D4Life

Outs Ins Kent Frischte (Clean disposal) Wagner TMac if available or Smith (speed & athletic) ANB Spargo (speed) Vince. Lewis (FD will pick him & we can’t have two old slow guys) I also want to drop Harmes & Stretch but more than four changes seems too many. Pedersen unlucky, but Weideman showed some positive signs, did ok in ruck. Maybe due to short break Pedo in for Weid, but am ok either way.

The best players in teams who have played finals, or win a Brownlow or other awards definitely get the rub of the green on decisions. Dusty got pinged a few times last night, one great one handed hand pass that led to a goal in the third and a few others. Tigers seemed to throw the ball over their head a lot. But it’s up to the Demons to make finals, win awards etc and we will get better treatment.

I commented to the Tiger supporter sitting next to me in the first couple of minutes, watch our backline structure, in particular the goalsquare and how many players fly for the mark or punch. He said you don’t play footy and can see it, stands out like dogs ....., why can’t your coaches see it? Then you look at Tigers backline, almost someone always in the goalsquare and their players balance going up for the mark or punching the incoming ball, with keeping players down! Doing this doesn’t seem to hard, why can’t we do it. Jetta, Hibberd, Lever & even OMac can all play, Hunt still seems a bit off, but why are we so bad letting easy goals through?

Agree! At least we seem better balanced to play against the Tiggers! Melksham, Harmes & Wagner need to play at AFL level tomorrow. Can only hope we don’t continue with high defensive press, all the defenders don’t jump for every high ball, and some of them stay down including one player 10-20 metres out from goal!

Look at the small forward role over a season, and the very best in that role have quiet days. Garlett is one of the best, they could only leave him out for fitness reasons.

Fair point, but take Martin & any of Cotchin/Rance/Riewoldt out and they wouldn’t have made finals! Look at their results and see how many games they would have dropped last year without two of their 4 stars!

If Martin and Rance or Riewoldt missed 10 games like Max and Hogan last year, they wouldn’t have made the finals!

Tigers field Riewoldt and five smalls, you can’t have Oscar & Frost, so Frost goes, and Wagner has to go with Hunt in!

At the moment our backline is a shambles, always under pressure and no release points! Assuming we start to come together and show a little structure & confidence, Lever will start to standout. Don’t bury the kid, give him some time!

If you put pressure on the Tigers for four quarters and keep Martin to two goals, they are beatable. Not sure we can do it after last Sunday, but they still only have 4 elite players. Take out Martin or Rance and after 3 weeks the holes would show!

Can’t play Frost against Tigers. They only have Riewoldt in forward line!

So when Richmond made the finals three years running and lost to the 9th team Carlton, got pumped by Port another year, and lost their other final, then finished 13th; - they lacked leadership - were soft - Hardwick couldn’t coach - etc - etc - then when they lost to GWS during last year, lacked Leadership blah blah blah At least we have: Gawn Hogan Oliver Viney Petracca will get there! Don’t give up hope, as crap as we were on Sunday! We need to fix a few key areas: - backline structure - going missing for 5 goal plus streaks - entry into forward line - better coaching, e.g. having a plan B and C but it is possible to fix! The Dogs win a flag, so to the Tigggers, improvement in the above areas and it could be the Dees!

Buddy I think you should change teams you’ve suffered long enough!

Unfortunately umpires umpire for players they know well - Roughead, Smith, Rioli etc from Hawks, Selwood, Dangerfield, Ablett from Cats all get greater latitude than the unknowns. Oliver was tackled without the ball in our forward line blatantly in 1st qtr and couldn’t get a free. Yet Isaac Smith would throw his arms back all the time and free would be called.

That was meant to be Stretch in for Wagner!

While tempted to drop half a dozen players, that rarely works. Agree with the thoughts above, Pedo seems to fade a little overtime, but often has a good game first up. Against Richmond, they have a small forward line and strong key position backs. So for me: In Out Why Hunt. Frost. Tigers only play one tall Riewoldt Lewis Tyson. Injured but should be dropped Pedo. Harmes. Forward & ruck balance Wagner Stretch. Speed Lucky - Bugg

Toumpas, was supposedly fast, and highly skilled. My mother was way quicker, could really get up some speed going downhill. At least Lever has shown he can intercept & mark. Disposal has been poor, but was okay last year. Give him some time.

I wa out Saturday night with Richmond supporter who said he wanted to get rid of Rance his first five years, run around like a headless chook. Then he finally clicked and became a gun! He also mentioned how hopeless at least half their team was, couldn’t hit a barn door was the phrase he used, and as a team it clicked from round 18-19 last year, and now they all believe! Lever is a young guy, give him some more time.

OMac is showing he will make it. Hibberd, Jetta & Lever showed last year they are very good. Hunt needs to come back in. That gives us five. Who complements these five players. We seem to give away a lot of rover or scrounged type goals, look at first half yesterday. If Lewis or Vince take a spot, we need someone with speed who stays down, not sure who it is but boy we need it!

Brown kicked four, one from a Max ruck free, another from a free from downfield. O-Mac wasn’t shocking!

Some people who live in Adelaide are just anti everything Melbourne particularly re football. Obviously applies to this bloke! You have to laugh!

It will be a positive sign for our depth and form if he plays well in the VFL and struggles to get a game in the ones.

Wagner has been improving and hopefully it continues. Picking the right option when he has the ball is his main weakness, and a wrong choice often leads to a turnover. But great to see him get better. Re the beasts comment, it made me laugh. OMac is coming along nicely, can see him improving and in two years time should develop into a really good full back. I like Frosts run and aggression but not sure he has that football nous. The one thing I would really like to see is the backline get a few fundamentals cemented: - don’t all fly to mark or punch the ball, have a few stay down - at ball ups and throw ins cover the cheap sharked goal - have the player covering the goal square when necessary 10 plus years ago we had Wellman from Essendon as the backline coach and our backline were so well drilled on the above!

What happens if more players lead, and the leads are honoured? We will take more marks inside 50! Also if we go with bomb it long, we don’t need 3-4 guys to try mark it. Small forwards did a better job at this on Saturday. While on that thought, we still have too many players try & mark or spoil in the backline and not enough stay down. Once we make these minor changes and also keep chasing and not let oppposition players take off on their own. We are a long way towards a top 4 spot.

1. Having Max & Hogan both back makes a massive difference 2. Salem’s best game 3. Still huge room for improvement