Demon Dynasty

Kent you are being facetious yes?

Will need more than one session i would think DD

Surely pigs can fly Mr Old!??

We are miles off it IMHO. While there's a few exceptions. May & Clarry in particular. To a somewhat lessor degree Big Maxy, very good player but a little too nonchalant for mine. There are still too many pretenders and Hollywood types who look the goods when all is going well but turn up their toes too easily or just go missing completely when the chips are down. That's been the case at the Demons for decades, bar the period mentioned previously between 87 and 94. The never-say-die ferocity, serious hard edged 1%er footy, elite skills to finish off the good work and a selfless culture on the field continue to elude the Demons 56 years on. We have been a destination club for the near retiring and NQR for as long as i can remember and the team often feels a little like a shadowy poor cousin image of the St Kilda "play hard but party up afterwards / couldn't give a FF" era. At least they had a sprinkling of some genuine stars throughout that period to enjoy however, such as Buckets, Plugger, Riewoldt, Milne and Harvey. When this changes it will be apparent for all to see i reckon. P.S. VERY strong leadership combined with a genuine champion or two will be needed before this club turns the corner IMHO. Does this exist in the current list? Not really sure at this point. With the MFC it always feels like we're a bridge too far.

Where did you get the replay from Pates?

Haven't seen any of this but wondering how much of this result came down to coaching well before and during the game. Eg; the differimg game styles / skill sets of the two sides. Bevo would appear to easily have Goodwin's measure at this point. Last time we played them in a H & A i felt motivation may have played a big part in the result with Bevo using a motivational rev up speech (video?) just before they ran on to get his boys to rise to the occasion. Meanwhile Goodwin appeared to stick with the same old 'sticking to the processes' method.

Is any ruckman worth the cudos of being a 'key component' in today's game i wonder CB? Especially at the bounce / ball ups? No doubting Max is one of the best going around but he hasn't 'consistently' connected with our mids or visa versa since 2018. Emphasis on consistently. They have their days of course where we look like we could beat anyone. However, other mids seem to be reading him a bit too easy of late. He also often gets the hit out but hits to no one in particular!? Neutral outcome / no man's land if you like. Alternatively a bit too often into the bread basket of the opp. I realise that's going to happen from time to time as luck, bounce and so many variables come into the game. Not a perfect or easy science by a long way. Personally, while i still believe a good ruckmen is handy, i would swap the best of them for a classy Bont/Pendles type in the middle every day, even if it meant giving up a few more hit outs. Ruck position at bounces a tad over rated by some in today's game style imo. You could almost put any tall in there as long as he can neutralise the contest most of the time. It's more what they do at ground level and around the ground now. Maxy certainly gets much of this aspect right as far as a ruckman goes anyway and not too much wrong in this regard.

I probably shouldn't have asked. Thanks Bingers

Haven't been able to watch any of this one. Are there any positives at all coming out if this? What's the score btw?

Amazing what can happen when you go woman on woman from the get go instead of the loose zone nonsense early. Having a target up forward very handy also. Apologies to Daisy. May have found a new lease of life at FF. Pierce the difference around the ground imo. While the finish by foot may not be great, she imposed herself on so many contests. Zanker, Hore and Bannen very good also. Is Hore related in any way to Marty i wonder?

I could not agree more 32. What a shambles. There's absolutely no method or obvious game plan. No organisation up forward and, bar a few odd pieces of play, general skills appear to be off the pace required for finals, let alone win one of them. Half the girls can barely hit a target by hand a few meters away and their general decision making/execution ordinary at best.

Very poorly coached in general imv. Poor decision making, poor skills. Team took way too long to assert pressure that was needed to shut down the Pies earlier. That's mostly the coaches call, although there was also some really dumb individual decision making and poor execution/skills along the way that contributed. While i appreciate Daisy was a very good talent it would appear as if the game has gone past her already. She looks pressured most of the time with ball in hand and coughs it up way too often of late. The Pies attack / decision making / execution & switching in the first half was at another level. Work rate at another level as well, while the Demons were slow out of the blocks. Who does that remind me of? Field kicking was pretty ordinary as were some of the shots at goal. Panic stations and a shambles in the 50. Poorly organised and too crowded. Again, resemblances of the AFL flaws at many levels.

