monoccular

Has anyone ever seen so many turnovers?  Kicks DIRECT to opposition players.  
Eyesight? Jumper clash? (didn’t happen way back when covered in mud). 
Execution WILL kill us today and for the season.   

33 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

The clubs have a big say in VFL structure. I think it's time the AFL came clean on what if any vision they have for the competition. The reality is that as a competition it's dying. That in itself may be no problem. Several years ago I posted that it was not necessarily in the interests of the competition to increase crowd numbers as that would require new toilets, staffing etc.

The byes have also dramatically impacted any form of competitive integrity

And prepare yourselves for AFL byes, yes more of them, courtesy of some [censored] named Gil for introducing a 19th team and not replicating a team that already has Tasmanian connections.  
The farcical scheduling will become even more inequitable.  

46 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

I think Woey will play high half back and replace Salem. Turner forward and Laurie sub. 

No fault on Woey's part but he was NOT anywhere near an adequate replacement for the injured Salem.

Maybe Turner will play a role on HBF??

5 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Seems it will either be Laurie as sub for fresh midfield legs, Disco forward with the ability to swing if we need a change.

Or, Tracc forward (post centre bounce) with Laurie forward/mid and Disco sub. 

Weather might play a role.

Super warm the last 2 days so might be rain coming although forecast suggests not.

It’s far from an ideal prep for Disco, one Casey game after a decent lay off. But before you knock it I’d ask, did you watch the VFL game?

Thanks kev for your usual insightful analysis 

From those who trained who would be HBF for Salem?

I am not sure I like the suggestions from some of moving Duke or Langdon there - have they been there before?  Woey though no fault of his own was not up to scratch as his in game replacement.  Maybe Disco?

1 hour ago, daisycutter said:

but nrl is 90% contact. same with thugby ... no contact, no nrl, no thugby

nrl has banned the shoulder charge but still get multiple concussion checks per game

a bit off topic but what about striking the ball with your head in soccer. thousands of hits over some players careers

I may be wrong but I seem to have heard somewhere that heading the ball is not allowed in some junior soccer competitions - not sure how young though

26 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Maybe the Carlton guy could also be cited for overreacting ...  well after impact

3 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

 

In December they announced the pregnancy but I thought the due date was in June. Maybe she was further along than we thought. 🤷‍♀️ 

... or premature, which could explain any extended absence ?

On 21/04/2024 at 06:49, IRW said:

The Melbourne Football Club .

Conflating the Team with its supporters is like sixteen year old girls dressing up as Taylor Swift 

 

 

On 21/04/2024 at 12:09, leave it to deever said:

Are you a lawyer?

or maybe a 15 yo girl waiting to be 16 Taytay lookalike?

2 minutes ago, Clintosaurus said:

I can't believe he got a week. Was going to mark then the ball changed trajectory, so he braced for contact. If he marked it the conversation would not be being had.

Kozzie got two (or was it three) round 1 2023 for a zero impact impact.

On 15/04/2024 at 17:45, The heart beats true said:

North should move to play at Geelong. With the population growth happening to the West of Melbourne, Geelong, and Surf Coast it makes a lot of sense, and also…

It would really annoy Geelong, and that’s always a good thing.

and throw in the WESTERN Bulldogs too 🙂

4 hours ago, COOLX said:

Casey does not need project ruckmen what they need are tall strong mids that will be groomed to play seniors. Plenty of young kids that were not selected in the kiddie draft may get a second chance. It would be good to get a diamond in the rough. Schache ,Jefferson and Tomlinson could share the ruck work. Putting kilometers into the legs of Jefferson is not a bad idea. Going back to the seniors back up ruckman years ago Pedersen filled in for Gawn , he was only 193 cm high. 

I cannot understand why the Vfl has more than one bye per week,why do the affiliated AFL clubs put up with it. Perhaps it is a cost factor or ...... I  used to like watching the Vfl  but constant weekly idiotic bye is a put off. Just f.ck the comp off if the AFL is not serious.

