Demon Dynasty

Four umps and not one saw the full on jumper tug lol

Imagine his impact with a bit more bulk after another few pre-seasons

Sanders is looking a tad better so far this season. Seems to have found his legs, poise and mojo

You're lucky there was no face palm emoji added to the update QD

I think you already know the answer Deevs

Very early days but presently down nearly 15%. That's a substantial drop (so far). You can't tell me the top brass haven't noticed that by now.

Yep ...Max should play a kick behind the ball much of the time. Imv that's when our wall looks more impenetrable although that was at least 2 years ago (or more) i think. Can Max still take those down the line intercepts as much as he once did?

Sounds like Goody finally cracked it and read them the riot act

Shouldn't that be Disco? Sorry but Howes is a fair way off at the moment. The oppo will look to run it through his man a fair bit me thinks.

I only saw the 2nd half of Casey. Mentha looked pretty tasty in patches. Hopefully he can build the tank / form and pressure for that spot over the next month or so?

Which bay is that lot in DZ? Do they have their own merch? I reckon there might be a few extras this week. P.S. Apologies for the neon green so early in the morning. I'm blaming Andy & his new fandangled update (which, mind you, is pretty bloody spiffy eh).

Gold Mr Fence... pure gold Your new nic... GoldFencer?

Fabulous thanks Daz. Great to hear / see some of the fundamentals and tactics with that sort of behind the play vision from Fox. The Hawks look to be very well drilled here and everything clicking into place. They'll be a hard team to counter this season. Great to hear Simpson's insights of the modern game given he has only just departed.

The fact that we have not had a great ex forward as a forward line coach probably hasn't helped DZ. I'm still astonished that Simon left this stone unturned from 2022 onwards and did not look for that sort of replacement for Stafford, even after he moved on.

The coach no doubt has commitments but they certainly aren't giving away anything substantial or eye opening other than a bit of an injury update at the weekly and post match pressors GD It's the same old boring stuff which I'm fine with. But why give the reporters any unnecessary ammo to go on with? Whether its the Coach or the players. And we've had player issues before such as May & Lingers where things were said that should not have come out outside the four walls. In house is a different matter. I'm not saying we should go into a media lock down. Just keep a super tight ship and don't give up much inside info / intel at all! Even if it's a love fest inside the four walls. The deep personal stuff should (in the main) remain in house imho.

100%... I've been saying this since 2021. Stop with the talk. Just walk the walk and let the footy do the talking. But it seems almost every other week we are blurting out something that makes us a target and/or telling everyone we are gonna do this or we're working on that. Shoosh up and just get on with it FCS.

That last line applies to almost everyone in the AFL system Mr Leg. Why you rarely hear of any club officials, coaches, players or basically anyone....ever making a stand, protesting, striking or speaking their mind. All on the gravy train and will pretty much just go along with whatever's dished up. It's just one big self-run franchised circus that answers to no one with some involved being easier / softer targets than others. The AFL no doubt have their favoured clubs, presidents and players and no one dare touches them, nor sticks their head up to do so, for fear of having it chopped off.

If the club can solve it in my lifetime i'd be happy as Larry OD

I agree but i don't see this as 100% on Simon. It is on the club, Simon and the FD as a whole though. And the players to try and execute of course. If we still think Simon's the answer then we surely have to look at all options to improve / assist. And whether he's willing to change things up and adapt and take on board / implement / address areas of concern from an experienced assistant or strategist. That assistant is presently Richo. Is there a significant analyst / strategist looking at the oppo and having a say also? I'd consider the option of replacing Richo with a great ex footballer and thinker of the game at this point to add a new perspective and keep us on the cusp. And with a view as a potential successor to Simon. Luke Hodge would be someone i'd consider but i'm sure there's other options out there as well. And no i'm not saying he is 'the one' or that he's even ready or willing. Probably not. The boys may need a fresh voice though. Someone new who they will respect and take note of. Hodge would be a great addition. Or someone of similar calibre / pedigree anyway. Either way, I think it's time to break up the two amigos and bring in at least one fresh face / voice and viewpoint. And if it's a new assistant, that can probably happen in-season.

You should know better than to give the oppo that sorta heads up Kent!

