Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Yeah, that post of mine didn't age well did it! ? I wasn't asserting that were were as good as that three peat team, it was more about highlighting that particular attribute of always being in games, even when we were not on top of ours. While we have lost to a few bottom feeders, I would still say that we have successfully acheived being in almost every game. Against Hawthorn and Adelaide, we were in winning positions until the dying minutes. Against GWS, I felt we were well in it the whole game, just couldn't get them on the scoreboard effectively enough. Only against Collingwood were we really dominated by them in general play for a substantial part of the game, even though the end result was close on the scoreboard, although that's probably still a fairly harsh assessment of our team's performance in that game. It's been a pretty good home and away season to this point. How we finish off the home and away and then perform in finals will really tell what the team is made of and perhaps that's the other enviable aspect to that Hawthorn team.

Lol, not quite sure how to take that. If Goody's not the right guy, then sure as [censored], I'm not ...but perhaps that's the point ?.

I plead with you my fellow Demonlanders, to get over the MFCSSFFS. (Sorry, I partially just wanted to use that huge acronym ??)

Honestly, I reckon the reason we do well against the top 8 teams and not so well against those occupying the lower rungs all comes down to systems. We play a very system based game at the moment and that is one of our main strengths. It's much easier to setup against the better teams, because I think they also play a more predictable system based game that they are less willing to deviate from, because they are disciplined enough to stick to their system as it has worked consistently for them in the past (just as ours has worked very consistently for us this season). The teams that have beaten us like Collingwood, but particularly Adelaide and Hawthorn and to a degree GWS have played an agressive less predictable game style that is harder for us to combat, but which also only works for them every 4 or 5 games as well. That and I reckon particularly Adelaide and Hawthorn had some pretty lucky breaks with free kicks and the ball bouncing the right way in their forward 50. The average loosing margin for the Adelaide and Hawthorn games was half a point and in reality, we should have walked away with two tied games but for an absolute howler of that non-paid deliberate out of bounds against Adelaide. Our other two games we hace lost by an average of around 11 or so points. (Geelong were smashed by Brisbane by around 50 odd points a few rounds back, which could have been much more). Don't get me wrong, I'm personally somewhat frustrated in our in ability to put sides to the sword, when from recollection we had the opportunity to against all of Adelaide, Hawthorn and possibly even GWS and Collingwood after having dominated them for the first period of the game and opening up 20 or so point leads. But on ballance I hardly think it's reading the riot act time. The players are smart enough and motivated enough to realize how their season is poised and I'm tipping they will be whipping themselves pretty hard to turn things around and finish off the season. Perhaps part of what we need is an alternative game plan/style against the lesser teams and that could have been what Goody was hinting at when he stated before the Hawks game that we need to get better at having multiple ways to win games.

I must admit, I found it a hilarious moment last night when Oliver seemed befuddled when Charlie Spargo got into Oliver's path and stole a mark from him 35 - 40m out from goal towards the boundary. That's right in Spargo's goal kicking range and he been reasonably reliable kicking for goal this season from set shots, so long as it's not 40m + out. Conversely I don't think Oliver has actually kicked a set shot from any further out than 5m this season. Unless he's kicking/snapping on the run, Oliver's goal kicking has been atrocious, must have kicked about 10 behinds from set shots, without kicking a major, so to see his body language when Spargo cut him off was such poor form on his behalf. It actually reeked a bit of playing like a millionaires well before we had the game under control. Oliver - don't want to be treated with contempt inside 50? Fix your set shot goal kicking. That all said Oliver is pretty good at spotting up others to have shots on goal with his vision an good foot skills on occasions too, so I'm not going to be too harsh on him.

Fox/Kayo ones were no better or perhaps the same guys. You know with all this digital tech we have these days, it's time for a market driven provision of comentators. The digital platforms should let you select which cometary team you listen to for the game.

Is it that or that he is not being presented with good options to dispose to? I've got to admit though, I really do wounder how much value there is with some of his hack kicks forward at times.

Personally I've never really found a need for the ignor software function. Just take it or leave it with respects to all posters on this forum. As long as you're not being OTT in attacking your fellow Demon posters, I've generally learnt just don't let the hysterical hyperventilators ruin my day. This way I do still find the occational gem of a comment that gives me joy and faith in our common love of the MFC from some of those who get carry on a bit and get singled out for doing so.

What do you expect in the moments after a game. I doubt there are many, with perhaps the exception of Maxy Gawn who have all of the intelligence, confidence and authority to deviate from the script in the heat of the media glare. For what it's worth, I think Brayshaw certainly has the intelligence and it's partly due to that and understanding his place within the leadership structure that he didn't deviate from script.

Agreed. I generally don't think he has dominated for us like he has in the past for a while. No doubt other teams have cottoned onto how damaging he is for us and are putting alot of work into him as well.

One of the comentators that was doing the general play absolutely gave me the irrits.

