binman

I agree on both fronts. I'd like to see jack back himself and take on players a bit more and as you say use his pace to advantage. he has shown a bit more preparedness to do so of late but geez i'd love to see him take on a defender, burn him off and have a shot for goal. Perhaps this is a confidence thing (though Jack is a team player) in so far as playing his whole career under constant scrutiny and fear of being lambasted (or as occurred for a period booed) might negate the natural instinct to take risks. Perhaps now that his spot seems assured and he is not being criticised all the time he might play with a bit more freedom. Like PD i'd also like to see a bit more consistency from Jack, not so much week to week as i reckon he has played at a pretty consistent level this season - but within games. Whilst playing permanent forward ends itself to feast and famine (the ball being in the forward line depending as it does on the work of the midfield) he has gone missing at times in matches - a point he has made himself. I'm also waiting to see a four quarter effort where he gets 20 plus touches, kicks multiple goals and is clearly best on ground. I reckon he'll have such a game before season's end. Dare i say it - a break out game. No i dare not.

Oh I almost forgot. Prodee here is your avatar for the next 6 months (link address here)

I make very few threads - in fact in my time of posting I think I've only made two. I was waiting for a Jack Watts thread to pop up to post on it but it hasn't come. So here we are. For those that might have forgotten or are new to Demonland Prodee and i (and Ron Burgundy for that matter) had a bet in the preseason. It was made in November last year and to quote from my post at the time: 'I'll wager he will play more than 10 games and if i lose will take a 2 month sabbatical form Demonland. If he plays more than 10 you change your avatar for two months to a pic of Wattsy of my choosing' ProDee accepted the bet and to his credit said if he lost he would keep his Jack Watts avatar for six months. He also said to Ron that: 'I'll change my avatar to Binman's choice for 6 months from the day he plays his 11th game (won't happen) and you can dictate my signature for the corresponding period.' Well Jack played his 11th (consecutive) game of this season today and had yet another decent game. Why the title of the thread? Well whatever you think of Jack Watts one thing you can't criticise him for is his durability. Debuting in round 11 2009 jack has played 126 games of AFL as of round 11 2016. Leaving aside (asinine) arguments about whether some of these games have been gifted to him the fact remains he has been incredibly durable. Of course luck plays a part and perhaps the churlish might say his lack of competitiveness has helped him avoid injury but he clearly prepares himself well and works bloody hard. He gets very little, if any recognition or credit for this durability. Prodee's rationale for his wager was a totally reasonable one. His argument was that Roos had a put a premium on picking players who were competitive and he felt Watts would not measure up. However he got this wrong. Watts is one of the first picked. Not once has his selection been in any doubt. Not even here on DL where Wattsy's harshest critics lurk in red and blue camouflage. Watts has measured up on the competitiveness stakes. No question. If he hadn't Roos would have dropped him. So big tick there. Prodee correctly predicted he would play permanently up forward. IIRC correctly he said that a pass mark for goals would be 35 -40 (I said 30-35). Again a reasonable suggestion. Well he is on target to surpass 40 goals averaging bang on 2 goals a game this season. So another big tick. It remains to be seen how he will go in the bluey (another Prodee measuring stick – and again not an unreasonable one) but I’m guessing he’d be top 10. So a half a tick there. He is one of our fist picked and one of perhaps only 12 players who are a lock each week. So a tick there. I would like to see him average 20 disposals a game and would love for him to play a real blinder, but he has been more than serviceable and has been a key factor in at least two of our wins. So a big tick there. There was a thread suggesting he was our most important re-signing. Well that’s plain silly. Hogan is clearly our most important re-signing of those coming out of contract (though Gawn is our most important player I would argue). To suggest anything else is crazy. But as a point of reference about Wattsy’s form this this season the stats comparison to Hogan makes for interesting reading (and yes i know stats lie - i'm not suggesting he is as good as Hogan). Not much between them and I imagine Hogan just loves the service he gets from Watts. Player Statistics Comparison Jack Watts Name Jesse Hogan Melbourne Demons Team Melbourne Demons Midfield, Forward Position Forward 126 Career Games 31 Sandringham Dragons Origin Claremont March 26, 1991 Date of Birth February 12, 1995 25yr 2mth Age 21yr 3mth 196cm Height 195cm 92kg Weight 101kg 2008 National Draft Last Drafted In 2012 Mini Draft Round 1, Pick #1 Last Draft Position Round 1, Pick #2 Melbourne Demons Last Drafted By Melbourne Demons 2016 Stats for Season 2016 11 Games 11 9.6 Kicks Per Game 10.4 5.0 Handballs Per Game 4.6 14.6 Disposals Per Game 14.9 6.3 Marks Per Game 7.4 2.0 Goals Per Game 2.4 0.6 Behinds Per Game 1.7 1.3 Tackles Per Game 1.2 1.6 Hitouts Per Game 0 2.9 Inside 50s Per Game 2.6 0.9 Goal Assists Per Game 0.8 0.6 Frees For Per Game 0.9 0.9 Frees Against Per Game 0.4 5.6 Contested Possessions Per Game 6.6 9.4 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 8.7 12.0 Effective Disposals Per Game 9.8 82.2% Effective Disposals % Per Game 65.8% 2.6 Clangers Per Game 1.8 1.1 Contested Marks Per Game 2.4 2.1 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 3.4 0.1 Clearances Per Game 0.1 0.4 Rebound 50s Per Game 0.4 1.4 One Percenters Per Game 1.6 0 Bounces Per Game 0.3 82.3 Time On Ground % Per Game 91.3 $393,000 AFL Fantasy Price $448,000 74.7 AFL Fantasy Score Per Game 83.0 $402,500 Supercoach Price $446,500 71.6 Supercoach Score Per Game 80.4

