Demon Dynasty

Yes please Balls

As you said if it aint working...They tend to lay off the defender hoping for the intercept or a chop out to assist, but we still lost the intercept possession stat by 11. I rate StKilda at Shitihad at least as difficult as the trip out west. Hopefully we don't go with more of the same on this zone (or one and a half nonsense against quality defenders by foot) or we might seal our fate to a nasty first round disappointment.

Hopefully we don't see a repeat of the Essendrug match in his first up game last year vs the Saints DJ. Can ill afford to have players go missing on day 1

You are welcome to my specs anytime Steve!

It was only a JLT Chook but anytime you let Mitchell run amok without some sort of tag you are probably going lose more often than not. Other teams woke up to that last year. Hopefully he won't be allowed the same space during season proper.

We have been a train wreck hitting targets coming inside 50 against decent opposition for a decade now WJD. I agree. It has to be fixed and Salem/Watts are a must pressing forward of centre if we are to have any chance of correcting this somewhat. Watts obviously will play various roles as usual to fill some of our glaring foot skill inadequacies and poor decision making around the ground but hopefully will spend more time off the wing or HF. Salem is also another loose goose when playing in back half. The opposition must be praying we continue with the basic line up we had last night. Let's hope some of our better defenders return shortly and some who just don't defend well are moved into better roles up the field.

You aren't going to stem the flood of goals against better teams while u have the likes of Omac, Garlo and Bernie down back. We will win very few games against top 8 teams while these three remain there. Loose as a goose. Too many holes = easy run on goals on any turnovers up the field. From centre bounces, stoppages they probably look better as defence has time to set up. Dont know how many times I've seen Garlo leave his man to attempt the most unrealistic chop out 30 meters away, surprisingly doesn't get anywhere near the contest to spoil (was never going to), then his man is free out the back for the joe-the-goose. Often hits panick button under any pressure resulting in poor disposal choices/outcomes also. If Omac did a full pre-season he mustn't have eaten much. Looks same through the bod as last year. Teams will be putting someone solid on him and targeting him all season if we keep persisting here. Need Pedders, Nev back ASAP. Watts needed down back occasionally to assist with kick ins also when opp is on a roll or whoever is designated 'kick in' is having an off day or just relief/change up diff look for opp or for preferred mis match up field. Bernie to HF and part time through the mid. Horrible waste and liability down back. We look unimpressive up forward and won't worry most opponents outside the bottom 6 with current line up. Too slow once ball hits the turf and unless Maxy/Spencil are parked up there we look too short and can't see how we can afford to carry both rucks in most matches. The return of a very fit (eager/committed) Jeffy will obviously help. Rotate Maxy, Harmes, Bernie and Vanders thru HF & part time thru mid. Will probably win about same number of games as last year ....maybe one or two extra if injuries are kind to us and the ex bomber blokes and Lewis show some ROI.

Thought u might be chuffing on a big fat Cuban

Mick ain't silly. He knows how to honour an exclusivity contract for XX $$. Mick and Shane may well be sunning themselves on the Maldives this weekend on the proceeds. Sam might even make that his next destination on street talk (the bag man??!!) ...hopefully on a one way ticket!

Nice work there Daisy

Because we probably cant afford to put an even slower team on the park?

Sounds like a minor tweak Cards. Problem is we have been suffering from these deficiencies for decades now in a major way. 1994 maybe the last time we looked like a reasonably competitive team in this area although my memory is somewhat hazey through the fog of so many horror years

Quality and pressure of opponent probably

Match or the thread Chook?

Another one Rjay. I would add Weids to the list of VFL level players up there. He is still a pre-season or 2 away from having an impact. I would bring Tim Smith in ASAP.

Hunt and Jeffy aside, we are still a relatively slow team IMO and might struggle a fair bit against more speedy sides. We'll need to be significantly above AFL average in clearances and hitting targets if we are to win our fair share against any team who has this advantage.

The Weagles were flat track bullies on home turf last season. Horrible away. Hopefully we can become very good at one of those!!

He has flown under the radar doing that for years now.

The Spencil!

Will Tom ever improve his short passing skills i wonder. He is better off handing off or bombing it long IMO. He is not alone tonight but he just doesn't seem to improve in this basic, but much needed, skill set required in today's game.

Pedders is also ahead of Garland and can play at both ends of the ground. A no brainer for mine. Garland must have shares with sum big knobs in Collins St

I fear the last 2 might happen regardless BBP

They're nice looking comparisons Lucifer but i feel we are at least 1 QUICK silky player short, both on the outside and inside. We are tough and solid on the extraction side no doubt about it and should win our fair share of games by winning the clearance count substantially. And will. But silky and quick on the inside/outside by foot is what we still lack a little IMO ...subject to some of the youngsters stepping up who 'might' fill these roles. Need more accuracy by foot hitting targets on lead and kicking a few extra goals on the run (or from marks i50). Forcing the opposition to use valuable resources covering these players in their match ups instead of us covering their's. The exisiting seniors, maybe Lewis excluded as i haven't watched his finish closely enough over the years, still tend to bomb the ball a little too often coming i50. I felt last year we were knocking on the door of the top 6 mid fields but we'll need to see a big step up by Trac (very likely but he will also be used a fair amount up forward), Clarry (silky by hand....maybe not so with feet...yet), Gus (??) and Salem (more likely than Gus but no g'tee) if we're to solidify this progress or improve on it. We know what we're going to get from the likes of the Jones boy, Iron Mike, Lewis, Viney and occasionaly Mr Vince when he gets a run there. What will be interesting will be the degree of development of the youngsters. To see how far they've come or might go as the year progresses. It's these youngsters and the addition of Lewis that will probably determine the fortunes of our mid field and our likelihood of playing finals and possible success in them, this year and beyond. P.S. I nearly forgot JW. He might also be asked to play a significant and important role through here this year. Could this be what Goody is hoping to groom from him as a bonus addition to our mid field stocks i wonder? The Silk on the outside coming i50 on a more regular basis than last year? The missing ingredient! With Trac and Salem also playing decent roles in this area on rotation.

Very little Saty as the media (and some others) expectations of those 3 aren't nearly as high. Hopefully Jack will let his footy do the talking. On a good day he is top 10 material (at least last season he was anyway). Maybe the FD want him to step up a little further again and think he has something more to give. He might be meeting some really solid KPIs that are the equivalent of many in the team. Maybe he is demanding more of himself and asking the FD to enforce it? All speculation of course.

Stop talking so much sense SWY. I hope this is the case as I don't think Weids is quite ready for the big league just yet either. Probably just super priming Watts to have a big impact early. Would also like to see Tim Smith get a run as soon as we can get him in there if he has the tank. Too good to be on a rookie list. A better prospect than Joel Smith IMO (albeit they play a completely diff role I realise but both rookies) and well ahead of Weids at present. Would bolster our goal scoring options. Super accurate, very hard to match up on and a good mark on the lead.