Demon Dynasty

The Suns bomb it to the same spot far too often and too many are going up for the mark also. Remind you of anyone recently?

What was the deal with us and Ben King again? He's one amazing prospect and delivering the goods a fair chunk of the time. Lovely kick also

Ah right. Missed the thread sequence sorry

The Pies may not be the finest chocolates going around at the moment but they almost always give a 100% red hot go every game, making them a hard team to beat. I would not even give them a millimeter let alone an inch. Replay that match ten times over they probably win eight of them and they're looking ok and one of the team's to beat. I must admit their forward line looks flakey though and too reliant on DeGoey kicking 4 to 5 each week to get them over the line. Hoewever as we know, footy is very fickle, occasionally decided by the mere direction a ball bounces (see Milne 1st drawn GF 2010). While they still have Pendles & Sidebottom (when in form) running around, write off the Pies at your peril.

Can someone tell me if you can buy tickets to tomorrow's final on the day at Casey gate or can they only be purchased online?

Yipee! How beautiful was that. Outside of Pendles and Sidebottom, who had a bit of a mare tonight (for his usual standard). Degoey always a threat, Grundy super competitive, Moore as well if allowed to run off. Daicos starting to look dangerous but IMHO pretty pedestrian outside of the above and the rest are flattered by them. Rich was superb in that final quarter or so.

There is very little chance of any of those three happening TU. And in today's more open game, one on one defending has become even more crucial, especially inside 50 to avoid slingshot rebound goals. Less opportunity to hide amongst the team defence style of yonder from now on. Players who refuse to pressure/man up when we lose possession will be even more exposed defensively and the team will pay a heavy price when playing this type of player. One on one accountability is back.

One can only hope!! Any score will do

Reckon they will try & go the snipe and biff early like they did against the Doggies in thier final up there in 2019 to great effect. That's about their only real prospect of putting the Demons off our game. Watch out for sniper Green in this one. He will have someone in his sights early. It's important we fly the flag here when he does. Our challenge will be to give as good as we get early without getting conpletely sucked in and maintain the structures / methods that we know are working. Demons to cruise home by 8 goals after a tough and spiteful first half.

Preposterous proposal. Something a bit smaller & practical like the Empire State building? Just dismantle and cart across the Pacific. Upright it would take up very little acreage and can probably straddle Brunton across the railway line with access straight into the G. Easy access for the players too who could parasail onto the G on game day.

I would be usurping these idiots and lobbying the Vic Govt & AFL. Impossible to reason with Kumbuya FitzWickys. They aren't living in the real world as we know it.

Well he will have to start leading there more often then and/or players will need to ignore him more often when he does lead out too close to the boundary BBP. The kicker has to take some responsibility here as well. Tracc's rediculous attempt to hit him up with opponent on his shoulder as Fritta lead to the pocket boundary line on Sat night a great example of that where it went OOTF. The injection of Bob might (hopefully) straighten us up a little and partially solve this issue but responsibility should also rest with the FD (messages/training) and the players themselves. I would also be highlighting to the players in the review period, the chances/odds of kicking goals from different areas/angles inside 50 in order to reinforce the importance of leading to places that improve their (and the team's) chances of goaling. I would assume this to be in Goody's (FD's) 101 coaching / training program and most players already well aware of this by now. If that is the case but for whatever reaaon it's still happening far too often, as a coach i would then be asking the question of the regular offenders to try and rectify any systemic bad habits.

I'm not sure he has AF. Appears to have improved to some degree in terms of leading patterns/timing and taking a mark out in front when it's delivered nicely. Not sure he has fixed this side when the ball isn't delivered on the lead and it's coming in from a fair height vs a nice lace out or similar.

6. Clarry - Oh boy...what more can you say! 5. Salem - Busboy of the MFC 4. May - Stonewall 3. ANB - The everywhere man. Gets to the right spots so often and often the first link receiver (distributor) around congestion. Appeared to be on Jones or near him much of the time. Got the ball often enough to keep him quiet. Pressure and run first rate. Presented well for many link up plays both marking and score involvements on the night. A few clangers but one of his more productive effective games for the club IMV. 2. Tracc - Lots of possessions. Many of them extracted under heavy pressure / traffic and difficulty. Lots of wasteful disposals though including reckless shots / bombs at goal. Rolls out onto his right automatically far too often for my liking without assessing first. On Sat this often saw him facing no clear target/s to kick to and he then dumped it to no man's land for nil advantage, a rushed behind or the turnover/rebound. Mixed amongst that was some great running and evasive work to present and mark on the lead. Fix some of the flaws he could end up as one of the greats and just maybe win a Chas. 1. Kozzie, Kozzie Kozzie! - 19 years of age in only his 16th match and we see a glimpse of an emerging star of the comp. Lots of work to do but Kozzie ain't waiting. He's obviously decided now is as good a time as any to say "HELLO" to the AFL comp. That was electric and can't say i've seen anything like it in a small package at Demonland since the Wiz hit the seen in 95/96. I still recall the mark over Gazza against the Tigers at the G. That was billed as a big day for the Tigers with a huge build up from them aiming for a win or small loss to make finals (a bit like our final round disaster against the Pies in 2017) and we came out and walloped them with the Wiz flying like a bird over the pack to take that screamer. For those not old enough to recall... This is the sort of stuff that can turn a club's fortunes right around and drag a stack of extra fans through the turnstiles...

