Stu

Let's not let facts get in the way of a good ol' fashioned Demonland Mass Panic(TM) 😀

It’s certainly the case that they did well DESPITE missing Grundy not BECAUSE he was missing. People really struggle to process hypotheticals that go behind small simple variables.

He still says 'us' when talking about the Pies (understandably) so I think there's some history being re-written to justify the clubs decisions. He thinks that because Collingwood did well last year without Grundy, but they sorely need a key forward, McStay makes Collingwood stronger than if they had Grundy instead. He's not saying McStay is an objectively better player, just that McStay fills a need and that Cameron and the American fill the ruck 'need'. I disagree and think they could have played a lot better with Grundy in the side and that McStay won't be the silver bullet they think.

Good answer - it's probably the answer to both problems. We didn't have a problem generating F50 entries, but our conversion of them was very low. It's not surprising that when we lost, the opposition scored a lot from turnovers because we gave them a lot of opportunities to rebound from their D50 with poor decision making and skill execution. By having 4-5 accurate kicks in the team, for every additional quality entry into our F50 we're starving the opposition of a quick rebound. Even just the decision to be slower, more deliberate and not just a long bomb for McCarten, Howe, or Stewart to mark, reduces the volume of quick counter attacks we have to defend.

Sure thing Andy. I’ll repost this in the season preview podcast thread when it pops up. A question for tonight then… Based on Friday’s game, which player who has played 0 senior games for the Dees most excited you?

A question based on these points from last season: Our average points differential to round 10 was six goals (35.8 points), where a lot of teams chose a slower or a more contested style. We kicked two goals fewer per game and gave up three goals more per game from R11 onwards (point differential of 4.3 points), where a lot of teams adopted a faster style. Based on some subjective analysis I did on the style the opposition used to attack - the fast, risky style used by Collingwood, Hawks, Swans etc resulted in an average of 85 points against, compared to 60 for all other games where opposition attacks were less aggressive (over 4 quarters). If you could only choose one of the strategies below for the team to focus on which would it be, out of: Defending better against fast, corridor-based ball movement, such as with more intense F50 defensive pressure, or Attack more aggressively through the corridor, to generate better quality forward entries and (more than likely) score more goals. And you can't say both ok? 😄 Love your work guys! Note: Table showing breakdown of scores for and against Points For Points Against R1-10 93.8 58.0 R11-F2 81.9 77.6 Wins 94.4 58.6 Losses 71.6 91.1 Season 86.8 69.4

I expect him to show up on Home and Away as a surfer walking towards the bodacious waves.

I was standing in in the shady pocket at the southern end (wind was blowing towards me). My observations were: Hunter's disposal is going to be very valuable this year - he had some fantastic F50 entries, as well as some kicks into the corridor off half back that setup shots on goal. Max's ruck work was amazing at times Him and Grundy cover a lot of ground for big guys Ball movement was lightning quick at times, with a lot of quick hands There was some rusty moments, and brain fades as is expected for the first game of the year Lever looked in great form while he was playing JVR ensures he rarely loses a marking contest Our two way running was immense, especially in the heat We looked to have a 'slow it down' mode when the Saints built momentum McVee has great acceleration, lateral movement, and composure to go with good skills The Demon Army were in great voice, standing in the sun all game - @WalkingCivilWar you must all be pretty beat! Saw Tracc and Clarry leave the facility when we left in the 6th - I didn't expect them to drive out in a RAV4 and BT-50 with a taped on front guard 😄

But great signs for the season ahead if we win 😜

There was a few pretty basic mistakes in the list. I’m hoping that those mistakes don’t mean their predictions are similarly error riddled 😅

Zero Hanger have done 50 predictions for the 2023 season - this article shows their top 10 predictions. I'd just scroll down to number one ;) 50 fearless predictions for the 2023 AFL season: 10-1 - AFL News - Zero Hanger

I'm driving 80 minutes to be there 😊

Thanks @Action Jackson I have joined the league. Now to resist the temptation to load up on Dees players!

