Demon17

2 hours ago, Dappa Dan said:

JKH stays in. Played a good game. Some people on here are blind, fair dinkum.

Smith is a bit more in the gun. Loved his endeavour and physicality, but his disposal might mean he loses his spot.

Hunt is no chance to come in. Wasn't even in the 22 before he got hurt, and wasn't knocking the door down in the VFL before then. Demonland is slowly getting more daft.

We can't carry smith in defence . His clangers were terrible on saturday. As garry lyon said this morning. Hes ok just don't alllow him to kick. But the game is called football for a reason.  I like spargo because at least he can hit a target. 

6 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

No Fritsch is a gun and his kicking alone is needed. Hunt hasn't played any football.

Absolutely W .

Fritsch was our only small medium forward standing up in first half. Mandatory he stays in. 

49 minutes ago, Nasher said:

The first half was a cauldron, as you would expect against a decent but not great side, with a massive home ground advantage, hanging on to their season for dear life. I’d love to be up by 50 at half time of every game but I reckon sometimes you also have to acknowledge the force of your opponent pulling in the other direction.

We destroyed them in the third. The less said about the last quarter the better, although nothing they did happened with ridiculous ease as it did last week. I’d say we half learned the lesson.

Anyway it’s a great relief to have this one chalked up. All positive feelings in this lounge room tonight!

Was at the game and noticed how well the team shut out the crowd noise. They seriously celebrated each goal as a team to keep themselves up in enemy territory. Great to watch the bond they have.

Just now, Wiseblood said:

We [censored] did it everyone!  

I love this club.

I love everyone who posts here.  I'd even give SWYL and Saty a hug right now.

When Nibbler sealed it I reckon the whole street heard me get off the couch a fist pump like a madman!

DEMONS!!!

DEMONS!!!

DEMONS!!!!!!!!

Nice.

Which inside mid got the ball to lewis for his first goal ? -TYSON!

10 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

We have dropped so many close games after hitting the front late and nothing changes.

 

I've never seen us stack the backline and go man on man yet.  We just seem to play the same manic attacking game and bomb it long.

 

 

Against Eagles last year in Perth we nearly lost that through Stacking the backline in the final play from the re-start Eagles easily cleared from the bounce. Its not always the way to go  especially in centre clearances .

21 hours ago, Moonshadow said:

So, why the f... don't they practice these scenarios at training? I said this on another thread.

I've been to training a number of times over the last 12 mths and this is clearly not practiced. Defenders on forwards at the end of training (exhaustion) with 2 points up or down and heap the pressure on them with a real countdown clock. It's easy to talk about what went wrong, but they also need to practice.

It's not like we haven't been in these situations in real games ?

Happening once is bad luck maybe. But the club has a pattern - falls clearly at Goodwin's feet, and poor on field direction.

We don't have a Hodge/Selwood/Hurn/Kennedy type leadership standard so necessary in tight situations, let alone the team giving back a 29 point lead .

3 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

I think he played half forward for Athens against Sparta ?

And he won the Plato medal for B.O.G. in that traditional rivals match - the Peleponese Cup. Sparta's loss secured them the No. 1 draft pick (they were the carlton of the Greek Football League  then). They used it to pick up a young macedonian prospect Alexander who went on to have a great career after retirement from the game.

12 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

So we are ranked second best chance for the flag, yet we may not even make the finals.

Its really going to hurt if we miss again.  We could have done some damage in last years finals too.

Champion data yesterday ranked dees at 86% chance to finish in top 8. In 6th place.

13 hours ago, doc roet said:

Give me a heart attack will you!

It's played on Saturday not Sunday.

And AEST. Not everyone lives in melbourne/victoria/eastern australia. 

23 minutes ago, MSFebey said:

Was it Fremantle in maybe 2013 who had to play a home final at Kardinia Park and upset the Cats? Hope it happens again to whoever they play there. One of the more annoying whining clubs with Selwood, Danger, Hawkins, Chris Scott.