Hopefully Sideshow will fix that somewhat when he comes in AF. Fritta is the main offender here. I understand him leading out there as a decoy / change up occasionaly but not so often. Part of the problem may lie with those who keep trying to honour him for going their imv. Maybe there weren't many alternatives aside from Tommy at times leading up the middle.

Fabulous come from behind win against Brisbane. Turned their season around completely after the disastrous match agaiist the Pies. Gay (real natural up forward), Pearce, Paxman (BOG), Bannon (so quick), Hanks, Downie, Emonson and Zanker (BOG to half time). The list goes on. I's throw Mithen in there but much or her great work to get the ball is offset by a few too many turnovers im afraid as well as poor penetration by foot. Pitty about Daisy but opportunity for someone else to step up. Chanel 7 will be forced to put the Demons up now much to theur chargrin i'm sure.

Weighted Average Scores up to & including Rnd 2 , 2021 vs 2019 Very early days, a long way to go and not a great sample size but the average team score of the top 22 players is already up 13% on the 2019 team average and only 3% below the 2018 season average of 69.53 Kozzie going ok! ? Player 2021 Weighted Score 2021 Rank 2019 Weighted Score % Change vs 2019 2019 Rank Change in Rank vs 2019 Clayton Oliver 5.838 1 4.643 25.74 1 0 Steven May 4.338 2 2.446 77.35 14 12 Christian Salem 3.888 3 3.658 6.29 3 0 Ed Langdon 3.863 4 C Petracca 3.825 5 2.616 46.22 10 5 Adam Tomlinson 3.375 6 Charlie Spargo 3.188 7 1.375 131.85 35 28 Nathan Jones 3.150 8 2.711 16.19 7 -1 Jack Viney * 3.150 8 3.068 2.67 5 -3 Jake Lever 3.050 10 2.313 31.86 17 7 Alex N-Bullen 2.975 11 1.984 49.95 21 10 Jayden Hunt 2.788 12 1.958 42.39 22 10 Max Gawn # 2.750 13 3.256 -15.54 4 -9 Kysaiah Pickett 2.738 14 Tom McDonald # 2.550 15 2.150 18.60 19 4 James Jordan 2.525 16 Angus Brayshaw 2.388 17 2.894 -17.48 6 -11 Tom Sparrow 2.288 18 1.075 112.84 37 19 Trent Rivers 2.288 18 Neville Jetta 2.250 20 2.264 -0.62 18 -2 James Harmes * 2.150 21 3.850 -44.16 2 -19 Bayley Fritsch 2.075 22 2.641 -21.43 9 -13 Luke Jackson # 1.425 23 Average Team Score - Top 22 67.43 59.62 13.09 # Hit outs to advantage not captured * Only played one match not an average score Stats courtesy of footywire.com

Rnd 2, 2021 Marvel - Saints vs Demons Player Score Rank Clayton Oliver 5.200 1 Christian Salem 4.775 2 Steven May 4.150 3 Alex N-Bullen 4.025 4 Ed Langdon 3.925 5 C Petracca 3.825 6 Adam Tomlinson 3.625 7 Nathan Jones 3.225 8 Trent Rivers 3.225 9 Max Gawn # 3.200 10 Kysaiah Pickett 3.200 11 Jayden Hunt 3.150 12 Jack Viney 3.050 13 James Jordan 2.650 14 Charlie Spargo 2.500 15 Tom McDonald # 2.500 16 Neville Jetta 2.325 17 Angus Brayshaw 2.050 18 Tom Sparrow 1.950 19 Jake Lever 1.875 20 Bayley Fritsch 1.600 21 Luke Jackson # 1.050 22 Team Score 67.08 Top 6 25.90 Bottom 6 10.85 # Hit outs to advantage not captured Stats courtesy of footywire.com

Good question Jack. I could do so but havent so far. I'm not sure that would be wise though. For example, let"s say a sub comes on and plays only 60% game time but has a blinder and kicks 5 goals in that shortened time. Do we only count 60% of those and only 3 goals go towards his weighted comparative score vs say another forward who spent 100% TOG (unlikely but just hypothecating) but also kicked three? Say the sub miraculously won us the match playing that blinder but as a result gets a similar (reduced vs no TOG adjustment) weighted score as a result? Many other factors go in to the score so highly unlikely they both have same weighted score but what if?

Would much rather have sideshow before Weid sorry (career averages courtesy of AFL stats pro)...

Wayne Carey, Piggy or plugger are the only three i would touch. Keeping in mind Choco ran a kicking skills school for quite a while i believe so he might be an option if thats part of his role. Unlikely though.

