binman

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!

Right. Using that logic we would have about 3 players available.

This. He has clearly been playing injured this year. Again. And coming of an interrupted preseason nowhere near his peak fitness. Again. He is the perfect metaphor for the team as a whole. He deserves to have an injury free preseason and the opportunity to come into round 1 2020 cherry ripe.

I have loved frost's game this year. Great example of the folly of writing players off. I still think he has got some improvement in him too. One area he has to improve is his turnovers. They undo so much of his good work. He has improved in this area though so further improvement is possible. Two points on this. One is that I think they need frost to eschew short kicks as much as possible. Give him the direction to, when he can, run and carry and kick as long as possible down the line. Similar to the role Hibberd has played in the past but is struggling to do now. Makes it predictable to his teammates and he is a thumping kick and so would get the ball close to the wing or our half forward line most times. If it does turnover we have time to set up our defence. But I suspect this approach would reduce turnovers, in part because he would be more often kicking to a contest (rather trying to pick out a dees player and kicking it straight to an opposition player), some errant kicks would be spiked out of bounds and like many players with poor technique he kicks better when kicking through the ball. The second point is that even if he improves he will always be a risk of turning the ball over. So it is critical that other back six players minimise their turnovers. Hore, fritter when back (surprisingly given he has good technique), lever and Hibberd all turn the ball over too much. Hopefully fritter plays forward next year and is replaced by jetts (who is very reliable) but the other three really need to work on their kicking. Im confident lever and horr will improve as they are both young and hard workers. I'm less confident about Hibberd.

I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure he was pre draft. In the Melbourne zone.

I preferred your original avatar. But onl6 realise that now.

A senior AFL coach a control freak? Well I never....

A commentator? Yes in Sao far as calls games. Poorly in my opinion. On on the couch he is supposed to be an analyst. He does that poorly too. In my opinion. On his radio show, like the ox, he is an entertainer. But doesn't entertain me (whereas the ox does). Loved him as a player. Don't really care what he says about the dees in the media, in part because I just don't rate him in those roles. As an aside Lyon was the year above me at school. Was of course a gun footballer. Like a lot (but not all) top jocks strutted around like he owned the joint.

What? Any number of posters have been calling for fritter to play forward

Yep, agree. I was super impressed. Strong. Plays smart. Good leadership. And surpringly quick for his size, which makes him super versatile. Can play on smalls, bigs and as an intercepter.