Rodney (Balls) Grinter

On 02/12/2024 at 19:52, Demonland said:

👀

 

Great kudos for @Demonland!

I'm assuming someone from this forum was the photographer with the scoop?

8 hours ago, Demonstone said:

I hope he doesn't copy Brodie Grundy's hairdo and sport the Sinneman bun.

🤦 improvised.

7 hours ago, adonski said:

Disco #10 how good

Party time!

Got big rapps on this kid.  Think he's hot alot of tricks and alot of heart.  Good choice for Gus's old jumper I think.  I don't think retiring it for years is nessacery if you've got a worthy recipient good to go.

For me, I think it's Sparrow and Petty that really need it.  By some stats I've seen, Sparrow seems fit enough and to be working hard enough, perhaps he just needs to be give a role and granted a bit more freedom to show off his attacking flair and be more damaging to reach his potential.  Petty playing backline would help.

Spargo probably also needs one to get a spot in the 22 and maintain relevance.  Salem is another.

Not that they reall 'need' it exactly, but I'd love JVR and Disco to go to that next level and become regularly damaging and dangerous key forwards.

An uninterrupted preseason would help several of these guys.  If we can maintain a fit list, then I think we could be in a position of having great depth again.  I'd really like to see us manage that situation by sufficiently resting players throughout the season to hit finals fit and fresh, as opposed to tired and banged up like in 2022 and 23.

10 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

Brock McLean

🤢🤮🤬

13 hours ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

Fitzroy All Stars is a community club specifically for Aboriginal players and competes in the NFNL.  Like any community club I doubt being coach would be a highly paid role.

Cool thanks for clarifying.  Recall actually going to one of their grand finals Vs Heidelberg back in the mid/late 90s with my old man and one of his indigenous work colleagues.  Was a pretty wild and rough affair both on and off the feild.  Somehow I had in my head that this might be a team from Fitzroy Crossing in Northern Australia where maybe their may have been a little more professionalism, although that is probably still pretty grass roots type level and budget.

Goes completely with Neville's character to be seeking out a role giving back to the comunity than merely financial gains.  Still a great opportunity for him to coach a team in his own right and maybe build towards that at the top level at some point.

On 21/11/2024 at 23:20, spirit of norm smith said:

Menths 39

Nev's old number for fellow indigenous backman - I like it.

Speaking of which, I missed this bit of news:

On 8 October 2024, Nev was announced as the senior men's coach of the Fitzroy Stars Football Club for the 2025 Northern Football Netball League (NFNL) season.

Also gets him away from that filthy Collingwood bunch, so I'm just as happy about that 

44 minutes ago, kryton101 said:

Maybe he just has had enough? Its a long time in the pressure seat.  From what I have seen at the Swans is he probably goes out on his own terms rather than some sort of board coup (of course I could be very wrong).  

Agreed.  Not many senior coaches are in the position for 14 seasons.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if he reflected and just thought that himself that he was feeling a bit stale as well as his gamestyle amd message to his players.  After all, he took over the reigns from Roos in very similar manner.  He has got one flag to his name as coach and umpteen as a player, so is not still reaching for that as an unfulfilled achievement.

After 14 years on $1M - $2M+ as senior coach, plus whatever he had managed from his playing days, it's not like these guys need to work.  Again similar to Roos, he may just ultimately end up walking away from the professional football scene altogether and live a more normal life.

On the topic of hit and miss media from the MFC, here's a few precious seconds of your life you won't get back:

Agree it was an interesting little clip.  One moment that stood out to me in a bad way was that scene when they take the group photo / 'media op' with all the other 1st round draftees.  "Now have a fake laugh and have a chat to the guy next to you" - comes across so very fake stage managed moment and the way first round draftees are herded through the whole media circus really grated on me.

 Conversely that scene between Jason Taylor, Lindsay and Reece Conca in the corridor was a ripper I thought.  Lindsay talking about the call he'd got the day of the draft from JT and then Conca exclaiming "I didn't get a call from you", to which JT sharply replies "because I wasn't picking you!".  Comes across as a bit of a funny quick witted jib/backhander, which I think it is in a sense, but looking back at the 2010 draft, Collingwood didn't get their first pick until 45, so it's probably quite a blunt, honest answer from JT straight off the cuff at the same time.  Speaking of which, the post draft interview with JT as always, is a bit of media put out by the club that is a good listen.

10 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

This ought to get Demonstone's juices flowing.

Maybe a team entirely of players who have written for The Age?

Paging @Demonstone and @WERRIDEE

Many are questioning his spot in the side, but something I think this does provide us with the oppertunity to do is play AJ forward in place of Petty and release the later to go back to defence.

While he has shown glimpses of potential as a forward, I really do feel that Petty's best position is as a defender, where he adds alot of toughness and can lock down capacity.  With both May and Macca getting on in years, both being injury prone at time (though so too Petty), I think our key backing depth is a highly important part of our game, but also an area that I feel has been somewhat neglected in terms of developing tallent in our quest to plug key forward holes.  Think this move has the potential to address that in a round about way.

