Demon17

8 hours ago, Baghdad Bob said:

I’m an unabashed Weideman fan. Instead of concentrating on the missed shot at goal I’m concentrating on the fact that a 21yo key forward was able to take a contested pack mark against strong opposition in the dying moments of a knife edge game. 

Yeh, he missed the shot. I could go back over the years and show you every great player missing from dead in front.

What a shocking moment for the kid and what a great learning experience. Bounce back Sam, you’ve a great opportunity in front of you to become a really good player and I for one am right behind you. 

Great post. He was in tears after the game. Don't tell me this won't help make him a better player.

7 hours ago, loges said:

Just asking, why would the ball have been wet?

The ball plays as if wet due to the humidity. My Darwin background.  Viney said at half time the ball was a cake of soap.

Sounds strange but the moisture in the air is incredible.  I was worried at half time Oliver would go off the boil in the second half after his heroic efforts in second 1/4 in these conditions.

8 hours ago, Laughing Goat said:

The seven blokes that missed before Weiderman in the last quarter are earning a hell of a lot more......& If they had done there jobs properly then Sam wouldn't have missed I'm sure of that. Maybe you should hang them instead of hanging a kid still finding his way?

 

 

Great call LG.  Garlett's easy miss in the game's first minute was deplorable and a scene setter.  Those types of misses should be under the microscope big time. Not   Weid's shot with a wet ball and hardly surprising at that time of night. He will learn.

And while I'm at it, when I see Petracca with an improved technique , then I'll believe the coaching/development team are doing their job. Until then, Trac gets away with murder for a professional sportsman.

14 minutes ago, Demonland said:

He looks cooked. 

16 possessions in the 2nd quarter might have finished him in the humidity. ???

14 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

Understand your point, but Hogan is having a terrible season.  His worst ever by far.

Fair to say he isn't the next Wayne Cary/Jonathan Brown  that he looked like he was going to be early on.

I loved watching Hogan and wish him well.  Back to Perth was the best move for him.

BUT.... look at the stats from last weeks Freo win and Jesse is bottom of the list. I just don't see him reaching the potential he clearly had.  A Ross Lyon coached team won't get it done for him either

Smart move by MFC to do the trade.

14 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

No question he deserves it but more due to form from previous seasons as well as loyalty. 

The problem is, will he get picked for many

games and will he be captain ?

Cant see him happy in the 2s.

This is professional sport. Why on earth is the above a reason to get paid/a game.

On 5/28/2019 at 9:41 AM, Lucifer's Hero said:

I've just updated the Contracts thread and posted my thoughts on possible list changes. 

It may be a bit early but given our season is done it is relevant to look at possible changes.

The Contracts thread:

 

My thoughts on list changes that I posted in that thread:

I'm guessing we will lose quite a few Rookies. 

Its hard to see a lot of the primary list players who are OOC this year getting an extension.  My thoughts:

• Baker, Frost, Weideman will get new contracts.
• J. Wagner, Garlett, J. Smith are 'maybe' depending on assessment of depth.
• Stretch, Neal Bullen, Kennedy Harris at real risk of going.  They have been on our list for 4-5 years and not able to cement a regular 22 spot.  Can only keep them for so long.
• Lewis, Maynard gone.
• Jones - not sure.  Will challenge the list management team:  Nostalgia vs value add vs keeping a younger player out of the team/out of position.

We will get some good draft picks this year: a top 10 and a high second round pick so a chance to get some high end talent and skills.  Time to refresh.

Hawthorn retired Michael Tuck as a premiership skipper despite his willingness to play on.  Goodwin's approach with Nathan Jones at years end will tell us something . He's paid to make the tough list decisions.

On 5/26/2019 at 6:53 PM, DV8 said:

 

Ins from :  Hibberd,  Salem,  Neal-Bullen,  Weideman, Lewis.

 

Too soon IMO :

Lever,

Hannan

May

Kolodjashnij

Kennedy-Harris

 

I think these guys need more game time in their bodies,  before selection in our AFL jumper.

 

#   I don't think Preuss suits Darwin at Night...

Good call.  Darwin at night is similar to wet weather footy.

