45 minutes ago, BDA said:

would have preferred a Lions loss but a close win next best outcome

I'll be back on the death riding bandwagon next week. Go Eagles

Next weeks game against the Eagles is a really vexed one.  If they win another and North don't, it puts North in pole position for Reid.  I can imagine there's a remote chance Eagles trade multiple picks for pick 1, because they both need a deep rebuild and should be wary of the go home factor, but I don't see either of those being such a factor for North and think there's Buckley's chance they'll trade Reid for multiple picks.

Think we actually need Freo to win next week.

25 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Do we NEED to finish 2nd ??  There's no accolade. You DO get a home final..... but at the cost of going hell for leather to get there..  Whilst not often exhibiting tempo during a game perhaps we are with the season itself.

Its a marathon...  you have to pick when.to GO..  

Its interesting..  id be saving a little in the tank for week 1  Sept.

We were gassed by then last year....msybe another thing we've learnt.... we do seem very keen about "learnings" ..

 

Agree BB, but conversely in 21, we came home with a wet sail and played some brilliant attacking football in the last half dozen or so game and were able to really attack finals brimming with confidence.

BTW, I don't think these are mutually exclusive mindsets.  I think the emphasis is on playing the way we want to, in order to set ourselves for finals and if we finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th at the end of the home and away, it's somewhat irrelevant as you point out, it's finals when we want to be really hitting our straps.  Finishing second might just be a byproduct of getting into the sort of form and game style we want for finals.

19 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

I have a peculiar feeling we're setting ourselves for the 1st QF....and against the Pies....  that i think is our best crack at the Flag..

In that view we might be 'trialling' a few more modified line ups if for no other reason than the observe the checks and balances of the group.

The finals campaign as we all observe is a different kettle of fish.  If all goes well for us it might be but 3 games.  But we need contingency through all of that. There may occur the necessity for a bit of plug and play if injury surfaces. 

Tomorrow's game is an excellent opportunity for refining the optimum mix whilst maintaining fitness through the list.

Those that trot out will be expected to.do the job on Norf...to do the things they've trained and to do them better and better with each outting. 

I always seem to have my stomach in knots with Joel playing a full game but his efforts recently have been stalwart. Can.he apply same for 4/4 atm ? That's a q the fd are im sure asking and for Smith to answer. Again this game a good one for that to be tested.

Dusty comes in and out of games now. His best is brilliant. It will test anyone. I think Riv is growing in leaps and bounds...but he'll still be handed lessons... he's still young ( really ) 

Woey... this season.is a bit of a blooding. We need to temper expectations.... he might or not get many more munutes this year but another full preseason.. will help immensely.  He's on his way.  Already a handy backup.

Milky...  love his footy..  This end of the season and finals is made for him and he for them. 

Hibbo.. has qualities a few others dont.  He'll be played when suits.

Brodie...  no idea really. I can only guess the real plan for him over this and coming years is not quite what we thought...though i sense some revision by the club ( and him ) has occurred.  Time will tell...  Have a sneaky he might be cleverly instrumental during finals.

 

Think Brown is now Back up Benny.   Not to be discounted as we need players who CAN step in.

Harmes, Spargo, Jordan are role players...not all roles every week. ....and with Clarry coming back ( some point....one day ) ...well theres only so many deckchairs you can shuffle.

Will watch the game with much interest...more about the HOW we go about it than the scoreboard. 

Go Dees

Good summary BB.

I'm personally quite happy with the selections this week.  I'd thought Hibbo may have came in to rest McVee, but since Casey have the bye, Hibbo gets the week off to keep him fresh as I don't think he needs the validation of playing seniors every week and the evidence this season is that his aging body can do with a little extra TLC.

Really glad that Joel Smith is getting another crack at a full game.  Every time he's been bought on, he has competed brilliantly in the air and generally impacted well.  He did get a few full games back when our forward line was struggling, but the fact that we were struggling over all down there, together with the generally wet wether nature of the games made it had for him to really establish what he can do. 

