Demon Dynasty

get rid of the DIAMOND D and It will be a quick fix!

I remember similar zoning/witches hat defencIve styles/horror results under MN and he was slammed for It and rightly so. Similar results this time around yet some are arguing 'For' It to be given a fair go. Any solid defensive style Is solid because It holds up well when It'ssupposed to Ie; under severe pressure. This one doesnt hold under any pressure! DUMP THE DIAMOND AND START WINNING MORE GAMES!

DIAMOND I thought you of all landers wld know all about this

So on that basis the Blues passed with flying colors (against the premiership favourites and a seasoned opposition) on Sunday yes?

Too Many BallGazers Get thefckn pill! Play like MenPossesedFromTheGetGo! Scrap the DD! No More DaddyDayCareDefences Play likeyougivea [censored]! Stop leavingsomuchto Jack! Play Vince MidFieldMore! (See above!) Bring Back Clarry! (Viney... Shyte! 4 weeks! we're screwed!) Bring Back Dunny (Garland) Bring Back Trenners! (ANB) Bring Backa3rd TallForward (who can also rest Big M in Ruck...Dawes/Pedo for Kent) Bring back Pedo (O'Mac)

2 major issues Jnr A multi-method defence is too much to ask of so many young rookies still just learning "how to play". If we insist on playing rookies down back don't play moving zones/diamonds/blah blah. KISS principle pls unless playing a more seasoned line up in defence. Then by all means go for it. When we have beaten solid mid fields in the past we have done so by rolling our 3 major King pins through their for the bulk of their TOG during matches. Jones, Vince & Viney. Add Clarry to these 3 plus some cameos from fringe mids and we start getting more clearances/first use and tend to win or go much closer to winning even against serious opposition mids. For some reason after round 1 or 2 (or was it from the get go this season?) we have decided to use Vince in a bigger role across HB and kicking in. It is no coincidence IMO that our mid field dominance has wained as a result (along with Clarry's omissions when they have hit us).

Wise as a club we are also unmatched by any mother club In terms of raising supporter's hopes one week only to dash them the next. That might help to explain this mystery a little :-))

Yes please. And Trenners for ANB

Hogan needs a new kicking leg agreed. But he alone did not cost us the game yesterday. Still much to learn, played from behind (not alone) too often but worked hard and even pushed up the ground at times. His contested marks I50 were some of the few times the ball remained In our 50 for more than 20 or 30 sec. Thought he was one of our (few) best players on the day

And potentially make a key forward who kIcked the bulk of their goals less effective. Our forward line also provided almost zero pressure which didnt help to limit Port's easy run and transition off HB for quick entry I50. Allowed many one on one contests and easy hit ups through the now maligned and flawed diamond zone. Easy pickings. Poor coaching all round.

Neither did i. Maybe our players thought otherwise. Certainly looked the hunted today instead of the hunters yet we've still achieved didly squat as a club/team. Horrid game all round, especially up top.

Agree. Ppl in the press talking about us building a premiership list is just laughable. So many go missing when the heat is on. Our forward line shows nothing in these matches with the exception of Hulk who is, i'm afraid to say, a horrible kick for goal most of the time. I will say it again and again, unless he fixes that action he will never fulfill his true potential. Reminds me very much of Earl Spalding who could have been a super forward but for his horrible kicking accuracy or lack thereof. Only turned it around with the Blues late in his career which saw him play in the 95 premiership. Watts/Kent/Jeffy (to a lessor degree) all ineffective both in attack and defensively (i50 pressure acts) today. A few reasonable tackles from Kent up the field but that was about it. Garland beaten soundly, critical contests he falls over far too often (one time costing us a goal in the 3rd at a critical stage of the match). Bombs the ball far too often, misses targets far too often. Tyson, i realise first up back from a week's leave but that was bloody horrid. Bout the only run we saw was from Harmes/Wagner and some from Hunt. A bit from Tommy once moved to HB. Very few moves other than Vince from HF to back in the 2nd half, a bit of Watts through the middle and Tommy off Dixon to HB helped a little. Generally outcoached. Why is Vince no longer playing a role through the middle for significant patches when the game's up for grabs? Carrying an injury or just protection for age factor? Newton, ANB, Watts, Kent, Tyson and Garland should not get a game next week on those efforts. Kent not as bad as the former lot but his disposal/finish is crap. Dawes for Watts, Frost (or any half decent tall for Garland pls), Trenners for Tyson and someone who can finish up forward for Kent. Maybe there isn't a replacement at this stage. ANB and Newton ughh.... again do we have anyone available? As much as i liked Newton's game last week he was awful. Even Jones/Viney/Bugg were pretty average today. I still think we erred playing an overcooked Maxy with no back up....eg., Dawes and/or Spencil. Their 2 tall book ends in Dixon and Westhoff smashed us with too much being expected of Big M (ie., trying to stretch them a little by having to push forward quite often). Big M did ok but he looks cooked IMO and we lose a crucial game ANYWAY without him getting the much needed rest that i believe was critical to us having a decent chance of him coming back in (well rested) and having a big impact in the coming weeks. We are still a bottom 6 club i'm afraid. The major missing factors for me are ... - An (effective) tall forward as 2nd string to Hulk with the ability to relieve in the ruck (Dawes in the short term if he can stay fit) and take grabs i50 and push higher up the ground and take grabs also when the heat is on. I noticed Hulk was doing this late in the 4th. He can't be the "everywhere" man plus help kick a winning score for us. He isn't Roo and guys like him only come around once in a a few decades (or more). - An effective tall CHB that makes Tommy the 2nd string key defender rather than the first and pushes Garland out...for good. Pedo in the short term? Someone else needed though as Pedo doesn't play tall unfortunately. - A super classy inside/outside mid who can take a game apart/find space/share the ball around through the middle (could be Tracc but he is seasons away from doing so consistently unfortunately). Personally it's going to be super hard to fill these gaps effectively given the leagues free agency crap. In addition this match hasn't helped our "keep Jessie" cause. A few more nonsense games like that and we will probably be looking for another key forward as well.

