Demon Dynasty

Probably happens at least once or twice every year with the MFC i'm afraid Willmoy. I was going through another groundhog day today when listening to Dermy on SEN. Almost every year for the last 4 to 5 years i think i've listened to him being questioned on where we went so wrong after losing what should have been a very winnable game of footy. The only difference in his asseement this time around was he said he sat up till 2am Sunday morning (like a numbnut...his description) assessing the Hulk for the entire game. When a season goes by and we finally aren't doing a sould search (or 2 or 3) this might mean we have finally turned the corner

Welcome to D'land Brownie It's a great question. All we can do is keep supporting when needed (aka fronting up to games like Sat). Cheer if they do well and voice our disapproval and views on here and to fellow supporters IRL if they stink it up and discuss/pontificate. And the end of the day what we say will result in diddly squat on the field of course. We all know that. Most of what happens on here is pure venting and letting out our joy or in most cases as a demon supporter...frustrations. Oh, there's also some good fund raising stuff and player support that goes on so some of what happens does have an impact at club level to some degree! Having said that, you don't need to be Einstein to see we are still fragile but i think Roos has made significant steps to try and rectify it. Will he finally be capable of getting us to a level where we will win games we are expected to win on form? I have no idea. Maybe this wont take place for another 2 to 3 years under Goody. Maybe not even under Goody. As to why Saturday occurred i can think of a number of reasons but the 3 main ones for me are; 1. Our leaders and top line players aren't quite up to the level of some other club's top liners at this stage. Jones, Vince and to a lessor degree Viney (due to his short time in the game) are very solid but not what you would call regular potential match winners or match turners. Occasionally we might see a stellar game from one of them that is the diff between winning/losing a tight one. But we rarely see it from all 3 at once or on a regular basis from even one of them. Mind you the AFL obviously has a limited number of game changers otherwise everyone would have them. A few clubs have the odd one here or there that make the diff and the top clubs have multiple players at this level. I guess i'm referring to A graders and above (ie., champions). On their day some of our top liners perform at an A grade level as mentioned but not on a regular basis. Some perform solidly week to week (Jones/Vince/Viney) but aren't quite at the level Roos would be wanting or expecting at some point. That's not to say this may not be just around the corner?!!! 2. As Steve the Pants Man has put forward in another Post (see "Analysing Yesterday's Game"), i think we truly lack balance. We are heavily weighted to inside ball extraction and don't do so well once it's on the outside with quick run/carry or transition (disposal by foot and to a lessor degree by hand). I think our skill levels by hand getting the ball away from congestion has improved though. But it's what happens after we get the ball away that is really hurting us. On Saturday this was also our inability to catch/tackle our opponents who used the ball better and spread better once they got hold of it. The outside issue needs some serious work. Even coming off HB where we have some run (TMac / Lumumba) but where the ability to hit targets is generally below par vs the rest of the comp. In addition when a player does decide to take the game on and runs it out off HB like the 2 mentioned they often find themselves in a horrible situation at the end of their run. I see this problem as 2 fold. Backmen (and mid fielders) need to be able to recognise when to play on (fast) and when to slow things down. I don't think TMac or Lumumba understand this aspect. They tend to just run and gun most of the time rather than assess and then decide what's best based on what's happening up the field and around them. They also tend to overdo the run, getting themselves into a fix but also we lack hard workers up the field presenting them with multiple lead options when they see them running a la Hawks. We do this but it doesn't happen often anough and long enough for the entire match. I often see players standing around with hands on hips who could be offering this option if they lead as they appear exhausted. Maybe this is a fitness issue in general, or maybe it only applies to some in the group who haven't attained elite levels of fitness yet (eg., Kent). 3. Mental scares are still there for some. And some just haven't learned the level it takes to win regular at AFL level....yet. Maybe some or a number of them aren't able to get there and will need to be moved on. There is also an old saying.... Attitudes are contagious - Is yours worth catching? Our new key forward needs to clean his up....quick smart! Given where we've come from i don't think we can argue that Roos isn't the right person for the job. We can only hope he's instilled an elite level program for all present players and anyone who is yet to begin going forward. Maybe we are at a point where Roos has those structures in place throughout the club and all we need now is the existing player group to attain their best to show the improvement on the field. Then we just keep improving as we roll through the new recruits each season. Slowly turning ourselves from the ugly duckling (pre Roos era) to a beautiful Swan!! Even if it's a black swan that looks and quacks a little like the other white one up north but maybe isn't quite as effective for a while. It would be a decent base to go forward on i reckon.

