Demon Dynasty

Here are some select (publicly available) stat averages on Harmes for this season vs 2018 (just highlighting a few players who have come up in discussions here for those interested... LN etc)... Legend: CP - Contested Possessions UP - Uncontested ED - Effective Disposals DE% - Disposal Efficiency % CM - Contested Mark Mi50 - Marks inside 50 1% - One Percenters CL - Clearances R50 - Rebound 50 i50 - inside 50s T - Tackles Si - Score Involvements MG - Meters Gained TO - Turnovers ITC - Interceptions T5 - Tackles inside 50 TOG% - Time on Ground % G - Goals

That feels about right LN. Possibly last years 'connector' role spending a bit more time between the arcs as there's a massive drop off in R50s, intercepts & 1%ers that defenders tend to rack up. And a drop off in i50s which would suggest (leading ground ball i50 as you have pointed out & tackles i50 up substantially on last season) he is being asked to play almost like a small forward higher towards the arc as well as getting into space to offer marking options (marks i50 up). And last week in the ruck also! He's now more versatile than Lewis!

You forgot a 'Meh' option for No.2 & No.3 BB!

In short LN .... I am not 'fully' convinced either as.. 1. Rubbish in rubbish out effect... eg; we don't have access to the better stuff the club's get from Champion data. 2. Player's roles and other nuances of the game aren't captured including off days, on days, a bad domestic dispute ... a freaky bounce that favours one player over another.(Milne in 2010 1st GF), crowd / umpire effect etc etc etc. Having said that the weighted scores do tend to reflect, more often then not, D'lander views of who has played well / mediocre/average, poor, shizen etc reasonably accurately week to week (player of year votes, general views in 3 word summary / coaches votes etc). As mentioned....i'm not totally in the "For or Against" Tracc camp. I just call things as i see them from match to match. Hence why im suggesting 1. He is playing a better season generally , albeit in a fairly different role vs 2018 and the weighted model is unable to effectively capture that nuance/change; or 2. He is playing better in short spurts at a much higher level during those short bursts vs 2018, yet not sustaining that level. In 2018 he wasn't hitting the heady bursts/peaks as often however he was playing at a (lower impact) level that was sustainable for longer (which impacts in a different way...maybe more effective in the long haul!??). This difference might have arose purely from being asked to play a fairly diff role this season? Or 3. He is giving the appearance (at times) that he is better than 2018 but this appearance is due to the "steaming pile of dung" effect rubbing off from so many around that are playing at a much worse level than Tracc vs their 2018! My gut feel is the answer is mostly a combo of 2 & 3 but more than likely it is also being impacted by point 1 to some degree. As for Harmes that is a TBC for another separate convo tomorrow or when i can find the time/focus lol. Ditto on the selected stats. Thanks for the heat map. I'm assuming that's this season. I'm guessing there's no way you could also grab his 2018 map?

Here's some stats (averages and a overall weighted score from select averages) from this season so far vs season 2018 for a little bit of objective context LN. Always have to be careful reading too much into this garb though as players may well be asked to play completely different roles in season, even in game, and from one season to the next of course. This might effect the comparative results somewhat from one season (or shorter period) to another. Might have played a more wide ranging / roaming game last season (hence more rebound 50s, inside 50s and 1%ers in defence) vs say most of the first half or more of this season where he appears to have spent more time up forward or HHF....very little drifitng across HB. Or maybe didn't have the tank to do so as often as last season...poor conditioning/fitness levels like many others!?. Another sign of the forward bias might be indicated in his overall tackles, down nearly 11%, whereas tackles inside 50 are up substantially by 170%! A heat map off AFL Stats-Pro might be handy here to see where he has played most of his time this season if anyone has the Telstra account access to this data and can be bothered posting. Ideally we would need the 2018 map also though. Probably not available any longer. Tracc may well have been a tad off vs last season (table shows he is down approx 15%) based on the yearly weighted score comparison. However he might 'appear' to be better this season (to some) on the field as so many of his fellow players are having a year from hell ie; effectively making Tracc look better than he really is/was vs last season. At least statistically this appears to be so anyway. The fellow player/s "steaming pile of dung" rub-off effect, for want of a better term! Having said that i have witnessed patches this year when he looks the goods. Patches that i can't recall so much last season in terms of "the level of impact". That could just be my ageing grey matter, but unfortunately, like last season these patches were just that. Very patchy! With Tracc seemingly unable to sustain that heady level for long periods. Misson factor or just the player's standards / attitude when coming back from a fairly decent 2018? Team off so much it has dragged him down with them? Or, he is simply playing a significantly different role and that has meant his stat composition has changed but his actual performance of the new role on field (subjectively depending on where you sit/how you see things), is better than his performance last season even though the weighted score says otherwise? Some extracted data (averages per match) from season 2019 vs 2018..... Legend: CP - Contested Possessions UP - Uncontested ED - Effective Disposals DE% - Disposal Efficiency % CM - Contested Mark Mi50 - Marks inside 50 1% - One Percenters CL - Clearances R50 - Rebound 50 i50 - inside 50s T - Tackles Si - Score Involvements MG - Meters Gained TO - Turnovers ITC - Interceptions T5 - Tackles inside 50 TOG% - Time on Ground % G - Goals

