Demon Dynasty

For those of you who can handle watching the show itself .... Jack Watts on the Footy Show Panel now!

I would never blame Nasher. Maybe his servers! :-D

Good recall thx Ricky

Not an official record but I believe we may have broken another hoo doo. When was the last time the Demons were such a big favorite (both with scribes and the bookies) in a blockbuster game ...and got the chocolates!? Maybe it wasn't that long ago but im thinking back to a fairly big build up to a match against the Toiges in the 90s when Gazza & the Wiz were up and about. Seem to recall a big game build up but we were considered the favourites. The Wiz took a screamer in the forward pocket/flank in front of general members area at one point and we went on to win well from memory. Regardless, even though the Pies fielded a pretty ordinary outfit, we still had a huge mental girdle to break out of on QB and we did it convincingly. We also played at least one quarter of 'finals quality' football in the 2nd. We are a fair way off challenging the top 6 consistently but also not that far off holding our own against anyone from 7 down IMO, provided we have most of those who played on Monday fit & available. Another quality (experienced) mid in next draft would be very handy.

Disappointing fashion sense. Surely white socks are a pre-requisite with those sandles!

D u may well be right. Although some of us may have already mutated after partaking too often in some of these alternatives and might now be immune! Also if you consume enough red (or white or anything with grapes as a base) I'm sure most of the nasty "thingies" would have trouble surviving the massive dose of sulphur dioxide that accompanies such delights! That stuff could kill a rhino depending on the dose

Sounds like the cruise is working wonders! Possibly a tonic for all suffering landers

Have made the leap of faith and haven't looked back. A bit flexible though, occasionally throwing in a little stir fried chicken or a bit of fried whiting/flake to mix it up but even going off chicken now. Haven't touched meat in a year and can't handle the smell/taste anymore in any form. Although the smell of bacon is still difficult to ignore. Also drinking a fair amount of PH Alkaline water. Seems to give me a fair bit of extra energy and is supposed to create a horrid environment for nasty disease thingies (so they say!). Can't say i've tried many organic bananas however. Would go down well in a banana cake maybe with a nice cuppa (or a single malt lol).

Something along those lines. Many say the bottom 6 players define a team from week to week. As to whether it has any validity i have no idea. In the end i think general work ethic, talent at the top end (100+ gamers) and leadership (knowing what to do & how to win etc) are 3 critical components in successful sides. Roos would appear to have solved the work ethic issue and we have turned this around since the ugly years. Cross played a big role in helping here. Talent at the top end of our experienced 100+ gamers? We could argue that till the cows come home i guess but what we can't argue is that at present we don't have enough experienced/ elite talented players (especially by foot/cool head in a crisis etc) at the top end (100 / 150+ games). Really hope this is our focus for next season. With regard to leadership. outside of Jones, Vince & Viney through the middle and to some degree Tmac/Vince down back, we are still searching for a strong leader up forward (could be Hulk in future given enough games & to some extent Watts is offering this a little by example) and a very strong leader down back to command/organise the troops (Frawley!). Oh, plus we need 1 or 2 match winners (champs) who can take control of a game and win it through sheer will/effort and skill. They may be in the list now (eg., Clarry/Tracc/Viney/Hoges/Tyson) but no one has reached these heady heights ....yet. Fingers crossed.

Correct. The 3 most experienced teams this year were against the Tiges (75.1), Saints (75.0) and the Bombers (73.4) The 3 least experienced sides were against the Lions (57.9), the Giants (62.8) and the Pies (62.9). The 3 largest differentials (the first two no surprise) were against the Roos (-87.6), Hawks (-60.7) and the Pies (-30.6).

Hunt and Wagner are very good gets Abe. Even Omac at some point should be ok but is a WIP at the moment and needs to build an AFL body over a few pre seasons before he will be capable of playing consistently good footy/holding his own against the big boys (ie., top 8/top 6 clubs). To play 4 players who have all played on average less than 50 games in defence around some slightly more experienced players in TMac and Nev is always going to result in some severe bleeding down back against the better (top 8/6 clubs) most of the time. Might look good and win a few against those lower down but you need more experience and bigger bodies to get the consistency right. Sometimes the young blokes will all click, along with the older 2, and it will all seem like it's coming together and everyone will rant that it's working but this is usually only against the lessor forward lines/clubs. Play a few youngsters down back for sure, especially when short of options/talent at Casey, but we need to find one or 2 extra experienced guys to fill for next year as BZ said while slowly developing/blooding the young blokes in and out of Casey.

Rjay I wish he was only lost. He was stolen.... how the hell does a club's top 5/10 players end up at a top 4 club already winning premierships? Buddy to Swans. Like these clubs need another leg up. Struggling not! Top 4, from previous season, should not be eligible for free agency coming In.

So we are basically doing a CS blue print but under a new coach with new players. Love the kids but not going to threaten anyone outside of the bottoms 8 or make finals with such an inexperienced list. Time to top up with some experience and big bodies who can play decent possession plus run and gun footy off HB. We have a chance to become a serious AFL club that can beat even the likes of the Hawks of we get the mix of youth/experience right in the upcoming drafts. Hope we don't blow it.