It is just impossible to develop up and coming players properly when there is no continuity. Casey have had two byes in 3 weeks.  A pathetic excuse for a development competition.  

3 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

So the GWS player kicks it to Greene. If there was ever anything as football rights, that was Greenes and Durdin had no right.

So the fact that Durdin goes for it and puts himself at risk, Greene is supposed to pull out? Not protect himself?

It’s like driving into a round about intersection and some scumbag speeds up from the left intersecting lane and enters the round about just as you do and you end up hitting that vehicle.  Technically and by the rule of law you are at fault, but everyone knows it’s BS.

Of course just lIke Brayshaw failing in his duty to avoid #4💩

2 hours ago, Brownie said:

That's the latest milk I reckon.

Take the mark and if the opponent grabs your arms, just fumble it.

Seeing more of it now

I recall that we were the beneficiaries of one last week or the week before (Petty). 

2 hours ago, 640MD said:

How come when melb play interstate the umpiring favour the home sides but in each case this weekend it’s the away side getting the deal.  Is it bias against the Demons.   I think so !

MFCSS

2 hours ago, GCDee said:

Harley Reid ripping the dockers to shreds my word… 

Wish we could have traded up to land him. 

And missed out on Duke and Kolt?  I guess time will tell. 

2 hours ago, Left Foot Snap said:

We will see last week as an anomaly in Brisbane's form. They can't bring that intensity every week. They got up after media scrutiny. They are back to being fractured as a team and will struggle, occasionally putting everything together to pump a side. Like Port over the last few years.

Port and Bears - never put your house on them. 

2 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

I’m not taking anything out of this Geelong win. The Lions are terrible in the wet. Result could be completely different if it was dry.

🤔

10 hours ago, Redleg said:

The AFL refers to us having one free spot because of Gus' retirement, but what of the Smith spot?

He is not allowed to play, but hasn't as yet had a decision in his case.

Surely he goes onto the LTI and a spot opens up, as he is very unlikely to play again this year.

Sadly I believe given the reasons for him not playing he cannot be out on a LTI list. 
It is  however taking a hellova long time. What has happened to “justice delayed, justice denied”?

1 hour ago, Chook said:

 

This is a real opportunity to fool the public into believing that the MRO and tribunal are NOT corrupt outcome driven team biased  (dis)organizations. 
Will they baulk?  
Kozzie would get 4-6 for that without a doubt. Its not as if Toby gets the “ never been suspended despite multiple fines” Cameron discount, though he will probably get the GW$ needs a flag discount 

5 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

Unless there's a freak occurance in the West Coast v Fremantle game, we're looking at a round 6 ladder with five teams on one win or fewer. Played out over a season that would mean just three or four wins each by the end.

I've been looking over past ladders to find an example of such a long 'tail' to the ladder. For a moment I thought 2020 (two teams with 3 wins, three teams with 5 wins) but of course that was Covid-restricted and there were only 17 games.

Other than that, the weakest tails I've found are;

2018, with Carlton on two wins and three other clubs with 5 or 4.

2012 have a five-team tail, with the Giants and Suns doing their early-career tanking strategy, Melbourne close to their worst, and Port & the Dogs only managing 5 wins. Incredibly, one up from that pile of failure, 13th place on the ladder had ten wins, and it took 14 wins just to make the finals.

This could be a very skewed season where clocking through the 'regulation' wins becomes very important for sorting the finals order when 16 wins might not even be top 4 finish, and an alarming share of the games are the proverbial '8-point' games.

As it stands, 4-2 is barely enough to keep us in the 8, but considering the level of disruption and missing/underdone players going into the season, we've done well to be in that leading pack.

We should thank Richmond for their effort against Sydney and politely but firmly ensure they don't do it against us next round!

