Demon Dynasty

Listening to Sanderson on SEN (who's been around the traps a fair bit and recently coached also) he says Coaches are generally reluctant to go for shut down option/s much of the time at the Center Bounces (CBs or 666). We witnessed this against Port with Butters & Rozzee allowed to run amok. So most of the time (but not always ...see below) they're pretty much pitting their best midfield set up against others, looking to get first use and then clearance out at CBs. Personally i think Port did decide to curtail at least one of ours, by putting a cooler on Viney (smart move). Not sure why we didn't try and curtail Rozee after half time. Strange stuff from the coaches box. Now if your midfield's purring along, as ours once was, we get first use more often and things just keep bubbling along and no one pays it much attention other than how well the 'stars' are going and how good it is! Pretty shallow stuff other than the odd deep dive on the Couch or Sunday Footy Show. So what's happened to our / other mid set ups at CBs since 2021 flag? 1. Others have added and improved. GC, Port, Pies, even the Hawks to a lessor degree with Newcomb & Day. No doubt others as well. 2. We've added Grundy. Grundy"s ok to sometimes VG at CB. However, anytime he's taking that bounce it means Max isn't in there. That's all well when Max is injured, coming back from injury on the mend or just needs a chop out. However, with a fully fit firing Max, Max is easily the best tap / CB ruck going around when he's unhampered fitness wise. Great to have Grundy, real handy & allows Max to go forward but... you aren't going to get the same success / results at 666 with Grundy as you are with Max. 2. We usually have two main extractors (Viney & Clarry) and a part timer in Max at CB. Not just extraction ...also tackles / taking tackles in order to hold up proceedings so the oppo doesn't get first use so often. In the last few matches that's been left (mostly) to only Max & Viney and they both had an off game against Port. I suspect this wasn't per chance as they would've watched the vision against the Hawks and saw that most of the extracting was from these two so lets try and cool their influence here? That's pure speculation and im only an amature looking in from afar so potentially a complete load of bunkem but you never know. As to what's happened to Clarry at 666, easily best of all three when he's on song and possibly the best in the AFL... i have no idea. But the last few weeks or so, for whatever reason, at CBs we have not seen much of Clarry the super extractor. Occasionally yes, but not as prolific as usual IMHO. Fix this part and get him back to being one of the AFL kings here and we probably go back to our best pretty quickly i reckon! Viney can't do most of the extracting alone against the best with side assists from Max and occasionally Grundy. Not week in & out anyway. Some weeks it might come off. The strange thing is Clarry is still going great extraction wise at around the ground stoppages. So i don't get why it's dropped away at CBA. Having said that, it's certainly not panic stations either as it's only been a few weeks and i could also be totally barking up the wrong tree! Maybe the coaches were asking this (first use extraction at CBs) from others of late like JJ & Sparrow (alongside Viney & Max) and Clarry's just lost the instinct to jump in a little (for now) and will just need to get back on the bike. And this may be all it is plus also getting Max back to full match fitness & some really good form (through the middle). Remember that the Port match was the first time since coming back from iniury that the FD asked a whole heap more from Maxy at CBs. I dont know the exact numbers but the week before against the Hawks he was only at CBs 32% of the time and this went up to around 55% or so vs Port? He might need another two or three matches at 50% - 60% CBA in order to come up to speed / full fitness here? There are also other positives... it isn't all gloom Apart from Port, Viney's been in ripping form Tracc's having a superb year and still a force for clearances at CBs as a receiver. Get Clarry really fresh, full tilt fit and back on the extraxtion / first use bike at CBs and we might just be an unstoppable force again, even against the best. However, i also think we lack speed in the middle. Someone who can get on the end of an extraction burst out and off with silky ball use into the 50. Will probably need to recruit this. I can't see it coming from the present list. Tracc does offer an option here but it's more power than speed over the first 10 or so. Maybe Taj next year if he comes on nicely?

Was superb y'day but the last time we recalled him he didn't gell so well with our other two big boys playing as the 2nd tall D. Further up the ground he looks alot more sure of himself and makes less errors imho. Reads the play really well and positioning is excellent. Maybe on a wing for Hunter if he's out? Turner could come in to take the 2nd tall forward but then you're probably having to drop hibb who's been very good. Unless McVee makes way? He's also been up and about though. Maybe Petty goes back once he returns. We really don't want Rick taking the 2nd tall as he isn't the greatest here and we're robbing ourselves of our best tall intercept defender. That's one compromise (Rick on 2nd tall) and the other is a win to the oppo taking away one of our big past strengths (Rick's intercept rebounds). That's effectively two wins in one to the oppo! It certainly needs fixing whether this is Tomo, Petty going back or giving Disco another decent block. This is what the coaches get paid the big $$ for. Hopefully they'll make some decent calls. Adams played his best game y'day? (I missed the GC game). Starting to show some good signs. He might be a decent Petty replacement at some stage if the FD continues to play Petty forward.

