Jaded No More

Oliver has one thing over those other mids. He has great bursting speed and he can pick the ball up off the ground at top speed. It’s why we looked so good with Kosi in the middle on Sunday. Kosi can also pick the ball up at speed and burst through. He’s no Clarry tho because he doesn’t do it 30+ times a game. I think you are completely underestimating what an impact losing Oliver has had. For one it allows teams to put more time into defending the stoppage, it’s why we’ve reverted to having an extra mid at stoppages, which has seen our forward half pressure drop off as a result. Secondly he’s the best clearance player in the game, so we’ve dropped right back in our clearance numbers, where as we usually sit comfortably in the top 2-3 in the competition. That impacts how we play and how much harder we have to defend. It also meant we couldn’t play Trac forward as much as we would have liked, when we desperately needed a forward spark. You cannot tell me that Clarry playing against GWS isn’t worth more than the 2 points we lost by. Or that Geelong dominates clearances in the last quarter like they did, if Clarry is playing. Any side that misses their best player for 3 months is going to be impacted by it. Maybe May is a bigger loss because we don’t have as many good tall defenders as we do inside mids, in terms of balance to the side, but you can never replace star power like Clarry. To say we are a better side without him is laughable. He’s a 2 time coaches award winner, a 4 time B&F winner and a 3 time AA. At 25. He is a freak.

A real Peter Bell type move that one

I think it’s far too late in the season to be making those types of moves. It’s a very Hail Mary desperate scenario if you’re throwing a guy who hasn’t played forward in 10 years up forward 5 weeks out from finals. The FD clearly don’t like Tomlinson, and I can’t figure out why. He comes in and plays well then inevitably gets dropped when the first choice defender is fit to play again. It’s pretty rough on him, and I can completely understand why he’s looking elsewhere. I think Tomlinson’s biggest issue tho is his pace, which is why he would struggle as a forward and it’s why BB is struggling to impact as much as we’d like him to. He was a really dangerous forward when he was on the lead. But he doesn’t have any power to accelerate anymore off the mark which is a shame, because it makes him easier to defend.

Demonland is certainly not the place to come for rosy views of Melbourne… you’ve been here long enough to know that 😂

I’m all for Petty going forward. I’ve said that over and over again. Clearly Goodwin and co want him down back. Brown is playing for lack of options. It’s no wonder they’re trying to force the forward issue with Grundy. They know BB and Tmac are cooked and we need another big body to force a contest, but Grundy will never have the forward smarts or leading patterns of Ben Brown. Go back and watch some of the goals yesterday. The space we were able to find inside 50, was often because Ben Brown was leading higher up to pull his defender and open the space behind him for the likes of Kosi and Chandler, who could never take a mark with a big pack around them (and rightly so, they’re smalls). He still, bung knee and all, commands respect in the contest. Do I think he is just about done? Yes I do. Do I think anyone has the right to call him soft? I think you and I both know the answer to that. A man who has kicked over 300 AFL goals and was an integral part of a premiership winning forwardline, is not, never has, and will never be soft. And on a side note, he is also a magnificent human off the field who gives a lot of his time to worthy causes. He deserves more respect than he’s currently being shown by a few keyboard heroes.

It’s the state of the AFL media as a whole that gets to me. The sensationalist garbage and the reactionary narrative. It doesn’t matter who it’s about, you would hope that you could listen and actually gain something from these so called experts. You can’t. I get more valuable information on Demonland than I do in the media. But most people only go off what they hear on the radio or watch on TV, and so the BS narrative continues. It’s pretty pathetic that a multi billion dollar industry with over a million paid members, has to be subjected to such rubbish low level analysis from morons who can hardly string 2 words together. So laconic 🙄😂

I could not give a flying elephant what any of these idiotic commentators have to say. I just think it’s hilarious how they continue to underrate us. Tomorrow they’ll be like “Melbourne is not a top 4 side, I believe North is ahead of them” 🙄

Can’t wait for the “drop Buddy” posts next year calling him old and soft and a has been.

Because his knee is a very valid excuse for why he’s not the player he once was. To call him soft when he’s playing in pain and risking further injury is absolutely a pathetic call from someone sitting in the comfort of their home behind a keyboard. Why is he playing? I’ll let you work it out. Hint: it’s because he is the smartest and most effective key forward we have in terms of bringing ball to ground, leading and creating space, and not getting out marked. Even with a bung knee.

