Demon Dynasty

What are you scared of D9? We are living in the lucky country. I am merely pointing out how bad it is outside of Oz in some places. We are super lucky to have the resources/technology and infrastructure we have. I actually agree to a point and this pic highlights how well we are doing and how, in some cases, certain pollies are going over the top with their alarmist diatribe. When in fact we are, relatively speaking, in an amazing position without too much to worry about in most (but not all) cases....at least prior to Delta (see below). We also have access to so much high quality PPE (if we choose to use it ...not including the surgical masks we see being worn so much which provide very little protection vs more effective respirator alternatives) both personally and in a health aged care worker/ hospital / ambo sense. Having said that we do need to recognise that the Delta variant is a step up from all other variants and is almost a new version of Covid that requires a different method of curtailing until a large percentage (approx 80%?) of the population are fully vaccinated...

Latest FDA /CDC advice (rightly or wrongly) says no need for booster shots post 2 vaccine shots at this point in time. Where are you getting the Pfizer wearing off quicker than AZ evidence from and Pfizer struggling against Delta? There is prelim evidence that Delta is a fitter virus and efficacy is lower against this variant but my understanding is this is the case with all vaccines to this point (to various degrees of course and the outcomes vary with each study). My understanding is there is no peer reviewed hard evidence to suggest this albeit some prelim studies are indicating Moderna might be holding a higher efficacy but still very early days and too early to say with any certainty. It is worth noting that Pfizer is putting together an updated vaccine specific to Delta with trials commencing sometime this month. There is also prelim evidence (not peer reviewed etc) suggesting that two doses of AZ followed by an mRNA booster is producing some amazing efficacy results, even against the delta variant.

I am referring to the incidents of critical cases or death from TTS following AZ shots in Oz DC

Keep in mind deaths per Vax using AZ rate only takes into account those deaths confirmed as AZ related via official autopsy results. While we have no way of knowing, certain family members / religions / races may not give consent to autopsy following death.

My understanding in Oz (so far) is it is approx 1 in every 73,000 end up either critical in hospital and/or dead.

We should consider ourselves lucky being in a well developed country. Although i also get the damage being done to small business and sole traders with each lockdown. Heart breaking for many who are losing their livelihoods. The recent pic here is pretty confronting. Mods feel free to remove if you feel the need. This is a hospital hallway in Columbo Sri Lanka being used as some sort of ward with all beds having been over run, i have been told their equivalent to say Box Hill Hospital here. Apparently they have no oxygen, intravenous or any other assistance. As for intubaters ...well. The other pic i have is not postworthy here and shows bodies piled side by side in an ante room as there just isn't enough space in the mortuary area and too many to be picked up by the funeral parlours etc. Very tough times in many places i'm sure and already have been in the likes of India, Bangladesh etc but Sri Lanka is copping it big time at the moment unfortunately. Puts our worrying about where finals might be played into a bit of perspective.

Yes it would seem we are about the only team that continues to try and play dry weather football in the wet. Surely we train this? Knocking / kicking / slapping the ball forward then running on to it and doing it again if necessary till someone has enough space / time to pick it up etc. Yardage is critical in wet weather footy. Clarry & Kozzie probably one of the few that are capable of picking up cleanly sometimes and have earned a bit more licence to play their usual game.

Def. If not that ground drains/dries very quickly and they'll get back on their kick/mark game pretty easily. We don't pressure too well in our 50 either so they would have a field day coming out of defence and then hitting up their two KFs. Unless we suddenly changed tack last week and we're pressuring big time inside 50 from now through finals?

So prior to Dland's version of a lockdown, HD posted about using Spargo through the middle as an alternate mid option to which i thought i had responded (prior to the Mods locking down 😄)... ...."Worth a try HD. As you say he is one of our better decision makers / users with ball in hand. Certainly not in a full time role but would like to see him, Viney and, to a lessor degree Kozzie, in a three way playing the middle / HF positions. Kozzie in a very minor cameo only playing roughly 10% game time in middle (i suspect he might be playing this sort of time now anyway) and the other 90% up forward. Kozzie obviously a more serious threat up forward vs Spargo and also brings more heat inside 50 being our No.1 tackler here. Viney no.2 , just a smidgen behind and must play more time here IMV. Say about 60%/70%? Spargo the reverse.... roughly 60% middle and 30% HF. His decision making and delivery coming inside would offer us more value vs playing more minutes at HF where he is less likely to impact In a crowded 50 and who also rarely scores anyway. Having said that it's more than likely too late to see Spargo playing significant mid field minutes. Maybe next year after a solid pre-season training for this role?

