
Everything posted by Wodja
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PODCAST: Rd 21 vs Collingwood
I 100% agree with this comment. Last year, the Covid situation l believe actually helped us. Would we have beaten Geelong at Geelong if there was a crowd there? I honestly don’t think so. I’m sure there were other games but I’m too lazy to do the research. Did the incredibly biased crowds in the West assist us in the finals? Bloody oath. People talk about the noise the Filth fans made last week. Yep it was incredible and it most certainly helped the Pies (and didn’t help us one bit). Just as a side note, may be hard to believe, the support we received in the west was even more incredible. Both finals were the noisiest games I’ve ever attended (no doubt helped by the acoustics of the ground) No wonder our boys were so excited to try and do it all again in front of their real fans this year. Sadly, we have had the home grown advantage but not the home crowd advantage in some of our key home games this year. In my opinion this was telling when we played Fremantle and Sydney at home. Just guessing here. It seems the boys set themselves to do well when they play interstate games and have done well. Less so for home games. I just hope fans turn up in their droves this Saturday. No doubt this has been a tougher year for us than last year. I still have faith in our lads. We are still contenders- our team could also do with a little (a lot) more support on game day from their fans.
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CHANGES: Rd 22 vs Carlton
I know it’s the wrong thread but I just saw that TMac is now 3- 5 weeks away on the AFL injury update. Not sure if it spin, or I am delusional or both… but I live in hope 🤞
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Patrick Cripps FREE to play
Actually, I’m with you on this one , he deserved what he got……..but I can only repeat, they are playing the ferals the week after! GO DEES
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Patrick Cripps FREE to play
Bit harsh I reckon. Should have been reduced to one week. And this has got nothing to do at all with that he could then play against the ferals the following week.
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Who's helping to fix our goal kicking woes?
Sorry M, I have no idea. If he isn’t, perhaps it’s now the right time for him to run a refresher course on basic skills!
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Fill the ‘G’
I have a plan! Appreciate that members irrespective of whether they attend H&A games make a financial contribution to the club. Focussing on the category that has reserved seats and guaranteed GF access that has members that that don’t go to H&A games but want to get access to a GF if we make it there. Consider this. Reduce your membership level next year to general membership. If we make the finals you still can access tickets. If we make it to the GF I reckon most of you would be in a financial position and have connections to snag a corporate package (use some of the funds you saved by buying a lower membership). The benefits would be considerable. a) Our membership numbers would go up! You would still be a member making a financial contribution to the club and the higher status membership would be bought by someone else. The only catch is the you would want to ensure that whoever buys the reserved seat then actually goes to the H&A games. (This is the plan’s Achilles heel!). I will let someone smarter than me work out how to make this happen. b) If the above could be implemented this would mean there would be more of our fans rocking up to the G during the season. c) More fans equal more noise, more passion, more atmosphere and more of a game day experience. d) Do not underestimate the impact a vocal crowd has on a team’s performance on field. (Look at what happened against the Ferals last Friday, look at what happened in the west last year). Vocal crowds matter and have an impact. e) ‘Home ground’ advantage then also becomes ‘home crowd’ advantage (something that we tend not to get in quite a few games) that in my opinion means that it can only improve the chances of us winning more games. f) Win more games improves chances of making finals, finishing top four etc. You know the rest. To change ‘supporter culture’ means you have to do something different, if you don’t, it all stays the same. I know, I’m dreaming and the chances of the above happening is virtually zilch. But it’s been very therapeutic for me. I feel a bit better now .
