Demon Dynasty

We have struggled to correct and change up many of our forward issues over many moons Brownie. I can't see us coming up with a significant variation to our game style without some major changes to personel. And Goodwin is not one to make many changes from week to week. Tends to revert back to the well with his same old faithfuls. Stranger things have happened but personally i can't see it happening this season i'm afraid.

Smith needs at least another game to see how he goes in good conditions imv RM. Melk the same. Agree re leg speed but very hard for him or anyone (even Fritta/Kozzy) to work their craft when so many just sit back deep and crowd out the 30 meter hot zone. Need to get on their bike. Just need to get the ball in to him quickly in a 1 v 1 a few times out the back. He's in the best form ive seen goal kicking wise Since 2018. He'll get the job done if we can do that half a dozen times or so. Spargo was so far off the pace the last time he played and wasn't that much chop in his Casey appearance. Did ok but nothing that warranted a quick return call up imho. Moniz's game on Sunday was a ripper. Some lovely crumbing, snaps and a long bomb from 45 out. If he rolls that form out again this week they'd be mad not to look at him. Too much faith for too long in some of the senior boys from Goodwin. Need to reward some of the Casey performers more often once they string some form together. Will also keep some of the fringe/out-of-form players upstairs honest & on their toes and or see them back at Casey where they have a bit more time/space to work hard & hopefully find it once again.

Yes forgot about Bowey. Almost our MVP last week 😅 Im not expecting any or many of these to happen W. Just my take of what i feel is the best 22 based on form at both AFL level and Casey (over the last two to three weeks). Fixed.... had to leave Andy out. He's very close though imv. If he kicks 2 or 3 again and plays as a pressure defender inside along with some smarts with ball in hand he needs serious consideration imv. Haven't seen alot from Chandler or Kozzy the last few weeks. Chandler hasn't threaded a goal in 5 weeks. Kozzy playing hollywood footy most of the time other than inside 50 pressure. Jefferson and Howes probably need one more pre-season. Jefferson played his best game for Casey on Sunday. Howes was quite good again but might need a few extra kgs to survive the rigours of AFL for more than a few matches. Same with Jefferson. Dunstan is very cool in a crisis and a beautiful distributor of the ball in traffic by hand. The feet are a 50/50 but he also gets the job done on occasions here as well. Casey are well drilled, more structured, better at ground ball gets, ball movement, finish/connection coming inside 50 and at set shots than the AFL team. Entirely different level of oppo of course but they're so well drilled and everyone plays their role to a T. Like a well oiled machine. Steele & Moose also outstanding against GWS. D Smith pretty darn good...again. If Munro had a few years in him i'd sign him up tomorrow. Would be our equivalent of Libba. Where was Tomo? For anyone who didn't get the chance but wants to see some great examples of ball movement from Casey, you might want to watch the play at the 8 minute mark of the third. And most of the last quarter! Lovely stuff indeed. Woe 2.0 also getting involved in many chains now. Exciting stuff from the kid.

B: Lever, May, Turner (or Howes) HB: Salem, Petty, Rivers C: McVee, Oliver, Langdon HF: Bowey, Brown, Smith F: Pickett, J V Rooyen, Melksham FOLL: Gawn, Viney, Petracca IC: Jordon, Woewodin, Brayshaw, Sparrow SUB: Grundy In: Turner or Howes, Clarry, Jordon, Woewodin, J V Rooyen Out: Harmes, Chandler, Hunter, Grundy, ANB

