Tim

Gawn Petracca Oliver Viney Langdon Weid

Pickett - good pressure involvements Hannan - forward pressure important

Went down and peered through the cyclone wire fence on Punt Road. Got there early in 2nd quarter. I’m not a training reporter like the more storied contributors here, but in the absence of other reports I guess it’s better than nothing. It was a relatively free flowing affair, not with the same level of contested-ness as you would see in a game for points. However, individual contests for a contested ball were still fought keenly. They seemed to have a “time out” in the middle of each quarter for a quick huddle with coaches. Richmond had Soldo, Pickett, Stack and Bolton going through the midfield, which is a high quality outfit at VFL level, and is worth bearing in mind when assessing the form of our mids. Harley was in another postcode in terms of class as he roamed the field getting possessions at will, having loads of time and using the ball well. A pleasure to watch. When I got there LJ was doing the rucking, and Preuss was forward with Weid; Preuss didn’t play after half time, and Oscar came on. Brown was playing in the backline early, then went forward after half time. Bradtke was in the ruck in the 2nd half. The best bit was that while Soldo and co pretty much monstered our rucks, our mids were excellent. JJ was in great form - good in the contest, working hard on the spread and smart and precise in delivery; went to half back later in the game. Dunkley also very good, with similar comments to the ones on JJ. Oskar Baker seemed to work his way into the game well after being quiet when I first arrived. Tom Sparrow was busy, and Corey Wagner was useful, including a purple patch where he was finding it, linking and breaking lines - several score assists. Nev was Nev and Nibbler was NIbbler, both being good contributors; Spargo was quiet from what I could see. Bradtke was at a disadvantage strength-wise against Soldo but he is good at ground level. Brown and Weid kicked a few each as I recall. Neither was dominant, but Weid was useful and provided a mobile target in an open game; there were intermittent showers, so the ball was not ideal for marking forwards. LJ was also a forward target in 2nd half, and was good at ground level on the occasions he was in the play. As I said, best bits were Harley and the mids in general, especially the young ones. And their head to head performance against more experienced opponents was excellent.

Where the Dees played the undercard to the Beatles in town for their only Australian tour.

I’ve had a look online at the data on AFL Tables for this time, and it’s intriguing. It’s like a Gothic Horror. After round 8 we were top of the ladder, undefeated and the reigning premier. Apart from giving lowly Fitzroy a touch up the wins were pretty much unconvincing and narrow. Round 8 was one exception, and that match was the first against Barassi; we won by 37 in front of over 41,000 at Princes Park (Carlton kicked badly: 6.22). Rover John Townsend was emblematic of the day, taking a towering mark over John Nicholls as we asserted ourselves around the ground. The following 2 weeks were the ones mentioned by Bushie, and that’s the car crash that augured decades of mediocrity. Bottled hubris must have been consumed by the crate load in the post-match at Carlton in round 8 that Saturday evening as the juggernaut of the Demon Master crushed the Pupil at their first outing as opposing coaches. In fact it was the last gasp of our greatness. Biblical! I was a youngster at that time and I can still remember how distressing the collapse of the club as a power was, and how rapidly it happened. Feared as we had been, it was not to be any more. Interestingly, the following year (1966) was one in which we sat near the bottom; we had a massive recruiting effort bringing in a large number of new players but sadly uncovered little of top quality. The vibe was that Jim Cardwell and Norm would weave their magic again, but in retrospect it was trying to put an old template on a new and different era, as mentioned elsewhere here. I don’t know what the answer is, and there is a lot of self-laceration over the way things have gone and as to how we could have done it better. I just thought the circumstances were unusual and interesting to relate.

"Possessions" was not really Jako's kind of stat. That day his 11.8 came from 22 kicks and 0 handballs. I reckon those 3 non-scoring kicks would have been well represented by oob's on the full. His approach to his teammates seemed to be: why give off when you can have a ping yourself? I looked at the AFL stats site for that year and in 14 games he kicked 71.57 for the year, with 10 handballs for the season. And 3 tackles! The handballs were probably mistakes or handballs to himself. A truly exciting footballer. The thought of seeing him strut his stuff gave Dees fans an extra buzz approaching the ground. A flawed but hugely talented player.

