speed demon

A few comments, some against the grain: Oliver: tasked with tagging Newcombe and did his job. JVR: covered a lot of ground, competed fiercely in the air, laid 4 tackles and did well in the ruck (9 hit outs, 3 to advantage). Jefferson: I'm more critical of him being selected than on Jefferson himself. He played according to his form and this will have only depleted his confidence. Forward line: Main issue - apart from goal kicking - was the lack of another tall forward to compete in the air and split the defence. Too much to expect JVR to do it on his own. Sharp: went when he had to, tackled well, using his running power to get in great position for his goal and to save another (i.e. the spoil on Watson). Improving. Langford: Most complete first year player I've seen at the Dees. Chef's kiss

Really liked the use of Viney in a run with role against the opposition's best over the past two weeks. Just as an explosive game by Reid will lift WC and the crowd, multiple additions of Harley Reid to the "Jack Viney made me cry" thread will lift the Dees and deflate WC. With Oliver out and Viney (perhaps) playing a defensive role, this is the game for Petracca - whose form has been solid - to get back to his gaming-winning best.

Interesting question. I'm skeptical that Oliver will get back to his 2021/2022 best but nor does he need to in order to be valuable. I think Oliver is someone for whom aerobic fitness is hard to acquire. That he continued to improve from his debut season in 2016 to 2021/2022 may have in large part being due to steadily improving aerobic fitness and thus allowing him to get to more contests (acknowledging he also improved his strength allowing him to break away from contests). He was remarkably consistent during this period, only missing a single game between 2017 and 2022 inclusive. Those that have to work hard to acquire aerobic fitness also tend to lose it faster. Thus, I suspect Oliver lost a lot more fitness between mid-2023 and the start of 2024 than a different type of athlete (e.g. Langdon) would have. Contrary to popular perception, players don't tend to improve their aerobic fitness across the season (although Oliver may have slightly as he was starting a very low base). One preseason (ie 2024-5) was never going to be enough to get back to his pre-hamstring level of fitness built over several consistent years. At just 27, he still has time to regain aerobic fitness. Plenty of runners reach peak aerobic fitness in their late 30's and even 40's. Though I think it is going to be hard for him and he seems to have made less progress than I would have expected. Moreover, I think we need to re-adjust expectations. If Oliver simply gets back to his contested ball winning best and fires out handballs into the path of outside runners with excellent kicks, that's enough. We don't need Oliver to win the ball, break three tackles and kick high and long down the line. Better for the team to play to his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses by utilising the strengths of others (eg Windor, Langford, Lindsay kicking skills).

Agree. Best consecutive games I've seen Sparrow play. Strong marking on the lead last week and crunching tackles this week. (thought Oliver was good in the 3rd)

Is this a parody account? The ten seconds the politician spent responding to the journalist's question has no bearing on the state's finances.

Cost is always a consideration. I would rather Balta did something productive like cleaning up my local creek instead of hanging with criminals in jail. I'm unconvinced that jail is the effective deterrent it is often assumed to be.

I can see why you say this VoR and I think he'll take longer to establish himself than the other names you've listed. I also think Kolt's destined to be more highly valued internally than externally. There's similarities to Neal-Bullen; leadership qualities, great attitude and willing and able to do the team acts that tend to go unrewarded and unnoticed (e.g. harassing, two way running). That Kolt was selected straight into the AFL after a long injury lay off speaks to how he's valued internally. Although he didn't get a lot of the ball he played with the intensity we've been lacking.

If a 16yo can learn to do this... professional AFL footballers should be able to reliably convert set shots. I don't think the AFL is as professional as it likes to believe.

I've been a Goodwin supporter but I'm coming around to this way of thinking. Ten years is a long time to lead an organisation. I've read about a theory in organisational psychology that I think applies to our current predicament. Leaders can become personally invested in 'projects' they oversee. If a project the leader is invested in is underperforming, a leader may continue to support the project trying to make it a success rather than acknowledge failure. The more that has already been invested - and the more the success of the project is linked to the leader and their reputation - the more the leader continues to invest ('sunken cost' fallacy). Whereas, a new leader can view the organisation more objectively and be free to cease projects or cut staff when needed ("failures of the previous administration"). I wonder if the above explains Goodwin's slowness in previous seasons to adapting our once supreme game plan despite evidence we needed to. Also, while acknowledging Goodwin's relationship with the players has been a strength, I wonder what decisions a new coach - without close connection to the players - may make regarding senior players and would this be in our better interest? I think he's got this year but without recognisable player buy-in and effective execution of a new game plan, I think there's an increasingly strong argument for a fresh face to be our next premiership coach.

I went to one of the open training sessions over summer. A dozen or so players were doing ~150m sprints along the boundary while most players were doing match simulation. I'm from an athletics background and thus quite interested in the players running technique and ability so I watched closely (I'm rather dull like that). Looked like they'd been instructed to run hard but not all out. The player who impressed me most was Jefferson. Not only was he fast but - unlike most the others - he was nicely balanced and moved very smoothly. I imagine that translates to being better able to mark on a fast lead. If he can build a good aerobic base he could be a very effective high forward by getting away from his opponent on long leads or out sprinting them when running back to goal. With his height, he could become a difficult match up. There are a few "ifs" with Jefferson but plenty of potential there too.

