Demon Dynasty

I was until i realised it's my anniversary today. My lil storm cloud has other plans WCW! Kev is reliable 😁 & Andy up early!

Looks can be deceiving Juice. Yes at the source he's been handy at getting the ball and pressure is VG. I'd def rate this side of his game so far in 24. With ball in hand however he is well below AFL average including ... > Kicking efficiency 44% (AFL ave is approx 64%). Sparrow for example, who most would not consider a great kick by any means (set shots & long set shots aside) is running at 66%. Viney, who is not often lauded for his kicking skills... 64%. Clarry another, who is often criticised for his kicking skills and who is way off his best (player rating down approx 33% so far vs 2023), kicking at 51% (his usual average is 56%) > Effective disposals 11 (AFL ave is approx 14) Sparrow, who is 4th in line behind our big three, averages 11. Clarry, having an ordinary year by his standards, still averaging 16 effectives (above average). Usual average for him is 20 (elite) I guess what i'm saying is i don't rate him as highly as some might. Having said that, i agree re not batting deep in the mid field, especially with Danger out. Their 'managing' of Parfit and O'Connor does smack of arrogance from Scott. The best answer from us is to make sure we smack them up in the middle and win on Sat night.

Not saying this line up will be the one that runs out but, if it is, that forward line is overly stacked with at least one too many talls surely? Personally i think Jeffo would be better served doing a short apprenticeship behind the ball. Play him back-of- shoulder on some decent forwards that will take him to the ball more often. Swap him out for Moniz who, while still doing a decent job down back, is being left to rot on the vine here. Much better playing his natural small forward role who pushes up into the mid at times.

The Crows are now a game and 6% ahead of Brissvegas

JHF runs about 20 ....then gets caught red hot. Goes to ground. Play on 🤣

Wow they won't free Butters. Took on two tacklers... spills the ball as he hits the ground. Too funny.

Good player JHF but what a show pony stager

Yes i suspect he's done that in the last few off seasons Roost. Looks to be in tip top condition.

I'm interested but not this season so much. He's at least one (maybe even two) pre-seasons away from us knowing whether he'll make the grade or not. At this point he's physically a long way off impacting much at VFL, let alone the next step up.

Spot on Stinga. We are bereft of an extra quality mid. That should be our highest priority just ahead of finding the ever elusive KF to replace BBB and/or Petty if he leaves at season's end.

He'd have to put in a couple of blinders to push Sparrow out me thinks Deever. You never know but probably unlikely.

Parfit is a fringe player at the mogs. He was competing for the same spot as Narkle for a while. Gave the nod to Parfit but took them a few seasons which tells you roughly where Parfit's at imv.

Probably a bit of a learning curve for Joey in this position Deever. Mostly played off a wing or as an outside mid at Casey. Keep in mind his last game was his first full game for 2024 as well. Rnds 1, 3, 4 & 5 he was coming on as sub. Doesn't really allow a player to find the pace and his feet in a match on such limited minutes. Reckon he'll improve slowly as he gets more game time in general and more time in this particular role. He'd want to get a move on though as he'll have Bowey & Salo chomping at his heels in the next few weeks.

Can't see this happening but we do have the cap space to entice. Very early days but the kid certainly hit the ground in red hot form and raised my eyebrows when watching parts of that game. Laser like passes off both sides. Not many can use both sides effectively, let alone so skilled on the non-preferred. He also has the wheels and very good decisions coming inside. Reminds me a little of Brent Harvey.

Fabulous thanks Andy I realise it's not open access nor easy to get hold of anyone within the four walls. But if there's any chance we could snaffle Sam Radford for a quick catch up to talk game style and tactics at some point! Alternatively maybe Choco if you haven't caught up with him before or for quite a while.

Yes to those saying we are a WIP in terms of moving from a combative, contested, clearance team trying to get the ball inside 50 quickly. Then looking to lock the ball in our 50 plus repeat entries. Instead moving more towards a possession / move the ball forward whenever possible as quickly as possible style. Less lateral and switching. Not that we were ever a big switch team. Hoyne also feels we are a WIP on moving away from the former somewhat and trying to head towards a more effective efficient ball movement style. We were ranked 14th in ball movement in 2023, so far this season we're ranked 8th. Room for improvement but that's a significant sign that we are well on our way here.

Makes our backline and those around him stand tall. Never shirks a contest. Leaves everything on the park. Almost always in our top 5 to 10 rated players every week, bar when he's returning from injury or hindered by a niggle. Premiership immortal. What more can you say... it's Steven Stonewall May!

It's sounding a little more like it will be the latter, at best, Andy. On a brighter note, and while touching my head plus any other wood at hand, our injury list is starting to shrink to a fairly negligible level.

