Lord Travis

Just loaded. MCC tickets acquired you ripper!

For bugger all impact. Multiple kicks of his smothered too. When the whips are cracking he just doesn’t stand up. Doesn’t offer much onfield direction either. Not a great captain IMO.

Deserves it. Never should’ve been dropped this year and proven to be an important part of our defensive unit. I’ve been vocal about him being in the team and so glad he got his chance and he’s taking his opportunity. We play better with him there to take smalls and provide rebound. Onya Hunty!

Didn't mind him and he had potential to be a really good player, decent pace and a booming kick. Unfortunately his body didn't give him a good run at it. Best of luck to him in retirement.

We'll win comfortably tonight. Not a belting like last time, but 4-5 goals. We've got the wood on Brisbane, and as much as the media want to make out we're in poor form, Brisbane are in the same boat and have stumbled over the line at home against weaker opposition. We also travel incredible well and will be on the road again first week of final to play Swans at the SCG. Get it done Dees!

Welcome back to the thread LH 😘 On the topic, I hate footy media these days also. It's far too negative and there's so much baseless rubbish said with no accountability. I tend to come to Demonland for footy discussion and news and hope threads don't turn into ****fights when opinions aren't agreed with. Not sure this thread specifically about FC and Eddie was necessary, but always appreciate your posts LH and love your weekly threads about what opportunity fans are saying.

Treloar is about the 30th best mid in the league. Grundy is a top 5 ruckman. Big difference in both position and Players worth. You might not care what the AFL say, but it’s entirely relevant to the discussion. When he returns from injury he won’t be playing in the VFL. Again, I hope the interest isn’t strong from us and the trade doesn’t happen. If it does though then we’ll be sending a first rounder across unfortunately.

Treloar was traded for a first round pick and late picks shuffled. 900k salary continuing to pay 300k. Grundy is a million with 300k likely continuing to be paid. The AFL would not sign off on a trade where a million dollar player is traded for anything less than a first round pick. Even then it would be borderline and likely require latter picks added in Pies favor. I’m saying I agree with it, in fact I’m being vocal in here saying I don’t support it and believe both picks and salary should be used elsewhere. But while we may not like it, that’s the reality of the situation. Those in here suggesting a million dollar player would not net a first round pick are taking the absolute [censored] and need to take the red and blue blinkers off. The AFL won’t sign off on the trade. What we will be discussing here later this year is which of our two incoming first round picks we give up for him.

He’s an All Australian ruckman on a million dollar salary. He’s worth a first rounder. We’d likely trade Jackson for two first rounders and then on trade one of those first for Grundy. Anyone thinking we’d get him for less than a first rounder whilst he’s contracted, salary dump or not, has rocks in their head. It’s part of why I don’t believe it’s the best move for the club. We should instead use first round picks to help bring in a proven key forward or draft more young talent to balance our list.

Go watch the Making Their Mark documentary on Amazon Prime. It follows a number of players and coaches throughout the 2020 season. Cameron did not come across well, was very negative towards his players and made poor decisions. The way he handled Coniglio as a person and leader around the players was disgraceful. Perhaps he’d be ok as an assistant coach again with less pressure on him, but based on what was shown you’d steer clear of him being in your club environment. Stuart Dew on the other hand was far more positive and involved with developing and connecting with his players. He put the time in with Rowell and other youngsters and was far more encouraging with his approach and language as well as being more creative with activities to stimulate the players. Hardwick was also much better at motivating and connecting with his players. Can see why Richmond were very successful under him despite not liking him.

I was confused too, as the stats on the AFL app have to be incorrect. It’s impossible as those numbers don’t add up! But regardless, Saad was definitely ineffective and his poor decision making was a key reason we were able to win.

18 kicks for 7 turnovers. He just kept banging it long down the line to no effect and his poor decision making was a key reason we won IMO. Blues looked far more dangerous when others in the team were rebounding through the middle or switched the play. Stats back it up to as Saad was only involved in 3 scoring chains, so the Blues scored when others were linking up instead. Very overrated player and not worthy of AA HBF as the media is touting. Looks flash running and bouncing often, but his disposal and impact on games is often poor for his team.

