Demon Dynasty

If we win the next two i would say we have finally shaken the "played them into form" tag. One very good sign that i havent seen in quite some time from the whole 22 the last two weeks is they are all on board trying their guts out for 4 quarters and...no passengers or soft [censored]!

In: Viney Out: ANB Harmes & Viney spend roughly 50% of time through the middle / forward (filling ANB's role till Kent returns). Viney effectively in a quasi resting role during his stints there. Safer option for Jack than a stint in the McGoos and higher standard all round. Doubt they would risk rushing Salem back this week.

Correct and also reduce our skill errors in general and over use of handball at times. Handball that too often sees us turning the ball over at HB or mid field when the ball could have already be inside 50 much earlier. We are a season or two and a few recruits away from crushing right now. Fritschy, Spargo, Weids are babes in the wood with a stack of development / learning ahead and Salem, Brayshaw, Harmes (assuming they are all on an upward trajectory) are only a few steps ahead. Probably others i've missed.

Viney

The delimma with two face Tyson is this.... Dark side: Can be horrid in congestion a little too often when quick decision making / disposal and instinctive/speedy play is required. Often unable to get onto his left with any urgency or at all at times, he will either sell a player into trouble with a panic / hospital handball or just run straight into a tackler or two as he has no other option or just isn't agile enough (mind/body) to evade. Good example Was the mis directed handball right at the end on the defensive paint of 50 which gifted the Saints another junk time goal. Against a better club in a tight encounter that could be the match! Bright Side: Get him out in the open a little with a bit more time / space and allowed to get onto his left ( allowing more time to asses and steady on his preferred side), and he can look quite silky and finish nicely a la his lovely goal on the run and hitting the odd player i50. In general play he is also quite good at reading the play and flight of ball and getting the odd intercept mark for a quick rebound. This is why some see him as a solid contributor / finisher (on the outside), because depending on the circumstances he can be at times, and others see him as an NQR, because he is also that at other times in congestion (on the inside). Where to from here?

6. Clarry! what a game son! Clean as a whistle ....29 effective disposals @ 82.9% DE, 13 score involvements and 5 interceptions. 5. Lewis ....the rock and general down back. 21 effective disposals...super clean also @ 91.3% DE, 4 clearances, 6 R50s, 8 score involvements and 4 interceptions! 4. Hibberd ...Mr Reliable. Ran his butt off to get to the drop and out of congestion. Lowered eyes on many occasions and didn't blaze away too often. A gem of a footballer with the bonus of being able to dispose quite well on his opposite side. 3. Brayshaw ...Break out game! 23 effectives @ 72%. In everything and 659 meters gained.. wow! 2. Hogan ....fab first half. He kicks that easy forth with a drop punt straight through the middle and he has a very very good game right there. 1. Gawn .... what can you say. We don't win that well without Big M on song! And not just the hit outs... 15 effectives @ 75%, 8 score involvements, 5 interceptions and a goal! Apologies to Vince, O-Mac, Lever, Jones & Harmes.

Under heat in congestion he is very slow to react and get off the mark, sells players into pressure far too often resulting in imediate turnovers in worst parts of the ground. Gets alot of it and gets into positions to get it but just doesnt have the attacking side, agility, speed and finish to stand up under pr

If we needed any reassurance than stats can be totally misleading at times here's a cracker..... Tiges vs Freo Half Time Clearances - Tigers 8 / Freo 23 Centre Clearances 1 / 7 (Center clearances / Goals scored ... usually has a high correlation) Stoppage Clearances 7 / 17 Nearly triple the clearances in favour of Freo! Score at half time 53 to 9 in favour of Richmond! Richmond continue to buck the trend on large negative differentials in this area. Has Hardwick implemented a significant change in the manner / style in which the game came now be played and won at the highest level in this area of play?

Bombay i would be making an impassioned plea to the Mods to reinstate the delete option....and make sure it's before the final siren of the Tiges vs Freo match!

The Western bias is a phenomena unknown in any other form of professional sport LH. Yet the AFL sit back and are happy to allow it to continue year after year. Maybe we should rename the AFL the ACCC.....both totally inept at protecting the end user!

There are some very good suggestions that will help to remove congestion there deanox. - faster ball ups. - Penalise 3rd man in - Call holding the ball / incorrect disposal as it was once called prior to major congestion coming in post 2000. That is, just call it when it is there which is not happening often enough. The last one is critical. As is reducing interchange to maximum 44. The question is....is the AFL even listening to the fans who are, in the main, screaming for the game to be returned some way towards a game that resembles the glory years prior to 2001? Will they ever listen?