Viney watching clips of Mason Cox and working out in his head how he is going to take him out in the grand final 😂👏🏼

Freo were NEVER at any stage of this season, or in fact last season, any better than us. In anything. Except for stuffing up trades 😂 It was a pathetic reactionary call from a reactionary commentator who flips and flops more than a dying fish.

Yep it’s the mental battle. They fear nobody and everyone fears them. A self fulfilling prophecy. It’s why beating them in a close one when they kept coming and coming, was so important. And why us winning close ones is great preparation for when we meet again in finals.

You try playing AFL level football with a knee that is bone on bone and then tell me how soft you are 🙄 Ben Brown has a much better idea of how to play a key position forward role than just about anyone else on our list. His body is unfortunately not what it once was and he’s bravely battling on because nobody else has been able to step it up!

Imagine the media fawning if any of Brisbane, Port or Pies were missing Neale, Butters or Daicos for 3 months and went on to beat 2 of the other top 3 sides, and went down by 4 points at home to the other. But when Melbourne do it without Oliver they’re lucky and very ordinary. Pies are never lucky when they win, they’re just amazing. But Melbourne? Pure luck.

Crows are well ahead of Geelong and GWS in contested possessions, clearances, scores, inside 50 efficiency, contested marks, and speed in both attack and defense. In fact they’re in the top 4 for many of those stats. Geelong at ****ehole Park are a different proposition. But head to head at the MCG or in AO I reckon Crows would have their measure, especially with how they attack at speed.

David King had Freo in his top 4 ranking after they beat us. This was when I decided to stop listening to the media “analysis”, as it’s literally just a bunch of wanna be footballers with absolutely no idea about the modern game. I will say this, Adelaide is, in every really important stat, a better side than any of the teams currently sitting 5-12 on the ladder.

I reckon Goodwin is giving us nothing after he told us 10 times Clarry will play next week, when Clarry in fact did not play the following week. Yze would be much more in the know anyway since he’s Clarry’s direct line coach, so would have conversations with him on the daily. He is probably sage cleansing and praying daily for the return of his star player! 😂

Lol at Clarry playing for Casey.

Kosi stayed because of his relationship with Goody.

I reckon you ask McRae which team he would least like to play in finals at the MCG and his answer would be Melbourne. I guess Goody’s answer would be the Pies tho.

Not according to the expected scores they weren't. They nailed some really hard shots in the last, while we missed some absolute gimmes in the last. Adelaide are ranked 1st in the competition for inside 50 efficiency, 2nd for goals, 2nd for contested marks, 3rd for contested possessions and 4th for clearances. They also have the highest average speed in both attack and defence! It is little wonder that they are pushing the best sides, and that they did the same to us. Anyone who underestimates them is looking at the win loss ratio of a side still finding consistency, and not at what they actually bring to the game. If they beat the Pies and us, as they could have given the margin, they are firmly in the top 6 and spoken of in the same "could do real damage" as Geelong are, who are statistically nowhere near as good as the Crows this year.

I disagree entirely because finals are generally a far more contested game where scoring dries up. They average a measly 1 goal a game more than we do, and I reckon that stat has been overblown by some of their smashing of the lowest sides. On the other hand, they are 10th for contested possessions. Guess who is first? FYI Port are 8th and Pies are 12th! They do rank 1st in clearances but I reckon if we don’t lose Oliver for 3 months that looks very different. Not to mention they’re now going to be without Ashcroft. Edit: we are also 1st for intercepts. Port are 5th, Pies 11th and Lions 12th. I think the Lions defense is very susceptible to fast ball movement. We kicked over 100 points against them without Fritsch (yes they did the same to us too). Port also have a very soft defense. As for rebound 50s we are the best out of the top 4 sides, who are all poor. Lions are 17th!

Please explain your position

But the Pies are going to win the flag so who even cares

Oliver under done? I reckon more like a caged starved lion ready to kill. He has been able to get the KMs in. He will not be underdone. He might be a little rusty with his touch but even a rusty Clarry is 99% ahead of just about any player in the competition. I think the way Salem came in and did not seem to miss a beat is how Clarry will come back in.