Yes it was freo. But a melbourne team would result in even crowd numbers also. 

4 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/why-the-loss-to-geelong-should-inspire-the-demons-20180723-p4zt3v.html

Just now, MSFebey said:

Who cares, honorable losses are nice but they have a use by date. 2016 had a chance at finals and blew it, failed pathetically last year, heat is already on again. I don’t care for nice stats and they mean jack crap if a side is mentally weak and can’t handle pressure. As Peter Jackson said himself, if we miss finals it’s a failure this year.

Did you read the post and article?. I mentioned a warning . 

7 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

O.K O.Mac stays but if he puts in another shocker I'm demanding his head and pleading for Keilty to come in.

IN: Hannan OUT: JKH

We won't be resting anyone against the Suns. Have to learn from the Swans when they dropped Grundy.

Hannan s breakout game last year was against the Crows in adelaide. 

For the doomsayers here have a read of chris judds excellent and realistic view of melbourne in todays Age.  He cuts through fugazi and lays out why there is upside still and the potential core of a good team still with a way to go.

Short term and week to week thinkers probably should avoid. It will only upset you.

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

Me to offer him anything from 800 -900 5 year deal plus 1 or two of our NQR to secure the deal!

But we wont coz we aren't relentless enough!!

Jake lever???????

1 minute ago, dees189227 said:

Ok so I can't go tonight but can someone tell me if they just rocked up at the gate and bought a ticket? Or do they not allow that and you are forced to buy a reserved seat at a ridiculous price. 

Can get GA at the gate as it won't be a sellout.  Need a bank loan to afford any other tickets for Kardinia Park.

Family friendly GFC  my A...e.

8 minutes ago, america de cali said:

The biggest break we got so far for this game is the weather. Dry and mostly calm. If we had most of all of this weeks weather of rain and wind we would have no hope down there.

Carparks already full. Great conditions. Nice and calm and not too dewy either.

14 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

I understand the inclusion of Tyson, especially with Viney out.  If he's just played through the guts then he can have an impact for us, and he at least brings some experience and ball winning ability with him to the side.

The Joel Smith selection is a little perplexing for me, even though others seem happy with it.      , I don't trust him with the ball in hand, nor do I trust his ability to get the footy and do something with it.  I feel like Wagner is a more rounded player at this point and could give us a little more than what Smith would bring to the table.

Time will tell I guess, and I'm hopeful that Smith can prove me wrong on Saturday night.

I agree largely with this comment  and have yet to be sold on what Iv'e seen of Joel Smith but the statements ' bolded above'  beg the question - why is the guy even playing AFL? 

Wagner decision making scares me, so maybe no choice in selectors eyes?

9 hours ago, binman said:

As promised:

The Josh Schache marking file: an AFL Stats pro adventure

Here are the facts:

• Took 8 marks
• All but one was uncontested
• His one contested mark was excellent and was taken on OMac
• He only had one mark after half time
• 3 of his marks were inside 50 - none were contested 
• Omac was not on him for 2 of the 3 inside 50 marks Schache took  
• The other occasion Omac was on him but could not be blamed as Tmac turned the ball over (poor kick to Vince) and Schache was gifted a goal with an easy mark running back into the goal square
• 5 of his marks were across the middle of the ground (wing or in the centre square), including his 1 contested mark
• OMac was playing well off Schache and of the 4 uncontested marks he took up around the middle of the ground was playing 10 metres in front of Omac who sagged off him and let him  take the marks unopposed (as per coaching direction no doubt)

So in summary Omac was beaten once in a marking contest by Schache, which was the one contested mark he took all day.

The majority (five of eight) of his marks were well up the ground which no doubt our coaching staff loved seeing given he is a key forward. And none of the his 3 inside 50 marks were the fault of Oscar.  

