Demon Dude

of the guys that played Saturday id have Melksham, Harmes, ANB, Sparrow, Lockhart, Spargo, Brown and OMac go around again. save the rest for MS2.

2 hours ago, Skuit said:

I was probably a bit unfair on Tomald, considering the circumstances, and nearly had a small breakdown when I thought I saw him take off his shoe. Like when he was at CHB though, he needs to reminded that being a play-maker isn't a required part of his role. 

As for Brown - I don't want to be too disparaging, but his goals weren't particularly well-crafted. One was courtesy of a soft free kick (and he gave away a few after that), and another was a fairly ugly dribbler that was lucky to go through. He also missed an easy set-shot. 

I think he could well be the type of player to quietly contribute a couple goals per game, but I'm not sure if goal average is much of a metric used by footy clubs nowadays. We're crying out for a forward with a strong marking presence, and I'm afraid he's not it.

Rather than a 22-gamer as some were declaring early on,  I think if he's being selected - as was mentioned at the time of his recruitment - then we probably have some serious problems. Right now I would go with an extra medium ahead of Brown as a second key.   

yeah I agree on Brown. despite his height, he looks more of a player in the mould of a Fritsch or Melksham than a key forward to my eye. handy enough depth, but i'd still be going with a forward line of TMac and Weid as the keys, and Fritsch and Melk as the mid sized forwards. also possibly with Jackson in the team as an option who can fill in up forward if needed too. so no need for Brown unless there's injuries.

23 minutes ago, Bay Riffin said:

I’m surprised. To me hunt and Spargo are quite opposite. Spargo is a good ball user normally, reads the play well, and is a good footballer without the athletic abilities that AFL level demands. Hunt is a good mark, pace to burn, worst handballer in the side, poor field kick but decent kick for goal. For skills Spargo is miles ahead. 

yeah, I think its important to note that Spargo has had an injury, so probably hasn't had as much game sim and ball work as others have, which likely contributed to him being a bit rusty yesterday.

I don't know what ANBs excuse was though.

29 minutes ago, Gawn's Beard said:

Hard to work out whether Weed played well or not:

- fair few on here saying was hopeless

- he had c.20 possessions

- AFL listed him in our best

 ?‍♂️ 

i thought he was good. he's under sized for a ruck but he battled manfully all day. dropped a couple of marks but really offered something at ground level around the stoppages I thought. 

I think the main thing to learn out of todays game is that people will now be scrambling to get Trac into their fantasy teams.

18 minutes ago, McQueen said:

Won’t accept an excuse like that. 
 

He’s missed hem all day!

ok then, good for you.

18 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Weideman just cannot clunk a mark. 

relax, its the first hit out of the year, players are gonna have some rust.

lets see how our zone defence stands up when the crows have the wind this qtr.

you'd think that Friday practice match vs the Bombers will probably only have about 6 MFC players in the team if most of the squad are playing the next day vs the Crows, and also with a fair chunk of players still not looking ready yet.

25 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Surely we all now know that "starting on the bench" means nothing. But I agree about managing his time which may be why only one of the Jackson, Pickett or Rivers plays round 1. It might put too much load on the rest of the team if they have to take up the balance of minutes not being played by the newbies

i'm not sure what you're getting at. 4 guys have to start on the bench every game last time I checked, so I did literally mean i'd start him on the bench. wait about 10 minutes for the initial sting to come out of the game then throw him on and he's away.

I've enjoyed most of the 2 videos so far. thought ep1 was just a bit average with Jones coming across as a bit of a 'woe is me' type, but no real surprise there. the second episode was better, though I thought some of the questioning of Harley by Goodwin we could have done without, but watching the training and rehab stuff I personally find the most interesting. Burgess sounds great. the sort of no nonsense bloke who is immediately likable and a hard working professional.

5 hours ago, praha said:

Of the two I'd be more hesitant to throw LJ to the wolves. Kossie I feel will have immediate impact. 

LJ only plays if Gawn doesn't imo. If Weiderman does play round 1 then LJ might get a look in. Both play and he won't. 

