Demon Dynasty

All rules are made to be broken at Hawthorn or the envelope of them severley pushed. They perfected the artof scooping/Spiking/throwing the ball and disguising it quite well very early on in Clarkson's tenure also while others (including us)were still looking to handball slowly in the correct fashion.They exagerate every potential free that might be rewarded also and if there is even a sniff of the umpire paying a deliberate against all odds those near the boundary will all raise their hands in the air to put pressure on the ump to make the call Vince is about the only player at Melb that does this consistently also, sometimes with good results. He has the venom thats lacking by many within the team. There are a few others like Clarry and Jack, but we lack the white line fever across all our 22 that the Hawks bring pretty much every match they play. Another example is when taking the mark. The Hawks usually always take an extra step or two over and wait to be called back. On the kick ins if you watch carefully, especially Cyril, you will find that they creep forward a little right at the end of the alloted time the kicker has in order to gain that extra half meter and try and get the smother or tackle in once play on is called. Clarkson's Hawks have certainly lead the way in getting every advantage they can by pushing all bounderies to their limits.Something the Demons have been very slow to catch on to but i have seen areas where we have started to. Titan raises another very good example of where we are still trailing behind though. Often its the little things and attention to detail like this (as one example) that define a good or ordinary team from a great one.

Thx Werridee

Lever one on one with Rance...no thanks. Rance would rag doll him and run off him as he's still regaining his feet and ruin any sceric of confidence the guy might have left. Rance will be going to Hulk most likely even if Lever was played up forward

Im not sure he has the form/match fitness for AFL yet but wldnt mind seeing him come in for Bugg at some point. Anzac eve might be ideal if FD thinks his his fitness / numbers are there. Has an AFL ready body and accurate kick. Would only need 2 to 3 inside 50 tackles, 3 or 4 score involvements and 2+ goals a game to match or better Bugg/Hannan/Fritsch/Jeffy (who i realise plays a diff role) most of the time. But i would hate to see him come in under done. He probably only has one more shot at AFL level so if the FD are going to roll his die the guy needs to be at the top of his VFL game and also be given a 3 to 4 game (minimum) stint in the seniors so he has a fair run at it.

The Tiger's Josh Corbett looks a likely type. Anyone seen much of him in other VFL matches recently? Thanks for the post match summaries also guys.

Run him with Dusty as punishment. 1 quarter for every goal missed!

Go man on Man when Maxy is resting or when we start losing the clearances in succession out of the middle. Sacrifice a medium small forward and make sure there's an extra at the around the ground stoppages at all times with at least two players on the outside (not as many going in like we have seen and our opponents outnumbering us on the outside waiting for the receive and running off). Any time there's two goals scored go back to man on man until we wrestle it back our way and play possession football. ACCOUNTABLE footy plus a smart man on man possession game once they get successive scores. Extra number at stoppage. Drop the 2 off the back of square and man up when Maxy isn't rucking or they are scoring! It doesn't work under the above.

