Demon Dynasty

You might be correct Mono. KPI's might be the 'out-of-favour' part or certain other aspects of his game. I'm not suggesting Goodwin has something personal against him just that, for whatever reason, he hasn't been selected in a long while. No doubt it's also a form issue and what's best for the team etc. The form side was very good though in the lead up to the injury. He was in Casey's top 3 to 5 over a number of weeks prior.

100%. Its not the actual kick in that's the worry. That's the thing though. How many other teams have backed their normal system in AF? For those that have, it hasn't worked out so well till now. Aside from the Lions. Assuming they backed themselves and made no significant changes which im not sure on.

No rush. Tomo is a handy back up in the short term. Need to get this one right as Petty's critical to our chances at the pointy end.

It's not the actual kick ins as such AF. Although no doubt the Pies are happy for him to take a fair chunk given his skills... they're obviously looking to free him up as he skoots down the field from FB.... preferably hoping for some confusion & slack checking on the way through. Plus Nick's fitness with back to back sprints also playing a part probably. The plus one through the middle stoppages & contests usually comes from a HF pushing up to the middle ....a bit easier to cover off (if oppo coach decides to) than a mid or HF kicking in then offering that extra from HB.

Salem, Bowey, Hibb & Mcvee are all competing for three spots imv. Whether that means you use the fourth off the bench? That allows Petty in to go back to his usual role in defence which Frees up Lever as the interceptor on the oppo's third tall or medium/tall. If you don't have the above which frees up Lever, we are pretty much losing the Demon DNA down back that helped us win the flag. No thanks. In the short term until Petty returns surely we need Tomo to remaim for the very same reason. Alternatively Disco but for mine only on medium/tall defenders if this presents as a match up option. We need BBB back in as the best KTF option to draw the oppo's biggest/best defender on the lead and free up Roohey out the back in the same way we need Petty down back for Lever. That means one of Smith, Chandler or Spargo miss. At this stage im not sure Joel will make the grade so im saying Smith but i also think Spargo has been struggling of late. We also need an extra extractor / distributor to assist Clarry & Rivers at stoppages & CBs to improve our clearances & outlet run / chains. JJ or Dunstan initially as sub imv. Gut feel is Dunstan for this particular role but would want to see some serious form etc at Casey on his return from injury beforehand. In reality Dunstan appears to be out of favour with Goody though. So realistically this would most likely be JJ regardless of what happens at Casey. JJ's form also VG there being BOG in their 1 point victory last week.

Andy a critical question imo for KB pls.... Nick Daicos is often used for their kick ins (appox 40% of time). Not as a defender but during his time in mid field and/or HF. He then sprints down field after the kick in, pretty much as a free extra in chains from defence, then other costests/stoppages through the middle and even going as deep as HF (if that's where he's playing at the time). Every team no doubt has a plan in general play for Nick, however i would like to know if we specifically have a plan for this part of his game re kick ins and his transition back to mid field or HF as an extra outside receiver. I dont expect to know what the plan is (if any) obviously. Just want to know if there is one pls.

My understanding is that Nick takes approx 40% of their kick ins but not as a defender. By taking the kick in he's playing out of position from his usual role as either a mid or HF (and no doubt blending both at times), then heading downfield to to become the extra receiver at contests & stoppages per one of those roles. The role also changing So for roughly 40% of the time (with kick ins) someone needs to mind him as he runs out of the square and then either all the way to contests / stoppages or handovers taking place as he makes his way down. Im no expert in such things but i would think the very fact he's kicking in when playing as a mid, HF (& blending both) would make it somewhat trickier for teams to cover him on this side. Might play a significant part in the 'why' he racks up so many receives and takes off so often with a fair amount of space to work in racking up big numbers and causing chain havoc for oppos. Bottom line, at least when he's specifically taking kick ins, i don't believe we can just back our system in here. We'll need to address this separately if we're to counter him here imho.