Culture, culture, attitude, standards! Even though my gut said what Lewis has stated, i still don't get the how given we have achieved so little in 55 years! ... Rusty Nails Red and Blue Annual Member 4,394 6,577 posts Gender:Male Posted Monday at 08:05 AM (edited) Has to be cultural IMV. Have a reasonable year....relax & get happy....have a [censored] year. Have a few good wins (not this year) .... relax & get happy... lose the next 3 games. Win the next game against a bottom dweller with half its team injured...relax & get happy ...lose the next 5. 2018.....win 6 on the trot....relax & get happy (including taking eye off the ball ....eg; Max spying on Collingwood training sesh) .... lose the next 3 including the QB just after the Max spying sesh and against the lowly Saints by 2 points, which probably cost us a double chance and a shot at the big one.

I think that is the lessor of two evils BBP. My confidence would improve two fold if Blundstone moved the goal posts about 15 meters left also!

Sparrow back next week. Things are looking up!

That is very positive news LN. Club (Burgess/Mahony?) already recognising some of its deficiencies vs our competition and looking to improve them such as brute power/breakaway (burst) speed in and around the contest, strength in contested marking and the ability to stand up in a tackle as a few examples. While not every player can or should be a Dusty, Dangerfield, Bont or Kennedy (Eagles) this will hopefully go some way towards improving select players in an upward trajectory like Tracc, Salem, Clarry, Gus & Harmes! Even the likes of Petty, Weid, Lockhart, Dunkley etc. Good pick up LN.

Ditto. Another year or two under the master wouldn't hurt either Pit. There's no guarantees he will come back to us but himself and/or Hodgey would be very handy assets to have sitting in the box with Goody. Hodgey very handy on the interchange as a strong voice also when needed.

It's not very often a great champion of the game will walk through the doors of the FD at the MFC. A big thank you to Jordy and Todd for making it happen. I'm just gutted we didn't make it to the big dance with him, the Jones boy, Viney, Clarry, Big Maxy and Harmes at least having the chance to play off together in a GF. A truly sad day when a player who brings so much experience and winning ways to a club, gets up and announces his final game or two to the boys. It's been an honor and a pleasure to watch Jordy pull on the red & blue and literally fight for the club. He brought some venom and an edge that, along with Vince, AVB & Kent (on the limited occasions the last two have managed to play) brought to the group. Three of those four have now departed and one may not make it back. Worrying times for the MFC. Could be a long difficult climb out of a very deep pit from here. Hope he stays and finds a place as an assistant somewhere but more likely he will move on to other interests. Good luck and thanks for some memorable times Mr Lewis. You will be missed.

Obviously a 'wish list' on the 3 forwards suggestion JD. Can't see any of them, other than maybe Rooey, on big multiples of current media $, coming down for a short stint. We could do alot worse than surround ourselves with a 'Hawthorn' biased crew of assistants and line coaches IMV JD. I would be ecstatic to see a combo of Lewey, Roughy and Hodge join us. What an amazing get Hodgey would be, not just for his experience, footy knowledge and a succession option (whether Goody makes it or not) but also the drawing power those three would have getting potential top line recruits over the line in the super competitive trade circus.

