Little Goffy

Michael Voss commenting on the Blues' prospects this weekend is also Michael Voss explain what has gone so terribly wrong at Carlton;

"I certainly wouldn't come into this game not thinking that can't happen"

I paused for a moment to clear my head and realised that our defence gave away just five goals in three quarters of football.

I don't care if the opposition is withering away at the contests or dropping their heads, letting through barely more than a goal each quarter is a serious effort for a defensive unit which faces the main downside of a new game style.

Credit to the old guard of talls;

Lever 11 intercepts, 4 1%ers, and 400m gained if you don't mind.

McDonald 8 intercepts, 9 1%ers,

And despite some anti-highlights which mobilised the haters

Petty 7 intercepts, 9 1%ers

Howes stuck to his task, Lindsay got his job done, and Salem recovered with maturity after starting the game like a dog on fire.

It is such a tedious, unimaginative bit of merchandising.

Where are the collectibles?

Where are the consumables?

Where is my Max Gawn easter bunny chocolate and set of Sherrin eggs?

[censored] hang on that would be brilliant.

16 minutes ago, 3KZ is Football said:

Will be an interesting watch to see where Jack Viney fits back into the side on his return.

Will he play a more forward role? I can’t see Viney and Steele both in the middle at the same time

I swear it wasn't that long ago I thought our gameplan was becoming 'have repeat midfield stoppages, bang one long, force repeat stoppages, bang a shot at goals, repeat', and our team sheets sometimes looked like it had two 'follower' lines. We even had two full-time rucks!

Isn't it amazing that after years of leaking such players from the club for various reasons, we are now wondering if we can fit an injured one back in?

Related to that, I've been thinking about how much our midfield has changed. Much less weight being thrown around - even before you account for the height of Langford and Culley - and much more diversity of types.

More range in height, much more range in bulk, more range in style, more experience and ability in other roles even amongst the youngest.

Going to be absolutely fascinating to watch that develop.

2 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Hey Little Goffy...you're not a school teacher, are you? It's like you've been correcting people's homework!

Not quite. Besides, if I were a school teacher I wouldn't generallly set homework. Evil stuff. The occassional long-term project so kids can feel like they really did something substantial and (hopefully) memorable.

I'd also ritually burn NAPLAN test papers.

As for multi-bumping this thread, I just had a little spark of realising that there had been a bunch of outlandish predictions made which were already true or already becoming credible. Fun times!

On 02/03/2026 at 16:44, Ghostwriter said:

The MRO will judge without fear or favour regardless of which team’s player is in question.

I know, LD-vC. You said outlandish, not certifiably nuts.

Well, that didn't take long to beak.

Aren't we all shocked.

On 02/03/2026 at 17:24, Wells 11 said:

Turner gets an AA call up.

Kozzie top 3 in the brownlow

Dees win more close games than they lose

Kozzie on the way now with an early 3-voter.

I think the Saints game counts, but does 'from 6 goals down to four goals up' count as close or just ridiculous?

On 02/03/2026 at 18:15, bing181 said:

By the start of next pre-season, Simon Goodwin will be an AFL head coach.

The opportunities will be there. Goodwin and Voss were both 'coaching' from the bench in the Swans-Blues game and part of me expected them to swap at half time. But surely Goodwin knows better than to go to true basket cases like Carlton or Essendon?

Kingsley may decide it isn't worth bursting a blood vessel for this.

On 02/03/2026 at 20:03, joeboy said:

Everyone will agree with my 3 worders… at least once this season

Got pretty close already. Have your three worders improved or are people just in a good mood?

I'm genuinely looking forward to the grand 'Demonland consensus game'.

On 02/03/2026 at 20:37, sisso said:

Melbourne play on wildcard weekend and Collingwood finish bottom 6

Already looking like a total lack of outlandishness. Nil Outlandishnicity.

On 04/03/2026 at 12:27, DeeSpencer said:

1. Tom Sparrow wins our B+F

2. Harvey Langford gets dropped for at least one game at Casey

3. Paddy Cross debuts in March

Nailed number 3 already, while Langford is showing some second-year blues which might warrant a short break. And now Sparrow goes and plays his personal best game. Contender?

