Demon Dynasty

I'm almost over the whole AFL scene SF. I watched a little of the Norf / Dogs encounter. At one point a Norf player was tackled, went down on a knee while being tackled (broke that tackle...just), then tried another tackler on after running on a little more...disposed the ball incorrectly.... "play on" called. From that direct piece of play the ball then ends up on Norf's 50 arc, bounces off ground into an oncoming Doggy defender's bread basket. He gathers, gets immediately tackled... "holding the ball". I turned the game off at that point and went over to world cup (possibly a replay). Unwatchable.

The other change i noticed against the Pies was the umps were super quick at throwing the ball up not allowing the rucks to get set for the contest. I got the impression they didnt want to do Maxy any favours with his height advantage. Imagine this in a final or GF...."lets just officiate this one completely differently from the rest of the year shall we?!"...

Do what Clarkson did and go confront Gill. MFC needs to grow some in this area and ask for please explain on the Melk / O-Mac decisions that effectively cost us the match. Eddie would be on the phone first thing this morning and allover the airways. We've been the whipping boy of the AFL for too long in this area.

I agree he needs rewarding PF but he will not have anywhere near the impact on the scoreboard at AFL level (vs form at Casey in this area....7 goals) if he is also playing a chop out role in the ruck. Just as Smith wouldn't. Just as Hogan wouldn't if he were asked. AFL is a completely different level to VFL as you know, especially when effort / time is taken towards carrying out a relief ruck role which he does little, if any of, at Casey. Hence the 7 goal haul. When you say Weids is more dangerous around goal the stats suggest otherwise with Smith leading goal averages and score involvements vs Weids. My worry is i'm not even sure we need 3 talls to be honest. No matter what the combo.....Weids, Hogan, T-Mac..... Smith, Hogan, T-Mac etc. IMHO it makes us too easy to defend and rebound against when the ball hits the ground, clogs up the ability of each to mark and impact (see Friday where you often saw Hogan/Smith or T-Mac / Hogan competing for the same ball) and a few smaller forwards might be able to impact the scoreboard more often off the crumbs....rather than say just one. Would it be better to have just 2 key forwards and include Spargo AND Jeffy for example?

That is a tweak that probably needs to happen at some point SF if we are to rescue the season and make finals...and hopefully win a final also. Not saying 100% game time but as a resting SF for significant parts of the game? With the return of Viney to a central mid field role and the pushing of Gus out to a more of an on ball HF role we have now recommenced over-use of handball again, especially around the mid field contests. Makes it easier for the opp to corral us and eventually get a turnover to their advantage. Also prevents the ball coming inside 50 as quickly as it might if we were kicking more often. The 3 handball happy amigos kick to handball ratio (with Viney in....Brayshaw pushed out) tells the tale.... Clarry: 0.48 Viney: 0.68 Jones: 0.73 No doubt the low kicking can be attributed to the necessity to handball under pressure and close in work but as we know there is a bit of a choice as to what players prefer. Clarry a great example of someone who prefers to handball significantly more than kick. Brayshaw has the highest kicking average in the team. Kick to handball ratio...... Brayshaw: 1.27 Pretty sure Tracc likes to kick more often also. He would be another i would be looking to get more time into through the mid field (eventually). Part of the issue with kicking though is to be pretty efficient at hitting targets as well and on Friday we were generally woeful with most players guilty of constant wasteful bombing to the hot spot, including Gus. We really need to start hitting up more targets around the 50 meter arc in order to get deeper entries inside 50 and a few more long set shots on goal. The other issue is....very few of our players that run through mid field....are kicking goals at the moment and posing any danger to our opponent. I can't think of one player in the side who worries the scoreboard from around the 50 and plays through the mid field.

I'm just saying it's possible Timbo and wouldn't have helped his cause given his contribution on the day. He is more than likely considered a fringe player at the moment i would guess.

Ethan he spent a slab of time in the ruck and also spent only 57% of time on the ground (probably due to head knock) and still came equal 4th in the tackle count on the night. He also laid 3 of those inside 50. Only bettered by Melk with 4 who had 84% game time. Smith is 2nd (only to Clarry) in Tackle averages this season and also leads the average tackle count inside 50 this season. We hear so much in the press, footy world and on here about forward 50 pressure so if you want forward 50 pressure Smith is the best at it for the MFC right at this moment....all while providing a chop out in the ruck! He definitely needs to do more but with only 57% game time and giving a chop out in the ruck he had limited opportunity. I only saw him make one mistake on the night and that was after laying a tackle just outside 50, winning the free kick, but then kicking it long to a vacant pocket (nobody) for a point when he should have gone somewhere closer to a hot zone near goal or looked for a target short. Goody was livid and Coaches tend to remember this stuff when you are trying to break in to a team.