Now that we have re-established some attacking capability, I think an important aspect (if/when Joel plays forward) is that our contested marking options of Petty, JVR, Melksham and Joel don't all go up at once and spoil each other.  Alternatively, I can also see Joel playing in the backline taking the role down there that Petty would have (probably more where Tomlinson and Joel have played in recient weeks) and Joel's form in this role has been quite strong and I feel he gives us both a great intercepting/contested marking option down there and also heaps of dash to rebound out of defense.

14 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

At times yes but his occasional shank kick can be forgiven for everything else he brings. Lever is generally reliable then we’ve got Bowey, Rivers and Salem. Is the poster referring to Brayshaw?

Brayshaw's shanks tend to be on the run in front of goal.  Comming out of defense, I feel he's generally more reliable, choosing short safer chip kick options, rather than biting off the risky kicks too often.

16 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

I saw Jon Ralph grade the Luke Jackson trade as an A+ for Fremantle. Absolutely ludicrous. Dogga is an absolute gun, no qualms about that, but virtually no player in the league is worth pick 4, 15 and 23. You could trade for two stars and an excellent role player with that draft capital! 

Saw a post on another channel during the week reflecting back on the Lever trade that we gave up 2 first rounders for and got back pick 35, which turned into Harry Petty (can just see the bounce crew doing their numerology thing on that).  The two first rounders ended up at Carlton through some on trade for someone and they got players who I forget, because I'm assuming they are just average, not great footballers.

I think we won the Lever trade even though we gave up two first rounders and Freo may still win this one.  Unless we can turn pick 4 into Reid and/or JT can work his magic yet again.  Give me a proven gun player over picks most days of the week, but all the same I'm also hoping our footy department and JT can spin their magic.  The most valuable part for us is Freo's low finish giving us an oppertunity to top up and keep building for sustained sucess while we finish higher up the ladder in premiership competition mode.

Preference is to finish 2nd and guarantee all finals in Melbourne.

Agree with the win anywhere, anytime mantra and if that eventuates, so be it, but I want us playing in Melbourne at the mighty MCG for the pure fact of letting the most MFC supporters be there in person.

How good would have it been to be there for all those finals along the way to the 2021 premiership, particularly the prelim against Geeeelong, which we need to replicate at the G against someone/anyone - I'm not asking for much!

2 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

One of the problems I see with the "resting" scenario is if the replacement performs well. For example, if Hibberd comes in for McVee and Hibberd plays very well, what happens the next week? Does McVee come back? Who for? I'm concerned about the psychological damage that can be done to players who are told they are being rested who fear they may miss out on getting back in time for finals.

Disagree to a point.  The managing players doesn't just need to occur over 1 week and a different player can go out to allow the rested player back in.

The sort of thing I'd envisage is perhaps Out McVee, In Hibbo against the Roos.  Perhaps Tomo goes out against Carlton and McVee comes back in.  The following week against Hawthorn I'd be resting Hibbo, because he does seem to be requiring that additional management this season due to his age not recoving from niggles so we'll, but I'd want him fresh, available and raring to go for finals, because he's a compeditive beast and proven finals performer.  Could probably make a similar case for resting Melksham against the Roos and possibly even Viney against Hawthorn if Clarry is back.

8 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I think they might take it away from club doctors and make it independent.

Sounds like a great idea all round.  I'm sure it must be a [censored] call for a club doctor to have to make anyway.

14 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Anyone else find it weird that Hardwick couldn’t win a close game and Mini can’t lose one?

I know the nickname didn't come from Richmond, but how demeaning to be calling your coach "Mini"

So they can't loose a close one.  Let's give them a smashing then - a Goodwin let's say!!

5 hours ago, beelzebub said:

I'd start drooling at the idea of anyone close to be a Swarta !!