On 04/03/2026 at 14:40, Temporarily Hopeful Demon said:

Fritsch gets back to kicking 50+ and AA contention.

Don't know if that's 'outlandish' but I don't think many people are expecting it.

1 goal, 2 goals, then 4 goals... he'll have 50 by round 6, and one thousand and twenty-four by round 11. But seriously, at 2.33 a game he is indeed on target for 50.

On 04/03/2026 at 19:57, Palace Dees said:

Melbourne finish 10th

Kozzie wins Brownlow

My 566.25 to 1 multi gets up

$50k hits my TAB account

I donate $1k to Demon Army

Then I wake up 😩

A little part of you must be clenching up just a bit after the Blues game, hey?

Might get to add a wing to the palace.

On 04/03/2026 at 21:54, NeveroddoreveN said:

Both Gold Coast an St Kilda fail to deal with expectations, both finishing outside the top 8.

Melbourne is a massive surprise packet, looking like they can beat anyone on their day....ends up 4th, could have been top had we not dropped a couple of games against the bottom 4 teams.

Collingwood and Geelong have trouble with consistency, they struggle vs faster ball moving teams....they end up limping into wildcard round.

Already looking right about the Saints. Gold Coast have had the perfect flat-track bully start to mess with their heads as soon as they hit a road bump.

Collingwood and Geelong you've basically described verbatim to reality, so points deducted for lack of outlandisquacity!

6 hours ago, Bowserpower said:

Steele is ok but hes not elite

True, but he knows it, has the humility to accept it, and makes decisions accordingly.

Jack Viney has had Wolverine-style extreme surgery to replace all his bones with Nokia 3310s.

Big move to get a new major sponsor, but we have also cornered the entire Finland AFL market.

Potential for Pickett to be truly emblematic for the King era, given his willingness to accept risk, accept failures and keep going. It is almost enthusiasm for the risk 'Whee here I go!'.

His first half was not good - full of turnovers and failed attacks. He kept going and turned it around just like they say true champions do.

With a number of potentially very, very damaging young players on our list, particularly in the ball-moving roles, he sets an example which could make us terrifying to play against.

And a delightful prospect for any key forwards bored or underappreciated at their current club, too.

13 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

I’m sorry but this isn’t about slightly negative comments my point on the game day thread is the personal attacks on players especially the whipping boys like Sparrow, Lever and Kolt.

We have the resident peanut going on about Clarry not being in there as the reason for yesterday and we have supporters stating King has destroyed our defensive capabilities in a few months.

How long have we all been involved in or watched footy, judging by our supporters demographics I’d say the answer for most of us is a long time. So by all means vent, fumbles, poor efforts at contested loose ground balls, players not attacking the aerial ball coming in, getting smashed at the clearance and skill errors that’s fine.

Don’t get personal and King is what 9 quarters into his coaching career when these comments were made, Give him some time to prove he can change things or not. We’ve put it out there how we’re going to play and opposition teams aren’t just going to allow us to do that, they’ll put work into us to prevent the run and we have to work through challenges and figure it out. Carlton had 17 days to go away and work on a plan to stop our run and win the game

Maybe see what King and the team can do to counter what Carlton bring

The smashing at the clearance yesterday was obvious to all of us, and as I said we have the old Clarry and Trac whingers saying I told you so, well the boys need to learn the hard way and exposure does this as it did for the Hawks when the moved Mitchell and O”Meara to expose the youth. Well I think yesterday Sparrow, Kossie and Windsor worked their way through it and with Steele adding far more structural wise to our midfield I think the new brigade can continue to develop.

The defence struggled early yesterday but who wouldn’t have the way we were getting dominated at the clearance and couldn’t create any run from our D50 meant they were under siege. Well done to Lever and Tmac who stood tall and to Kolt and Howes who both turned around shaky starts.

Anyone who has sat in a coaches box understands identity what’s happening, stay calm and try to work through what’s been presented. It won’t always work but at least see how a coaching group responds

So kudos for yesterday and we move on to Gold Coast who’ve also had time to counter our game they present a huge challenge with their ability to win contested footy, run 2 ways and impact the scoreboard.

