Skuit

Yep. But then Covid. No one has any experience of that. I think they got it wrong but I don't blame them - the number of things I've got wrong since Covid is insane. Burnt all the houses down. So be it.

Clarry is an exceptional player who has a few things to work on. Still just 22 and has been one of the league's very top echelon of contested players since day one. The best in-tight player I have ever seen. Even yesterday he did a few things that were extraordinary but barely noticeable. After recent criticism he managed to remodel his game slightly and show what he is capable of. He may have regressed a bit in the past couple of games but the full package is there waiting to explode. It will come. Trac has shown what a dedicated pre-season and maturity can do. Yes, still has some things to learn, and how to impact matches when not everything is in his favour (such as his effort vs St Kilda). Just reached the 100-game mark and in an objective perspective is already one of the top-five players in the AFL - with actual real potential to keep improving. Gus I don't know. Got a giddy-up (from Simon Goodwin) in 2018 and ended up third in the Brownlow. Everything he does and says makes me think of an immature individual still. Competing in a packed mid-field. Have no idea if he will ever reach his potential but he's obviously a very capable player (whatever one thinks of Brownlow voting). Langdon: I think we're all still coming to terms with having an actual bona fide winger. And because he's an import it doesn't feel real as to the MFC. Plus he's still just a kid as well. 80 games. No reason that he won't keep developing and occupying a wing for the next half a decade to come. He has already improved during this season alone - including his kicking. Gawn. I didn't agree with his captaincy but it is what it is in Neeldism terms. First season as captain and probably one of the most difficult seasons as to leadership that will ever happen. He's still in the discussion for league-best rucks - the best tap-ruckman I have ever seen - and would expectedly grow into his role. Now - again, imagine all of the above have another 50 to 80 games under their belt, rather than an average of 85 or so.

I can't be bothered doing the leg-work across the entire league but would presume that the top-dozen most-capped players for any given team wouldn't be fringe players such as Omac and Hunt. Geelong is a bit easy but I'll run a Collingwood, Bulldogs and GWS comparison - the three teams currently above us on the ladder (please note, I'm not a close football follower anymore so don't know exactly if some of these players may be currently out of favour or in form or not. Also probable name spelling mistakes). Bulldogs: most capped current players (in order) - Wood, Macrae, Wallis, Liberatore, Bontempelli, Johannisen, Hunter (all who have played more games than our captain). Collingwood: Pendles, Sidebottom, Reid, Grundy, Adams (all who have played more or close to the same number of games as our captain and then of course our midfield and core players). GWS: Cameron, Ward, Davis, Greene, Shaw, Coniglio, Whitfield, Haynes, Kennedy, Kelly, Williams (all who have played bar Kelly more or the same number of games as our captain and midfield). I think my original thesis fails. But a simple analysis shows how inexperienced our core is compared to the teams around us.

I almost wish now we ended up playing in Tasmania. Even then, we've probably achieved some single-season air-miles/grounds-played record that will possibly never be broken. And not playing in Tassie in the end was just another of our specific disruptions to our season. With the multiple football frenzies it's easy to overlook that every other team has had a recent bye and refresher besides us and Essendon. Look how the Bombers are currently travelling. In an ordinary season we'd all look at a Cairns fixture or five-day break with trepidation.

One Spargo standing on top of another Spargo might be a decent player.

I agree that the current skill level is deplorable. But I don't think that is as an inherent thing as it seems. Watch us or any other team play with confidence and run and then suddenly everyone is a sublime kick, or it just doesn't matter so much. I acknowledge there is a gap though and that we need to focus on bringing in better foot-skills (was on the Hayden Young bandwagon last year for that reason). Our midfield (and core) is definitely a concern as to skills, but I would forward Danger and Martin as just a couple examples of not particularly clean players who can still have a huge impact.

I have huge respect for our longer-suffering members Old Dee and have expressed that numerous times in the past - would never deny or devalue that grief. But it's the members who are the only remote glue in a ship of Theseus sense. I don't think we can be judged on anything more than the past decade or so - almost no one who was a part of the club in 2008 is still present today. We are still though trying to overcome recent legacy issues and I both agree with the bolded and disagree with the larger statement. Those players are definitely nowhere near the quality of Geelong's seniors, but our list is mostly okay. Imagine Trac, Clarry, Brayshaw. Langdon and Gawn with 200-plus games under their belts. We're still a fraction shy of true maturity. Petracca's season this year is a good example.

Just checked and Oscar, ANB and Hunt are the 10th to 12th most experienced current players in Demon colours. Hard to get the head around.

In Europe we drink stout closer to room temperature. Get into it now Wise.

