Demon Dynasty

I also worried he might have lost a bit of speed off the mark when he came back from a serious injury a few years back LITD but any injury before or during a season is said by many VFL/AFL players to be a big set back vs an injury free pre-season. No doubt more so as the years pass. Doesn't take Einstien to know that of course. But yes, as much as i love Nev and all he has brought and still brings i was calling for Hibb for Nev as soon as he was 100% and ready. Having Hibb, Rivers & Hunt coming off HB, linking up with the likes of Ed & Gus is going to be a nightmare scenario for oppo coaches & players. While i'm a big fan i'm only calling for the run with role on Dusty due his prior success here. His low center of gravity, ability ro scrap, his burst of speed (assuming its not far off his best when he was hot a few years back) and experience should hold him in good stead once again....hopefully! Would have to be the hardest run with role in footy so he will need assistance if this is what the coaching panel are planning. P.S. goes without saying he played a major role in our 2018 success. No reason why that would change when fully fit. His numbers, for a backman, were off the charts on Sunday!

One match does not a swallow make but...seemingly substantial improvement in many areas on 2019 Mr Leg. Agility, evasiveness & quick off the mark. Much stronger through the core, able to break the odd tackle. Closing down speed quite good. Tackling quite good also. Able to hit loose players on the 45 and on the lead with ease and accuracy. Short kicking is A1. Can't say i took enough notice of how he did going longer. Goal sense and snaps appear to be improving also. Of course this is all at VFL level. Will he cut the mustard taking the step up? Probably won't set the world on fire in his first dozen matches or so but not many do. However he's definitely looking likely and worth having a look at as the year progresses if a window opens. Lots of upside and could end up being a regular small forward, tearing it up in the seniors at some stage. Not saying he'll be a Kozzie. But he could end up being a very handy addition inside 50, possibly even more than that. Lots of class on show on Sunday / cheeky goal sneak potential also!

A very switched on assessment of where both teams are at. May is definitely a big out and not having him in could be the difference on the night if the match doesn't break open. Hope we don't go "too many talls" forward and muck the balance into their defensive favour. The other areas we need to look at most of the match if possible to try and limit a few of their strengths.... ? A defensive sweeper but not the traditional one. Defensive fat side sweeper slightly goal side (for them) covering their inside run through the corridor, where the Tigers love to run to (in waves) on the break from ball ins. Small/medium forward as plus one at many of these contests? Might also open up our forward line a little on the break when we win here. ? Hibb to go with Dusty (again) with occasional chop outs from JJ & Kozzie. Or....JJ runs with Dusty until he gets picked up by Hibb when he drifts forward. Bit of tag team needed. Unlikely to stop Dusty of course, just looking to limit the damage. ? At least one mid goal side of as many contests as possible. The Tigers looove to handball over their heads backwards and knock the ball forward from contests at any opportunity in congestion. Controlled chaos designed to gain yardage but also to gain momentum under chaos knocking / handballing the ball forward then swarming on to it/tackling in numbers. They are going to win their share of these battles as they're so hard to stop but we must try and unsettle/limit the potential damage here and their (chaotic) rhythm. ANB & Gus?

