Demon Dynasty

A good question OD. Would love a journo to ask this of Goodwin. Why not hold the line generally, then improve marginally in certain areas AND maintain intensity for longer in games in an aim to step up into finals? One aspect that might explain part of the change up could be the removal of Watts, who often played the medium tall outside link roll across HB and mid field, bringing the ball into the forwards or sharing it around and finding targets across the arc if there was no obvious inside option. Apart from trying to make him more versatile and bring him into the game a little more to learn and assist, i wonder if the high roaming Hogan is an attempt to cover this loss a little. But this leads me to the next question. While allowing a free roaming Hogan would appear ok on the surface and is having some results in terms of his own performance, why would you have Hogan roaming so high while at the same time leave no potential goal kicking tall up forward as a target and/or to bring ball to ground for the smalls? We had it with Pedders for Geelong and Brissy. One of those matches we lost on the last kick of the day. As is usual for us....opportunity missed. But almost 2 for 2. We then dumped Pedders after a very ordinary game against Brissy and ran with a smaller forward line. Bugg then has an unusual goal kicking feast against the Roos (4.1) and with the successful return of Kent (3 goals) this helps to cover our lack of a tall marking/ pack busting forward (when Hogan was roaming). The same set up is taken into the Hawks match looking for a repeat. Bugg's goal kicking prowess returns to type kicking 0.4. Kent continues his form into the 1st quarter kicking 3. But the Hawks being the Hawks soon adjust. Hogan playing mostly high again means there is no tall to really worry their backline and none of our smalls are able to impact either. Jones on Mitchel and Harmes in the ruck for a couple of stints not helping us on the day also. Goody then selects Weids in an attempt to correct the above structural issue and ensure the Harmes rucking fiasco is not repeated. While not saying we would have won, to me the idea was correct but he had to run with a much more experienced bigger bodied Pedders if we wanted to hit the scoreboard a little more and split a few packs for the crumb. That's assuming the forward line coach/es were capable of drumming / teaching front and square / staying down to the smaller / mid forwards. Jeffy of course shouldn't need any teaching.... possibly motivating though! We more than likely lose anyway but not by nearly 10 goals. As you always say OD a loss is a loss but i would rather see us get our noses in front during parts of a match against last year's premiers than never able to lead at any stage. Even a glimmer of hope can foster light at the end of the tunnel and reinforce belief IMO. Especially among the younger portion of the group, where a winning culture is critical to their success/ development / growth and ultimately that of the club also.

1. Hogan finally starting to lead towards the ball carrier under pressure (in front of his opponent!) and taking a few chest marks 2. Stonewall O-Mac 3. Lever's best game so far

ELEPHANTIASIS (noun) The noun ELEPHANTIASIS has 1 sense: 1. hypertrophy of certain body parts (usually legs and scrotum); might want to get that seen to Buck

akin to how i felt at the time wise kind of reminded me of the Fitzy tunnel ball!

ANB's career so far has been littered with these team deflating brain snaps.... FF the vid to 5:12...we were 3 points ahead early in the last here. I remember this like it was yesterday at the ground and how demoralizing it must have been for the boys at the time....

T-Mac half a game at Casey surely after that long out of the game. St Kilda maybe. I would prefer a tall marking target than can kick straight and potentially get two or three goals PLUS bring the ball to ground busting packs and the occasional pack mark. The only option available who has form at Casey.... Pedders.

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Does the main umpire usually go up to the winning captain (or both captains) after a game and say "well played"??

Did someone say Troll !!?? ....

Easily in our top 5 players this year. One of the most consistent performers at the club week in and week out and did the same most weeks through the abysmal Neeld era! If only so many others were able to bring his level and consistency each week we would be now sitting pretty in the top 4 and there would be no one questioning his captaincy. In fact they would be saying..."wow isn't out Cap doing well this year, what a great example for our young blokes etc etc". Leads by example. Not A grade but who else is, other than Clarry, who is too early into his career to consider. Nothing to see here.

Hannan for Stretch yes

Yes i was smoking a boat 36! What can i say.....after so many years of ordinary fodder i sometimes look for hope/alternatives where there is probably none. Desperate times! Trade time is probably the best option for some.

