Demon Dynasty

Player Rating Review (three quarter time) - Defenders Tom McDonald (Key Defender 31yo 195cm) Rnd 5 to Rnd 11 vs Rnd 12 to 18 + H&A Season 2023 vs H&A Season 2024 #25 T McDonald Rnds 5 to 11 Rnds 12 to 18 % Change 2023 2024 % Change Contested Poss 5.5 4.8 -12.1 5.2 4.8 -8.1 Uncontested Poss 8.7 9.3 7.7 6.2 8.6 39.9 Effective Disposals* 11.3 11.8 4.4 7.8 11.1 41.2 Disposal Effeciency % 78.7 77.8 -0.9 77.9 80.8 2.9 Contested Marks* 1.7 0.7 -60.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 Marks inside 50* 0.0 0.2 - 1.2 0.1 -94.6 One Percenters* 7.0 8.5 21.4 2.0 7.1 253.1 Clearances* 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.5 0.1 -75.0 Rebound 50s* 4.2 4.3 4.0 0.2 4.2 2412.5 Inside 50s* 1.0 0.5 -50.0 1.7 0.8 -51.3 Tackles* 2.2 1.2 -46.2 1.8 1.8 -1.1 Score Involvements* 2.7 3.2 18.8 4.0 2.8 -29.7 Meters Gained 232.8 310.8 33.5 167.0 255.1 52.8 Turnovers* 2.8 3.0 5.9 2.2 2.6 21.2 Intercepts* 7.7 5.8 -23.9 1.3 6.3 373.4 Tackles Inside 50* 0.0 0.0 - 0.7 0.0 -100.0 Time On Ground % 97.2 96.3 -0.8 77.0 97.2 20.2 Goals* 0.0 0.5 - 1.3 0.2 -85.9 Hit Outs to Adv* 0.0 0.0 - 0.3 0.0 -100.0 *DD's Player Rating 3.2 3.1 -3.7 2.1 3.1 48.7 Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Spot on re Bowsa's kicking. Not only floats them allowing more chance of intercepts, when he finally pulls the trigger he tends to project the kick too often. Allowing the oppo to read and often intercept or spoil. When not playing a genuine CB role, i don't think Sparrow's even sure what his role is. He even confirmed this at training earlier this year when i asked him that exact question. He appears to have lost alot of confidence when not playing there but has also seemingly lost any drive from congestion he had on occasions earlier in his career. When he's on, Jackson is a hard customer to counter as he effectively becomes an extra mid once the ball hits the deck at CBs and can then quickly drift forward to provide an extra if the oppo ruck can't keep up with him on the sprint. He's also so athletic, he can expose those that aren't or those that can't keep up with him as he drifts inside 50. He's the worst nightmare for a player who's not at AFL fitness or tank level right now (due to interrupted pre-season) like Petty who, while no doubt hits the contest hard, is also not that gifted athletically and doesn't have the tank to run a game out beyond about two quarters (till now).

Yes that'a a good point. The last 15 minutes or so was pretty much all their way.