I'm doing it a little differently to some probably. Basing it on performances / form shown so far in 2018. Regardless of who is in the team at Rnd 6 i have Wags a short nose ahead of Hunt in the above stakes. If you ask me who the better player "should be" going forward that is a different question. If we assume Hunt can recover form akin to last year, then i would place Hunt easily ahead of Wags in the best 22 stakes. For mine he just hasn't regained that form.....yet.

Faux pockets sure look stylish though! ...

Yes Sam I prefer Hunt also. Wags in slightly better form right now however.

I don't think he is a lot better Werridee at this point.. http://www.afl.com.au/stats/stats-pro#/Compare?playerIds=CD_I298279,CD_I297899&comparisonTab=h2h In certain areas such as interceptions (clearly ahead), goal assists and center clearances he has a slight advantage, whereas on the pressure/tackling front Harmes appears to be ahead somewhat. Efficiency almost level on the kicking front, Brayshaw probably slightly ahead with handballing / decision making and being clean. Harmes maybe a tad slower around the footy, getting caught with the ball a bit more and unable to escape congestion as often as Brayshaw. Harmes probably a bit stronger in a one on one ground ball contest though and able to hold himself up to win the day on occasions vs Brayshaw in a similar situation. I am tending towards Brayshaw also just maybe not as bullish as you. As the season and the year goes he may end up being a clear winner. My issue with both of them is they both rarely worry the scoreboard. Ie., not great at finishing in front of goal and/or getting in to scoring positions very often (Harmes maybe a tad more than Gus at this point). Which is why i have them both on the interchange / emergency side at this point. For a mid fielder to have some sort of impact above or over his direct opponents (or to match them), i feel hitting the scoreboard (even if it's once in a while) adds something extra to their arsenal and demands a little more respect from the direct opponent to play you a little closer. Wagner is included Werridee. I have only left Hunt out at this point due to his recent form being off the pace defensively (intercepts / tackles / one percenters etc). Otherwise I love how he takes on the game and worries opponents with speed / attacking play and gets us into the 50 more often but he also isn't finishing too well at the end of all that running at the moment and often turns it straight over, leaving us exposed a bit too often when the opp are sling shotting off his turnovers. If he finds that form defensively and with his finish in next month or so i would be including him in preference to Wags. Wags having a good season and has the nod at this point for mine. http://www.afl.com.au/stats/stats-pro#/Compare?playerIds=CD_I294675,CD_I994385&comparisonTab=h2h

Best 22 is whoever is on the park for that week as injuries / form and match ups play a huge part. But to take a stab and for a bit of fun.... this season's best 22 performers/form players* for mine so far... B: Jetta O-Mac Wagner HB: Lewis Lever Hibberd Ctr: Hannan Jones Salem HF: Tracc Hogan Kent F: Fritsch T-Mac Spargo R: Gawn Oliver Viney* Int: Tyson Vince Melksham Brayshaw/Harmes# Emergencies: Harmes/Brayshaw# Pedersen Garlett ANB * The one exception - an obvious auto inclusion #Couldn't split Harmes/Brayshaw (toin coss).

The idea of a legume calling the admin a spud is doing my head in

Binman you must be one of those rare males that can multitask!

Wouldn't be surprised if our fan numbers match theirs this week Cards. Saints are at a very low ebb of their usually low ebb

Had one very good game against the Tiges. Not much to see otherwise. Should eventually find his mojo though. No kick ins pls Coach! Statistically have him ranked 23rd out of the 28 players that have played more than one game so far this season. Vs his fellow defenders he ranks marginally ahead of Frost (27th) and Hunt (26th) to this point. Optimistically might finish around 10th in the D'land votes if he can find some consistency in performance.

As long as no one walks under it i don't care how they use it!

His first three rounds I seem to recall he had very solid matches. The next two, well obviously the whole team was done like a dog's dinner. Maybe he bit off more than he could chew and is now licking his wounds. Every dog has its day though and I'm sure he will be back on Tracc, maybe as soon as this weekend, with another 'best in show' performance.

Thx DV. I prefer the Paris Live Bon Scott version but bit of an R rating on that one

Personally of the two songs i would go for Highway as it launches into the main chorus, which is basically a chant, very quickly. And footy folk tend to like chanting!

Agreed but that would be changing an old ingrained VFL / AFL tradition