I would argue it's even longer than that SW. I am also at a loss to explain some of these coaching moves. Playing the skipper, our best in and under player outside of Viney/Clarry, in a lock down roll. Then expecting other lessor lights in this aspect to pick up the slack and win the clearance battle. Putting all of that in the main on Clarry while also forcing him to defend his arse off (11 tackles!). We then lose the clearance count by a big margin overall (-18) both in the middle and from stoppages. Surprise surprise! So we sacrifice Jones, and as a result dilute ONE area of the game where we might have broken even or have a slight advantage over the Hawks (assuming Maxy wins much of the hit outs which he did!). Brayshaw, Vince, ANB and/or Harmes could have handled this role between at least 2 of them surely. Jones finished last week in a flurry, playing great football, helping to put the icing on the match in that last quarter and we then sacrifice him and hand a win to our opponent in a key aspect where we can match or outplay our opponent. Dumb dumb dumb. We then swing Harmes, a mid fielder, into the ruck for much of the 2nd and further impact our ability to win both the hit out, and then the clearances as we are one extra inside mid down under this option. The above lets the Hawks back into the game in a big way and allows them to start taking over the match at the centre (-4 clearances) and at the stoppages (-13). We lose the clearance count overall by 17. If you lose it by 2 to 5 (approx) you might have a chance of winning by making up for it in other aspects of a game (in most games....not always). Losing it by 17 on the day....forget it!! Our back line (O-Mac and Hibberd excluded) not helping. Made to look amateur much of the time. And the high press also a disaster in the wet (and against the Hawks, one of the best ball using teams in the business). Man on man every day against this lot on the last line of the press please, even when it's dry! Where was the rev up from the coach at half time to get us back into the match in the 3rd quarter!!? Not even a yelp or any sign of desperation other than a few honorable efforts from a few individuals. Where was the ferocious tackling in an attempt to close the Hawks outside run down (outside of one or two courageous efforts from Jeffy/other?). Our tackle count vs the Hawks was abysmal and they were winning easily! (-39 tackles....approx 10 per quarter!). 20 v 8 tackles inside 50! That's 2 tackles a quarter vs 5! More than double our output inside 50. This whole game is just a horrible example of how little we have learned as a club and how far we have to go when up against a quality opponent and EXPECTED to perform well. We just can't seem to handle any degree of expectation as a club. Along with the skills, ferocity, coaching and football smarts, we STILL lack so many things that go towards making a bog ordinary football club... a great one.

I was wishing i was also on that planet about half way through the 3rd quarter SW

Teams have been copping criticism and abuse for poor play ftom the sidelines for decades DV. Yet the good ones go on to win regardless. Has nothing to do with a particular MFC supporter style. I was there y'day and they had great support before and during the early part of the game. The only thing that happened afterwards was a playing group that went to water as soon as the pressure and run was applied by the Hawks. The MFC crowd went quiet in disbelief and shock which was simply a normal reaction. Players [censored] up....again...pure and simple. Its mostly upstairs. They need a hypnotherapist! The greatest supporter group in the world couldnt help this lot from train crashing as soon as any expectations are put on them. Mate i said to bro at the match when i saw that happen ....he shld be patting himself on the head. His opponent dropped the mark but at least he was playing in front and reading the play up field better than Hogan who continues to play from behind when playing a deep forward role when he shld be in front, especially in the wet and whenever guys are coming out of mid field under pressure. Dumb as an ox up forward Complete load of rubbish...again And again! DV you weren't even there yesterday. Again the boys had fab support from the get go for an away game from where i was sitting. I heard a few other soft MFC supporters behind me complainIng that some supporters were groaning too much after the flood gates were opening. All they did was whinge about other MFC supporters yet not at one stage did i hear or see them chant with the cheer squad in support. Now THAT is a pathetic supporter and something i hear / see far too often in an MFC crowd. We eat our own just as you are doing on here, instead of being human (moaning/groaning like normal ppl do) but still barracking when the chips are down. From the many interviews i hear, the players hear very little, other than chanting and distant background noise on game day. And if they are listening that closely when near the boundary line and letting effect them on game day then they are not worthy of pulling on any AFL guernsey. Nothing to do with the crowd mate...it's mostly skills/effort and in particular with our lot... upstairs.

6. Salem (our best ball user....even in the wet!) 5. Clarry (11 tackles....2 of those inside 50!) 4. Gawn (massive in hit outs but set the ugly 'missing easy goals' trend and our mental downward slide...didn't take much!) 3. Jones 2. Hogan 1. O-Mac ANB & Brayshaw were serviceable. Brayshaw needing further time to settle given it was his first match for the year. The rest were far from AFL worthy today and were shown up to be ordinary players or in some cases VFL standard at best.

In Hawthorn's case they haven't passed us Ox, we've just never caught up.

