Deeoldfart

An outstanding win, highlighted by the character and discipline of our boys, the continued emergence of our younger brigade, and a coaching masterclass by Goody and his cohorts in the coaches box. I found it very difficult to narrow it down to 6 vote winners, but this is my crack at it: 6. McVee - showed great temperament, vision and polish under pressure. A future AA candidate, if I’m any sort of judge! 5. Langdon - back to his best, which is very, very good. The perfect link man, always in the right spot at the right time. Another 16km+ game? 4. Rivers - continued to build on his recent run of very impressive form as a mid. His strength and power in the contest stood out to me. 3. Pickett - provided energy, pressure and a regular ‘spark’ when we needed it. Continued to add to his very impressive highlights reel. Great 100th! 2. ANB - again showed his enormous work ethic and discipline to keep a potential match winner fairly quiet, while getting plenty of the ball himself. 1. Windsor - pace, vision and ball use were fantastic. Such a mature head on very young shoulders. Too many other strong contributors to mention them all, but May, JvR and Clarrie warrant special mention.

Guts and determination prevailed!

That’s our DNA! ❤️💙

We’ve turned a significant corner over the last two weeks with our pressure and contest work, and I expect them to be on show again tonight. Goody will have plans for the ruck, and to (somewhat) cover the absence of Max around the ground. The form and enthusiasm of our ‘in form’ youngsters gives us a new and exciting look, and the cool heads and leadership of our ‘elder statesmen’ will hold us in good stead when it counts. I’m on edge, but quietly confident that we can take the 8 points on offer.

Brilliant solo effort Bin. Loved the stats, loved the analysis and loved the predictions. Both interesting and entertaining! ………. Go ‘Redleggers’!

I’m an old and emotional fart when it comes to our Dees. I shed a few tears!

Just give Draper & Co the kind of the treatment that Max cops week in / week out. They’ll sook about it, and go to water!

Excellent win, very strongly influenced by our next generation players. My votes: 6. Rivers - BOG! His week by week improvement as a mid bodes extremely well for our future, both in 2024 and beyond. 5. JvR - his best game at the level. Another youngster on a significant upward trajectory. Huge future for a young KPF. 4. Windsor - has shown great potential from his debut in Round 0, and today was his best yet! 3. TMac - choosing the right option, and pin point passing by hand and foot were features today. The only ‘elder statesman’ in my votes, but he’s rediscovered his ‘youth’ as a defender. 2. Pickett - always dangerous, and continuing to build his consistency in the combined midfield / forward role. 1. Chandler - excellent game as a defensive forward, which was great reward for his outstanding work-rate. I reckon we turned an important corner today, but next week will be more testing material.

Many thanks for another great Pod guys. Essential listening every week of the season! Enjoy LA Andy!

The Melbourne champions of my youth are moving to football heaven far too quickly, but the memories will linger forever. RIP Clyde. Condolences to his family.

Poor percentage may sound a death knell on our finals prospects in ‘24. Even if we win the requisite number of games, are we good enough to recover a significant part of the percentage we’ve lost over the last 5 / 6 rounds?

Gee wwsw, your MFCSS is truely fierce! Based on what they put up against the Hawks on their own dung heap tonight, if we can’t beat them at the ’G’ next weekend, then we really are in poor shape!

I was proud of the way we got back to our DNA for a large part of the game, but still we couldn’t close it out when it counted. My votes, in a difficult result to come to terms with: 6. Viney: his ‘will to win’, and ‘follow me’ leadership were outstanding. 5. Pickett: Kozzie’s goal kicking and defensive skills at their best. 4. Oliver: best game for the season, in spite of the often unfair media scrutiny that I’m sure must weigh heavily on his shoulders So happy for him! 3. Rivers: continued his development as a key mid. Can’t help but love the different ‘look’ that he brings to our midfield. 2. Gawn: not his best game, but he just consistently did Max ‘things’. 1. JVR: continued his steady evolution as a future star KPF in the competition.

