Demon Dynasty

Good boy Charlie. He's done ok so far and worked hard.

Lever that's rubbish

Tracc needs to assess first then go. SG get in his ear mate. Wasting the ball.

And that's why you need Vanders in the team in the big matches. No quarter and often hurts the opposition.

Well some absolute cracker jack stuff i've managed to pull out here. Keeping in mind i take responsibility for none of these choices other than (maybe) the Wolf Blass yellow label during a moment of weakness? 1. The renowned well aged 2017 "Frame Story" shiraz. It at least states "wine of Australia" on the front so i'm reasonably confident it isn't an assassination attempt from the CCP or Kim il Jong. Regardless i feel i could still end up 6 foot under cracking this one. 2. A 2016 De Bertoli Siiraz - Grenache. A tad more confident but still in it's infancy. 3. A 2013 Wolf Blass Grey Label Shiraz. Passable? 4. A 2010 Wolf Blass Yellow Label. As above? Over to you!

I doubt i'll having anything that's up to your lofty standard. I'll let you know what i come up with shortly uncle. Be gentle!

Shiraz to the ready uncle!?? I'm mostly into spirits but i'll join you and dust one off if we bring this one home.

Hope they put up a great fight and come away with a win. 1 point will suffice. Enjoy Ox

If i've learned anything with the Pies over many decades rjay they will not usually put a player on the park (H&A... not necessarily finals where the stakes are higher) unless he's very much ready to roll. I would expect him to play and be somewhere near his best. Take him lightly and he'll put us to the sword as he so often does against most teams. And if he is a smidgen under done? Even more reason to make sure he is pushed to his physical limits with a hard lock early, at least for the first half anyway.

Ditto Polly. Nothing near his heady days but pretty serviceable. No doubt being asked to play a very different role on the outside now. Very little contested, just get into the right spots between the arcs and execute coming inside 50 and looking for opportunities inside on the 45 where possible. Taking much of the contested stuff out may help him with recovery, keep him a little fresher / sharper and (might) see him deliver a little more accurately by foot.

Agree, this is probably the match that tells the SG / FD & present list tale SW. We have a somewhat out of form Pies outfit coming off a 4 day break. A few very solid ins, obviously Pendles the main one. We are coming in with a physical advantage off a 6 say break. Big Maxy a blow but we have Pruess who was recruited for exactly this scenario. No excuses imv. Blind Freddy knows who we need to cover here in Pendles and Sidey. Both lock down roles imv, at least in the first half. Viney to Pendles and Harmes to Sidey with assists from Sparrow and AVB. Not sure either have the mileage ability or agility required but would rather these match ups which sets Clarry, Gus and Tracc free to worry / tire the Pies mids going the other way. Viney resting HF when not benched. Season / finals chances pretty much on the line. Can we bring a switched on fired up group of 22 who really want this one from the first bounce and leave it all on the park win / lose or draw? We will know in about 5 hours whether SG and this list are on track or the one step forward two back scenario we have seen far too often under SG's tenure till now. Today is very much about progression and the stepping up of... The MFC list, the FD, it's culture / brand and the coach. Fingers crossed.

There is something to be said for the toughness factor. To a point anyway. In tight physically tough games, especially against the bigger Vic / interstate clubs (Tigers/Pies/Hawks/Eagles). They are often coming out expecting to bang in & tackle hard, even up the clearances and they'll be a shoe in with the rest of their game taking them to an easy win. With players like Clarry, Viney, Hibb, May and big Maxy hitting the opp just as hard, the opp doesn't get it all their own way. They know they are gonna get as good as they give. When you add an extra in like AVB who effectively mostly bringing a physical side right at the moment (his form very ordinary with ball in hand and 50s against) this can add a layer to your team's confidence and rub off on others, helping them stand a little taller and play with a little more confidence imv. More so the less experienced rookies anyway. No he isn't but unfortunately the MFC, in general, hasn't been renowned for being a tough team post about 65 other than through the Swooper years. We've been rag dolled and man handled for seasons on end. It's great to have a player in the team who does this to the opp instead. Even if badly out of form. Remember early in 2018 vs the Hawks. Watch that match back in full and see who flew the flag for this club when the Hawks started to get in our face and bully. In particular Stratton who came out after quarter time and bowled Fritta over (about half his size) when he was running into position at FB at the start of the quarter and no one up forward remonstrated back. Hogan? Nup. Even he got shoved in the side in the same passage by Statton and did nothing and would have clearly seen Fritta go down. The only player i recall flying the flag on the day, and he did so both on the scoreboard (3 goals in the first) and physically against the Hawks bullying, is no longer at the club. I'm more than happy to see the above pathetic scenario flip 180 and have a team brimming with talent but scattered with hard nuts, maybe one of them well off his best, if it means the opp know they are gonna get as good as they give in the physical stakes win, lose or draw....and maybe a bit more. As a club the first line in the sand is to make sure you never ever get bullied off or away from the contest without giving it back two fold. No guts, no spririt, no glory. The rest of what is needed, skills, cohesion, discipline and winning... can be built around that basic foundation. Does AVB need to lift his game with ball in hand? No arguments there. But, for now, i say he stays. Loves a challenge and a big game. I reckon he'll find something extra today and others around him will know he's about. A nice asset to have when pushing into the eight, finals await.

