Demon Dynasty

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!

Last week was Goody's version of Plough's flood IMO. Had no real belief we were likely to win so went defensive from the get go to prevent a massive blow out. While that may have worked, from what i witnessed, we still regressed badly in general play & skill level. I can't recall seeing so many fumbles and basic turnovers in my time watching the club other than maybe the capitulation against Essendrug in 2012 or 13 when we lost by 140 odd under Neeld. 97 turnovers, 81 clangers, Team DE under 60% (our worst for the year and possibly in a long while) and 59 disposals per goal. Must be some sort of record in those. Confidence at its lowest ebb for the year. Can only hope that was rock bottom and we head north from here. Will need to put in a massive effort on Sat to prevent a blow out against the Dawks on a ground Goody's game style is unable to defend on & a completely innefective forward line. Can't see any significant upside in the short term until Pruess returns and settles and IF Jeffy fires, and i wouldnt want to put any $ on that happening.

Player / Team Stats Form Guide To Round 6, 2019 vs Season 2018 Maxy missing out on 'hit outs to advantage' obviously impacts his ranking significantly. Allowance for this would no doubt place him in the top 3 so far this season and the same last season. Over the last 3 weeks my best guesstimate would likely see him ranked No.1 Some of the ugly differencials vs last season have improved somewhat for some players in the last three rounds compared to the first three abominations, but many still a long way off their average 2018 output (form). And that's their 'average' vs some of their better or best peak games. Apart from the key players from 2018 missing this season so far, the four biggest 'trend' concerns for me are... > Clarry - fallen away another 10% in the last three weeks from the above 6 week vs 2018 differencial (vs his first three weeks where he was almost on par with 2018); > Weid - on a massive downward slide in the last three weeks from his first three rounds (where his output, outside of goal scoring, was up 25% on 2018!); and > Hibb & T-Mac - still tracking off 2018 by insane percentages. Viney (coming off injury issues), Oscar, ANB, Tracc, Hunt and Jones also, albeit some are starting to improve over recent weeks but obviously off an extremely low ebb in the opening rounds. A few major positives... > Maxy almost back to his best 2018 form in the last three weeks vs a fair way off in the first three week block. > Salem managing to increase his output on his average 2018 numbers by a massive 9% across the 6 week block in a perfect storm! Some small positive trends / wins include... > J Wag (small sample though of three matches and obviously not favoured by the FD during this block of games although probably pushed out by Nev regardless) and Stretch (again small sample of two matches & need to see a few more games before getting too excited). Not taking much notice of the asterisked players who have only played one match so far. Over and out! (revisit again after Rnd 9). Erratum: The 2018 average team score was 69.528 not 60.925 as shown in the Rnds 4 to 6 table posted yesterday (above). This makes the % differential from Rnds 4 to 6 (vs 2018 season) -16.79% not -5.05% as shown. A much more significant difference obviously!

Kade Kolodjashnij | Concussion – TBA “We’re taking it pretty slowly with Kade because he’s obviously had a pretty solid history with these types of concussions. He’s still not out running just yet but he’s doing some work in the gym on the spin bike. He’s going to be a little bit longer than we hoped but he’s going OK.” I know he was steak knives in the May trade but seriously, it was an obvious history yet we chose to ignore this red flag and continue with the deal!???? Every club is only a few very poor decisions away from tipping themselves into a boiling cauldron of Brussels sprouts! With decision making like this (and the May fiasco) we might already be tumbling in....head first (AGAIN!). Mr Pert .... you're up mate!

How about we ask the AFL to schedule more home games at Marvel, the SCG and the GABBA! Might produce a better result on the W/L ledger BZ. The only downside is i probably wouldn't see many of the interstate wins!

Excellent work Praha. As was this piece in the same thread from another astute D'lander from this time last year... On 5/10/2018 at 7:57 AM, Lucifer's Hero said Our aggressive press makes it easy for opp to get the ball wide on the wing, flick it over or around our press and run it forward. Our lack of leg speed makes it hard to catch the ball carrier. Richmond have a press but they defend 'in formation' as do Hawthorn and keep some players around their back 50 arc. Sydney play the MCG well but they have a more traditional man on man defence and always keep a sweeper deep (McVeigh). Those teams don't follow the opp forwards up the ground so when there is a turnover, they pick up their man or move their defence back 'in formation'. As our defenders are so high (around or forward of the centre) we loose our defensive structure so even if we have a 'formation' it falls apart. Simply put, the G is too wide for our current game style especially against the better sides. That Goodwin says Etihad suits our game style means he is also aware (I hope) why it doesn't succeed on the G. He has changed a few things since the Hawthorn game (eg more mileage from Max's clearances, fewer players in the packs and putting players in their 'best' position eg Brayshaw). If we are ever to get a 'Home Ground' advantage and go deep into the finals we need a game plan that succeeds it. So, I'm looking forward to see what changes are made to 'Conquer The G'.