demoniac

when Nathan Jones retires he deserves to take his place with the greats of the Melbourne Football Club. His loyalty to the club and his extraordinary resilience in playing to a high standard through a period where the team he was running out with was barely AFL standard cannot be denied. If he had played in a better team he would be a much more highly regarded goal kicking inside mid. in 2019 its hard to find a spot for him. Not all great mids can successfully extend their career by moving to wing or half forward or half back. His lack of pace means the wing is out, and that also pretty much rules him out as a small forward or back. But then again Goody has found space for Tyson, Lewis and Jones on the wing so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. I think club'll let him play on next year if he wants to, and he most likely does. For mine its not the best football decision but a forced retirement would be messy. The question is will Goody tell him he might play VFL a la Lewis this year? We need more speed and ball carriers and Jones looms as an obvious primary casualty of that. Athletes are not always the best judge of when their time is up.

Has lost his speed which was a major part of his game. Now gets caught with ball, or disposes under pressure when in past he would have been in space.

Struggle to see a role for Jones if he is not onball as I don't think his attributes give him flexibility to play in non onball role. Suspect he'll play on as he wants to but club will need to manage expectations going forward as its a delicate situation given his service in deepressing times.

Players coming back from off season surgery moving from preseason mode to inseason matchplay mode before they'd attained required fitness base an issue. Tommy Mac a prime example. Had surgery on both ankles yet was back playing in JLT1 where it was obvious that he was well below his previous fitness levels. He should have stayed in preseason mode putting miles in the legs till he got close to his previous fitness levels. Jack Viney another. Coming off 2 seasons ruined by foot injury he played one Casey praccy match and then straight in for round 1 where his lack of conditioning and match fitness was obvious.

We play safe with our recruiting more often than not. We rarely seem to take a gamble with a late NRD pick or rookie pick on a player with obvious talent but some queries on off field.

For mine speed and overlap run overwhelming priority for Dees. Having said that welcome Kyle and you might be in the Dees 22 soon.

Just too many players who drop marks or miss handballs and kicks or make poor decisions. Oliver had 2 handball clangers in a row which led to an Eagles goal. Frost makes a great tackle then turns it straight over. How long has he been in the system? Petracca drops marks and misses easy shots. Garlett misses easy shots. Hore takes a great intercept mark then squares to CHB and turns it over. His kicking is not reliable enough to ever take that kick. Set shots terrible. Repeat ad nauseum. Season gone. Whole footy department should be under pressure. Coaches and players. What a waste.

There's a horror movie right there on my tv... Still hope Oskar Baker is comfortable at the level cause we are desperate for speed and run.

Righetti Oval. Was like playing in muddy coal back in the day. Omnia Pro Deo Demon!

You're not inspired by 'have a go, get a go'!

Yes there is that. Might not be brand positive national primetime exposure!

Surely Oskar Baker comes in after some good form for Casey to give us such much needed pace and run.

Hore needs to improve his kicking if he wants to establish himself at AFL level.

You wanna trade our best hard runner, from a team that lacks hard runners...

I thought he showed some nice signs v Box Hill, looks athletic and reasonable skills. Chandler looked better than his draft profiles in Box Hill game. 17 possessions and 2 goals. Ran to good spots, clean hands and reasonable disposal. Baker has not shown much this season. Fair to say if you've got a bit of speed, can run and carry then there are a few spots available in the ones.

I'm not opposed to players getting a 4 day break to get away from footy and hopefully come back mentally refreshed after a poor start to season. The amount of leave they get in offseason is excessive. Maybe thats why our players cant hit targets by hand or foot.

Nathan Jones is a legend of the MFC. But, much like Lewis, in 2019 he does not have the athleticism to play on the wing or halfback. Given that is where Goody is playing him it follows that he is not in our best 22. Look at who he lines up on. Most are speedy line breakers and that is the default for the wing in 2019. Goody needs to pick the best 22 regardless of reputation or status in the game.

Viney, coming off 2 seasons ruined by a foot injury, played 1 preseason game for Casey then was selected for Round 1 and looked miles off peak fitness. Should have been targeted for a later start to playing games with Tommy Mac and Clarrie so they could build their fitness base with more preseason training loads.

Had surgery on both shoulders, and much like Tommy Mac after his surgery on both ankles, looks like he needed to extend his preseason into regular season to rebuild his fitness base. Clarrie has no power or explosion. Tommy Mac is an endurance beast but looked like he was running on quicksand in JLT1 and as of Round 5 still looks limited.

I'd like to see some spread.

B Lockhart Frost Hore HB Jordan Tommy Mac Salem C Stretch Oliver Harmes HF Petracca Weidemann Melksham F Garlett Preuss Hunt Fol Gawn Brayshaw Viney Ic Fritsch Chandler Spargo C Wagner

Lewis a good matchup for Caddy or Baker? If Lewis is not picked in centre square then he has no role. He is not a lockdown defender and he provides no speed or run and carry. Against the Saints he was a time matched up on speedy Long and Parker who ran past Lewis with ball in hand like Lewis was a witches hat. Jones is not suited to Ellis or other Tigers who will rotate through wing. Like Lewis he is a one paced inside mid and lacks the attributes and instinct of a wingman. Ellis will run away from him.

I just don't see a role for Jordan Lewis in 2019. Just too slow to match up against most half forwards and provides little run and carry off half back. My fear is that the Saints will easily outrun us. Goody loves his inside mids and utilities. Always on about winning the contest. I'd love it if he watched the better teams of 2019 and saw their equal focus on run and carry/speed. We have too many players who choose to go into a contest when its their role to either close down an opponent in position to receive from contest or be that option for us.

I had it in my head that game was at Docklands so lucky I stopped by. Saints are running and carrying more consistently than we are. Selection will be interesting.

Both Frost and Oscar have had enough time in the system to know the basics of positioning. Presume they've been told this week in no uncertain terms that its nothing fancy and play on corridor back shoulder.