After uttering a few words that I’m not permitted to repeat on here, my first thought is that I’m as proud as I could be of our team after a loss! We’ve recovered lots of the DNA that been missing all year, and if we can maintain that, we are by no means out of contention in 2024.

Pup is the sub.

If nothing else, this year’s AFL competition has shown that anything can happen on any given day. Maybe the ‘Footy Gods’ will be smiling on us for a change ……. after all, it must be our bloody turn! Dees by 3 points.

Thanks for another great Pod @Demonland, @george_on_the_outer, and @binman! The work you guys put in for us supporters, 'win, lose, draw, or even wins that feel like a loss', is outstanding and greatly appreciated! I must confess, before this week's Pod, I was 'down in the dumps' about our prospects vs Brisbane. Thanks for 'opening my eyes' Binners!

6. Viney 5. May 4. Gawn 3. Rivers 2. Salem 1. Langdon

This is a fight for our lives. Treat it that way and we win. If we don’t, we won’t!

Improvements in form will get us over the line on Saturday night, not changes in personnel. Let’s see what happens!

My Mid Season Review: Outstanding first half of the season @Demonland, @george_on_the_outer and @binman. Win or lose, I never miss a Pod, and they always keep me absorbed from go to whoa. Thank you, and enjoy your mid season bye!

Unfortunately, this was another underwhelming performance by the Dees, where too much was left to too few. I hate trying to vote in these circumstances, but this is my crack at it: 6. ANB - the coaches gave him one of the toughest assignments in football, and he excelled, in his usual ‘trademark’, no fuss way. His outstanding season continues! 5. Gawn - a typical Max game, both in the ruck, and especially in the back half. Worked his butt off all day, but he can’t do it all on his own. 4. JVR - our only forward to provide a legitimate target, and convert more often than not. Only a kid, but based on today’s performance, he’s coming of age quickly. 3. Pickett - a ‘live wire’, both running through the centre and up forward. We always looked better when he had the ball, but his missed shots at goal at crucial times, were costly. 2. Rivers - worked tirelessly trying to hold back the ‘avalanche’, but was sometimes overwhelmed by their numbers. Watching on TV, I thought he was trying to combine his usual running HB role, with that of Rick Lever the interceptor, which is a very big ask! 1. Salem - another who battled hard against the pace and precision of C’wood’s forward entries, and one of very few Dees who didn’t regularly fluff disposals under pressure. TMac probably warrants mention for his steady game under pressure.

Go Dee’s. Just go out there do it for the jumper, your personal pride, Neale, the blue beanie, the Demon Army, all Demonlanders and the rest of our supporter base, and for the good of our great game itself!

I was in a remote area with spasmodic internet coverage on Monday, so couldn’t listen live as I usually do. Instead I tuned in yesterday on my drive back to civilisation, and I wasn’t disappointed. Even though the topic was ‘grim’, I thoroughly enjoyed the analysis, which speaks a lot about the great quality of the show. Thanks a lot for sitting in the ‘hot seat’ after that awful performance by our Dees, and providing a comprehensive and balanced synopsis, as always!

In a game which we will all want to forget, finding four quarter winners wearing red and blue was impossible. My votes are more directed at players who can hold their head up, notwithstanding an extraordinarily poor team performance. 6. Gawn - tried his guts out for the full 100 minutes, despite being bashed from pillar to post. Probably broke even in the ruck despite the odds, and was solid(ish) around the ground. 5. Salem - worked hard and probably came close to breaking even, despite the onslaught of ball coming into our backline. Disposal under pressure was good, and there was certainly lots of pressure. 4. McVee - reliable under pressure for most of the game, and along with Salo, he was one of few who could make sound decisions, and hit targets out of defence. 3. Tomlinson - caught out of position a few occasions (which was understandable given the number of times the ball was coming in), but he seemed reasonably ‘cool in the crisis’, and used it pretty well. Our best tall defender. 2. Langdon - another ‘workhorse’ Langdon effort. 1. Viney - showed pride in the jumper, and never dropped his head. I’m now turning to a bottle of Shiraz, in the hope that it will help me find a skerrick of solace in that dreadful performance.