My concern with JVR, Turner, Fritsch and no AJ or Campbell is who provides ruck support? Seems even less likely to be JVR with his back concern.

So much more engaging seeing players be themselves rather than trying to concoct answers to statements-masquerading-as-questions like "you must be excited to be drafted to the Demons"!

Lindsay may go on to be the replacement for Brayshaw that we need; a runner with high footy IQ who can play multiple positions, read the play and make good decisions. If he can do that - and be a better kick - he'll be a valuable asset.

I'm with you @Sir Windsor. If Trac wants to leave - at 28yo and coming off a major injury - trade for the right price. That's business. If Oliver wants to stay - as a vulnerable person who seems to be getting his life back on track - keep if he's committed and capable. Trading wouldn't be business it would be an erosion of trust between the playing group and the football department. I strongly doubt it happens.

Yes, it is quite the jump but in my experience it's one that individuals or their family may take during the stress of the event. Unfortunately, these embellishments can be unhelpful - and are worth dispelling - as they enhance the psychological trauma of the experience. In this case, a clearer perception is "could have been fatal if untreated but very unlikely to have been so given access to necessary interventions".

For the reasons you identify, I agree Trac is no longer worth the value of his contract (and that's before factoring in his further degradation in value due to destabilising the club). If he were a committed MFC player, I would wear the loss and support him. As we have with Oliver. If he truly wants out, then we have an opportunity to balance our books, restore unity and regenerate an aging midfield. It feels crazy to be writing this but it now seems a trade is best for both parties. My only concern is the ability to get an acceptable deal done.

Thanks for your excellent training reports @WalkingCivilWar. Love how you compassionately personalise the players. Your insights enhance my enjoyment of following the club and serve as useful reminders that our players are just young people making their way in life.

@58er you are quite correct. These figures are not for 2024. Exact membership numbers for 2024 will not be reported until September. These figures are from the 2022 season. I should have been more explicit about that. I've ran the numbers for 2024 sourcing average game day attendance data (up to and including round 19) from https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/attendances and estimated club membership (as of 30th July 2024) from https://www.aflonline.com.au/afl-news/current-afl-membership-numbers-for-2024/. Interestingly, we again come in third, despite a poorer season this year than 2022. My overall point is that the popular narrative that MFC supporters are fickle and don't turn up is false and should be contested. Of course, there are individual supporters who are fickle and our attendance numbers are lower at night games in the depths of winter etc but this is true of all clubs. On a comparative basis, these numbers not only disprove the stereotype but actually show the opposite; proportionally Demons members are more likely to show up to a game than members of 15 other clubs! * A limitation I've just realised is that the numbers I've used are for average attendance are for all games not just home games as in the 2022 data.

"For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, clear and wrong"

Moralising about football attendance is absurd. There are endless reasons why supporters may or may not attend games and who are we to judge others we don't know. Media potshots regarding MFC game day attendance is an annual event that plays to a stereotype that is unsupported by the statistics. Ignore. Any ire from the low attendance should be directed at the AFL's scheduling.

I generally agree with this. Though, so long as Oliver abides by team rules off field, I expect he'll be given until next season before his contract is evaluated against what he does on field.

I'd rather the opposite; start with last week's line up and sub in Fullarton if not working. I'm also more interested in seeing what Fullarton can offer at AFL level than Laurie or Billings.

You're right, it doesn't work like that. I come from an athletics background. An athlete can stay in peak racing phase for about 4-8 weeks. In the past week we have seen the big names in athletics start coming into peak form for the Olympics in 3 weeks (e.g. Faith Kepyegon's 1500m WR and Jess Hull's 1500m Aus record). Stay up for too long and the aerobic fitness base degrades and performance drops. Need to start the cycle again. But don't trust an internet random's comments. The DL interview with Selwyn Griffith is so insightful. He describes how the players are unable to do enough training during the season to maintain their fitness. Hence the importance of an excellent pre-season and why Oliver is not going to get back to - and sustain - pre-hamstring injury form this season.

Thanks for this. Watching Jako as a kid, I had the impression he wasn't a great kick due to the number of behinds he kicked (208 goals, 173 behinds). Looking back, I realise I was being too harsh. Disinclined to pass, he took a lot of low percentage shots; 39% of his kicks were scoring shots (not including many OOTF) and averaged 1 handball per game! Moreover, I didn't realise how skilled he was on his left. Would have made him unpredictable to a defender; could turn and snap on left or right from anywhere inside 50m.

Shout out to Turner. Key role in the win; stepped up as the key forward allowing JVR to ruck. Always looked promising but held back by injuries and a lean physique. Now he has the body of an AFL KPF. Contests well, kicks straight and loses his opponent inside 50. Solid long-term prospect.