With respect to Garry's article and the third and fourth passages of play..... It would appear this coaching group or some of them, along with a number of mids / wingers & forwards, are incapable of turning this particular aspect around. Even after seeing it on their review vision from the week before!! Assuming it was shown!!???? Posted this just after the loss to the cats.... Demon Dynasty 12,308 Posted June 22 Would be up there with the worst teams in the AFL in wet weather or slippery conditions. The over use of short dinky handballs to players a foot or two away under pressure instead of the quick kick forward in the wet was astonishingly poor football at this level from Goodwin down, with a few player exceptions. Viney being the main one. Yes i place a large part of the blame here on the coach as he apparently doesn't appear capable of getting this group to change up the way we usually play vs what is needed in wet or slippery conditions. Any team watching us vs the Lions & tonight will figure themselves in with a serious chance of an easy kill if playing us in these conditions bar maybe the bottom two or three. And the bulk of teams would have cleaned the Cats up tonight. We were woeful. Im not a big fan of the dual rucks in inclement weather. I would play one as the sub and just change out if needed at some stage when / if tickets are spent. It robs us of an extra running player on the outside with some skills that can finish our extraction work coming inside 50 and in general play. Our forward craft and mid / forward connection lack of cohesion is still bog ordinary After 1.5 seasons of trying to improve, it continues to be a dog's breakfast (at best). Example... Hunter kicking it to Pickett in a two v one as the FF towards the end there. Hilarious. Such a frustrating team to watch in the wet. And an under performing one (paper vs performance/outcome) imv. The whole coaching crew and the playing group needs to look in the mirror in terms of.... > how poorly we play in wet/slippery conditions > generaly poor forward structure, particularly at CHF as mentioned above. > Still unable to hit targets coming inside very often > All talls playing deep and sitting back when a surge is on, no one leading at the ball carrier.

Barring Viney on occasions, most players coming towards the arc fail to pull up a step....then glance, even for a split second to see if there's an open option or a lead. Not that many within our forward line lead that well or often. Instead most just run towards the arc in a blind panic and blaze away. Petracca one of the worst offenders here, closely followed by Sparrow. Im not sure where Clarry sits but wouldn't think he'd be much chop here either on most occasions. I could be wrong though as things have gone to pooop since he's been out.

Remember the Cats of 2021 Slow ball movement and over use to keep their possession / control of game going. We were somewhat of a variation of that in 2022.... Difference is the Cats recognised their issues and changed things up. Went on to win the cup. We've gone for more of the same but just added an extra ruck (that has added nothing other than an assist to Max) and basically brought more of the same on transition in 2023. Swapped Jordan out for his doppelganger Hunter. Still playing the long game around the wings off HB with over use of HB. That method and over use of HB sometimes works in the dry if you win the contest battle and spread from there effectively. Certainly nb for us at times with Clarry in there. Not so good in wet or greasy conditions, especially without Clarry. The best teams are transitioning off HB alot faster and more efficient coming inside than we are, often through the corridor. And most play wet weather footy somewhat differently. In 2021 we were a surge team, in some aspects we had a few similar traits to the Tigers during their years of success but without so many smalls up front. The 2022 / 23 Demons are a long way from that, more resembling the bogged down 2021 Cats imho.

I beg to differ Bobby. He is too wayward and panicky with ball in hand anywhere in or around the arc for mine. And a terrible set shot. The rest is good but no point playing a mid as a forward if he has no composure there and can't hit the broadside of a barn. He would need to spend massive training minutes and get some sort of assist from a forward pro in the off season to become a dangerous mid/forward imho. I suggested this last year also, we should be throwing the kitchen sink at the little master and get him in for forward craft & forward skills (including set shots & 'other' styles of goal kicking) sessions ASAP. He would also be fabulous for our small forward development with Chandler, Spargo & Kozzy all regressing in the latter part of this season.