Quite possibly Mud. That's why i said i prefer Munro. I haven't got time to watch every player in detail throughout a match especially going back over old rounds so i'm just using stats which are always fraught with danger but.... In the one match he played against the Cats he was running at 80% DE vs Harmes's average for the 5 matches he's played... 64.5% I also keep a weighted stats table and it has Maynard's one match ranking at No.5 and Harmes at No.10 Maynard did get 5 clearances on the day, 7 tackles and 5 score involvements. He was also charged with covering Ablett shortly after 2 or 3 others had failed early on in the first quarter and seemed to curtail him a tad afterwards. Yes i am probably clutching at long straws i know and as Leoncelli said...smoking a boat. Not much depth around right now.

Ah yes forgot about Lewis returning. Lewis for Kent then. Which leaves Pedders for Weids. I would still ring those other changes Werridee. Changing deck chairs but we need to give others a chance and send a message. Would be looking to trade Stretch, Harmes & ANB at year's end. Hannan was ok for a quarter or so on Saturday. Gave us some run early until he started turning it over. He can at least gather the ball on the run and maintain possession while running which is something. As for delivery under pressure or perceived pressure that's another story! Anything is an improvement on Stretch though IMO and to me Hannan was ahead of the curve vs Stretch at Casey last weekend anyway. So not sure how Stretch got the nod. Would rather Munro than Maynard TBH but he aint on the list. Maynard was ok in the Geelong match. Not great at Casey I realise but Harmes is struggling also. Bit of a coin flip but would like to see if he can bring something over 2 or 3 matches. Nothing to lose surely?

T-Mac wont be ready for the Bombres I wouldn't think. Spargo for Jeffy. Pedders for Weids. Weids played ok but a forward's job is to kick goals and we are desperate for goal kicking targets up forward. I'm not saying Pedders is a lock....just the best option if we want to win some games in the next 4 weeks and give ourselves a chance of finals if T-Mac gets back in time for the Saints and Viney makes it back by Rnd 11 or so. Maynard for Harmes. Hannan for Stretch. Fritsch for ANB I don't know who replaces Kent TBH. * Actually leave Weids in as long as it aint raining. Pedders comes in for Kent! P.S. I would measure those players above over rolling 3 week periods and if they're impact is as good as or better than the replacements just leave the team as is to settle and fight it out and to gain some solidity and trust by playing multiple games together!

give Spargo a run for the next 4 matches provided he isn't putrid. Jeffy had a chance to redeem last night. Time to trade and try out new blood who show the hunger for winning.

The defence finally stood up HB and the work ethic only dropped away in the last where our lack of running ability was exposed. The skinny boundaries at Etihad might actually assist our lack of run/speed on the outside and spread and might work in our favor. Apart from speed/spread/class on the outside, our other big issue is our inability to convert all the hard work. A team can only work so hard in a match before it runs out of puff if you aren't hitting the scoreboard. 45 possessions per goal and 59 against the Hawks the week before must be exhausting work and the lack of conversion can only act as a huge team deflator at some point. Which is why Pedders needs to come in for Weids this week. We need goals and i'm afraid Weids is not the man for that right now. He just continues to fail to impact here and that's what he is there for at the end of the day. Bring him in for the 3 weeks following if Pedders doesn't perform. I would also seriously consider Spargo for Jeffy who is horribly out of form although that's a huge roll of the die and not sure Spargo is ready yet. Then again we ran with the Weids play this week so go figure. We need some big trades at year's end to get some run/speed/spread as well as class finish around the ground and in front of the sticks if we are to make finals. Winners are grinners and we need to win to make finals. Goal scoring a must. Get it done Demons.

At the end of all the hard work if you aren't kicking enough goals PF it all comes to nought. While Watts was a big NQR in terms of effort and choosing when to go, he could at least finish off and honor the hard work of others up the field and rarely coughed up the ball which meant we held on to it for longer in possession chains coming off HB instead of turning it over and having to chase bums all day the other way. Certainly not irreplaceable by any means but, we didn't find a replacement.

Stretch wasn't up to it unfortunately PF. While i agree, Harmes & ANB are NQR players there are others i would put before them and you would need to replace with better. The only option at Casey who i believe could play a similar role to Harmes and has better numbers (ranking him at No.4 overall just behind Jones ...albeit only one match stats to go on which is dicey) is Maynard. I would like to see him in pronto during the Viney absence if he hits a decent patch of form at Casey. I'm not sure who you would replace ANB with. Spargo? Out of players who play a ''close to similar'' role to Harmes i would rate Vince as having a worse year so far. Has more credits though obviously but is a real concern also.