Goal Related Averages (& Total Goals) up to & including Rnd 20, 2021 Note: Table ranking based on average goals per game Player Games Goal Ave SG Ave GAC % GA Total Goals 2021 Rank B Fritsch 18 2.2 3.4 63.9 0.3 39 1 Ben Brown 7 1.7 3.6 48.0 0.1 12 2 K Pickett 19 1.6 3.5 44.8 0.4 30 3 T McDonald 19 1.6 3.0 52.6 1.1 30 3 C Petracca 19 1.1 3.0 36.8 0.5 21 5 L Jackson 18 0.7 1.2 61.9 0.2 13 6 Ed Langdon 18 0.6 1.2 50.0 0.2 11 7 S Weideman 5 0.6 2.0 30.0 0.4 3 7 A N-Bullen 19 0.6 1.4 42.3 0.6 11 7 C Spargo 19 0.6 1.6 36.7 0.6 11 7 J Melksham 10 0.5 1.3 38.5 0.6 5 11 Max Gawn 19 0.5 1.4 37.0 0.4 10 11 J Harmes 12 0.4 1.3 33.3 0.3 5 13 C Oliver 19 0.4 1.3 28.0 0.6 7 13 T Sparrow 15 0.3 0.5 50.0 0.1 4 15 J Jordan 19 0.3 0.8 40.0 0.2 6 15 N Jones 8 0.3 0.9 28.6 0.3 2 15 Jack Viney 11 0.3 0.8 33.3 0.4 3 15 C Salem 18 0.1 0.3 33.3 0.3 2 19 J Hunt 19 0.1 0.3 33.3 0.1 2 19 A Brayshaw 19 0.1 0.8 13.3 0.4 2 19 T Rivers 19 0.1 0.2 33.3 0.0 1 19 A V'berg 2 0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0 23 M Hibberd 14 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 23 N Jetta 5 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 23 S May 18 0 0.2 0.0 0.1 0 23 A Tomlinson 7 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 23 H Petty 13 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0 23 Jake Lever 19 0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0 23 SG Ave = Shots at Goal Average GAC % = Goal Accuracy % GA = Goal Assists Stats courtesy of AFL stats pro

Bumping this post AM. Once we add Viney in with Harmes we are talking 2 semi-heavy inside mids here plus the two big bulls in Tracc & Clarry. Add to these Gawn at no.4 in clearance averages this season (ahead of Harmes in 5th) then we have this area well covered IMV. Is this why we often look to throw Kozzie into the mix early to get some mobility / agility happening? We also often hear the cry for Melk as well but alas, he does show glimpses of some lovely work on the receive out of the middle, but just not consistent enough to hold his place. Nor does he offer the defensive capability to contain opponents. I have to concur that Viney and Harmes both need to recognise they are not Pendles et al and just look for the unseflish hand off or find someone short in most cases. Ok, if they're both coming off an injury free pre-season i think both have the capability of a little more evasiveness / agility and, in the case of Harmes, the fend off on the burst early on in the season. But when they don't and or playing sore as the season wears on it's a very diff scenario with a change up required as you say. Still think we are short one silky mostly outside mid at this point. Casey doesn't seem to offer anyone of this ilk from what i've seen to this point either. Hopefully this is on our agenda of our recruiting team for 2022. And someone who is already up and about as the window won't remain open for long. Finding/trading in this option also frees up Viney to play more time as a defensive forward which i believe he is more suited to from here (somewhere around 65/35 HF/Middle for mine)

What's with the garbologist training?