Player Rating Review (three quarter time) - Defenders Jake Lever (Key Defender 28yo 194cm) Rnd 5 to Rnd 9 vs Rnd 16 to 18 + H&A Season 2023 vs H&A Season 2024 Obviously taking Jake a few matches to get back into some form and fitness. Seemingly back to his best against the Bombers. Let's hope so anyway as he was on fire in the block of matches preceding his op. #8 J Lever Rnds 5 to 9 Rnds 16 to 18 % Change 2023 2024 % Change Contested Poss 8.3 4.7 -43.4 5.6 5.8 2.8 Uncontested Poss 11.3 8.0 -28.9 8.7 9.3 6.5 Effective Disposals* 17.3 11.0 -36.2 12.4 12.3 -1.3 Disposal Effeciency % 83.9 87.6 3.7 86.6 82.2 -4.5 Contested Marks* 1.5 0.3 -77.8 0.7 0.8 22.2 Marks inside 50* 0.0 0.0 - 0.1 0.0 -100.0 One Percenters* 4.0 5.7 41.7 5.3 5.5 4.3 Clearances* 0.5 0.0 -100.0 0.2 0.3 37.5 Rebound 50s* 4.8 2.7 -43.9 3.3 3.9 19.7 Inside 50s* 1.5 1.0 -33.3 1.0 1.2 16.7 Tackles* 1.3 0.7 -46.7 1.1 1.5 32.0 Score Involvements* 4.8 3.3 -29.8 2.0 3.5 75.0 Meters Gained 348.8 147.3 -57.8 238.3 247.8 4.0 Turnovers* 3.5 1.3 -61.9 2.4 2.7 10.7 Intercepts* 11.8 8.0 -31.9 8.0 8.7 7.7 Tackles Inside 50* 0.3 0.0 -100.0 0.1 0.1 -8.3 Time On Ground % 97.3 89.3 -7.9 97.5 91.5 -6.0 Goals* 0.3 0.0 -100.0 0.0 0.1 - Hit Outs to Adv* 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - *DD's Player Rating 4.5 3.1 -30.1 3.1 3.4 8.5 Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Player Rating Review (three quarter time) - Defenders Trent Rivers (Medium Defender / Midfield 22yo 188cm) Rnd 5 to Rnd 11 vs Rnd 12 to 18 + H&A Season 2023 vs H&A Season 2024 Now this is an interesting one. With Rivers playing roughly a half game against the Lions in the middle in Rnd 5 but of course the rest mostly as a HB. Then pretty much switching to a full time mid role from roughly Rnd 16 vs the Lions. So far so good! #24 T Rivers Rnds 5 to 11 Rnds 12 to 18 % Change 2023 2024 % Change Contested Poss 3.5 8.5 142.9 6.3 5.9 -6.2 Uncontested Poss 14.3 16.2 12.8 13.5 14.4 6.3 Effective Disposals* 14.5 17.7 21.8 15.7 15.5 -1.5 Disposal Effeciency % 78.3 71.7 -6.6 76.8 74.3 -2.5 Contested Marks* 0.5 0.0 -100.0 0.7 0.2 -64.3 Marks inside 50* 0.0 0.0 - 0.2 0.0 -100.0 One Percenters* 1.7 2.5 50.0 2.2 1.9 -9.9 Clearances* 1.0 4.0 300.0 1.1 2.1 92.6 Rebound 50s* 2.7 3.8 43.8 4.0 3.5 -13.3 Inside 50s* 3.7 4.3 18.2 3.0 3.5 16.1 Tackles* 2.2 3.8 76.9 2.3 2.6 13.2 Score Involvements* 4.0 5.0 25.0 3.6 4.4 20.7 Meters Gained 415.3 491.7 18.4 393.9 419.5 6.5 Turnovers* 3.5 4.5 28.6 3.2 3.9 20.9 Intercepts* 4.2 3.8 -8.0 6.6 4.5 -30.9 Tackles Inside 50* 0.0 0.3 - 0.1 0.1 -10.8 Time On Ground % 79.5 74.2 -5.3 78.2 78.8 0.8 Goals* 0.0 0.2 - 0.1 0.1 -33.1 Hit Outs to Adv* 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - *DD's Player Rating 3.1 4.1 30.8 3.7 3.5 -6.4 Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Player Rating Review (three quarter time) - Defenders Judd McVee (Medium Defender 20yo 185cm) Rnd 5 to Rnd 11 vs Rnd 12 to 18 + H&A Season 2023 vs H&A Season 2024 Checking how our players are fairing, three quarters of the way through. Comparing their six rounds from Rnd 5 to 11 to the last six rounds from Rnd 12 to 18 along with how they're season is stacking up vs season 2023. I have excluded players that did not play in at least three rounds from either block of matches eg; Salem who only played in Round 10 & 11. #4 J McVee Rnds 5 to 11 Rnds 12 to 18 % Change 2023 2024 % Change Contested Poss 4.2 7.2 72.0 4.7 5.4 16.3 Uncontested Poss 8.0 9.3 16.7 8.5 8.6 1.3 Effective Disposals* 12.0 13.5 12.5 10.1 13.6 34.1 Disposal Effeciency % 77.1 79.5 2.4 77.6 80.6 3.0 Contested Marks* 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.2 -42.0 Marks inside 50* 0.0 0.0 - 0.1 0.0 -100.0 One Percenters* 2.5 2.7 6.7 2.4 2.4 -0.9 Clearances* 0.2 1.2 600.0 0.3 0.6 148.0 Rebound 50s* 3.0 3.7 22.2 2.4 3.9 64.8 Inside 50s* 0.8 0.8 0.0 1.0 