Demon Dynasty

Quite possibly Rjay. With Viney out there is a bit of a forced opening here and from my horribly amature seat i'm thinking.... > Viney out with no direct replacement, leaves the mid field stocks down one rotation. > We have an out of form Tracc who isn't firing across HF (outside of the Swans match). Opportunity/challenge time. Tracc has/is played through the mid occasionally in short bursts from what i recall/understand? He is asked to step up tomorrow and play significanly more time through the middle as a plus one (straight after any center bounce also) to cover the bulk of Viney's role. > Assuming Fritschkreig plays off HF, then he, Melk, Keilty and T-Mac should, in theory have a little more space to work into allowing a few more connections coming inside (if they lower eyes and are reasonably accurate). This assumes only one of Fritschkreig / Melk are playing inside 50 alongside Tracc. Of course the Hawks might play a plus one / sweeper across HB. If so we need to work the switch hard, be patient and connect well coming inside 50 wherever possible. If we bomb too much we will play right into the sweeper's hands and it will pop straight out again (most teams know this and do this pretty well against us now anyway as we know). Obviously the bail out is unavoidable at times given the opp's pressure levels. Hopefully Kielty might clunk a couple here as a bonus and T-Mac would be nice also. > Chunk plays a deep forward role alongside Jeffy. Lockhart rotating with these two off the bench. Chunk and to a lessor degree, Jeffy, also spend some time through the mid as a plus one while Tracc is off. Leaving Jeffy at home for the entire match is not an option with Pruess not playing out of the goal square IMO. Needs to get busy up the ground a little and help out otherwise he will leave us a fair wack down on mid field (outside) rotations and might help keep Tracc and Chunk a little fresher when they're in there.

A good description Bin. I can't recall so many fumbles from so many players. Outside of Salem and Hore there doesn't seem to be much 'one touch' possession going on this season. I'll take your word that they are slow. My main concern is Poppy who seems to have hit a bit of early form. Not saying he's super quick but most small forwards wouldn't need to be vs our small defenders. My best guess would be a very out of form Hibb in another lock down role here.

With 666 in play thr forward line is now effectively more crowded from the get go. Hogan gone meant Weids has been getting the Opp's 2nd string defender vs 3rd last season also. Neither T-mac (coming in under done?) or Weids seem to have coped well with a less open forward line and probably the extra attention opps have been able to give them with the 3rd stringer effectively freed up. These changes will see Keilty coming into a bit of a baptism of fire for a tall vs say making a debut last season. The FD would want to be giving Keilty a decent block of games so he has a chance to adjust to this as well as the step up to AFL level. If he can clunk a few tomorrow also it would be a huge help given the lack of contested marks inisde 50 so far. We've had a solid output from Hore at one end and if Keilty & T-Mac can fire a little between them at the other we might finally start to see a little cohesion and connnection going forward. If the mid field and HBs start to see / feel that as well, plus we can get some decent run and link up play through Salem and Hunt off HB, we might just start to see a circuit breaker from rock bottom last week.

He would be the antithesis of a mobile tall forward in the modern game Stigga

Awesome news. Lets hope he kicks 5... for our sake and his!

Round 7, 2019 Demons vs Hawks MCG Pure Stats Predictor has the Hawks winning by 43 points Team weighted score (includes best estimate for official Ins/Outs, including Keilty) Demons 46.63 Hawks 65.33 Top 6 ranked players (weighted statistical composite) last round Demons Hawks Aggregate Score 20.13 27.10 Bottom 6 Aggregate Score 3.60 11.73 *Omitted for this match The only positive in these numbers is that the predictor had the Swans winning when they came off a win vs the Blues. The Blues' form might be quite ordinary vs most others in the comp which 'might' be flattering the Hawks' total team score somewhat. On the downside, we seem to play smaller grounds more effectively vs the G nowadays which might have had a significant assist in our win at the SCG.