13 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

His dad didn't look too happy...very slow and low key in congratulating his son.  Maybe they were hoping he would slip thru to Sydney.

His mother seemed pleased though an that's what counts.

11 minutes ago, sisso said:

Where’s the Preuss?!

No rain which i assumed the thinking no preuss due to wet weather. Otherwise wjy name him as emergency 

9 hours ago, layzie said:

Petracca is pretty much the epitome of everything wrong with a set shot routine right now. Confidence and mental state is low to begin with and then he comes in with the slow run up action and high ball drop. Recipe for disaster.

it would be great if he could start again but when does this ever happen now? Who puts in entire off seasons ala Matthew Lloyd trying to get their routine bulletproof anymore? Just doesn’t happen. 

Agreed Layzie.  We can all see this from the grandstand but nothing seems to change with Trac. I am a big fan and he's definitely got the  footy smarts but delivers only 50% of kicks to position which undoes the good inside work he does and the feeding out of the ball.

This will prevent him becoming more than  B grader in his career and will be an indictment on the coaching staff if nothing improves.

That's their job isn't it???

On 5/20/2019 at 11:20 AM, Engorged Onion said:

I reckon you're pulling the trigger early @Deehumanizing on May. However I am sure you've made your mind up and the bloke has only played 1 game.  I personally think he will compliment the back 6 really well due to his skills sets... and I think with the pace of the game - Goodwin and the FD are wanting the zone, rather than the man on man - but OMAC ((as @binman) has stoutly defended) and May will be more of the one on one player that OMAC - anchor's if you will - whilst the others get to rebound.

Good post. We won on that trade. May will be fine and I really feel for Hogan now stuck under Ross Lyon at Freo. OMac will improve  if given the chance with Lever alongside as he showed in 2018 early on.

18 hours ago, billyblanks29 said:

Play Pruess forward FFS, if only to give Tmac the 2nd best defender and a chance to kick 2+ goals. T Mac cannot handle being the main option up forward.

Great post but you forgot to mention that Preuss can also kick straight unlike others in the forward line

10 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

What a strange and sad season. 

Like a lot of people here, I was deeply impressed by the team last night. In every area except one, of course. A horrible case of the yips in front of the goals, which has affected a swathe of otherwise reliable (tmac, Garlett) players. The dwindling standard of goal-kicking in the AFL has been well documented of late. It’s a deep shame to see the Demons as the poster boys for it, especially after being the highest scoring team in the league last year. I don’t think it’s due to a lack of skills In that area (the list has changed since last year but not THAT much), I think it’s fear of failure. And in many ways that is a much more difficult issue to tackle. We all know that mental weakness has been an issue at the club for years now, and we all see the lack of confidence, the skittishness, the nerves and the dearth of belief on display at disappointingly regular intervals. And we feel these things as fans and supporters too. It’s a shared epidemic. 

The Melbourne Demons shouldn’t invest in one or two sports psychologists. They need to invest in a comprehensive psychological  program. 

Combined with the returns of Lever, Hannan, vanDenberg, Jetta, Melksham, Hibberd and the debut of a fit Steven May, I’m quite sure by the end of this season we’ll be defeating whoever the eventual grand finalists are, and we’ll hit 2020 with all clubs wary of us. 

We’ll also win the flag and Trump will get arrested. It’s going to be a great year folks.

This one’s just a grind though. But hey, at least we can enjoy watching the club in a calmer, analytical way. Once you remove that rubbish called “hope” you can actually relax. 

 

Other upsides include long termers Hore Baker and Lockhart who all seem to be able to hit a target. Unlike some senior fill ins 

4 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

Why Pruess is not playing is beyond me... i cant see any decent reason to suggest he would not be a huge asset up forward the way we bring the ball in tonight and as an assist to Maxy rucking up forward.

The more i watch the more it needs to be Pruess for Smith.  I'm not saying Smith won't play some sort of role later in the match and might even kick the winner or be involved in the winning play but Pruess offers the marking/rucking ability as well as a very difficult / unusual match up that would worry the Coaster's back 6 and set the cat amongst the pigeons.  Jeffy would be happier too IMO and grow another leg with Andre throwing his weight around.

