Demon17

7 hours ago, Demon Marty said:

You are right ..... I think its just the kiwi sense of humour that shines on through'

 

Great piece marty . Well said.

But Max also has that well deserved Kiwi superiority/high self esteeem complex.

5 hours ago, Pates said:

Unless I’m mistaken Optus Stadium is also basically the same dimensions as the MCG. Definitely an advantage it not being at KP but there can be no illusions about the cats, they have the experience and know how to win in these moments. 

That said, if we play our best we win. 

Theyv'e won only a single Prelim out of their last 6.

It won't be Selwood letting them down, he's a proven leader who gives all he can, its against their bottom 6 where our bottom 6 (whoever they are, because I don't think we have any in the definiton of the term) will will bring home the bacon.

3 hours ago, Big Col said:

They're both very good players and would get a game ahead of TMac and Brown if they were in our side. 

Dees forward line is the sum of parts - not just two very good players that can both be stopped.

Cats small forwards can't hold a candle to our team forward defence and scoring capacity. Not forgetting  Ed Langdon - highest scoring wingman this year in the AFL

9 hours ago, layzie said:

Helps a lot. As I said I don’t think this group is rattled at all by this kind of task, it’s just nervous fans like me that use stats like this to worry!

But these are all the positive affirmations I’m going to be telling myself every day this week :)

The team isn't the problem.  Do you think Oliver and Gawn and Viney and their mates will stand for a poor showing against the cats? Not likely.

We are the issue here.

But then I saw Jimmy Stynes cross over the mark in 1987 right in front of me at Waverley.

57 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

They still put themselves in that position each year. Regardless of the win loss ratio it's still a bloody good achievement.  It's hard enough to make finals.

So? Every club has a home ground advantage. Are they not allowed too?

 

You missed my point.

I agree its a great effort to be up so long, but the home ground is 115 metres wide for gawds sake.

Thats a huge disadvantage to a visiting team, when all other grounds are much wider with wider pockets. Geelong have mastered this issue . They train on such a narrow space etc. Other teams advantage is primarily one of crowd support and umpiring decision affirmation. Not one of geometry which has a tangible impact.

The win/loss prelim ratio is an issue. Ignore it and it will keep happening. What's the point if the ojective is a flag .

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

 

He played in our last Prelim. Final victory over the cats in 1954, his 19the game , at the age of 18 Year 203 days (and kicked a goal). Youngest player on the field that day.

Thanks for everything Ron, we love you,  and get ready to unfurl the flag next March.

51 minutes ago, Docs Demons said:

Exactly and whilst I reckon we will win and win easily, providing we play at or near our best, I am a little worried about the umpires. Both Dogs and Cats seem to get away with plenty and have the rub of the green. Some of those decisions and non decisions baffled me last night.

Love him or hate him, Kane Cornes today is correctly mounting the campaign against Selwoods hit on Friday night, exactly the same as Toby Greenes, yet no sanction.

Will umpires be Selwood conscious now next week and not pay ducking frees to him? Id' like to think so.

I just hope we have Razor Ray and team.

18 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

It’s a great record but corrupted by the insane home ground advantage afforded them by only playing weak and interstate sides over there and the outlier non standard ground shape which makes it very difficult for visiting sides to adjust to especially when bad weather is present. No other side has those advantages. Virtually guarantees them a finals spot every season. It was surprising they were not required to make the ground more standard size during redevelopment. 

It was never going to happen, as the east boundary of the ground abuts Moorabool st. so can't be widened in that direction without a full stadium and surface re-alignment and re-build.

And although the Cats have sucked huge capital out of geelong at the expense of other amenities over the year, to rebuild stadiums for what is maybe 9 games a year and setting up an elitist precinct for limited Geelong rank and file patronage (which is actually what has happened - try paying for a seat in the stadium or using the so-called 'community' facilities), there was never the huge amounts needed to do it properly.

54 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

.  Their finals record under Scott is phenomenal even though the wins haven't been on their side. 

Lost 5 prelims out of the last 6 under Scott.

Finsish top 4 due to Kardinia park advantage in H and A. Then deep finals gets them in the end.

13 hours ago, Dwight Schrute said:

I reckon the 18 prelim will fuel the boys in a big way, i reckon not only do we win, but i think in the first quarter we make a big statement and grab a decent lead 

Only half this current best 22 played in that game in 2018.