OUT: Anyone not willing to gut run all day and provide multiple leads, tackle or cant hit targets as well as any dummy spitters/ quitters or nancy boys who give up when the going gets a bit tough. IN: Anyone who is willing to give their all for the club for the entire match and do the opposite

Boo Hoo my ass mate. Any team that drops games like that so easily when it should have pantsed a team of nancy boys and washed up retiress only put together 2 months ago and decides to move on as if everything is all fine is going nowhere fast. If you accept that that performance is ok and think its a sign of us moving forward then I have pitty on your poor Demon soul. The same applies to Roos and anyone else connected with the club. For as long as pea heart performances continue I will continue to demand better. No other genuine club members would accept BS like we witnessed Sat. Dont see why our hard earned and sacrifices to get to games and support is any diff to other supporters. They dont accept it and they certainly dont go quietly and wouldnt if they had to put up with the rubbish we are dished up with most games

I dont believe they got ahead of themselves RP. Its a cultural thing thats been haunting this club for over a decade. The club as a whole just doesnt know how to handle the "favorites" tag and prepare Itself to lift sufficIently on match day to defeat teams It shld beat (on paper/recent form). It accepts losing/sub par performances far too easily and continues as If all Is well. If you accept that premise then you're destined to continue with your losing culture.

Home games at North Port Oval when Port is away. Has to be other alternatives as well. Where there's a will there's a way.

Strong/improving clubs run them through their own VFL clubs and drill them to learn "the way" the coach wants/expects them to play including skills/patterns, how to defend etc. Part of the MFC's problem is that we don't truly have control over how we blood the young rookies and what's expected of them before they enter the fire of AFL. Part of our resurrection has to be the consideration of a dedicated VFL team. Casey is ok but not the answer to developing and blooding players that will take us to the next level. No offence to anyone at Casey who i'm sure are doing a great job and are a very good club in their own right. It is no coincidence that the Doggies are on the rise after relaunching the Foostcray Bulldogs during the 2014 season at VFL level (not saying this is the entire reason but part of a number of changes that is seeing them push their performance to higher levels of late).

I think our capabilities have improved above where we were around 2 years ago or so Macca but that was from such a horrible low we still aren't at a level that you would say is acceptable at AFL level. But in the end it is as you say, very much above the head for this club as a whole. It is incapable (for some unknown reason) to raise it's intensity/effort to a level required to meet and often beat it's challengers. Some are rated at or around a similar level to us, at least on paper anyway and in the case of Essendrug y'day, they were not expected to beat anyone all year (according to most). There is no consistency of output on the field over consecutive weeks. We occasionally win, then drop our bundle the very next week if coming up against what is considered an opponent we are capable of beating and in some cases 'should' beat (based on recent form). How often do you hear the comment on here "yet again we have played a horribly out of form team ...into form!". The team we are sometimes expected to beat (the week after a win) generally raise their level of intensity/attack and execution, and for some reason we are (in most cases) apparently unable to raise ours to match them (and beat them) and seem content to just play out the match and take the loss. When you keep losing and are incapable of stringing any consistency or your game together for more than the occasional win it has to be moral sapping and a big dent to some individual's belief and confidence in their own game (including their skills....no matter how much you train them!!) and that of some of the players around them on game day (and vice versa). This has to impact on their belief system eventually (even if it's one chink at a time) as well as their belief in the Coach/Game plan and club as a whole if left to fester for too long. I've been saying this for years so apologies if you've heard this before (probably under diff coaches) but unless or until Roos (with the support of the FD/Club) or Goodwin when he takes over, addresses this fundamental issue within the club, we will continue to dead cat bounce for years and maybe decades to come. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves (including Roos and all officials at the Club) and will only lead to more heartbreak and disappointment as each heartbreaking let down unfolds. As soon as we start to think we look like there's a positive on the horizon (after the odd win). As soon as we are challenged (by pretty much any team outside of the absolute worst). We will almost always crumble and fold like a pack of cards the very next week IF this issue isn't addressed and eradicated. And that process of eradication has to begin this week! If the coach/FD & club decide yesterday was just an aberration and it's steady as she goes then i'm afraid we are doomed as a club to be forever irrelevant. My worry from Roosy's presser yesterday is that he appears (on the surface) to be willing to do just that, Unfortunately many still believe there's going to be some sort of saviour that's going to somehow lift this club from the mire and into a new golden era given enough time (which varies depending on who you ask). Personally i don't think anything is going to change for us until we address the reasons behind why we continue to have the most brittle underbelly of any team in the AFL over the last decade (some will no doubt argue longer given our lack of success since 64'). Roos (and PJ) now have some big decisions ahead of them. Do they keep sticking their fingers in the dyke and ignore the elephant in our club rooms and just hand the problem over to Goody who will run up against exactly the same problem in his tenure? Or do they take this most important issue head on and commit themselves to getting to the bottom of it before Roos moves on? Do they even see/realise that the problem is inherent within the club and needs fixing. I sure hope one of them does! Otherwise it won't matter who they put in the coaches box.