Jury's out on whether Turner will make it as a forward or defender. Some will say jury is out alltogether but i still think he's a better prospect of making it as either as the guy has a decent leap and vice like hands when he's on. He can also kick quite accurately. He does go missing quite a bit but young fellas do that and he is not supposed to be our No.1 forward. JVR should be up there somewhat and taking the heat off Turner but in his first two games has not fired a shot, which makes life hard for everyone else. Fritta has also gone AWOL for quite sometime now which creates another hole for Goody to fill. Hopefully AJ and / or Melk will come in and perform here to make up for the loss of Fritta. I'd persist with Turner up forward (for now but a block of games proposition!) and if he doesn't come on well then there's always the other end he could attempt again. I prefer him to Howes down back IF our forward line wasn't so shizen. JVR will need to have a break out year during the remainder of this season. As we sit here now though, he's just too immobile and very poor once the ball hits the deck to be a damaging KF. 2025 is his make or break season imho. Having said that you have to forgive JVR a tad for the amazing delivery he is on the end of much of the time. Nice work boys 😆

I would not be surprised if Claz returns to somewhere near his best this season. That's not to say he won't have a few ups and downs early. No g'tees but Sunday's output was a great sign that he may be back to somewhere near his best anyway. Kozzy will be back week after next vs Puddy Cats. Whether he stays or not we just want to see him hit full throttle and not take his foot off in any match / quarter he plays for rest of the season without further indiscretions. If he leaves at year's end, and i suspect that's already in train and many of the boys know / suspect it as being so, so be it. Reckon you might be underestimating Tracc's competitive spirit and professionalism. Is he under done after not training fully (contact wise) with the main group for most of the pre-season and may not hit his straps in most quarters / matches as a result? Early days but he was off his 2024 levels by about 27% last week and about 52% on Sunday which does not augur well. Can he turn that around? If im Simon looking at those numbers and his two results so far, i'd be pulling him aside and having a chat over a coffee and asking him realistically where he feels he's at. Can he get back as he stands now or do we cut him a bit of slack for a few weeks, get a mini pre-season into him on the track over the next 4 weeks or so with a view to bringing him back once his KPI's, GPS numbers and track form / fitness warrant? Of course if he's playing you could and probably should assume the FD are fully across this side and he's right to go. I'm probably way off the mark there. No harm in pontificating though. We also have another problem and have since last season's drama and that's who are our designated extractors? Our one wood prior to last season was extraction / clearance which was, in the main, left to Viney, Claz and Maxy in that order. Viney to me looks to be a tad burnt out after last season where he pretty much carried the entire extraction load himself. Is Clarry back and supporting him again here or just mostly skirting on the outside for the give and go? For us to get back to our best footy (old Goodwin version crash / bash / chaos style) or even get things going under any new style that Simon & the boys are trying to implement, we're going to have to correct this at some stage. Maybe it's a Langford but that feels a mile away in terms of seriously competitive / effective. Who else could we bring in to CBs / stoppages as an extractor right now? Is there anyone else? Is Chin and option? Too small and his pressure needed inside 50 and forward half yes? For as long as that situation is not resolved and / or Viney / Clazz combined are no longer cutting it up here, we are pretty much gonna get pummelled by oppo that is better at extracting and first use as we witnessed on Sunday. A younger Viney would and probably did take this on to great effect in the past. In short bursts now...sure he is probably still 'ok' without being at the peak of his powers a few years back. But can't expect this from him for as long as we once may have. He needs back up and that used to be Claz, Maxy pre 2024. And in 2021 it was also LJ a little. At this point, we don't have the speed by foot or experience from some of our rookies to sit on the outside and close down our opponents when they're winning more extractions and first use at CB and around ground stoppages.

Not worth it if the coach can't motivate and inspire and have the ability change things up a little in game though. Would need to be someone who brings the game style plus that for mine. There isn't an abundance of that just waiting in the wings but I'd be seriously considering horse as that option.

We are already in their sights BZ. Your second line is spot on as to why the heat is low....for now. In addition we are slowly but surely becoming the irrelevant club that we were prior to 2021. That will play out in memberships, the fixture days and timelslots, lack of prime time matches etc if we continue on this route for much longer. Losing eventually results in a loss of previous gains etc. As they say in the classics, winners are grinners