Demon Dynasty

You must have been on the wrong forum Dr.

Possibly BB but personally i hope we don't need to go there. It would probably mean another 2 years or more of irrelevancy and bouncing along the bottom. Something we are accustomed to far too often. Then there's the three year contract. Would be an expensive payout and we aren't exactly the wealthiest AFL club. Better option might be to add a senior assistant to sit alongside the senior coach...

Special bonus on offer for anyone who can pick which one is Mao

Post match discussion Rnd 23, 2017.... Posted August 26, 2017 And bombing it today was the worst of all options as they had a very tall backline. Pretty basic but clever selection by the Pies Still can't understand why Frost wasn't included to add extra height down back and extra run off HB as well. Playing the 8 man defence would make a little more sense to me if he was included when playing it for the extra run & carry on the rebound off the other flank to compliment Hibberd

Post Match discussion Rnd 22 2017... Posted August 20, 2017 He is a bit over rated by many IMO steve. Viney for Tyson when fit. Frost for Wags. Watts for Stretch. That will be our best line up for finals if we make it.

Was a tad critical and skeptical in 2016 but came around early 2017.... don't usually float my own boat but no one else is going to.... Posted April 25, 2017 That was very impressive WWS. Frost has really gained in strength and his attack on ball carrier the last few seasons. Becoming a pretty powerful athlete.

Lets see how it pans out FE. A huge off season of sorting the draft hats, getting our act in order physically with the injection of Burgess and hopefully Goody making some major changes to his style/methods. I think there will be a turnaround anyway as i doubt we could plumb these depths again if we tried. Even doing much of the same with a better pre-season should see us within the 8 to 12 range on the ladder by mid season which will be a relief .... for some! As for taking us to the next level (finals) and maintaining it consistently for years, i very much doubt that would happen unless he submits and adds some significant defensive and possession / tempo options into the mix. Personally i also think Goody needs to harden up his style and get a few whips cracking...a tad too "brotherly" with the boys for mine from the limited insight i've witnessed so far. We will certainly know by QB whether he can cut the mustard or neh and whether this season was an anomaly.

My guess... I personally think anytime we have Viney & Clarry in the starting four we are limiting our ability to clear the contest more often in the centre and to a lessor degree, the around ground stoppages Viney a long way off his 2018 top five form and not exactly the most agile mid. Gus played more time through the middle last season. Significantly less time in the middle this year and form has dropped right off from his top five 2018 form as well. Gawn is probably getting as many taps but with an immobile starting line up i also feel he is now frustrated with less players hitting the contest on the move to tap to. Lately i've noticed he is often just tapping it anywhere, sometimes straight to the opp's mid over the back etc or just trying to rip it out himself. A lack of leg speed/agility with Clarry / Viney starting and Clarry's hot potato handball obsession means we are also getting caught more often even when Gawn is connecting ok. The opp have probably also done their homework as to roughly where his hit out hot zones were in 2018 and are now picking him off more often. All the reason why its handy to play alternatives like Pruess (if he was more adept elsewhere, which at this point he isn't). While we are far from terrible, without an in form Gus playing more time in the middle we lack a slippery escape option. Having said that, i have enjoyed seeing Tracc starting to play more time here with some impact of late.

I still argue he left too early and positioned himself well forward of the contest alongside two other Demon players GT, Corey & Harmes. He was 10 meters away just as the handball clearance left the Pies player from his ground ball get (see 17 second mark). 20 meters and out of screen by the time Sidebottom had the ball in hand and took his first step inside to handball. Unless we had Greg Williams with some super power there was no way a handball was getting anywhere near Gus given his poor postioning even if we won that contest. If he was lucky he might get an errant kick from a quick bail out if Jones or Lewis were lucky enough to be on the end of an accidental spillage. By leaving so early Gus takes the handball receive out of play, he plays a low percentage option of potentially receiving an unlikely quick bail out AND he leaves Pendles goal side the entire time while the ball is still in our defensive half. I understand the "who was on who" part but at that moment Pendles was Gus's responsibility and he clearly had touch. He new exactly where he was and chose to let him off the leash with the ball in our defensive half. If it was on OUR forward flank i would be more understanding if he went a tad early to try and get off the leash (assuming Pendles was somehow in the reverse situation as minder). Some of our mids (Clarry being one) and Lewis also forgot to stay off the contest and pick up a Pie opponent around HB instead. This allowed the Pies to have three unmarked players on their HF line fat side ready to mop up the receive. Add an off the leash Pendles being set free by Gus and it was four. Training drill. If it was a Pie rookie or poor ball user the risk might make more sense. Certainly not a great idea giving that sort of freedom to the opp's best user and finisher, especially forward of centre.