I can only go on what Tommy said in both radio interviews 6 weeks apart Bin. "No issues, best pre-season in 3 years, was expecting a big improvement on 2018 output. Increased weight program, tried everything to get out of form slump, spoke to pyschologists/sports science and other ppl around club to rectify, purely a belief/confidence thing etc etc". You say he's lieing i'm prepared to accept it was a form slump with no issues pre-season as he said on multiple occasions when asked. Maybe someone stomped on his toe at one point when you were watching him as restricted. Who knows. [censored] happens on the field sometimes which can impact short term etc.

Sometimes stationary works CB. Mr Miyagi says hello...

All good Dieter. I'm just taking Tom as genuine when he said he's had the best pre-season in three seasons and was ready for a big year of improvement on last season (2018). Turf toe issues yes but that was 2018. I suspect you are referring to lag comments/concerns on D'land early this season referring back to problems he was having the year before that did hamper his ability to perform on occasions.... McDonald edging closer to return Matt Burgan Apr 24, 2018 3:58PM I’m close to playing, but more importantly, I feel confident that it’s going to be good for the rest of the year – hopefully. You can’t ever predict the rest of the season or the future. I’m feeling really confident and where it’s at Tom McDonald Related TOM McDonald said he was “going really well” and edging closer to a return after a frustrating start to the year with a foot injury. The key tall, who has yet to play an AFL match this season, said he was now at the point where he was running with no pain. “I feel really good running around on the field. I’m about to start some main training with the group, so all of the boxes have been ticked from a rehab point-of-view,” he told Melbourne Media. “I’m close to playing, but more importantly, I feel confident that it’s going to be good for the rest of the year – hopefully. You can’t ever predict the rest of the season or the future. I’m feeling really confident and where it’s at. “I’m glad we took the time to rest it properly and build-up slowly. I’m getting some positive news that it’s not too far away. The good thing is that I don’t feel any pain and I don’t feel like I’m carrying anything, so I’m really happy.” McDonald said it had been “a fine balance” between resting and pushing the boundaries in regards to his return. “When I originally found out about the injury, I was probably a bit shocked at how long we originally thought I’d need to rest to get over it,” he said. “On further diagnosis and realising that toes can be a little bit tricky to heal – they don’t heal as quickly as a sore finger does or something like that. “I’ve come to terms that you’ve got to be patient and you don’t want to cause any long-term issues by pushing through foot pain. I’ve tried to be smart, but “I’ve pushed the envelope as well, got better and improved the feeling of it, which still maintaining some ability with my footy. “Hopefully I’ll play soon and I’ll be back before I expected, but until I actually play, I’m not sure.” McDonald said it was like a ‘turf-toe’ incident and he felt the problem occur during an inside drill. “We were doing some tackling and contact work inside, in bare feet, and as we do all of our stuff in boots, I reckon my feet weren’t as conditioned to doing stuff bare foot,” he said. “Your foot and toe gets jammed up a little bit more, so that’s where it started, but it started as a niggly toe, which AFL footballers have every week – a sore foot or a sore toe. You get your feet trodden on – but you don’t know if you’ve if you’ve just been trodden on or you get something wrong. “In hindsight, I probably should’ve taken it a bit more serious, but things like this happen all of the time. They eventually take care of themselves when you do your recovery right.

A big yes from me. Add Lewey as the backline coach also pls. Burgess already in place. Carey, Dermie or Rooey in as forward craft / strategy coach. Hodgey in as the assistant (2ic) to Goody (and other tweaks to recruiting/trade crew) and we're set to go for the next 5 years.