It's certainly looking that way CSS. Might be harder for Rivers playing as a defender. Looks like he'll be a gem regardless. Early days but his disposal is first class even at the highest level. The rest of his game can be built up around that. That back 6 holds up under severe pressure now. Feels like GF material if the core stay on the park. Most teams are struggling to get through it. Mid field looking better by the week, subject to injury. Get the forward half bedded down and we have take off. Jackson out is a blow but who knows, Brown may get his opportunity and hopefully makes the most of it.

Awesome for Kozzie and two in a row is great for the club. Just need the nose to the grind stone again this week and top it off with 3 in a row over the old enemy.

That's from the grapevine D11?

Might have had some runs on the board (personal fitness regime outside of usual training) prior. Shortened quarters might see him get up. D11 reckons he plays and his mail is usually pretty good (from memory).

Would rather Jack play mostly forward and share that role with Sparrow. Adams is good but not worthy of a hard lock at this stage if that is what you were suggesting GT. Harmes to the Bottom is a must imv. I don't think the Pies will risk Pendles in this one unless he's cherry ripe.

If you believe reports from LN and LH Pruess probably doesn't get up SN. Looking more likely to be option 2. Brown kicked 5 in the flakey practice match so surely he gets a call up now and T-Mac continues in the ruck. At least he can run with Grundy around the ground and might even do a bit of damage himself on occasions on the receive.

It's a series of 3 metrics based on season averages DFA (ie; 11 rounds) not one or two matches. I'm only quoting match by match beforehand just to see whether we hit all three or not in that particular match for those who might be interested.

Oh so Melbourne....kid starts finding his feet. Wins rising star.... Cue 4 to 6 injury (and we all know what that means minions). At least he's now a true Demon...his first curse!

Road to Finals / GF - Triple Crown Update (to Rnd 11, 2020) Vs the Roos Meters Gained Differential (looking for + 200 or more) ? +876 ✔️ Marks inside 50 Differential (any positive is a win but the higher the better) ? +8 ✔️ Contested Possession Differential (looking for a +10 or greater) ? +4 ❌ Season Averages (the one that counts) Meters Gained Average Differential (looking for an average of + 200 or more) ? +161.9 ❌ Substantial improvement on +82.5 last week and we also move into the top 5 replacing the Saints who have dropped to 6th after their big loss to the Cats. The top five with current ladder positions in parenthesis below. Only the top three clubs have a +200 (or greater) average which is unchanged on last week albeit the Cats have replaced the Tigers in 2nd place. The Power are clear leaders here and have actually improved their average while playing what was considered by many to be the match of the year so far against the reigning premiers, the Tigers. The two skewed results at this point (if this stat has any true reflection on who will most likely play finals / GF)... West Coast sitting in 4th on the ladder but only ranked 8th in meters gained with +49 and the Demons ranked 4th in meters gained but sitting outside the eight in 9th position on the ladder. Are the Weagles slightly over rated as they're playing most of their recent matches at home? Are the Demons truly a finals prospect and about to storm their way into the eight in the next few rounds? 1. Power 439 (1st) 2. Cats 283 (3rd) 3. Tigers 244 (6th) 4. Demons 162 (9th) 5. Lions 110 (2nd) Marks inside 50 Average Differential (ideally we need to see a top 6 ranking) ? 3rd ✔️ Holding on last weeks move into 3rd with a slight improvement from last week' +1.6 average to 2.2 and shaking off the Cats and Tigers who were also equal 3rd to own this place outright for now. The Power overtaking the lions here into the No.1 spot. The top 5... 1. Power 2. Lions 3. Demons 4. Cats 5. Pies Contested Possession Average Differential (looking for +10 or more) ? +8.7 ❌ Moving up another place to outright 2nd but still below the required pass rate, in fact we dropped off a little but we were playing one of the top rated teams in this area last match in the Roos, who were ranked No.4 at that point. Super close but still no cigar just yet. However even the top ranked team, The Pies, have not hit the required qualifying mark sitting just below with +9.1 The top 5: 1. Pies 2. Demons 3. Power 4. Cats 5. Roos P.S. apologies to Polly who asked for this to be put in graph form. Had a look around but the free online software is fairly limited and not sure i want to spend $ buying their premium versions just for this purpose. Then the time required learning all the input methods and present something worthwhile (not the fastest learner of new tech and being out of the statistical analysis game for a few decades now doesn't help)

I liked the front end....not so much the back.

This isn't Trout from TigerLand? You can't be a Demon supporter with all this positive talk surely.

I said the same last week and ended up with egg on my face. But... i still think he's worth a place if he's up to 75%ish game time. Have to leave that up to the experts from here though. Maybe he isn't just yet, hence the T-Mac fill in?

I would think not knowing till a short time before is possibly more psychological than just a black & white meh...he is / he isn't EO. Each player has their strengths / weaknesses as we know and opp players / teams try to set their game / set ups to try and counter or in some cases take advantage of them (Gawny's preferred tap out zones vs say Pruess) Adding another ruckman to the mix isn't going to set them back in a big way as you say, but, it does throw another layer of detail into the mix and i would guess many footy players probably prefer to know and set themselves on a particular player / strat to counter/combat etc a fair way ahead of the actual game. As is often the case at this level, the game is about small incremental wins/advantages/percentages over your opponent, rather than a big home run or two. Will the late notice have any effect, nil effect? Who knows. Is it worth trying to ring every possible bit of incremental advantage you can over your opponent, even a minor psychological one? You bet.