Well said. Eagles pulled a smart move bringing on hickey late. Could be shafes of the prelim they ate trying ?

4 minutes ago, Chook said:

Well it was a nice 6-7 minutes of footy while it lasted… Too bad we forgot to score goals.

Petracca. 2 possessions for 2 clangers.

1 hour ago, Demon Disciple said:

Farcical really. Call me a grinch, but that level of joy inside the coaches box and on the field is nauseating. No way did we deserve to win that.

Hope this doesn’t keep the scrutiny off our backs.

66 to 42 Inside 50's will guarantee that won't happen - I hope.

That stat  alone is an indictment on someone or something.

11 hours ago, rjay said:

No, but it should mean that he hasn't earned the right to make the call.

The club learnt their lesson with Jack in 2017, start of 2018.  The club held jack back to start 2018 because of his approach to rehab in 2017 over the planta fascia issue.   This was also depsite pressure from Todd to allow him to play.

I trust the club on jack after last year.

This is not a comment on jack- he's fantastic, just needs protection against himself sometimes.

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Thoughts?

I hadn't watched the show about 3 years now. The best period for me was when it was Brayshaw, Lyon and Sam. Good quality banter but Brayshaw and Lyon had the ability bring it down to a serious note at times.

I must admit when i saw this years line up, i thought it was a bizzare set up..

Final nail was the Front Bar.  That show is perfectly cast and fills the nonsensical void so popular with footy followers, and  hell, even my non-football wife loves that show.

The FS was mandatory viewing under the Eddie/Trevor Marmalade configuration and drifted after that time of the late 90's/ early 2000's.

On 5/5/2019 at 9:33 AM, FlashInThePan said:

Fritsch didn't have his best game but that is the first time he has been below par. He always looks a level above those around him in terms of skill. As for Lewis, Goody has made his feelings on the subject very clear: His value as an organiser is worth the occasional clanger. Until May, Lever and Jetta come back I can't see him being dropped.

Dropping Fritsch from a team with limited skills would be an error at this stage.

3 hours ago, tiers said:

Correct. Ball drop is the key. Both in the starting point and in control onto the foot. The guiding hand should control the position and posture of the ball before it comes into contact with the foot. Note that it is "guide" not "drop" and should be gentle.

Tracca is of the school that believes that if he slams the ball onto the foot it will go further. He needs some one-on-one practice guiding the ball onto the foot to produce perfect drop punts starting with short kicks and building up. Develops muscle memory.

Not hard to fix but takes time.

Its a shame because he has a serious football brain and doesn't ever lack endeavour.

BUT... in the Hawks 1st semi last year his excellent work in short kicking was undone by inability to hit a long target into attack. Trying to kick the cover off as you allude to.

This issue has potential to limit his career and/or prevent reaching potential  (as is now occurring)

12 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

2 gettable goals given up now... Jeffy being Mr Selfish and Lockhart could have steadied

Jeffys last game based on that quarters decision making.

26 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Mike was the absolute professional, he called the game as he saw it. Nothing more. He understood excitement and the suspense of a close finish

Thanks for introducing me to the great game Mike, and (The Penthouse Club) on Saturday Nights!!

"Butch. I tipped this..."  and 

" This is michael williamson bidding you welcome ...."

Great loss.

9 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Wasn’t Gary Pert CEO of Collingwood when they won their last Premiership? Or let’s forgot that because it doesn’t fit the narrative? The situation we’re in doesn’t come down to one persons fault, there’s plenty of factors that have got us to where we currently are.

At the AGM Pert clearly outlined his key objective a growing the club and harnessing the latent support so evident in the finals last year.

Current membership seems to be, I think,  about 1500 short of 50,000.

So far so good despite the club's performance on field in my view.

His test comes over next 3 years to lock the increasing membership growth in as a new floor/paradigm.

Tim Smith doesn't appear on the MFC website player listing.

Does that mean he doesn't really exist, or maybe in a parallel universe he does exist.?????