Scipio

1 hour ago, spirit of norm smith said:

 

- like many clubs, they think we are weak and easybeats

Well...

56 minutes ago, Wells 11 said:

I have this strange confidence that things will pan out well for us and we'll not just play finals but win one also.  As a follower since 71 Im never confident about the dees so its an unfamiliar and  unusual sensation ...could it be a new form of delusion that Im not used to? can it be treated?

Dees to finish top 4. 

 

I'd actually back us to win a final too if we make it. Something to with the lack of expectation...

I'm pretty keen to see how this unfolds but do fear for the stand alone VFL clubs. Surely the AFL will help with travel costs and other incurred expenses?

Also following Prestons return closely. Fingers crossed they can make it happen.

11 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Giants: Isaac Cumming 21yo.
Running small defender 184cm. 84 kgs. 4 years at Giants but stuck behind Williams and Heath Shaw.  With the sun setting on Jetta and Lockhart seemingly not in favour, Dees could grab Cumming. He’d fit really well into our defence.  Could even get a shot as a running mid. Good pace.
How to get it done ?
- Offer a 3 year deal.  Giants won’t offer that. Trade options. Swap for Preuss or Swap for Joel Smith. Or trade 3rd round (hopefully acquired for ANB back to Crows). 

Doubt we'd offer 3 years for a guy who has played 9 games of AFL and has been average at best.

1 minute ago, pinkshark said:

Probably too little too late.  Typical.

Great effort though.  We played from the first bounce with the intensity required the previous two weeks.  Frustrating to say the least.  We also had  a smarter team picked.  We just seemed to do things more simply.  More common sense footy.  More common sense selections.  

ANB should be docked a match fee for his golf swing celebration with the accompanying statement ' you are not good enough and never will be good enough to be doing that sort of shid'.  Get rid of him.  

Viney was really bad for first 3 quarters.  He is not nearly as evasive or as strong as he thinks he is.  Costs us throughout games with this misbelief many times. Sort of came good in the last.  

Umpires hardly helped us at any point.  Robbed so many times.  We should have won by more.  They kicked a few out their arses GWS.

Nev, love him.  Simply need his experienced head out there.

The weid strugggling to mark a ball.  Doesn't help.

Yeah great to win, but not as bad as it was to lose those Cairns games.  The pain and anger is still there for me.

 

 

 

 

Bit rough, it was just a tribute to his injured mate Gus.

Re Jetta, he just continues to get the ball and go head first into traffic which has been a problem all year when he's played. Unfortunately, although he did a few nice things the end is nigh for Nev.

Just watched the highlights for the third time.

Rivers last couple of minutes were huge - the goal, then the spoil and then splitting a pack of four players apart to knock the ball back to our advantage was so great to see. He has a lot of go and is exactly the sort of player we needed out of last years draft.

3 minutes ago, Clintosaurus said:

The players are human, and constantly moving would have a significant effect. I never sleep properly the first night anywhere away from home, and unlike other clubs, the team have pretty much not stayed in the same location for more than a week at a time.

Players in other sports such as NBA or cricket are used to it, but AFL players are not. Experienced ones like Dangerfield will deal with it better, and also clubs with a lot of experienced players (Geelong, Port, Richmond).

I second this, and not to mention there have been a couple of game days where they are waking at 4am or 5am, catching a bus and then a flight, and then flying back to the hub to return to the hotel by 3am. The ripple effect from huge days like that can be felt for some time.

1 hour ago, sue said:

This attitude is a bit like congratulating the Black Knight for not making excuses as his limbs are lopped off.   Of course there is always a danger of hiding behind excuses but it is equally foolish to ignore facts which may be valid reasons contributing to poor performance.   I suspect if the team bus was hit by a meteorite there'd be some saying excuses excuses.  

And I don't care if supporters want to comfort themselves by making 'excuses'. We have negligible influence and need to maintain our sanity.  Players and coaches are another matter of course.

 

Always the voice of reason sue, well said.

12 minutes ago, Docs Demons said:

I'd go Hodge. Tough and will not take any crap. Untried I know but has all the attributes to succeed.

