Little Goffy

Yep, I'd be happy to see runners disappear at the top level. Would place a small extra premium on players with real leadership and game awareness, which I think would add to the game. Would also make it that tiny bit harder for coaches to micromanage play, which in turn makes for a less predictable game and would actually see players mature more and have to show more initiative as they wont be able to just wait for a message to come out.

Sydney has had two recent minor premierships followed by 'coming second' in the grand final. Funnily enough, they've done that five other times in their history, too. Port Adelaide took three tries before getting there in 2004. Brisbane never finished minor premiers in their triple. Overall, it looks like there's roughly a three-way split for final result for minor premiers; 1/3rd win the premiership, 1/3rd come runner up, and 1/3rd don't make the grand final. With the power of statistics and imprecise grammar, I could thus 'accurately' say "winning the minor premiership means you are less likely to win the premiership than another team".

Hmm, that's an interesting one yeah. Trying to think of some rationales. Main one would be that people don't see the Demons as a team which will win constantly all season, but they do see us as being capable of putting a surge of form together to win through the finals. Those odds would suggest 'they' think we are about 50/50 to make the finals, and if we make the finals, we're about 50/50 to be top 4, and if we are in the top 4 we're about 50/50 to make the grand final, and if we make the grand final, we're about 50/50 to win the premiership. One coin toss at a time?

Well, you're going to want to have good insurance for the car, aren't you? Zurich is big on life insurance, I wonder what their actuaries will make of MFCSS?

Can anyone help me clear this up once and for all - Is Charlie Spargo in any way related to former board member, vice-president, acting president, acting CEO and Foundation Heroes organiser Peter Spargo?

Apparently earlier today I was in a 'sel-harm' mood and instead of calling lifeline I went through with it and watched the last quarter of the final game against Collingwood. Jack Watts absolutely stank it up that quarter. From failing to cover his opponent (cost a goal) to spectating and then failing to lay an effective tackle or smother in the goalsquare (cost a goal), to spectating and then arriving too late to affect a contest just outside the square (cost a point, luckily) to fluffing a forward run, to a whole string of really poor body language, it was terrible. I don't have a personal problem with Jack Watts the way some people seem to, but rewatching his last quarter for us has left me with a much better understanding of why he had to be moved on. Wishing him all the best (up to a certain point) at Port, and also confident we made the best decision possible at the time.

Demons Top-4 Finish. Build on 'good' first 2/3rds of the year and then a win streak going into finals, a bit like 2000, actually. Multiple All-Australian selections in defence, with Lever, Hibberd and Jetta all making the 40-player squad. Describing our group of midfielders/forwards as "difficult to match up on" becomes one of the top cliches of the season. Hogan on the one hand proves himself the team player doing hard work to create links and disrupt defences, but on the other hand there are a few occassions, just here and there, where he takes personal control and smashes games off his own boot. Weidemann will be in and out of the team in bursts until late in the season when things will start to click. Wont set the world on fire but will be a competent tall forward. Our new recruits will mostly be at Casey (bold prediction I know) but a couple will get a really promising taste of AFL in their first year. "Melbourne's Depth is becoming amazing" will be another cliche we hear a lot. Non-MFC; Lever and Gibbs will be the 'recruits of the year' from trades, Port will continue to levitate in the 'also attended finals' category without really scaring anyone. Overall, the top end of the ladder hosts a set of really exciting teams and the dominant game style is shaped by rigorous defence combined with a scattering of stars that break games open. There are going to be a LOT of clubs just doing 'ok' without really mattering.

Not having first round picks fro a while, and having traded out a lot of early second round picks too, does feel a bit weird. But with Hibberd's effort and Melksham's improvement we seem to be getting good value for those picks. Lever's progress will be fascinating to watch but there's no doubt he was worth a first rounder plus a downgrade, just a question of whether the downgrade amount was too much. If we end up with 2 All-Australian defenders in our list thanks to trades, I wont complain about a shortage of draft picks. Especially when we seem to have a recruiting team with a talent for finding respectable late-pick players.

I heard he was going to star as the lead in a remake of 'Robin Hood: Men in tights'. That'll hurt us.

Better transport infrastructure between the CBD and South-East, as well as linking the different parts of the south east.

I'm in a mood for speed this draft season. But... There's multiple speedy youngsters in this draft at a few different sizes and roles, and with more 'upside' as far as actually having a real impact with that speed. Surpised Hartung hasn't retired from the neck strains of watching the ball go right back over his head. Though, the soreness would explain why he only manages 4 contested possessions and just over a tackle a game. A young Isaac Smith, he ain't.

https://www.weekendnotes.com/cherry-farms-victoria/

I liked Balic as an option back in his draft year, but our picks were too high or too low to be a sensible match. Interesting that we keep on cycling through these fringe midfielder options, and mostly in the midfield-forward slot - Kennedy, Bugg, Kent, Melksham, Harmes, Neal-Bullen, Kennedy-Harris, Jones, Newton, Michie. I guess the club see it is a role that can be filled by non-star players, and where depth is important. Of those ten we've cycled through in just a few years, you'd only say Neal-Bullen and Melksham are convincingly in our best 22, but a couple of others are still prospects.