I wonder if any of the posters bemoaning omacs selection and dunn's non selection (or the zone defense and high press for that matter) wanted goodwin to take over the coaching reins from roos after the nab cup?

Good get lh. Dunny has always been a favorite of mine but he clearly has been unable to adapt tp the zone defense. That was dead obvious against the saints. Garland also struggles with but unlike dunn is slowly getting it

That's funny Nasher. I was just thinking about that game a week or so ago as I reflected on the folly of the notion that rain brings poor teams and bad teams closer by virtue of the rain neutralising the skill gap. When in fact it doe the opposite. I remember saying to a mate we had a chance of winning that game because of the rain and IIRC we got flogged by at least 80 points and barely scored at all. He said i was stupid. At the time time we were on the way to the game and stopped for a beer at the Rose Hotel in Fitzroy just as the rain came tumbling down. In a rare outburst of good sense we elected to stay and watch the game at the Rose. Stayed dry. Beer was cold and cheap. Bar was packed. Dees got smashed. I reckon it was more than a decade ago though.

I'm not. It's one reason why i hate coming onto DL after a bad loss.

Unbeleivably they didn't learn their lesson. Couldn't believe Roos coming out and admitting they had stuffed up selection. Again

Only 1 xs left. Damn. I was looking for a 3X

Hogan - stars kick the key goals, not miss from 40 metres out slight angle

He's jetts to me

I wasn't aware how close he was to the 100 game mark. If i could like the post above twice i would. I am guilty of being overly sentimental about demon players, not just the good ones but all the the average ones as well. I still have fond memories of Spud Dullard and Garry Baker. But Grimes deserves nothing but respect for his contribution to the dees I agree that atm he is not best 22 though if he can re-tool to be more attacking he might be. I think that is why they are trying him on the win and in the centre. Funnily enough if he can't make it back into the dees side i reckon there are clubs where he could still make a real contribution. Unfortunately he is isn't a great kick and we don't have enough great kicks to cover him and too many poor kicks that exacerbate his poor disposal (yes i know his DE is ok but as a HB you need players whose kicking is a weapon). For example the giants have so many brilliant kicks he could slot in and provide smarts and not be exposed.

I see what you're saying and you make a reasonable point. But A grade mids are worth their weight in gold and rarely are purely outside or inside. Priddis and mitchell are perhaps the exception who prove the rule. But even those two are so clever and work so hard that they are way more than pure inside mids. By the by i dont consider dalhaus or stevens to be A grade (yet )

Roos said as much recently in a presser and said that we would be targeting A grade mids at the end of this year. In reality to win a flag a club need as many as 12 really good mids and at least 2 -3 of them have to be A graders.

I think this argument is quite a strong one. I had similar thoughts. I thought that they might also rest Hunt to given him a freshen up given his youth and the the six day break. I wonder though if they see this as a particularly critical game to win and they're putting their eggs to an extent in this basket. They have a good midfield but Gawn (even not fully fit) gives us a huge advantage given their lack of ruck options. Games and are won and lost in the midfield and if we can win in this area i think we win the game. Also having few changes from a winning team is always helpful in terms of the chances of winning, particularly when the ins are top 10 players. Of course the tigers and the pies might get on a roll but at the moment the crows and Port are our direct rivals for the eighth position so beating Port is critical to our chances of making the 8, particularly given we play them again (unfortunately in Adelaide). As someone noted if we beat Port and the Crows get knocked of by GWS we will be in the 8 after this round.

