Demon Dynasty

There is absolutely no way Clarry is not No.1 so far this season. Other than his last match and the odd BOG coin flip from a few others on occasions, by the length of the Flemington straight. Bar a few very good games and maybe a BOG Max just hasn't been consistent enough to take the No.1 mantle. Not sure what the OP has been watching but this review fails at the first hurdle.

Their whole management or lack thereof since the get go has been amateur hour to say the least. They hit the panic button at the mere mention of more than two or three infections while NSW continue with "covid normal" with no lockdowns and just a few precautionary ad ons. They will drive this state's small business sector in to a very deep ditch with their next over reaction if they haven't already.

Fabulous and how about the shinana! Should have been 50 against the Cats and a certain goal regardless. Getting their usual armchair ride at the Cattery

I would be getting a genuine great (forward) of the game, preferably a recently retired one, down to the club pronto and teaching the likes of Clarry, Spargo & Kozzie how to kick set shots from various angles and distances. As well as shots on the run under various amounts of pressure and angles. The ideal for mine would be Gary Ablett Jnr. I would also have him running some training drills with the forwards in order to connect more often, attempting to place the ball into space for them to run onto more often. We just don't do enough of this when coming inside. Tracc & Clarry could both do with this sort of drill in particular. Many of our kicks coming inside 50 lack finesse and touch. Most of them either mung balls or just blindly kicked in without any thought or use of the eyes. Would also be helpful for the likes of Viney, Harmes and Hunt. This break is an ideal opportunity for something like this to take place and could be the difference between making a PF or not and potentially making the big dance. Might also help to put lessor light teams away earlier or see us having a few big percentage wins. Even against some of the higher rated clubs.

Very rare for Clarry to have an off day Buck that's for sure and as you say with all three off their best. Had Clarry been able to muster his usual standard game i suggest we would have gotten much closer and maybe over the line if he flew at his best. My issue here is that in the last few weeks i've started to see a bit of selfishness creep in in patches with less sharing of goals/blocks/shepherds etc and that's a worrying sign. I think the system works on the larger grounds like the G, not so sure it's a smart way to play on a squashed up ground like the SCG. Personally i thought we gave them way too much rope off HB and up to half way/just over with the zone and enabled them to launch attack after attack far too often from damaging launching places. To me the SCG (or similar sized grounds) demands a much more in your face style of defence, in order to pressure the opponents in to turning the ball over more often behind of and not much further than center. Guarding grass and taking space on the SCG for me....not a great idea. And the Pies gained confidence the longer the match went on and the longer we continued to do so. Our contested ground ball, loose ground ball gets and pressure inside our 50 was deplorable as well IMV which didn't help matters and saw their backs either marking uncontested or running off at will from resulting spills far too often. Spargo (in particular) and Kozzie both had a poor day in a crumbing/pressuring sense and just in general really. Too many times our tall forwards either didn't make the contest or did not impact when they did and played from behind far too often. The other issue is you are sometimes going to see your best having an off day as you say and to me this is when some of the remaining lessor lights need to take some responsibility and say "not on my watch" and step up to the plate. To have the bulk of the team, bar a few of the regulars with a few rookies sprinkled in, also having some pretty ordinary efforts was the clincher. Yes leaders need to step up also and yes many were off as you say like Maxy. But just once in a while the others need to do their bit and take the responsibility to lift, especially the more mature players and to a lessor degree some of the rookies also. Jordan and LJ were two that stood out as doing so but unfortunately not enough went with them. One area i thought was consistently badly played was the constant tap/knock forward of center by Maxy in the center square ruck contests where the Pies were reading this and running to in numbers. Then spreading out the back, linking around and then direct inside 50 on multiple forays. We (Maxy) did not appear to arrest this flaw at any stage until we finally relieved Big M of his ruck duties for LJ in the third (or maybe late into the 2nd), with Maxy then resting more up forward. For one of the rare times ever, i actually thought Max was a liability in the center square ruck contests in this particular match and thought it was no coincidence that we started to turn things around once LJ took over. Max has had a few games this season where i thought he has really put us behind the eight ball with some decisions / tapping of late...including the match against the Crows. One question i would love to ask the line coach here is ..."Was this pointed out to Maxy at any stage when he was resting on the bench?". If he wasn't resting and instead resting forward then surely you take him off at some point and get the message through. And /or if you are allowing max to continue with this strat, then highlight to the rest of the followers what the hell is happening and fix up their starting positions/structure to make sure they are getting to this drop zone more often and compete like Demons to wrestle the game back off them!! The other very poor call for mine (in game) was the late call to place Harmes on a rampaging DeGoey, mostly in the second. Could be wrong but it was my impression they left Sparrow on him for almost the entire first half (possibly switched Harmes onto him in the last 5 to 8 minutes or so of the second...possibly even later) but by that stage the momentum / damage was done IMHO. We were well beaten on and off the park yesterday. Cudos to Bucks and his crew but a little worrying for us if we are ever going back to similar sized grounds this season.

