binman

Coach discussed earlier in this thread rhe concept, whose name I can't recall, that a group of elite athletes training together can go harder, load harder year to year building on the previous year's base.

They have been loading - as is clearly evident when you watch them. You'd think they were fresh as possible last night though.perhaps they haven't quite got their the program right. Or the fact they have such a young group makes it a challenge (our young players have really struggled this year and last year in this phase). That said, we are way better than freo, who are realistically two years away from being a genuine contender. Longmuire's presser was fascinating. Specifically mentioned the impact of fatigue on their performance in tbe last few weeks, noting other teams experience it, and tbey just have to get better at fighting through it. You don't have to be a rocket, or sports, scientist to understand what he was talking about.

Exactly. Control the narrative. It's communication 101. Everything scripted, repetition of key messages by all club people doing media. In this case ruthless. Which we were. From start to finish. As the club knew we were going to have the legs to do so. Smart stuff by the club.

And extra points for getting an 'analyst' to say any variation on 'see, there's still a place for an old fashion rev up in footy' You watch, king will say it 20 times before the week is out!

Well, that's very true

I'm just a man.

Unfortunately I don't have any contacts at all at the club to be 100% honest. The May intel was one of the very few rimes I have been privy to such info, and was not via the club. Mentioning it probably sounded a bit try hard, clever clogsy, which is a touch embarrassing. I wish I could say I had inside intel about loading, but my thoughts on loading all derive from observation (i mean the eyes dont lie - you can see when players are fatigued), assessment of the evidence and application of the Occam's razor principle.

Yep. Playing 'ruthless' bingo. Goal - how many times can we collectively say ruthless And how often can we make footy media say ruthless?

Agree. Though thst was never his MO. I wonder if he is playing a bit tight worrying about doing enough to keep his spot.

Spot on about both. JJ, in addition to his decision making, has the knack of being where the ball is. Doesn't look the most athletic, but plays tall and is just a natural footballer. Love Sparrow's grunt.

He was good tonight I thought.

I reckon Melksham might get the job.

You probably don't read many of my posts then I guess

Exactly my thought

C'mon nev, I also know you are not naive enough to take the public comments from the club on face value and know that they speak in code. You have said maxy has been carrying an injury for some time. I'll take that on face value. Given that, I assume you scoffed when goody in his presser before the cats game said maxy (and jacko) was '100% fit' and we wouldn't play him otherwise'. It was clear as day, as soon as the game started, that was a complete load of bollocks. I knew that may was carrying a hammy into the gf (didn't post it on dl, because i asked not to). But was not surprised in the least when mutiple people from the club assured fans he was 100% fine. There are a million other examples.

Except that is not what he said. He said: 'There is no investment there in your teammate. It's every man for himself '. And specifically singled out the "leaders' and Max, trac and oliver as examples of this lack of investment. Nev, I simply can't believe you find such an insult ok.

I don't think that is the case. Bu t perhaps you are right because richo just said on sen that Gus will have some minutes in the midfield tonight.

We are making up excuses for poor performance.

What I meant, and should have said is I'm not interested in debating loading and won't respond to rebuttal. Happy of course for people to put any contrary opinion. I just was flagging that i won't respond There is a whole thread on loading to debate the impact of loading. But please, not invested, no care for teammates? [censored] him.