Meant to post this around Easter, but have been so flat out doing nothing in COVID-land that I overlooked it. Paul O'Brien. A blond-haired half-back type who showed a bit as a youngster coming through. On Easter Monday 1983 his brother Dallas won the Stawell Gift. On the Saturday afternoon in round 2 at the G as Dallas was winning his heat at Stawell, Paul was on show as we knocked off previous year's grand finalist, Richmond. Unfortunately he did his ACL, and it was his last game for us although he did go to North (0 games), and then to Essendon for 3 games in 1988. A quirky aspect of his career is that he only played 2 games in 1983, and the stats say he had 7 kicks in a loss to Collingwood, and 13 possessions against Richmond (carried off in third quarter?). However he received 3 Brownlow votes for the season. Go figure! Thanks to the AFL Stats website there's a whole subject on wacky Brownlow voting by umpires, including the 44 possession, no votes game from Diesel when he smashed us in 1993, and not forgetting the very generous 2 votes to Woewoedin for a quiet game in round 22 when we thrashed the Eagles at Subi - Scott West had pulled his Brownlow acceptance speech out of his pocket after the conclusion of round 21 votes, as no-one thought Woey was going to poll. How many medals would Diesel have won with blond hair?

Looks like it, LG - judging from the photo of JN on @Demonwiki

Corrie Gardner. 1900 premiership player, but gains his obscurity because he was the only person to represent Australia at the 1904 St Louis Olympics, thereby ensuring that Australia is one of a very small number of countries to have had a competitor representing it at every summer Games. I reckon that’s on the podium in the obscurity stakes.

Mr Wines Port, congrats on a big first post. A Marlion Pickett-like first game performance, generating a tish-load of discussion so far! So is that really you, Ollie...? Sledging your old mate, both stepping back to the vice-captaincy at the same time; hard to shed the habits of a lifetime. On the other hand...is a bit subtle for what I'd expect from the Ollie we see on the field. Anyway, look forward to your next contribution as a conversation seeder, Big Fella. And, for the record, can't wait to see JV back to his ballistic best in 2020.

Jamie was handy (esp the Sticks effort) but I reckon that the job on Dermie was done by another good import, Peter Rohde, in 1990.

Most players were ready to go 1st round, physically So, we finished near bottom ‘cos we’re tish. Now that’s a more worrying assessment to entertain going forward than the alternative.

What had me thinking here was Goody saying that our brand was "brutal and dominant" when we were flying in 18, but that we couldn't execute that mode in 19 because of the injury count. The Burgess "defence of the previous fitness regime" comment that they were more contact injuries rather than soft tissues made me wonder whether there was an element of Catch 22 about the game style, with a query over its sustainability in the longer term. From a supporter's point of view I love "brutal and dominant", and if it is sustainable and can be effectively deployed count me in.

Thanks for the great reports Kev. Just to clarify, AVB didn’t do the Tan run but was doing repetition 1km runs (to my eye) at Gosch’s (less stress on the feet?). After that he went out to do some ball work, and I can say I was mightily happy to see him looking “thereabouts” in terms of fitness. A really valuable new recruit if he can continue his development and translate it into substantial game time.

Sounds like ya got trouble in River City there, MR!

Agree. Would have been a nice move the year Dylan Grimes was in the draft, but...?

Watched that quarter myself last week (it’s a sad life in search of Demon joy!); has shown good decision-making, including when to go into the tackle and when to move to where the next phase is if we win ball; went when it was his turn and worked hard (if you can stand it, see esp the piece of play where it goes end to end quickly in the last play at the Cattery - he’s in the play at both ends!) Hoping that a good pre can bring him back to showing his hard working smarts again, even if does have weaknesses.

C. Curnow

Sadly, silver medals have been our 1 wood this year. 17 of the suckers.

Sure. I crave in my "team" the spirit that lot showed yesterday and over a number of years. The "mighty buck" can't buy that. And speaking about the mighty buck, we'd be up that creek without a paddle if we hadn't had significant injections of that commodity from the same place that the Giants get it. They've used it well, better than we have, and have built something that has respect from many. But you stick with your narrative, I'm sure you enjoy it.

My thinking also. I like the resilience they’ve shown over a number of years now; Saturday’s performance was a good example - overcoming adversity in an exceedingly hostile environment. They are a real football team despite their small nominal support. I salute them.

Our hit out dominance together with what follows it has had me scratching my head for a while, with my thoughts being along the lines of 55 and DJ. Re Bradtke: I think one of his qualities is his capacity below his knees, for one who is so giraffe-like, given his young age. As is well appreciated, he's some years away from being a fully formed unit, but if the other elements of strength and ambition come together, there is something to work with apart from mere height.

He was suspended for a week recently - was that the one?

She's a beauty, and good to see her back in such good nick. However it was sad to see the death of Sea the Class after illness; she gave Enable a big run for her money in the last Arc as a 3yo, and the rematch was going to be something to savour.

Also throw in the Trac (he “threw himself in” over the boundary line in front of the Members Stand)....