Demon Dynasty

The Bont! JUH is a beaut

That would have to be one of the first times i've seen an umpire push a player around on 'the stand' mark when they've started about 2 to 3 meters on the inside of the man taking the mark. Do it all the time or just scrap the stand rule. So poorly officiated.

Pretty soft. At least stick the forearm up and deliver the 'big Dipper' knock out fly by elbow to the back of the head!

Well aware of the Beckwith legend but his feats were before my time. Very sorry to hear this news. Condolences to family, friends, fellow team members of the time and the MFC.

This is pretty much a game to ensure we stay in the race for the top four. We have no 'genuine natural' forwards in any real form bar Fritta (2.5 goals per game in 24) & Kozzy and Kozzy's being used substantially in the mid field to give us some drive out of there of late (1.7 goals per game... nb given his minutes in the middle). Besides Tracc spending significant minutes forward or getting away from the oppo out the front of CBs and scoring (1.2 goals a game). Then the occasional (every other match) goal from Viney (0.6), our other 'regular' genuine mids generally don't score goals. Sparrow 0.3 Clarry 1 goal in 11 matches You then have... An under done out-of-form Petty potentially carrying a niggle and who's probably going to also be asked to relieve Max in the middle for 12% or so of CBAs. He's also struggled to do what he's supposed to do. Having only scored 2 goals in 9 matches, averaging a whopping 0.2 goals a match so far. That's on track for one goal every 5 matches at this point. Name me another team, bar North and/or the Eagles, that would keep playing someone so out of form for this many weeks here? An under done Smacca who may or may not comtribute. And Chin, who while i love his scrapping ability and pressure side at ground level, is also a hit and miss prospect in front of the sticks, averaging less than a goal a game so far in 24 (0.9) Then there's the occasional cameo from Nibbla averaging 0.6 goals per match. Again that's approx 1 goal every other game. I know we're a defensive side and usually keep teams to lowish scores but i'm strugglimg to see how we kick a winning score here against decent oppo (Freo being one of those) or better opponents from here, bar some sort of miracle from Petty, Brown or Roo (1.3 goals) / Melky on their returns. Turner would probably need to kick at least two or more (if he plays) this week yes? Possible but again an unreliable score source at this point. Let's face it, we presently have a very uninspiring forward line in a talent/form 'genuine natural forward' sense where you can actually put your trust in them to score each week. And potentiality to kick multiple goals on top, bar Fritta & Kozzy. And no i'm not putting BBB in here as he is just too hit & miss as a week to week proposition at this stage of his career in terms of even making it on the park let alone scoring (1.2 goals on ave so far in 2024). Our forward woes and ability to put goals on the board (against decent or better oppo) continues to be our Achilles heal 3 years on from 2021.

Out: JVR In: Clark KENT field

It won't be this year and Simon is a very dour defensively minded coach so i can't see it happening. Knuckles would need a pre-season training it anyways and the regular track watchers would start to become alert to this well before it happened at the selection table / game day me thinks. Unless that happens there's no point wasting our breath on this topic any further imv.

I wouldn't risk debuting him in finals but the same scenario earlier in a season (say last time against the Blues) and assuming Bowey wasn't coming back from injury and in decent form and this player already had 8 to 10 AFL games under his belt. Ie; alot of 'IFs' !! Given present Casey form you could trial Bowey & Moniz as the options here with some experimental minutes of McVee through the middle taking on 'SOME' of someone else's mid minutes like a Sparrow or Tracc or in place of say Salem's minutes that you might be considering playing through there instead of Sparrow etc. I'm not saying this should happen with McVee and that's it's a lock or anything and we'd be mad to not change him from his ptesent role either. He might be best suited to staying where he is after trialling him for a while in some 'select' games and scenarios half a dozen times to see how he goes. But as 3165 has already pointed out, no harm in trying and no harm in a player's capabilities being explored and potentially expanded. Especially important on game day IF things go awry for whatever reason and you simply have very few other options (rare but can happen).

In the last four weeks ND is ranked 1st in the league for winning the ball. 231st for what he does with ball in hand.

I don't mind it at all provided we're looking to build mid field at the trade table at year's end A big bodied forward who seems quite agile. Might be a nice point of difference in our mix. Maybe get a gun ex forward down on contract to show him, Roo and Jeffo some of the finer points of forward craft in this second half of the season. Might help fast track them a little. Couldn't hurt surely?

