Demon Dynasty

Sorry i forgot about this bloke..... played 1 half decent game for this club so far and IMO we've gone in with too many talls. Leave Fitzy Bail out for Newton and Riley. At least they can be rotated through the middle where we are getting smashed. The old wines for toump debacle raises its ugly head yet again

Are Bail/Matt Jones/Watts/Howe even on the ground? Barely heard a peep from any of them on the call Viney on straight away for whoever is the most hopeless of those 4.....gonna be a hard decision!

Playing a completely out of form team into form....yet again

I'm not THAT confident I just hope the boys weren't satisfied with 1 in a row WYL

They actually showed some spirit and played with a bit of flair and banged in for a change. The contrast between Mick's record breaking Friday night debacle and last night's "effort", couldn't have been greater. I heard during the week, via a "this one is the brother of that one who works with the Pies" that the contrast between Mick's coaching "man management" style and Bucks was also massive. Mick allegedly playing only his annointed favs most weeks vs Bucks who just wants to give the opportunity to whoever can show they perform the best in that particular role. If there is any truth to this and this style carried over to the Blues (eg Daisy!??, leaving other draft picks to rot in the VFL), then one could quite easily consider the effect it may have had within the playing group. IF so, i would predict we will see a much more competitive Blues line up most weeks from here, at least from an "effort" aspect now that Mick has departed and also a change in the style in which the team plays it's brand of footy.

Carlton (no doubt with the assistance of Gill) was probably hoping to cement itself as one of the "preferred" options for the bulk of Friday night matches at the G with this year's Gill lead entre'. They've gone from 6 home matches at Etihad last year and 5 at the G to 5 and 6 (at the G) this year. By getting the crowd numbers (ratings) it would have helped their cause to increase their G home match bias next year. Probably to our detriment. It's not like they were flying along last year so they really have to thank Gill for what they've been given so far. Had we gotten our act together years ago and been a decent competitive outfit i doubt the Blues would have been given such a leg up on the Friday night side or even looked at for more G home games. So in many ways our poor results since 2007 are part of the problem here. We can hardly crow about anything given our poor record since then. It's also beholden upon other less favoured AFL clubs, like the Doggies, Norf, the Saints and us to pressure the AFL and push for more Friday night exposure. Norf in particular should be getting the exposure that the Blues are having as they were the club that lead the way in early Friday night footy and have also been much more competitive (watchable) in recent years. The 4 least favoured Vic clubs (above) need to start voicing their concern and push for better outcomes. Can you imagine how much more exposure and preferred fixtures at the G the Blues will get WHEN the Blues get their act together on the field! We've already lost the bulk of our "home" ground at the G advantages we had to the Pies since they left Pie park. Winning and success will give us more leverage to avoid another club muscling in. Now is a good time to find that success and edge a weakening (competing) club, like the Blues, out. Their loss should be our gain. But we need to start winning to be able to do so.

Agree it starts in the midfield. Just hope it ends with our forwards kicking accurately.Do this and we win methinks. Confidence/Belief is growing nicely amongst this lot and the injection of Viney is another boost. We should give a good account of ourselves. 2 in a row beckons. My main concern is their experience. Have many more games on average (across their 22) than we do and we have a few more sub 50 gamers as well. If we win we will have pulled off a decent victory here.

While the PF result was agony at its worst I also recall the Night premiership with very fond memories, including jumping the fence in disbelief after the siren. Mustve looked like a lame ass but i do recall seeing swooper up there with a goggled eyed flower accepting the cup along with Danny Hughes. I couldn't help but think "Hey... we've actually won some silverware". Even if it was just an NAB cup or wateva it was. I usually went with bro to almost every home match back then as well but u know I cant recall who I was with that night. Hec It might have only been me myself and I which would have been a tad sad on reflection. To think thats the sum of all our efforts over so many decades of sweat, toil and committment (by some anyway) It's bloody frightening really. I still recall to this day heading to a training session in 95 at the junction (a few volunteer mums were still serving soup in the rooms for the boys after training lol). I remember chatting to one of the doormen/trainers there one particular night and I asked him what he thought our chances were for the coming season. He said "I'm not sure how we will do but I think we missed our best opportunity for a premiership last year. I fear the moment has passed us by". His words were certainly prophetic given the merger debacle a year later.

A compound of Bombers?

I wouldnt touch this line up other than Viney for Bail, assuming Viney is ready to go

It's in the RED centre. We win

If there's no changes to either team (which i realise is highly unlikely)..... Players with over 100 Games Demons 7 / Port 10 Players with less than 50 Games Demons 10 / Port 4 Team Averages Games Played Demons 77 / Port 104 Height Demons 189 / Port 187 Weight Demons 88.5 / Port 85.5 Age Demons 25.5 / Port 25.6

6. Vanders 5. Mr. Vince 4. Jones Boy 3. Grubby (Grimes) 2. the Toump 1. Crossy

I really can't see them making such a blunder. Unless they end up with a Mr G Lyon on their selection committee!