We cannot afford to go with yet another untried coach.

His 'experiments' have cost us this year too. We're worse for not having Harmes in the middle and it has shown.

4 minutes ago, old dee said:

It is asking a lot of a guy who has only played scratch matches this year to suddenly come in and play a very good game first up. 

True, I should have prefaced it that it's more based on feeling. I think he possesses some great attributes that we're lacking at the moment and he could make a solid impact right away. I suppose we shall see!

Expecting Baker to play really well tonight and I'm keen to see him back in action.

As for our season, I'm predicting we'll beat Fremantle, dominate GWS in a commanding display and then roll over to Essendon by 10 goals... my MFC predicto-meter threw that out as the most likely result (a 99% chance).

7 hours ago, Stevienic23 said:

No one is good enough to go to Fyfe and blanket him so that's a write off. Who goes to Walters?

Harmes would have had a good crack IF he wasn't being played out position (and injured).

Watch this incident be explained away by the AFL yet again. Nothing to see here.

22 minutes ago, AaronDaveyChipsAndGravey said:

If you followed his efforts all night you'd realise how far off that comment is. Was our best afield by a country mile. Only one who decided he'd have a crack for every minute of that game. Bloke was f*ing cooked by the end of it from working hard both ways all day. Dont think those goals would have changed much in reality. Coming back from 5 goals down into a breeze would have been a miracle and the kickout he stuffed game was already done.

Selection just baffling. Cannot say any 4 ins contributed anything apart from making up the numbers. Jones is done which is a very sad thing to say given all that he's done for this club thick and thin but tonight and last week has just proven he's just not up to it anymore. If you're slow and cant kick, youre done. Smith should get moved on or at least have one final crack at a forward position where he can play unaccountable football. Can't defend to save his life. ANB, Wagner are just eh footballers, who you worry with ball in hand. 

As for the rest of the side, purely expecting the game to fall their way with applying zero pressure or grunt. Why does it consistently take us to be on the brink, to bring either decent footy smarts, skills, tackling or pressure? Either the messaging from the coaches is that far off the mark or they just cant stand up. Either way, it happens far too often and serious questions needs to be asked of this mob and some absolute no nonsense coaching to this group is absolutely neccessary. No doubt they'll show up next week and get our hopes up again. The cycle will inevitably continue....

Yes he clearly was, but that miss at the end cost us any chance of clawing our way back and the kick out was the icing on the cake. Overall still our best but he had a shocking last bit of the game.

Langdon probably our best until the last 5 minutes... then he was easily our worst.

This was as classic Melbourne as you could get.

11 hours ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

• Keep it within 4 goals and that's a win for us.

No doubt this same comment has been copy and pasted many times on Demonland over the last 10 years. Good to see it coming from other supporters.

Glad they share our own sentiment on Harmes! Clearly he's a solid talent that's being seriously wasted this year.

Atkins would be a good get, fits our needs nicely.

Someone mentioned that Plapp was moved to forward line coach a few weeks ago. Is there any truth to this? If it is true, then clearly he's had a pretty positive impact and may well be safe for next year.

He is an absolutely liability at the moment and it's such a shame. No one could have predicted this kind of decline. 

We need Jackson back badly.

Past: Wiz, Jako, Neitz.

Current: Oliver, Trac and Jetta. 

27 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

Big club. Name player. Of course he gets off. I'm sure that $2000 fine will really make him think twice.... when he makes $1,000,000 a year! He could commit murder on field and get off. The media would also sympathise and defend him, and say it was "uncharacteristic' and 'he was frustrated' etc. 

If the AFL are going to stick with fines, then they need to be made proportionate to the players wage. $2000 is more for someone like Nibbler, but to a Lynch or Dangerfield it's peanuts. Slam them with $25,000. That'll stop them and that sort of money could be put to good use in the community.

Ultimately we wouldn't even be discussing this if they assessed everyone equally by the same rules. 

'A crime punishable by fines simply means it's legal for the rich'.

Yet again another example of punishment based on status. Pathetic.