9 hours ago, Supreme_Demon said:

A great video here!

Simon Goodwin surprising big "AJ" with his friends, teammates and family at his house presenting him with a Melbourne Demons jumper and some merchandise.

 

This is the type of social media I like to see!

Well done AJ!  Congratulations on achieving your AFL dream!

GO DEMONS!!! 👹🔴🔵

Also love what this says about Goody and the message it sends to our players and to AJ.  Doesn't matter if you're pick 6 or 68, you're valued and everyone has the same opportunity to perform and play a role for the team.

Unless the video was massively staged (which it doesn't look like to me) I also think it says something about how committed we were to picking AJ with 68, that we would have Goody camped out near by when his name was read out.

58 minutes ago, Macca said:

Under JT, we've had a history of working our way up the draft to seemingly snag certain players

I think it just make sense to trade up the draft order whenever you can.  Not every high draft pick is a smash hit (Weid and Schache and Tompas a few obvious examples), but on ballance of probability, I they turn out OK.  To me we often seem to keep perennially trading future picks for current hight picks which also make infinite sense to me if you can pull it off - next year's draft never comes and if you can be putting that development into the player you have actually recruited that year earlier, then I think it helps keep more talent on the list now, rather than later.

i.e. if we could trade our first rounder in 2050 for a first rounder in 2024, then next year, we will just trade our first rounder in 2051 for a first rounder in 2025.  I guess sometimes it catches up, but I think those are the year's when we have a pretty well performing stable team that doesn't need replenishing and we don't really want to go to the draft anyway.

On 18/11/2024 at 11:17, Supreme_Demon said:

Jason Taylor said a lot without giving much away.

Said the Demons are going "best talent available" as is expected.

This has pretty much become the recruiter's clichè equivalent of "we're just taking it one week at a time"

On 15/11/2024 at 18:28, daisycutter said:

this has got cameron schwab's fingerprints all over it

what an absolute waste of good money

Don't know if it was Cameron Schwab's finger prints or not, but the branding / logo designers who did this probably got huge bickies for putting together this rubbish.

Are the Suns financially viable on their own yet?  If not, that's the rest of the league teams paying for this waste, both in terms of the branding outlay, plus I can't see it helping their popularity and gaining members with such an uninspiring jumper design.

Max made the comment the other day that we aren't the same Demons of 2021 any more, which is true, but just off the cuff, I think we'd actually have as good if not better side on paper.

Big outs:

Hibbo (and admittedly I think this is a big out)

ANB

Dogga

Brayshaw

Harmes

Jordan

BBB

Ins:

Mc Vee

Winsor

Van Rooyan

Chandler

Disco

AMW

Honestly just think we need some guys like Salo and Spargo to have injury free seasons, Trac, Clary and Bowser to be there normal selves again a few of the mature guys like Sparrow and Rivers to take that next step and regularly impact games.  I'd contest that Kossie is a better more mature player than in 2021.  That 3 - 4 year group of Roo, Disco and Chandler are already coming on nicely and I'd expect them to continue on their curve.  I'd also expect several the 2 - 3 year players like Woewy, Brown and the Kolts have real potential to be solid regulars in the side.

I still remember all the experts writing us off at the end of 2020, questioning if we'd even make finals the next season.

9 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

It's technically nobody's home game. Just an additional game on top of every club's 11 home and 11 away games, which is not part of a club's membership package. (I've also seen us listed as the home team in the Gather Round promo)

For example, in 2023 Richmond were the home team against Sydney at Adelaide Oval, Gather Round. Then later in the season Richmond played Sydney again as the home team at the MCG, but in a normal home game. On paper Richmond were the home team twice against Sydney in 2023, but realistically the MCG game was the only genuine home game of the two.

If we play Essendon later in the season, Gather Round will have no bearing on who's home game it would be.

In theory the concept is a crock, but attending the event is actually pretty fantastic and the city of Adelaide has a tremendous vibe. It's a ton of fun if you love your AFL footy, not just MFC.

That's not quite true by my reckoning.  Last year we played the Crows in gather round, meaning more effectively an additional away game for us and an additional home game for them.  Means the Crows and Power get an additional home game so long as they play gather round in Adelaide.

I actually hate the Gather Round concept for this reason and that it's another example of the AFL putting TV revenue and excessively priced reserved tickets ahead of the average punters ability to pay for and attend games.  I would occasionally travel interstate to see our team play, but bundling it all up in the one small state at the same time sends airline tickets and accommodation at premium prices as well, so small chance I'll ever attend a Gather Round.

6 hours ago, demosaw said:

Highlight was the dribbler against Geelong

That goal was a real high point in our season all up.

2 hours ago, Demon17 said:

Brad has never led a major business/organistion and may be wondering (or have wondered) "...what do I know about chairing a footy club - or anything else..?"

