Mental Demons

2 hours ago, D4Life said:

If 2020 is a bust then MD can go to town, but after few surgeries and majority of players getting a full preseason and the above players getting near 100 games, Demons will give it a fair crack this year. Plus we’ve addressed a few of the running issues in the draft and fitness issues with Burgess!

 2020 is also an Olympic year, all good vibes for the Demons!

At no stage have I been going to town. The reality is we all but forfeited 2019. You show a lot of loyalty to the people running the club. The reality is that fitness instructors do not make players have more talent. I am trying to be a realist about the potential of the team, not have faith that the team can easily overcome the issues that sunk the team last year, with the same people calling the shots.  

3 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

So in reality it was never there

There was an opportunity to build something after 2018. The team was poorly managed in 2019 and our recruiting was disastrous.           the team needs to be a serious contender in 2020 or a more through rebuild will be required for success.

41 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Where was your window??

It probably started closing with Goodwin's coaching and with last year's recruiting.

Melbourne to finish 8th and goes nowhere in the finals. The window is closing. May to play less than 10 games. Tomlinson plays most of his games in defence. Viney to be injured most of the year, with Lever, Hannan, Bennell, Weid and Vandenberg also struggling with injury. Rivers to play the most of all the recruits. Pickett and Jackson get games to show they are years off being regulars. They were really drafted for 4-5 years down the track. Spargo, KK and Neitschke do not play a senior game. Demons defence to continue to leak like a colander and be our biggest problem. 

Do people here really want Max to mumble through official interviews every week? Will the extra burden of leadership place pressure on his performance? Sure, have Max in the leadership group, he is high profile and sought after for interviews because he is not the captain and a bit of a loose cannon. This works for him. Viney was a problem last season. He struggles to get out there and he is one paced and one dimensional. He only works well with some of our midfield. Viney has become borderline best 22, having him captain will tend to gift him games and that may cost us. Leaver has barely earned his place in the 22 let alone making him captain. The best choices would be T Mac or Harmes, The media want Max because he is good for a laugh not for his leadership. 

9 minutes ago, Ugottobekidding said:

Cornes drank too much SA water and fluoridated his brain.

??? This make no sense. All capital cities have fluoride and it is monitored to be at levels too low to affect brain function. Apart from that his statement was only a little off the mark and made a lot of sense on some questions.

1 hour ago, Stretch Johnson said:

The Harmes deal on the surface seems unnecessarily lengthy, that is unless you see a player that has a high ceiling, is about to hit his prime and carries greater value than the simple sum of his on field contribution. 

The Harmes deal is testament to the hard work and loyalty that the player has put in. If he plays out the contract and he shows no sign of being fragile, it could well be great value for money for what his type of player is worth in 5 years. I think Harmes would be a great choice of captain because he came up through the ranks and earned his place. There is no need to put extra leadership pressure on Max, he already has a high media profile and mumbles his opinion at every chance anyway, he is already a leader on the field. I am sure that May will not play out his contract and is on much more money. Leaver is younger and will be better value. The May-KK deal is very poor list management. 

Our window is closed with these numpties running the MFC. Tomlinson was the worst player in the GF and has struggled to be in the best 22 all year. He is only OK at a few things but not great anything. Offering  Frost, our best defender, more money would have been better value. Elliot is fragile and overpriced we would get better value out of Butler. Langdon is OK but not top tier and won't make up the difference for the team to be successful. There are about ten players at Freo I would rather target. May is an overpriced spud that no other team was gullible enough to want, yet he is the most secure player on our list. MFC is stuffed. Everybody sees Melbourne coming. 

An interesting analysis. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-28/the-data-says-afl-grand-final-might-be-closer-than-you-think/11549510

This thread should be called "Classic Max Gawn Mumbles"

1 hour ago, one_demon said:

How useful is this position?

It is essential when you have a coach with little coaching experience and who seems out of his depth on gamedays. As I understand it Goodwin's main job is to deal with the media so it does not interfere with the football department.

1 hour ago, sue said:

What would you write if you were in the PR department?

I would not build false hope, at this point there is nothing to write about. I don't usually read them, my issue is why are they paid to be written in the first place. I do not see a positive from them. Why does Demonland promote them at all? Is it just for those desperates that have blind faith that we can win a GF in the preseason? 

really sick of the BS the propaganda arm of the MFC churns out. AVB is over his injuries, Preuss can be an effective forward, Brayshaw better for a poor year, Goodwin can do the job.. etc The only heads that roll are the ones that we can afford to get rid of. They should start with the hyperbole riddled publicity department. Not worth reading until the team get on the field next season and prove something. The team is not helped by believing the BS and the expectation puts more pressure on them and makes supporter disappointment worse. Just shut up and get on with the job, we will all see the results. 

40 minutes ago, Richard Tionary said:

whether Goodwin will work out?

I have many times and I can not see the MFC being successful with his guidance.

More proof of why Lyon never had a successful career as a coach. He does not read the play or players very well. Both of these players would cost too much. We need to use pick 2.

2 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Also, I'm impressed with how many times you used 'overpriced' in your post.  Well done.

Overpriced is a telltale yardstick when judging list management, which is the question you asked. Is this your attempt to be confused and rude? Our window is shut and we need a careful rebuild. Our back-line zone is weak, one dimensional and unaccountable.  

