Demon Dynasty

If your starting four in the middle includes Clarry, Chunk and Viney (at the same time) you are doomed against teams who are clever and quick with getting it to the outside like the Toiges, Hawks and now that we know....the Pies also. Hec even the Doggies beat us in this area last week but weren't as good at finishing as the Pies. Quality opps (with outside class) just corral those three and pressure them as they know they are not much of a threat (outside), wait for the turnover, flip it out, then they're free with an extra number (or two) on the outside and off spreading to the races. That starting 3 (above) is just too one paced and inside biased for my liking. I would be rotating Chunk and in the short term Viney off the bench. This allows Chunk some much needed additional rest time and Viney also while rebuilding his tank. He could be up to 4 to 6 weeks away from his best at this point due to the lack of workload pre-season IMHO. Question is who are the other starting 2 who can offer the outside run / carry / spread? Brayshaw is probably already getting the gig quite often as the 4th starting mid. But who is the other to replace one of the very inside biased mids of Viney / Chunk? Harmes, Tracc, Salem? Maybe Fritsch? Maybe none of them are up to holding this role down effectively right now and we are toast against rated teams here?

Good luck winning any match when you lose clearances by nearly 20 and they get it inside 50 twenty one times more also. We lost the clearance count big time last week as well. As a one off and you correct it the following week all good. Two weeks in a row....we have a problem that needs looking into prior to moving on to the next game otherwise we'll lose that one as well. The game was won and lost there as well as our inability to enforce any sort of press or cause a few turnovers in our forward 50 (non existent forward 50 pressure / inability to play close checking accountable football allowing our opp to slice their way through us like witches hats!). They waltzed through the middle which we failed to cover (inside) very similar to the Hawks match and we also got beaten in too many one on ones as well as other times when we outnumbered them in a number of disputed contests. The sky isn't falling but unless corrected we are going to always struggle against better rated teams. We have lost 3 out of 4 against rated teams now. Not a good sign. Need to re group and fix some outstanding issues before heading to Adelaide if we're to have any chance there.

Forward defensive pressure & press non existent today

Pedders to CHB ....Tracc to replace him at HFF FCS!

We also need to close off the inside options and force them out boundary side. We have allowed them to own the middle but the Pies have pressured us well when we've tried the same.

1. Put ANB on DeGoe and we have a chance. Close him down. 2. We have lost structure through the spine. Get it back. T-Mac starting deep but also occasionaly pushing high to help out through the middle. Hogan true CHF and Pedders to CHB. 3. Brayshaw into the middle. Jones / Viney rotate off the bench. Not enough clean heals in and around stoppages with Jones/Viney inside at same time.

Summary of the 2 teams - Last Round Statistical Comparison Top 10 Players Last Round (11) Comparison / Score / Rank* * Apologies to Maxy as comparative score does not account for Maxy's Hit Outs to Advantage, which would no doubt place him easily in the top 5 last week. Grundy also missing this stat of course. Overall Team Score Comparison - includes the "Ins" of Pedders & Joel Smith (Smith given a best guess / low notional score having no prior games data to utilise) Demons: 79.80 Magpies: 77.42 Differential: Demons +2.38 Vs Bulldogs Rnd 11 (Compiled from previous week's Rnd 10 Matches) Demons: 83.80 Bulldogs: 57.87 Differential: Demons +31.40 Statistically (and in reality as we know) the Demons are in superb form but not quite at the level we were at vs the Crows. The Pies are in blistering form also and technically should be right in this match up to their eyeballs. Based on pure stats and using the team differentials from the Crows game a few weeks back as a base (neutral territory and assuming no home ground goal advantage from the umps, unlike the Dogs match last week) this one looks like going down to the wire. Pure Stats Predictor: The Mighty Demons in a nail biter by a miserly 7 points!

It would seem the only pride happening at the Saints is off the field

The equivelant of Thor vs Ant Man

Surely must be up there as one of the most expensive blunders in VFL/AFL history. No one is watching at the ground or via the box. A complete ratings disaster and there is absolute zero interest in putting in from the bulk of the senior players.