Wasn't the best 38 disposal game by any stretch, but most clearances on the ground, high metres gained, and doing a job successfully on Cripps is worthy of praise and a key reason we won. His move further up the ground has been a good one for us. Our defense has been more balanced, and our midfield has another weapon. Since his move into the midfield 3 weeks ago, we've played some of our best footy for the season. Keep it up Gus!

Kudos to Melksham and Hunt for their games against the Blues. Both maligned and both missed a premiership medal and have had to fight for their spot. We've been much better since Hunt came into the back six at Bowey's expense and Brayshaw pushed further up the field. Hunt's ability to lock down on smaller agile forwards is very important to our defense, but his pace and agility rebounding is important. He doesn't get as much ball these days, but he makes it count and has learnt to lower his eyes with shorter passes too instead of always blazing away. He basically won us the game in the last few minutes, with three inside 50s leading to two goals. His ability to break the lines with great sidestep and pace before sending it forward was match winning. He has to stay in the 22 now for the remainder of the season. Melksham has clearly worked on his defensive pressure like the coaches wanted, and though it's still not outstanding due to lack of pace, he's putting in the effort and getting some rewards. Was an odd sight seeing him become the best marking forward on the ground when McKay and Curnow were playing! Credit to him for always staying involved, keeping his eyes on the ball in every marking contest, and making the most of his opportunities. We need goal kickers, and he's proving he can be one right when we need it most heading into finals with TMac unlikely to return this year. Honourable mention to Petty also for winning the battle with the current Coleman medal leader. Curnow had a few shots at goal, but some were from unrelated downfield free kicks, and most weren't from high percentage positions. Petty wore him like a glove and comfortably beat him. Great effort and still surprising to see a 21 year old do such a good job in a tall defender role against some of the leagues best players.

Playing well at Casey and may get a call up soon if the coaches want to change the dynamic of the team. He was rightfully dropped due to poor form and low impact on games this season. We’ve been better since Hunt and Rivers came back in at his expense. Bowey has a long career ahead of him and the fact he can develop at Casey as well as AFL level shows how far we’ve come with reliance on young kids. He’ll make his way back into the AFL side at some point soon and hopefully hold his place. His kicking and decision making is all class, but he has other parts of his game he needs to continue working on (as all players do).

Pretty confident we’ll beat Brisbane again this week. We’ve had their number in recent years and they’re not in good form. They’re the weakest team in the top 6 on form. We also travel really well, so it would be a surprise if we lost to them this week. Most likely outcome is we finish third and play the Swans at the SCG for week one of finals.

You [censored] ripper! Got out of jail there and not it’s sweet seeing the Blues fans in agony. Thank god for Kozzie!

He’s been [censored] second half of the year so probably works in their favor 🤣

Also smashing Pretty Hate Machine by NIN waiting outside the ground for mates! Fire up Dees!

Weather update from those close to the G? Also any word on Kozzie being a late out for knee issue?

In 2021 we stepped up sure, but this year we’ve folded at the sight of pressure and lost 6 games against top 8 sides. I’d consider games against our main competition as big games, like the two against the Pies in front of huge crowds at the MCG as a prime example. I’m still hopeful we can get going and hit out straps again in finals, but evidence says 2022 demons don’t handle pressure well.

Where has all this Naughton talk come from? Is it just wishful thinking or was there rumors in media or on footy forums? He would compliment our forward line perfectly with his size and aerial ability. If we could turn Jackson into Naughton it would be the biggest coup in recent memory!

Been played as an undersized key defender at the Blues (when he can get on the park). Had ACL, then syndesmosis and back issues. His issues pre-draft were his size for a mid (193cms) with explosive burst of speed and kicking, hence there was hype he could become the explosive forward-mid type. At AFL level those strengths are nowhere to be seen, not sure if they were overplayed as he was a bit of a man child against kids and so against men he's average. He's been below average at AFL level thus far and looks unlikely become anything more than a role player type at this stage. If you believe the footy forums also, he has poor work ethic and is a bit of a [censored], so not the most coachable type. Wouldn't bother unless we can get him for a token fourth round pick.

No point booing Cripps. That’s silly, he’s done nothing unwarranted to our club or players. I do hope he has a stinker and we belt them though. The tears of the Blues fans missing finals would be sweet.

Precedent has now been set - bumps to the head that result in concussion are now legal. Could be some absolute lunacy ahead!