This post is upsetting. Can anyone pls tell me what nation's flag that is? ?

Pretty sure the Captain (and Ethan!) have the best handle on this..... "Jones said Indigenous Round (now named in honour of Sir Doug Nicholls) was a time to celebrate the great Aboriginal players who have played the game. “Nev [Jetta] gave a great presentation to the players the other day and it highlighted the great contribution made by Indigenous players,” he said.

Only if the players have taken notice and feeling good about themselves Gorg. Lets just get into a bloody final first FLS!

I can't argue with you on that one Jumbo. Only a premiership plus would see us reach such status. 2 or 3 would be very helpful also

I disagree to a point Jumbo. I think the performance this year shows that this club has turned things around so substantially that we are now looked upon as a reasonable prospect by any player/manager and the facilities/coaching and environment are almost as good as any in the AFL ATM outside of maybe the top 2 or 3 clubs and the giants (facility wise) like the Pies. The players are certainly not holding back when asked this directly on media right now and the results are starting to show. Now we just need some more games into the better players and to build more depth/fill a few gaps. If we fill those few gaps and get another 40 - 60 games into many of the current list then i believe we are well on the way to being a consistant finals team in the next decade and a growing 'mid sized' club with 40,000 plus members.

I like your interpretation BZ. Although this could also be that he has finally come to a decision and the weight is off the shoulders a little. Let's hope it is us that's on the right side for a change.

Might not be the greatest but i think he has the edge over Omac at this point in their careers Farm. Omac may well overtake him at some point but pretty sure the match committee would take a fit Pedo over Omac IMO and not just for a defensive role. Omac is in the early embryonic stages of learning a defensive role for now which limits the FD's options on match day especially if one of our forwards incurs an injury/concussion on the day.

That is correct MD. However, there is nothing that prevents an "in principal" agreement having been reached with his manager. I would put nothing past Freo after the Lyon snatching. The Demons should be ruthless with this and offer a super long term (6+ year!?) contract to seal the deal at our end IMO. We also need to win every possible game from here and hopefully make finals. All starting this week against the Power away from home. I'm also hoping that Freo keeps losing, creating turmoil within the Club (and without). One of the rare times i will barrack for the Saints this Saturday. 10 - Zip is going to look like an extremely ugly "send in the administrators!" balance sheet if they lose. Would anyone of Jessie's calibre really want to join a struggling wooden spooner at the prime of their career with the ugly "Lyon" method of play no longer valid in today's game? They would have to offer a ridiculous sum/overs to obtain him, possibly squeezing out the chance of putting a decent team around him (if he did accept) going forward, limiting their (and Jessie's) potential chance of any medium term success.