Kossie you'd think would slide in fairly easily. You could go either way with an ANB or Lockhart. If Spargo can get a game in the first half of 2019 then Kossie you'd think would be an absolutely shoein.

i disagree about Jackson only playing if TMac and Weideman don't. the key to Jackson playing is his versatility.

he can chop out in the ruck for 5 minutes a qtr, which Max needs, or go forward at times to stretch defences as a 3rd tall, or at least help keep the forward structure of 2 talls when one of TMac or Weid is off the ground. he can also be used on the ball, or even as a winger if needed.

he's like having 3 players in one. i'd have him in for R1 starting on the bench and just use him for limited minutes wherever he fills a need.

so did we play an intra club game today or not? training? anyone see anything, or has this man been silencing the witnesses? 

id go

Gawn C.

Viney VC.

TMac, Lever and Jetta to round out the leadership group.

id be surprised if he's not in the team r1, but I doubt he'll be in the side at the end of the year. the struggle will come for Jones when the grind sets in after a couple of months and he struggles with the pace again. just like Vince and Lewis who both went on 1 year too many. I think he should have probably bowed out last year.

27 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

They are making videos to promote the club, the players are the ones who need to perform not the people making the videos. 

yeah that's great, I've got no problem with the promo video, but naming it "to hell and back" and the timing of its release is very questionable imo as they haven't even made it 'back' yet. we are still 17th on the ladder last time I checked. its called getting ahead of yourself and that's something the MFC does all to well. for our sakes I hope we have a good year because if we don't we are going to look like absolute fools yet again.

I'd have to agree with Cornes about this. he gave us a whack and its well deserved imo. 

there's better up to date, and more interesting, reports and photos to be found from our track watchers on the Demonland training threads than anything up on the MFC site.

3 minutes ago, Vagg said:

I get what you are saying, LT, but think Hibbo may take exception to any forecasts of his early demise from the team!

Yeah, i reckon Hibbos got a bit of life left in him yet too Vagg.

There's a bit of a hole left by Frost that hopefully Rivers can fill first. But if he's not ready maybe Smith can fill the void.

48 minutes ago, tappysquads said:

Haha Fritta looks a lot like Butt-head in that pic!

The way some people carry on about Weideman on here you'd think he was the only one on the list who had a poor year and not 95% of them. 

I'm more inclined to cut developing players slack rather than put the boot into them though, because the club clearly stuffed up pre season and its not what the young guys need. They need linear progression year on year. 

At the end of 2018 Weideman was showing good improvement and 2019 was a total [censored] show from start to finish which wasn't his fault. im backing him in to go to new heights this year now he's fit again and has finally developed a footballers body under a new fitness regime. 

7 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

The amusing thing at training is the players,  if they are in the opposing team to AVB, trying not to be in his vicinity

I'd say that's some smart behaviour on their part.

44 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

Good to see AVB in the thick of it and looking fit, also Joel Smith looking good early with the main group drills then was sent to the rehab group to do sprints when the match sims started. Joel looks super fit to me. One guy who caught my eye was Tom Sparrow he looks like a footballer now, Built up his body, is moving beautifully and has clean hands, disposal needs some work of course. He played a few games last year but then got injured. Any thoughts from others where he might fit in? 

With Harmes playing a more half back role I'd say Sparrow might get some time in the midfield maybe rotating with Petracca from half fwd. He might also get a bit of a run with role at times to teach him the ropes.

I suspect Chandler will take the spot to start the year.

While Bedfords running ability will keep him firmly in the frame also. and they'll be keen to get Picketts obvious talents into the team when they think he's fit enough.

I would love to see 2 of those guys out there pressuring oppo defences, crumbling goals and earning their spot every week.

But our excellent track watchers/reporters would have a better idea than me on who is likely in pole position at this stage. 

I would prefer a combo of May and Lever, with Smith replacing Frost.

 I reckon that could handle most forward lines each week. Also with options like Tomlinson and Petty in the team it gives us cover back there if we need another tall defender option in game.

I think that's the sort of flexibility the team needs and you can't get by playing Oscar. also if the plan really is to play 3 tall defenders each week in May, Lever and Oscar, then who is the reserve tall defender if one of them gets injured? Besides Petty, who's been training with the forwards, i dont see one. it just doesn't seem feasable that that is the long term plan to me.