- Fill the ‘G’
- Fill the ‘G’
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Fill the ‘G’
Not necessary. What we can do is learn from them (and sadly from quite a few based Melbourne clubs) on how to show real support for our boys on game day. Better still, do a trade with them with some of our supporters. I reckon I’d be willing to give up three fair weather supporters for one of their passionate fans. I reckon we would have a lazy 60k we could bring to the trading table. Just imagine having an additional 20k mad passionate fans at our home and away games. Make it more exciting to attend snd would help our lads immensely Footnote - I am not having a go at the elderly, Covid concerned or distance challenged. My aim is at the fair weathered mob, in particular the vast number of reserved seat GF finals guaranteed members that do not turn up for many if at all any home and away games
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Fill the ‘G’
100% agree. When you say ‘the crowd was mostly ours’, sure they barracked for us but they were WA fans (with a strong West Coast flavour). Hence the noise and the excitement (the boos included)….WA people love their footy. Thank goodness they ‘adopted’ Melbourne for the finals Our players loved it and I have no doubt, it spurred them on.
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The Run Home
I may have this totally wrong because I’m sick and tired of going through the permutations but it will also be important to get a percentage boost against Carlton and hope that the Swans v Ferals is a close one. That way we would have the first final at the G and not in Sydney
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Patrick Cripps FREE to play
Hope he appeals and it is reduced to one week so he is available to play against the Ferals the following week
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What They Are Saying at Princes Park
I was at the practice game at Docklands when Carlton beat us and their supporters carried on like they won the GF in March! I’ve been waiting all season for this game. Their supporters, they really irk me. If there wasn’t a Collingwood, they most certainly would be the team I love to hate the most. GO DEES!
- Fill the ‘G’
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Demons will win the flag in 2022.
Even more so if we start nailing goals!
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TRAINING: Monday 8th August 2022
And even more on goal kicking practice!
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Who's helping to fix our goal kicking woes?
Maybe Choco needs to get the footy out that he markets to kids (that has a stripe down the middle) to teach them how to kick straight….. and give it to a few of our ‘goal kickers’ . Back to the basics.
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Fill the ‘G’
I am so hoping you are wrong with your estimate of how many of us will turn up. We have 60k plus members, plenty more supporters, last home game which is a BIG game for us. I dream that we will outnumber the Carlton crew and give our boys the support they both want and need. Am I hopeful? No, not really…. but I still dream
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In Season - Loading/Periodisation: Put your conjecture here.
Don’t underestimate the influence a crowd can have over and above loading and tactic considerations on the psychological impact on player’s performance levels. I was absolutely fortunate / lucky enough to attend all Melbourne’s finals last year. In SA against Brisbane I’d say it was a 65/35 crowd. To be honest it wasn’t an electric atmosphere but we got the job done ( and was amazed at how SA still resented Lever leaving ). Similar atmosphere to playing a home game in Victoria. The other finals in WA were a absolute never to forget crowd experience. Guessing it was a 70 / 30 crowd that made a 80/20 noise if that makes sense in both games. It was loud, almost over the top hysteria (West Coast booing and all). Believe it or not, perhaps even more so when we played Geelong- they love to hate Geelong. It was like a Collingwood crowd on steroids. It was electric. I loved it. Did it help our team? Undoubtedly and immensely. I could really understand why the Melbourne players wanted to do it again in front of their home crowd the following year. First game, rematch against the Doggies, the atmosphere in comparison to the GF was decidedly flat. And in my opinion it really didn’t get much better throughout the year. I get why Petracca talks about crowd numbers. The team is not getting the support they expected/ wanted from our supporter base. Does it impact their on field performances? Let’s put it this way it doesn’t help. To finish off, I am not at all filthy on the people that turn up week in and week out or when they can. I am not having a go at the elderly, Covid concerned , distance issued supporters who can’t turn up. You guys are the heart and soul of the club. I am just expressing deep felt disappointment to the fact that we have an inordinate number of fair weather supporters. I feel embarrassed but more importantly I feel for our players.
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In Season - Loading/Periodisation: Put your conjecture here.
100% agree with you. I am one of the lucky, privileged if you like members that have got one of those GF guaranteed reserved seat memberships. (All sold out) All year when we have had home games I can categorically and factually state that in the section I sit (Shane Warne stand, level 2A near the wing, right next to the AFL that at best it is half full. Absolute shame. I’ve gone on about this in other posts so I will desist from repeating my disgust here.