Vent if you want but keep it reasonable

I'd just like to add that the constant stream of one line 'Player x you muppet' and 'Player y eats donkeys balls' is completely unhelpful and ruins the thread. Totally useless tedium for anyone who had hoped to get a sense of the game from a Demon perspective.

Maybe a simple guideline would be for posts to actually describe something.

Like 'Alistair Nicholson has allowed too many marks on the lead against him, but then loses tracl of his opponent when he tries to plsy in front. I think we need to shake up our tall defenders"

Instead of 'Nicho is a slow and dumb spud and Daniher should be sacked for playing him"

Just noticed in stats sheets that Cooper Duff-Tytler is being abbreviated as 'Cooper D Tytler'. So I guess we know who is going to be the King of the Pirates one day.

39 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

Its going to be a long season - why wear ourselves out unnecessarily turning up for 4 quarters when we only need one half to beat them?

There was a season under Daniher - I think 2002 - where we routinely gave away a four-goal start just to keep things interesting. Personally I prefer a good start and then a gradual extension of the lead, but everyone has their own tastes.

Okay. Here me out.

In theory, with 23 games in the home and away season (only since 2023), the nonsense pre-finals final new to this season, and then four regular finals, a team finishing 7th-10th and reaching the grand final would play a total of 28 games for the season.

This opens up the all-time season records for a variety of stats, even if the player doesn't have the most per-game for season 2026!

Specific Demons in the hunt include;

Jack Steele, equal first tackles in the league at 9.33 per game, chasing Tom Atkins 2025 total of 232 at an average of 8.92 from 26 games. ON TARGET

Max Gawn, second in hit-outs behind Jarrod Witts, and going at a tick over 40 per game, chasing his own 2018 record of 1119 from 25 games at 44.7 per game. ON TARGET

Max Gawn, again, second for contested marks, behind Josh Treacy and going at 2.7 per game. This one is a bit trickier as the all-time record is Travis Cloke with 95 from 25 games at a staggering 3.8 per game. But 3.4 per game would do the job in a 28 game season.

14 minutes ago, The Cult of Disco Turner said:

Interesting.

King mentioned in his postgame presser that Rivers was dropped for team balance, because he hasn’t been at his best, and also because of something he’s been dealing with physically that he said didn’t want to get into.

Roundabout way of telling him to get a haircut.

"And shave those sideburns!"

Already hit van Rooyen, Petty and Chandler. How Sharp continues to get a game under the same coach is a mystery.

2 minutes ago, BoBo said:

Did Derogatory Dean play AFL too?

Indeed, on a wing opposite his half-brother, [censored] Dean.

20 minutes ago, Demonland said:

I love this table because

2008 was a reward for being a proper stalwart and never giving up on a game early.

2021 existed. We all saw that or will forever say we did anyway.

2026 Well, let me tell you my day.

Morning trip to Sydney aquarium with my wife and 8-month old. I was worried he was too young to get much out of it but the little one was absolutely transfixed and glowing with joy the entire time. Wife much the same watching him be so happy.

Train replacement buses made a mess of our planning, so we got there late and arrived home late. But baby snoozed the whole way home. Super win.

But that all meant I missed the first half, so all I saw today was 14 goals 4 behinds in 60 minutes of play, against my brother's team if you don't mind.

Little Sam now remains undefeated in games and even quarters he has watched (aquarium first half this week, was still napping for the first quarter of the St Kilda game, and the Freo game wasn't broadcast up here).

Also - and this is important -

My baby son has learned to start dancing, bouncing, waving his scarf and grinning when he hears the Melbourne Football Club song.

Bliss.

Generally happy with everyone's votes. I like to give extra for players going above expectations, so -

6 K Pickett (turned the game and led the way with the message of embracing danger)

5 M Gawn (4th qtr to remind everyone he is the best ruck-ruck as well as the best around-the-ground ruck)

4 J Lever (now 4th for intercepts per game, including the 1-game Harris Andrews)

3 J Steele (16 tackles, ooo weee and a fair account of his day)

2 K Chandler (must be a coach's dream)

1 T Sparrow (personal best game?)

Several honorable mentions;

T Mac was one of few who stayed level headed early.

B Fritsch with the vintage Fritsch second half.

