Demon Dynasty

Yet another experiment gone sour. I liked the idea at the time and easy to say in hindsight but what a waste of time and resources this endeavour turned out to be.

Must have been clocked while sailing through the air for a mark KD.... either that or the GPS was glitching

A good option if he could gut run both ways LO. I've seen him do some good things out wide but only in small doses.

Seen him do ok for a quarter or two at VFL level off HB and in a HB / wing split role but then he'll go missing for the other two et al. If he struggles to hold down a similar role for 4 quarters at that level, while not impossible, there would have to be a big question mark at the elite one. A big no from me. He had his chance to step up after an injury interrupted 2019 and failed badly IMO. Time to look elsewhere. If 2020 revealed anything with Burgess on board it was the year that indicated who, of the non rookies, really wanted it. Unfortunately Hannan didn't step up and as i've said on a number of occasions, is one of the reasons why we often see too much left to too few far too often. Upgrade needed here. Will Goody stay true to his word? Time to get ruthless MFC or another bust looms in 2021.

Yup....Baker could be a decent option but we need a top liner gut running link up who can finish off the rebound work coming inside 50 on the non-Ed wing. Find this, land JC, clean out some ordinary chaff and we are deep into finals in 2021. Possibly beyond.

See response above HBT

Probably why there's been no change Andy

This would make more sense. Gus seems to pick up his bat and ball unless he's played in his preferred position (mid field) much of the time. Gut feel, and that's all it is, is because if he doesn't get that ideal role most weeks he would rather go home and join bro out west ASAP.

Which is why RFAs and UFAs should not be allowed to pick and choose their preferred club. The AFL should limit the ability of a player to get to say the top 4 finishing clubs from the prior season and say a club that has won a premiership in the last 3 seasons, in order to ensure the lower finishing clubs aren't forever chasing the tale of the most wealthy / successful clubs. If that means up to seven teams are off the table then so be it. Of course it won't happen and in fact the reverse is seemingly encouraged under the present arrangement of 'AFL Circus'.

This may well be one of the great finishes in the red and blue under a big game / high pressure moment spotlight. And as an aside, for anyone doubting this bloke. The guy who showed G&D, along with some class finish in getting to Watts under big heat....please remember who that was...Harmesy. He's a VG player when played in the right role (for him). Hopefully back to his usual self next season.

Couldn't have said it better BM. I was sitting in the southern punt rd end pocket with bro the day he ran off the square and received for the gut running winning goal. Bro went right off after that, especially giving it to a trio of Pie DHs behind us. Great theatre but i must admit, not having eyes in the back of my head i didn't think it was the greatest strategic move and was expecting one of us to be king hit from behind at some point! I really thought Jacky boy and we as a club might have found something special and turned a corner after that win, but alas that wasn't to be on both counts. Met him at Chaddy very briefly at the end of 2014 just as Roos was about to take over. He was heading in for a club related photo shoot. Seemed like a lovely young fella and i also recall the same at a couple of training sessions. He would always go out of his way to sign whatever was plonked in front of him and appeared to love the contact with the fans. While i was never convinced he would make the grade at AFL level he certainly had his moments. I still find the idea that we struggled to hit up targets coming inside 50 (the olde disconnect issue!) and the fact that he was rated the best at that last kick in the year that we let him go, to be very perplexing as his skill in this area was never replaced. Was he mis-managed by the club early on? Yep. He was certainly an enigma of the game and a weekly talking point among the fans and scribes. Good luck to him in his post AFL career.

There is no way Clarry should have finished that low and also behind Jack. Jack had a solid year but. Aside from May & Ed, Clarry was the most consistent of the lot win, lose or draw. Where others might have gone a tad quiet for a match or two, or have an off quarter, two or three, Clarry is pretty much always in the hunt and in the clinches tackling, digging the ball out to a team mate or running off into space to punch the ball forward even when the team's doing it tough he's rarely off the boil. Always room for improvement but that's my take. Congrats to Tracc. A very good year for sure but there were a few quiet moments as well for my liking in terms of the No.1 title.