Bowsa or Moniz Gazz & Tim are late comers here anyway. A number of us on here were suggesting we start blooding McVee further up the field last season in order to improve our connection from his kicking skills coming inside 50. Not to mention his agility and skills at ground level. I'm assuming one of these was Andy 😄 Im guessing he'd need a full pre-season training in the middle or on a wing before the FD would be willing to trial him in such a new role anyway.

Would / should we be looking at Collier-Dawkins at all NS? I've only seen his match against us but he was pretty impressive. Probably others before us that will be into him though

Can't argue with any of that. Great summary of where our mid field stocks are at and the need to re-stock is critical. Followed by a genuine KF talent if out there. Could be Jeffo but we won't know for a while yet and in some ways he's more a medium-tall type forward.

Beautiful people and place. Enjoy a few Singhas Kev Sawasdee Krap!

Wacko Smacca! Happy birthday matey

If he can get up to speed at this level he'll be difficult to counter. Plays alot taller than he looks and very mobile. Might need another full pre season before we see the best of him but in the mean time a bit of patience needed until he familiarises himself with his fellow players and how the system is supposed to be working. If things aren't working at all after another two to three weeks then review & go from there. Melksham likely to be pushing by then also.

Team & Player Ratings to Rnd 11, 2024 vs H&A Season 2023 Clarry jumping one spot over May to take over the No.3 position. Max closing in on Tracc with that amazing result against the Saints. T-Mac also doing well, moving into 11 place from 13th last week. Player 2024 Rating 2024 Rank 2023 Rating % Change vs 2023 2023 Rank Change in Rank vs 2023 C Petracca 4.470 1 4.707 -5.0 2 1 Max Gawn 4.397 2 3.350 31.3 7 5 C Oliver 3.829 3 5.002 -23.5 1 -2 Steven May 3.812 4 3.213 18.6 8 4 Jake Lever < 3.681 5 3.131 17.6 9 4 Jack Viney 3.422 6 3.707 -7.7 4 -2 A Tomlinson 3.387 7 2.915 16.2 14 7 C Salem < 3.253 8 2.993 8.7 12 4 T Rivers 3.127 9 3.696 -15.4 5 -4 Ed Langdon 3.027 10 3.057 -1.0 10 0 T McDonald 3.017 11 2.054 46.9 27 16 A N-Bullen 3.011 12 2.532 18.9 20 8 Judd McVee 2.952 13 2.320 27.2 22 9 J Bowey < 2.680 14 2.820 -5.0 15 1 T Woewodin < > 2.633 15 1.406 87.3 34 19 T Sparrow 2.620 16 2.811 -6.8 16 0 B Howes 2.462 17 - - - - L Hunter* 2.350 18 2.939 -20.0 13 -5 K Pickett 2.319 19 2.101 10.4 26 7 M Hore 2.273 20 - - - - J Billings > < 2.268 21 - - - - C Windsor < 2.245 22 - - - - K Chandler 2.211 23 2.265 -2.4 23 0 J V Rooyen 1.955 24 2.170 -9.9 25 1 B Fritsch 1.947 25 2.324 -16.2 21 -4 S McAdam* 1.512 26 - - - - B Laurie* < > 1.463 27 2.235 -34.5 24 -3 D Turner 1.425 28 1.825 -21.9 31 3 Ben Brown < 1.390 29 1.941 -28.4 28 -1 H Petty < 1.206 30 2.718 -55.6 19 -11 C Spargo* 1.200 31 1.886 -36.4 29 -2 K Tholstrup* 1.100 32 - - - - J Schache* 0.700 33 1.525 -54.1 33 0 J Melksham - - 1.599 - 32 - Team Rating 67.24 69.86 -3.8 Top 6 23.61 24.43 -3.4 Bottom 6 13.92 15.17 -8.3 * Played less than two full matches (in total) < Subbed out at least once or more (player rating could be somewhat comprised) > Subbed in at least once or more (player rating could be somewhat comprised) Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Player Pressure Acts Pressure Points Season Average Clayton Oliver 31 62 45.2 Alex Neal-Bullen 26 61 53.8 Jack Viney 25 59 62.7 Pressure points from these three appear to be up there, at least as far as their season average goes. Team pressure Quarter For Against 1 171 180 2 169 155 3 192 157 4 167 146 Match 174 160 Team pressure, although obviously a fair way ahead of the Saints, was still below the AFL average of 180 Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 21 78% 84.2% 64.9% Clayton Oliver 20 74% 72.0% 81.4% Kysaiah Pickett 20 74% 32.9% 11.2% Christian Petracca 16 59% 59.5% 61.1% Jack Viney 13 48% 68.8% 72.1% Alex Neal-Bullen 11 41% 13.3% 2.1% Jacob van Rooyen 6 22% 13.7% 7.6% Tom Sparrow 1 4% 36.6% 44.9% Christian Salem 0 0% 24.5% 0.0% Harrison Petty 0 0% 3.5% 0.7% Trent Rivers 0 0% 2.9% 3.0% Kozzy spending major minutes in the middle. More than 60% over his 2023 attendance and 41% more time than his usual time in 2024. The FD must be liking what they are seeing here and/or finally believe his tank and impact playing through here is starting to really pay dividends. Nibbla also way up on his average CBA vs last season and this season. The FD must be happy with what they're seeing here as well. I also love the idea of more mid time for Nibbla as it means we are more likely to see him improving our connection with forwards given he is rated as our most damaging player with the last kick inside 50. Salem zero attendances vs 10 last week. JVR taking over Petty's CB ruck duties from last week following his return from concussion protocols. Petty taking just the one ruck contest up forward. Some very handy data here each week thanks @wheeloratings!