At some stage in a winning team you have to start clicking and performing consistently BA. How long do you want to give to see if he's in form and slotting in fine? Surely if he is he hits on at least one or two of those chances.

That would include Chunk, Viney and Tomlinson. Of course we aren't getting the latter back. We have struggled in the first half of a number of matches and struggled to put away most clubs, even the crappy ones (Norf, the Crows and now the Pies), since Viney & Tomlinson departed. The Tigers match was the last time Viney / Tommo played (Rnd 6) and the last time i felt we had another (quality) team convincingly covered from the get go, aside from the Doggies. I would not play Sparrow/Melk ahead of Chunk* (if 100% fit) for the remainder of the season (unless injured) either. Neither are reliable under heat against quality opposition and Melk has zero defensive qualities. Anyone who thinks he does please watch his replays in full. His opponent is mostly yards ahead when we don't have the ball and he is coasting/struggling to close down the space. He just doesn't have the two way running capability and/or the will to. Sparrow might develop into a player at some point but the difference between his best and worst is just too massive to risk vs Chunk (once match fit) at this stage. *Obviously Viney comes in ahead of all of these. We can cover Tomlinson to a point with Petty (who is still a fair way off Tommo though) but IMHO we aren't good enough to go further than a PF without Viney back in and fully match fit. And don't kid yourselves, our depth isn't that good, especially up forward. Would give BB another block of three. Fails and he is done and joins the Weid back at Casey for the remainder unless we lose T-Mac (Lucifer forbid). Mitch maybe two/three (max) if BB fails. If neither of those two cut it then just revert back to the original set up to Rnd 6.

Weighted Average Scores up to & including Rnd 13 , 2021 vs 2019 Top 22 average team score is tracking lower than the 2018 season average by 1.7% Hopefully today wasn't a sign that we still don't cope well when we're expected to win comfortably (above the shoulders!??). There was virtually zero leadership, structure or cohesion out there all day today and i didn't see much selfless play happening either. The missed hand ball from Kozzie to Fritsch for a likely goal in the last was one good example. Need to get back to team first pronto. And is there any chance anyone could hit up any target inside 50? I'm not sure who was worse here, the leading forwards (or lack thereof) or those doing the kicking. Player 2021 Score 2021 Rank 2019 Score % Change vs 2019 2019 Rank Change in Rank vs 2019 C Oliver 5.423 1 4.643 16.80 1 0 C Salem 4.019 2 3.658 9.87 3 1 Steven May 3.971 3 2.446 62.35 14 11 C Petracca 3.960 4 2.616 51.38 10 6 Max Gawn # 3.637 5 3.256 11.70 4 -1 J Harmes 3.632 6 3.850 -5.66 2 -4 Jake Lever 3.513 7 2.313 51.88 17 10 Jack Viney 3.450 8 3.068 12.45 5 -3 Ed Langdon 3.373 9 James Jordan 3.129 10 A Brayshaw 3.060 11 2.894 5.74 6 -5 T McDonald # 2.662 12 2.150 23.81 19 7 M Hibberd 2.633 13 2.124 23.96 20 7 Jayden Hunt 2.615 14 1.958 33.55 22 8 L Jackson # 2.523 15 Trent Rivers 2.481 16 K Pickett 2.475 17 M Brown* 2.475 17 A Tomlinson 2.475 17 Oskar Baker* 2.325 20 1.714 35.65 29 9 Alex N-Bullen 2.294 21 1.984 15.63 21 0 Nathan Jones 2.214 22 2.711 -18.33 7 -15 Tom Sparrow 2.122 23 1.075 97.40 37 14 Bayley Fritsch 2.058 24 2.641 -22.07 9 -15 Charlie Spargo 2.033 25 1.375 47.85 35 10 J Melksham 1.984 26 1.931 2.74 23 -3 H Petty 1.950 27 1.905 2.36 24 -3 Neville Jetta 1.865 28 2.264 -17.62 18 -10 Ben Brown # 1.575 29 S Weideman 1.055 30 1.818 -41.97 27 -3 K Chandler* 0.250 31 Average Team Score - Top 22 68.34 59.62 14.62 Hit outs to advantage not captured * Only played one match not an average score Stats courtesy of footywire.com