0.8 -23.5 Tackles* 1.3 0.7 -50.0 1.4 0.8 -42.6 Score Involvements* 2.0 2.2 8.3 2.2 2.3 3.5 Meters Gained 218.7 238.7 9.1 182.7 269.2 47.3 Turnovers* 2.0 2.7 33.3 2.5 2.5 0.3 Intercepts* 5.7 6.7 17.6 5.3 6.0 12.2 Tackles Inside 50* 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - Time On Ground % 80.3 81.0 0.7 78.9 80.5 1.7 Goals* 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - Hit Outs to Adv* 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - *DD's Player Rating 2.7 3.0 11.0 2.3 3.0 28.3 Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Team & Player Ratings to Rnd 18, 2024 vs H&A Season 2023 Player 2024 Rating 2024 Rank 2023 Rating % Change vs 2023 2023 Rank Change in Rank vs 2023 C Petracca 4.476 1 4.707 -4.9 2 1 Max Gawn < 4.170 2 3.350 24.5 7 5 Steven May 3.701 3 3.213 15.2 8 5 C Oliver 3.535 4 5.002 -29.3 1 -3 T Rivers 3.460 5 3.696 -6.4 5 0 Jake Lever < 3.398 6 3.131 8.5 9 3 C Salem < 3.354 7 2.993 12.1 12 5 Jack Viney 3.179 8 3.707 -14.2 4 -4 Ed Langdon 3.133 9 3.057 2.5 10 1 A N-Bullen 3.056 10 2.532 20.7 20 10 T McDonald 3.055 11 2.054 48.7 27 16 Judd McVee 2.976 12 2.320 28.3 22 10 A Tomlinson 2.915 13 2.915 0.0 14 1 K Pickett 2.603 14 2.101 23.9 26 12 J Bowey < 2.497 15 2.820 -11.5 15 0 T Woewodin < > 2.369 16 1.406 68.5 34 18 T Sparrow 2.360 17 2.811 -16.0 16 -1 B Howes 2.348 18 - - - - C Windsor < 2.325 19 - - - - J Melksham 2.300 20 1.599 43.8 32 12 M Hore 2.273 21 - - - - A M-Wakefield 2.233 22 - - - - J Billings < > 2.202 23 - - - - K Chandler 2.138 24 2.265 -5.6 23 -1 J V Rooyen 2.128 25 2.170 -1.9 25 0 B Fritsch 1.851 26 2.324 -20.4 21 -5 L Hunter* < 1.838 27 2.939 -37.5 13 -14 K Tholstrup 1.795 28 - - - - B Laurie* < > 1.605 29 2.235 -28.2 24 -5 S McAdam* 1.483 30 - - - - D Turner 1.458 31 1.825 -20.1 31 0 Ben Brown < 1.391 32 1.941 -28.3 28 -4 H Petty < 1.287 33 2.718 -52.6 19 -14 C Spargo* 1.200 34 1.886 -36.4 29 -5 J Schache* 0.700 35 1.525 -54.1 33 -2 K Brown* > 0.125 36 - - - - Team Rating 65.72 69.86 -5.9 Top 6 22.74 24.43 -6.9 Bottom 6 13.84 15.17 -8.8 * Played less than two full matches (in total) < Subbed out at least once or more (player rating could be somewhat comprised) > Subbed in at least once or more (player rating could be somewhat comprised) Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Yes the Team Ratings suggest that should have been the case DZ. This is where stats fail to tell a fair chunk of the story. Much of the effectiveness on the night is how efficient teams are with ball in hand under such slippery conditions. If the Bomber's over possessed the ball a bit, especially in the first half, does this help explain why their ratings were a fair way ahead of ours? Effectively a false flag feeding into my ratings given the conditions? They had 47 more effectives but i suspect much of those were extra shortish handballs. 30 more than us on the night. They also had 15 more kicks. If these extra disposals were mostly short or lateral HBs & kicks then maybe they falsely inflated a number of player ratings and hence their team rating? It's worth noting they also had 10 more clangers than us. With regard to Rivers i also felt he was influential and quite prolific, mainly in the first half. He certainly got to plenty of contests and contributed positively in general play. His problem from a ratings perspective was he also had a massive number of turnovers on the night and this system punishes turnovers and obviously rewards a player who is more clean with the ball. Rivers was a turnover king on the night with 11. Merrett not far behind on 9 which is a credit to ANB and no doubt others from a pressure POV. Followed in equal 3rd spot by McVee & Draper with 7 a piece. Obviously a tough night in the office. Turnovers were always going to be on the high side for many, especially anyone running through the middle.