Harvey Langford beginning to find himself again. Caleb Windsor coming along nicely. Xavier Lindsay building a body of work.

Jai Culley legit player as well as being a complex match up.

9 hours ago, John Crow Batty said:

These are the kind of poor teams that frequently embarrassed us. Happens all too often.

Topically, once upon a time we lost twice to Carlton in a season where they only had two other wins, and it cost us a top four spot.

38 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Why do so many people support Essendon? 🤷🏻‍♂️

In economics it is called the Sunk Costs Fallacy.

Does very strange things to people.

Anyway -

Nice of Tristan Xerri to have a 'just okay' game and then get himself surely suspended, all in tribute to Max Gawn's 250. After a very good game against Port and then monstering West Coast he was probably the chief rival for the All-Australian ruck spot.

The contenders seem to be quickly sorting themselves from the pack, with Witts, English, Jackson and Grundy the ones to watch.

It'll be a fun thing to monitor for the season. We all want Gawn to get the 'outright greatest ever' plaque for his locker, though in keeping with his attitude of course we shouldn't fixate on it.

I would even find some joy if it was Gawn AA ruck with Jackson named as the second ruck/forward.

24 scoring shots to five after half time in Freo-Richmond. Yikes. Could just as easily have been a 120+ margin if Freo had kicked straight.

And a quick nod here to Tholstrup for his job on Serong. Cut Serong's output to less than half.

Meanwhile, for those keeping track of the genius moves at AFL HQ regarding giving thugby a free hit and all that - there was not football on free-to-air television in Sydney today. None.

Looks like this season has a decisive early top-2 and bottom-2 but the remainder is a wide open and completely chaotic race.

22 minutes ago, bing181 said:

For the moment. Longer term he'll need to be able to do more than just play as a tagger.

Not knocking him either, and there's obviously something about being a tagger that really suits the kind of player/person he is.

I suspect the concentrated task and the reduced expectations of doing anything dramatic have helped Tholstrup a lot.

Wouldn't be the first young player to go through a period as a tagger on the way to becoming a more confident and complete player.

We are very much in need of the team-oriented half-forward successor to Nibbler, and Tholstrup has also shown he can be pretty bold and creative when he gets it. I'd hope that is the eventual ambition.

Ugh.

Let's delete this thread and start a new one about Leigh Ryswyk.

No, I'm serious.

Hopefully the new one can be kept clean of people who need to inject their conspiracy theories into other people's small celebrations.

5 minutes ago, Coolx2 said:

Oliver ( A.K.A Dee traitor,just joking) had 39 disposals for his losing side last night unfortunately didn't kick a goal. Teams need mids that are capable of kicking goals also Ruckman.

At the moment we don't have either.

Fortunately we probably have them on our list, just progressing development. To the extent the point is true, probably also a part of why Rivers was dropped and Cross given a run.

The solution, with the right development and coaching, may well already be on our list.

With an optimistic hat on, I can see a future where all of Windsor, Langford, K Pickett, Tholstrup and Culley are primarily mids but capable of putting a goal through, in a handy variety of ways. Lindsay maturing into Langdon's successor would also generate some scoring. Plus, if Rivers returns and shows the potency we all suspect he is capable of, that'll affect the scoreboard too.

Same hat says Chandler, L Pickett, the new and improved Sharp, and Thomas Matthews have a good shot at being primarily small forwards who also contribute to midfield ball movement.

That's a big chunk of the 2028 premiership team, right there.

15 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Interesting Comment, I have NEVER SEEN Faicos take an opponent defensively, and 95 % of his possesions are UNCONTESTED .His game is exclusively built around zero defensive efforts and 100% outside game,which is opposite of a Matt Rowell game, will only win a B &F, as the filth have changed their voting structure to gift him an award. But to win a BROWNLOW you have to have an allround game

Daicos is offensively overhyped but he is a very, very good player and may yet lead Tasmania to a premiership.

14 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Claz a VG first half. The second pretty shabby and zero defensive pressure on opponents. Looks to be a fair way off the pace after HT for mine

Story of the Giant's night, really. Looked like they should have been dominating if not for umpiring by half time, but then they started to fall behind on the 'optional' running and were constantly in urgent, panicky situations. Some really good play but it would be three against four over and over.