Demon Dynasty

Thinking we might be a bridge too far in terms of getting enough quality / match fitness & form back within enough time to make up lost ground Wise. Stating the obvious but Friday is break through or bust if we are to have any hope of doing a minor Lazarus.

Chook did you miss Rat's post!??

That better happen soon Wise. At this point the mid field is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They might have to kick a winning score off their own boot this Friday and flood the backline whenever the OP gets the pill!

You can say that again DD. Our backline would probably be the worst in the AFL right at this moment.

That's the club's challenge Dazzle. Successful clubs find them. The last truly successful crash pack KF this club had was Neita. That's a fair while ago now. We thought we had one in Hogan but alas another false hope. We don't need 2 lead up tall forwards. I'm backing T-mac here. Has some runs on the board, usually a dead eye in front and shows some mongrel. When fully match fit i know what we are getting ie; maximum effort/impact on game day Including a fierce contest (mongrel/trust).

Agreed. Salem on one wing, Fritsch on the other. Let me proceed the following with the words QUALITY, bit of MONGREL and CLASS (finish). We need a crash pack Kennedy style forward, a fairly quick lead up forward as No.2 / Decoy and a fabulous crumbing forward plus forwards who are able to bring pressure/heat when the ball hits the deck. Jeffy, and at times Melk are our ONLY forwards that go anywhere near fitting the crumbing bills right now and one of them is not playing. Tmac as the No.2 IF we deliver it in alot better and more consistently. I would be trading Weld (and others and throw a bit more if needed ) for that crash pack KPF and one more genuine classy small/medium crumber that has enough speed to pressure the OP inside 50, who can finish and take the odd hanger from behind to worry the OP in the air a little also.

You're not alone Praha. I've been indifferent since the Essendrug peptide years. The AFL then tried their best to get the druggies off (nothing to see here) before all were dragged kicking and screaming into some sort of truth/justice by WADA with the resulting fall out for the code and some within the system. My indifference is a combo, not solely just the MFC follies, albeit i would be lying if i said that hasn't played a part. The manner in which the AFL has gone about changing / massaging it has left me very non-plussed (about the whole comp!) Some examples that continue to stand out for me... - Introduction and continuation of 120 plus interchange leading to the rolling mall/congestion. Yes some recognition that it was a ridiculous number and now 90 but the AFL had to be dragged into dropping it to that still very high number. - An attempt to manafacure a solution to the congestion brought on by their own rediculous interchange with 6/6/6 and the kick in extension. - Ignoring (or turning a blind eye/failing to effectively address) the blatant increase of throwing/flicking the ball by most players / clubs in order to move the ball more quickly out of the increased congestion brought about by the still high Interchange limit. - Unable to clear up the constant holding the ball inconsistancies and extreme variation of its interpretation. - The virtual elimination of the centre bounce - The continual bias of the AFL's fixture giving the bigger clubs a leg up every year (in particilar the Pies). - The introduction of the 2 interstate clubs, ignoring Tassie footy and raiding the drafts/ AFL coffers in order to prop them up whilst also diluting the better players across more teams bringing the standard of the comp down a cog or two (outside of the top 6 or so) and widening the gap between the big clubs who are still able to get the best players following the introduction of free trade (and no restriction on those trades going to the top clubs).

This ☝?

When the ball hits the ground he is out of the contest. The OP just runs off at will for an easy disposal up the field. For any goals Weid might kick through a traditional mark and kick goal on the lead he will bleed just as many through his opponent having a free reign the other way. One of a few reasons our forward line is a dog's breakfast and all other clubs know this and exploit it. Yet we continue to persist with the Weids experiment year after year....Goody / Macca and Co...get serious FFS or our premiership window is finished and off we go on yet another rebuild!

My counterpart just handed me my winnings already! ?

No JD is really pissing me off...but i did accept a bet on us that might make up for it

I was initially upset at having to attend a 60th birthday but it sounds like I'm better off slurping on my Johnny & coke?

Could you let me know what you had for breakfast GCD

Good story. Does he wear a helmet? Two Ks, JK & KK, playing tomorrow. Hate to be calling the play when they're both on the ground!

Try VPN Melon also. Used it to break through the great firewall of China when visiting last year with great success and it's free. Has auto fastest server option or you can hunt around and trial your own country for speed and see what results you get.

Good points R&B. Sorry i just don't trust Omac at this point. Hopefully im proven wrong tomorrow. You said Omac might be there for others and i hope you are correct here. I would be starting our best KPD on him from the get go which is May.

