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.

Depending on how Harry Petty's sprained ankle pulls up in the next few days he may or may not be available next week. What did you guys make of his game today? Are you convinced that he can be turned into a forward? It just doesn't seem to be paying dividends. What other options do we have?

Just wondering how much effect the Lever injury had on our fortunes in the game. I know the Eagles got out to a hot start against us even before Jake went off with concussion but I thought that maybe we could have righted the ship as we've had some similar slow starts and clawed our way back into contests once we settle. Having Lever off really unsettled us down back and we never recovered once we lost once of our best weapons in our interceptor. What do you guys think?

Assume Goody mean that McAdam will be playing in the VFL this week which is on Sunday and then the Carlton game is on the Thursday so only a 4 day break for McAdam meaning he would be no chance for the Blues game off 4 days given his current injury history. He has to play in the 2s this week because he was on limited minutes in the 2s last week and he has to be able to prove he can get through a full game before playing in the 1s. Unless of course they start by using him as a sub.

I'll echo the sentiments about loving the podcast and really grateful to you guys for all the work you put into it. Do you guys think Kozzy needs to adjust the way he plays in terms of aggression when bumping. I love the hardness but he has to learn that if he is going to bump he can't leave the ground and he absolutely can't lift the elbow. I was hoping that the incident would be graded as low impact but the late lifting of the elbow probably ruled that out. I hope we appeal to attempt to downgrade it to low impact and maybe he can escape with a fine. By the time you read this on the air we will know whether the club will contest it. However given the new rules I doubt Kozzy will get off. It's a shame because the hit was silly and may cost us against the Lions.

Shoutout to the amazing Demonland Trackwatchers in Victoria and now in South Australia. Reports from Mondays session has Chandler once again heavily strapped. He came off during the match and went down to the rooms before coming back on and completing the match. There were a few other saw bodies observed with Trac reported to not look 100%. He landed awkwardly during the game and came off for a little bit before resuming. TMac was observed with strapping and was wearing runners at training. BBB was on light duties as he has previously reported as doing for training. He's played 3 games in a row now and has a 5 day break until the next match. The May injury certainly scuttled any plans we had of nursing him through to the bye. Then there is the news that Clarry's hand will be x-rayed each week to monitor it. Similar question re: changes and managing Benny Brown so I won't repeat it other than to ask would we rest or manage anyone this week? The training report mentioned Koltyn Tholstrup being flown up. Do you reckon he could be a sneaky chance for a debut should Chin or Trac not get up? Unleash the Kolt 39

Petracca was absolutely huge in this match. Some of his work out of the middle to pin point passes to JVR and Fritsch were just phenomenal. His goal off one step from just inside 50 was immense. He is an absolute bull. The Hawks chose to target Clarry, who still had a solid game, but all that did was allow Trac to get off the leash.

6. Petracca 5. Fritsch 4. Langdon 3. Neal-Bullen 2. Gawn 1. Sparrow

Our forward line seemed more functional with Ben Brown in it. Not only in the 50m arc but taking marks up the line too. We simply don't get that same thing from Schache. Having said that he seems to be being held together with tape and it might only be a matter of time before his knee blows. hopefully not soon. I understand he doesn't do much training in particular the contact stuff. Can he play the entire season because I would love to have him come finals? What should our plan for nursing Big Benny Brown through the season?

We simply should not consider dropping Sparrow. Didn't have the greatest of games this week but you don't through the baby out with the bathwater. Also don't drink bathwater

6. Oliver 5. Gawn 4. May 3. McDonald 2. Chandler 1. Billings