Demon Dynasty

I didnt time it Timbo and hate going back through a loss. No way i could mentaly handle a whole losing match unless i was getting paid! Im guessing approx an hour and a quarter on the first 20 minutes. Long enough to give the remote a good workout but short enough to avoid the war office sending me to the dog house.

Certainly no issues with a receding hairline for photo shoots Adzman!

I would hate to admit you are right but I suspect you are to some degree Billy. The return of Jack has actually put a bit of a spanner into what was a very balanced and tuned mid field IMHO. And what is the missing ingredient .... Gus!!!! Tacking Gus outside and putting Jack in has seen one too many players (not always but too often vs previously) attacking the ground ball while their opponent slips out the back for a lucky bounce or over the top handball against the grain to get the ball going behind the unnecessary extra attacking player (Viney / Harmes etc) for the give off / clearance. Also on Saturday Jack did not defend whoever he was on too well early on in many cases (initially DeGoey then Treloar) possibly as he is not switched on defensively as yet and/or power lacking....maybe both. He was either giving them too much room by attacking the pill when he didn't need to (ie, other players at the drop were closer to the ball drop but he still went in leaving his opponent free) or not defending goal side of his opponent when the ball was in the oppositions 50. He wasn't alone here though. Just take the tape to the ball up (or ball in) with 15 minutes to go in the first quarter and you will witness at least 3 Pies goal side of the pill and only Nev (standing an opponent! Goal side!) between those three and their goals. Surprise surprise the Pies got it out the back to an unmarked Pie for I think their 3rd goal for the quarter. Jack one offender but not alone. Check where Clarry and some of the others are positioned also (i'll give you a guess where most of their opponents were!). Really poor stuff and efforts that will go towards losing contests and possibly the game. Certainly not in isolation but when added together they can conspire to hurt the final result. And as we know, in a final if you get off to a poor start (or allow your opponent to get off to a good or great one) you are pretty much toast in most cases! We also did some very ordinary things on Saturday in set ups like the one described above. For another great example of a really amateur set up and play watch Pedders go up in the ruck against Cox with 9:30 to go in the first. Mistake 1. Pedders is on the incorrect side of Cox giving him goal side position to start the throw in. Viney actually covers Treloar well in the initial contest from this ruck duel so he wasn't all bad all the time. Credit where credit's due. Mistake 2. Pedders leaves Cox to attack the ground ball and eventually tackles Adams, who gets there first (ie, see ball get ball instead of covering your direct opponent goal side!). Mistake 3. Salem allows himself to also get drawn in to the ground ball contest but gets caught in no mans land (ie, doesn't quite get to the opponent to effect a tackle but also doesn't sit off him far enough to potentially effect an intercept or tackle a potential receiver goal side either). Result: With Nev, Pedders and to a lessor degree Salem, all tackling Adams (or attempting to put a feeble hand in to effect a fumble in the case of Salem) this allows Cox (who has wisely stayed out) to wait out and grab the handball from a slippery Adams (who couldn't be shut down by two tacklers....Nev & Pedders!). With Cox's direct opponent (Pedders) on the ground after his tackle, Cox is able to turn around with enough time to size up the goals and kick his second goal on his preferred right foot (having no one in front of him goal side...ie, Pedders, or potentially a tackle or scrap which might put him off his kick....eg, Salem!). Some players also lacked intensity in some contests. For a great early example have a look at Hulk's effort to spoil Howe marking a tumble round the corner kick about the 10 minute mark in the 1st out of the centre from Viney (under pressure). Way off AFL level and certainly not finals worthy. Only one example but again, it all adds up and other players couldn't help but notice this surely. It becomes catchy, just as the look of Howe taking what appears on the surface to be a strong contested mark in defence (but wasn't) might be a bit of confidence booster for the opp. If you aren't going to give your all at every contest and pick and choose when to go at this point then I don't know. What are you doing? Rubbish like that has to be stamped out. Complete team and coach killer especially early in a match. For a good example of what we should expect look at Vince's effort to spoil DeGoey when he was way out of the contest from the resulting play following Howe's mark. Gives a soft free kick but at least he gave it his all, stopped DeGoey tacking an easy mark (knocking him over), even though a free kick resulted. Or clarry's effort to run down a Pie on the wing very early in the first resulting in a turnover and our first goal to Hannan. Maybe it was partly to do with a tired younger brigade. Maybe partly to do with Viney returning. Pedders having pretty much no effect and making fundamental mistakes along with others in set ups etc. maybe it was having no real run with player (or two) to run with DeGoey and Treloar for much of the game and instead have the duties assigned to a few who really weren't sure who they were on at any point and instead just picking up a random loose player (allowing mis matches like DeGoey on Clarry at times....to make an easy escape for another easy clearance...etc). I would be training and using one or two dedicated lock down players here and certainly not our best mids in Viney, Clarry, Jones or Brayshaw. ANB and/or Harmes all day for mine (as part of the starting 4). Keep your best players free, to do their best work, and make the opp work their ass off trying to shut US down! I know the FD will have been allover this one like a rash but they need to. It was pretty ordinary in so many ways and they (and the coach) must take part of the blame. The Pies were super well drilled and knew exactly what needed doing (where to position/block/one or two in MAX at the drop of the ball the rest keep their feet and wait for the spill / handball etc) and for some reason we did a lot of things that IMHO looked very amateurish (just as we did against the Hawks!). I hope Goody is learning after two horrible results where similar mistakes are where made (including match ups) and early intensity was lacking on such a big game day... again.