One of the few positive I saw out of last night was BBB looked like he was starting to find a bit of form. An issue for me is that it looks like he's getting too many of his marks of long leads too far up the ground to kick goals from. I get the sense that he's playing to our game plan in this respect. Surely when you don't have the most functional forward line in the comp and you have a guy who has been the most prolific goal kicker over a 3 - 4 year period, you structure your forward line setup around him and the way he wants to play than vice versa?

You know, I wasn't going to be a sore looser and bring up the abysmal umpiring last night, but unless he's being somewhat misquoted in the media, wow Clarkson is one. Not happy with finishing with 22 to 15 free kicks in Hawthorn's favour (it was 21 to 12 mid way though the last quarter) and multiple give me goals from soft free kicks, Clarko is out in the media spruking how they should have got more holding the ball free kicks. I must say, I kind of agree with Clarko to a point, in so far as there weren't many holding the ball free kicks paid, when perhaps there could have been, but there was also some pretty atrocious umpiring all around last night and I didn't here much mention of that from him. Gee, I can't remember who was paid a free kick for holding onto Dixson for a mili second too long, handing him a free in front of goal last week, but how was that one for us in the first quarter when I think it was Viney was held onto without the ball for an eternity and no free kick played. I'm sure he will go down as one of the best coaches of the era, but Clarkson will also go down as just about the biggest sook and umpire windger of the era in my mind as well. Puss off Clarko, you're a [censored] (insert banned adjective of choice here).

I couldn't believe how fumbly and unclean our skills were for most of the night last night. Yes Hawthorn laid alot of tackles and applied pressure which would have contributed to that, but I feel as if so much of it was self inflicted as well. Not a big knock on the guy, because he has generally been awsome for us over the past two seasons, but I also thought Ed Langdon probably played one of (if not the) worst game he's ever played for us last night.

Personally I'm not one for booing Frosty. Always respected that he had a fair dinkum crack at it, when he played for us. I hardly think he went chasing the big bucks, just a guy trying to give himself a reasonable chance of consistently playing at the top level, when he could see the writing on the wall with the stocks of defensive thoroughbreds we now have with May, Lever and Co.

AVB is the right man at the right time to step things up a notch for us with his hard as nails defensive intent and attacking attitude. Tear the Hawks a new one Vanders.

The Champion and the $700k tagger

Seriously that there is a regular thread tittled "If we lose to [insert random team here], I will..." really speaks to the insipid, entrenched nature of MFCSS. I really do long for the day when threads like this are an aberration here on Demonland. Agree that day is not quite yet, but it's getting closer. Personally, I think our ability to 'take out the trash' so to speak has dramatically improved over a 3 - 4 year period. If you look back on the first half of the season, our ability to beat teams like Hawthorn, Fremantle, Carlton, North and to some extent St Kilda, Geelong & GWS is reasonable demonstration that we don't take any team lightly and when we do find our selves in a spot of bother against them, we usually a) arn't blown out of the water by them and then b) find a way to get the game back on our terms and eke out a win. As much as I loath Hawthorn, I do respect the sucess they were able to achieve and how they did it. One of the trademarks of the Hawthorn teams of their 3 peat era particularly was that even when the team wasn't playing it's best football and looked at risk of becoming the victim of an upset, they found a way to fight back, pip their opponents at the post (often through beleif and more mature game sense) and bank the wins to achieve a better ladder position to mount a genuine finals campaign. I see alot of the same traits in our team right at present and it can only be a good thing.

Be greatful we won't be playing the Hawks in the finals. Just looking at our respective ladder positions actually gives me a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling inside, like the football God's are starting to reset the football world order for good.

He's a Hawthorn supporter. That's a whole category of animal spices of it's own isn't it?

Would be great to hear the cry of Oooooooze go up around the MCG again.

I like the sentiment, but barely anything I've seen from us this season suggests to me we are really up for getting anywhere near 186. I guess the one and only time we have handed out anything like a belting this season, it was against the Hawks and most of the scoring for our ~50 win against them came in just one quarter, but I'm just not sure I can see it happening. Would love to be proven wrong though.

Loving the addition of the vomit reaction. Well overdue and would quickly become one of the most popular if extended to other forms of social media.

Let the tanking talk begin.

What a great Rd of footy. The Eagles, Richmond & GWS all putting in good auditions to become the new Melbourne, by throwing away very winnable games to lowly ranked sides on the cusp of finals, when a just getting the job done would lock them into the top 8 - I love it. Think I'd most like the Eagles to take our mantle in this respects. Although they might return to type and rekindle their 9thmond amorphous, I'm sure it doesn't have quite the same bite when your teams comming off 3 flags in 4 years. Similar could be said for the Eagles I guess, but I think it would hurt their arrogant sense of entitlement and superiority more, so suffer in your jocks Methcoast. Even if the ultimately make finals this year, WC will be just making up the numbers. Like Hawthorn, it would be great to see them welcome in an extended era of rebuilding, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to happen that way with the Eagles and like a stinky old [censored] they'll somehow be bobbing up around the top in another few years.