Sounds promising Mr Bin. Will keep the faith and assume we are on target 🤞🏼👍🏼

My biggest concern is that in the same game POST BYE last season (courtesy of Andy's 'Last Time They Met' thread) ... MELBOURNE 2.1.13 4.8.32 6.11.47 8.15.63 GEELONG 3.4.22 4.7.31 5.10.40 11.12.78 The Demons made the long trip down the highway and looked the winner until the final break but ran out of legs even though they were coming off their midseason bye. My biggest concen here is we are effectively coming off the same rest period as the bye when we met them last season (albeit at Tax Payer Park not the G) and the same number of days (break) as the bye prior to meeting the Tigers last match. We appeared to come out flat as a tack against the Tigers and ran out of puff in the last against the Cats last season under the same 'break' scenario. So, if it's true that we treat the players to four days off and then attempt to cram in an extra main training session into the remaining seven days before these matches in order to make up for the longer 10 day break)...AND its not working. Ie; we are running out of puff in a significant way (vs the Cats 2023) or coming in flat in a signifcant way (the first half vs the Tigers last week). If so then why do it? You're effectively setting yourself up for a potential loss by adding the extra day's training in to the standard 7 day schedule. We got away with it against a severely depleted team in the Tigers. You won't against the top liners like the Cats this week. Alternatively if the extra day's considered a MUST from a HP POV, why not give the boys three days off instead of four and use that extra day at the end for recovery from the extra training session!? That should, in theory, bring them into the match a little more fresh or maybe alot more and potentially set us up to have a better chance of winning vs cramming in an extra (3rd) sesh into a standard 7 day break schedule that usually only has 2 main sessions. Bottom line... you can have all the amazing strategies, tactics and players in the world... which is fantastic. But bring them (or a fair chunk of em) into a match where many are cooked .... well good luck as most won't be able to execute as per the plans / tactics as required or for as long as needed to beat the best. Also, surely we wouldn't throw in an extra (3rd) serious session this week knowing we're coming up against the top of the table team and then a top eight team in great form in the Blues only 5 days later? A potential recipe to lose both matches imho. And IF the players MUST have their four days off for whatever reason, surely a huge match against the Cats is more than acceptable as the 3rd training session that the FD would (usually) like to throw in to this 10 day break scenario knowing we have a tough match to follow up five days later!?? We also don't bat deep in the midfield. No point overly thrashing them...will only result in under performance and/or potential soft tissue injuries that we can't afford.

I hope someone in the area had the presence of mind to call the security number for this imbecile WC

Just finished listening to the podcast. And read through the ABC article you posted in the "How rest and preparation dictate AFL performance" thread. No doubt the FD are all over the rest vs 'training loads' ratios throughout a season and have the experience / data on every player etc. However i'm starting to wonder if Bin might be on the money regarding the impact of the extra training session on a long break between matches such as the bye week against the Tigers and this week against the Cats. If that theory holds any weight then i'd expect another ordinary or very poor opening quarter or half vs the Cats followed by some sort of uptick in the last three quarters or half. Hopefully not, as the Cats will eat us alive and win comfortably under that scenario. The alternative is we play it smart on the training track and gym, particularly for the more senior players. Maybe not even throw the extra session at them and we come out cherry ripe from the get go??

Thanks very much Kev & WCW for the updates and efforts first thing Monday! Have not seen or heard of Jack doing anything separate to the main group so far. IMHO has not been the same player since the trip to Adelaide. I figured it could be just a fatigue / form or minor niggle thing. We're only talking a couple of off games since and coming off a high benchmark but also might be a little niggle going on here? Just speculation and hoping this isn't anything other than a corkie or similar (at worst). The comparative numbers from the first five rounds vs the last two rounds appear to support the drop off. We'll need him AND Clarry back to near their best for the Cats. Worth a watch as the week progresses. #7 J Viney Rnds 0 - 4 Rnds 5 & 6 % Change Contested Poss 10.8 8.5 -21.3 Uncontested Poss 12.2 10.0 -18.0 Effective Disposals* 14.8 13.0 -12.2 Disposal Effeciency % 67.9 70.5 2.6 Contested Marks* 0.2 0.0 -100.0 Marks inside 50* 0.2 0.5 150.0 One Percenters* 2.8 0.5 -82.1 Clearances* 4.2 4.0 -4.8 Rebound 50s* 2.6 2.0 -23.1 Inside 50s* 4.8 4.0 -16.7 Tackles* 5.0 4.5 -10.0 Score Involvements* 5.2 2.5 -51.9 Meters Gained 377.6 309.0 -18.2 Turnovers* 4.2 4.5 7.1 Intercepts* 4.0 0.5 -87.5 Tackles Inside 50* 1.0 0.0 -100.0 Time On Ground % 81.6 73.5 -8.1 Goals* 0.6 0.0 -100.0 Hit Outs to Adv* 0.0 0.0 - *DD's Player Rating 3.9 2.6 -33.5 Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com