# Ratings to Rnd 12, 2023 vs H&A Season 2022 # Now fully updated to include 'hit outs to advantage' for both H&A seasons for all rucks and anyone who has taken on ruck duties. 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 4.863 2 4.456 9.13 2 0 A Brayshaw 3.821 3 3.839 -0.47 5 2 T Rivers < 3.663 4 2.423 51.18 18 14 J Jordon > 3.641 5 3.164 15.08 9 4 Jack Viney 3.511 6 3.971 -11.58 3 -3 Steven May 3.248 7 3.971 -18.21 3 -4 B Grundy 3.198 8 - - - - Max Gawn # 3.153 9 3.643 -13.45 8 -1 Ed Langdon 3.104 10 3.109 -0.16 11 1 T Sparrow 3.084 11 2.665 15.72 16 5 Jake Bowey < 3.078 12 2.856 7.77 13 1 L Hunter 3.023 13 - - - - Jake Lever 3.023 13 2.703 11.84 14 1 J Harmes > 2.938 15 3.082 -4.67 12 -3 A Tomlinson 2.906 16 2.079 39.78 22 6 M Hibberd < 2.865 17 2.613 9.64 17 0 C Salem 2.850 18 3.363 -15.25 7 -11 A N-Bullen 2.754 19 2.688 2.46 15 -4 K Pickett 2.538 20 2.118 19.83 21 1 K Chandler < 2.472 21 - - - - H Petty < 2.432 22 2.392 1.67 19 -3 J V Rooyen 2.323 23 - - - - B Fritsch 2.314 24 1.936 19.52 27 3 Judd McVee 2.219 25 - - - - T McDonald # 2.054 26 1.967 4.42 26 0 Ben Brown < 2.033 27 1.762 15.38 29 2 C Spargo < 1.912 28 1.981 -3.48 24 -4 J Melksham > 1.437 29 1.947 -26.19 25 -4 J Schache * 1.375 30 - - - - B Laurie < > * 1.300 31 - - - - Joel Smith * 1.150 32 2.239 -48.64 20 -12 D Turner < * 1.075 33 - - - - Team Rating # 65.90 68.89 -4.34 * Played less than two full matches (in total) < Subbed Out at least once or more > Subbed In at least once or more Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Clearly i have not being paying much attention to much of this thread then WC and missed a number of uhhh ... highlights & maybe a few lowish ones! Not unusual for me though

That third quarter from the Pies is such a stand out outlier vs the others. If i'm an oppo analyst i'd be looking at that carefully to see whether it's by design and if so what they're doing differently. We tend to put our score on the board in the first and last it seems. Add a little bit extra in the third and keep the Pies scoring down more than usual in that quarter. If we have something left in the tank for the last we just might get them.

Yep thought about that afterwards.... potential thread destroyer

So the option to reference (from both sides) is at the behest of the AFL Red? Even if the AFL decide this is so, are you saying the defence is then stymied and unable to invoke something like natural law (et al) in order to overide and reference other incidents as part of their case?

Swap it for a 'Decent' android and you will never have to ask about such things again!

Quite often brings the most heat inside 50 though bobby. Would be in our top 2 or 3 here since 2021 and sometimes leading the way. The coaches love this part about as much as the goals etc as they want dirrty rebounds / tumble punts out of 50. Along with the repeat entries and likelihood of a few more turnovers in our foward half that doing so can bring. Not sure anyone else would bring a similar level of defensive stuff inside 50 coming from Casey at the mo.

He's very level headed and grounded it seems DZ. He gets his place in the pecking order vs more senior players like Macca & BB when prodded as to how he feels getting to play alongside some of these experienced forwards at the start of the season. He was also asked if he felt like he was being challenged when he missed out in the pre-season vs the Tigers. He said "not at all... still some very good players at Casey and was enjoying his time there" or something to that effect. Oh yeh and that BB & Macca were in hot form at that point. Very humble and understood he was in a learning phase just starting out. Was asked if he felt he could have played last season after kicking a few at VFL. Said he was still in a learning pathway & AFL was probably going to be somewhat premature last season. He recognised extra work was needed in the off to build some strength and get his body right. Loving this season with the boys so far. Doesn't care what he's asked to do or play on. Just likes to get on with things. After being asked if he had a fav player for delivering the ball inside on the lead he said not really as he sees himself more as a pack marking stay-at-home type and not one to be plucking marks on the lead. Mentioned that the better kicks here were Spargo, Chandler & Hunter in his opinion. When asked if he was happy to be signed on the new deal & how he felt about living in Melb vs W.A.... Very pleased with the contract and hoped, assuming all going well, that he would end up a one club player. Melb was challenging when living with host family here in first season but feels he has settled in now that he's moved in with Moniz and liking it alot, much more to do here vs W.A. Overall he carried himself very well and came across as a very humble grounded fella but very excited with his present direction and enjoying life.