I’m keen to join

Me too! I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for a pre-season game, and your training reports are a big reason why 😃

Looking at his reaction time, lateral movement, and acceleration, I think Kozzy could play at the elite level in any international sport. He's making top end AFL athletes look slow and cumbersome!

It is low effort content, but there's a very simple part of my brain that releases dopamine's when I listen to or read MFC related news, regardless of quality! 🤪

Yeah one of the media releases mentioned that the entire list will be rotated to play some game time (if fit). I’ll be going as I can’t wait another 5 weeks to watch a game 😂

I genuinely think that Hunter will be seen as our best recruit (if not the whole league). Not to say that Grundy won't be great, I just think having two genuine wingers operating on their preferred side, both who are very fit will be such a challenge for opposition teams to counter. Last year teams would tag Langdon (Hawthorn early in the season) and it would definitely make our run and carry more stifled. Now we can just push that traffic down Hunters wing and negate that strategy. I get the feeling that at least one of them will get 25+ possessions every game. He also helps in one area we lack in - accurate kicking inside 50.

I echo @Rodney (Balls) Grinter sentiment about really beating Collingwood and Sydney, two teams that seem to have to always beat us regardless of what form or talent they have. I can almost sense that expectation and privilege from their fans... it sickens me. Let's "slaughter" them!

It's great to see he's received about $7k in donations already 😊

I’ve watched this a few times now and I’m still speechless at the acceleration in each subsequent step.

I really hope we beat the Pies this year - I'm very much sick of losing to them! Watch the first half against them in the Round 21 game - that's how you beat them. The challenge is to keep that up for four quarters. If we can go back to the sort of forward pressure we saw in 2021, combined with our solid defensive structure, that's the game plan that will beat the kamikaze style. Pressure on the ball carrier forces them to release the ball quickly, allowing our defenders to intercept. By us sitting off teams more in 2022, it allowed them to hit those short kicks that short circuits our defensive structure behind the ball.

I imagine for a lot of teams that use their wingers as just another body around every contest, it doesn't matter what foot any given winger kicks with. But because Goodwin wants our wingers to keep their width, it becomes more important. With soccer, the importance of aligning player positions with their strong side gets more important the higher the quality of the league the team plays in. A right footed left back can compensate with other strengths in a weaker comp but is likely to be targeted and found out at a higher level. Sometimes teams will compensate by having their left back attack more and provide wide overlapping run for a right-footed left winger. This will give the winger room to cut in on his right side and generate attacks more centrally. You can see this in our games last year. When we kicked to the right of screen and where Ed had the overlap run from other midfielders or half-backs, he was able to feed off a handball and get it back in space giving him the time to open up his body and hit a forward target in a central position. When fatigue struck later in the year and the overlap run dried up in the second half, Ed would often try to circle back as opponents would corral him against the boundary. When that happened, we were susceptible to a quick counterattack if players weren't presenting as an outlet for him. In those scenarios but kicking to the left, he would be able to at least use a long kick into F50 to relieve pressure. Getting to your point, I don't think the talent pool is deep enough to allow teams to pick side-specific players to fill specialty roles - as great as that would be. If Hunter wasn't available and we had our choice out of an elite right footed winger or an average left footed one, I'm sure the FD would have gone with the better player.

Normally wingers that stay on a fixed wing get to spend two quarters close to the interchange bench. But due to Langdon's elite fitness he would always be furthest from the bench. That meant he got to play two quarters on the side that allowed him to kick more naturally into the corridor (when we were kicking to the left of screen) and he seemed to hit more targets and make better decisions. I noticed when we were kicking to the right of screen, when Ed couldn't cut in to use his right foot more expansively, he would use either a banana/check-side, or a dinky chip with the outside of his foot. I haven't gone back and studied the tapes, but anecdotally it seems like he was caught holding the ball or turned it over more frequently when we kicked to the right. Anyway, I remember an article or video that mentioned Langdon would get to play on the right side now, as Hunter as great endurance too and given he is a left footer there wouldn't be an issue for him being on the far side when we kick to the right of screen.