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In Season - Loading/Periodisation: Put your conjecture here.
I think the crowd played a big factor last Friday. I agree that our team seems to gear up rather well for hostile crowds when we are playing interstate and hope this holds true when we play Brisbane in the last round. My big concern is when we play home games (like last week) and this week's game against Carlton. As I mentioned in a earlier post , there are loading considerations, tactics and mindset. Supporters can certainly have an impact on the players mindset. Not making excuses for outcomes but it’s a real shame our players miss out on getting this ‘edge’ in quite a few of our home games. I’ve pretty much have lost faith in our supporter base and will be almost annoyed if they suddenly start turning up when we play of in the finals. (Off course I want them there for the players sake, but I know they are just fair weather supporters, nothing more, nothing less)
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Fill the ‘G’
I really don’t get how the members and supporters thingy works. We have over 60k members and am totally guessing here, say an additional 30 to 40k supporters. In relative terms, bugger all turn up to games, even the big ones. I know for a fact that a lot of members - definitely the category that have reserved seats / access to GF tickets (if we make it) - (that have also been fully sold out)- don’t go to many games because there have been many vacant seats in those reserved areas in every one of our home games this year. My presumption is that we must have a substantial number of ‘fair weather’ and perhaps somewhat affluent supporters that buy the higher level memberships just in case we make the finals. Maybe that is the answer for your 2018 question. If that is the case, in my opinion that is a bit sad but so be it. I also get why we get the ‘going to the snow’ jokes. We seem to deserve it. But back to what I cannot work out. If we have over 90k supporters (even allowing for elderly, Covid concerns, distance issues) why so few in relative terms turn up to big games such as against the ferals. If the answer is they prefer to watch the games on tv, again, or just choose to attend if we make the finals, such is life. I used to enjoy bagging our northern state neighbours about how bad their attendances were for their rugby games. That has sadly very much become a tv sport. I’m going to back off doing that because I feel a bit hypocritical. I just feel for our players and I am again just guessing again, would appreciate some vocal support at our home games. Must be disheartening to know that opposition supporters more often than not not only outnumber our supporters but are also more vocal. The real downside being that our team is disadvantaged in home games if that makes sense. Just like for decades I wished we win a premiership, I now wish (actually have done so for many decades) the values and attitudes of our new supporters also change, dare I say it to resemble the raw passion that most other Victorian based seem to have. Again in my opinion the MFC as in the board, coaches, players and staff have all stepped up, the only real remaining weak link is us, the supporters base. Apologies to all the die hard fans out there including the cheer squad and people that turn up week in and week out - be you a member or a ‘non financial’ supporter. You guys are the heart and soul of the club.
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CHANGES: Rd 22 vs Carlton
The biggest change required by quite a few players is…… attitude. Think ‘hunter’ rather than ‘hunted’ ….. and then all will be fine. Something for all us supporters to consider. Are you going to back or bag your team? Looking forward to seeing this happen at the G next Saturday night GO DEES
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Fill the ‘G’
100% agree. As much as we are pretty good at bagging out on other teams supporters and their idiosyncrasies, they at the very least turn up to games and are loud and proud. The same can’t be said for us. Almost typically, I would expect a pick up in numbers once the finals begin. What were you doing during the home and away season? I am fortunate (and perhaps privileged) enough to have one of those memberships that give me a reserved seat / access to finals/ GF etc. All year where I sit it has been less than half full. In my opinion, shameful. Not having a go at the elderly, Covid concerned and members and fans that have to travel great distances. The ones I am disappointed in is all of our fair weather supporters. We have more than our fair share of them. I can only hope that the new generation of young supporters that we hopefully attract by our team’s recent success are a new breed that actually walk the talk. I hope it is not more of the same.
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Demons won't win the flag in 2022.
Had we won last night, I wonder if there would have been a new thread about us being premiership favourites? One game at a time.