Weighted Average Scores up to & including Rnd 5 , 2021 vs 2019 Our average team score this season is now tracking above 2018! Ok so it's only slightly above at a tad over 1%, but it's still higher. Does this mean we are PF bound? 18% above 2019's disaster. Quite a return game from Hibb in this round when you see it in context vs the season averages. That will probably drop off in coming weeks but one can only hope he holds that level. Pitty May won't be back for the coming Anzac eve / Jones' 300th against the Tiges. Reckon he might be the difference if it's a close one. Player 2021 Score 2021 Rank 2019 Score % Change vs 2019 2019 Rank Change in Rank vs 2019 Clayton Oliver 5.265 1 4.643 13.40 1 0 M Hibberd* 4.500 2 2.124 111.86 20 18 C Salem 4.130 3 3.658 12.90 3 0 Max Gawn # 4.065 4 3.256 24.85 4 0 Steven May 4.000 5 2.446 63.53 14 9 Jake Lever 3.915 6 2.313 69.26 17 11 C Petracca 3.830 7 2.616 46.41 10 3 Ed Langdon 3.680 8 Kysaiah Pickett 3.255 9 Jack Viney 3.213 10 3.068 4.73 5 -5 Jayden Hunt 3.055 11 1.958 56.03 22 11 A Brayshaw 3.035 12 2.894 4.87 6 -6 J Melksham 2.625 13 1.931 35.94 23 10 James Jordan 2.545 14 Charlie Spargo 2.525 15 1.375 83.64 35 20 Bayley Fritsch 2.500 16 2.641 -5.34 9 -7 T McDonald # 2.475 17 2.150 15.12 19 2 M Brown* 2.475 17 A Tomlinson 2.390 19 Alex N-Bullen 2.365 20 1.984 19.20 21 1 Trent Rivers 2.310 21 Luke Jackson # 2.195 22 J Harmes* 2.150 23 3.850 -44.16 2 -21 Nathan Jones 2.115 24 2.711 -21.98 7 -17 Tom Sparrow 2.087 25 1.075 94.14 37 12 H Petty* 1.900 26 1.905 -0.26 24 -2 Neville Jetta 1.888 27 2.264 -16.61 18 -9 Average Team Score -Top 22 70.35 59.62 17.99 # Hit outs to advantage not captured * Only played one match not an average score Stats courtesy of footywire.com

You should see me when i'm mindlessly drunk!

A little confused but pretty sure these are rhetorical questions Uncle

Ty Mr Jones (also posted in another thread).... Bottom line.... there are certain 'Special' players that define a club and set the standards for all to follow. Both ON and OFF the track and on game day. They DON'T grow on trees. And they set these standards week after week. Month after month. Year after year. Regardless of how the rest of the team might be coping/playing. They are there bringing a level of acceptable, and in many cases higher, standards for others to follow and mark themselves by. Chunk was (still is!) the fire, the guts, the blood, sweat and tears that kept the spirit and flame of the club burning through some very dark years. IMHO the darkest i've witnessed in my short 50 years following this club. The Jones boy has earned his moment. This week, on this stage, many times over and over and over! The impact he will have on all those around on the night you cannot put into words, nor can it be measured or easily defined. Spirit, guts and great loyalty. It might even help get us over the line on the night. Go get em Jones Boy! What a role model for this club. Love ya son!

Bottom line.... there are certain 'Special' players that define a club and set the standards for all to follow. Both ON and OFF the track and on game day. They DON'T grow on trees. And they set these standards week after week. Month after month. Year after year. Regardless of how the rest of the team might be coping/playing. They are there bringing a level of acceptable, and in many cases higher, standards for others to follow and mark themselves by. Chunk was (still is!) the fire, the guts, the blood, sweat and tears that kept the spirit and flame of the club burning through some very dark years. IMHO the darkest i've witnessed in my short 50 years following this club. The Jones boy has earned his moment. This week, on this stage, many times over and over and over! The impact he will have on all those around on the night you cannot put into words, nor can it be measured or easily defined. Spirit, guts and great loyalty. It might even help get us over the line on the night. Go get em Jones Boy! What a role model for this club. Love ya son!

Unfortunately the NBL/NBA/20/20 nonsense has invaded the AFL arena. If the volumes were at a reasonable level i wouldn't mind but it is way too loud to enjoy the breaks. And why do we need a "GOAL" flashing thumping thingy every time a goal is scored? I understand doing this when there were no crowds but to carry it through at these insane noise levels post 2020!? Might be time to start taking my phone earplugs and listen to the comments on radio at a decent level and just switch off. And some of the half time ticket stuff with the 3 minute countdown today. Arrghh....who was that host of there's. Getting his rocks off about a bloody countdown clock. As bad as it was though, nothing was as bad as the night i went to Marvel to watch the Melbourne Renegades... "GET ON RED...GET ON RED....GET ON RED". "RENEGADES....RENEGADES....RENEGADES". Over and over and bloody over again at every possible break. Probably louder than the G today if anything. A potentially good night's entertainment spoiled! Adios Reds!

