D4Life

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

Yes, I’m looking forward to the positive three thread. Demons are improving each week. We are not perfect but the signs are positive. Bugg kicks 4 and applies pressure, he deserves to be praised. I don’t like Wagner, but admit he played well, so good on him. At four goals down playing against 25, it looked bad, Demons steadied the ship to go in 13/14 points down, that was positive. All teams have their issues, without Viney and TMac we’re going along pretty well.

Go close to an unchanged team, unless team structure needs to change against the Hawks. ANB and Melksham both on shaky ground, but would give both another game. Wagner, Bugg, Kent & Frost all played pretty well so deserve to stay in. Good to see pressure from Balic,, Weideman, Brayshaw and Pedersen from commentary on the Casey game!

Score?

Who kicked fourth?

Stats are worth a quick look thanks

Max kicks the goal against Geelong we’re 3-0! We beat Brisbane away, that looks good when you see they ran PA to 5points in Adelaide. Beat our hoodoo team in North by 5 goals 7, Fritsch robbed a goal, they had a 4 goal start, could easily of been 10 goals. Look at improvement in: Gawn Hogan Petracca OMac improved (Brown got 4 but two from frees) Salem yesterday showed signs Oliver not best day still 20 pos & 2 goals Garlett goals & great pressure Fritsch highly skilled can make things happen out of not much Still missing: Viney & T Mac 2of our best 6 Jetta, Hibberd, Lever will all get better and defence will gel overtime Melksham, Harmes, ANB can all play better Tyson solid yesterday Vince and Lewis also solid, especially last qtr for Lewis, but they are under pressure to hold their spots which is great. Jones, can see when he lifts makes a big difference to the team. Borderline Wagner played his best game yesterday, same with Bugg, Kent did well just needs to keep going, Frost made a solid contribution. Out of team, putting pressure on the firsts: Hunt will find form Brayshaw is close Pedersen good back up Yesterday was a team effort, a really good win! Once we win a few in a row and the backline settles, confidence will come and we will lift to another level. We are finals bound!

Would love to have actual stat on goals from frees yesterday, looked like 7 of Norths 13 came from frees or down field relays. Brown gets a dream run, elbows someone in the head nothing!

Very good win by the Dees! Umpiring disgraceful. Some incredibly poor decision both ways but North got more than half their goals from frees. Fritsch non Mark mystifying! Lever had a better game and uses the ball well. I’m anti Wagner but he played well today, didn’t run around like a headless chook. Seemed like a really even team effort, with better players previously named by other posters! Happy Day!!

If we want to make the finals it’s important to rack up the wins against the weaker teams and break even against the better teams. It’s also important to win with injuries. North is a weaker team and were missing Viney & TMac, so perfect opportunity to prove we’re up for finals!

Bugg will at least apply pressure. I see him as coming in at 21/22 position into the team, he makes the opposition earn it. Hannan is more skilled but goes totally missing for too long.