Along with Omac (who i rated marginally ahead on the day), Garlo was the worst of our key (tall) defenders last week. Bleeding goals out the back against mediocre opposition is hardly a sign that our defence (all of them) is slowly 'getting it'. Gadzooks....can i have whatever it is that some d'landers are on here!??

I don't know about first pick defender but Matt has picked up his game on last season for sure. Had him ranked 29th to Round 18 last season. This year (to Rnd 10) ranked 11th. A fair jump. I wouldn't put him in the class of Terlich or Michie this season.

Wise, as with Axis, are you aware of the role and what he hasn't done to be overlooked or pushed out of favour by any chance?

Axis are you aware of what the role was that he was expected to play but didn't?

I have no doubt that is the case behind the scenes with all players Lucifer and would be very surprised if this isn't the case. I was under the impression (maybe a false one) that the club writes a review of the player's and their progress at Casey. What the club is expecting and how they are progressing sort of thing.

There's a fine line between blooding the youngsters and playing more experienced (but maybe in Roos' the Fds eyes...a player that doesn't fit into the grand scheme going forward) players Steve. I just hope we aren't cutting off our nose to spite our possible finals chances in favour of the experimental/blooding side. Personally not that fussed at what Roos says or doesn't in the pressers, especially if we're winning I don't think asking for some sort of "what's required fro him to get back" is unreasonable guys. The fact that we don't see/hear it for Dunny would again appear to add weight to the theory that his papers are signed.

Or play Dunn until Pedo is ready to return?

Axis i'm pretty sure if Omac/Frost are up to playing their role down back (many would say poorly outcome wise) in a zone situation then Dunny is capable of, and more than likely, doing the same. I tend to think it's more to do with the way we want to transition out of defence once we have the ball that may have sealed Dunny's fate. He is the lowest hand baller of all the key defenders (Garland/Tmac/Omac) and relies heavily on medium to long up the line kicks or kicks to advantage. May be seen by the FD as a little old school for the "nouveau" attack off HB style that the modern day game is seeing now with heavy use of handball to cut through the opposition's press as well as short precision passing by foot. As Dunny tends to go more medium/long in his kicking he also presents the Coaching dept with another conundrum. That of intercept marks by our opponents and one in which they would be trying to minimise wherever possible. The longer the ball carries through the air the better chance an opponent has of intercepting. Short precision passing, handballing through the press is (so i've heard said) critical in today's slingshot style of defence. My only concern, aside from the handball part, is that the other key defenders here (see above) are also not that adept at short precision passing, albeit some are using handball much more than Dunny, especially Tmac & Omac. How effectively they are handballing however, who knows. Dunny is also a little 'one paced' and the coaching staff might also be looking to increase the speed at which we move the ball with run and carry across the ground. Not sure whether the other 3 are any faster in a sprint though. Maybe OMac. That's just my take on the matter. I may be totally incorrect and barking (mad) up the wrong tree of course.

Lynden Dunn - Season Stat Averages 2015 / 2016 Games 22 / 4 Eff Disp 13.3 / 12 ED% 81.1 / 87 Tackles 2.5 / 2.5 Clangers 1.8 / 2.8 R50s 4.3 / 5.8 1%s 4.6 / 5.6 Stats: Courtesy of footywire.com Would seem to be fairly similar. 6 rounds or so would be a better sample though and stats alone never tell the full story as we know.

Compare the Pairs - 2016 season averages (to & inclusive of Rnd 10) Key (Tall) defenders. Rank in parentheses Dunn / Garland / Tmac / Omac Games 4 / 6 / 10 / 3 Eff Disp 12 (2) / 9 (4) / 14.4 (1) / 10.3 (3) ED% 87 (1) / 80 (3) / 83.7 (2) / 70.1 (4) Tackles 2.5 (2) / 3.2 (1) / 1.1 (3) / 0.7 (4) 1%s 6.5 (2) / 4.0 (4) / 8.0 (1) / 4.3 (3) i50s 1.5 (1) / 0.5 (3) / 0.5 (3) / 1.0 (2) R50s 5.8 (1) / 1.8 (4) / 3.9 (2) / 2.7 (3) Kicks 10.5 / 6.0 / 10.4 / 4.3 H'balls 3.2 / 5.2 / 6.8 / 10.3 Bounces 0.5 / 0.0 / 0.6 / 0.0 Stats: Courtesy of footywire.com

Didn't see the game Jnr and stats are always fraught with danger on their own but my weighted rankings had them fairly close on the day with Tmac slightly ahead. The rankings include allowance for clangers. Also these particular rankings/weightings are fairly accurate in terms of comparatives as they are both playing down back, rather than completely diff areas of the field. Although you mentioned Dunn playing up forward at some point. Not sure how much TOG he spent the direct comparison might be a little out. Tmac - 14th (2.40*) Dunn - 16th (2.15*) Both were ahead of the other 2 regular defenders on the day in Lumumba 18th (2.05*) and Jetta 19th (1.93*), however all those scores are relatively low and a bit sub par in terms of being a decent game (statistically anyway) which is probably to be expected in a losing team. In his only other two matches after this i had him ranked 9th overall against the Sons (3.95*) and 9th again the following week against the Doggies (3.95). Again, i didn't see either of those matches but he couldn't have been too bad if he was in the top 10 statistically. *Denotes weighted score

If he cant make It In ahead of Omac after that last performance I would suggest his papers are now signed Hellfish