Here are some of the facts about Omac's game, courtesy of AFL stats pro:

• 9 Contested Defence One On Ones (season average 4.1)
• 11 one per centers (season average 6.8)
• (A note on 1 percenters - they include marking contest spoils. Stats pro records a marking spoil as a spoil AND as a once percenter. Not sure why, but in the advanced stats in the match report, which is how  stats pro is structured, they don't list spoils, just 1 percenters. But most 1 percenters are actually spoils, so really good stat to use to compare defenders playing similar roles. As an example of Omacs 11 1 percenters 9 were spoils)
• 9 spoils (season average 6.4) with 6 against Schache and 3 against Cordy who was the main dogs deep KPF in the second half 
• Took a nice intercept mark in their goal square when he out read and out marked Schache 
• 91.7% disposal efficiency (season average 70.4) - by the by ANB had 17 disposals at 100% which is pretty impressive

So in summary,  whilst you could argue with some justification he was no star it is very difficult to mount a credible argument that he was 'loose and unconvincing', particularly if that assessment was partly based on Schache getting 8 marks (by the by his other opponent, Cordy, had 2 marks for the day). Easier to argue he had his best game since Lever went out.

I think it was H T who suggested there might or should be a discussion about Omac being replaced by a Keilty or Pedo (i think or perhaps he said Smith?).

Apologies to H T if someone else but there is zero chance Omac gets dropped this season. Zero.

Indeed as i argued at the beginning of the season it will be a long, long time before he plays another games at VFL level. Dr Cool will play 200 plus games as a key defender for the dees. 

Well documented Binman and some sensible background for this opinion-type  weekly thread which I sometimes wonder if i was at the same game.

On O'Mac - I'm convinced for sure about the cool and can't wait to watch a Lever/OMac defence for the next 10 years.

8 hours ago, don't make me angry said:

Boomer has no clue buddy was from Perth, players like hogan don't go back to Perth, there are more chances of hogan going to a big Victorian club, or Sydney. 

Its called relevancy deprivation for Boomer. Trying to build any profile when not a serious journalist (I'm looking at you Kane Cornes) is the textbook approach to build post game career.

Too many ex players by far. Ex champ Jimmy Bartel is the worst. No idea on interviewing and getting info we don't already know.  Just a head on the screen with nothing better to offer now retired.

3 minutes ago, timbo said:

Bolding mine. Would love to know if he made the decision in concert with team medicos.

If not, he needs to be taught a lesson. And that means stripped of captaincy.

I'd like the captain to be Gawn or Lever next year.

What a total dill. (If what is said above is true)

The club has a top notch medical team. Evidence -  the management of Tom MacDonald -  ( and Tmacs approach as well helped)

This was never Viney's  decision to make - but he thinks it is -  and therein lies the issue.

8 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

If Viney didn't report it (Correct)  - he needs a serious kick up the backside  (Agree)

If Viney did report it (Incorrect )- the medical staff need to be damn well fired. He could've missed the games prior, had less stress and been back sooner. Fortunately it doesn't seem to have reached the stage of an actual fracture but that's more from good luck than good management by the sounds of things. (Yes, but didn't happen so all hypothetical)

Arrrgh I'm so angry.

See above

1 minute ago, Gorgoroth said:

Yep. Agree, last year he did the bloody same. You would think after last year he and the club (if he reported) would have learnt. Defies logic.

This isn't the club''s fault is my info.

Jack is learning the hard way about professionalism possibly.

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Is it just me or is anyone not as stressed about this than the Lever loss?

I'm with you BBP.  Lever was/is huge. 

5 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

He has just done a presser about the foot, saying it had been sore for a few weeks, is the same bone and will miss at least 4 weeks... it’s [censored] Groundhog Day!!!

So why not reported to staff 4 weeks ago by him. when first became aware of it.

Unbelievable! Won't be back this year and a chance for someone else for rest of season.

I am comfortable having watched live on Saturday  the way Oliver,  Brayshaw,  Gawn, Hogan.... stepped up that leadership is not an issue. 

He will be a loss though.