Rnd 13, 2021 SCG - Demons vs Magpies Our worst team score for the season. Our worst top 6 score for the season. Our 2nd worst bottom 6 score for the season only bettered in Rnd 10 vs the Crows (just at 6.78). Salem back to his best is one major positive and Dogga / JJ had pretty decent games. May went alright. A few others were serviceable but that was about it. Forward line was putrid today in the air, on the ground, defensively (lacked pressure/chase downs), accuracy and delivery was bog ordinary also (mostly wide even when we were behind). I can't recall one player taking a mark on a lead inside 50. Dogga clunked an over head at one stage early but can't recall if that was inside or just outside. (Note: i missed the entire third quarter so happy to stand corrected). The Pies did it to us again, just as they did in the last round of 2017. Only one team gave maximum effort for the entire match today and played as if their lives were on the line while we went wide, Hollywood hand balled or preferred to slow up on the chasing/pressure and instead just guard space. At the end of the day there is no free lunches at this level and you can never choose when to go or not, even against a bottom 4 club. Player Score Rank Christian Salem 4.650 1 Steven May 4.475 2 Clayton Oliver 3.825 3 James Jordon 3.825 4 Luke Jackson # 3.800 5 Christian Petracca 3.425 6 Angus Brayshaw 3.350 7 Alex N-Bullen 3.000 8 Max Gawn # 2.825 9 Michael Hibberd 2.600 10 James Harmes 2.525 11 Jake Lever 2.500 12 Jayden Hunt 2.400 13 Harrison Petty 2.050 14 Trent Rivers 1.975 15 Tom McDonald 1.725 16 Kysaiah Pickett 1.625 17 Ed Langdon 1.475 18 Tom Sparrow 1.425 19 Charlie Spargo 0.925 20 Sam Weideman 0.800 21 Bayley Fritsch 0.650 22 Team Score 55.85 Top 6 24.00 Bottom 6 6.90 # Hit outs to advantage not captured Stats courtesy of footywire.com

Too easy. Viney (if fit) or Chunk for Sparrow (reaction time too slow / sloppy for AFL at this stage) BB or MB for Weid

Brushed aside by a bottom 4 team as if we weren't even on the field. It's not how much you lose by...but how. You can't pick and choose when to bring your best. Too many of the boys did that today. Now every team will think they are in with a shot and now have the formula to do so. This may have cost us an easy top 4 place. Some in this team preferred to play Hollywood and may have drunk too much of their own bath water. Others were simply not up to it and were found out as being so and should not get a further chance for a very long time. Would much rather see Chunk in for Sparrow if fit and either BB or MB in for the Weid from here who rarely stands up when the going gets tough.

Shocking game MFC

Sparrow's been crud today unfortunately

Kozzirle.handball WTF

Could someone please help improve set shot kicking for goal and help them find some distance as well. There's a few exceptions but most can't kick accurately from 40+ out. Kozzie & Spargo the worst

The Pies just more precise in general, more run and have worked harder to hit the contest all day

Quanare has killed Spargo today

Tracc having a complete mare. The Pies would have to play pretty badly to lose this from here. Sparrow too slow to execute under pressure today and shown up big timel by DeGoey in the first half.

Tracc didn't keep following his direct opponent Nobke around HF there and allowed him the easy receive. Played on easily also and transitioned too quickly inside 50. Tracc's goal....lazy as. Guarding grass

All talls have also failed to at least get the ball to ground as well albeit with few opportunities so far but they have all failed. Tracc's Hollywood handballs have also been super frustrating to watch so far.

Mate...two talls and i have not seen one of them lead straight up at the ball carrier. All of them pretty much lead to the boundary every time including the medium in Fritchkrieg. Awful play just awful and entries inside 50 far too shallow when not going wide!????

How Harmes was not sent to DeGoey by about the 10 minute mark of that quarter is astounding.

One of the worst 1st half games from Tracc for some time i would think.

Any chance Max could stop tapping the ball towards our goal at centre bounces straight to their sweepers who are then coasting around and out of the square?