After a reasonable start to the season the playing group / coaches couldnt have had a better opportunity to keep the momentum and feel around the club going with a hard fought critical win against an old enemy yesterday. If neither the coach or the playing group as a whole are willing to face, address and Correct what went wrong (which was mostly upstairs & effort) then we will just continue to be Irrelevant In this competition. We will also be looking at 4 to 5 wins tops.

Nah, that baby Demon was had suposedly grown Into a boy and going to reach puberty this season. There was some word around the traps that his balls were also gonna finally drop yesterday...but alas

Not so sure he is saying it behind closed doors Adam. Bit too "matter of fact" for my liking. That was a rare opportunity for the club to really get some momentum happening and they (the FD & playing group) blew it. Losing comes too easily for the MFC (Roos & HIS playing group) for my liking. Not the sort of culture that's going to make any club successful (either on or off the field). There is something drastically NQR at this club. I thought Roos was going to change that significantly but after today's effort on the field and his response in that presser i'm not so sure anymore. I realise alot of coaches are made to look good by great leaders/players and team efforts on the field but it's a 2 way thing and it starts from the top. I appreciate what Roos has achieved so far but also hoping we see a different attitude brought to the table once Goody officially takes over the reigns. Not suggesting Barassi type sprays (via media) either but Roos is just too laid back and IMO it shows on the field. We just don't bring a "killer/hunter" attitude to any game for long enough to really put any team to the sword convincingly.

Guys what are our chances of winning 7 you reckon?? Guys???

Nah we are too easy to DEFEND Saber for any "attack attack attack" to work to our advantage against most clubs at the moment. That constant bombing long to the square is just too predictable. Draws most opponents like a bear to honey and creates a bloody mosh pit of horror that is very hard to create goals out of. Only a huge pack marking forward (Locket/Reiwoldt/Carey) at his best or over the top mark (from side or behind) like Howe/Fasolo/Hart etc would/could benefit from such a horrible entry method. Once in a while we get a fast break for jeffy out the back (or in today's game Clarry after one fairly quick entry by Jones from the middle in the last). But too rare to worry any opponents or win a match with. Add to that the fact that our forwards refuse to lead up often enough/double back etc (work rate) and create space behind for others to lead into/or double back into (or take marks up the ground when team mates are under pressure by working hard on the lead higher up the ground/in front of defender). Add to that our pretty average ability to hit targets coming i50 when they do lead (ie., we mostly don't and turn the ball over straight to the opposition who then run it out quickly for the rebound/see TMacs horrible lack of awareness when tackled from behind in the 2nd today around the 50 meter arc after deciding to play on...which he does far too often no matter where/what stage of the game he is in) and you have yourself a recipe for more horrible losses no matter the quality of the opposition. Most of this all comes about through lack of work rate/effort through the middle and up forward and to a fair degree a lack of confidence in hitting targets due to our poor disposal skills by foot generally speaking. I wish i had $10 today for every panick bomb that went long to a crowded square hoping for the best (last week included!!)

Today was all about character and effort Praha. Essendrug had it, we didn't and haven't since 64.

I would also argue we seem to get off to pretty poor starts in most of our matches. There are rare exceptions but far too often we are always chasing our opponent's tail with them tending to get the first 2 to 4 goals (or more). To me this is not just talent alone. A very good coach should be able to motivate his team and get them up early in the match to give them the best possible start and chance of winning (and winning by a decent margin against lessor ranked opponents like today).