No thanks DV. Leave them to learn their craft at the lower levels unless they're doing something like an Alan Jakovich pls. Seen enough insiped performances from youngsters making their debut too early at the MFC or being gifted too many successive games with little return/output to justify their continued inclusion. Watts the classic one that comes to mind and more recently the Weid / Omac. Give them an occasional taste to show them the level that's needed when the teams flying then straight back to Casey to learn and improve once more (unless they're killing it)? Sure. The great clubs like the Dawks usually leave their juniors for a good year or two before deciding to debut them or move them on and by that stage they've at least grown (or partially grown) a man's body and some experience on how Clarkson expects them to play. And the exceptions would no doubt be coming into a side that's flying and surrounded by a good smattering of solid players and a few champs that can easily cover any shortcomings should they occur on the day. Apart from Goody's failed game style at the G and poor match day performances what this season has show us has been the exposed lack of depth / quality on the list once a few injuries kick in. That can't be fixed overnight and a head or two may need to roll before it starts to improve. We are probably years away from becoming a force to be reckoned with but part of becoming a better club is not making the same mistakes we've made so often in the past.

FD might be looking at... > Wags replaces Fritschkrieg which solidifies backline a little (albeit agree with others...still terribly slooow) > an out of form Fritschkrieg (playing out of his usual position) goes forward once more to replace an out of form Tracc. > Tracc into a mostly mId field role (some time at HF also) and replaces / covers for an injured Viney. Hopefully to get hands on pill a bit more & bringing a little more dynamic agility/break away power into the mid field. (Viney also a fair way off for whatever reason/s). Tracc has to step up big time in the above role if we are to have any chance of pulling off a huge upset. Overdue break out game required.

and Fritschkrieg off the other wing....

Might bamboozle the Opp for a minute or two DD ?

Maybe if we swap the forward line with the backline?

R.I.P. Mike. My first early memories/impressions of watching the game always return hearing these three immortals call the big finals around this time, dad (& mum) being huge Barassi/Melbourne/Carlton fans. As SW has said, they brought the game into our lounge rooms and made the characters seem larger than life. Thanks for the amazing memories Mike...

Goody started him in the middle last week LD but IMHO switched him back to his usual spot way too early. Gave him no chance to settle into the role and impact or get his hands on the ball a little prior to being switched forward.

Easily our team's worst game for the year. With a few exceptions they were all pretty poor. Ideally he needs about three matches under the feet of Pruess once he returns. If he shows little in that role then it might be time to pull up stumps.

We will be benefit more with him off a wing but I'll take the next best option anyday vs playing him in the backline where he is completely lost. Fingers crossed Goody is thinking same Bing. P.S. Tom is our only KPF.

Thought about paying the FD a visit and giving them a piece of your mind Jaded?? ...

Well that's a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into Mr D! ...

? I can't see it happening OD but i believe it's 2022. Would we even get a vote? I can't recall voting on anything other than board members over the years and the merger

Waverley Park OD. It's old and probably in need of a big refurb but beggars can't be choosers. Hawks grabbed a bit of silver using that as their base so it can't be too bad surely. Doesn't have to be forever either. Some say we dont need a proper home to perform/win flags etc but i don't buy it. Having a home would bring a spirit and connection to the club by all involved and might be the key final piece in the puzzle that's been missing for 55 years.

A transfer to Tassie sounds drastic OD, would that make us the Tassie Devils!??

No doubting this Soup. Possibly fitness and conditioning too. Effects ability to execute anything well for long enough to stay in a match. That inability to execute effects confidence. From there doubts creep in in self and trust in team mates. Nose dive from there. Can be done but difficult to pull out of.

LD i am now wishing i had a better grasp of the King's English. If only i had used the word "upward"!!

Too many times unfortunately Roger. A close 2nd!

Or an inability to innovate and adapt because of the fixation with one method of design/brand BB? This flows through to the type of players recruited and drill/training methods, which further impacts on that ability and restricts options to adapt and change. Add to this the number of outs and compromised pre-seasons plus other teams foreseeing/adjusting more adequately to 666 without as many injury pre-season issues and we have created a perfect storm for ourselves. Quite possibly unknowingly from an internal perspective....until it was too late eg; nowish!