Not "whatever" attributes Mono. What i said was i think he is a slightly more effective forward/ruck relief option than Pedo. Pedo the better utility with the ability to play forward/back more effectively than Dawes but not Forward/Ruck relief. The advantage in the ruck is minimal i agree but IMO it's there. From what i've seen when Dawes/Pedo relieve in the center (when Dawes is fit which is rare i realise), Dawes has a slight advantage in neutralising a contest. From my experience i have noticed we tend to bleed more goals as soon as Pedo enters the center bounce contest (ie., we neutralise/win less contests vs Dawes....MARGINALLY). Around the ground i think you could pretty much put anyone in there if Gawn's not in (eg., Spencil/Watts,Dawes up forward/Pedo down back if playing there at the time etc) as i think any of these alternatives aren't a patch on Gawn (around the ground or in the center). To really know who is the better ruck relief you would need to see Champion data stats on Pedo v Dawes for hit outs to advantage over the last few years. We should also do the same with others such as Watts but of course i don't think there woud be enough data on Watts given i'm pretty sure that last match was one of the rare times he has been thrown in there. All we can do is speculate and each observer will have their own opinion. Unfortunately that's all our views are though (opinion) without that key stat to back it up.

Just think he set up a few more goals and was involved in more scoring chains than ANB. ANB did set up a nice goal in the 2nd quarter at one point. Newton appears to run a little harder both ways for mine although that's just a gut feel based on what i saw. No concrete evidence and could be way off. Was on the end for a nice running goal also in the 3rd i think. Not leaps ahead but i would still have him in over ANB at this point. As i said earlier it would be Tyson for Viv anyways and Jetta for Wagner most likely so a few of those you mentioned may well be changed out for this week. IF Tyson/Jetta are back i think we are covered through the mid (Vince to play more through there with Jetta back) and this leaves ANB as the likely out for Dawes/Pedo to come in as the 3rd tall forward for me. We might also see Pedo for Omac. No doubt the match committee will see it completely diff though. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing as they say and as an armchair expert i'm just speculating based on what i'm observing and for fun. It's interesting to see eveyone's views on here.

He wasn't horrid P but i with Tracc now in and if Tyson returns i just can't see room for both him and Viv in the team given they were the least effective of our inside mids (or inisde/outside if you wish to place ANB in that category). We have enough effective inside mids if Tyson returns IMO and Mr. Vince plays a little more time in there which i think is necessary for us if we are to to win on the weekend. I like Bernie down back but if Pedo/Jetta return i reckon this frees up our options for Bernie to push into the middle a little more and even drift up forward more often where i feel he is more dangerous. He also offers the potential of goals from around 50 or just outside. This places pressure on the opposition to push up a little when he is about providing more room inside 50/out back for others to run into. More options to goal should result in more goals.

Forgot Jetta was out lol. Swapping Spencil for Gawn as Gawn looks like he is in much need of a freshen up to take us into a solid second half of the season and get him back to his best around the ground. His around the ground work, outside of taps to our advantage which is always a fair way above the likes of Spencil, indicated he is well down on his best and may well be carrying a stack of bruising/general soreness. One week is not going to hurt and the Ruck role can be covered if Spencil works his butt off with assistance from Dawes and 3rd ups. A full game and a half (or so) at Casey should see Spencil reasonably match fit. Not ideal but as i said, if Dawes is in we can rest Spencil up forward also. Spencil can take the odd mark and goal there also. Haven't seen much of that from Gawn last few weeks. Dawes in is a better ruck relief / forward option than Pedo for "this week" IF Gawn is rested. Dawes has shown solid form at Casey last 2 weeks and IMO is a slightly better tall forward option for us that we have been crying out for. Having said all that i don't think the match committee will risk resting Big M this week lol. So yes Pedo could also get a guernsey. Pedo has an advantage over Dawes in that he can play a role down back or up forward (or both). But Dawes is more handy in the ruck IMO (just marginally) and is a slightly better forward (again marginally) than Pedo. We could play both also with Pedo in for OMac but that would make it 5 changes. 4 would seem the max so the most likely for me would be - Tyson for Viv - Pedo for Omac (if fit) - Dawes for ANB as i think our mid rotations are covered with the inclusion of Tyson; and - Jetta for Wagner

We are on the cusp of entering the eight and this week Is another must win. Cant see the match committee experimenting with JT anytime soon. At most we might see - Spencil for Gawn (Managed) - Tyson for Viv (unlucky but Tyson Is a class above If fit and Viv's disposal/option selections & numbers are still not up to AFL standards) - Dawes for ANB (we need a 3rd effective tall forward who can also relieve In the ruck/play higher up the ground...certainly shouldn't be left to Watts to relieve in the ruck even though he was ok). - Jetta* In for Wagner*. I like Wagner going forward also though. Just needs to clean up his good work a little which will come with experience. 5 clangers on the weekend didn't help his cause.