binman

Expensive switch

Great interview Andy. Pretty cool dude. He said fellas a few time - was he referring to you AND your posting name (aka Demonland)

I agree. Healy is great mates with Jonesy by all accounts (they surf together), so perhaps that is a factor.

Thats coz before the game each dees player did 100 200s as a warm up on the athletic track next door (jokes)

Agree. The other positive is fans could see firsthand the more aggressive ball movement, in particular heaps more kicks to the corridor (and to the top of the goal square) that had been flagged by the club. Creates excitement and energy ahead of the season - as does things like Kozzie playing in the middle and Mcvees' selection. And we all got to see how impactful Hunter, and to a lesser extent Grundy, will be. On Hunter i'm struggling to think of trade that so seamlessly fits into our system and will improve us so much from the get-go. I mean May was obviously a good in, as was Lever, but the defensive system was still in the process of being developed (and built around them) And with Langdon, who is one of the all-time great recruits, how well he fit into our system and much he would improve us only became clear as his first season progressed.

pinching that

Does he agree top of the Ponsford is the best spot to watch footy at the g?

I was thinking about that in terms of our approach to last season. I wonder if last season the plan was to not be too intense in the preseason and early part of the season for fear of burning out later in the season after the emotion of the flag (and all the related palaver) and the shorter preseason (even shorter than normal for flag contender given th season went into October), The approach of the opposition in the first half season would have fed into that given so many teams elected to basically try and deny us the ball and not attack. We were happy to let them do that and focus on our hard-nosed defense - but that led to a lot of low energy games. And as some posters, such rpfc noted, our forward half pressure was way down in the first half of the season - which was perhaps partly a function of consciously dialing things back a bit to avoid burn out and get through a long season. I'm glad we start the season with some serious opponents because we will have to play with intensity to win. I suspect in the games against less strong opposition we will be more likely to be proactive and not let them just chip it around their back half (though I'm sure plenty of such teams will still rely on flooding our forward line, which makes for stodgy footy). I really like the approached they are taking, but as you say it's long season and i hope they don't allow the intensity pendulum to swing too hard the other way.

Demonland IS social media. Well, it is for me. My only social media. i don't have accounts for Twitter, FB, Insta, Tik Tok etc etc. I have a FB account, but only because i created one when i first heard about it, way back. But have never used it.

Given that, it makes the fact we won the stoppage clearances by 6 even more impressive. Winning around the ground stoppages are key for us because they allow us to control territory, which of course so do center clearances. However, unlike at centre bounces, we often have one less player at stoppages because some other teams (eg blues and swans - but not the tigers) bring an extra to the stoppages. When we are confident of winning stoppage clearances, we can afford to risk having players like Hunter take up up aggressive positions, for example forward of the contest, which creates good scoring opportunities when we win the clearance. And when we don't win the clearance, our spare is back, and we often win back the ball. As we saw against the tigers, this scenario can also become an offensive threat when we transition forward - particularly if we are as aggressive and sharp with our kicking as we were against the tigers (i thought i was in alternate reality when the stat came up late in the first q that our DE was 80%. Theirs was actually pretty good too - 72%) The stat i'd really like to see from this game is scores from clearances because it gives a better sense of the effectiveness of clearances than the raw clearance number. The other key clearance related stat is post clearance contested ball wins. Hardwick has said it is the most important stat for them, and Goody has also noted its importance to our game plan. I suspect we smashed them on that stat in this game.

They seemed to have put work into how they deliver to the talls, particularly maxy. There were a few kicks that were put in front and relatively flat, but not a pass as such. Like a hybrid kick to a pack and pass. Nibbler, who was simply outstanding, did a few. If the umpires do indeed start paying frees for chopping arms and pushes, as intimated by healy, that is going to be a big advantage to us given our forward set up.

Implying he had a sub par 2022? In my opinion, he had a a better 2022 than 2021. At given the coaches award the votes for the bluey, it appear they agree.

All excellent points dazzler - agree with all. You might have noted it elsewhere, but i'm surprised you didn't highlight the how direct we were and how many kicks there were to the corridor (and to to top of the goal square too) I don't mean that as knock in any way, only that being more aggressive was something you were hoping to see this season IIRC. Adding quality kicks like Hunter and Mcvee, and Bowey in top form, makes the corridor kick a much better percentage play. And against saints it was mainly the better kicks taking it on. But in this game it seemed to me more players were taking that kick on. With some mixed results it must be said - there were some clangers which resulted in turnovers in the centre square, eg Gus, but the tigers didn't make us pay It's interesting that you say we looked levels above the tigers - i thought the same in both practice matches, particularly in terms of fitness and condition. Neither tram could go with us late in quarters. By god they look incredibly fit.