But we really need to further dilute the talent pool with another team (which will also further compromise the competition with another bye) 

4 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Would you want your product, associated with the ire of supporters around the country whom you are supposed to be courting? But in the end I guess the marketing take would be - don't care about the 95% of people you [censored] off, care about the 5% you convert. Are there any marketing guru's on here?

I think the 95% probably don’t give the AFL as much as the 5% - money $$$$$

10 hours ago, Moonshadow said:

Another result influenced by umpires inability to make an obvious call

Really is amateur hour (or year) at AFL HQ

Not hour, year : decade, century or millennium 

10 hours ago, Mel Bourne said:

I’m not a big “conspiracy” guy, but it is so insanely obvious that goal umpires have been told to review as many scores as possible, because Crypto Bet have told the AFL they’ll give them money every time it happens. 

Strange thing advertising.    Crypto want their name and logos on the screen as often as they can yet repeatedly show that they have a “rather ordinary” product.  

16 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

It's not coincidental that both Melbourne and St Kilda looked exhausted from the first quarter of their third match after consecutive 6 and 5 day gaps.

That's accumulative fatigue playing out right there.

Not heart, not effort, not game plan, not coaching, not personnel.

Touché

10 hours ago, binman said:

Not taking a pot shot at you BBP, but your post highlights a real bug bear of mine. 

As even occasional dl posters would know, I'm of the view that the impact of fatigue (what ever its causes may be) on performance is routinely ignored.

And if it is ignored, any subsequent assessment or analysis is fundamentally flawed.

My bug bear is this perspective (not mine specifically, but in the general sense) is often misrepresented.

The suggestion or implication being that fatigue is used as an excuse and that other factors (eg coaching, tactics, flaws in method, strength of opponent etc etc) are ignored or given short shrift.

A related bug bear is the conflation of reasons for poor performance with excuses for poor performance. Saying fatigue was a factor in our loss to the lions is not making an excuse, it is suggesting a possible causal factor.

So, for example, there are a number of posters, me included, who have suggested fatgue was a factor in our performance against the lions.

But I have not read a single post that solely or mostly blamed our recent schedule for our loss to Brisbane. 

Personally I'm of the view it was a significant factor, but of course far from the only factor.

 I'm probably an outlier, but I also think it was the most significant factor - because pretty much any other factor is exacerbated by fatigue.

For example, in the simplest terms we lost because the lions were much harder at it than us, as evidenced by being smashed for cps, pressure and tackles. No argument there.

But logically, tackling, applying elite pressure and winning contested possessions is a real challeng if across the board players are fatgued.

On the saints performance I 100% think fatigue was a significant factor in, and one of the reasons for, their performance.

I would argue if someone doesn’t, then, to be completely frank, they do not understand AFL football circa 2024.

But is fatigue an excuse for their performance? No.

And in fact, if you accept fatigue was a factor in both ours and the saints performance, there is another data point to consider.

Playing a team at their level, the saints were completely and utterly woeful. Beaten in every quarter, never in the game, they were ultimately smashed by 10 goals and despite being one of the most defensive teams in the AFL conceded a crazy 124 points. Even factoring in the fatigue it was a shocking performance.

Coming of our 5 day break, we were able to beat crows on their home deck despite completely hitting the wall in the last quarter. Impressive.

We then play the lions, and whilst we had a seven day break, we were clearly feeling the impact of 4 games in 19 days and were obviously fatigued.

Like the saints, we also played a team at our level, one that was up and about and as evidenced by their numbers, not fatigued.

Despite that we kept one of the best offences to 82 points and only lost by 22 points.

Sure, we played poorly, but analysed through that lens, suddenly the performance does not look so bad.

Thanks binman - great analysis as expected. 

3 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Hell of a celebration by Jones.

Which jones was that.  There are two out there but only one Williams. 

3 hours ago, Winners at last said:

Commentator just called Bailey Williams. 

There's only one player on the ground with that surname.

Thankfully Bailey Smith isn't playing.

