Demon Dynasty

Sorry but other than cameo 'surprise change up' appearances for a week or two or maybe a few quarters, Gus has proven he isn't as capable at sustaining the consistent 'grunt' / burst efforts for a constant 'weekly' stint in the middle. Maybe if he trained differently for this position with a full pre-season. His game in there against the Swans was abysmal and possibly the worst performance (or close to it) he's ever put in in at least 3 to 4 seasons and easily the worst of the 22 who took the field on the day in our biggest match of the year (to that point). His follow up against the Lions was a big improvement (hard not to be) but no better than Viney who also had a pretty ordinary game (by his usual standards anyway). Compare that to Harmes (obviously different roles... but performance is still performance) who was in the top 3 to 5 players for us in both finals! Harmes stood up when the chips were down. Same as he did in the GF when things were looking a bit shakey. Gus did also (in the GF) but playing a different role.... Wing/HF.

100% BDA. Alongside chunk & to some degree Tomo, he was certainly one that would feel very unlucky to have missed out.

Beautifully said Maldon. My thoughts exactly. Maybe not the silk / finish we would have hoped for but still one of my favs to watch. A big thank you to Hunty for everything he gave in the red & blue. Including playing in the bulk of matches during 2021, most.of them wins, that helped us grab the ultimate prize. Will never forget. Going to miss the initial bursts out of traffic, the chase down tackles, breaking lines and ...the headband! Good luck son and all the best with everything from here.

Harmes out of major mid rotations and Gus in (other than the first couple of 'surprise packet' matches post his contract which were initially very effective, then reasonably effective, then finally not effective at all) was one of the reasons we didn't end the 2nd half of 2022 very well IMV. We lacked the extra drive and breaking more tackles, getting the ball i50 with quick exits. Doing so gives forwards a few more looks to convert. Goodwin & the FD need to seriously review this set up. Gus played his best most impactful footy (in terms of benefit to the team) in 2021 as a mostly wing/hf.

Signed till 2024. Let me say this loud and clear... Harmes is NOT going to that messed up sorry excuse for a club in a gazillion years!! The druggies may have approached but i'm backing him in to stay put. There is no current player that has more red & blue running in their veins than this loyal premiership minion.

Yes as Melk came in W. I dont think they're looking to play him in defence in 2023 (bar injuries to like sized defenders) but been wrong before.

Early days for Moniz & Woe but IMHO Bedford showed the most promise out of the three remainders. He was also the quickest player on the list IMV. So we are now down two speedsters for 2023 and i reckon that's one of the areas we appeared to suffer from in 2022 (not in a major way but sure felt it was one of the issues). Might need to invest in some of these...

The FD's been trialling Joel up forward (mostly) at Casey (and if my memory serves me correct i understand they trained him in this role also?) when he came back from injury. Unless there's a change to the FD's thinking over the break i can't see him playing back in 2023 (barring injuries).

Gus to Wing / HF where he played about 85% of his time in our 2021 premiership year, had his best season (in terms of what he brought to the team / game style and W/Ls) and was the most damaging IMV. Only played approx 15% of time across HB and even less time in the defensive 50 area in 2021 (ie; as a deep defender...most time spent in defense was shallow).

Congrats to Clazza ...what a legend!!!

That mic is rubbish

Doesn't appear to be slapping Uncle around with a wet gefilte fish....so probably not

Yes i hear you Bing. Possibly an in season management issue as well plus the harder draw in the back half catching up with a few. Reckon it all started to go pear shaped from the moment Lever took May out as well. We lost that match and the following one against the Swans and the rot started to set in. Then there was the knuckle sandwhich incident and a non committed fluffy season from LJ. Bah!!

You're welcome DZ. No idea how we got within cooee either. A credit to our defence. Leaned on them and Clarry far too much this season and too many players seemed cooked coming into finals for whatever reason. Even Clarry wasn't at his raging best in that 2nd one after copping the head knock. I reckon our form or lack thereof in that first final flattered the Swans. The team rating was horrific. And as i suspected we couldn't pull back enough from that nose dive the following week. Losing to the Lions, who i feel were the worst of the top four coming into finals (and by a fair margin), should and hopefully will be a bit of a wake up call. Pretty sure Goodwin said he (and the FD) were going into a full review across all lines/systems etc as a result. Looking forward to seeing some positive outcomes / changes from this prior to 2023.

My recollection is the Cats were hovering around the 200 plus mark or thereabouts in at least the first quarter and possibly similar in the 3rd. Don't hold me to which quarters though. Very sketchy based on post mortem i heard from Whately / King (SEN) on the Monday after. No idea where Sydney were at. Must have been pretty low for most of the match though.

A bloody long way from almost everywhere Roost. Last time i went there for the QF against the Swans it took me 40 minutes. I reckon the alternative below should have at least been looked at / considered at some stage in the last five years. Only 17 minutes from where i am (pretty central Melb) via Monash (no tolls) and much more gettable distance wise for many more Demons in Melb metro. Just off the Eastlink as well for those up north and in the western burbs. A short meander down North/Wellington Road for those coming from the Sth or Sth East. Heaps of space out there to develop facilities as well. Two ovals and plenty of parkland. Might have also got the Rowville Hawks renamed the Demons. Sweet coup!

Planning their exit from Tassie into another another district DS? Competition for hearts & minds is fierce and not limited to on field performance.

100%

TKO to you OD 👏🏻

I mustve watched a diff player EO 😄

A lovely set shot kick for goal anywhere within 40 meters. Beautiful text book kicking action. Doesn't kick too many high balls which will work in his favour on blustery days. Reads the ball well, uses the big frame to hold his space and very strong overhead. Plays pretty much a deep stay-at-home role at Casey. Would need to work on his wheels / tank a fair degree to make the step up to AFL and also go with his opponents when they're on the rebound / quick transistions. Would love to see him work on his left side a fair bit. Reminds me just a little of a less agile stay-at-home Jack Reiwoldt without a left side.

When asked by Robbo whether we had backed off at all after the GF my take was that, if anything, training went up a level. Could this be an indicator/hint that we trained too hard, too early? This would make sense given our 1st half of season vs 2nd half (plus awful finals result) discrepancy / fadeouts.

Up there with some of the better posts this season. Especially the last part about defending leads. As i said throughout much of the 2nd half of the season, very hard to defend an 8 to 12 goal game. 14/15 feels a little more realistic. The more the better obviously. Nice summary thanks Jnr

100% PF ... no wonder their record there is outstanding. Their Ws should have an asterisk W* AFL assisted (Stadium courtesy Vic taxpayers)