Demon Dynasty

Bruce "Jeffo" Banner!? I must have missed the transformation...

C He was easily our LVP last week and is nowhere near our best 22 right now. Having said that he'll probably come out and kick 5 now.

Asking a question from Gronk and expecting a sensible answer? Yeh nah! ...

One of my early memories of my first GF attendance in 1972 where he starred up forward. Pretty sure my late dad had a minor bingle on our way to the G that day as well. Memorable for a few reasons! Always enjoyed his contributions and insights into the game on various footy shows. I'd say he & Blight were (are) two of my favs in the media over the years. Sorry to see him go so young. A tremendous talent and character of the game.

Champion data had him as the highest rated ball user vs the Hawks in Rnd 9 on Saturday 💪🏼

We are a mile away from elite with most things that happen in our forward half bing. If we were then this thread and umpteen other threads / posts / discussions about our woes in this phase of the ground & play / personnel probably wouldn't even exist. And we'd most likely have one more piece of silverware, or at least a GF appearance, since 2021.

I'm not sure a recent great KF of the game (as forward line / offence coach) would be letting them off the hook after that diabolical performance (forward of centre) on Saturday Roost. I'd be calling them in for a completely separate day & session that focuses only on this aspect.... until it became wrote and 90% of the team finally nailed what is expected at this level. Even if it eats in to their normal recovery / off time. Too bad! Every designated mid /winger and forward gets it down pat or you're coming back for an extra session every bloody week.

So when will you be sitting down over a coffee, or maybe 10, with Simon SPC? The impression i have is that he gives little regard for much of what happens forward of centre. Just bang it in, lock it it in and repeat. Is it any wonder we can't attract a top line KF, or even just a credibly rated one from elsewhere and that we haven't developed a succesfull one since Neita (17 years and counting).

Feels like the tail might be wagging the dog a little too much Kev? Hope some of the players aren't back to taking the [censored] like the old days pre Roos If that's the case and it's crept into the habits of some, especially one or more of the leaders, and Simon has lost any ruthless edge he might have had back from 2020 / 21 , then we're potentially in for a world of pain from here onwards.

Fantastic result given the start to the season and the pretty dour, uninspiring way we play the game for the most part. Some exceptions to the rule of course such as Koz, Langers, Max, Windsor and Melk (when fit).

Open session... all are welcome to attend

Incorrect The turnover king in the middle for us is Vines, averaging a hefty 5.9 turnovers per game in 2025. Ranked No.1 in the team overall as well. Clarry coming in at No.10 for us @ 3.1 per game and behind a number of other mids including Tracc in 2nd place (overall) with 4.7, Pickett (part time mid) in 3rd with 4.3 and Rivers (part time mid) with 3.8 Clarry has also reduced his average turnovers per match by approx 30% vs 2024 this season while increasing his effective disposals by 26%. Leading to a 4% increase in his disposal efficiency from 65.9% in 2024 to 70.1% so far. Across the AFL (vs other mid-fielders) Clarry is sitting in equal 99th spot for turnovers. On Saturday he posted the same average turnover numbers as he had done for the seven weeks prior to playing on Newcombe. He was no better or worse in a turnover sense vs his usual role. At No.1 for mids and the turnover king across all lines in the AFL is Merrett, averaging 6.1 turnovers per game so far. Vines sitting in 5th place.

Confirming my gut feel that he's a much better alternative as the lock down 'go to' IF needed. Absolutely no need to use Clarry who is much better suited in the extractor / distributor / link up, at and around stoppage.

Based on their season average Player Ratings pre and post this match vs their Player Rating on the day, in simple terms (based on statistically weighted averages) a net loss for us on the day of 24.4% Bottom line, we turned a fairly minor 5.3% differential prior to this match into a massive 29.7% one in sending Clarry to Newcombe. Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Team & Player Ratings to Rnd 9, 2025 vs H&A Season 2024 * Played less than two full matches < Subbed out at least once or more > Subbed in at least once or more Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

And get him insanely fit from a running perspective. Clarry's at his best when driving out of stoppage and sharing the ball as well as offering the old one two follow ups in the chain. Without that he is a handy inside to outside mid. With it he becomes a multiple B&F / Flag champion

Nobody knows.... not even Spazz

It was the conplete antithesis of a forward half master class DZ. We are our own worst enemy. Our matches against anyone but the worst rated teams in the conp are awfully predictable now. Match or better the oppo in almost all key areas of the game until three quarter time or thereabouts. Almost all players, bar a few in rare patches, will butcher the use of the ball coming inside 50, bomb the ball in or kick it in in panic. The ball will either rebound straight out and the oppo will transition quite easily from arc to arc for a shot at goal. Or if we do make a rare connection, we will miss about 2/3rds of our shots at goal. By the time the 4th quarter comes around we are almost spent and can't get anything going as we watch the oppo run amok out of the middle and off HB kicking a number of relatively easy goals for the sealer (or worse if we've blown up earlier in the match against the top rated clubs). Pretty much that in a nut shell (with a few variations and some success against shizen teams) since the 2022 finals. Nearly 2.5 seasons now.

Sue ....we need to remember our place. We are not and never will be one of the big Vic clubs. The club will say nothing and the AFL even less. They are getting what they're wanting this season. Two inter staters in the GF last year so it's all about their Vic love children this time around.

When do the Casey boys do their balls out match sim ??

THIS × 5000 Why would you have your main hit out 48 hours prior to the big game.

100% correct Why would anyone in their right mind use your best clearance player to try and shut down another team's clearance player when you have another option who does not get anywhere near as many clearances to do the job a la Viney or in this week's case, Spazz. So we don't get data on first use but i'm betting Clazz would be right up there in this area alongside Vines and Max. So you lose one of your go to extractors in Vines. Fine, if you play him as a tagger then you will lose a fair chunk of this side of his game anyway. But why on hell's earth would you then go and allocate 1 of your remaining 2 'go to' extractors and the equal best clearance player (alongside Max) in the team to play in a shut down role when you have another option in Spazz? The brains trust at the MFC is far from a brains trust at this point i'm afraid. So we fail to bring in an obvious backman (Adams) to cover Petty off and allow Turner to remain forward. Presently our highest rated tall forward. Instead you send your best rated forward (this season) down back and have two massively out-of-form players and an un proven one as your three talls (one medium - tall) who between all three could not produce one bloody goal! Turner could have also played a solid defensive role on both Weddle & Sicily. But no....lets go with a un-proven Jeffo AND a horribly out-of-form Fritta instead. Weddle had a field day while he was on Fritta and Sicily one of his best in weeks. Massive win to the Hawks. Then you pull the above with Clazz, killing off one of your best clearance players and reducing our spread / effective ball use capacity, while Sparrow runs around doing not much! Another massive win for the Hawks. What a mega fail all round. Imagine the Bombres, the Filth, The Cats etc using their main clearance mid (eg Merrett, Nick or Danger) in a run with shut down role! You can't because they aren't that stupid!

A week too late

Yes he burst on the scene like a steam train in his second go after his initial flop against the Eagles in Rnd 1, 1991. The fastest player to reach the 50 goal mark (in just 9 matches) Clarry's intro was also right up there as one of the best imv.