Go Ds

It would be worse if no one bothered to gee the team up. Also as long as they don't get too heated arguments even happen among members of a team. Obviously it wasn't heated and such it's probably better this happened than not.

Demonland, PLEASE take this back to the 2021 format! 🙂

Maybe he should have said nothing. But I get the feeling no matter what he does he'll get criticised. Apparently the club remains silent too much but now.... If you were tasked to write this what would you say? Not write a formulaic (AI) letter? Not mention anything positive? Just regurgitate the most Chicken-Little stuff Melbourne fans are posting on social media? What exactly?

Sure. Why not? 😂

Umm, that rule was introduced in 2019. It's not hard to check these things.

I hafta agree that if the pregnancy was testing it may have affected Bailey's form. I certainly thought the argument that he was playing badly because he wants to be traded was ridiculous.

If he ever has a girl will he call her Mini?

Maybe it would help to play back some of those struggling players' actions in slomo and have some expert see if techniques have worsened. But certainly 'soccer-gate' is a beat-up. Oh and when the Footy Show had their Grand Final episodes each 'also-ran' team had teammates learning dance routines. There may well be some players back then who bonded over the Macarena.

Going back to the future, hey? Plenty around for most of my life even early this century like the Roccas. Some things like drop kicks get phased out completely but others might come back. Those successful torps are such a morale and momentum changer. I know coaches feel that they're too hit and miss. But if a player gets some easy marks 65m out because the defenders have pushed back and suddenly two goals are scored for a while after the flooding is lessened , creating possible gaps, and a team is less predictable. I think it's a good idea.

This wasn't meant to be double-entendre-y. We've been alluding to s Pink Floyd song

The brain stores all this information. That doesn't mean people have pinpoint accuracy. But players through trial and error have a good idea what they can do, including how far they can kick, and they can factor in the breeze, tired legs, a waterlogged or slippery ball etc. I think a little experimentation in sport is invaluable. For all we know the next big change - the next headstart for a team - is taking place at an AFL team.

Umm, that was a combination of my phone and the new Demonland format mucking up. I don't know enough about training sessions - how many more kicks of a Sherrin would each player have had if Goodwin etc decided instead to do more kicking drills? Is it many? Maybe if the coaches listened to some of us on DL something useful would rub off. I'm just hoping we're talking about professionals genuinely doing their best. Still I wonder how much practising kicks and handballs players have as second nature improves much anymore than someone walking an hour a day is improving their walking action. IMHO a lot of the big disposal errors are due to complacency, jadedness, pressure or fitness. Those won't be fixed by robotically kicking for an extra half hour. (At least a soccer game lifts spirits, gets players moving and for anyone sick of seeing a Sherrin get misused or going past them to the opposition goal they're getting some respite while still training.)

I hope players practise every possible kick from 5 to 50m and then some up to 75m (and even a bit with balls of different weights and sizes)

Deficient is doing a lot of work there. Even when a club recruits a foreigner who had never seen a Sherrin they'd still do enough skills tests to feel it worth flying this novice out here. I have trouble believing any AFL player's skills start off deficient. Some have better ones than others and body and mind can affect them but no player is deficient. (If any Melbourne player were I suspect the Demonland archives would show angry posters saying so soon after recruitment)

Indeed it is . Coaches have been gaining advantages from other sports for years. Players have already had hundreds of hours skills and match practice, even before being drafted. Maybe early pre-season some skills are a little rusty. But it's ludicrous to think a few more minutes handling a Sherrin would change anything, especially given kicking a soccer ball still involves similar balance and coordination. BTW is it true the batsman whose average is almost double everyone else's practised hitting a ball - a GOLF BALL - with a STUMP. I dunno, maybe that helped him hit a cricket ball with a cricket bat.

We don't need no penetration? We don't need no ball control?

Probably giving up. Unless we're 50% fitter than every other team for the last half or so of the year (and somehow the current alleged lack of fitness is in preparation for this) the current fitness won't change much till next year. Whereas technically if it's attitude it's possible that all turns around quickly.

Wow! Even back then Stynes knew Chris would become famous! 😂

That's a weird analogy. Honestly at times that would be good practice for the batters. The other thing is come Matchday EVERY delivery is from the same distance. Whereas with kicks there's all sorts of variation.

Yep, I can see the articles now; "Tracc was heard to say "I arrived planning to have two hours training but left with a dartboard, beekeeping gloves and a tuba""

Yeah, cos all their troubles are due to soccer balls. 🙄

Do you ever say anything positive?!!!

It's just too easy to look at our recent recruits and whinge. Hindsight makes the biggest geniuses look like the biggest fools and vice versa. And, yes, what were the circumstances for each dud we've got and which we've missed. Unless people want to outline the lessons moving on honestly just leave it alone.

North have improved and GC may have done way more than turn the corner. Each week we'll know more but right now we don't quite know the full extent of the 'damage'. Right now Katrina 's right.

No, kicking a soccer ball and practising torps, bananas etc and kicking short and long distances and when fresh and when exhausted , with a breeze, against a breeze, with a waterlogged ball yada yada yada all help overall with kicking skills. No one's gonna try kicking bananas with a soccer ball. I'd wager the huge majority of AFL players could kick 20m since puberty and if suddenly our players can't that's more likely due to lack of confidence or morale, maybe complacency and maybe lack of fitness. The shape of a ball won't fix those things though maybe a break from a Sherrin ,while still practising everything else , may help slightly.