This is where we fall down a little as a club at times. When we make our draft/trade picks we should be placing a little more emphasis on character, namely a benchmark degree of "mongrel" as part of the assessment! And I'm not talking about sniping which i don't condone....but flying the flag needs to be a non negotiable.

That's a very interesting look at the why. Thinking outside the box a little. The above posts (and others here) lead us to some interesting aspects of last night's match. Namely... - The Tiges allowed the Pies too much room across HB with a very deep zone that started roughly about mid field. This allowed the Pies plenty of breathing space to assess, decide then execute more effectively than usual whilst ALSO staying home (roaming) in their back half allowing them to retain their defensive structure for longer in order to deflect more effectively against the Tiger counter/rebound on the turnover. - The Pies Kicking Efficiency would have been through the roof and i doubt many teams in the history of Champion Data would have racked up an overall disposal efficiency of 81%! 11% greater than the Tiges (70%) with the Tiges also 3% off the general AFL average (approx 73% ... solid pressure from the Pies or skills were off a little at Tigerland...maybe a bit of both?). - Playing the zone so deep meant the Tiges were mostly ineffective at closing out the switch which Collingwood exploited to great effect controlling the tempo, real estate and momentum for much of the game. - As a result the Tiges did not get up into the faces of the Pies across HB or Middle quickly enough. This allowed many more 45 kicks and switches by Collingwood and meant the Pies mid field were not forced to run both ways very often keeping them extra fresh vs their opponents. On the contrary the Toiges' mid field was forced to sweep back and forth from one side of the field to the other on the switch which must have been exhausting and taken its toll. The above also lead to the greatest number of marks recorded against Richmond in the history of Champion data (an insane result/number that sums up how bad the Tiger's defensive strat/effort was last night...mostly the former and the Coaches / FD will surely have to abandon that method from here...everyone saw it!). In effect to wrestle the game back, the Tiges needed to push up on their Pie opponents either through a higher tighter zone or a period of man on man then start to control the game across their own HB more by maintaining possession and exhausting Collingwood (especially their mid fielders) a little more by making them chase. A bit more slow rather than the usual fast break neck chaos off HB that they normally play. - and lastly ...The Pies were damn good (albeit they were given a big assist by a very lax Tiger line up and strat)

From memory Geelong did a number on us by constantly seeking out Tomahawk as they knew he had Omac's measure. Frost maybe went to him after he started dominating a little but the horse had bolted (correct me if wrong on that). If we know Omac can't handle Tomahawk why would you bother selecting him? Surely May goes to Tommy?

Both horrible alternatives also WWSW. We also lack another tallish forward who is able to muscle an opponent off the ball and/or agile enough to run into an open space quickly off his opponent to provide a target with some quick burst speed taking the odd solid overhead mark (including the odd hanger). Our two straight ahead lead up talls are pretty easy to defend against...just block their running lanes (if you get enough time and ball's coming in slow off HB or being bombed in). The exception is a ball coming in quickly, usually straight from a centre bounce but occasionally off a fast rebound from a turnover off HB or in the middle where we have a chance to hit up one of them on the lead. For this to be effective though we really need to seriously dominate the mid field, which we did to great effect at times last year. This time around i fear many mid field line ups have either caught us up (maybe we've lost a bit of momentum through surgeries/late starts etc) or some may have overtaken us.

That's why Preuss should be in. Neither Oscar or Frost should be anywhere near a ruck contest

Nice work Steve

Big time. 7 frees to 1 at one stage in the last. And the same throw that should have been paid against the Pies in the same place at the end of the 3rd was paid against the Tiges. Also the blatant one handed scoop / throw by Pendles in the middle which was ignored at one point. Grundy also treated with kid gloves in a few of the throw in ruck contests didn't help either. Game was in the balance and all these little things can swing the pendulem in a team's favour.

Tracc has as much talent but its the fitness/strength/work rate vs the Hollywood that is off skew compared to de goey

The Pies controlling tempo and momentum of the game by accurate passing (must have a very high kicking efficiency in general tonight) and a lot of switching (keeping off) play around the back. Also being VERY patient waiting for the right option to hit up around the back or on a shallow forward entry. Alternatively they kick it low and flat to the hot spot (more so than bombing) if they have to under pressure in a play on situation. They clearly have a game plan, most players know their roles and play accordingly and they are extremely fit and well drilled. Barring injuries to key players they will make the GF IMHO.