Hannan is a definite ommission IMO. Zero pressure inside 50 will ensure that. Bugg or Jeffy to replace. Agree on Spargo. Pedders played after a significant concussion. The most perplexing inclusion all year. Vince needs a break but the FD might see the buy as offering the solution needed and he stays. Personally i would be bringing Frost in for Vince to give us some extra height, pace/closing speed and run off HB that Vince doesnt offer. Frosty is also our 2nd best intercept player behind Lever. Just tell him to keep his disposals simple and release earlier into his runs. Tyson needs to come in for Tracc. Tracc has stalled since bitegate and Tyson has earned a call up, subject to performing his role and getting job done once he returns. A stint at Casey of 3 to 5 weeks might be the best message and tonic required to ensure Tracc takes his game/consistency to another level when he returns.

Would love to see him get himself right and have a good run at a block of games before he is considered a trade option. One of only 2 or 3 that pushed back and stood up for us when we were getting bullied and pushed around by the Hawks earlier this year and was the main driver in our dominant 1st quarter prior to getting injured, kicking 3 goals.

He was on his own at one point at HB asking for it for at least 5 seconds or more and i think it was Lewis who either chose to ignore or didnt see. Insisted in playing from behind at times so maybe part of his own doing....eg; not presenting enough. At the same time i cant recall us hitting many targets up at all inside 50. We went back to our old bad habbits. Either that or the Pies pressure on the ball carrier forced our hand here.

Pedo probably not the answer either Timbo. We lost Lever's height with no genuine "as tall or taller" replacement. Smith ok but not sure he is a genuine Lever type option either just yet. More time needed of course. I would think Frost and/or Weids across HB at some point are our best longer term options but hec even they might not be what's needed. Vince is a big worry at this stage as well.

Assuming a fit Hulk / T-Mac combo i also agree re 2 talls & 4 smalls. We are too easy to run the ball away from our 50 with 3 lumbering talls. The Pies exposed us big time here and went coast to coast far too often under little or no pressure. One of Garlett/Bugg has to come in for Hannan and possibly for Spargo also. Thought Spargo's first half was ok which might save him and break might freshen him up. Tyson for Tracc who is offering us very little on the inside / outside or defensively right now. Tyson can hit up a few targets occasionaly and gets involved in the link up scoring chains a bit more even if a tad slow to react/dispose and run. At this stage the lessor of two evils and can kick the odd goal. Pederson's only option IF he gets another game is CHB IMHO. We lack a tall marking general down back without Lever now and i would give him one more chance to try and show something in this specific role. Otherwise i just dont see how he fits or works in this line up.

Yep. He should be Traccing DeGoey by now who has gone past him at a rate of knots. Tyson pls. A good stint in the McGoos to work on his tank, 2 way running (especially defence) and goal kicking off HFF. We cant afford to carry half baked pretty players who wont go when it's their turn under heat in finals.

As hard as it gets to find 6 worthy today. So many were so far off their best it wasn't funny. We played about as well as we did against Essendrug (output wise as a team) and got rightfully pantsed. Probably more of an indication of were the Pies are at. Bloody good form team right now as mentioned pre-match with genuine multiple A graders. Could go close to making the big one this year. 6. T-Mac 5. Clarry 4. Lewis - apart from that last horrible turnover across HB and inability to close down space on opponents quickly enough (zero tackles...wasn't alone in closing down space quickly ...Vince / Oscar et al) he was easily in our top 6 or so in terms of involvement. Also topped our rebound 50 count with 8. 3. Fritsch - this bloke just gets better and better! Amazing courage also for such a small frame! Other bigger framed (more experienced!) players could do worse than watch some examples of this young fella's effort / courage!! 2. Smith 1. Nev

AFL StatsPro says his kicking efficiency this season is average at 63.9% (not elite) but he has apparently improved in this area slightly vs his career average of 62.3% The only thing here is you do need to allow for his size IMO. Would be a better stat if you could compare him to the AFL's other KPFs and see where he lies there. Gut feel says he might be elite vs other KPFs. But then you have to ask if he isn't elite in this area (in general) up the field, then why do we play him up there so often? I guess the FD is looking for a big body to bust through packs and take a number of contested marks or intercept marks to assist down back a little (steady the troops under fire...control the tempo better) and build a wall with the press. Something that obviously didn't happen much today if so. http://www.afl.com.au/stats/stats-pro#/discover/CD_I296324/Hogan-Jesse

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.