GS_1905

Long term deals help the lesser clubs attract and keep super stars. If the AFL take this away we will see more players move away from the clubs rebuilding or being absent from finals football or just not having the right brand enhancing attributes. Perhaps some sort of dynamic salary cap to offset contract length, might be able to overcome this.

This thread is predicated on a Herald Sun boo boo. Goody was referring to Langford no Langdon.

The new ANB?

To me the real wildcard is Disco. He has so much raw athleticism. Hopefully stays fit. Very hard match up.

I agree with you hundred percent on this. It takes courage to evolve/change and that is perhaps where everyone needed to be on the same page with expectations and likelihood in playing finals, "two steps back for one step forward" type of thing. Lots of clubs in the past have had an off year to modify their method and game plan to bounce back and have a crack. But the pressure on the club with two straight sets, retirement of Gus, expectations re: Dynasty would have been what was behind the decision making to revert back to the old method when the going got tough. Im not surprised that Goody has taken responsibility for this. I'm still worried that Goody lacks the right experience in coaching personnel around him to really challenge his thinking and the club's direction. Lets hope that Bassett and Radford are able to change this up a little.

Going by the video, which is extremely limited, the things that were immediately obvious to me good and bad. Our ball movement out of the back half appears to be more dynamic. Using a combination of short 45 kicks, handballs and overlap. I suspect this will continue our evolution of scoring from back half and hence more focus on punishing teams through the turnover game, which has been an issue for us for a while now. We still don't look great moving it beyond half forward and into the 50 though i hope this was just a poor selection of video's. Defence looks pretty solid. May looked excellent and appears to be moving very freely Kozzy looks just like he can be anything. A bit scrappy but he is definitely an x-factor in the middle. I hope Campbell is better than we think he is because Gawn didnt look that convincing in the middle. First time i have seen Mentha in action. Definitely something there. Oliver didn't have many cameo's. Was it just poor video selection in editing or was he not as prominent today? Our injury list to the A-team is starting to look concerning. Windsor, Trac, Lever.. arguable McAdam, Melk.

Said it last year that there were folks within the club that had some doubts about his body’s ability to withstand the stresses of AFL footy.

Maybe he is too embarrassed to face his teammates after the news story and called in sick.

Is he meant to? is there some planned training with the indigenous team?

Perfect. We should get reasonable compensation given the likely contract size that would be offer too. All bases covered so we can go full bluff and be prepared to have it called.

I think it’s fair to say Jeff regretted the move in hindsight. If family is genuinely his motivation then WCE should be on the cards too. The fact that it’s a named club suggests other reasons (if true) and that being the case he doesn’t hold any cards. Is he even an UFA at the end of this contract? Surely he’d be in our top paid few?

I think this is about right. A few curious choices - but understandably he wants to create debate. Freo do have quality all over the park, but are hit and miss and not consistent enough . They have a lot of really good players but no genuine superstars. Young and Serong are great but can’t really turn a game akin to Trac, Neale, Dusty, Daicos etc. Bottom line - not convinced they are top tier. Interesting re Sydney. Have thought all along their forward line is average at best. They probably sit with 2nd tier though. Hawks play a sexy style of footy and have a list built for it. I think they got on a role last year and absolutely made the best of their fortunes. I don’t think they are that good yet. I expect them to finish somewhere between the bottom half of 7-10. Id say we belong right where we ere placed. Before Trac went down last year, the only thing we were missing was a fit Oliver of which we played the second half of 2024 without successfully. We have potential to do some damage this year.

But their forward and back lines are stacked.

At least it solves our KPF woes. I reckon this team would give the Lions, Hawks and Tiger dynasties a run for their money.

I hope you are right GW and that the noise coming out of the Freo camp is just another ploy. Still awhile away so no point stressing i suppose.

All things considering, not a bad state to be in. Feel for young Kolt, but he'll get his shot. Priority is getting Trac and Gawn to full fitness and getting some match sim.