If anyone needed any more evidence that the AFL massages for the outcomes it believes will most benefit it's preferred agenda/clubs. Remember the whole thing is now a sham and a circus, rewarding those that it wants to market on it's weekly advertising & promos (Friday night footy / other so called block busters....you know like the Blues v the Pies, the Pies v the Druggies on Anzac day etc etc). Until or unless we win a at least two premierships in short succession the club and its players will never be on the receiving end of some of theses rewards and big block buster matches etc. Clarry. Tracc, May et al could become the three best players in the league over a season, they would still be considered unworthy by most within the AFL circus.

Passed Hore FD? You do realise he didn't play as he was injured all year yes? Also, in most cases, a player needs a full pre-season in order to get to his best and compete at this level? His game is also built slightly different to Rivers in that he's a big intercept marking player. No.2 last year on averages only behind Lever. I'm not sure how you can pass judgement on him given he was out all season. His biggest downside is disposal accuracy by foot. He would certainly need to clean that up to survive at this level. Let's see how he goes with a full pre-season under his belt. Aside from his disposal, which IS certainly an issue, all his other attributes point to a very solid 3rd tallish defender in the making, subject to injury issues.

Morning Buck. Unfortunately another year passes and we wait once again for some traction. Yes the old Bluey. For mine it comes down to consistency and Clarry is top of the tree here. Rain, hail or shine the bloke puts in. No.1 contested possession getter in the league. If he doesn't win the Bluey they got rocks in their heads i reckon. All the best during the off season and thanks for your input also ✌️

If wishes were horses W. Yes i know Pruess is a ruckman. You are missing the point i was making i think. Missed Jackson!? ....remind me how many games he's played and played this year W? Come on guys. If there was a time for the tough to get going it was when LJ the rookie went down. This was the Weids chance to finally stand up and show some maturity after 5 seasons. Instead he was nowhere to be seen when we had a finals berth on the line and the bulk of our goals had to come from medium smalls and/or mids. It's a matter of trust and consistency. The Weid brings neither of those week in / out and goes missing for patches/matches far too often. Possibly a back up 3rd stringer at best. Time to look elsewhere.

We've been saying this for the last three seasons W. Surely he doesn't get a game for just bringing the ball to ground? Pruess is a required KF using that theory as a basis for retaining a player then. 1 miserly goal in four matches when we needed him to stand up. As i've been saying for a while, downhill skier that rarely stands up when the going gets tough and sub standard under any sort of pressure in a contest or coming from behind on the scoreboard (which we tend to do a fair bit of). Beaten far too easily on the ground. Time to look elsewhere. He'd be one of the first i would look to trade or delist as part of a deal to get a genuine goal kicking KF into the club.

To hell and back again with you Optimus!

Tonight brings back an awful memory.... Does anyone here remember the last round at Pie Park in 1976? Triple Brownlow Bobby the coach. We just had to beat the bottom of the table Pies, and we did. The only time they've ever won the spoon and what a great moment that was when the siren went ...but as all minions know there's usually some sort of bitter twist waiting just around the corner at the MFC. So all we needed was top of the table Blues to beat the Doggies to make finals. And of course the match was.....drawn. The Doggies sneaking in to the top 5 and finals by 2 points. The only arvo i can ever remember where the filth sung a song other than their own, with lusty renditions of "Sons of the Scray" ringing out around the ground towards the end of the match

Picket you might wanna ease up on the sauce bro. You'll end up with the usual MFC hangover plus your own self inflicted one and i'm bettin' that aint gonna be a pretty outcome!

I was rather hoping it was... ... "Lobb out. Freo a man up! Come on Freo!"

Thank Lucifer he wasn't caught holding the ball!

Presumption of innocence for mine. Not looking great but let's see what comes out of this. Let's remember the AFL are very heavily involved in managing who they want in finals and there's many inside the AFL and entrenched in the circus that would've hated us beating their beloved Essendrug yesterday. Look at the insane Fox headline saying an umpiring decision decided the match! Of course let's conveniently overlook the inexplicable HTB on ANB in the last and the non-decision for a clear unrealistic marking attempt by Stringer over Hibb. Both resulting in a goal to the AFL's drug wacked baby. Then we have an AFL coach in clear breach, leaving the hub to go play a round of tennis with some mates well after Gil sent out his final warning and he still gets to coach the next week with a slap on the wrist $25k (reduced) fine. This is a mature aged bloke who of all ppl would have knowingly realised he was going to breach the hub, yet still went ahead regardless as he knows the club is untouchable. The worst Harley should be hit with is the same IF he's found guilty of doing same. Cop the fine if so and he continues his career. Is Buckley still coaching after his breach and being in a much greater position of responsibility?