Writing was on the wall weeks ago. A few weeks at Casey with a few important goals set by Goody & Co. A message that talent will only get him so far (which is probably where he is at now). Extra time/space & less pressure at Casey might be just the tonic. Build 3 to 4 quarter tank, get stronger over ball, clean up disposal (lower eyes coming i50 and hit other short targets around the field), improve goal accuracy and provide more 2nd efforts around the drop. His disposal is super sloppy/rushed at the moment. Rarely assesses and often just plays on in hope. He over runs the ground ball far too often also, leaving it behind for other team mates to try and clean up, or worse, our opponents. Needs to build tank to enable equal time spent through the middle and up forward on his return and i would be playing him in same dual role at Casey before bringing him back provided he finds the form there and earns his place over whoever he might be replacing.

His first match was ok. Completely MIA last night IMO. Wagner will be a better alternative and in better form vs a less tall (compared to Port) Saints line up. We will need an extra medium back to help clean up at ground level, assuming Frost comes in to replace Vince.

Ins: Weid, Bugg, Spargo, Stretch, Wagner, Frosty Out: Hogan, ANB, Tracc, Tyson, Joel Smith, Vince

Thanks KC

Stockdale kicks his first goal on debut....16.12.108 Coburg 4.7.31

Frost, Lok & Josh Wags have done fairly well across HB this quarter

Great defensive service from Bugg on multiple occasions inside 50 sees his 3rd effort (or so) at a ball up result in a quick weighted kick forward out in front of Weids for the mark and kicks accurately for his 7th. Bugg again involved in another forward passage who gets the ball to Hutchins for another.

Spargo nice clearance off the throw in and kicks quickly to Weids who takes a sweet contested mark....kicks truly for his 6th. Weids a lock for the Saints match

Awesome thanks Tracc

That is correct D'lad. Many are missing this important point. We hardly have any run as it is. He is vital at ground level and should not be running back to try and fill a hole against a bigger opponent so often, then having to butter up on the ground attempting to create run also (which surely is his main role). The obvious selection was Frost for Vince. Along with other poor selection decisions/non decisions and some horribly out of form players (one of them Vince!), the defensive line up Goody went with impacted our ability to convert up forward and impacted the final result.

Why does Casey radio not cover VFL games very often?

There is no g'tee of that unless we fix some major flaws and some players, who currently aren't contributing, lift their rating substantially. If the above doesn't happen we could well be out of the 8 after those three rounds.

Nice work GNF. Port were able to get so many numbers back so often as our transition off HB is way too slow now with Lever AND Hunt out. Joel sluggish and nowhere near AFL pace ATM. Add Vince & Lewis (pedestrian slow) in the same side and Port's defensive line coach must have been licking his chops in the review sessions. Vince's last 3 weeks have seen his form drop even further. His last decent game was against the Crows (where pretty much everyone dominated) and even his previous game against the Blues, where we also dominated for much of the game, was super ordinary. Along with other key outs/ins and tweaking of the mid field, Hunt and Frost need to come in for Vince & Smith or this season may well be over in a flash!

6. Nev - Had his initial opponent moved off him. Then beat the next one etc. Guts personified and potential goal saving nailed tackle on a much larger P(brain)Pepper was special. 5. Viney - Just misses BOG for mine for hardly ever hitting up a loose outside player by hand or pretty much anyone by foot....straight ahead bomb bomb tumble punt ....almost always straight ahead! Very rarely stops and props lowering eyes to go lateral/on the angle or handball backwards to a player in a better position who will have more time/space to hit someone up. Needs to find some finesse and finish to take it to the next level and be a damaging match winner and star of the comp. Needs to realise he can beat one or two tacklers much of the time, but taking on the entire mid field or defence is probably not going to work out well too often. 4. Clarry 3. Hibb 2. Lewis 1. Gawn

Summary of the 2 teams - Last Round Statistical Comparison * Note: Ave attributes and total players by games is from previous round. Does not include Ins & Outs for this week. Rough guide only. Top 10 Players Last Round 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 10 last week. However, Ryder is also missing this stat which indicates he was probably in their top 3. Overall Team Score Comparison (from each team's last encounter) Power: 70.10^ Demons: 63.46^ Differential: Demons -6.64 ^ includes the Demon "Ins" of Tyson & Tim Smith. Does not include the power "In" of Jonas. Statistically the Demons dropped form substantially vs the Pies from the previous week's game (vs the Bulldogs). The Power are not playing at Collingwood's level but are still tracking marginally better than us on paper. Adding the usual 4 goal advantage from the umps to Power's scoreline, this one looks on paper (statistically) to be a solid win for the Power. Pure Stats Predictor: The Power by 43 points

Non of that is irrelevant Poita. All pointing towards a substantial hammering. Doubt we win regardless but % is going to be critical again as we witnessed at the end last year.

Probably worse this week Cards. Who's going to bring decent forward 50 pressure to pevent end to end damage? Melk rarely tackles. Hogan usually roaming. Same with T-Mac & Fritsch. Hannan 1 tackle last match. Smith might provide a little. Nibbler about the only serious contender. For me this whole set up spells....