One of the great things about where the dees are at now as a club is that even if a player like Prestia is being wooed by a team and is good chance of going to them if we're keen we will always be chance. Take Prestia as an example. Whilst 12 months ago Richmond looked closer to a flag that's not so clear now. Added to that is the exciting brand of footy we are playing and the fact that is evident to all in footy that there is a real buzz at the club, playlers seem to love (petraac's words) each other, the club is well managed and there is a terrific culture and a terrific culture. Two words: destination club

I don't quite get the love for Frost as a defender to be honest. He is a poor kick, which is more of a problem down back than as a forward, particularly given Tmac is not always the most reliable kick and Frost would play a similar run and carry role. In this role turnovers are almost always costly

Yes

Neither Garland or michie will get dropped

Because that is what Hawthorn did to build their dynasty. Not. One of the most important impacts of Clarkson as a coach is his philosophy that first and foremost a coach is a teacher. Development is everything and players learning their 'craft' is the building block of development. All the successful assistants that have worked under Clarkson share this philosophy. Roos always had this philosophy and not surprisingly so did David Parkin (who was a teacher. Interestingly Parkin was the first coach to try a succession plan where the coach in waiting developed under his watch - Brittan in his case). Roos has said this was a huge influence on him. Win at all costs for developing teams is an attitude that is 20 years old,hence our selection of players such as Wagner and Hunt and the fact that week in week out we have the youngest list playing (even though we have senior players ready to roll in the twos eg Grimes and Dunn). It could be argued (an indeed has been argued) that Ross Lyons' biggest weakness as coach is not taking the development route (and in particular not blooding youngsters) and prioritizing short term goals over development and long terms goals. Some argue that this is one reason why the Saints and Dockers both seemingly fell off a cliff ie going from being successful to also rans over night. Similarly the argument could be mounted that ensuring an ongoing focus on development has allowed the Hawks and Cats to avoid dropping off this cliff. It also explains why we don't try a b plan in games. We have to learn the a plan first. Why? Be case we are a developing side as opposed to sides such as Geelong and Hawthorn who are contending for flags. Roos has been steadfast all along that his key task is to build a culture and game plan that wins final over a period, not just get us there. He is developing the list with this as the focus not short term winning ratio.

I've said it before and its likely i'll have cause to say it again. Roos almost never brings debut or young players in for only one game, even if they had poor games . No chance at all that ANB will be dropped. Newton may well be the exception to that rule as he was a late call up to cover the loss of tyson and so will be expecting to go back to the twos (and the club would have prepared him for that possibility. That said i think there is a good chance he'll be selected again.

Agree and suspect it will be hunt as he is younger. They will have learnt a lesson from the saints game and will bring fresh players in. Straight swap for jetta. I think they will look to bring in some older hardened players. Perfect time to utilise our depth and give players a rest. So Grimes a chance, maybe dawes and perhaps even trenners. For this reason i think Newtown is safe. Any players with any niggles should not be picked and for this reason i think they'll rest oliver, viney and maybe even gawn. I do wonder if they pick a squad with this week and next in mind. So emergencies will give a pointer to tge hawks game All that said roos doesnt like making too many changes

You make a good case bob. Im not quite as bullish but i hope you are proven correct. What i really like is his neat, accurate kicking. Wastes very few possessions, a talent that has always been important but is even more so now with how critical it is in forward thrusts and avoiding turnovers

Agree on all counts. I cant see him being dropped this week. Another selection with the eye on both the future and the now. The future is about omac developing into one our key backs for the next decade. The now is that in my view he plays zone defense better than dunn, which is no great knock on dunn given sonce becoming a defender he has played man on man. There was no better example of omac playing the zone well than the goal he saved in the last quarter when he was 1 on 3 (admittedly aided by a crap lions kick), which pinged up the other end for a dees goal. 12 point play

Whole heartedly agree with all of the above. He is the real deal and in my time of watching footy one of the most impressive first half dozen games of a career, particularly at Melbourne. In addition to his his attributes you note i'd add his sheer want for the ball and competitiveness is outstanding. And he just seems to love it out there. His composure and AFL readiness is all the more amazing given he was a late bloomer and didn't play the number of TAC games as say a Weitering did (who as you say is also the real deal). I am so wrapt we went for him over parish, which is no knock on Darcy as he also looks also like he'll be a gun (though Oliver is ahead atm). 2015 Could end up being a fantastic draft.