Demon Dynasty

Certainly not this lander 👇🏼

I'll comment shortly.... just trying to find a new pair of jeans

Gus's efforts immense in this 2nd half

Nice wok from Max. Kozzy to Tracc.... Tracc to Kozzy!!

FCS SUB SPARGO FOR SMITH!!!!!!!!

Howes in for Hunter??

Should be straight in for Spargo from now. Let's hope we don't wait till the last 15 min

100% our biggest weakness tonight. He has never hit form at any stage since the concussion. Coming back to bite the selectors on the bum. A pitty Clazz aint ready. Straight swap

They're looking to go through Lever's man whenever they can. The pressure has to come from up the field to curb them doing this to the favoured side of his opponent or so often

Presently feels like 9 degrees ....top of 14 and overcast all day with ye olde Melbourne eddy circling (again). Cant get toast & Vegemite in bed let alone an Aperol from me lil storm cloud. Really appreciate you not rubbin it in!! THANKS Ollie! 😝

Dunstan was VG in patches but generally 'ok' for three quarters. Last quarter was very sloppy and dropped away. Defensively he probably doesn't get to the level that might see him picked (at least in this particular Casey game...not talking generally here). He might still be recovering from his knee issue somewhat which might be limiting his ability to cover ground (speculation). He still managed 24 disposals with some VG distribution by hand, a few of which resulted in a goal. One worth noting in particular was at the 8 minute mark (approx) of the second. A magnificent forward HB in congestion where he hit up Chandler 8 to 10 meters over the top who then spotted up Schache for an easy joe-the-goose goal. Having said that, he then turned the ball over a couple of times in the last with poor handballs, a dropped mark from a hospital short pass from a kick in which eventually resulted in a turnover goal and was generally not at the level of his fiirst three quarters (which were ok). Some may interpret this as a poor result (not my interpretation) vs an ok game (my assessment on the day). Chandler worked his behind off all game. Got first use on a few occasions in and under with extractions that resulted in at least two clearances and three scoring chaines. Namely the two goals to Edwards and the one to Schache above. I guess a stats guy would classify those as 2 clearances & 3 score involvements? Also had 19 disposals and 4 tackles but failed to hit the scoreboard again for the 5th game running if you include AFL results. In total scoring only 7 behinds in 5 matches. The last time he kicked a goal was Rnd 11 vs the Power with 1.1 I would argue he was outpointed in a 'genuine small forward' sense (ie; crumbing, opportunistic goal kicking and pressure (tackling) by Moniz. While Moniz had less disposals (11), and was quieter in a general sense than his outstanding performance the week before (and quieter than Chandler in a general play sense), he still managed to lay 7 tackles and kick 2 snap goals.

Pretty sure they said at least 3 weeks to fully recover. He would be right on the edge of that probably. One week too early me thinks plus they usually like to give Hibb a run at Casey before coming in.

Yes but they can still put significant training time into him playing as a forward in the interim until the next Casey game. That actually might be more beneficial as he'll have about two weeks of that and then get to put it into practice at Casey.

Could be MF. Might have intended something like this all along

I wasn't aware we were blooding him as a mostly forward. The CBA numbers don't support this with Max still taking the bulk of them vs Grundy. Max is also running at 39% accuracy at goals vs Grundy 63% so far this season. Why would you want your least accurate Ruckman, and by a long margin, up forward? While Max does take double the number of marks inside 50 each match it's still less than 1 per match (on average) @ 0.8 vs Grundy 0.4 Neither are setting the world on fire in this regards either. I would argue the premise of looking to turn one of them (or both !!??) into a serious TF option is a flawed concept in itself. Most teams only ever see the main rucks drift or push forward to stretch the oppos ruck and offer an 'occasional' extra option up forward. They certainly don't try to turn them into a genuine (regular with serious minutes) forward target if that's what you're suggesting we are attempting to do with Max. And if we have attempted this (from one or both) the results so far would suggest we shouldn't be.

Makes sense post the knee issue. I don't feel it's the right strategy if Max was fully fit and not in that space though. I'd want my best ruck to be at his very best and dominating. Even if it was just say two more seasons, for an improved chance at one more cup vs just plodding along for longevity sake with the help of another 'ok' ruck and probably missing out. Hope to be proven wrong, but the extra ruck means you have given up a place for a potential very good KF, inside or outside mid. When all is said & done i just don't feel the pay off will be worth that sacrifice after we look back and review this decision after another season or two. For whatever reason, post injury and/or other, at the moment Max looks like a shadow of his former self. That's not to say he isn't playing some pretty good footy at times. It's more his body language on the field and in general. The happy-go-lucky confident Max (on the field) that played with a bit of fire in the belly and freedom appears to be missing somewhat for mine this season.

I'm in no way wishing ill on Grundy but i agree with the premise. IF Max can run out a game at about 80% we will be a much better team with the extra mid and/or KF imv.