We can look forward to 2021 and beyond. We will catch alight again - mark my words or put it in the book or whatever people say. 2018 was a false or very narrow window and 2020 has been an unprecedented [censored]-fest. We have a very good but still maturing core. Our seniors are all but finished though. That core will become our new senior leadership soon and we have some very talented youngsters. No one likes excuses (a nod to @Engorged Onion for asking what is the difference between excuses and reasons?) - but we've been up against it this season. Compare the Demons' fixture to the Bulldogs or Richmond for example. I really don't know how anyone can discount it. (Note here how outside of the Pickett/Spargo blip we've kept a very tidy house this year). If we had been recently successful then most people would agree, as well as understanding the toll of injuries in 2019 - but we carry the baggage of failure. Spouting anywhere anytime rhetoric is great as a mentality or catchphrase but it isn't the reality (West Coast won a recent flag but was consistently poor on the road, while Richmond has struggled away). We've designed one of the most even sporting competitions in the world - and as such any small advantage is magnified (see Geelong getting their senior players to agree to pay-cuts for example, or father-sons and priority picks). We have some small advantages coming but we still suffer the legacy of the Neeld & tanking era where our list balance was thrown into disarray. Our window opens again next year but probably won't reach it's peak until 2022/23. It's [censored] but it's the reality. I don't care about Goodwin anymore (I'm still a supporter but if he has lost the vast majority of the membership then that's a cause for concern) - but we need to stay the course in some respects. A total rebuild now would be hugely detrimental. Just reflect on Jones, TMac, Jetta, and Melksham for instance - our most senior players - and their contribution this season, and compare it to Geelong maybe. Bar Jones, all of Selwood, Ablett, Dangerfield, Hawkins, Taylor, Tuohy and Dahlhaus have played more games than anyone on our list. Is it any wonder that mature players have handled this season better than others?

I was already hurting and now you've ruined my one claim to fame.

Champion. You would have been shouted to multiple drinks by now if I was in residence.

@AmDamDemon. Beer soon. Borders have been a little bit bit more important than footy this year. Not much though.

To keep myself busy during the breaks and before the match I went on tinder. Six matches by the end of the game. Should try it everyone.

Season is a bust. Was proud of the effort tonight. Now I go on my long-tern off-season holiday. See you next year champs.

Is front-on contact an actual rule?

Riveting football. I'm strapped in. Go Dees!

Unfounded optimism. Nervy pessimism. Plenty of humour. Posters checking in from various points of the globe, posters getting themselves pumped. BBQ and beverage reports. Crazy score predictions. Pre-game routines. For as long as I can recall and even at the worst of times - this is what I had come to expect of the game-day thread. A ritualistic shedding of the emotional baggage of the prior week and a chance for re-set, at least for the few hours leading up to first bounce. Somewhere I could come feeling little interest in the match ahead and leave excited and fully committed to cheering my [censored] off. Now it's just a bunch of people moaning. I hope our players have their minds on the task at hand and not taking a negative attitude into the game, as we ask of them week in week out. For many of us the football and watching our club is greatest escape we have from the workaday - why not enjoy the fantasy? Go Dees.

"Demons coach Simon Goodwin proved the catalyst for change, even if May originally reacted angrily to the tough love." "I was a bit surprised, because he got me down to the club and I thought he had my back, but he just hit me between the eyes and told me I needed to start owning up to my actions."

I missed the 2004 - 2007 seasons entirely. Reading about our wild 2006 in week-old newspapers was still a little bit exciting. Gained access again in 2008. Perfect timing.

You poor barstard. Maybe only 15 or so games now (covering four states) but the last time I recall seeing us win live was in 1992. Yay Darren Bennett.

Beat me to it Wiseblood. As the OP spoke of only H&A games I had (and this is subjective based on emotional highs at the time, in chronological order): 2017 Rnd 1 vs. St Kilda. The first round always has added emotional weight. We came out with an attacking and exciting brand. 2017 vs Adelaide @ Adelaide Oval. An unexpected win against the odds with bonus comeback and everyone contributing. 2018 vs Adelaide @ Alice Springs. We had beaten up on some lowly teams prior. Came out here and looked truly sublime. 2018 vs West Coast @ Optus Stadium. Holding our nerve to secure finals. A win which defied our psychological profiling. 2020 vs Collingwood. Evident proximity bias plus. But they genuinely put the heat on us and we responded. A pleasing win.

Two points. It was mentioned a couple times early on in the Sydney-Melbourne broadcast that the game was being played in straight lines down the ground - i.e. the players were too afraid to attempt inboard passes and switches in the wind. Does this impact our game-plan and level the playing field somewhat? Also, it was noticeable in the first quarter that May was frequently hovering around half forward and up the wing. Does playing with the breeze force our defensive structures further up the ground in order to cut off relief kicks which are being held up? After St Kilda, our structures looked completely shot.

Saw a dozen broken tackles in the first five minutes and knew we were done.

They were our best performers across the day. Oliver and some of our other defenders also helped get us across the line and Langdon didn't stop. Has no relation to what I posted. Langdon looked to have plenty of cookies on Thursday. Heat and humidity will effect different people in different ways. It's accepted as pretty normal fact of civilian life.