Demon Dynasty

Matt Jones and Grimes add a little run and carry ranking in our top 10 last year for carrying the ball/running lines. Bail also but to a lessor degree. Unfortunately all with some un-hawthorn like finish. Grimes will get to where the ball is, get a fair amount of it and will at least increase our out of bounds on the full stats (ie., clangers) Having said that we at least know they will bring "effort" and have a dip when it's their turn to go. Michie deserves another go and should help ease the weight off the other mids with another "ok" rotation. Viv presently has the best DE% (average) of any mid in the team with a DE% of 75.70% He is also the only mid fielder in the team to have a DE% above the AFL average of 72.85% (exclusive of MFC). Albeit this is only a 2 game average lol. But there's more to playing footy than being accurate with your disposal and I reckon Roos has sent out an obvious message here after Viv was dropped last week... "Better bloody tackle mate!!"

I never realised Neil had so many hidden talents!!! Go you crazy horse!..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRGbTIiOqNM

Np bin. I think it's a great initiative by the AFL and looking forward to reviewing this again later in the season. I think with Watts it's more the really bad and ugly that some are getting miffed at. Yes, he does put in the occasional solid quarter here and there but it's the lack of consistency across a full 4 quarters and consecutive matches after 6 seasons on the park that is being looked at. This along with some of the less than convincing defensive moments when he runs past potential tackles (eg., flinging out an arm and giving away a free with a coat hanger attempt instead of nailing with a body slam lol), failing to hit a pack hard enough when needed, hanging off a contest outside when he really needed to commit. Just some examples. He isn't alone in any of these acts individually but as a collective people observe it all and compile a picture of a player. I also remember Dermie being very much like this in his 1st season or so with the Hawks....but he was just learning his craft and probably in awe of so many greats around him who were doing much of the necessary grunt work. Yet he was still very much a bit of an "outside onlooker". Suffice to say his latter years were a cut above most players and he ended up becoming one of the greats who never shirked a contest. Some would say he was a complete thug too i realise. But they were different times from that perspective. I don't think many question Watts' ability to distribute quality ball once he gets it and he is also a pretty handy shot at goal when within range. More than you can say for many forwards nowadays. Also remember that because these stats are based on the last 40 games, the overall rating score might contain results from last season that may have been of a higher standard than recent form. Watts hasn't exactly set the world on fire so far this season and people tend to remember the most recent performances, which is understandable. You aren't going to get picked or admired by many fans on last year's form. My own compilation of junk stats has him ranked at No.19 out of the 29 players that have played so far this year. Plenty of rounds to go for improvement assuming he retains his place in the seniors and i believe he will given the lack of quality at Casey. I had him ranked at No.9 out of 33 players last year up till Round 14 (didn't keep any season stats after that). He isn't alone in a drop off of form either, there are a few others who aren't at the level of last year IMO which isn't helping our cause so far.

I think they have since removed it...either that or a denial of service attack! .... i wonder who would be doing such a dastardly thing! Kevin!!!!!???

You can say that again. As everyone knows, the last time we ever achieved anything significant was 2006 where we played in finals & finished 7th. The Blues won the spoon that year yet still managed to defeat us in both encounters! The Blues might be at another low ebb but we are hardly a finals proposition nor a huge threat to them. I suspect it would be a pretty close match unless we get our best list back on the park before then and they are still cactus.

No... AOD9604

Quite possibly. There are differing opinions though. I'm not saying this is correct, far from it, but the AFL's sight suggests otherwise. It summarises this as a "de novo" case, meaning the appeal hearing will still operate under the rules of the AFL. That means the AFL's rules on evidence and standard of proof remain the same as it was during the AFL's tribunal hearing with ASADA ie., WADA & CAS cannot compel witnesses to appear. And Richard Ings would tend to agree with the above based on recent tweet... Richard Ings ‏@ringsau CAS cant compel witnesses WADA cant compel witnesses This is a new hearing before new arbitrators but same rules apply.

I will happily 2nd that re pulling of strings/calling in favours. Those of you getting highly excited at the prospect of "finally a truly independent court of appeal finding is about to wash over the EFC" might want to take a cold shower and think again. Im not saying it will go either way but i'll believe in a different outcome to the AFL's supposed "independent" Tribunal outcome when I see it.