The rating is a rough to fair indicator Gawndy. Afrer next round, time allowimg, i'll be doing a review of anyone who's played 10 rounds or more this season. A form comparison of how they went in the first 5 to 6 rounds vs the last 5 to 6. And also how they're travelling vs their entire 2023 results. With regard to Clarry there are the aspects you mentioned. And then there's his ability to drive legs out and away from congestion (spread?), then dispose the pill with reasonable effectiveness. When we see some decent numbers coming through on the grunt side such as those you mentioned (which we're starting to see in his last month or so), then the latter happening a fair bit, we are then getting in to the realms of the Clarry of old that can help win matches and turn games. If that happens we will have "take off" for season 2024 imv with anything possible from there.

Round 11, 2024 MCG - Demons vs Saints Our second best Team Rating for the year behind Rnd 1 vs the Doggies (72.4) and beating our 2023 Rating (69.9) by 1%. Our top 6 a massive 22% improvement on the 2023 average with the bottom 6 again struggling. Somewhat of a worry given the quality of the opposition. Big Max ...BIG game! Since inputing data on hit outs to advantage (2022) this is easily Max's highest rated game. Daylight the rest. The last time a player rated higher in a match for the red & blue was Clarry's performance in the 2022 Qualifying Final vs the Swans with a massive 7.3 Keep in mind that any mid-field or follower's player rating of 7.0+ is quite rare and indicative of an uber elite performance. Clarry had two Ratings of 7+ in 2022. The other was against the Kangas in Rnd 10 with a 7.67 Petracca the only other for the 2022 season in the opening round vs the Doggies with a mega 7.35 Clarry has now pretty much matched or bettered his 2023 season rating in three out of the last four games. His only slightly off game against the Blues two weeks ago. Fingers crossed, great signs. Some excellent / solid results from many. Salem in particular i believe that's his highest rating in some time. I would love to say how long but don't have the time right at the moment to troll through the records. His 2023 season rating is a fair indicator of where he usually falls though, so a 40% improvement from him is substantial and his best for the season. JVR's second best outing for the year behind his Rnd 2 game against the Hawks (2.72) and a 23% improvement on season 2023. Let's hope he can keep that going. Tracc's performance also substantial given the heavy tag yes? Player Rating Rank 2023 Season Rating % Change vs 2023 Max Gawn 7.200 1 3.350 114.9 C Oliver 5.200 2 5.002 4.0 C Petracca 4.475 3 4.707 -4.9 S May 4.400 4 3.213 36.9 T McDonald 4.350 5 2.054 111.8 C Salem 4.225 6 2.993 41.2 A N-Bullen 3.975 7 2.532 57.0 Jack Viney 3.675 8 3.707 -0.9 A Tomlinson 3.600 9 2.912 23.6 T Rivers 3.450 10 3.696 -6.7 K Chandler 3.025 11 2.265 33.6 J Bowey 2.850 12 2.820 1.1 K Pickett 2.850 12 2.101 35.6 J McVee 2.675 14 2.320 15.3 J V Rooyen 2.675 14 2.170 23.3 T Sparrow 2.600 16 2.811 -7.5 L Hunter 2.350 17 2.939 -20.0 Ed Langdon 2.325 18 3.057 -23.9 B Fritsch 1.800 19 2.324 -22.5 S McAdam 1.350 20 - - C Windsor 0.950 21 - - H Petty < 62% 0.575 22 2.718 -78.8 T Woewodin > 17% 0.350 23 1.406 -75.1 Team Score 70.58 69.86 1.0 Top 6 29.85 24.43 22.2 Bottom 6 9.35 15.17 -38.4 < Subbed out TOG > Subbed in TOG Stats courtesy of footwire.com & wheeloratings.com