58 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

what are the other instances of poor list management?

Tomlinson will be overpriced at least $600,000 + a year. For that sort of money I would rather keep Frost and pick up a hungry prospect.  Pruess is ordinary and was overpriced and only insurance, Vandenberg was signed for 3 years and has not played a game since. May and KK were overpriced. Nobody is enough of a sucker to want May. May is the most secure player on our list and he is getting old and struggles to get out there. Our captains do not lead by example anymore. Viney is no longer a first string midfielder and struggles in any other position. Jones is getting older and slower and will have a season next year like Lewis had this year finishing at Casey. We have no balance in our midfield and are top heavy with in and under types. We have no balance in our back-line with too many intercept defenders and only Frost who can make a defender accountable one on one. Our defensive zone sucked last year and was easily beaten. We are short of run through the midfield and wings. Lever has been overpriced for his efforts so far but at least can play if he is fit.

To lose Frost would be another example of appalling list management. Frost was our best and most consistent defender last year. I notice that nobody is interested in poaching May or O Mac unfortunately.

We are going to have to put up all next year with the excuses of players getting use to the new coaching staff and game plan. Tomlinson is more of what we have heaps of and only really insurance if May and Leaver are as productive as they were this season. Tomlinson is overpriced, a waste of money and will not solve anything. This team will need a rebuild after a poor season next year. MFC is stuffed. 

The fact that Hawthorn want him is enough reason to keep Frost. Last year, we had the worst draft-trade period in living memory. We generally don't get our draft picks right and our mature recruiting is pitiful. Hawthorn may be the best at these things going around.

28 minutes ago, joeboy said:

Everyone suggests that Gawn is our only logical leader, however how will the new responsibility impinge on the performance of our ONLY quality player?

Getting rid of Jones and Viney as leaders to be replaced by Max may cause more problems if this year’s leaders get their noses out of joint and Max can’t handle the extra burdens of leadership 

I agree Max would be better to concentrate on his more important job of ruck and should be in the leadership group. Max will talk lots in the media anyway and offer his opinion at every chance, like he did this year. I think someone a bit blue collar with a good work ethic like Harmes would be a better choice for captain. Don't want to see May, Leaver or Jetta  in the leadership group because they struggle to get on the park and do not lead by example. Leadership group should be guys like Salem, Frost, Petracca, Brayshaw and anyone who stepped up in a poor year on the field.

We have had strong leaders and that did not work and they did not rise to the challenges this year. Jones will have a year like Lewis had this year and Viney is no longer a first string midfielder and needs to show more versatility if he is going to be a help and hold his place.

Butler has genuine grunt but goes missing would be an upgrade if he comes cheap enough. Would offer more than many on our list who are worse at doing the same job.

A pass mark should not be what we are aiming for and why we will not be ultimately successful. For any real team anything less than a premiership and being the best team in the country, is a fail.

while everybodies' the denial is very loyal, the reality is MFC is a basketcase. The club has been totally mismanaged all the time since the last GF. Except for the short period when our mismanagement was so extreme that we went into virtual receivership and were placed under AFL administration. We have managed to revert to our usual style in a matter of months. We do not deserve a priority pick and should lose pick 2 to a team that is in genuine trouble. Poor management should not be rewarded. Nobody here seems to think that theses issues here are tied to poor management. Teams are businesses, no matter how poor the team, the management standards should not fluctuate, that is how businesses go broke. In my opinion MFC is broken and we do not have the skill to pull ourselves out of our troubles. I have been a supporter all my life and my father was a player in the golden age of the mid fifties. It makes me feel like an idiot to support such incompetence. It does not take much of a reporter to compare our reality with other teams' performance. 

with no regard to cost the most important change would be get rid of Goodwin. Our list management is appalling. The most secure player we have is May, a very poor get and he can't get on the park. We would do better offloading him if we can find someone silly enough to take him. I would be getting rid of those who have not shown enough in their current contracts.

I love Vandenberg but he has not played a game since we signed him to a 3 year contract. O Mac would not get a game at another club. Spargo was never up to standard and was gifted games. Stretch and ANB do not do enough. KK, Jetta, Garlett and Hannan seem fragile. Jones and Lewis are at the age that will not see them beating many opponents. Pruess was a silly overpriced get for a back up. Weid on a good day is a third tall and is unseen on a bad day, worth trading. JKH has run out of contract. Chandler will probably never be best 22. Melksham's best work has been done closer to the middle as a link man. Fritch's best work is as a forward. Walker has had his chance. Hibberd is on his last slowing legs. Garlett too is at the end and was never going to be the future but may well be steak knives in a trade. KK who we obviously did no due diligence on, should go. 

First you have to reconcile the reality that we just signed Goodwin to an expensive multi-year contract. A big payout for no return is not something the club can afford. Any replacement will come at the cost of paying Goodwin out for the next few years. Goodwin should not walk away as this will be his last go at coaching at the senior level. It is likely that in the remote chance of Goodwin going, the immediate replacement  will be someone cheap who we do not have to look for. Most likely this would be Rawlings. From what I have seen, he is a better coach than Goodwin and is hungry to achieve. He has won Casey games with his gameday coaching which Goodwin only has done a couple of times, seemingly by accident. I would be as happy if they just swapped jobs now.