Singa

I have a bad feeling that we are in for a lot of pain this season. It has 2019 written all over it and I fear we'll only win a handful of game. Our delivery into the forward line is still horrendous. We do not play to the advantage of our key forwards and the only time we were able to put it down someone's throat was when they were able to hit Charlie Comben lace out.

As I entered the ground, I was hit with the daunting news that Steven May was a late withdrawal. Normally, losing one of our premier key defenders just before the first bounce would send a wave of panic through me. But instead of dread, I felt a quiet sense of reassurance knowing that Tommy McDonald—our very own rock of Gibraltar—was stepping in to fill the void. And didn’t he stand up? He was immense, reading the play well and holding his own against the Giants. Then there was the ever-reliable Jakey Lever, our defensive general, once again showcasing his ability to intercept, direct traffic, and take charge in the air. His leadership and composure were critical, as always. And, of course, the sight of Harry Petty back in his natural defensive role was a welcome relief. He took strong marks, made his presence felt, and showed why his best footy is played in the back half. So, our big men down back? They’re not the issue. Neither are our distributors coming out of defence; our ball movement from the back half from the likes of Windsor, Salem and Bowey was generally solid. The glaring problem, however, lies when the ball hits the deck. We struggle to contain the nimble, elusive small forwards who thrive on ground balls and chaos inside 50. Time and time again, we seemed a step behind in locking down those opportunistic goal-sneaks. If we don’t address this weakness, it will be our Achilles' heel all season. Whether it’s a personnel issue, a structural flaw, or a lack of defensive cohesion at ground level, it’s something we need to fix and fast. Thoughts?

Still gutted today. I think the weather conditions actually suited us but we just can't seem to win these close games and our ground ball game particularly in defences will be the death of us.

Granted, it was just a practice match, but I had some concerns about our defence. The slow and tentative "chipping it around" ball movement out of the backline lacked confidence at times. While there’s been a push to avoid blindly kicking long to Max on the flank, this alternative approach didn’t seem convincing. Windsor still looks a long way off from mastering the art of defending and distributing. I'm not sold on Howes as a defender. Adams showed some nice glimpses, but he’s nowhere near ready to replace May, Petty, or Lever. We really missed Petty, and I can only hope his absence wasn’t due to injury. Bowey had an absolute shocker. His disposal was arguably the worst in the team which is very concerning. Judd McVee’s absence was felt. I read somewhere that 7 of a backmen only laid 3 tackles. Yikes. On a positive note, Salem was back to his sublime best. That said, alarm bells are ringing. We simply cannot afford to bleed goals.

Terrible Branding and PR to drop this on a Saturday Night. This should be prime time. Who is running this operation? Kidding of course. So Happy.

As the leader of this club in crisis it is absolutely appalling to not have spoken with Christian personally. Supporters and more importantly members deserve so much better.

I have a bad feeling we'll only end up being able to get the scraps that nobody wants by the end of Trade Week. Hopefully an open cheque book will entice people.

6. McDonald 5. Gawn 4. Rivers 3. Chandler 2. Salem 1. Billings

Why didn't we put any time into Nicky Daicos. Last time we played Nibbler on him and kept him to 15 disposals. I get that it was a Dead Rubber and Nibbler was playing his last game and perhaps they didn't want him playing that negating role but for Fs sake we should have sat someone on him. He and his brother ran riot and we probably just gifted him an Brownlow.

Thoughts on Clarry to the Cats and Viney to the Kanagas rumours too. It's going to be a long off-season.

Wow. Nibblers gone from whipping boy to lost lover. sad to see him go but understand completely. Hopefully we can turn it into a win.

Tomo sometimes gets a bad rap from Demonland and obviously the match committee don't rate him as he only seems to get considered when we have an injury. Having said that I always things he is commendable whenever he plays in the ones only to get relegated back to Casey when the cavalry arrives back. What were your thoughts on Tomo's game and the backline in general this week?

Correct. Thought the same thing after I read about the Blues' High Performance Manager retiring this morning. Current Dees' admin don't sack staff so we will have to wait for changes based on people moving on.

As always thank you to our intrepid hosts for bringing us this podcast week in week out. Although Andy you can go back on holidays. We were unstoppable against some of the competitions best while you were on your junket and now have crashed down to earth upon your return. In all seriousness welcome back. And welcome back to Clarry Oliver. So good to see him tearing it up on the G. I just wish he had his partner in crime Petracca by his side. Would certainly have made a difference on Saturday night. It was fantastic that he could shut out all the noise from the bleating media about him being on the trade table. I can't wait until the trade week silly season is over and we can put this nonsense to bed. Hopefully with a full preseason under his belt and his life back to some normalcy he will be tearing it up more consistently next season.

Our forward line and entries into it are a dysfunctional mess. Is it because we have 2 back men as key forwards or is it time to bite the bullet and get an actual forward coach that understands leading patterns and how a forward line functions? I watch a lot of non Dees footy each week and constantly see other teams hit up their key forwards lace out on leads. I can count the times on 1 hand the times I see a Dees forward hit up on a lead in the last 4 years.