As far as I understand it, WADA is operating under the CAS' jurisdiction therefore it would be beholden upon CAS to subpeona IF they had the power to should WADA ask. Not sure it's within CAS' s power to subpeona. WADA would no doubt know the answer to this so they obviously will or wont depending. But it's my limited layman's undertanding they (ASADA) wont because CAS cant lol. Red or someone more learned in these matters would be better at addressing this.

That day might have arived!! Over 2 years since those samples were taken. Things move quickly in the field of testing. Might also partially explain the last minute WADA appeal announcement.

Someone else has probably already covered this but apparently CAS cant subpoena. The 2 most important witnesses wont be grilled. Such a robust anti-doping regime!

AFL Player Ratings are probably the most significant statistical ratings/rankings of AFL players ever attempted. They are based on a weighted score of a number of critical "impact/influence" stats every week sourced from key Champion Data stats. The ratings allow you to consider how each player is performing relative to others in the AFL as well as allowing you to compare players across a various number of line categories such as Key Forwards, Midfielders, Key Defenders etc. So how is each player's rating worked out? (courtesy of AFL Player Ratings) ...."Players accrue or lose points every time they are involved in a passage of play. The score awarded to them each time they are in the play is determined by a complex algorithm formulated and refined over a number of years by Champion Data. Players accrue or lose points depending on whether they have a positive or negative impact on a passage of play. A player's rating is determined by aggregating his points tally based on a rolling window of the previous two seasons. For example, after round six of the 2014 season, a player's rating will be based on matches from round seven of the 2012 season onwards. However, only a player's most recent 40 matches are used in the calculation of his rating. This creates a buffer for players missing matches through injury, suspension, omission or by not being involved in finals. A player's most recent 20 matches are given greater weight in determining his rating. Matches 21 through 40 are progressively reduced in weighting, from 100 per cent down to five per cent for the earliest game in the window."..... end. Based on this we need to keep in mind that players who are relatively new to the game will likely be at a disadvantage in their total score relative to players who have been in the system longer eg., they obviously may not have accrued 40 matches yet and may still be learning the game/position/craft vs a mature age or non rookie player. Or alternatively they may have been in the system for some time but not been able to accrue anywhere near 40 matches due to sub par performance/injury etc. Obvious MFC examples include; Brayshaw, Newton, Stretch, Vandenberg, Michie, Hogan etc. The other aspect to consider is that the ratings below are not specifically a guide to recent form due to the 40 week weighted score. There are more relevant ratings specific to recent weeks which the AFL puts out on twitter as well as "game day" ratings. I've posted some of those relating to the MFC below. So, howE are our MFC boys doing across the lines over the 40 week rolling period? Key Defender / Rank (out of 78) McDonald / 9 Dunn / 12 Small Medium Defender / Rank (out of 127) Lumumba / 13 Howe / 15 Garland / 29 Terlich / 63 Grimes / 71 Jetta / 74 Salem / 95 Midfielder / Rank (out of 189) N Jones / 52 Vince / 80 Tyson / 89 Cross / 100 Viney / 106 M Jones / 109 Trengove / 133 McKenzie / 137 Newton / 142 Michie / 143 Riley / 155 Brayshaw / 170 Stretch / 183 Key Forward / Rank (out of 74) Pedersen / 27 Dawes / 29 Frost / 42 Fitzpatrick / 43 Hogan / 51 Midfielder Forward / Rank (out of 53) Bail / 41 Toumpas / 49 Vandenberg / 51 Small Medium Forward / Rank (out of 103) Watts / 19 Garlett / 25 Kent / 39 JKH / 63 Ruck / Rank (out of 49) Jamar / 20 Gawn / 32 Spencer / 36 Some more recent AFL Ratings highlights from 2015 for us include.... In the AFL Rating's Rolling Team of the YEAR (updated each round), T-Mac is the sole MFC representative to Round 6 at Full Back! Hogan currently ranks in the top 10 eligible rising star nominees at 9th. Our top 5 players vs the Swans on Saturday night (Round 6, 2015) were Salem (8th overall), Garlett (9th), Jones (10th), Hogan (11th) and Garland (13th). Ex Carlton small forwards Eddie Betts and our boy Jeffy Garlett rank in the top quartile of all small / medium forwards at No.2 and No. 25 respectively with Eddie being ranked 34th in the league overall !! Me thinks Carlton may have made a "blue" or two letting these blokes go That's it for now. I might revisit this mid season for another update and see how our boys are progressing vs the rest of the AFL.