18 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Andrew Dillon -

“There were, from the Tribunal chair, there were a number of compelling circumstances and they were first of all that he pled guilty, second of all the number of games he's played without suspension, thirdly that the player didn't suffer an injury and the fourth one was that it was at the lower end of careless.”

We are now grading gradings. Comedy gold.

So, if you haven’t been suspended, even if fined multiple times for striking, you can never be suspended??  Dill is just as bad as Gill, and Christian and Gleason for that matter. 

11 hours ago, Wodjathefirst said:

Can’t wait until the day when the AFL has to try and defend itself (and it’s joke of a tribunal decision making processes) against aggrieved former / current players in a real court of law. It’s just a matter of time.

My grapevine says that it is already well in process. 

7 hours ago, old dee said:

You may well be right Binman, it is just my personal opinion. I just don't see the potential that the majority see. I see a player who will be serviceable but not a very good KPF. I will be very happy to be wrong in a couple of years time. I do remember the club and supporters being all gung ho about the Weid and we know how that ended. 

old dee - absolutely no, zero, null comparison between JVR and Weed at any stage in their careers.  JVR has been super competitive since day 1

7 hours ago, 58er said:

I am not saying Jacob van Rooyen will kick 78 goals in a season but mark my words there is one area he is in front is his highly competitive nature. And he is missing marks now that he will take in 1or 2 years time.

Jacob will  be as useful a player for us as Charlie is for Carlton during his career. His rucking role is under estimated and will improve his footy no doubt more he gets trusted. And he can go to defence as well for a cameo or lock down. You have not said much good about JVR but his best  oozes a very high upside once he gains confidence and more form. 

58er.   Agree almost totally with your summation though I don’t know where you got the idea of him doing cameos in defence or as a lock down.  I guess he could do it but don't see why he should. 

16 minutes ago, biggestred said:

Yeah, except the tribunal doesn't follow precedents.

Except when it chooses to do so.  Special circumstances, special player, special team.

On 16/04/2024 at 18:02, Cranky Franky said:

All Australian at Under 18. Pick 15.

The 3 picks after him have all played senior football & he is still struggling to have any impact at VFL level so it's hardly surprising supporters are very nervous.

OK to be nervous but bagging him as waste of space, list clogger etc as some do to some players who do not become stars is disrespectful and doesn’t contribute much of use. 

1 hour ago, Left Foot Snap said:

I think that was at his first training day!!

3 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

was he the player who went to take a screamer and managed to break his leg, do his acl, and knock himself unconscious in one fell swoop?

Luke Molan I believe broke his leg very early on, then maybe a dislocated or fractured a shoulder on return, and yes maybe an ACL that finished his career.  Never had a chance. 

3 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

Very selective in your argument there old chum.

You could say the same thing about Luke Molan or Lucas Cook.

Any top 20 pick who after 12 months is struggling in the VFL is a real concern.

I along with many Demonlanders have watched him a dozen or more times & he has shown very little.

The icing on his cake was the last game of 2023 where he failed to record a stat of any kind.

I will again come to the defence of Luke Molan. 
He never had an opportunity to show his wares due to a succession of unrelated serious impact injuries.  How many consecutive  games did he get at Sandringham who as I recall was our VFL affiliate at the time?
Nobody knows, seriously, if he could have been an even half decent player.

3 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Thank you!!! She’s due in August, just in time for finals. In years to come she can tell everyone how she was born in a Dees premiership year ❤️💙

As was I.  Actually 2 GFs in my first few weeks.  Rusted on early. 

10 hours ago, Billy said:

No thanks we need a no di@#head policy at the Dees, definitely don’t want anymore unwanted attention.

Also no more players with poor disposal into the forward 50, Caleb Daniel on the other hand would be nice& half the price 

Is that the same Caleb Daniel whose apalking kick out of defence resulted in Angus’ game changing goal in the 2021 GF?   He shanked quite a few.