Rogue

Surely I'm not the only one reading your posts and wondering what you're banging on about. People with little interest in the footy have little interest in travelling into the city from Cranbourne for a training session, regardless of whether that training ground is around Gosch's Paddock or Jolimont station. Even people with a high level of interest in the footy generally have little interest - or little extra spare time to dedicate to AFL stuff - in attending training! In my opinion this whole discussion about whether an extra hundred metres or three of walking to get to training is of importance is a complete red herring. As bb (?) pointed out, if you're willing to go to the 'G to watch Melbourne play AFL matches - and that's the first step for people with little interest in the footy! - then you're going to face the same logistical issues in getting to our proposed training ground. Walking to the Jolimont training oval would be equivalent to walking to the Ponsford stand.

Interesting career. In 2016 he played 24 games with the Crows - double his previous best season tally - but then got injured, and hasn't played sighted at AFL-level since.

Just like Malthouse to Carlton. EDIT: Monoccular beat me to it!

Yeah, if that's accurate he could probably do with losing 8-10kgs, particularly if he wants to play midfield.

You think we'll lose to Freo in Darwin and WB at the 'G, but think we'll defeat Geelong in Geelong and GWS at the 'G in the final round? Interesting. Squiggle's auto-predict has us finishing 4th on 16 wins, while I tipped 15 wins for us (5th, behind a couple of teams on percentage). I wouldn't be shocked if some results went the other way and we missed out, though - it'll be an interesting last month of footy.

I'm already confident that Fritsch does more than Watts could be relied upon to do. Watts had a season where I thought the penny might have dropped, but it was a dead cat bounce.

Which comment do you disagree with? Here are my assertions, numbered for easy reference: 1. Very slow. 2. Goes to ground too easily. 3. Is prone to absolutely horrible turnovers. 4. Is prone to giving away unnecessary frees/50m penalties. 5. Is able to hit up targets nicely. 6. Apparently gives good leadership.  Genuinely interested.

Lewis is Lewis. Very slow, goes to ground too easily, is prone to absolutely horrible turnovers and giving away unnecessary frees/50m penalties. Also able to hit up targets nicely and apparently gives good leadership. Can't imagine he's playing much senior footy in 2019.

Lots of talk so far about how we were getting smashed in the clearances, but I reckon our decision-making and execution going forward was putrid. So many times we failed to hit a target or even kick to advantage when going forward. Adding insult to injury, at times we were too selfish instead of spotting up someone in a better position - something we've been so good at lately. I can't count the number of times we burned guys who were alone inside 50, and you could see them express their frustration. McDonald could have had another 2-3. I also reckon we lost confidence and weren't keen to go for the slightly dangerous kick that would open up the field, instead kicking it around the boundary. The antithesis of last round's Melksham kick from defensive side of the wing into the forward half of the centre square vs the Bulldogs, which was some vision that got highlighted a bit during the week.

Has been average all year and wouldn't have a problem if he gets dropped. Petracca's looked really slow, and I'm half-hoping he's been carrying an injury - a groin or a knee issue, maybe - otherwise I'm pretty worried.

Pretty sure that getting on an AFL list with Port - even if he was likely to play in the SANFL - was more attractive than signing with Casey!

Happy with the changes so far, with Pedo in for TSmith, and Joel Smith in for Lever.

Pedersen can't fill Lever's role any week. (And I'm a guy who rates Pedo reasonable highly; enough to think there's no question he's better value ATM than Weid, anyway).

Fair enough. I disagree with your view on Pedo v Weid up forward - I think Pedo is far more likely to contribute up forward, and has also experience the disadvantage of playing many AFL games for us up forward when we were completely rank. In addition, I think Pedo gives far more as a relief ruck than Weid (in the ruck and around the ground). I also think he's a much better insurance policy than Weid in case something goes wrong, like a Gawn injury or a key back injury/horror game where we need to move Tom back, but I understand where you're coming from.

I reckon that debut had a fair bit of the 'we'll give you a run in the final game of a nothing season so you get a taste of it before the pre-season' about it. Different circumstances in 2019.

Same here. From the start he's led really smartly, used a simple and devastatingly effective goal-kicking action and looked confident with the ball when he's in the forward half of the ground. He probably learned a bit from playing some footy down back and, like you say, until recently we weren't much good at hitting up targets or getting it inside 50. Yeah, and with a midfield of Gawn plus Oliver, Brayshaw, Viney, Jones, etc. I'm feeling alright about our midfield. Just need the backline to hold together (and I was saying this even before Lever went down).

Fair enough. When you said you were standing by your previous selection I assumed you were suggesting you'd previously said you wanted Weid in if Smith was out. Had a read back and saw you had said either Weid or Pedo. Cannot understand anyone who is choosing Weid over Pedo, assuming both are right to go. Unless, of course, they're happy to develop potential in the AFL even if they don't deserve selection over older guys.

When did I say we should move Tom into defence? What's ludicrous is suggesting Pedo is a good option there. (And no, it's not the same - Tom McDonald has played much better footy than Pedo in defence, and has played back more recently).

Hey Nasher, why do you think Weid over Pedo?

When was the last time Pedo last played a good game in defence at AFL level? (In fact, when was the last time he played good footy in defence in the VFL?)

We won some games, sure...but not enough to make finals. Do you think we would have had a percentage 0.05% higher if we'd been able to put out our best 22 more often? I think the answer is yes. If you think the answer is yes, then you agree that injuries cost us finals. I reckon we were a rough chance of a flag this year because the competition is weak (no superstar teams, IMO), but we'd need lots to go right. We're clearly a better side with Lever, and thus our rough chance has become that much tougher. Disappointing, but such is life.

Horrible luck for Pedo.

Whaaaaaat? I would use 2017 as an example to support exactly the opposite argument. In 2017 we were struck with injuries, as you say. We agree here. Where we disagree is that you suggest we won plenty of games despite injuries. I would point to the fact that we missed out on finals because of injuries...

2020 Demons should only be better than 2018 Demons. We're not going to lose too many players because they're over the hill/retiring, and there are plenty of inexperienced/young guys that should only improve over the next few years!

I know who I'd rather have if we had a grand final this weekend - Pedo by a mile. Pedo might be on his last legs, but he's still likely to give you more up forward and in the ruck than Weid can at this stage of Weid's career. Weid gets games of footy once he's knocking the door down at Casey. No more gimme games for guys just because they're young and have potential.