Do you think Bowey, Rivers, Langdon, May, Lever,Fritsch,  Jackson, Jordan, Sparrow, Brwon, Pickett, Petty, will care.

These guys will write their own history on Friday and beyond.

.

9 hours ago, layzie said:

Big ask to beat a quality team like Geelong 3 times in a year but I don't think this group will be phased by that.

On the contrary.

Its a big ask for the oldest team in the comp to beat the youngest, hungriest and most AA team, away from home when they couldn't do it at home only 3 weeks ago after Dees giving them a 7 goal start.

And barely performing against a banged up star-less, heroic and no forward structure GWS 2 days ago

And having won only 1 game in the month of August , and that by barely 2 goals against the 10th placed saints.

Does this help?  because its reality for the cats where I stand.

10 minutes ago, layzie said:

Port have one of the most vacant freeway drives to a GF in recent memory. They couldn't stuff this up

I may be wrong but pleased we don't face dogs midfield till gf. Cats have a couple of potent forwards yes. But dees have appropriate AA defenders. Plus others. 

Cats midfield is manageable. 

Happier port have dogs.

39 minutes ago, The Corridor said:

Interested to see if anyone is willing to defend yet another lopsided pro-bulldogs umpiring performance tonight. 

Not really. What I do know is that razor ray and his boys can book themselves in for the gf. That crew tonight were appalling. They'd be swabbed if they were horses.

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I reckon this changes though with the extra tall they have.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Smith who take Cameron (remember he did do the job on him last year) and Lever takes Rohan

Lever doesn't exactly play on a tall, he plays on a medium to small forward because this allows him to play to his strengths as a intercept defender.

This is why Petty has taken the 2nd best tall forward.

Don't be surprised if its:

May - Hawkins

Smith - Cameron

Petty - Ratugolea 

Lever - Rohan.

Could be this DD36

Petty  and ratagolea are same height, harry a fraction lighter, but far better footballer

Smith has the tank to run with Cameron up the ground which is his speciality, just needs to be careful he's not turned inside  out with Cameron running back to Goal.

Completly takes Rohan out of the equation, whom l

Lever can handle whilst doing his intercepts.

1 hour ago, Big Carl said:

The last time Melbourne and Geelong met in a Preliminary final was 1954. The Demons won 67 to 50. 
Let’s repeat that in 2021.

Stat of the Day.

And who was the youngest player in the team? An the youngest on the field??

Answer: Ronald Dale Barassi, 18 years 203 days (and he kicked a goal.)

In his 19th game no less.

2 hours ago, BDA said:

I’m delighted we’re playing Geelong

I suggest people look at their qualifying defeat against Port. The cats wilted under the heat and intensity applied by the power. Allir Allir had a party down back. They were never in it. They made heavy weather of beating an injury ravaged GWS last night

They are old and slow and past it

I have no worries whatsoever about out mental state or mindset. The psychological boost from our comeback in Rd 23 can’t be underestimated. We were super focused and business like against the Lions. These are the new demons. We will turn up to play next week

Heat and intensity to overwhelm the geriatrics.

Dees by 6 goals

This post should be compulsory reading. Thanks BDA

What I got from last night was  more respect for GWS. Injuries, lack of structure and makeshift defence and still competitive against the cats. The cats will be happy with themselves. Good for us.

Cats Prelim Finals record since 2011.

Played 6 - Lost 5  .

While a great effort , the idea is to win them I would have thought.

10 hours ago, Hell Bent said:

I agree. If that's the best Geelong can dish up we win comfortably.

Goody cracked a bottle of red at halftime tonight. 

My fear was meeting the GWS midfield, who outplayed cats last night, and Dees earlier,  but lacked a forward structure, or Toby Greene getting out the back.

We have a defence to address Hawkins and Cameron. Oliver won't allow a drop in standards.

Ratagulea and Rohan hold no fears.  We are fitter by far.

4 minutes ago, Deeoldfart said:

Based on what we've witnessed so far tonight, if the Dees come to play next Friday, it will be a soft passage into the GF (not ideal imo).

Definitely we're on the best side of the finals draw based on this rubbish tonight. Sorry that jesse is out .

33 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Start planning for Next Year, next year

You have no idea how circumstances will pan out. 
Seize the moment when it arrives 

If you are taking this timetable, you are already too late.