Woewodin has this DS Need to get him in for a block ASAP

Howes in for Hunter to play McVee role. McVee up to the Hunter wing. Hunter offers nothing forward of center. Has no right foot and so slow across the park he's always under the pump on his left, resulting in too many shallow entries or kicks, mostly up the line. Rarely hits corridor targets on 45s or not willing to risk it due to kicking limitations or being mostly well pressured. We swapped a VG dour defender with limited attacking capabilities & poor and/or shallow entries into the 50 last season for a VG dour defender with limited attacking capabilities & poor and/or shallow entries into the 50 for this season. The oppo knows this and set up 40ish meters down the line for a fairly easy defend, intercept or spoil. Does that ring a bell at all? If not cast your minds back to some of the issues we had going around the boundary most of the time and kicking down the line into our 50 in 2022! Mostly to the pockets. As good as Hunter is at reading the play and defending back of center, and very courageous at that, unfortunately he is a limited footballer with ball in hand resulting in sluggish / poor transitional method / ability when transitioning off HB. One of the keys to giving your forwards a decent chance of converting entries inside 50 (today they are called "looks") is to transistion the ball (ball movement!) as quickly and efficiently as possible off HB and, where possible, via the corridor. Langers and now Hunter ensure we do neither with the link up play. BOTH MOSTLY play the long game around the boundary and it's killing any chance we have of becoming a damaging team in terms of forward efficiency/conversions. So many of us scream out the same mantra "Why is our forward line always so crowded !!??" Well folks.... this is a large part of the problem right here. Ignore at our peril and if we do ignore.... expect more of the same disconnect and shocking conversion rate vs the massive number of inside 50s that we keep seeing....time after time on repeat! If you want the same outcomes....just keep doing the same with (mostly) the same core group of players and that's what we'll get. Hec we might even miss the eight (unlikely but we might go close ...and who just wants to make up the numbers and go out again in straight sets!!??) Change it up and we might just get something decent out of what's left of this season.

Choco's methods might be good for some aspects of general kicking but outside of that the set shot methods are looking like a bust for most players bar Roohey, BB & Fritta who seemed to have had their own routines well and trully imbedded already prior to Choco's tuition classes kicking in. Can we get a renowned KF who was a gun at set shot goal kicking down there pronto pls. Maybe Lloyd? Someone with pedigree who can show those who are butchering the ball a better way. Many are their own (and our) worst enemy since about Rnd 10 in this regard. The massive inside 50 count y'day for such a shocking return is a complete team & coach killer. Let it fester and it will become one of the key issues that killed off our chances in 2023. And FCS bring Roohey straight back in. Our most accurate set shot kick!

Team & Player Ratings to Rnd 16, 2023 vs H&A Season 2022 Player 2023 Rating 2023 Rank 2022 Rating % Change vs 2022 2022 Rank Change in Rank vs 2022 C Oliver 5.285 1 5.320 -0.66 1 0 C Petracca 4.722 2 4.456 5.97 2 0 J Jordon > 3.986 3 3.164 25.98 9 6 A Brayshaw 3.757 4 3.839 -2.14 5 1 Jack Viney 3.704 5 3.971 -6.72 3 -2 T Rivers < 3.670 6 2.423 51.47 18 12 C Salem 3.367 7 3.363 0.12 7 0 Max Gawn 3.182 8 3.643 -12.65 8 0 B Grundy 3.160 9 - - - - Ed Langdon 3.157 10 3.109 1.54 11 1 Steven May 3.152 11 3.971 -20.62 3 -8 Jake Bowey < 3.144 12 2.856 10.08 13 1 Jake Lever 3.039 13 2.703 12.43 14 1 A Tomlinson 2.965 14 2.079 42.62 22 8 T Sparrow 2.959 15 2.665 11.03 16 1 L Hunter 2.929 16 - - - - J Harmes > 2.804 17 3.082 -9.02 12 -5 M Hibberd < 2.589 18 2.613 -0.92 17 -1 A N-Bullen 2.572 19 2.688 -4.32 15 -4 H Petty < 2.454 20 2.392 2.59 19 -1 K Chandler < 2.360 21 - - - - K Pickett 2.308 22 2.118 8.97 21 -1 B Fritsch 2.230 23 1.936 15.19 27 4 Judd McVee 2.207 24 - - - - J V Rooyen 2.183 25 - - - - Ben Brown < 2.106 26 1.762 19.52 29 3 T McDonald 2.054 27 1.967 4.42 26 -1 C Spargo < 1.891 28 1.981 -4.54 24 -4 Joel Smith 1.594 29 2.239 -28.81 20 -9 J Melksham > 1.509 30 1.947 -22.50 25 -5 J Schache * 1.375 31 - - - - B Laurie < > * 1.300 32 - - - - D Turner < * 1.075 33 - - - - Team Rating 71.27 69.48 2.57 * Played less than two full matches (in total) < Subbed Out at least once or more (player rating could be comprised somewhat) > Subbed In at least once or more (player rating could be comprised somewhat) Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Goodwin's management of Petty was very poor imv. Either he doesn't see the benefit of players returning from a layoff coming in via Casey or he just doesn't rate the VFL at all. We got Salem right but he had a mini pre-season prior to coming back. The extent of that (Salem's build up) seemingly wasn't afforded to Petty so surely he needed a run at Casey. And what was the rush anyway? We had Tomo running into his best form at Casey, then playing one of his best matches in years vs the Filth. We then drop JVR who, if Goodwin had watched him in rain effected matches (or was being fully informed/advised if he couldn't), should have known that he is probably our best marking tall forward in these conditions. And our most accurate in front of the sticks. The last tall forward you can afford to take out of the team in general, but especially in the wet! While i agree with BB's return there was no need for the extra tall resting forward in Grundy. It was one or the other in that weather. In general Goodwin hasn't managed the opportunities available for players to return via Casey and also hasn't respected those who are performing there of late (outside of previous seniors who have runs on the board) with opportunities to be promoted enough this season imv. Listing in-form players as an emergency is not a reward either. 100%. It was BB or Grundy. I would argue the same this week. I've been saying for weeks, Grundy as sub (if the oppo demand 2 rucks....otherwise he isn't needed). JVR straight back in for Fritsch. Woe for Chandler. Jordan for Harmes Clarry for ANB.... with Bowey to play the defensive forward role. Howes in for Hunter. He takes on McVee's role down back. McVee pushes up to the non-langdon wing. That last part wont happen of course. We wouldn't want our team to include players with some decent run, better skills who are capable of hitting up targets on 45s or coming inside 50 would we.

