Demon Dynasty

We doubled their center clearances though Dr. Technically speaking we should at least be squaring contests up forward when we do as it's 6 v 6 and yet still only managed to score 3 goals in 3 quarters of footy!!?? We are just horribly inefficient up forward. Our backline was too easy to score against on Sat night in particular and we have very little run and link up play happening on the outside. Nor are we capable of maintaining possession in a slow play situation to slow down an Op run on or work our way through extra defenders when going forward. It seems like we are just constantly full steam ahead without thinking. They had a plus one in the back half (or more) most of the night did we address it, hold up the ball and look for some short options and change the way we were bringing it in? (a little thought assessment and precision!). Nope...just keep hacking and bombing it in! Same old methods and no ability to change them mid game yet we've had years to perfect and work on such set ups. Especially against the Cats who bring that game style / set up every time. We might beat the Bongers this Friday if we use a few more brain cells in general play and lower our eyes in general play and coming inside 50 but as for what happens after that who knows.

Unfortunately Dr there are some clubs that seem incapable of consistently getting the basics down as a bare minimum and then building / tweaking / adjusting personel / game style and set ups/match ups a little around those basics to gradually improve from off weeks or a period of good form. Whatever we did right in 2018 it was totally dismantled in the Prelim by the eventual premiers. Every club (coaches, line coaches and game analysts) would have picked that Prelim to pieces and now knows the basic blue print for a Demon walloping. Whilst the 6/6/6 factor has no doubt impacted our set up off the back of the square that can't be the only reason we've been so abysmal since the win over the Hawks. Surgeries and injuries have no doubt taken their toll somewhat so I'm not hitting the panic button just yet. By round 6 we will have a much better idea of whether it's just a personel/fitness/form issue or whether we have a serious problem with the entire game style, methods and set ups/structure. I'm pretty sure it isn't passion and hunger as everything i've heard coming out of the camp suggests the players are fully switched on and are still buying in big time. Friday night will be a great test of where we are at as a team/club passion wise. With both teams so horribly out of form It will mostly come down to who wants it most. Win or lose that match, Goody & Co. (and the boys) have a power of work ahead of them if we are to get this ship back on course for 2019.

Fix this and we lose by only 60 on Sat. Then there's the backline including the return of Lewis & Lever (40 point loss). Dr drake's set up issues (20 point loss). Bring back some general speed / spread on the outside and some crumbing up forward (Jeffy, Hannan) and 2 way running (match goes either way). Find a superstar that can turn a game on its head in 10 to 15 minutes of scintillating ininspirational footy.... WIN! Simples!

Changes this week.... Out: Anyone who can't hit a barn door from 10 paces & Goodwin. In: Anyone who can and DrDrake!

Rjay could you please stop making so much sense so early on a Monday morning! Lucifer forbid we should get the basics of solid footy right! I much prefer our panic manic method with mostly horrid hacking and bombing forward and watching a forward line that has no crumbing or defensive capabilities struggle with the very thing they have trouble doing when the pill hits the deck. Are you seriously saying you would prefer to watch us link up and hit targets on a regular basis and take more shots at goal like good teams do? Boring!

Thinking we might be a bridge too far in terms of getting enough quality / match fitness & form back within enough time to make up lost ground Wise. Stating the obvious but Friday is break through or bust if we are to have any hope of doing a minor Lazarus.

Chook did you miss Rat's post!??

That better happen soon Wise. At this point the mid field is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They might have to kick a winning score off their own boot this Friday and flood the backline whenever the OP gets the pill!

You can say that again DD. Our backline would probably be the worst in the AFL right at this moment.

That's the club's challenge Dazzle. Successful clubs find them. The last truly successful crash pack KF this club had was Neita. That's a fair while ago now. We thought we had one in Hogan but alas another false hope. We don't need 2 lead up tall forwards. I'm backing T-mac here. Has some runs on the board, usually a dead eye in front and shows some mongrel. When fully match fit i know what we are getting ie; maximum effort/impact on game day Including a fierce contest (mongrel/trust).

Agreed. Salem on one wing, Fritsch on the other. Let me proceed the following with the words QUALITY, bit of MONGREL and CLASS (finish). We need a crash pack Kennedy style forward, a fairly quick lead up forward as No.2 / Decoy and a fabulous crumbing forward plus forwards who are able to bring pressure/heat when the ball hits the deck. Jeffy, and at times Melk are our ONLY forwards that go anywhere near fitting the crumbing bills right now and one of them is not playing. Tmac as the No.2 IF we deliver it in alot better and more consistently. I would be trading Weld (and others and throw a bit more if needed ) for that crash pack KPF and one more genuine classy small/medium crumber that has enough speed to pressure the OP inside 50, who can finish and take the odd hanger from behind to worry the OP in the air a little also.

You're not alone Praha. I've been indifferent since the Essendrug peptide years. The AFL then tried their best to get the druggies off (nothing to see here) before all were dragged kicking and screaming into some sort of truth/justice by WADA with the resulting fall out for the code and some within the system. My indifference is a combo, not solely just the MFC follies, albeit i would be lying if i said that hasn't played a part. The manner in which the AFL has gone about changing / massaging it has left me very non-plussed (about the whole comp!) Some examples that continue to stand out for me... - Introduction and continuation of 120 plus interchange leading to the rolling mall/congestion. Yes some recognition that it was a ridiculous number and now 90 but the AFL had to be dragged into dropping it to that still very high number. - An attempt to manafacure a solution to the congestion brought on by their own rediculous interchange with 6/6/6 and the kick in extension. - Ignoring (or turning a blind eye/failing to effectively address) the blatant increase of throwing/flicking the ball by most players / clubs in order to move the ball more quickly out of the increased congestion brought about by the still high Interchange limit. - Unable to clear up the constant holding the ball inconsistancies and extreme variation of its interpretation. - The virtual elimination of the centre bounce - The continual bias of the AFL's fixture giving the bigger clubs a leg up every year (in particilar the Pies). - The introduction of the 2 interstate clubs, ignoring Tassie footy and raiding the drafts/ AFL coffers in order to prop them up whilst also diluting the better players across more teams bringing the standard of the comp down a cog or two (outside of the top 6 or so) and widening the gap between the big clubs who are still able to get the best players following the introduction of free trade (and no restriction on those trades going to the top clubs).

