Fat Tony

I wonder why we aren’t interested in Blake Acres? I can’t see why Freo are willing to part with him. He had a good season and played well in finals on the wing.

It was a wasted year because we failed to win the flag. But I think it was particularly disappointing because we had few injuries and didn’t give ourselves the best chance. We tried to repeat last year too much and didn’t look to evolve and improve, believing we had the right blueprint. In a parallel universe we are favourites for the flag in the preliminary finals right now.

I think we would prefer to give up a much higher pick and keep the cap space. Cap space is more valuable than picks in the age of free agency.

My theories: Our list has a lot of ordinary kicks. We only have one true winger. Our forwards are either hopeless in the air (Spargo and ANB) or hopeless on the deck (Brown). The MCG favours players who are less one dimensional.

I expect Van Rooyen to play mostly in the AFL next year. But I just think it’s a tough ask for a developing tall to play key forward for a contender. The backline is much easier for young key position players. Neitz and TMac are examples of talls who started off in defence and built sufficient strength over the years to play at the other end. Petty to the forward line would lessen the backline, but it could be only marginally if Turner or Van Rooyen or Smith improve. I just think Petty might be a much better forward than Van Rooyen next season.

Ben Brown was ineffective with TMac in the side. We had 14 matches to throw Petty forward and it took until the last 3 minutes when the season was finished to try it. We clearly didn’t do enough experimentation.

Where do Grundy or Gawn play? (I’m not in favour of Grundy but it sounds likely.)

Why did you chop off the back end of my sentence. I said: If Petty moves forward, Turner, Smith or Van Rooyen will play back.

We might have beaten Sydney the week before if we had have done that!

If we get Grundy and TMac comes back in next year, there is one more spot left which goes to Ben Brown, Van Rooyen, Petty, Weideman or Cadman*. (I think TMac’s value has risen in his absence because he is good in the air and on the deck and not a pressure valve.) Personally, I think the case to at least try Petty forward is pretty good. If Petty moves forward, Turner, Smith or Van Rooyen will play back. Van Rooyen will still get benefits from this year even if we switch him back.

We were spoiled from midfield and centre clearance dominance in the finals last year. This led to hubris, with the coaches believing that the rest of the game plan was not vulnerable and so we did not evolve it. We needed to experiment with tactics and players prior to the last 3 minutes of the season.

Why is TMac allowed to play next week?

Makes so much more sense than Grundy.

The biggest change we need is for the coach to experiment more in the regular season. The idea that we need to be predictable all year hurt us this season. We then tried to expand our game in finals and we were unprepared. We also need to plan more for the MCG. This means we need to inject more run and kicking skill. The philosophy that our big players are for marking and small players for crumbing and pressure is also wrong for the MCG. We should be going for more well rounded and flexible players at selection. Players like Brown, Spargo and ANB, who have major weaknesses in the air or on the ground, became exposed on the MCG in finals. Players like Bowey are better suited to the MCG.

Brown is cooked. No way we can win another flag with him in the 22.

The strategy of hoping Ben Brown would come good in finals was the biggest mistake of the season. It has been obvious he is cooked as an AFL player for a long time. He doesn’t need support. He’s just not good enough to be a spearhead of a premiership team anymore.

We got lucky the finals were interstate last year. The only time we have played the mcg well under Goodwin was when TMac was on fire and Brown and Weideman were injured.

I think you are cherry picking Spargo's best patch of football just looking at the end of last year. 18 goals in 25 games for the full season is not a lot in the best team. Spargo is rated 36th in the AFL for Small Forwards (the filter is General Forwards but I removed mid size forwards like Fritsch) and rated 17th on the Demons list. This seems about right to me. https://www.statsinsider.com.au/afl/player-ratings All I am saying is that Spargo plays a role in our side but he is limited and we could add someone who is more dynamic and would make us better. (ANB, who ranks 15th at MFC, is definitely replaceable as well.) I also think you can find good small forwards later in the draft or by trade. There are a bunch of small forwards rated above Spargo that were acquired very cheaply, including Moore, Papley, Stengle, Willie Rioli, McCarthy, Breust, Nick Martin, Higgins, Ryan, Switkowski, Close, Butler, Schultz, Ginnevan and Lambert. My view is this should be a focus for recruiting. While we would love a gun key forward or forward/ruck this offseason, we are unlikely to be in a position to draft one with our later picks. (They probably would not fit our premiership window anyway.) Our list is fine for key defenders, general defenders and midfielders. We could also add another true wingman, but we have not been able to draft one of those in eons.

Do Demonlanders see a future premiership 22 which includes all of Gawn, Grundy and Ben Brown? I have my doubts. I am not even convinced a Gawn and Grundy combo is better than Gawn and TMac, given that one of the two ruckman will be forward for 60% of game time. Brown is contracted for 2 more years, so unless we are going to consign him to being a back up for the next two years (which would be a waste of a big chunk of salary cap space) I don't understand the club's thinking. Personally, if we are going to recruit Grundy, I would be looking to trade Brown out if we could get another club to pay him.

I will pay that! Let's see him do it again tonight!

Close has kicked 23 goals and is averaging 15 possessions and 4 tackles this season. He is a decent AFL player and would definitely get a game for us. McCreery is playing a Melksham role for the Pies. I wouldn't really compare him to the list. Miers is ordinary but is averaging more goals and possessions than Spargo. Castagna is quick and able to contest in the air. He kicked 26-27 goals every year from 2017-2019 and could have been a 5-goal grand final hero in 2019! ;-) (He was also playing in a forward line that included Riewoldt, Lynch and Dusty.) I just think we need to aim higher. The second small forward spot is one of the areas we should look to upgrade to improve our side.

I think you are very generous on our small forwards (Pickett aside). Spargo has great decision making and short kicking but is a midget who offers nothing overhead and he is slow. His lack of speed is a weakness when we get out on the counterattack. 12 possessions per game and 10 goals for the year is pretty ordinary. Bedford has a good engine and change of pace but is an ordinary kick and also offers nothing overhead. Chandler is a player with a more rounded skillset. He is quick and gets more of the ball than the others at VFL level. But he is also a midget. (Chandler is the only one I am really optimistic on at all.) Laurie has not shown he has the athleticism to be an AFL player and does not find enough of the ball at VFL level. 16 possessions per game and 22 goals in a side that has gone 19-1 when he has played. He was very lucky to get a 2 year contract IMO. Compare these players to the small forwards in all the other finals teams and they are miles off it.

Cmon Demon, put the lions to sleep tonight Wee heeheeheehee weeoh aweem away

We have clearly been more attacking the last two games. It worked beautifully the first time but it has cost us against Sydney with turnovers.

The key change we need to make is to play long and boring around the boundary. The Lions are missing their best ruckman. Minimise the number of bad turnovers and strangle them.