Grundy as sub (at best).... should've happened weeks ago.

Round 16, 2023 TIO Traegar Park - Demons vs Giants Much effort made by many only to result in a shocker forward of center (again). At least 12 of the 22 a long way off their season averages and those averages include last week's poor outcome. Some of them a mile off. A few others holding up their end. Viney, Bowey & Lever. Petty a much better result vs his come back last week. 6.8% of inside 50s into goals has to be some sort of low record for us and the AFL surely. Top 22 Team rating off the season average by a massive 18% tells the tale. Highly unlikely you will beat many teams at all in that sort of form. Big lift needed by many but also some signifcant ins/outs are needed. Goodwin needs to reward those performing at Casey starting this week and consider a number of difficult cuts to some of the regulars that are usually automatic inclusions every week who just aren't performing and in some cases significantly under-performing of late. I suspect a fair chunk of that rating (aside from poor form from a number of players) lies with the inability of some/many to handle the wet / greasy conditions plus the disconnect / inefficiencies forward. Demons Scoring Efficiency Disposals Per Goal 87.80 % In50s Goal 6.80 Conversion % 25.00 Giants Scoring Efficiency Disposals Per Goal 53.14 % In50s Goal 15.20 Conversion % 58.30 Player Rating Rank Season Rating to Prior Rnd % Change vs Season Rating J Viney 4.350 1 3.654 19.05 C Petracca 3.975 2 4.775 -16.75 H Petty 3.950 3 2.275 73.63 J Bowey 3.875 4 3.078 25.89 A Brayshaw 3.700 5 3.761 -1.62 Jake Lever 3.650 6 2.992 21.99 Max Gawn 3.325 7 3.168 4.96 Ed Langdon 3.025 7 2.983 1.41 S May 2.950 9 3.168 -6.88 B Grundy 2.850 10 3.182 -10.43 C Salem 2.725 11 3.495 -22.03 T Rivers 2.475 12 3.757 -34.12 T Sparrow 2.450 13 2.998 -18.28 L Hunter 2.325 14 2.975 -21.85 B Brown 2.325 15 2.033 14.36 J Harmes 2.325 15 2.938 -20.86 J McVee 1.875 17 2.230 -15.92 K Chandler 1.500 18 2.423 -38.09 K Pickett 1.450 19 2.379 -39.05 J Melksham > 69% 1.150 20 1.437 -19.97 Joel Smith 0.925 21 1.817 -49.09 A N-Bullen 0.850 22 2.695 -68.46 B Fritsch < 7% 0.100 23 2.235 -95.53 Team Rating 58.03 71.52 -18.87 Top 6 23.50 26.43 -11.09 Bottom 6 7.75 9.36 -17.20 < Subbed out / TOG % > Subbed in / TOG % Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Isn't he often on the bench giving advice and encouragement?