The way he launches at contested marks and the odd screamer and the way he spins out of traffic at times, JVR is definitely the player we've had in the last 20 years that most reminds me of Swarta.  Just need to make sure his knees stay in good shape.

1 hour ago, Hopeful Demon said:

Well those last five minutes were like a walking heart attack but thank god we won in the end.

The biggest positive of today's game was our small forwards. Pickett looked very threatening and it was great to see Chandler get his confidence back.

It often amazes me how 'Chin' Chandler finds so much space in our forward 50 at times.

Is it because the opposition don't give home enough respect (which I find hard to fathom given his impact this year when he's on) or that he has such a great tank and work rate?

Or a bit of a combination of both?

I do also think his inclusion in the side stretches the attention the opposition can dedicate to Kossie in a way that Spargo doesn't right at the moment.

Not totally convincing, but a very important win today. Puts us two games and percentage clear in 4th position.

Really shows me how far the team has come.  In years gone by, we'd be the Adelaide, scratching for wins at this time of year just to make finals.

9 minutes ago, Mickey said:

He may not sneak an AA, but is well on his way to his second Bluey

I'd say Trac has Bluey in his sights, but I'd say just about every other MFC award linked to tenacity, the coaches and leadership award Jack has sealed up.

Agree that he's been huge when we most need him this year.  Absolutely love the bloke and I also think his leadership has gone to the next level.  He seems a little less overtly critical of others in his approach than perhaps he may have been in the past and more of just "get behind me boys, because we're going to fight this one to the death!"

The footy/war analogy has always been a bit tenuous, but I know if I ever did need to fight in the trenches in one, blokes like Jack are absolutely the kind you'd want to be in it with.

8 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

That means they’ll have to beat us. No thanks. 

Yeah, they don't have to do that, just think their still enough of a chance to win a few more games and put themselves above Freo.

Alternatively, if they beat us and we still finish 4th, I don't really care.  It's probably better for our draft hand to finish 4th than third anyway.

I forget - do Hawthorn still have their own 1st round pick?  I'd actually rather they finish higher and get worse picks as well.

Super important game for the Hawks to keep their season alive this afternoon.

So apparently this it the potential ladder at the end of the season if the Hawks win every game from here and other results fall there way.  I'll be cheering them all the way to September.  Hell, I'd actually love to face off against them in a grand final with our current squad instead of Brisbane as shown in the graphic.

...more importantly there's also a third spot for us riding on it too!!

So Grundy gets demoted for one week to the twos and the media imeediatley start to make the call he's being traded again - talk about knee jerk reactions and rumor mungering.  If it goes on for the rest of the season and Grundy doesn't play another game, this season (including finals), then I could understand the trade rumors.

Grundy and Gawn kicked 6 goals and 3 goals between them in of our practice matches this season against Richmond and St Kilda and the media were fawning all over it:

New ‘double threat’ ominous as Dees ‘blueprint’ emerges: 18yo’s ‘exciting’ glimpses: 3-2-1

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/live-afl-preseason-2023-st-kilda-saints-v-melbourne-demons-match-simulation-live-updates-score-stats-video-stream-result-news-blog/news-story/cf6ec8d981d2b8f225360391a22199ce

The fickle and headline attention seeking nature of the media make me sick at times.

Listening to Max on 774 last Saturday, he was still adamant that he was a believer in Brody and the shared ruck / forward scenario could work and was taking the kind of mature attitude about it that you wish the media would.  Yes, you would expect him to take that attitude as both captain and current team member, but I do love his unwavering commitment to the concept of making the team better and supporting his team mates.  In the circumstances I think we need to try every option we have to get more goals out of our forward line and both Max and Gawn have shown reasonable ability to take marks and kick goals throughout their careers, so it's no long shot at all IMHO.  Maybe we just need to think a little more outside the square and have Brody and/or Max running off a wing or half forward back towards goal and using their athletisim rather than starting deep.  Anyways, I'll be fascinated to see how it all eventuates, but it isn't a forgone conclusion where it ends up for me.  Who in the media saw us winning the premiership or even finals in 2021 at the start of the year?  Not many.