Well, at least he can be confident of breaking into the B&F.

That backline starts to look bloody good. Poor old Neville Jetta not having to cover opponents 20cm taller than him because Lever is there to provide the well-timed chop-out. Oscar not having to think too hard because now he can focus more on controlling his direct opponent. Hibberd, Hunt and Salem all having much better opportunities to rebound because instead of a messy scrap after a rough spoil that doesn't fully clear the danger area, the incoming ball has been decisively cut off and fed out to them. Funny thing, I think Lever coming in might just be the difference that gets Jetta an All-Australian nod. B: Jetta O.Mc Frost HB: Hibberd Lever Hunt C: Tyson Jones Vince HF: Melksham T.Mc Petracca F: Hannan Hogan Garlett Foll: Gawn, Viney, Oliver Int: Lewis, Neal-Bullen, Brayshaw, Pederson With many depth options (Stretch, Bugg, Harmes, Wagner, Weideman, Kent, Smith, Vanders). It actually looks pretty good, eh. Even with assuming that Watts is not there.

If we're comparing Lever to Rance, it is only fair to point out that Weidman is tracking about the same as Matthew Lloyd after the same number of games... we definitely should be anticipating a big round 1!

Is it just my impression or has this thread moved along at close to a post a minute? Incredible. Can a mod put a 'sticky' on the first page to update any actual news, just so nobody feels a need to slide through dozens of pages?

Spectacular! Now I can picture a time when I can go all-out and watch four Demon games in a single weekend.

Taking a moment to confirm Redleg's background is law, not medicine. I mean, obviously you're thinking of the remarkably similar treatment for tinnitus.

The joy of the disposal efficiency topic is that is has enough grey area for everyone to be right. Defenders have good disposal efficiency -> good disposal efficiency is a benchmark for defenders everywhere anyway -> the efficiency is a product of the circumstances getting it (open spaces, marks, defenders outnumbering forwards) -> good disposal efficiency is a product of the work rate of players running to present options -> we shouldn't look at DE% anyway, clangers are more important... Round and round we can go. And we do! From what I've observed, the biggest 'whipping boys' for disposal among the Demons are the McDonald brothers and Dom Tyson, and the three of them share the feature of sometimes delivering really terrible clangers, the kind of totally unnecessary turnover which catches everyone by surprise and turns a rebound into a panic scramble. These clangers have a big impact and, more than anything else, are highly memorable. The couple of times a game that Tom McDonald mysteriously, absurdly, manages to kick directly to an opposition player on their own are the single factor preventing him from being an elite defender, but with them he is definitely not one. That's how much they matter and while I don't like the vitriol, the cause is reasonable.

There were too Ajaxes (Ajaxs? Ajaxi?) in The Iliad. Couple of Burly Brutes, Ajax the Greater was physically the mightiest of the Achaeans. Ajax the Lesser was really only 'lesser' next to Ajax the Greater. Sucks to be him, I guess. Bit like being Alexander the Pretty Good. Also, I support Whispering Jack's sentiment - I've had an embarrassing kick around or two on quiet afternoons at Brunswick Street Oval and it really is quite picturesque. And you can always visit the little bourgeois-ironic shopping nearby. (Oh, I'm so poor, all I can afford is this old desk lamp from the 80s which I paid $40 for. #bargainhuntwins #authentic)

When your forward line has an average games (or games-at-club) tally of about 25, it would actually be pretty impressive if one of them had 100 goals to their name! But it does put into perspective some of our problems with converting inside-50s into good scoring opportunities. That extra edge of experience, confidence and game sense can make all the difference close to goal, where you just need a couple of things in a row to go right and where every step of advantage is a big deal. A good veteran key position player, at either end of the ground, is very hard to replace. Just ask the queue of players the Demons tried to turn into a successor for Neitz. I want more success now, I feel like we are underperforming right now, but any time I look at the list my mind goes to what should be a 6-8 year period where we don't have to think too hard about how we will replace this or that essential role, and can watch as maturity grows, especially in the habitually slow-burning key position roles.

Straight swap for Melksham. If the Swans try to play hardball about it, we can throw in Lamumba.

There have been times in life when I've been really, really awfully anxious. And there have been times when I've been enduringly, unshakeably unhappy. But [censored] I'm glad I've never had a condition which made me feel that way no matter how the rest of my life was actually going. Full respect to you and anyone else carry this with them, whether they want to share or not.

He's still not having a great impact, and still far too many clangers. But he is definitely improving game by game. As it stands, he is legitimately holding his place in the team, and has the credible prospect of improvement. As others have said, he needs to improve his kicking and the 'vision thing'. At the moment he's not cutting any holes in the opposition, and sometimes does tear a hole in us! But it'd be an odd day when a footy department cuts a player who is improving.