Gregory take a bow son. Superb attack, gather and give

Round 18, 2024 MCG - Demons vs Bombers Nothing better than a gutsy gritty win in the wet. Probably too early but have we finally turned the corner in terms of wet weather play? Great team effort. If there was a major standout though i thought Linger's may have been our MVP on the night. His highest rated game since Rnd 19, 2023 vs the Crows where he posted a 4.45 However, given the form of Merrett coming in to this match, i also thought that Nibbla's efforts where also equally as valuable to the team. He took the No.1 ranked player from the Bombers win over the Pies the previous week to the 31st (overall) last night while also coming in in 14th place himself! Stonewall May was also right up there. An another outstanding game from young Windsor among a number of others. Let's take a look at a few of the above... Langdon: 23 effectives @ 74% (AFL average in the wet!), 1 one percenter, 4 clearances, 3 Rebounds, 2 Inside 50s, 5 Score Involvements, 5 Intercepts, 100% Game time, 332 Meters Gaines, 1 Goal and 6 Turnovers. May: 20 effectives @ 83%, 10 One Percenters (the most on the night), 9 Rebounds (the most on the night), 2 Tackles, 3 Score Involvements, 9 Intercepts (4th behind McKay 17 / McVee 15 & Lever with 10), 355 Meters Gained & 4 Turnovers. I felt the Demons defended better and just played more efficiently it seemed with the Bombers over using handball early before correcting somewhat in the 2nd half? That's just observation, the numbers might tell a diff story. The Bombers also went into a wet game with a very tall team. On average they had 4cm over us which is not the usual differential between teams. In most games this would usually average no more than roughly 1cm. Something they will probably be regretting this morning. Scoring Efficiency Demons Bombers Disposals Per Goal 28.2 41.1 % In50s Goal 26.5 17.9 Conversion % 68.4 44.4 Average Attributes Melbourne Attribute Essendon 185.6cm Height 189.6cm 85.1kg Weight 88.2kg 25yr 4mth Age 26yr 3mth 108.8 Games 115.8 Total Players By Games Melbourne Games Essendon 7 Less than 50 3 5 50 to 99 9 2 100 to 149 4 5 150 to 200 3 4 200 or more 4 Player Rating Rank 2023 Season Rating % Change vs 2023 S May 4.775 1 3.213 48.6 Ed Langdon 4.175 2 3.057 36.6 J Lever 3.550 3 3.131 13.4 J McVee 3.350 4 2.320 44.4 K Pickett 3.300 5 2.101 57.1 A N-Bullen 3.200 6 2.532 26.4 C Windsor 3.075 7 - - T Rivers 3.050 8 3.696 -17.5 C Oliver 2.850 9 5.002 -43.0 T McDonald 2.825 10 2.054 37.5 J Melksham 2.725 11 1.599 70.4 K Chandler 2.350 12 2.265 3.8 B Fritsch 2.075 13 2.324 -10.7 Jack Viney 2.075 13 3.707 -44.0 J Bowey 2.050 15 2.820 -27.3 C Salem 1.900 16 2.993 -36.5 D Turner 1.900 16 1.825 4.1 J V Rooyen 1.850 18 2.170 -14.7 A M-Wakefield < 62% 1.525 19 - - K Tholstrup 1.525 19 - - H Petty 0.975 21 2.718 -64.1 T Sparrow 0.800 22 2.811 -71.5 T Woewodin > 17% 0.425 23 2.993 -85.8 Team Score 55.90 69.86 -20.0 Top 6 22.35 24.43 -8.5 Bottom 6 8.58 15.17 -43.5 < Subbed out TOG % > Subbed in TOG % Bombers Player Rating Rank N Martin 5.700 1 B McKay 5.675 2 J Ridley 5.050 3 D Shiel 4.900 4 J Caldwell 3.725 5 M Redman 3.575 6 D Heppell 3.425 7 S Durham 3.350 8 S Draper 2.975 9 X Duursma 2.925 10 A McGrath 2.325 11 H Jones 2.325 11 K Langford 2.300 13 J Kelly 2.200 14 J Gresham 2.100 15 Z Merrett 1.975 16 J Stringer 1.950 17 P Wright < 49% 1.900 18 A Perkins 1.800 19 N Cox 1.675 20 N Hind > 27% 1.275 21 M Guelfi 1.025 22 N Caddy 0.800 23 Team Rating 64.15 Top 6 28.63 Bottom 6 9.63 Combined Ratings Player Rating Rank N Martin 5.700 1 B McKay 5.675 2 J Ridley 5.050 3 D Shiel 4.900 4 S May 4.775 5 Ed Langdon 4.175 6 J Caldwell 3.725 7 M Redman 3.575 8 J Lever 3.550 9 D Heppell 3.425 10 S Durham 3.350 11 J McVee 3.350 11 K Pickett 3.300 13 A N-Bullen 3.200 14 C Windsor 3.075 15 T Rivers 3.050 16 S Draper 2.975 17 X Duursma 2.925 18 C Oliver 2.850 19 T McDonald 2.825 20 J Melksham 2.725 21 K Chandler 2.350 22 A McGrath 2.325 23 H Jones 2.325 23 K Langford 2.300 25 J Kelly 2.200 26 J Gresham 2.100 27 B Fritsch 2.075 28 Jack Viney 2.075 28 J Bowey 2.050 30 Z Merrett 1.975 31 J Stringer 1.950 32 P Wright < 49% 1.900 33 C Salem 1.900 33 D Turner 1.900 33 J V Rooyen 1.850 36 A Perkins 1.800 37 N Cox 1.675 38 A M-Wakefield < 62% 1.525 39 K Tholstrup 1.525 39 N Hind > 27% 1.275 41 M Guelfi 1.025 42 H Petty 0.975 43 T Sparrow 0.800 44 N Caddy 0.800 44 T Woewodin > 17% 0.425 46 Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