Correct - I do not have a crystal Ball or any special insight into the futre for that matter. But past performance and behavious is one indicator of future results, esp. the 2021 performance of this year and the Dees team especially have been outstanding in all facets of team culture. If we don't have a good 2022 then evreyone needs to give the game away.

But Oliver and Trac among many won't allow it.

Always seize the moment  - Certainly its here next Friday and on.

2 hours ago, KysaiahMessiah said:

We're on the path to a flag, or multiple flags.  This is the start, so yes.  But when you get this close, you need to make the most of the opportunity, as it is very hard to get to the point we are at.

Completely agree with your sentiments, but it is so hard to reach a prelim its good to grab the cahnce

I have always thought we are 1 year too early, and have improvements for next year to make it the flag year.

Brown will be more comfortable, Tomlinson back, huge stocks of talent emerging all over the ground will be better, and hungrier , for the 2021 experience, whatever that turns out to be.

2 hours ago, Grand New Flag said:

Sorry mate, auto correct on my mobile phone.  

Are you suggesting because I quoted a spelling mistake that I a dumb? 

For the record, I have seen her CV.  

What I have said is correct. 

 

 

Just like the correct use of the english language.

3 minutes ago, Redleg said:

That is part of culture. All in together, not just the current side. We will get more out of all players being there, than Board members.

Thanks for this redleg, you beat me to it.

Imagine the benefits to young Bradtke being on the inside of the hub during the most important 2 weeks of the club's last 50 years.

The culture and camerardie he will absorb and lessons learned observing the preparation of the leaders and lesser lights  to keep for when his time comes.

To leave out list players like him would disintergrate parts of the culture.

Your'e judged by how well you treat the lowest ranked.

3 minutes ago, Grand New Flag said:

This has nothing to do with Bartlett. 

KR was elected President with one ambition, one KPI.  That's is to use her close ties with the Andrew's Government to convince them to back our MGC precedent Social Club & Training facility.  If you ask KR she speaks openly that this is why she was elected and this is her mission. Her skill set and network outside of this is limited for a football club. 

Good luck to her.

So you haven't read her CV yet?

And I think the word your'e looking for is "...precinct.."

10 hours ago, Swooper1987 said:

Gawn second for best Captain.  Petracca 4th for MVP.  No Oliver or Wines in the top 5. Lost a lot of credibility tonight.

I love our players but Wines not in Top 5? - you must be joking.

On Best Captain? - the playing cohort confuse being a great player with being a great leader. They're relatd but not the same.

Max in spades IMO.  Nathan Jones has it too.

Evidence? - Cue Tex Walker

Players should just stick to getting a kick.

On 8/28/2021 at 1:33 PM, Lord Travis said:

Gus seems a logical choice for a trade, seeing as his brother and lots of family are in WA. I highly doubt he’ll be traded though. 

He loves the club and loves living in Melbourne. He might not be lighting it up on field, but he’s filling the role the coaches are asking if him, and filling it well. His defensive positioning has been a big part of our defensive zone vastly improving this year. 

He’s also super important to the club culturally. Yes he has media presence with the podcast etc, but he’s also one of the key drivers of hard work and respect amongst the players. Look at the end of the Geelong match last week as an example. When all the players were going berserk celebrating, Gus joined in celebrating for a bit and then tried to encourage his teammates to go shake the oppositions hand and show respect. He was first across to shake the oppositions hands and got the boys to follow him. He’s a leader out there for our players driving the right kind of values amongst the group. Then when they were in the rooms, he sung the song with more gusto than anyone!

Not saying Cerra wouldn’t be a great get for us, he’s a great silky skilled player, but trading Gus would disrupt the playing group, standards, and culture of the club. And at the end of the day, the new standards being driven are the difference between 2021 top of the ladder demons, and the years before where we failed to make finals. Same list, different culture and standards. 

Great points well made in your post LT.

Gus played his best game for the year last weekend - just when needed and he admitted this week he has taken time to build the role on a wing, and that Langers had been a great help (AllAA standard wingman IMO).

I fear this has shades of Woey leaving which caused my heart to sink back then and the team didn't feel the same.

Culture first for us, everything else second and the wins will take care of themselves. I suspect this is the player driven mantra of feeling for the fans who are at last "... proud to show their colours ...", as Trac said after the Cats game.

This isn't the NFL, MLB, NBA.....etc.

There's dozens of players I bet who would now join the Dees in a heartbeat. But not at a price that's not worth it.