Clearly people are in need of some content. I wasnt there, but my best mate...lets call him MS CoPilot was and had this to say: Melbourne Demons Training Report - 31st January 2025 Summary of Training Drills: Ball Movement: The team focused on ball movement today, with an emphasis on handballs over kicking. Despite the best efforts, the foot skills still looked a bit ordinary. It seems like the players have mastered the art of handballing to each other, but when it comes to kicking, it's a different story. Let's just say, if kicking was a subject, the Demons might need a few more tutoring sessions. Inside 50 Delivery: There was noticeable improvement in player movement inside the 50, but the skills and decision-making still left much to be desired. The players were moving better, but the delivery was still as scrappy as a toddler's first attempt at finger painting. The decision-making? Well, let's just say it was like watching someone try to solve a Rubik's cube blindfolded. Fitness: On a brighter note, all players are breaking personal records in fitness. It seems like the team has been spending more time in the gym than on the field. If there was a competition for the most fit team, the Demons would be in the running for the gold medal. Now, if only they could translate that fitness into better ball skills... Player Summaries: Trac: Showed great enthusiasm in the handball drills, but when it came to kicking, it was like watching a duck try to play soccer. Needs to work on foot skills. Oliver: Impressive fitness levels, breaking personal records left and right. However, decision-making inside the 50 still needs improvement. Maybe a few more strategy sessions are in order. Sparrow: Demonstrated better movement inside the 50, but the delivery was still scrappy. It's like they have the right idea but need to refine the execution. Langdon: Another fitness fanatic, breaking records and setting new benchmarks. If only their kicking was as good as their running, they'd be unstoppable. Overall, the Melbourne Demons are showing promise, but there's still a lot of work to be done. With a bit more practice and a lot more kicking drills, they might just turn things around. Until then, we'll keep cheering them on and hoping for the best! *Edit: At, the risk of being misconstrued, ill clarify that this post is totally fabricated. It is the result of of some lazy 'prompt engineering' using Microsoft's Generative AI tool, CoPilot.

I think Kingy and Joey are the two media pundits that i have the most respect for. They are not employed to entertain - their focus is pure football and i think they are pretty good at it. Lets not forget Joey's prediction 2021 - he was the only one that was on the money. Kingy is bold and gets a prediction or two wildly wrong here and there.

As pure small forwards: I’d rate Charlie Cameron and Bobbie Hill ahead of Kozzy. As a hybrid forward/midfielder: Shai Bolton is a level beyond. You can argue game plan and team roles have a say in the matter and that’s probably right. But ask yourself what you - as MFC supporter - would be prepared to part with to take any of the players I mention above. I suspect it’s about what I have suggested for Kozzy if not less. Also ask yourself what opposition supporters see when they think of Kozzy? Undisciplined , goes missing but has moments of brilliance that remind you of Cyril. But are left wondering why it’s not on display more often. Does he have the hunger and the will to get the best out of himself?

I don’t think he is. 1 top 10 for sure and then a late 1st or early 2nd for me. He’s not the best small forward in the comp atm and I think there’s a realistic chance that he’ll never achieve that accolade.

It’s a real hard call for me. The team does look fit I’ll admit that. it’ll boil down to two things: 1. Team Unity. We all know morale was shot to pieces and there were moderate to deep fractures in the club. Lots of changes in admin and coaching staff. I hope this has improved but we’ll never know until the whole club is put in the spotlight during season proper We are likely to be dealt a curveball or two and how we respond will tell us a lot. 2. Game plan. The game has changed and our premiership winning plan is a thing of history. The game is fast moving, turnover based and high scoring. Everything we are not. We are not built for this game style and it worries me that we may try to emulate it. If we do, then we won’t play finals. Moving Windsor to HB is a good move. Ever since Hibbo retired we’ve lacked a solid rebounding defender and Caleb has all the traits of Hunt and Hibbo combined. The one area that is within our wheelhouse to change is i50 delivery. If we can improve this markedly, then we have a chance at the big one. Do we play Fritta high Hf? He has great vision and skill but moving him out of the 50 will take away the 40+ goals he scores every year. Who else ? Lindsey? McAdam?

Just my opinion, but i think when we let ANB get to Adelaide, that must have triggered something in Kozzy. He's always wanted to go back home, there is no doubting that.

I’m not a TJ fan, in fact I’d celebrate the day he retires. However Novak handled the situation very poorly and just shows that he doesn’t understand Aussie culture.

Oh how I’d love if he were to face and beat Novak. I mean it would be soo awesome.

Is there going to be training next Monday open to the public at Casey?