Great to hear the story and background of Harmesy. Nice work thanks guys

On now

Nic named him Cool Hands Clarry after about 6 games. It's taken the AFL media about 2 seasons to finally realise he has amazing hands. Then there's the rest of his game they still haven't caught up with. Talk about lagging!

Yup...he is easily the next cab. And not just the genuine mids. Would put Tracc and Salem in there also. Hoping they all stay the course though with crossed fingers & toes.

Lol DC. A very 'rarebit' for me now!

If we choose Wagner or another smallish defender we will be making the same mistake we made in the final Rnd last year against them. They dominated up forward by taking advantage of their talls vs our smallish backline. Hopefully Goody has learned from this. Although he probably hasn't earned the call up form wise @Casey and certainly not in Lever type form, IMHO we have no other option but to get Frosty in for the Big Freeze!

Not sure he is ready yet but under the right circumstances i wouldn't mind seeing this trialed either. Worth a look when the timing's right and might become a solid tall defender for us.

yes i hit subscribe button but alas no go. Cheers!

No invoice or auto charge at this end Andy. Did you want to PM me an invoice with bank details maybe?

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-06-05/tommy-gun-locked-and-loaded

Because the AFL are always looking to promote their two start ups wherever possible. Andy if you are still grumpy just grab a few highlights from previous 6 weeks and enjoy again mate.

....."Cam Pedersen: Cam's too good for this level and demonstrated today against VFL opposition he can dominate. His marking, particularly above his head, is very strong at this level and his work rate and courage were excellent today. He started to dominate in the second half and kicked a number of very good goals. Interestingly he started the third and fourth quarters as the senior ruck and played that position for 5 or 10 minutes but he looked so much more dangerous forward. I thought he was "training" to replace Tim Smith if he doesn't come up but sadly he was knocked out with about 10 minutes to go when his head hit the ground in a marking contest. I was standing a few metres from the incident and it was pretty upsetting to see him immediately after the incident. He managed to get to his feet after a few minutes and get to off the ground with the assistance of a couple of trainers but as a layman I'd be stunned if he didn't have concussion and it would be a surprise if he played next game. A sad end to a really good performance"... Nice update thx BB. Looks like Pedders was the most likely call up prior to the head smack. A real pitty as no one else appears to have made the step up in form this game. Frosty didnt appear to be that impressive from what you've reported and would be a lucky selection if he makes it in.

- an in* house - there / their * Edit: Cant edit after a bit ?

FWIW here is an house ranking to Rnd 11 for all players who have played 3 games or more so far based on a fairly wide ranging compilation of selective average stats for basic / rough comparative purposes. Note there are no hit outs to advantage included for any ruckman. But if we allow for this by adding say between 0.5 to 0.75 for Big M (as the main example obviously) it puts him easily in our top 5, as one would expect. Low average games played eg., Tim Smith with only 3 games, but where he was right off his game early on Saturday with a neck injury, will severely skew a player's comparative ranking. Whereas looking at Melk, who was also injured early on Saturday with a severe effect to his score on the day, would not see his overall ranking score impacted as badly due to a more evening out of the averages, Melk having played many more games. Another good example of where stats can be very misleading is Oscar. Had a fabulous season shutting down most of his opponents so far but the stat ranking doesn't show this. I would argue that is because he is playing his role to perfection. The coaches looking for a close checking shut down game first and foremost with only a little bit of attacking / intercept (3rd man up chop out) expected off his man where possible. Nothing too crazy away from his man in order to get back to his opponent ASAP. The aim being to mostly minimise the direct opponent's impact rather than say, trying to minimise a little less and damage more often the other way with attacking run (such as Hibb). Other factors, like slow starts to the season for say Lever and Melk, should also be considered in the numbers which take into account the whole season. If you only took into account their last 5 to 6 games then their ranking would no doubt be a different matter all together. You also can't really compare Maxy to anyone else (unless their was another genuine ruckman getting consistent games). Key forwards should really only be compared in a more serious sense to other key forwards. Medium defenders to other medium defenders etc. These factors need to be taken into account obviously and are just a few examples of where stats on there own can go totally pear shaped when looked at in complete isolation and without any background knowledge / input and, most importantly, viewing of the games themselves on TV and/or live. Obviously a thorough understanding of what roles are required / being played helps and on it goes.

Rnd 12 Andy