I think he has 2 to 3 weeks to redeem himself (and the players also). They would need to win all of the next 3 to regain any sort of credibility after that pitiful effort and lack of composure/character. Shuffling the deck chairs. We need super fast, super talented players who can run, spread and hit targets consistently. Too slow at decision making, too many poor decision makers, poor awareness and all round just bog ordinary disposers of the football who are possibly beyond repair and/or not truly committed or capable of playing at AFL level for more than a quarter or 2. List is only 1/3rd of the way there IMO before we see this mob start performing and winning matches that they are expected to (on paper). Why didn't Roos give jeffy a run in the middle in the last quarter!!? (when the game was still up for grabs!?) Essendrug's high press seemed to work. Ours was non-existent/ ineffective (at best). We never locked the ball down our end at any stage of the match. They ran it out like we weren't on the park. What happened to "team defense" lol? 3 pre-season's to get this right but still way behind the rest of the comp.

I would rather take a lead into half time with a few minutes on the clock than take the "brain fade" risk Matty took today and boost the opponent's confidence/momentum going into the main break. It's all about when. Coming from behind in the last maybe, or 8 goals up late in the 3rd, it wouldn't matter. but not at that stage of the match. It's all about picking the right options at the right times. We often fail in this department with too many brain snaps at critical moments/stages of a game and we seem to always have a procession of NQR players willing to pull this BS out of their hats gifting easy goals to our opponents no matter how good/bad their form is. See Fitz's tunnel ball gift goal last year's QB match against the Pies. It's no wonder teams play with gay abandon and don't fear us. We are our own worst enemy and have been for decades, with a few odd exceptional years in between.

McDonald-Tipungwuti and Clarry say hi!

Kent looked like a very average and lazy VFL footballer in comparison. A great game from the young rookie. All class and knows how to find the ball and runs into the right spaces. Then again it's only the MFC they were up against. Any solid/great game played against us should be taken with a grain of salt. Review again when they play againt a genuine team of footballers who have a real hunger for the contest and truly hate losing.

Agreed, i can't recall him having any impact today. Just because TMac and Garlo can get to a contest and spoil from behind, and occasionaly run off, does not a good footballer make. If you can't hit regular targets, and/or those targets don't run hard enough to create space/options for whoever it is doing the running off HB then it's coming back just as quickly to loose players (who those HBs just ran away from) for the easy rebound mark/shot at goal, as we witnessed today far too often.

We need elite runners off HB who can ALSO hit targets up the field consistently. I'm afraid at present we have none of those. TMac started that rot today with his horrible attempt to switch kick after playing on that didn't make the distance, went straight to the opposition for their first and there was the confidence booster. The other was Matty's horrible decision to short pass out of the back pocket instead of up the line (after taking his usual Fricken MATTY time to assess that there was nothing on offer to pass too!). After all that time assessing the only percentage play was long up the line but nah. Matty tries the hero kick inside and guess wat. Instead of possibly going into half time with a 2 - 3 goal lead, we go in trailing and Essendrug go in on a high with confidence brewing! Both NQR players whose decision making/disposal skills are shown up under "regular" match day conditions.

Flat track bullies

Tell you what has to change.... that's Kent, Hogan and Salems lazy arse attitude to playing at the highest level. They would be my first 3 outs. Hogan... whinge whinge whinge ....stay in goal square, call for ball on a platter, dont lead. Kent hands on hips, dont man up in any defensive situations, running forward of the ball when he is needed at the contest (outnumbered). Salem was just a complete flake/fake today. Take your pick. Lazy footballers all 3 and should be quickly shipped off to the magoos to earn their call up again...if they make it!

Nah, dogs are special, kind and give back so much more than they take Clint. They also cover their own turds. Every dog also has Its day. Something I doubt we will ever be able to say about the MFC

Deescraceful. Beaten by team only put together in the last few months with a few nice rookies thrown in who ran harder, were more desperate around the pill and ran to space/on the lead on umptean occasions to ensure their runners up the field had multiple options on the spread. Their spread and hard work killed us and made most of our guys look like the team that had been pieced together in the last few months. The melbourne of old reared its ugly head today. Kent, Salem, Bugg, Hogan were shown up by a 2nd gamer in Clarry. Some of Kents/Hogans work or lack-there-of today was horrid horrid horrid. Thought we might have been moving forward but we took about 5 steps back today.