Whoever we bring in we are shuffling deck chairs. Not enough finishers and goal kicking power, outside of Pedders on a good day, in the lot sitting at Casey. Would have had him in tonight instead of Weids....Weids in for the Saints, Suns and Blues to take a look. Pedders resting up and ready for a 'managed'' Weids after that unless Weid hit some stellar form. Goals are at a premium yet we effectively traded Watts for Lever? We have very few in the mid field who, when under pressure from a good team, hit the scoreboard on a regular basis. The Tigers had multiple mid fielders kick goals tonight. We had one part timer in Harmes. Can't see us scoring enough goals to make the eight. Our disposals per goal last season under Goody hovered around the 25 to 30 mark. In the same game against the Tiges last year we averaged 35 per goal. This match...45. Last week against the Hawks....off the charts at 59!! So yes Mr Goodwin, there may have been a step forward v last week (off an extremely low base), but all for nought if you can't put the improvement on the scoreboard.

6. O-Mac (amazing first half stone wall...overwhelmed like the rest of the defence in the last). 5. Clarry 4. Lever (more like what we were expecting....10 intercepts the most in the team) 3. Melk (where are our other goals going to come from from here I wonder!!? What's happened to Jeffy!??) 2. Jones 1. Gawn (just a few too many dumb plays / decisions that would otherwise see him higher). Apologies to Hibberd who was very good in patches throughout the match and fought the good fight.

We lack outside run and carry with a turn of speed and finishing skills and are paying a huge price as a result IMO Clint. Stretch was supposed to bring some of that tonight.... major fail. Tyson a bit on the outside also but again, another NQR who will too often find an opponent under little pressure as he will one of our own. Then we have a few too many grunty plodder types who are ok on the inside but terribly slow by foot and often come with pretty average delivery skills. Their slowness by foot and poor/slow decision making means they are usually under even more pressure when they get it making their delivery skills even worse, if that's possible. I also think that because they know we don't have the class options on the outside, the inside grunt players tend to try and do to much in an effort to maintain the ball, knowing if they allow it outside we probably lose the battle. Maybe it's just me but I can't see us correcting this imbalance in the short term. There just isn't any stock waiting in the wings to solve it.

I couldn't agree more Wrecker and if you watch the last quarter the Toiges showed us how you do this both across half back and then another switch across the park just outside the 50 arc, then delivered inside to the flanks hitting up a number of free targets that had already lead across to the other side, prior the switch. The amount of leading work and forward 50 pressure brought by the Toiges tonight made us look amateur at times. The Tigers worked their butts off and, their delivery to each other while doing so, was first class. What the Demons don't get is, you have to work your butt off to keep possession....then still FINISH to stay in possession! If you don't ...then you are doomed to work it off even more when you are chasing your opponent's butt all over the park because they are doing what you should but aren't willing and/or capable of doing so. Switching, hitting targets, stretching your opponent and finishing off inside 50. Will we ever learn some of these ball movement basic 101s??

To me these are all either NQRs or a work in progress leaco. For me the only option on offer at Casey, outside of the emergencies this week (Fritsch....who should have played ahead of stretch tonight) who can step straight back in next week and should ....is Pedders. Fritsch one of the few clean ball users and clever decision makers should never have been dropped tonight either and technically wont be coming back from Casey. But you can be assured he will be straight back in. Hannan and Spargo the only other two maybes at this point further down the track. Mind you Hannan couldn't be any worse than ANB and Stretch so might be a show for next week, along with Pedders. Spargo a rough outsider also but would rather see him in for the Saints, Suns & Blues as a safer play. Spargo could end up being a real goer given enough time and work. Maynard is a work in progress. Another inside player (we really need clean outsiders with a turn of speed and footy smarts, not more insiders though). Although he might be a back up inside for Viney IF Viney has trouble getting back. The biggest issue with Maynard is his disposal. And we have plenty with those issues running around already. Baker does show glimpses but IMO isn't anywhere near AFL level at this stage.