Hopefully Smacca starts to pick up in the next 3 to 4 weeks Deevs. Petty was brought back about 4 to 6 weeks too soon imho. Not his fault. I'm not sure why we name Fullo in the emergencies last week and then again this week. What are we saying / doing here? He misses playing at both levels so no chance to show his wares and no chance to maintain or improve his conditioning / form at any level. So he's not getting a game at VFL level and if we keep naming him as emergency neither will he at senior level....ever! So why did we recruit him? Perplexing stuff. I admire Goodwin's faith in keeping on keeping on with certain players he has faith in. And in most cases he will be correct and they'll come good. He knows the state of affairs better than anyone except the player themselves. But at some point you have to admit that certain strategies aren't working and review / reset. That was last week imv against the Eagles. Ideal time for a Fullo trial against them and the Saints this week but nup. Opportunity to see what he might or might not bring missed and very poorly played by Simon imv. Fullo would have (at least last week) brought some much needed relief for Max in the ruck without playing an under done out of form (up forward) Petty in that role instead. Will Petty come good? More than likely if you keep playing him for weeks / months on end he should eventually click. But surely you don't want recovering players returning into a team taking 8 - 10+ weeks (in the seniors) before they finally start performing... even in an ordinary fashion (vs their optimum). I would actually rather see up-and-coming player, like Jeffo, given a short run entre' for a few weeks to show them the level required and allow them the chance to perform on the bigger stage (get excited by the prospect, no fear attitude coming in, nothing to lose, take your chances....incentive to work harder etc!) vs plodding along like this with a player who is obviously nowhere near the level. And i'm not (and never have) putting this on Petty as such. Just in general it doesn't make sense, regardless of the position played!

From what i recall from interviews Deevs, T-Mac has admitted he is probably not suited to playing his old forward role due to post recovery (with his foot problem) mobility, strength and speed issues (ie; foot limits him as to what is needed to play that role). I'm almost certain we won't see him there again unless there's a disastrous injury run up forward on a game day or we need numbers forward desperately in red time.

I was just going on visual as in not the quickest but probably not slowest either FT. Where have you seen that and in what sense, vs all players on our list in those tests?

Petty would need a 4 to 6 week break from the game to put in a mini pre-season to have any chance of impacting from here Gawndy. Either that or similar time or a tad longer at Casey. As i've said all season, the FD made a mistake bringing him back so early and not using Casey for a build up. Do i think Goodwin & Co. will change their minds now and go for the above? Not a chance as they'll lose face and no one likes to lose face. Unless he ends up injured it appears Petty forward is going to continue on...until?? And at what cost. I would have (and called for) pulling the trigger last week and trialled Fullo in for Petty vs Meth. Now i am thinking Tommo wouldn't be a bad alternative (trial) once Lever returns if we could get a serious training block (playing as a KF) into Tommo before the switch. May not have the mobility / leap of a Turner but he isn't far off and has years of experience, tank / endurance (see multiple leads, doubling back etc) body work and strength as a big advantage over Disco...and by a long way. Is the training block and/or switch likely to happen this season? 99% likely this won't happen.

Tommo has the experience at GWS early. He also has great strength in a 1 v 1 and reads the ball well with VG timing. An indication of that are the marks he takes at the highest point (for him) occasionally. While he's probably not the quickest over 10 or 20 meters he isn't the slowest either but does have the strength to probably push off an opponent and hit a leading lane for a few marks. He's a lovely kick too. Reckon he'd probably be quite accurate with good distance also. I'd say a direct swap with Petty couldn't hurt while Lever is out but this won't happen as the FD & player hasn't had a chance to train it over a long enough period.