It was also pretty dewy. On his day Max is also the better tap ruckman imho. I could be wrong but in first halfs we seem to play Max for a fair chunk of time at CBs. We often get on top or are well in touch at this point in many games. We then revert to opening the 3rd quarter with mostly Grundy doing the CBAs. The oppo then start to get on top, winning a few more clearances and often scoring. This sees them get a sniff/incentive and start to take back the momentum. The momentum that we often had in the first half. This momentum then becomes hard to shut down and guess what, we then revert back to Max at CBs (half way through the third or so) in an attempt to stop the rot. That's no longer as easy as it may have once been though as we have an aging Maxy coming off a knee recovery plus no Clarry of late . The second half then becomes a bit of a struggle street with the likes of Max, Viney & Tracc trying to wrestle the lost momentum back our way again. Ok so maybe Max doesn't have the capability of playing three quarters in a row at full tilt anymore to put a game beyond doubt but i'd still prefer to see him at least open the CBAs straight after the half time break in order to keep the momentum going our way, prior to bringing Grundy in for the chop out later in the third. The other option is to do the above but drop Grundy for Schache and see how he goes playing as a KF for the first 2.5 quarters (or so) before giving Max a chop out in the ruck for the last quarter and a half.

Aside from struggling to get a small into some ripping form, this has been the other missing structural piece of the puzzle up forward for us throughout the season for mine. We dump or tumble many balls to true CHF (or thereabouts). Of course this is sometimes unavoidable due to pressure. Then there's the ordinary bombs coming off HB or the wing on occasions. There's either an oppo sitting in the hole taking the intercept or (at CBs) one of Kozzy, Chandler, Spargo, ANB or Harmes trying to clunk a big grab. Emphasis on 'trying'. I've only seen one player of late manage to hold his space or go back against the traffic (where angels fear to tread) like you would expect a solid CHF to do here. And that was our medium sized mid in Sparrow on Friday night. The definition of insanity in a sporting (team) strategy sense is not playing to your strengths, not trying to take away some of the oppo's (at least the obvious ones) and/or continuing to do the same thing over and over again that hasn't worked in the past. I'm absolutely astounted that we've continued with the small to small-medium CHF structure for the entire season (so far) with little to no success, at least at CBs anyway. If some of those smalls / mediums were having some success here, then fair enough. But so far it's been a conplete and utter failure from where i sit. The obvious move is BB (or even Schache) out of the square and JVR at CHF. Macca is also looming and, barring any set backs, will be available in approx three weeks. However as optimistic as he sounded i'm of the view he would surely need a week or two at Casey to get some match fitness and look to find some decent form before he's ready for a call up.

I am probably no less cynical OD. So with the Caulfield development, it was my understanding that the timeline for any possible approach by us to be included in discussions and possible involvement has long passed yes?

Believe you're referring to his match against the Cats with Casey DJ. From memory he played the bulk of time in his usual HB role but maybe not as much as he might do at AFL level. I seem to recall he may have had a bit more licence to roam as there were a number of forays forward of center. Nothing significant to suggest they asked him to push up of course or to actually play time there as such, but on the day he just seemed to be everywhere. Alongside Harmes he was easily up there in our best on the day with 27 disposals, 12 marks, 5 tackles and 3 inside 50s. A performance that could not be ignored and saw him come straight back in. AF has mentioned that we could really do with his VG ground ball work in the middle. I would argue that with his fabulous finesse & finish by foot we could also do with his skills & class forward of center & coming inside 50. AND with ground ball work inside 50 where we are pretty ordinary at the moment. Certainly won't happen this season though given his comments around the training requirements. Goodwin also may not see him in any other role than the present either so we have to consider that he might never be looked at here. Although this last part may be somewhat dependent on other small's performances up forward and or injury aspects. The development / form of Woe etc.

We don't need two average ruckman playing every single week. This might not be one of the weeks to do that 😅 However, would really like to see how we go with Scache in for Grundy for a few weeks. If he can pinch hit for Max a bit plus provide a few extra goals he might become a handy alternative to Grundy. Can i see the SC seriously considering this? Nup!

A bit too far OD surely? I live on the east side and it's 45 minutes minimum from here. Imagine anyone like admin, FD staff, players etc living Nth, West or Bayside (many AFL players live in these leafy salubrious burbs). Must be taking them 1 hour plus to get over there. Wouldn't be all that appealing to prospective players we might be trying to lure across either imho.

Jefferson's physicality is slowly improving. Throwing himself in to some heavier contested marking now. He's clunking the odd one here and there. Even the best drop a number of these at times. Hopefully he's using the grippo plus his hands / confidence should improve over time. Another off-season and we should start seeing something pretty special on the horizon at some point in 2024. Fingers crossed as he's a nice mover and decent in front of goal when he's on. Very natural and relaxed with his set shot. Can see him as the medium sized tall that drifts across and in front of packs at times a la Fritta and the Duke. Hopefully a much better kick at goal than Earl.