He did captain the MFC and lead a group of players - think that counts for something leadership wise and not many of the business/organisational type expert leaders that might stand for president could bring that to the table.

While realising that it's still obviously pretty important he is able to lead the business/administration side, I would think that having a player/captains perspective is something that is pretty darn important to have when leading a footy club and probably exactly what we need right now to provide the sort of space to let the players get on with things and get us back on track on feild next year.  We start winning games consistently and convincingly next year and just watch all these off field issues evaporate in the eyes of the media.

15 hours ago, DeeZone said:

Having watched our super hero play indomitable footy year after year it was very hard to watch Clayton this year, unfit injured constant headlines and derision from the media pack. So looking forward to seeing Clayton Clarry Oliver back to his peak fitness and enjoying his footy surrounded by a group of energetic enthusiastic youngsters following in his footsteps. Comeon down Champ.

Think it was pretty hard and frustrating for Clarry to be playing at below his normal capacity.  He's a pretty laid back character Clayton and doesn't give away alot, but I think some of his own disappointment with his fitness level and I think at the hand injury in particular came out in that great podcast interview he did after the season

For all the criticism of his apparent underperformance on the field this season, I don't think he's been given enough credit for continuing to push through the injuries he had week in week out for the team and still put in mostly credible performances, even if those performances were well below the lofty super high standards he's set in his time at the MFC.

1 hour ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

For comparisons for Roo, another animal comes to mind: The Ox.

Can someone do a stats comparison of their first 2 or 3 years (allowing, somehow, for the mercurial nature of those years for Schwarz)?

Just to throw in the other point of reference I mentioned, in his second season Jesse Hogan played 21 games, kicked 41 goals and took 149 marks in a side that was still rebuilding - what a beast.  Still spewing we didn't get him back after his stint at Freo.

53 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

For comparisons for Roo, another animal comes to mind: The Ox.

Can someone do a stats comparison of their first 2 or 3 years (allowing, somehow, for the mercurial nature of those years for Schwarz)?

So very high level, in their respective second seasons:

                                  Roo      Ox

AFL Games Played   21        22

Goals                         30        20

Marks                        81         112

Loved Schwartz as a player and distinctly remember some of those early break-out games he played, including that massive final against Carlton.  Unfortunately, the below courtesy of Demonwiki pretty well summarises the fate of the Ox from his third season onwards (http://demonwiki.org/David+Schwarz):

Schwarz's first injury trouble came in 1993, when persistent groin issues and a hernia restricted him to nine games. He bounced back to kick 60 goals in 1994, including a career-best nine in the last home and away game. That year he and took more marks than Wayne Carey in a season where he stamped himself as a future star of the competition. At the end of that year, he ended speculation of a switch to the new Fremantle side by signing a contract extension to the end of 1998.

The AFL Media Guide for 1995 described Schwarz as "a genuine AFL star centre half-forward. High-leaping, aggressive and mobile", but he was soon struck down with a serious knee injury during an intra-club match. He returned just 16 weeks after surgery, in Round 9, 1995, but the knee collapsed under him in the first quarter of the next game, requiring another reconstruction. Returning in the 1996 pre-season he broke down again in a Reserves practice match and missed the entire year.

Yes he certainly went on to play some solid footy after that, but I think those couple of seasons would be regarded as the most spectacular highs and lows of his career and my most vivid recollection of his playing days.  If only players like him, Gary Lyon, Alan Jackovic and Sean Charles stayed uninjured and Martin Pike had kept his act together, I have little doubt we would have won multiple premierships in that era.

Thought Disco had a great season and was one of our shining lights up forward.

Still can't fathom why he was the starting substitute against GWS in Rd 21 and again the following week against the Bulldogs as I thought he'd been pretty good in the weeks prior and plays both tall and mobile.  His accuracy in front of goal from a variety of positions, situations and distances was very good and he was actually a much more effective goal kicker over the season than Petty.  We only lost that GWS game by a smidge in the end and his goal kicking ability could have been the difference and kept our season alive.

On 02/11/2024 at 17:13, Roost it far said:

Champion forward in the making. Can’t understand the doubters. 

Don't count me as one of the doubters, but I think impatience goes at least part of the way to explaining my own feelings on the Roo.

We got absolutely spoilt by Jessy Hogan being a contested marking beast and better than your average mature KPP from pretty much day dot and Jackson was similar.  We have also had a significant No. of somewhat overhyped false dawns with key position forwards like Watts and Weid.

Can definitely see the potential in Jacob to dominate games and give us a great focal point up forward.  His set shot goal kicking is already elite.  Personally I just want him to deliver on that potential right now, while realising that's a somewhat unrealistic expectation and that statistically he's already actually maturing at a rate that is up there with the best of some of the recent elites of the league.

Can't wait to hear more and even louder cries of ROOOOOOOO echo throughout the G in coming seasons.