I can't argue with any of that Ralph. We have been doing this for years, some quarters we don't and play well but we are lucky if it lasts for a quarter or just over before we go back to type. The other impact of so many at the drop of the ball is that so many players are so close to one another it makes it easy for the opponent to just sit on the outside, sweat on and pressure us as they aren't dumb enough to send more than one or two in to the contest like us. As soon as they win it they have one or two extra on the fringe that remained out and they're off. Meanwhile we have one or two (two many) still close to the original contest or getting up off the ground at the contest, standing flat footed having forgotten even where their direct opponent is....which is quite often the one receiving and running off! One of the classic "all up for the marking contests" was the one where Smith thought about it but instead waited off the back and the crumb came straight to him off the side for the easy snap. My assessment is we have a playing list of approx 15 or so that can play "sometimes" but not for more than 2 or 3 quarters max at a level required to win against rated teams. The rest are (to this point) VFL level at best and a bridge too far for AFL. And as you say, the way we play is also amateur far too often. That is either a list that is unable to learn basic disciplines or instructions (not all necessarily but far too many) or the coaching panel are not up to scratch. Maybe a combination of both.

And that about sums it up folks. If you aren't willing to close your opponent down and play close man on man footy when they start winning the ball more than you and getting a run on, then you are doomed to lose more often than not against the better clubs. You might get away with it against the likes of Norf but not against Geelong, Hawks, Weagles, Swans AND the Tigers (next week!). The tackle differential was a disgrace today, both in general play and in our forward 50. Tackles 74 v 113 (-39) Inside fifty 8 vs 20 (-12). Lost the war in the middle and at stoppages also on the clearance count. DE % was horrific at 58% vs Hawks 67%. Can't believe how fumbly and unclean we were and we refused to try and stretch them on the switch across HB instead just continually kicking down the line or through congestion. In front of goal abysmal with no structure or method. Where were the crumbers front and square (other than Hawthorn!!) most of the marking contests! Why were the Hawks understanding that in the wet the ball is mostly going to be grubbed a little and fall short and made sure they played in front but we continued to play (mostly) from behind??? (Hulk one of the main offenders here). We are STILL a long way off the top 6 clubs and will need a huge improvement across the board from here, mainly defensively and with clean one touch ball use, if we are to make finals. One or two quarters of very good footy only is going to result in a whole lot more pain against the top 6. And lastly what the hec was Goody doing playing Harmes in the ruck for much of the 2nd quarter! Surely we needed to bring Weid/Pedders in for Melk and at least give Maxy a chop out and try and retain our structure at the contest. This left us short in the ruck and one mid fielder short at the drop of the ball. Back to the drawing board Mr Goodwin! About the only things i got out of today was the return of Gus, the efforts of Kent / Salem / Fritsch (albeit Fritsch was relatively ineffective and out muscled) and that the jam donuts at the G are still sweeter than anything we dish up against the better rated clubs.

What a pathetic excuse for a football ad campaign that is. What idiot came up with that carp. There is no Demon in the advertising/marketing and name of the club and there is no Demonic effort on the field either whenever we come up against a serious contender. The Demon has been left out of all aspects of this club and is now almost a memory only.

Hogan starts deeper pls and plays in front. Jeffy front & square. Kenty leading out. Clear everyone else out and away from designated space / fat side with multiple leads

Much of the contested work out of the middle is not being honored by forwards....they need to play in front when ball is in dispute and we win clearance

This

The miss by Maxy also. Gotta ice those and honor the hard work

Most of the big wheelers who make the decisions as to who plays when don't barrack for Melbourne Cards. And those that are are only interested in pushing the same old big 4 clubs in Melb and the Blues the ugly duckling 5th perpetual romantic 'hopeful'. In addition no one outside of the club will take us seriously until we make finals. We will always be a bridesmaid until then.

Doubt anyone will take much notice of us until we make finals MQ Not that I care either way. Even If it's a win many will just say Hawks had an off day etc etc.

Ripper win

Siren time

Stretch lays a great tackle

Pedders seals the WIN!!!!