Are you telling me there was another version of this comp some time back JD? If so i'll be very annoyed at myself for missing it

Well i for one thought it was a very creative thought out design DG! X for Xciting!??

Player / Team Stats Form Guide (Composite Weighted Averages) To Rnd 21, 2019 vs Season 2018

I am also in the same frame in terms of losing interest in the whole game WTE

Sorry HW but Gus makes the decision to leave Pendles too early here. The ground ball is still in dispute with Gus having touch on Pendles but instead of waiting to see who wins, Gus just 'assumes' we will get it out and heads towards goal. Even after realising we've lost the contest he just stands there ball watching like a junior. Pendles does not assume and waits a tad longer, watching carefully to see who wins before committing either way. Jones is also not paying Sidebottom the respect needed with the ball in our defensive half, allowing him space and time to execute under zero pressure. He actually never impacts on Sidebottom at any stage. We are slack in structure & mind set. Four Pies playing fat side forward as the contest unfolds with Zero MFC players covering goal side as they need to be with the ball still the wrong side of center. Way too many sucked towards the contest, which we lost anyway. What we are seeing are defensive standards, practices and mind sets that are a mile from cutting it at AFL level. If Goody chooses to ignore this aspect going in to 2020 you can kiss next season off already. You simply can't defend against even mediocre opponents playing in this manner let alone the cream up the top. When people question how we had so many inside 50s against the Cats but still managed to lose by 80 points....it lays with an extremely innefective forward line plus the super ordinary 'team' defensive methods, structures (or lack thereof) and mind sets we are witnessing here.

You mostly play how you train. Goody's mantra has always been "numbers at the contest". Let's overwhelm the opp. Does he have them in "group think" mode instead of individuals all playing their role to tee? The slackness of Gus in that clip is astonishingly amateur. The opposition analysts/line coaches must have a chuckle (internallly) watching the way we go about things in their reviews. "Hey let's get our best ball user onto Gus no matter what...get our extractor to flick it out to him wherever possible as he'll have plenty of breathing room to spread and finish. There's pretty much no two way running/effort or accountability with him".... rinse and repeat. And if Gus aint the only slacker, the opp is probably doing more of the same with multiple outside options. Then there's the structure. All those Pie players just sitting off the contest fat & forward waiting for the clearance so they can run towards the middle / arc in waves on the overlap. Talk about easy to beat. The leaders also have to answer here. Lewis im sure brings something and we've generally seen the defence hold up "ok". I wonder where the others are at? There's only so much any individual can do on game day to fix this though. It needs to be entrenched on the track and with line coach teachings/reviews etc. You can have all the talent, fitness, stength and conditioning you like, if they aren't training and playing to some very solid team structures, disciplines and carrying out effective individual roles on the day, you can kiss your season goodbye in a flash at this level...along with many a career.

I'd rather see him play mostly an outside role between the arcs. Bit of time in the middle but hate to see him get too banged up playing a major role. Tracc is the man for job IMV and already being groomed. Burgess time to take him to the next level. If he commits we will have ourselves an A grade mid who can bust a game open on a regular basis. Keep the silk mostly on the outside....Lucifer knows we need it!

Some stats for a bit of context.... 3 rounds to Round 19 (weighted composite of averages) vs entire 2018 season (ie., indication of latter season form)... This season to Rnd 19... Marginal drop off statistically in the block above but still slightly ahead of 2018 season. Damn good effort for anyone to be near or bettering their result from last season. Kicking efficiency has improved since Rnd 9 and has moved up two places. Another very good outcome and above the AFL average of approx 68% (mids usually track lower and defenders higher but he plays a mixed role and/or has possibly been asked to play more time in a defensive role later in the season hence the improvement and high ranking?)....