger one than teams loaded with old fossils like Hawthorn (and possibly Collingwood - thinking of Sidebottom and Pendlbry), both of which could drop away as the season progresses. i.e. it could possibly get worse, but will more likely get better for us from here. I refuse to accept the utter pessimism and negativity surrounding our team and individuals within it. Even if we ultimately end up missing finals this season, I'm still hopeful that we can use it as a season to keep building into the future ...but I'm not at that point yet. CARN THE MIGHTY DEMONS!!!

Oscar's form has done a 180 from where it was this time last year. At the start of last season he was standing up and putting in good games against the likes of Hawkins, taking good intercept marks and generally looking like it had clicked. But right now, I agree he looks like he is playing at the level above where he should be. Time to go back to Casey and find whatever confidence, despiration, attitude that he is presently lacking? The only other thing I would add is that right now Oscar is being asked to play the senior key position back role, where as previously he mostly had T Mac or Dunn down there to shield him from that. The lesser ability to have a spare man in defense is also hurting Oscar and or defensive structures generally and it's fairly clear we haven't adjusted well.

I grant that Frost was badly out marked by a smaller opponent that one time, but it happens, Nev when he is in form does it for us all the time. Frost does have a natural instinct to run off his man to create a contest and when the rest of the team isn't in disarray defensively, he does it more sparingly and it comes off well. But over the past three weeks, the opposition has had so many free players streaming down that Frost has been forced of his man to put some pressure on opposition players in dangerous space with no one else in coowee. If didn't do that in those situations, no doubt pleanty here would be having a go at him for staying on his man and letting the opposition walk unpressuresd into open goals. The defensive system of the whole team is up the creek at the moment as evidenced by that awful defensive effort of Hibbard allowing such an easy mark in their forward pocket.

Needs to work on his step shot routine. Had he kicked a few of the realitively regulation shots he has and we come pretty close to winning the game.

6. Brayshaw 5. Gawn 4. Harmes 3. Hunt 2. Lockhart 1. Weid (thought he clunked a few good grabs, nailed his set shots and was competitive in the ruck) Unlucky Melksham

Surely Jade Rawlings can be seconded back to the AFL side to straighten our backline out whilst we sort out a full time replacement for Chaplin. I know we want the Casey guys to be well coached and get right development, but the AFL takes precident in my view. Furthermore, I understand that Rawlings probably has senior coaching ambitions of his own, but it seemed incredibly half baked to move him out of his function as backline coach at such a key juncture of our development.

Oscar is playing like rubbish no way to argue against that. But he has the capacity and potential to play much better than he is at present. Frosty was our best key backman last night and I do think he is doing his job. Our defense as a team was atrocious again last night. So many loose Essendon players that took easy marks and receives in defense, which wasn't Frosty's fault. I do wonder if we should just keep it simple and go man on man.

Who here is with US and who is agains us? 3 games we can do it fron here.

When °Nev Jetta gets smashed front on, play on no free kick and then some of the BS that Essendon scored goals off? That's absolute rubish. And some of the crap they scored from. FFS. AFL lift your game.

Get real mate

Umpires have F U C K E D this game

Umpires are a discrace.

This game is gigged

Great sides are full of vanilla players that play the team game. Besides, I don't think either of them are vanilla anyway. Josh is hard and tough-as, which is exactly how we should be playing and I've been pretty impressed with Cory's skills. Time will tell.

I would also like to see him get a game Drunkn, but for now I'd rather he kept developing his form and game at Casey and banning the door down for senior selection. I fear that if he is bought into our current unsettled side, he could become a whipping boy and scapegoat for a possibly bad team performance. Also a need to give Weid a good chance to establish himself within the side and I'd be confident given our present match committee's policy that Declan would be given similar opertunity when his time comes. Liked what I saw of Declan during JLT and just love it when those from the less well trodden pathway into AFL, but full of desire and determination make it as players.

Agree 100% Why it took so long astounds me. It ain't rocket science is it.

Except I don't think the bomb it long to a contest every time is actually the game plan Goodwin and Co have been trying to get us to play all along. Late last year the players started talking about lowering the eyes more headding inside 50, then started executing that well and that's when we played some of our best footy in the run home and the first few weeks of finals. I actually think the bomb it long to a contest is an undesired interim state of our game plan when we are not executing right, rather than the desired intent of the game plan.