Nice tune up. Some sublime kicking. I was surprised how strong our lineup was - Laurie and Woe were probably the only players that have little chance of playing round one. Fox would be happy as the would want at least one round of pre season games to tune up themselves - and have some decent footy as content. They banged on about the first game being a sim, and had interns as commentators and very basic camera set ups. But the second round, for all games looked a full dress rehearsal for fox, with more cameras, stats and their normal roster of callers. They also referred to it as a practice match not a sim

Spot on. Ir seems to me that his importance to the team is underated by some fans and media people.

Played best available. Goody's game plan involves two rucks. Jackson was the only alternative. And the chance to won a flag trumps any concerns about his trade value collapsing in the event of a injury @In Harmes Way

Love this line “While he will miss this weekend’s practice match against Richmond, we don’t anticipate him to be further impacted ahead of the season.”

Agree. And he has had his first uninterrupted preseason ever i think (he got though most, but i don't think all of the sessions last year). So looks in ripping shape. His kicking improved heaps last year - but looked to have gone to another level against the saints, with more penetration and depth, which is probably a function of having an uninterrupted preseason. It makes him much more dangerous and impactful. At least he has completed the big Jan-Feb training block and so has his fitness base down.

Fair points. But he ain't AA elite. Look at the seven grand final winners since 2016. Every premier, with the exception of West Coast, had AA big bodied mids. The dogs had bont. The tigers had dusty in his pomp. And cotchin for good measure. The Eagles didn't have an AA big mid, but Shuey, who won the Norm Smith, made the squad twice. And Sheed - also six foot plus, was a pretty handy back up. We had tracc and clarry. And the cats had Selwood and Dangerfield. So recent history suggests to win a flag team need at least one, preferably two elite big mids (ie heavy, strong and at least six foot). Brodie might get there - though personally I don't think so. But he's not there yet.

That augurs well for their future, assuming of course one of those players becomes an elite mid. But it won't help them much this season. But perhaps they are prepared to plautue for a year - which would not be unreasonable given their investment in Jackson and the fact they have a young list.

I agree. When I say I think they might struggle, I didn't mean to say they would be hopeless. I would be very surprised if they don't make the 8 - they are well coached, were super fit last year and have quality players. What I meant to say is they will struggle to make top 4 and I don't think they're a premiership contender. And not just because they lack a cripps or tracc. Their forward line also lacks punch. By the by, I predicted preseason last year that freo would be the bolter. I thought they would finish top 4. So I've got no bias against them as such. I just think they didn't address their biggest needs in the trade period. And i agree with Lampers analysis of their trade period - a net loss. Most concerning for them, given their forward line was already a worry, is they didn't replace lobb with an equivalent player. Lobb is inconsitent, but when on he kicks goals. But even when not kicking goals, like tmac is for us, he was super important structurally for freo. Took the best key defender, ran up and down the wing to provide a marking option and if he couldn't mark brought the ball to ground - which meant their small forwards (which is a strength of theirs) could go to work. Jackson will provide some of that, but as dees fans know he is not a natural forward. I have little doubt he will improve his forward craft. But he won't be at lobb's level this season.

Lack an ELITE big bodied midfielder. We have two.

That's my take too. I think laurie's biggest challenge at the dees is locking down a position. He has too many players ahead of him to crack a senior game as an inside mid. Dunstan can't even get a game as an inside mid. Half back is a bit better, but mcvee has jumped ahead of him it would appear, and of course bowey and Salem are both locks. Small forward? Not sure he is quick enough. In our game plan, there are a number of roles that must be really hard to thrive in. I'm thinking of the half forward roles spargs and nibbler play. And, for want of a better word, the utility role that JJ, sparrow and harmes play (ie bit of time in the middle, push forward, push back, some time at half forward to. At this stage, and really it is still relatively early days for him, I can only see Laurie getting a game playing either the half forward role or the utility role. And for either role he will need a seriously good tank. There's still time - leys see how he goes this year. But he might end up having to go to another club to get regular senior games.

Doing something right doesn't equate to top 4 level - which is surely their goal this year (and was my point ie to get go that level they need an ELITE big bodied mid). I suspect if you looked at last year's ladder at the end of the home snd away, the order would look pretyy simiar as that for contested and clearances (the blues might be an oulier). It they want to be a serious flag contender, sixth in contested ball and clearances ain't gonna cut it. They need to be top 2 or 3 in those stats.

Which is one reason I think they might struggle. Like last season, the best midfields will monster theirs. They need a big bodied mid somewhere near as good Fyfe in his Brownlow year. Putting so many eggs in the Jackson basket meant having to settle for a player at O'Meara's level to try and plug the gap.