Too busy barracking for Port

Tomo our best y'day but his best appears to occur higher up the ground towards the wing vs deep in defence. That's where he played his best footy for GWS and us when he first came across. Would you risk winding back the clock and giving him a go there? The SC probably won't. I didnt see the GC match so not sure of his form line but Joel was very good y'day. May get looked at. BBB was unselfish and serviceable. Taj's best game y'day for mine. Cleaned up his kicking and hit one or two targets coming inside plus a goal. Who's he a chance to replace though and what posi? Chandler? Kozzy's been off also but will most likely go around again.

Might explain why he's been a bit ploddy around stoppages of late. Needs a rest anyways and shouldve got one in the game against Norf imv. Looks a tad cooked.

This sums up the Shockers and their 24 - 27th players that were running around for a fair chunk of the night.... the PortPires Now another assist from our MRO mate Christian What a shiiiete fest last night was. Topped off by this complete arrsee wipe of a collision. Rozzie can pull out but instead prefers to dive into Hunter's arrssee head first Talk about brown nosing!

And this

This ☝🏼

Banfield swung around 360 throws the ball away right in front of a number of umps.... "play on" 😄

That Cats getting a right royal rogering from the umps in this last quarter. I know the feeling all too well 🤣

Ratings to Rnd 10, 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 4.728 2 4.456 6.10 2 0 T Rivers 3.901 3 2.423 61.00 18 15 A Brayshaw 3.773 4 3.839 -1.72 5 1 J Jordon > 3.632 5 3.164 14.79 9 4 Jack Viney 3.478 6 3.971 -12.42 3 -3 Steven May 3.250 7 3.971 -18.16 3 -4 A Tomlinson 3.233 8 2.079 55.51 22 14 C Salem * 3.175 9 3.363 -5.59 7 -2 L Hunter 3.105 10 - - - - T Sparrow 3.014 11 2.665 13.10 16 5 Jake Lever 2.983 12 2.703 10.36 14 2 M Hibberd 2.955 13 2.613 13.09 17 4 Jake Bowey 2.945 14 2.856 3.12 13 -1 Ed Langdon 2.910 15 3.109 -6.40 11 -4 B Grundy # 2.868 16 - - - - Max Gawn # < 2.775 17 3.215 -13.69 8 -9 K Pickett 2.709 18 2.118 27.90 21 3 J Harmes 2.671 19 3.082 -13.34 12 -7 Alex N-Bullen 2.650 20 2.688 -1.41 15 -5 K Chandler 2.515 21 - - - - H Petty # 2.418 22 2.392 1.09 19 -3 Judd McVee 2.248 23 - - - - J V Rooyen # 2.181 24 - - - - T McDonald # 2.155 25 1.939 11.14 26 1 B Fritsch 2.089 26 1.936 7.90 27 1 Ben Brown # < 2.033 27 1.759 15.58 29 2 C Spargo 1.975 28 1.981 -0.30 24 -4 J Melksham > 1.437 29 1.947 -26.19 25 -4 B Laurie < * 1.300 30 - - - - D Turner * 1.075 31 - - - - Team Rating 70.97 68.89 3.02 * Played less than two full matches (in total) - player rating compromised # Hit outs to advantage not counted < Subbed Out at least once or more > Subbed In at least once or more Stats courtesy of footwire.com

Check that pressure rating from Port DZ. Massive for this time of year i would suggest and over the four quarters. For a third time interstate it would seem we came somewhat unprepared for the onslaught, among other issues that playing Port seemed to highlight of course.

Round 10, 2023 Adelaide Oval - Power vs Demons Team rating a massive 25% off Season 2022. The biggest drop off i have seen since doing this & comparing to prior season (since 2018/2019). And an even worse 28% off this season's average Team Rating. Now, either Port were that good or we were pretty bog ordinary for three quarters. Possibly both? The rating from Maxy...wowsers! The two positives i'm taking from this match... 1. The performance of May, which was approx 8% up on his 2021 & 2022 season average ratings. Keeping in mind we have seen a fair amount of fluctuation in that rating over the last 5 weeks.... Rnd 6 vs Tigers 4.225 / Rnd 7 vs Roos 3.400 / Rnd 8 vs Suns 1.150 / Rnd 9 vs Hawks 3.700 Will need to see if he can back this up over a few weeks before we can say our champ is back to his very best. 2. Salo's return... a pretty decent rating albeit still approx 19% off his best which i would classify as Season 2021 where he had an average rating of 3.926 Player Rating Rank C Oliver 4.750 1 S May 4.300 2 C Petracca 3.800 3 T Rivers 3.325 4 C Salem 3.175 5 A Brayshaw 2.850 6 J Lever 2.850 6 L Hunter 2.800 8 K Chandler 2.550 9 M Hibberd 2.475 10 B Fritsch 2.300 11 B Grundy # 2.250 12 C Spargo 1.825 13 Ed Langdon 1.800 14 A N-Bullen 1.650 15 J McVee 1.525 16 J Bowey < 54% 1.425 17 J V Rooyen 1.400 18 T McDonald 1.400 18 Max Gawn # 1.000 20 J Viney 0.950 21 K Pickett 0.800 22 J Jordon > 25% 0.525 23 Team Rating 51.20 Top 6 22.20 Bottom 6 6.98 # Hit outs to advantage not counted < Subbed out / TOG % > Subbed in / TOG % Stats courtesy of footwire.com

Ditto.... mumbo jumbo

Moose, Baker & Chandler

Is Bowey out for sure this week?