Nice to get the win. Nice transition off HB most of the time. Won the clearances and appeared to either win or neutralise the loose ground ball most of the time. The ability of the backline to protect / maintain pressure and clean up some of the rebound from so many awful choices / delivery inside 50 flattered that part of our game. Some issues to take away from the game. ? I'll keep on about it and it's a fact...Clarry is our No.1 player by a country mile ? Tracc is close to matching Clarry in a different beast style on the ground and has the ability to go forward and mark/shoot at goal and damage here but... boy that was one of the most wasteful 30 possession games i've ever witnessed. Had he been cleaner with disposal and smarter after taking those 2 or 3 marks (couple of blaze away shots on goal) around the paint in the last. Look for a short target or at least kick to the hot zone OR to our forward's favoured side FCS. The wayward handball to Viney after the bounce in the last 5 minutes resulting in a turnover and goal to the Saints. Had the chance to ice the match and put it beyond the Saints by about the 10 minute mark in the last. Had he just got one of those decisions/executions right. But instead fluffed it far too often. Sometimes the short give to someone 20 meters away in the clear is your best option even if it means going lateral around the arc or slightly backwards. No need to take the game on the burst so often. Had his moments where he did the right thing and hit up targets beautifully don't get me wrong but the waste.....oh the waste son! He is not Dusty yet and may never be. He will be himself in the end but there's plenty of improvement left with some minor adjustments. If he does he may be a great of the game but there's still just a little too much show boating going on upstairs. Possibly just a matter of fine tuning when to go long/short and when to go fast or slow. But the blazing away from outside 50, thats a must fix along with cleaner ball use around congestion, especially by hand. We've seen him do it before so possibly just a touch / instinctive issue here. ? Thank goodness for Tommy, Kozzie and to a lessor degree Sparrow up forward. The rest was a dogs breakfast bar a few cameos. ? Old man Jones wasnt too bad at all. ? Rivers redeemed himself ? Fritta gotta learn to nail more of those set shots son as there just isn't enough happening when the opp has the ball otherwise. 1 out of 4 just aint gonna cut it at this level and nearly cost us dearly. ? As much as i love LJs around the ground work in the ruck and attack on the footy up forward, his set shot work is damn awful and needs fixing, even at this early stage. Poor kicking from 20 to 35 meters out is poor footy. He also looks a little lost when ball is loose at ground level. No doubt the last bit will come with time but he's a fair way off the pace at the moment in this area in my view. Lots of work ahead. To be expected at this point. ? How many sitters did we drop, mostly in the third and mostly experienced players!!? Some of those brought the Saints alot closer than they should have been and gave them a sniff late in the third. Basic things to work on. ? Any chance we can attempt to hit up more targets around the 30 to 40 meter mark, instead of bombing it to the goal line so often or hitting them either on 50 or just outside? Fritta was on the receiving end of a few but didnt convert enough, which in some ways made this area of our game look worse but it happens far too often. We need a genuine leading target that can mark out in front on the lead and convert at a higher percentage vs Fritta and also put extra pressure on when ball hits the turf. It could be Fritta at some point but at this stage he's too hit and miss here. Possibly Petty if he is ever played foward again in the McGoos and busts the door down. ? Then there's Gus. Another that seems to be pretty wasteful given the amount of footy and opportunities he has to deliver. I'm not sure what it is. He looks like a million dollars at times. Other times he looks VFL standard at best. Possibly choosing when to push and when to switch off and gets a tad lazy upstairs. Never really hit his heady season form of 2018 other than in patches. ? Maxy was great but i'll repeat...stop trying to thread the needle when you're well outside 50 son. Too slow to execute and projected to the opp for too many intercepts in dangerous parts of the ground. Other than wide open targets just look for the give and barring that, just go long down the line pls. Play the percentages Max. Having said all that a win is a win and nice to be 2 - zip. Keep it going. Can't wait for sideshow to commence up forward. Might straighten us up a little more as well. Is there room for him, Tommy and LJ in the same team though?

Disgraceful umps tonight. Cats kept getting a helping hand many through non-decisions eg, throws, HTB, incorrect disposal and 50 meters x 2 (Hawkins) then the Blizarv one at the end. The Selwood blatant throw out of the middle. There was another one handed shovel not called by another cat at one point. The HTB that wasnt HTB where a Cat missed everything and Rich kicked in. The mis match on Hawkins was glaring. I wonder if it might have been better to sacrifice a forward (Hipwood?) as a spare down back in those situations, leaving Joe & Cameron one out up forward with more space to run in to.

Fair enough nac. Probably an abberation as you say

Is it only me that's worried about big M's form / fitness after last week? Looked a fair way off his best. Looking at the numbers as well...only 7 effective disposals, 1 tackle, 3 clearances, 2 contested marks, no marks inside fifty and 0 goals. On the plus side he did have 8 one percenters and 4 intercepts.