This ☝?

Good story. Does he wear a helmet? Two Ks, JK & KK, playing tomorrow. Hate to be calling the play when they're both on the ground!

Try VPN Melon also. Used it to break through the great firewall of China when visiting last year with great success and it's free. Has auto fastest server option or you can hunt around and trial your own country for speed and see what results you get.

This is where we fall down a little as a club at times. When we make our draft/trade picks we should be placing a little more emphasis on character, namely a benchmark degree of "mongrel" as part of the assessment! And I'm not talking about sniping which i don't condone....but flying the flag needs to be a non negotiable.

After a heart stopping draw at the cattery... ?

I don't think anyone is saying Kicking Efficiency (accuracy) alone is the sole factor re speed on the outside TGR. As we all know there are multiple factors involved in how quickly and efficiently a team moves the ball. But there's no denying accuracy by foot does play a significant role in maintaining possession, control/speed/momentum of the game and finishing (both generally and in front of the sticks) which impacts on the outcome. Regarding the Kicking Efficiency Criticism... In isolation and based on one game i cant agree more. However, looking at averages over a meaningful base of matches (Say 10 matches plus) the stats don't lie. You are either horrible, ok or fabulous at hitting targets vs your peers who play a similar role under all sorts of pressure and weather conditions. Comparing like with like is critical (as mentioned in previous post) with defenders often getting cheapies around the back, mid fielders under more intense pressure etc. Utilising stats on their own is always a bad formula for assessing any performance but in this instance we are talking speed of ball movement and i would think accuracy in hitting targets by foot (in order to maintain possession during that movement and obviously the ball moves faster in the air than any player can run with it) would be a fairly critical element, provided it's looked at over a meaningful number of matches and done so comparing like with like position wise.

I was thinking the same WWS. Might be another 4 years before we get ourselves back to a Prelim! The other issue, as WhatWhat has mentioned, was the lack of any leaders out there on Sat, especially down back. With the removal of any live in game messages coming from the runners and no level headed commandeering from Lewis, we apparently didn't correct some major issues down back eg; lack of switching, kicking long to a contest. The OP says we are slack defensively up forward and Port were overheard in the huddle highlighting this, yet we had more tackles inside 50 than them? Maybe not so great with "effective tackles". We also dominated clearances from the middle and matched them around stoppages. So one would suspect it's what happened once we got it on the outside that went wrong. With 6/6/6 being a significant change from here, disposal skills on the outside (along with run/spread & foot speed of course), especially for teams who were more inside built and focussed (like ourselves), is now even more critical to outcomes on the scoreboard. The AFL average on disposal efficiency % (across all teams over an entire season) is roughly 73%. Taking that into account (and noting it is only one match and yes averages would of course be different depending on where you are playing and some players may have had only a handful of disposals and been super accurate and still played a poor game etc) let's look at who didn't make the grade on the weekend by a significant margin (for arguments sake let's say 5%...sub 68% DE) ... - Hibberd 66.7% - Melksham 62.5% - Viney 60% - ANB 60% - Brayshaw 57.7% - Hunt 50% The more important one for me here is disposal efficiency by foot which helps to control the game (Hawks have always done this brilliantly with maybe last year a rare exception). Unfortunately there are no publicaly available foot skill stats other than trawling through each player on Pro Stats which is a pain. Looking at DE % on the weekend overall....The Power ranked 2nd at 75.4% and we came in 7th at 72.1% so overall we arent far off the usual season average but we still have a handfull needing to clean their act up (and yes some who may have a decent DE but hardly getting their hands on the pill will also need to lift!).

I see... so as long as they can run, jump, mark and dispose of the ball ok it doesn't really matter what else they do! They'll keep getting a game ?

So an official declaration from any club that "player X now has a mental health issue and is stepping aside from the game for an undefined period of time" means he is ineligible for testing while absent?

He has all summer to be close to his family and can still transit. No need for cotton wool and so much sugar coating Yes family comes first but options and adjustments can be made in the short term to accommodate and fit in. Including one hour travel time by flight later if needed. It's only as hard as ppl want it to be. Where there's a will there's a way

Barely fired a shot all year (even when he had a chance and knew we were a firm likelihood at finals) and seemed almost satisfied to avoid stepping up. Instead satisfied to play out the remainder of season in the McGoos and allow others playing a similar role (Hannan & Spargo) to get a guernsey. Had a few chances this year and not getting any younger / faster. If we happily trade the likes of Vanders without a fight and instead hang on to the likes of Jeffy we have failed badly this draft.

Thank you for a very good stint at the MFC and the big league Cam. Gave your all and rarely let the club and your team mates down. All class and made the most of your talents. Wishing you a great future post AFL and congrats on receiving your masters at tonight's graduation ceremony in Geelong...

You had no doubt already formed an opinion Clint. Each to their own.