Bring Howes in to trial in this role. They are quite similar although Howes probably half a season behind at this point. Worth a block of matches though imv That allows McVee to move up to the wing to replace Hunter. Hunter is completely innefective in general play and by foot. Dumps rubbish tumble lolly pops short into the HF area pretty much every time with no penetration. McVee then becomes more damaging and effective in terms of his ability by foot and will give us some run and carry through the middle. Might also hit some targets on the 45 and help to change angles coming into the 50, which we rarely ever do. Makes us too easy to defend every week coming in in straight lines. McVee is also a decent user if he gets near 50 vs say Rivers who just bombs it in. Howes a VG user by foot and hand. Howes is also capable of hitting targets inside 50 when pushing up high. The above eliminates one more poor ball user in Hunter and potentially improves our connections forward of center x 2 !

You mean like last season when they made the change of Petty forward with 10 minutes to go after the game / final & season was pretty much shot?

100%.... Crazy that he still has this flaw after so much time in the system

No he has massive upside imv Leuc. But whatever's happening this year has seen him regress in small forward craft and has also seen Chandler hit the wall with his development. Very sad to watch. They should both be up and about every other week vs both dropping away for weeks on end. They both just need the right guidance, structure up forward. Plus method of play to match what is happening up field and visa versa. For whatever reason we have stagnated and in some ways regressing backwards now. We are potentially watching the demise of a team that had at least one more shot at the big one, now going down the gurglar as the coach & FD appear to be incapable of mid/forward connection / cohesion nor improving forward craft & finish. There's only so many times the backs/mids can get the ball in there. At some point the forwards have to perform at a minimum level and convert at a reasonable level, consistently! Spotlight also needs to be placed on Tracc, Hunter, Sparrow & ANB. Their forward work is atrocious. Gus probably needs a mention also. Having said that i counted two hit up leads today. One from Nibbler to Kozzy. The other from Brown to Melk. But that was it as far as connection went. Too many hackers forward of center incapable of finishing, and many that have the finish in them are playing poorly. Otherwise we would be winning vs Dockers, Cats & GWS. Time to sit the mids & forwards down plus the line coaches and coach and sort this rubbish out. If they don't it'll be another season wasted.

Where is Kozzy at and why has he regressed aside from the odd chase down attempts & pressure attempts inside 50 where he was doing well here (2nd in the AFL on averages for tackles inside 50) up to about 2 weeks ago? Havent checked if he's still in the mix here the last few weeks. Just isn't playing the 101s as a small forward as you would want. STILL going for the odd pack mark. Still playing from behind in 1 v 1s far too often. In the wet today was just silly. Doesn't get front & square often enough (occasionally due to pack mark attempts) and when he does.... he usually runs straight into the bottom of the pack so he has virtually no chance of crumbing the spill or escaping if he does. Who's mentoring / teaching him this rubbish lazy / innefective method of small forward play (offensively)? Chandler is another post altogether. Completely innefective the last 5 weeks. Zero goals if i'm correct.

We'll agree to disagree Bin Bowey certainly has the tank and can play this role plus damage with ball in hand forward of center

Agree with all of that. The Bowey part especially but Goodwin appears glued to ANB which was the move that shouldve been made ie; Bowey for ANB Woe for Jordan Melk as sub

Game at 3ish .... 40% chance of rain = 60 / 40 win/loss Being one of the worst wet weather teams going...looks like another coin flip with a likely scrape through win depending on what the gods decide to bring on the day. Hope Melk is the sub