From the horses mouth....i'm merely the postie Dieter. Rnd 8 after the nail biter over GC. And yes it REALLY is T-Mac speaking... i don't have the time or skills to pull off a fakey! Specifically... 5:45 - form slump / trying too hard / asks for advice from Brendan Goddard re getting out of form slump... and; 8:00 - "FIrst time in 3 Years where i haven't really had a major surgery, whereas other years i've had big time off, and i'm like 'yep great i'm gonna have a full pre-season essentially and um should be able to improve' and then it doesn't come to you early in the season and it's just you know it's frustrating, you're trying different things at training, trying to work harder and harder, doing extra weights and stuff and it's almost the last week i've just tried to relax a little bit and it started to come back a bit on the weekend and i'd stopped caring a little.... etc". As per above please feel free to listen to the entire interview BR or if you don't have the time, can't be bothered, the times highlighted ✌? ...and if you need further word from the man himself, this after Rnd 14 following his 3 goals vs the Dockers and the bloody meniscal tear. Again speaks about a massive form/confidence/belief slump from early in the season to the point of self pitty and despair at times (as the season wore on). Trying too hard etc. From the 1:50 mark for those interested... https://m.melbournefc.com.au/video/2019-06-24/on-the-radio-tom-mcdonald-3aw

A fabulous idea and you have my vote Clinto, other than much needed addition of a genuine KF pls. However, can we make it at least an entire pre-season and ongoing for the entire season following that pls? We are coming from that far back in terms of forward craft.

T-Mac by his own admission never played with any hampering injury and was cherry ripe. Said himself he had a severe form issue up till the meniscus that took him out in Rnd 16 (from memory). Not sure why so many are parroting this as if it's an accepted fact on D'land. Fake news.

Yes, Cripps is a cracker as well DD. And you brought up that game by Dusty yesterday. Wow. I would say one of the great games at the G ever seen. Ripping stuff. I have always said you can build a premiership team around the likes of a Clarry, Big M and Harmes. As you say though, there is a long ways to go from here if any of those three (Clarry, Tracc & Gus) are going to go close to the top line A graders mentioned. Clarry is close. Real close. But needs some strong guidance and flaw fixes in the coming years, especially with kicking. Also an injection of power to drive out and away from tacklers and contests. Tracc i've seen glimpses of something bordering on A grade this season but the good stuff peters out as quickly as it appears! Tank/bulk issue vs endurance/extra speed issue maybe? Can only hope Burgess gets hold of both and turns them into insane burst / power beasts similar to Dusty / Danger. And if we can add a bit of Bont/Cripps evasive agility & elite ball use to that mix...watch out! Gus is the one that concerns me the most. Ball use/decision making is so hit and miss and often seems happy to just cruise through a game and gather possessions. Needs to add some line breaking run and finish IMV. Viney also needs some serious improvement on his agility, evasive smarts and skill / finish. Battering ram most of the time just doesn't cut it against quality mid fields now.that they know his game so well. His career might also be shortened if he keeps playing in the same manner.

It is obvious, with some players, that just making the big time and playing AFL is enough to fill the belly. They are on good coin win, lose or draw. Care factor!?? Then there are players like the Bont, Dusty, Danger etc who want to push themselves to greater heights even when they are already there or hovering. Much of this comes down to personal pride and internal drive DD. Which is why "assessment of character/nature" is a hugely understated requirement in the trade selection process by 'some' clubs. Others understand that it can often be the ultimate difference between an ok/good potential talent and a great one.

Don't wish that upon us DD! Terrible captain material. And knowing the MFC we would probably end up getting suckered in to taking him and his mate, old concrete boots Jenkins, on massive coin. They'll then get mostly injured with concussion or foot issues after playing about 20 games between them, retire shortly after, then sue the club for damages claiming negligence.

Has to be cultural IMV. Have a reasonable year....relax & get happy....have a [censored] year. Have a few good wins (not this year) .... relax & get happy... lose the next 3 games. Win the next game against a bottom dweller with half its team injured...relax & get happy ...lose the next 5. 2018.....win 6 on the trot....relax & get happy (including taking eye off the ball ....eg; Max spying on Collingwood training sesh) .... lose the next 3 including the QB just after the Max spying sesh and against the lowly Saints by 2 points, which probably cost us a double chance and a shot at the big one.

Fair enough Chook. Only one more week of misery to go!

Like many before it, the season was written off many moons ago i'm afraid Macca. The old saying "there's always next year" has been a mantra of MFC members/supporters for well over half a century. It's something i'm very familiar with but thanks for the reminder!