Is that even possible! Lovin' that swagger. Mr Vince also scored a berth in the team of the week! Nice

Not laughable at all. That's to be expected given the AFL's deliberate agenda to push start ups, interstate clubs, clubs with shittyhad as their home base/the big 4 in Vic. Expect more of the same unless Hulk has a blinder that cant be ignored.

Def not arguing the "effort" factor with Dawes either nut. I just think Pedo is more of an X factor when he is on. Defensively i'm not sure he adds a great deal more but on the "attack at ball/and carrier" when it's within his area i just think he is way more dangerous and as you say, likely to kick a few goals a game which is what forwards are supposed to do (along with goal assists etc). While not a great chaser/tackler i also think his tank allows him to cover both ends of the ground a little more (when needed) and take a few more crucial marks around the ground as well.

Let's bathe in the glory of his last game for a few more days at least Clint!

I can't think of anyone else so i guess it'll just have to be BB.... apologies BB

thx D I doubt this type of "buy in a premiership team" will ever be repeated again within Vic clubs although at this very moment we may be seeing it unfold, courtesy of the AFL, at GWS or they might go very close to it. If nothing else it is at least a very inspirational clip scattered with very memorable moments as most premierships no doubt would be

A few interesting key stats from yesterday's win... - Spencil had 40 hit outs. 14 to advantage. An amazing 35% hit rate! Vs Roughhead 21 (3) & Cordy 20 (2). Watts was used as designated 3rd man a few times for 4 (3) ! - We won the clearance count but the doggies scored more from stoppages 6.3.39 vs Demons 2.8.20 - in an amazing turnaround (for us) we scored a whopping 13.4.82 from turnovers vs the Doggies 3.7.29 ! - Pressure Acts (one of the coaches favs!) ... Vanders lead with 26 with H just behind on 24 & our up & coming gun mid fielder, one Mr. B Vince, 3rd with 17. - I cant be sure about previous wins against GCS & the Toiges but we won time in forward half with 53% vs 47%. - Kicking boots were on with an accuracy of 54% vs the Doggies 41%. - We won the "metres gained" by 852 metres. The top 5 contributors were 1. Mr Vince 2. The Jones Boy 3. Grimes 4. Garland 5. Vanders Nice job from the boys. Lets hope they can keep it up. Stats: Courtesy of Champion Data

Looked at home up forward but yes I couldn't understand the banana options in both cases. Needs some advice and also further goal kicking practice. Players can turn this around. I remember a young Yze in his first season. Looked promising but struggled with his goal kicking a little. He turned this around by staying behind after regular training at the junction and practicing for an hour or so after most had left and gone home, even under lights in the deep of winter I recall seeing him do this. The weekend showed a glimpse of the old Howe for mine and the forward line as a whole looked well oiled and better balanced with him playing a "deep" forward role. Marks i30 to 40 are the most valuable in the game. Just needs to work on his kicking decision making vs angle (ie., dont try a banana when a simple drop punt wldve been more effective). If he kicks those 2 goals everyone would be saying how better he looks up forward again. This will come if he and the club work on his decision making and kicking technique.

Pedo actually gets to many more contests and impacts them along with playing the high forward role that Dawes should be doing but doesnt (effectively). Agreed much better combo. Roos tinkers with this at his peril. When ur on a good thing (and its been evident in other matches that our forward structure is better without Dawes)... fricken stick to it!!!!!!!!

Winning the i50 count doesnt mean much if u dont mark/convert very well. Marks i50 PLUS conversion % will win the day, even if ur opponent dominates the i50 stat. U can have the best mid field in the AFL (aka arguably the Hawks) but if u aint marking much i50 or kicking accurately ur toast. Coaches who say kicking practice on goal and adjusting techniques to get an edge on accuracy are over rated/unnecessary at AFL level need a brain transplant. If ur a crap kick at goal as a forward (consistently) u are not a genuine forward and should be playing elsewhere on the ground or just playing... elsewhere (ie, not AFL).

Spencil just might be our man. His tackle numbers were up prior to this obviously but he not only dominated his lessor opponents, he actually took the game on with great flair and attack. He was even hitting up a few leads lace out coming i50. Don't underestimate that game... we dominated the clearances as a result of his effort and great follow up work once the ball hit the ground. Something u could rarely ever say in the last 8 years watching us with a few exceptions when the Jamar/Moloney combo got going. One of the best all round ruck games I've seen from an MFC ruckman since big Jimma was running around. Hats off to Spencil. I seriously had my doubts he could deliver at that level other than in VFL.