Im not saying he's anywhere near this level but most also said that about Diesel as he made others around him look like millionaires with elite distribution by hand. The too slow talk quickly went out the door. Can we afford to bring Dunstan in off the bench as a mostly specialist 666 extractor/distributor?

He's played his role at Casey the last few weeks NS. Barring a bad fail today, Goody needs to get him in imv with JVR and the other forwards / mids and finally settle on an approx 23. A little too much tinkering up forward, through the middle (Kozzy, Jordon, Gus) and with Petty as an experimental forward. As Dazzle suggested, Bring in Disco to free up Lever to his usual and most effective role as interceptor vs taking the 2nd best D where he aint so good. At least until Petty returns. Kozzy back to mostly crumbing pressure forward pls and FCS train him to get to the right spots more often. Settle the team into their usual 'strength roles' or we risk becoming a jack of all trades and will probably continue to be shakey up against the top 5 - 6 clubs who will play on these weaknesses and look to exploit them. At 666 we are lacking a class outside mid with some foot speed and one more extractor / heavy hitter inside. That last one might be Dunstan for Jordon / Sparrow but of course he is now out for a while. Dunstan almost the best user of the ball by hand at the club in traffic. We desperately need a distributor in the clinches, especially at 666, who can handball further than a few feet. Dunstan can bring that release handball to outside receivers (Tracc/Lingers & Hunter) at stoppage which sees us changing lanes a little and giving different looks for forwards with the kick inside 50. The inside / outside could be Harmes but not sure where he's at and seems to have fallen out of favor with the FD till now? Has played a few decent games at Casey and shown some form but does he fit any role in this team from here i wonder?

Don't think so. BBB most likely gets the nod over Macca provided he has an injury free run at Casey

Amen to this until Petty returns. Who comes out though? Or straight in for Bowey (inj)??

If he can reduce the clangers to 'rarely' rather than weekly he is on the cusp of becoming an A grade HB. Maybe just tell him not to try and thread high risk short passes through traffic from here. Play the percentages by foot.

Because we are making up the numbers for the clubs that never or rarely play there eg; the Pies, Tigers, Bombers and Blues. It's a fixture not a draw for a reason. The outcomes are massaged and controlled by the ring master to try and boost certain club's chances of making finals and GFs and thereby max out broadcaster ratings / advertising revenue etc. Unfortunately we are at least 5th (or worse) on their priority list at a Victorian level & considered as fodder to be toyed with as they please vs the four mentioned and in a travelling interstate sense. It's no coincidence that we're the biggest travelling Vic club this season and the club that's ended up at Kardinia more than anyone else over the last 15 years or so.

Don't twist that statement to become a general thing pls. I'm referring to his 'effective' extractions that result in a clearance in the middle at 666. He's a fair way off his best the last few weeks here. Still getting a few but nothing like Clarry at his best 'extraction' wise or even jumping on it to cause a secondary ball up. Last week also... the extraction game was left to mostly Viney and Max at 666. Jordon had one extraction that resulted in a clearance. I'm talking get ball not being given the ball from an immediate tap out or from someone else. The instigator of first use or holding up play for another ball up. Newcombe did very well against us in this regard (getting first use or holding things up) and linked up with Day for a number clearances. Both of them rookies. The only reason this didn't pay off much for the Hawks was because we beat them up most of the time at the rest of the contests on the outside. Clarry did pretty well around the ground in that game also. In the middle (666) he was pretty ordinary vs his usual standards.

Because Viney's been doing that the last few weeks on his own and was probably stuffed tonight. He can't do it all on his own every week. Clarry's usually the other extractor / strong man over the pill at 666 assisting Viney but for some reason it aint happening for him in this area of the ground lately (not the last few weeks or so anyway vs previous high levels) With the demise of Clarry here so goes our mid field fortunes and performances, with clearances suffering accordingly vs mediocre or better opponents.

To be fair im not sure we've seen enough of Rivers through the middle to tell if he is or isn't. Having said that why would you want to when he's doing so well off HB and our only line breaker from there? Another case of robbing Peter if we did. Sparrow's probably the best of a bad bunch but still isn't the answer imv. He's much better at stoppage work around the ground but not at 666. Agree with the other players highlighted and the first para about getting an outside user with skills/finesse.