1964_2

No thanks. lets back Jacko in for 80% ruck, and be able to make a fair assessment of what we can do with a ruck playing as an extra midfielder :- Have a strong feeling we will all be pleasantly surprised.

“If we lose on Thursday” - Demonland will blow up with negativity (more than usual) - Will be a media pile on:- “season over”, “No Max, no Melbourne”, “entrecôte hangover”, “premiership hangover” etc etc. BUT, we will still win the flag.

And if you combine dusty & Daicos you get Petracca :)

True, but he would look like a genius in a few years when Jacko peaks.

Fair call on both fronts! I guess you let other teams speculate on the upside they could generate from playing him in the middle

Can’t see freo letting Brayshaw go. And hopefully we would be demanding if it required a couple of 2nd tier Freo players. With the money we will have to put up to keep jacko (and then Oliver next year), you do wonder if we will be able to pay Gus somewhere near his market value to keep him. All the more reason to play him in the middle and drive up his market value. Love them both, but if we had to let one go, it be Gus (just because we have more similar players)

If we are following this graph, you would think the first 4 week block has been done. planned recovery during the bye. Come out and smash the lions. Then another 4 week loading block up until R18/19. - If we beat lions & crows and lose to Cats & Port we will be 12-5 heading into our R19 clash with the dogs (obviously could be a different combination, but 2W, 2L is probably a fair assumption during this period) - Then worst case we win 3 of our last 5 to finish up 15-7, best case we finish strong like last year winning our last 5 to be 17-5. - In summary, I am of the opinion that 5W, 4L will be our worst case, and 7W, 2L will be our best case scenarios from here - Sure injuries are the key risk to the above, but it needs to be remembered, during our 10-0 patch, all the talk was how amazing our depth is. I believe this to still be the case.

Heard some snippets on Triple M EO. Ross Lyon and Montagna reflected on how they usually had some form of “loading” program, with varying levels of effectiveness each year, partly dependant on fixtures, days break, W/L position at time of year etc

Be fascinating to be a fly on the wall for the discussions amongst football departments. Given all the variables, you would imagine there would be varying opinions on the best approach. With some of those opinions remaining silent and choosing to be guided by sports science. It is very interesting that Chris Scott decided to speak up, and ensure there is a valid excuse for any near term poor performances (Reminds me of his prelim final gastro comments/excuse)

Makes sense. Bris looked flat pre the bye, so it could very easily be two teams both affected by a similar training phase. Other factor is the chance that more teams than usual have copied our loading program from last year :- Copying the prior years premiers is a common theme for AFL.

Given we have got the tough games of Bris and Geel in the next 3 weeks, maybe we went earlier with the loading this year (during Nth+WC), allowing us to ease up over the next couple of weeks training. Or maybe they are willing to risk one or both of Bris & Geel, for future fitness benefits. Lets say we lose both, and beat Adel :- 11-5 is still a very strong position to be in, given the teams output is likely to increase from R18/19ish Time will tell.

Yep, and after watching Geel and some other top teams struggle (who are clearly also loading) :- I am even more firmly of the opinion that it is the primary reason for our form slump (closely followed by injuries) Geel were terrible yest:- and Scott & Selwood, confirmed the loading. If they were playing any other team than West Coast or Nth, they definitely would have lost.

Agree with this. Came 3rd in the Brownlow as a mid. Kicking & footy smarts has gone through the roof since this time. At least trial it for a 1-2 week period.

Debate over. And I wonder why the cats are pushing the loading harder than usual this year??! Maybe because they witnessed the benefits of it from their opponent in the 2021 prelim.

nearly won 1 maybe 2 out of the 3 :- and the sacrifice means we be peaking at the pointy end of the season. What is so difficult to comprehend?? You don’t win flags without planning/training to be peaking at the right time of the year

Exactly. One of the most dominant second half teams for 10 rounds (who went 10-0), suddenly has very little run/effort/pressure 3 weeks in a row to defend sizeable leads?? Does anything more actually need to be spelled out?? And if that is not simple enough to work out, have a look at what the premiership winning team did around this time last year?? That's me tapping out. Will be back in a month or so, to watch the "detractors" come crawling back. Go Dees.

happy to discuss. But am just struggling listening to someone asking for changes (that don't actually make any sense) when their basis is on a lack of information vs the people employed to make the changes (who do have most of the information) Clearly the club didn't plan to loose 3 in a row. But with a bit of luck (less mid game injuries etc) we would have won 1 maybe 2 of the 3 (and be either 12-1 or 11-2), at the same time as setting ourselves up to be peaking at the pointy end of the year. Just struggle to see why it is so difficult for people to comprehend what is going on at the moment.

And you think what you are seeing / thinking is more valuable/important than the people who have the information you don't?

What if the people who do have the information, have confidence that the problem wont be a problem for too much longer? Problem solving / creative thinking doesn't appear to be a strength on the old demonland.

Respect your opinion, but you don't have all the information around the current situation. Happy to respect/trust the person/team that does have most of the information.

This is A++ research. Have taken screenshots of all the "supporters" who have [censored] their pants during this period. Cant wait to call them out, when they get positive again towards the end of the year.

Or does it??! Maybe the coach has a reason not to panic, like the majority of his snow loving, fair weathered supporters?

Like an ex mrs/mr saying they should have cut you after the first night isn’t it

All you "demons bashers" need to listen in to the Demonland podcast :- Some A+ content being discussed right now.

Nev, Jimmy is a former “high grade player” so apparently his insights are more valuable. Needs to change the name to “Jimmy - high grade player” so we all give him the appropriate respect.