As regulars readers of Demonland know, I believe the biggest factor in our form over the last two months is loading. Not the only factor. But by far the most impactful factor. Regulars reader will also know how frustrating i find the media analysis of our great game. There is a thread asking if people have enjoyed this season. I was reflecting on that question and realized that last season i lapped up every media mention of the dees, whereas as this year i can barely watch anything, such is my frustration with the pathetic level of analysis and how completely wrong it usually is. Demonstone made the reasonable point sometime back that if i get so wound up by David King, then i should just stop watching or listening to him. And i have largely taken that advice. But my issue is how analysis that is just so wrong shapes fans' perception and opinions. Both of these things (loading and rubbish analysis) came crashing together when i watched David King on the 'watchlist' segment on 360 on Wednesday night. I am amazed how few comments there has been on Demonland about the segment, and as far i have seen, not one person pushing back or critising David King. I am still livid. Why? Because David King insulted our players. Insulted our leaders. Insulted our team. Insulted Trac. Insulted Clarry. Insulted Max. Said there was 'no investment there in your teammate. It's every man for himself '. I am ropeable. And on his analysis he is so so wrong. In short his thesis is that teams are 'switching against the demons more than anyone else' in the last 6-8 weeks and that they are able to do so because we are not invested, we are not working hard enough, we are complacent, we have lost our hunger. To make his case he showed a clip from the 2021 round 8 game against the Swans where with our incredible all team defence we completely covered the corridor kick and the switch, forcing the Swans down the line to an aerial contest. He is right in saying that is our method. He is also right in saying that we have not been doing that in the last 8 matches. And to demonstrate that latter point he also showed a clip from the dogs game last weekend where, after a free to the dogs deep in their defence, we had time to set up our grid but didn't and allowed the ball to exit our forward line with relative ease. But he is completely wrong as to why that is the case. If King had chosen any other game we played between round 11 and round 19 instead of that Swans game he literally could have chosen dozens of similar examples of us not covering the switch or failing to get the game looking how we want it to look. Hell, he could have chosen the exact corresponding round 19 game from last year against the same side, where the dogs won because we could not stop them switching or force them down the line. I freely admit that there is fair dose of confirmation bias here, but the three players he highlighted, Trac, Clarry and Sparrow all looked completely exhausted to me. Sparrow was gassed, and bent over sucking in the big ones. Again, i'm not looking for debate, so please don't worry about rebutting me, but we have been fatigued because of loading in EVERY game since round 11 (with the exception of the lions game - which came after the bye and the enforced break). That is why we have been overrun in the second half in EVERY game since round 11 (except the lions game). And that is why we are not stopping teams switch as well as we normally do. Only the Tigers and Freo have an all team defensive system anywhere near as aerobically taxing as ours. Fatigue renders our system sub optimal at best, dysfunctional at worst. And all parts of our method have the defensive system as their foundation. Take that defensive spread away and we are a completely different team. As we all saw between rounds 11 and 19 LAST season. And as we have seen again between rounds 11 and 19 THIS season. And as we will see between rounds 11 and 19 NEXT season (assuming we are top 4 contenders next year). So, King is wrong. Dead wrong. But Joe the average footy fan doesn't know that. Joe the average footy fan laps up the [censored] narrative about the complacent premiers, full of leaders who are not 'invested'. And when we smash Freo tonight, will lap up next weeks equally [censored] narrative about the dees flicking a switch, rediscovering their hunger yada, yada yada. And the pow wow? I have no idea what he was referencing, but he reckons we had a pow wow and that was evidence of our lack of investment (ie because we had to come together to address this issue). I immediately checked Demonland because i had not heard of any such meeting. And there was, and has not been since, anything on here about any 'pow wow'. Perhaps we did have some such meeting. But if not, i am assuming he was referring to our intense training session that got quite a bit of attention. If so, again he is way, way off the mark. As 3183 noted in another thread, we did exactly same thing ahead of our round 20 clash last year, and super intense, match like training sessions were standard for the rest of the season. So, all part of the program, not some line in the sand palaver. I'm not looking for a debate. I understand that many people don't agree with my position on how impactful loading has been on our game. I simply wanted to put this out there before it all gets lost in this next, exciting phase we are about to enjoy. I'm not sure about others, but i for one won't cop our club and our players coping such pathetic, ill informed nonsense. I don't have the technical skills to put the clip on here. Andy will add the clip at a later date, but if someone else has the skills to do that would be great. The date of the show is 27 July and the time stamp is 46.48 to 46.48

The punters, not the bookies

Fixed

And a smart play by Gus. Gus is smart enough to know that his reputation can only be enhanced by showing loyalty, which can only help any post football career. And if he is keen to go into the media, being a one club player, hopefully with a couple of flags in his resume, helps his profile and therefore bargaining power. And in terms of his profile, Melbourne is the place to be.