3 hours ago, Wizard of Koz said:

" We don't need another midfielder (Serong), We need a key forward."

This wins the  Prince Harry award for the thickest comment accompanied by such an authoritative know it all tone

 

Serong is an absolute star of the competition. It's akin to saying no to the fresh water cray thanks me wants fish fingers

The other thing to consider is that we have a bit of a glut of A and B+ grade mids in something like the 25 - 28 yo age bracket.

We need a few more future A grade mids comming through underneath in the 18 - 20 yo bracket, so we don't end up the Hawthorn/Eagles/Richmond in another 3 or 4 years.

20 minutes ago, JTR said:

Last 10 years...

 

 

One of the main things this table shows me JTR is Jackson asides, how long it's been since the MFC has had a top 10 pick.  For the sustained sucess of the team, it's so important we get more in and thus what a gift from God this season Freo are having is for us in the circumstances.

So, if we get Jason Talylor on the Demonland podcast again this year, it would be interesting to know how he's enjoying the death ride!!

In all seriousness though, I do wounder how it's actually influenced our recruitment planning.  I'm guessing that knowing well have at worst a pick somewhere in the Range 4 - 8 will give the team some great options to seriously think about going forward.

1 hour ago, FarNorthernD said:

Darcy is one of my favourite non Demons. He looks like a burger eating, cigarette smoking suburban footballer who has mistakenly wandered onto an AFL ground. I hope his injury isn’t bad

 

1 hour ago, Jaded No More said:

I feel the same about Charlie Dixon. 
Chain smoking tradie who has a four and twenty pie and a can of coke pre game. 

Probably about what every other teams supporter says about our captain - you know the bloke that had the ciggy in the car on the freeway on the way to training! 😂

8 hours ago, BrisbaneDemon said:

I’m off to U/8’s in Lions heartland this morning, wearing my demons jumper…. I cannot wait for the comments

 

Springfield or Coorparoo?

3 hours ago, praha said:

Collingwood supporters are especially vile when they're threatened. Their cockiness is nauseating. 

This one was just plain arrogant when the Lions were on top.  Fair enough go and support two opposition teams in your clubs getup as a 'neutral'.  But when you pick sides, then start overtly giving it to the loosing team when the other gets on top, I think that's pretty rank and arggant.

2 hours ago, layzie said:

Best impossible comeback/great escape wins I've seen live:

5. V Geelong Rd 6 2006

4. V Freo Rd 7 2008

3. V Bulldogs Rd 21 2005

2.V Carlton QF 2000

1. V Brisbane Rd 18 2023

Unless you are just talking about the ones you were there in person for, surely V Geelong final H & A 2021 and arguably V Bulldogs 2021 GF are up there?

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Hope we can get him a flag for 7 years of service for the club as it might be his final year

Won us a game against Carlton last year and again tonight.

Not to mention his 2018 H & A and brilliant finals series.

For similar sentimental reasons, I would have loved it if Jayden Hunt played in a flag for us and to a certain extent Tomlinson, not to mention Nathan Jones.

Still a realistic prospect for Jake if he can keep it up and an outside chance for Tomlinson (assuming the tram can bring home the chocolates  if course, which is always a huge ask).

18 minutes ago, kev martin said:

Oh, the Brissy supporters around me were feral when the siren went. So one eyed, I cannot believe they don't love good footy.

The ones near us were up and getting really arrogant I thought in the 2nd and 3rd quarters when they started to get on top.  After we came back and won the game I made sure I gave them a bit of a serve.

Some tool kid in a Colliwood jumper was also jumping up, turning around to verbal the MFC crowd and getting carried away when Brisbane got on top.  Hey buddy - remember Kings Birthday??