I think he's running at about peak for this year but he might have another gear DD, you never know. Another pre-season to improve the core & upper strength a tad more and he should start clunking a number of these marking attempts. The fact he is getting to so many of them though at this early phase is bloody exciting. The benefits of his improving match fitness /hardness, combined with his natural athleticism, appear to be holding him in good stead as the season progresses. hoping this will also see him mark and kick the odd goal on occasions before season is out. That would be a great bonus to have up forward when he isn't rucking.

Rnd 5, 2021 MCG - Hawks vs Demons Gawny hits the big time for the second time this season. His other top ranking was against the Giants in Rnd 3. Clarry's contract discussions seemingly having no impact on his ability to contribute. Decision making looked a tad off today at times and still plenty of room for improvement, especially with his connection work coming inside 50, where i thought he was a little better last week against the Cats. There was a moment today where he marked in the member's pocket on a super tight angle, we had an open CHF area with Melk & ANB running free from the center square open for quite a while but unfortunately Clarry never even appeared to be looking out for them. Missed the goal by quite a lot. Opportunity lost. Some future work on this forward 50 connection aspect and set shots at goal wouldn't hurt going forward. Little things that, if improved on, just might take him to super star status. Welcome back Hibb! I thought he was very influential today pressuring his opponents, leaving his own to support, two way running and general desperation. Super impressive return. Salem again in the top five and having a solid start to the season. And yes you aren't seeing things, the super mossie Kozzie in the top 5. And not for the first time. He came 5th in Rnd 17 last season vs the Giants with a score of 2.925 However, this was his highest statistical score by far, easily beating his outstanding Rnd 3 score against the Giants of 3.650 Our best players also batted deep today! Without trawling through records (going back to 2017), i can't recall too many times (if any), where we've had 13 players hitting a score of 3 or higher in any match. That's a good solid contribution (or better) from so many today and quite possibly a record i would think. The team score of 69.03 is right on our 2018 average team score of 69.53 !! Player Score Rank Max Gawn # 5.375 1 Clayton Oliver 4.975 2 M Hibberd 4.500 3 Christian Salem 4.325 4 Kysaiah Pickett 4.275 5 James Jordan 3.900 6 Jake Lever 3.700 7 Tom McDonald # 3.600 8 Jake Melksham 3.550 9 Luke Jackson # 3.350 10 Jayden Hunt 3.075 11 Ed Langdon 3.050 12 C Petracca 3.000 13 Trent Rivers 2.975 14 A Brayshaw 2.925 15 Alex N-Bullen 2.550 16 Mitchell Brown 2.475 17 Harrison Petty 1.900 18 Jack Viney 1.900 19 A Tomlinson 1.875 20 Charlie Spargo 1.250 21 Nathan Jones 0.500 22 Team Score 69.03 Top 6 27.35 Bottom 6 9.90 # Hit outs to advantage not captured Stats courtesy of footywire.com

LJ VERY good today indeed

Other than behind goals Ponsford end probably not although the MCC might have had slightly more

That's the one! ?

Awhhh ...there's a retorical response i was awaiting Mr Old. Not necessarily from yourself. You know...Uncle, PF, other! P.S. don't wake me up pls

Did we win!!!!????.......

Ive been saying this for a few weeks. Needs to lose the Hollywood and just knuckle down. Neither him or Viney are very good at threading the needle to hit up targets inside 50. Just hit the hot zone quickly or shoot at goal if within range and put pressure on the opp either just outside the square or on the scoreboard pls.

He is not so accomplished in defence IMHO. Much better as a medium tall mobile forward. However, with so many tall forwards in the waiting i can't see the FD rolling this die anytime soon so we will be left to die wondering this season me thinks.

Viney copped one in the gonads but he's up and walked off gingerly

Yes i guess i was asking for that or similar response DD

Makes sense

Does anyone know if they allow dogs in at Box Hill?

Vn get BA. I have a number of these, scanlans as well, but no signatures

Last time i got a nose bleed there was almost 30 years ago. 1981 Semi Final, Collingwood vs Fitzroy. I cannot recall why or how i got there. The G and the bar at the Hilton were basically my second home lol. Must have been a freebie. I recall seeing the players running around like ants, not feeling that connected to the atmosphere in any way even though there was a huge crowd, suffering from vertigo on occasions and not being happy with the outcome. The days when i had 20/20 vision!