Not necessarily IHW

Weighted Average Scores up to & including Rnd 20, 2021 vs 2019 Tracc leaps two places into 2nd place for the first time this season (i think...would have to trawl back through the entries to be sure!). Clarry still well clear. Average team score (top 22) this season still tracking just shy of our 2018 average by 1.5% (69.52). Player 2021 Score 2021 Rank 2019 Score % Change vs 2019 2019 Rank Change in Rank vs 2019 C Oliver 5.330 1 4.643 14.80 1 0 C Petracca 4.036 2 2.616 54.28 10 8 Steven May 3.981 3 2.446 62.76 14 11 C Salem 3.896 4 3.448 12.99 3 -1 Jake Lever 3.689 5 2.313 59.49 17 12 J Harmes 3.485 6 3.850 -9.48 2 -4 A Vandenberg* 3.475 7 Max Gawn # 3.422 8 3.256 5.10 4 -4 Ed Langdon 3.176 9 Jack Viney 3.161 10 3.068 3.03 5 -5 A Brayshaw 3.038 11 2.894 4.98 6 -5 James Jordan 2.969 12 T McDonald # 2.622 13 2.150 21.95 19 6 Trent Rivers 2.616 14 Jayden Hunt 2.597 15 1.958 32.64 22 7 J Bowey* 2.550 16 M Brown* 2.475 17 A Tomlinson 2.475 17 M Hibberd 2.438 19 2.124 14.78 20 1 K Pickett 2.391 20 L Jackson # 2.383 21 Oskar Baker* 2.325 22 1.714 35.65 29 7 Alex N-Bullen 2.247 23 1.984 13.26 21 -2 Nathan Jones 2.214 24 2.711 -18.33 7 -17 Tom Sparrow 2.109 25 1.075 96.19 37 12 Bayley Fritsch 2.104 26 2.641 -20.33 9 -17 H Petty 2.023 27 1.905 6.19 24 -3 Charlie Spargo 2.022 28 1.375 47.05 35 7 J Melksham 1.984 29 1.931 2.74 23 -6 Neville Jetta 1.865 30 2.264 -17.62 18 -12 Ben Brown # 1.786 31 S Weideman 1.055 32 1.818 -41.97 27 -5 K Chandler* 0.250 33 Average Team Score - Top 22 68.53 59.62 14.94 Hit outs to advantage not captured * Only played one match not an average score Stats courtesy of footywire.com

Sounds the most likely option. If we were coming into the match against the Suns and this had happened would we consider Baker to take on Gus's wing and Gus into the middle i wonder? Baker seems to be very much ready from a speed/fitness POV. Albeit he is a ball destroyer on delivery. Could instruct "just go long son"!? I'm not sure how but we do manage to recruit some bloody ordinary ball users by foot every year. The reason for the above.... trying to get a decent mover out and away from congestion. The only serious options for Viney are too similar (or slower) in AVB & Jordan. Both have poor agility / mobility from what ive seen and in the case of AVB he almost always plays slow with ball in hand which will bugger up our forward's leading patterns/timing. He will probably also get caught just as often or similar. The other option as ppl are suggesting is Melk. Who offers the mobility and delivery once given the ball (he rarely going to get it himself) and he will bring little two way capability or pressure on whoever he's on. We are seriously lacking a silk mid inside/outside fielder with some toe who can deliver inside 50 but is also accountable defensively and big two way runner.

Rnd 20, 2021 Marvel - Suns vs Demons Ripley's moment....not quite our best team effort statistically this season by a smidgen. Our best team score was Rnd 6 vs the Tigers where we laid down a 71.93 Tracc's best for the season beating his previous high of 5.125 in Rnd 6 against the Tigers & Rnd 17 vs the Power but coudn't beat the power of Clarrymiester who had another outstanding match, at least for the first three quarters anyway. Decent debut from Bowey with 12 effectives, 2 tackles and 4 intercepts. BB posts his best game for the season just. Out doing his 2.5 vs the Swans. LJ's equal best game for the season matching his Rnd 6 score vs the Tigers. River's fourth top 5 finish for the year! Not bad from the young fella. Player Score Rank C Oliver 6.900 1 C Petracca 5.825 2 L Jackson # 4.400 3 Max Gawn # 3.975 4 Trent Rivers 3.925 5 Jake Lever 3.900 6 A N-Bullen 3.800 7 Steven May 3.775 8 J Harmes 3.750 9 Jayden Hunt 3.325 10 A Brayshaw 2.900 11 H Petty 2.775 12 B Fritsch 2.725 13 T McDonald # 2.600 14 Jack Viney 2.600 14 Ed Langdon 2.575 16 Ben Brown # 2.575 16 Jake Bowey 2.550 18 K Pickett 2.375 19 C Spargo 1.825 20 T Sparrow 1.750 21 C Salem 0.950 22 Team Score 71.78 Top 6 28.93 Bottom 6 12.03 # Hit outs to advantage not captured Stats courtesy of footywire.com