Quite happy with the in's this week. The key things I think Josh Wagner certainly offers is hardness and good defensive intent. He is also quite quick and willing to take that game on creatively by foot. I thought Cory Wagner was pretty stiff to be dropped from our Rd.1 performance to be honest. Won enough of the ball as a defender and I thought his use of it was pretty good too.

Completely get your perspective about the difference in levels between full blown cyber bullying and what would more accuratly be described as character assassination or harassment, but personally, I think acceptance of one somewhat opens the door to the other. Why should socioty accept that it's ok to openly and publicly degrade others just because it's electronically communicated and not in person or on a more regulated form of media. I think the point of the MFC campaign is to encourage people to self regulate, but I think we also need to stand up and demand that the social media giants lift their game as well. Far from encouraging civil interactions between their users, the social media giants actually quite actively tolerate a high level of anti-social behavior on their platforms, because it often results in higher levels of interaction with their 'service', which they can then use to sell to their advertisers. It's a rotten unethical business model which needs to be rectified.

Must we set such a low standard for what is considered acceptable abuse of someone. I'm no prude, but I can understand why such abuse online could be more damaging than say a few non-racial expletives hurled over the fence during the heat of battle. In my view it's time Facebook, Twitter and the like faced up to their responsibilities and applied far more heavy handed approach to censorship on their platforms to stamp out what is more anti social, abusive behavior than the social interaction they proport to enable and promote. These platforms can and do set their own terms and conditions, so they shouldn't feel constrained by an obligation to enable totally free speach. Though I sometimes mildly loath the low threshold applied to abusive language here on Demonland, that means I can't use words like [censored], without it being censored, I also respect and appreciate the level of moderation applied to significantly limit the anti social abuse of those in the broader football comunity and my fellow posters. Facebook, Twitter etc could learn a lot from the Demonland moderators about how to conduct an ethical and responsible social media platform.

BTW, I think it's fairly unthoughtful of some on this thread to be so outright dismissive of the cyber bullying problem. Many who level hurtful comments at others on social media get to do so with a cloak of anonymity or the safe distance that being on the end of a keyboard puts them from their target. Such anonymity isn't afforded to the players on the receiving end of a barrage of such hurtful comments, the scale of which the ordanary person will never likely experience. I could well imagine that after a while or even in a moment of emotional vulnerability the effect of social media comments could become deeply personal. I know I have personally made some less than nice comments about individual players etc on this forum and this short clip from the players as well as the broader conversation around hatered and toxic language used on Facebook being discussed right now has given me some food for thought as to how I could do better at times. Similarly in the context of young people, the ease at which bullying could be amplified to a much broader audience with social media and intrude on life 24/7 beyond the school yard compared to in days gone by is quite scary. All well and good to say just stay off it, but social exclusion is a form of bullying in it's own right. When rightly or wrongly 'social' media is the medium for socialisation between young people today, anbsence from that platform is to be somewhat socially excluded. I'm quite proud that the AFL has taken a stand on social issues of importance in Australian society, think there is a role for it to play given the prominent part Aussie Rules plays in Australian culture and I hope it continues to lead on social issues.

Well after 10+ years of being on the butt end of beltings, getting smoke blown up their proverbial all off season and now promptly being cut down at by many after just two games, you would hope that the MFC have developed some good resilience over the years and have strategies to deal with the kind of Fugazi that comes with our territory. How good would it be if we can run through that banner on Friday night, symbolically smashing through the negativity of the past and turn around our 2019 seasons fortunes and decades wallowing in the mire. We can only know for sure in retrospect and it's totally in the hands of those pulling on the red and blue jumpers, but I dare to dream. COME ON THE MIGHTY DEMONS Look forward and act with the ethos of big Jimmy "Whatever it takes"

The guy whow is available that would really like to see in the side that is Petty. He has competed well and looked sound defensively and good offensively as well. But I don't think now is the time to bring him in. I think we need to give the core of the side time to settle and build cohesion and cofidence otherwise we are just making it hard for the rest of the guys that are in there to find any system if key personal keep changing. Rightly or not, I get the impression that Oscar is seen as a bit of a general in the backline, so taking him out of that when we are somewhat in chaos could be a recipe for disaster. Added to that it wouldn't be great for Petty's confidence and development to be bought into a side under siege. I'd give it another few weeks and hopefully once we get rolling more again, I recon we could even bring in Petty as the third tall option (depending on how long May is out for) and let each of our key backs make their case for a continued spot in the side from there. I wouldn't be averse to bringing back May and Lever through the VFL either - bringing back underdone players too fast has killed us over the last few years.