P.S. should have added May into the big risers category alongside Tracc. The big fella's had some year.

2020 H&A Season - Weighted Averages Clarry tops the weighted stats charts for the third year running and yes for those wondering, these tables account for turnovers! Biggest fall from grace is Harmes who finished 2nd last season and Melk dropping off even further after a pretty ordinary 2019. The biggest rise obviously Tracc with the break out year we were all hoping for. Add a bit of zip and class on the outside (non-Ed wing) and that mid field could be something special in 2021. Fix the forward line woes and the last kick coming inside 50 more often and next year could be something decent. Don't and i fear we may well be in for something akin to this season. If the Dockers get over the line this arvo hopefully we can bring LJ in. Would be great to see the 3 Amigos (Kozzy, RIvers & LJ) playing a final together in their first year! Player 2020 Weighted Score 2020 Rank 2019 Weighted Score % Change vs 2019 % Change vs 2019 w/ 20% time adjusted 2019 Rank Change in Rank vs 2019 Clayton Oliver 4.003 1 4.880 -17.97 2.54 1 0 Christian Petracca 3.557 2 2.843 25.11 56.39 9 7 Max Gawn # 2.952 3 3.437 -14.11 7.36 4 1 Jack Viney 2.905 4 3.258 -10.83 11.46 5 1 Steven May 2.900 5 2.618 10.77 38.46 14 9 Christian Salem 2.784 6 3.658 -23.89 -4.87 3 -3 Ed Langdon 2.644 7 - - - - - Angus Brayshaw 2.589 8 3.131 -17.31 3.36 6 -2 Jake Lever 2.378 9 2.519 -5.60 18.00 16 7 Michael Hibberd 2.305 10 2.339 -1.45 23.18 19 9 James Harmes 2.262 11 4.039 -44.00 -30.00 2 -9 Tom Sparrow 2.150 12 1.275 68.63 110.78 37 25 Trent Rivers 2.128 13 - - - - - Adam Tomlinson # 1.965 14 - - - - - Oskar Baker 1.933 15 1.714 12.78 40.97 29 14 Harley Bennell 1.850 16 - - - - - Bayley Fritsch 1.794 17 2.809 -36.13 -20.17 10 -7 Alex N-Bullen 1.704 18 2.120 -19.62 0.47 22 4 Oscar McDonald # 1.682 19 1.956 -14.01 7.49 26 7 Tom McDonald # 1.675 20 2.297 -27.08 -8.85 20 0 Jay Lockhart 1.650 21 1.819 -9.29 13.39 30 9 Nathan Jones 1.638 22 2.907 -43.65 -29.57 7 -15 Aaron Vandenburg 1.604 23 - - - - - Mitchell Brown # 1.535 24 - - - - - Mitchell Hannan 1.506 25 1.433 5.09 31.37 36 11 Luke Jackson # 1.463 26 - - - - - Jake Melksham 1.435 27 2.181 -34.20 -17.76 21 -6 Neville Jetta 1.404 28 2.264 -37.99 -22.48 18 -10 Sam Weideman 1.356 29 1.895 -28.44 -10.55 27 -2 Charlie Spargo 1.350 30 1.513 -10.77 11.53 35 5 Kysaiah Pickett 1.332 31 - - - - - Braydon Preuss # 1.325 32 1.643 -19.35 0.81 33 1 Jayden Hunt 1.142 33 2.092 -45.41 -31.76 23 -10 Joel Smith 1.071 34 - - - - - Toby Bedford 0.925 35 - - - - - Average Team Score - Top 22 51.448 59.623 -13.71 7.86 # Hit outs to advantage not captured Stats courtesy of footywire.com