The Taciturn Demon

How come?

He definitely can. And as a leader of the club, you can't just shrug away his responsibility (I did with my comment earlier, so sorry about that). If the rumours of a "suck it up" approach to Petracca's injury are true, that concerns me. But all a lot of supporters have to go on when judging people at the club is public statements. At a time when a lot of what we heard was incoherent, insincere and corporate waffle, Gawn came across as honest, reassuring and realistic. He strikes me as a good person with a deep love of the club. If that's all a facade, he is a brilliant actor. I'm not convinced that if another person had been captain during this time, things would be significantly different. He also remains the most reliable player at the club, which is vital for a captain.

Beatification? Yes.

They do.

Going by the Port praccy match, not quite there yet.

Very good win. 6: Hore 5: Mackin 4: Chaplin 3: Heath 2: Goldrick 1: McNamara

I'm not sure if this is quite the right question but: what's the knock on Kynan Brown? I didn't quite understand why they brought him in, barely played him then consigned him to Casey, even after the season was clearly gone. Another way of putting it: he seems like a goer and we kept playing end-of-career plodders and then wondering why our effort wasn't "at the level".

Sadly, this is a template for a few of the public statements I've heard from her. I thought her point about Viney - clearly a media beat up - had the potential to be the basis for a strong argument. Something along the lines of "If I carried out my duties based on every single media rumour or demand from a pundit, I'd never sleep." But the stuff about the media quickly descended into, as you said, incoherence.

I don't expect the President to be a polished media performer. I do expect them to be, if not a nuffie in a business suit, at least across a lot of club stuff and well-connected with every important person at the club. Important people include all the players and their immediate families. What I took from that interview, and a few Roffey public statements, is that she's neither a good media performer nor obsessively interested in everything happening at the club. In the Whately interview, she seemed to imply that she hadn't spoken with Petracca's family because their absence from the club made it inconvenient. If that's not outright negligence, it sounds like the excuse of someone who doesn't really have the time to be President. I like the idea of a president saying "This isn't my area of expertise; I'll leave it to the people we employ to do specific jobs". But talking to players and their family after a very serious injury and a very public desire to leave seems like something clearly within a president's remit.

The end of last season was worrying and I reckon we'll miss Casey Sherriff a lot. But the team we've named against Geelong still looks pretty good and Beasley and Wotherspoon looked good in the praccy match against Port. Interesting to see how we go on the weekend.

I'm not sure if the forward line is the least of our problems, but the midfield and the whole system of ball movement is absolutely number one.

That's generous. Both Fremantle games were abysmal. The West Coast and Dogs games were right up there in the same category. Both Collingwood games were really bad. We also beat North by three points. We were no longer difficult to play.

I think we need to win a final. (I'm absolutely amazed by how many supporters go with the "we put ourselves in a good position" line when talking about consecutive straight sets exits. It's like losing in a prelim and then saying "at least we won the minor premiership".) The problem is, I don't think we have the list for it. We may on paper, but almost every one of our best players has a question mark over them: Oliver - will he come back better (surely) or extremely good again (plausible but far from certain)? Gawn - incredible that he's still playing this well after being battered for 200-odd games. He may just keep on going, but, entering his mid-30s, it's no certainty that he remains the best ruck in the comp. Petracca - even if he wants to be at the club, a Round 1 game would be surprising given how badly hurt he was in still is. May - amazing that he's got this far with his history of soft tissue injuries. And even if he's as good as ever, we need to stop relying on numerous Steven May contest miracles to win close games - it's completely unsustainable. Kozzie - I'm really optimistic about him, but three weeks without him at the beginning of the season is annoying. Viney and Salem - both make us a vastly better team, but only when they're not carrying something, which seems to be often. I also think replacing Neal-Bullen will be more difficult than it might first seem, and apart from Windsor and McVee, there's no under 21 on the list who I'm confident will be a massive contributor next season. In addition, I don't buy either the "we lost a lot of close ones this season" line (we beat North, who'll finish the season with a percentage in the lows 60s, by under a kick) or the "we get an easier draw" optimism. Genuinely good teams don't worry about the evenness of the competition - they just keep winning. I think a longer pre-season is a genuine plus, however. All that's to say I suspect we're not good enough; it will take some coaching brilliance to make finals, let alone win won. It will be difficult, but it's not unfair to expect a coach coming into his 9th season to be well above average. Is Goodwin the man? Next year will be an excellent test.

Melksham gets an incredible run from the footy department and supporters.

Goodness, that Collingwood game was bracing. A fair few of our under 22s just aren't going to make it. I know you can't just pluck first round picks out of the sky, but if there's a way, we need to find it. Got to give Jason Taylor every chance to flex his professional muscles in November.

I've lamented our work in the centre square for a very long time. That was an enormous improvement against two of the better clearance players (at least stats-wise) in the comp.

It was. But a terrible call to go after him in the first place. Grundy can't mark above his head. He was never going to work as a forward. He was never going to work if we asked him to concentrate on getting back as the extra defensive interceptor. He was only going to work as a (mostly) very effective tap ruckman (although I would say he relies far too heavily on umpires being extraordinarily lenient with their interpretation of holding during ruck contests). That would have meant consigning one of the best Melbourne footballers of the last 50 years and arguably the best ruckman of the last 20 to an understudy role. Easy to say in hindsight, but I found it equally baffling way back when it was clear Melbourne were keen on him.

Is Lukosius just a bust at Pick 2 or is there something there?

It really is. Painful watching him last weekend.

That's the one. Not immediately after the game, but when it became clear this wasn't a wild aberration, but a symptom of very deep problems.

I'm with you. Absolutely understand Harmes' best football was well behind him, and wasn't shocked or angry that he was traded. But Harmes, Brayshaw and Neal-Bullen are real cultural fabric players. We miss their best footballing attributes, but maybe the collective absence of their non-football stuff will be even more deeply felt. I've loved watching Alex Neal-Bullen play for the Demons. He's one of few players (Jones and Robertson come to mind) I've seen improve very significantly reasonably late in their career. Although he may be remembered as a 'role-player' there were absolutely games where, without him - his relentless run and ability to link up - I'm certain we would have lost. You can't say that about too many players.

The market being Justin Reid?

I just want to see them keep trying new stuff in the centre square. Good to see both Kossy and McVee in there at the same time last week. If we have any chance of being decent next year, we need to find a way to become consistently competitive at stoppages again. Now, with very little to play for, is a good time to try stuff.

First time the Dogs have gone negative since the Paleozoic Era.

I've been lurking on Demon forums and social media communities for 20-odd years and this is close to the best post I've read. The diagnosis of the midfield problem is so well expressed and incisive.