binman

I wondered if that was us, but confused by the header which noted big melbourne club close to signing him.

In normal circumstances I'd agree Ron. But as Lord next notes he is a poor kick and we have too many of them. And as wwsw notes he is onw of fww players with tradw currency. The other issue is his commitment to fitness. Was dropped early last season because he wasn't working hard enough. And I wouldn't be surprised if he is one of the players who didn't come back in great shape. His lack of two way running suggests he is not fit enough.

No don't rusty. Trying to explain the NS curse only makes it worse. It is enough to say it is real.

Easy to read too much into comments quoted from on air interviews but this line caught my eye: “The boys who are around next year and come back to pre-season, I’ve got no doubt their attitude … compared to last pre-season, will be completely different,” Lewis said. Could be serious cull about to happen

If Lord Nev's rumour that there has been some divisions this year between younger and more senior players is accurate one wonders if this issue is at the heart of those divisions.

I heard this live. This comment came right at rhe end as they were wrapping up and he wasn't asked to elaborate or expand on it, whicj was [censored] poor (but symptomatc of the rubbish mfooty media he is going to fall into). Certainly caught my attention and if true in part explains their eviden5 lack of fitness. When you add our boom recruit coming to the club miles off the pace fitness wise the picture doesnt look great. I get the leasdership criticism but really each player should drive their own standards. And besides I can't imagine viney or Jones not coming back cherry ripe.

Really od? Terrific player and our best defender by a mile. I have been super impressed.

I put a lot of stock in the fortitude to keep going 100% and performing at a high level when getting thumped, particularly at the [censored] end of such a dismal season. The players you mention are right up there for me as the most respected dees to play the game. I was really impressed by Lever's game on Friday. He never stopped trying, was positive, played super and worked hard right to the final siren. Respect. Has gone way up in my estimation. About the the only positive to come out of the game to be honest (maybe Fritters continued good form the only other one?)

And as i posted on another thread fatigue exposes poor technique and we have a surfeit of players with poor technique

Spot on. Fatigue exposes poor technique in all sports as does pressure and lack of confidence

No better illustration of the impact of an interrupted preseason and the resulting inability to get close to the necessary fitness level. For the same reason I'll bet we are at the bottom of the tables for score against in the last quarter and second half

Are you kidding? You believe him. Cherry ripe? Anyone with eyes could see he was hamletef in his movements, pretty much right up to the bye, but particularly early when he could barely bend over, couldn't jump or kick over 40 metres. No coincedence his short form reversal coincided with his evident improved freedom of movement post bye.

Playing for a leaders track, which often seems to be the cause early spring at Caulfield. Race one gives me some confidence I've pulled the right rein

Best bet Caulfield race 2 no 1 torjoy (apologies for late post)

What are you talking about? If we play a different style next season of course it will be down to Goody. It is is his call as senior coach. And just in case you haven't noticed we HAVE BEEN playing a different style since the bye. Quite radically different in fact. And that is also down to Goody.

The difference between those two critiques was that Lyon was all hurt feelings and demonland henny penny emotional and Carey (or his ghost writer) actually made some effort to back his comments up with some logical arguments.

You might want to do some research before you sledge STMJ. Omac is out injured (ankle) By the by i'm not sure what bet you were referring to. I posted prior to the game that i thought he would be dropped last week for May.

Sorry sorry, I don't follow. Even in isolation am I not right to presume that your comment Goodwin is not a premiership coach is a critique of his ability? If not, why bother with the qualifier. It would have been more logical and persuasive to say he is a 'relatively inexperienced AFL coach'.

Only five of the 18 current coaches have had 'Premiership success'. Not even a third. The other 13 must be duds.

I've picked the dees to win but thinking of changing the tip as I hate when there are so many changes.

We'll win this week. And lose next week. Take it to the bank.

I could see this happening, with our without them getting a priority pick. I actually think they should get a priority pick. But i'd give them two. End of firts round and another beginning of second round. gives them the option of drafting in two pretty good players or using the picks to trade in one or two experienced players. In that scenario they might offer a want away king to us for pick 2. I think a straight swap probably gets that done but as you say Red we could include a mid 20 year old players like ANB and Corey Wagner and get their other first round pick back.

With that well reasoned perspective you could be captain of the henny penny collective - whose contributions to this thread i eagerly await. You would then be Captain spalding (most oldies on this site who were out and about in Melbourne pubs in the 80s and 90s will get this reference) (ps i know you were joking)

Injuries and a woeful preseason are of course not the sole reason for what has happened to us this year. The debate in Demonland is how big a factor these twin issues (and it is important hey they are considered together) are. In my opinion (but surely i don't need to keep repeating that, please take as a given) these twin issues are the core reason for our decline. It goes without saying there are other issues (and they are covered on any number of treads on Demonland) but i maintain that many of them are interrelated the preseason/injury curse, for example our issues with connection and turnovers are a symptom of the aforementioned twin issues rather than a stand alone cause. And i also maintain that the twin issues of injuries and the woeful preseason makes it very hard to accurately assess the true impact of some of the issues poster have stated as being critical (eg our game plan, goody's ability to coach). But as Webber has pointed out there is no grey areas with the impact of poor preseasons and injuries. If we have a terrific preseason and have a close to a full list cherry ripe for round 1 next season and then don't suffer too badly with injuries we will make finals. But the other issues still have to be resolved for us to be a meaningful player in those finals and a lot has to go right for us to push for a top 4 position

My son knows more about two American high school kids who are going to play in the NBL this year rather than play college ball than any of the young players who play for the team he nominally follows (the dees). Hell so do i!