You can't play the same ruck line up as last time unless you wanna get pantsed again TU. Woe is a mile ahead of Bowsa in an isolated 1v1 sense and in the air when the oppo are bringing it inside on a quick transition and get the look they want. Whetherr Woe has the accuracy skills by foot is another matter but generally he plays a more down the line style vs Bowsa which might not be a big coach winner in a team sense. I'd still play Woe at this point as i feel his tank is a fair way ahead from a running sense which should assist him in getting from contest to contest a little more. Bowsa still looks a tad under done for mine, understandable given his interrupted pre season. I can gtee though, if the oppo has half a brain they'll look to get a reasonably tall mobile marking mis-match on Bowsa and try to play through him most of the night. Bowsa in the air / 1v1 is a massive licking of chops prospect for mine in his present state and a big weak link. I'd even consider swapping in Howes for him this week, depending on how he goes today.

No he doesn't. Who does he replace? An on fire T-Mac having one of his best years? Lever, our best intercept KD also having one of his best seaaons in the red & blue? No thanks.

Fabulous first half? Nibbla's role on a rampagaing Merrett 💪🏼 What a diff a Milkshake makes! And that Disco inferno! Burn baby burn

Thanks to the AFL ring masters and their dodgy fixture that's set up to manufacture preferred outcomes and the finals pecking order.

That's as good as any win this year with No.22 doing his best to get the Peptides back from the death. 22 should be sent to the country leagues and never heard or seen from again.

Clarry stopped to a walk. Shiel having a field day out of the CB

22 doing his best to get the Peptides up!!!!

Why arent we flooding after we lose posession uo the field???

Have all three involved my man? ... Oops... wrong gif...

Agree, at VFL level his set shot kicking is a joy to watch. He probably needs another pre-season to build his frame & tank but right at the moment he isn't as far off AFL as some might think. If finals became mathematically inpossible we should start getting a few games into him imho.

Not that the scribes are always right, in fact often the reverse, but Sanderson also assumed we would be selecting Fullo as Gawn's replacement (y'day before the teams came out). He also said he felt we looked better up forward against the Eagles without Petty.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/07/11/where-merretts-huge-pies-outing-ranks-among-essendons-best-champion-data/

Don't think he'll be able to go with Merrett. Clarry's not a great tagger at the best of times and his head's not even in the stadium half the time this season from what i've been witnessing. Sometimes yes, other times away with the fairies. Personally i'd consider sacrificing Chandler in a lock down defensive role here. Hassling, tackling is his thing and he doesn't really impact much as a HF on the scoreboard anyway. May as well try and get the win here as Merrett's impact around the ground is at an all time high atm. Would also like to see Kozzy playing a solid defensive HF role on McGrath who gives them serious drive & speed on transition off HB at times.

YES

100% this. There's just no logic to playing Petty &/or JVR in a serious ruck role when you have a 2 meter option sitting at Casey who will do roughly the same job. And the upside is more JVR up forward with more energy as a forward and less chance of being pummelled or copping a serious knee / leg injury. 2024 will forever be known as the season of the petty obsession.