A young fella that shows glimpses. Early days DZ. Could be handy....or might go the way of the Dodo. Had a few moments yday but also [censored] the bed on occasions under pressure. Wasn't alone here and understandable given he has just stepped up to VFL (AFL list).

Hopefully when we're expected to win ....ie; today!! Rinse repeat... rinse repeat season after season after season (eg, Carltank in 2005....16 years ago...twice if i'm correct!!)

Wise advice. Drink copiously and quickly KK. Starting now!!

"No community sport, no professional sport for the next three days." Money + Local Perochialism = No Covid here... here...no covid!

I'll second that. He's a damn sight better than any other big man at Casey at this stage. Insurance and also can fill in for 'managed' requirements for both Max & Dogga. Should have done so this week IMV. Resting both of those two for Maj & Melk

You can add Baker & Grey (outside of shots on goal) into that mix too Dazzle and to a lessor degree, at least today, Chunk as well. Then there's Foot who burned two options for the greedy shot on goal at one point. The Doggies showed us how to play team footy and were stronger in pretty much every aspect both at ground level in first possession, clean distribution then spread on the outside, in the air, coming inside 50 and finishing on goal. They held their feet more as well, much stronger through the core and better balanced, whereas too many Casey fellas were going to ground and / or unable to escape their direct opponent and under pressure often not taking first options ending up trying to do too much / getting caught. Nev's decision to handball to chunk on one kick in in the third was diabolical. There's not one decent deliverer coming inside 50 in the group that played today and no genuine target up forward without the Weid. And while i realise Bell was filling in for Daw, he is a mile off, even at this level. The other issue that stood out for me and this also applies to our senior team, when the opp gets a run on we seem unable to man up, even for a brief but meaningful period (say 10 to 15 minutes) within a quarter and shut down their momentum / force more turnovers. I could also be wrong but we also appear to be happy to continue with a soft zone in our forward half, allowing opponents to find easy short targets out of the square and then do same up the field until about half way where they launch inside 50 or attempt to find a target on the lead. Occasionally we force them to kick down the line early to about mid field but not often enough. Against a skilled team like the doggies that's basically handing them the match right there. And we do same at AFL level. Haven't seen Goodwin alter this strategy all season and our opponents are having a field day playing off this weakness against us. Kept looking for one or more players to wrestle back some sort of respect/control and say hey fellas come with me and lets turn this (momentary!?) shiiite fest around. But alas. There wasn't one player today you could say was worthy of a call up to senior level. The other issue for me is that ground. What a freakin shiiite place to learn the skills of the game with that crappy north westerly almost always blowing a gale from left to right across the field. I would say no issue if it was only once in a while but it appears to be more often than not and a bloody blight on the game and players in general. Get the hell out of Casey i reckon. What a shiite hole. While we obviously had a number missing we were pantsed after quarter time. I would love to say i saw someone or something positive come out of it. Something meaningful i mean that would potentially hold us in good stead if we needed in these last few rounds or finals but sadly i couldn't find a genuine serious player that might be capable of stepping up to make the grade or a difference at AFL level today.

A great opportunity to play Maj for one solo match and manage / rest both Max & Dogga for this one. Send those two straight to Perth to prep for the Eagles. Oops match cancelled! Serves Gil right....trying to be too smart by half. Just bring everyone into one hub and finish off the season FCS.

Is this being covered anywhere... good old Casey radio playing the VFLW ?

So Clarko to Port then!!