About 10 minutes away now

Interview with Dwayne coming up in the next hour or two on SEN

Just watched the first half on the box after attending the game. Miss so much when you're down one end That 2nd quarter was a doozy. Some great defensive play off HB but most of it was around the boundary and rebounding from Carlton shallow entries. The four opportunities missed in this quarter.... Rivers decision making on the member's wing. Had Hunter free for the instinctive give or Fritsch in space on his own about 25 meters ahead around the arc straight towards goal. May not have seen Fritta but went for the lollipop HB to Gus instead selling him into trouble.... crunch.... turnover. Gus in the same posi on the wing. Had big Max or a free Fritsch in around about the same spot as above around the arc. Viney in a hole b/w those two was also a slim chance. Kicked it straight to a Blues defender over the back instead, missing all three. Chandler mopped up a deep entry into Carlton's 50 with 5:10 to go from Judd via Lever. Was in the clear by roughly 10 meters with no direct oppo at all. Looks up straight ahead to the wing without bothering to even glance inside. Had he glanced he would've spotted Rivers running alongside about to go through the square 25 meters clear of anyone. Handball or short kick to Rivers on the 45.... that ball's making it into 50 in a flash for a great look for a leading forward or two or maybe a crumb from a small off the spill. Instead he kicked to the worst option down the line, a 2 v 1 looking for Fritsch, which we lost and the Blues mopped up via Cerra for their 2nd consecutive entry into 50. That entry was eventually cleaned up by Lingers who found Spargo near the boundary at HBF southern side. Now the only option that opened up for him here was the same 40 meter kick to the same spot Chandler kicked to above but this time Fritsch out the back who was on his own in the clear for at least 6 seconds. Not sure what Spargs was looking at but he was called to play on. He was then left with no choice but to HB laterally under pressure to a stationary Tomo who had given up on the receive thinking (correctly) that Spargo would do the basic last resort thing and kick down the line. Maybe he spotted Fritta but felt he couldn't kick the 40 meters? Spargo then thought it would be better to kick a worm burning stab pass in board to Lingers sandwhiched in between 3 Blues players zoning off. The pass was shizen but Lingers managed to finger tip the ball. However it bounced out and was then mopped up by Sylvani. Lucky for Spargo Lingers is a clever fella. He recovered quickly, tackled Sylvani and received a free for HTB. Spargo's faux pas and bacon saved. Spargo did make up for that a few minutes later with some decent vision and execution in traffic to Joey who went back and kicked his first from 45 meters. So i guess the point here is, the decision making and vision from some during this quarter was pretty ordinary at times. If they scanned further and a bit more diligently then quickly executed, the game would probably have been over or close to it by half time. We were saved on these turnovers time and time again by our top line dour defenders. Fritsch was open and in the clear on at least three occasions and either not seen or ignored. The big positive for vision & execution this quarter was Tracc. I've been hoping to see him turn this part of his game around all season and he finally delivered in this first half. He was brilliant most of the time finding short options in dangerous places on a number of occasions with presence & poise. Was a joy to watch. His work rate and effort is always first class but this particular first half was something special imv. Hopefully the above issues were raised and many learnings were had during the reviews. Now for the second half if i can find the time.

Fabulous ty

Impressive contribution from young Joey Stayed in the moments, some great work higher up the ground in traffic and only saw him beaten once in a 1 v 1 vs very credible oppo in Weitering Another small hop

Also need to pick him up after that when he heads downfield as the +1 (in some cases the +2) at contests & stoppages

In-season for sure. Players are free to let their hair down in the off and of course they do. However, some are still doing so in the first few weeks of the pre-season. No doubt the sensible ones set some sort of limit in terms of when they end the binge and get serious but they do it. Season's are pretty long. They obviously need to wind down and they're only human of course. The old saying "if you don't be bloody stupid you'll be alright" probably applies here though.

This ☝🏼 Especially handballs and having KTFs & others from small to medium (on odd occasions) leading to different channels & timing their leads well to coincide with exits from the middle. Looking for more shallow connections at times vs the most often deep bomb to a pack. My worry is that with no senior KTFs in this team it's a little scant on leadership and 'showing the way' with rookies like JVR and other limited experience medium/talls like Joel. Where are the learnings / guidance coming from on the field at this end other than messages from the bench or 'afterwards' via interchange? The backline has this guidance/ leadership 'in-game' from the likes of May & Lever. Midfielders have it from Viney, Maxy and latterly Clarry & Tracc. Forward line is presently missing an obvious voice/leader right now. Fritsch & Spargo are about it from an exerience POV but mostly related to small / small medium work. The obvious option for mine here from a KTF POV is BBB with 160 plus games experience, a number of finals and a flag under his belt. And he offers a very viable 'get-out-of-jail' target for mids/wingers under the pump. He'll also draw the oppo's best TD freeing up the likes of JVR a little in order to learn his craft with a tad more room/freedom. I'd be taking out one small or Joel and bringing BBB straight in if fit from this week. Allow this line up to settle and stay together, bar injury or a run of sub par form, and start honing / tuning their craft & cohesion. It's long overdue and it's time to put the final piece of our missing puzzle together. To become a tightly knitted elite forward unit that starts gelling big time with the mids etc. This should be the major focus during the back half of the season from Goodwin & Co. If it isn't already, starting this week.

Yes that would be great pls

Can see the merritt but it would be handy if there was some data on the %s of how often it's paid vs isn't. Players are most likely under instruction to try and bring opponent to ground while ensuring ball doesn't get out to force another stoppage as coaches probably feel that their method / system around stoppages is superior. That's debatable of course but their egos probably rule out any self doubt in most cases.