Demon Dynasty

Skills skills, poise and forward 50 pressure ProDee. You can train and drill as much as you like, win as many contested as you want etc, but nothing beats a real match day test and we failed badly to lower our eyes and deliver effectively inside and outside 50 on enough occasions to beat our opponent. Nor pressure with intent for a long enough period to keep the ball in our half long enough to get in front and stay there, with the exception of the first half of the 3rd quarter. I would love a $10 note for the number of times we bombed the ball to HF and the Cats rebounded it straight back out just as quickly under little or no pressure.

Just as players often hand off to a long raking kicker (what the heck does that term mean anyway!!) from paint of 50, we should think about doing same for a ruckman from 25ish (or less!) wherever possible. Especially with a clutch kick like that.

His good work is far too often offset by a massive decision making brain snap or two Chook. Had one of these in one of the JLTs also. We seem to have a few players sprinkled throughout the team every season who just can't quite get a 4 quarter effort in without offsetting their work with crucial muck ups. Wouldn't be too bad if he manages to impact same matches in a big way. Will be interesting to see how he goes with iliminating the brain snaps as the season progresses. Cant question his effort and really loved the around the corner goal from the pocket/flank today!

Agreed, Garlett gave us nothing front & square. Part of a small forward's role and he didn't bring it....not even once. Could have been the difference on the day if he contributed.

I thought this and cleaner ball use on the outside was the difference in the 2nd quarter Swamp. Along with a few questionable decisions that went the Cats way with the game in the balance (in the 2nd).

We are clearly off in this area TT and have been for a mighty long time. We will not make finals unless this is fixed and we start lowering our eyes and hitting more targets both just outside the arc and inside obviously.

I thought Jetta was beaten on the day Jaded. That hand ball in the last quarter just shy of the square also cost us momentum and a goal (i think).

Had plenty of friends RBG

Great point Lord and nothing's changed in that regard.... so much so that there's also nobody front and square for the crumb! Garlett also flying!!?? ....go figure! Very basic stuff that other teams seem to do with ease.

Watts wouldn't have missed a set shot for the winner today if he had had the chance. What price for accuracy in today's game!??

Seems basic but i have to agree we mostly blazed away. Composure lacking once they hit the mid field with that next kick (when they get in the clear). Only a handful of occasions where i saw lowering of eyes and hitting up (or trying to) a target.

Very poor today chook. Wags did ok.

supposed to have learned that in Rnd 23 last year!

You sure about that!!

The whole forward set up and method of entry is shizen houzen Ox. That puts pressure on the goal kickers when we get very few chances with set shots and mostly under the pump missing targets and/or getting nowhere near them etc. Geelong on the other hand set up pretty well and mostly kick to the advantage of their forwards coming i50.

Lol danel...sometimes hutting your head against a brick wall has that effect. More like numb!

You guys must be youngens as im heading for my first round for about the 45th time now and im not feeling anything! The only apprehension i have is who's turn it is to shout the first pre-match frothy at the Transport bar

I hear u Dappa but JKH has managed to muster a pretty strong lynch mob of his own with no Watts factor involved and personally i felt Watts hand balled the "King of whipping boys" mantle over about 18 months ago! That doesnt mean he wasnt STILL a whipping until his departure!

Some coaches are starting to put a tagger on some of these big ball winners Earl. It still astounds me how the likes of Heppel, Sam Mitchell (more so in his prime) and others are able to run around into space, get on the end of receives and just waltz around causing mayhem a lot of the time under little or no pressure. No doubt there are some that are harder to tag than others but it's still a lost art. Might be slowly starting to see a bit of a renaissance in the last year or so (depending on the coach). Plough always harps on about this and how coaches are sometimes digging their team's grave by not applying a tagging run with player on some of the more damaging ball getters.

I'm already cringing Brownie. I am still hoping that at some point the number of interchange will be paired back to about 40 and the umps call every dodgy throw and intentionally dropped ball under a tackle for incorrect disposal. The umps deserved some credit on the opening night paying a hec more throws against as well as 50s for encroaching within the exclusion zone. It will break up the rediculous manic pace and sleight of hand movement of the ball where a significant percentage of disposals are simply not legal but which allows players/teams to move the ball super slickly under pressure and in congestion. I'm sure many have improved their methods and are able to legally handball more quickly than in the past but a high percentage just aren't legal. By cracking down on this illegal ball movement and the number of interchange we just might see the game start to open up a little more and see a few more one on one contests around the ground. Player fatigue should be part of the game as it was for decades previously before we destroyed it with 100 plus interchanges that has resulted in manic ball movement from one end to the other just for the sake of TV ratings (& better broadcast deals?).

I am totally on side there D4. Wagner is still a fair way off Nev regardless of the stats but in isolation the stats also tell a story along those lines. Even if the 'stats' story is a fair way from the actual game we watch

I am losing interest by the week bigges. I just laugh at the way the game is umpired both on TV covered matches and live now. I'm at the point where I just can't take it seriously. Soul destroying and cringeworthy as well as being very predictable as to which teams are being favoured most of the time and where.

how about the tackle in the middle.....called holding the ball by Razor then allows an over rule from a junior ump for an unsafe tackle (when it clearly wasn't). Reverses decision back to Essendrug ???

It wasn't even under him. How about the contest up forward both players tugging the jumper, both watching the ball....free kick to the Bombers put them in front. AFL is a serious joke to watch now.

Most matches at Etihad sees the home team getting these Brownie. Nothing in the AFL happens accidentally any more and hasn't for a decade or more now. The whole thing is very carefully massaged. We should consider moving there as our home ground just for that advantage. Without the influence of umpiring decisions the Bombers were pretty much down and out in the early part of the last.