Bit of a slap in the face for young Werriddee say What

So i think you're saying he's a lock in your best 22 then W

The curse continues... unfortunate for the young fella but a common occurrence over many decades at Demonland

Gawn right up there but still needs to learn that "big men" have some pretty serious skill limitations. He does hit some of the time and looks the goods but would rather see this happening inside our 50 vs further up the ground. A minor adjustment in positional awareness maybe all that's needed. Turns the ball over a little too often in critical moments / places that ends up hurting eg; team momentum / extra scoreboard pressure etc for my liking at this level. Although it does happen on occasions, would love to see more designated players running in support for the big man to hand off to and deliver from behind the square. Aside from this he did play a critical role and the rest of his game i felt was pretty flawless. Loved the long goal although there was probably a nice assist three (ish) goal breeze going left of screen. Also thought May & Harmes were pretty influential. If Harmes can up his form a tad more and find some more one grab clean possessions i reckon he'll be back near his 2018/2019 form again, injuries aside. Still not convinced he is as sure playing in the back half vs the front. Oskar on on the other wing ok with a very nice switch or two inside that impressed. Still a way to go before he's a lock IMV but improving nicely.

I doubt it. If he gets an injury free pre season in he might end up taking over the 2nd string tall role from the Weid in 2021 and vying for that with LJ eventually. I hope they all come in injury free with a big pre-season. A bit of healthy competition for too few spots might be just the tonic we need to see this forward line finally fire up (along with the injection of BB of course).

Petty is more suited as a medium mobile forward imv. I would say the FD is banking on Hore coming back in to cover as he can play on a 3rd tall alongside May/Lever and offers a very good rebound prospect alongside the likes of Hibb and Rivers. If he can clean up his disposal skills (and yes it's a big if) he will be a great asset down back but this might be his achilles. Time will tell. Outside of his disposal skills his numbers in 2019 were mostly at an elite level. Good luck to Oscar from here. My biggest concern is why / how it took the FD (including Goody) so long to work out that he just wasn't up to it and why they decided (Macca &/or Goody!?), very early on in his career, that he was a better bet than Dunn going forward. While i am speculating and could be wrong, from the outside it appeared some within the FD was/were playing favourites. And this method rarely turns out for the best in professional team sports i would think. Just play the best you have available. When all is said and done the player's long term ability to perform and their ability to sustain a winning competitive mind set /edge (when placed in a non-discriminatory, albeit fair but tough, match selection system) should likely result in a more favourable 'team' biased outcome that in theory should produce more wins/success in general over all time periods. Trying to pick and choose winners so early on in a colt's career is surely a high risk venture that is likely to come unstuck on occasions.

How do people rate Clarke i wonder CD? Has the pace but what's the rest of his game like. Is he worth considering on the other wing maybe?

I would say Clarry is very close or on the cusp OD but that's about it. Tracc not too far away but still a bit of consistency needed yet. In my view a champion is one who can give an A grade, or very very close to it, performance 8/9 out of 10 matches or thereabouts. Clarry is definitely performing in that sense most weeks, regardless of how well the others are doing. Ok so not at a match winning level a la Martin when he turns it on or a Danger. But in a slightly offbeat way vs those two he does turn it on week in and out for us with very few exceptions. He was easily the most consistent player for us this year and IMHO should have easily taken out another Bluey. If we put him in a top fourish side he would be taking his finish and game to a slightly higher level again or would be getting the extra assists to do so imv. In that instance he would also be getting the additional kudos and probably star status that we don't see / hear too much about at the moment as he is playing with a pretty ordinary side which doesn't win very often. And in the end that's pretty much all the scribes/crtics care about, and most of the fans too. One could argue this was a significant contributing factor as to why Robbie never won a brownlow.

Unfortunately you may be right Dr. However, the outcome will be very much wrong if so.... for us.

Just what the Cats need. Another ageing veteran on his way out to balance out their ageing list ???

I think their window has now passed given their age demographic. Cameron's choice of destination, given his age, is a very poor one imv.

He's been in the system for a few years now 58 and it's a top of the table one as well with the Cats. Yes he's competing for limited spots i realise but the fact they wish to let him loose has to be a concern re his fairly regular break downs.

A few years before it was Lynch getting to a recent Premiership club in the Tigers. You are supporting the AFL circus regardless if you decide to barrack for one of these two clubs on Sat Jaded