Ooooo now ya talkin' homey!

Red caught CHOOK line and sinker!!??? Oops... you know what that means!!!!!!! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

JKH is ranking in the bottom 3 players almost every week. He appears lost almost anywhere outside of the 40 meter arc but IMO he is a real lover of goals and knows where they are. If Roos is willing to leave him i40 (when in the side this season) and allow him to learn his craft there then I would ask Jeffy to play a mid/forward role to compensate and use his run/carry to damage/worry our opponents coming through the middle (or outside) and delivering/scoring coming i50 just as he did against the Tiges. If Roos isnt willing to do this then it might he better he is sent to Casey to learn the craft of playing higher up the ground there. He is way off it at AFL level soon as he moves up the ground. He has to chase and pressure his opponent when he doesnt have it so will obviously be there at times but his role shld be as a small crumbing forward only at this point along with pressure acts i50

We have our own Kennedy developing and i can't see Kennedy leaving for us. Lets trade for an elite mid field and outside running team and get as much ball as we can into the Hulk with a few decent crumbers (Garlett in short term) to feed off his spillage as he develops into a champ. Can't afford to waste the opportunity. You can build mega teams around a KP player like Hulk. We also have T-Mac as the other book end now i would love to see us top up the rest of the spine with at least 2 decent inside mids (by hand & foot) and at least one elite outside running mid. Our list is too top heavy with lumbering ruckman that aren't AFL standard so they would be my first targets for delisting/trade if possible then work down from there.

So basically Red... nothing's changed from last year on or off the field in a performance/output sense. I watched a loose McVeigh and to a lessor extent Shaw, run rings around us, setting up goals, making their fellow players look good (bringing them into the play) and us look silly last year and we refused to man them up (or couldn't). Wind the clock one season on and....groundhog day. With the exception of a few individuals and changes to the deck chairs with a few new players, i can only assess from this performance (ie., worse than last year's) that as a "team", we haven't progressed at all.

The ruck role is an issue but it's not THE issue. It's the mid field's inability to win enough ball and get that first possession or 2 out quickly on the spread then deliver decent ball inside 50. It's the lack of speed, run & carry/overlap play off half back and through the middle. Our inability to hit lead up targets (or offer them over and over) as we work our way up the field. Our poor short passing skills. You can teach any footballer with half a brain how to tackle, corral, defend a zone, leave your opponent and spoil in general play. It's the class inside, the outside run/overlap, footskills and finish coming i50 that needs fixing. I think we are well on the way to a solid D in terms of defending balls coming in. On the rebound is a different matter. I think we are in the early stages of setting up a reasonable forward line that will start finishing off the good work. But there is a stack of work to do through the mid field and rebounding off half back, delivery coming i50. You won't fix so many significant aspects of our game with many on the current list as they just seem inept in many of these crucial aspects of our game when up against the top 6 to 8. It will take at least 2 more drafts and drilling of skills/game style to get ourselves competitive with teams around the middle of the ladder (8 to 12) and start winning more than the odd game here and there against the bottom 4 to 6 clubs who are in a similar position to us. The AFL's dogmatic expansion of the competition with the draft moratorium and free agency (allowing players to move to top 4 to 6 clubs instead of those outside only) hasn't helped our cause or others trying to bounce off the bottom.

6. T Mac 5. Salem 5. Jones 3. Vince 2. Cross 1. Tyson

Thats a fricken Storm Trooper hat on his head hahahaha! LMFAO

Green means Go Red ....ummm Nope

Spencer's about as athletic as Andre. And i wouldn't call him athletic.....

Very much so hood but it's also our woeful kicking skills and we don't spread/lead up over and over or barely enough to offer targets up the field. Not that we would be capable of hitting loose targets if we did. Our kicking disposal is easily the worst in the competition

The Hawks will need to watch out as we'll be on a double rebound and Dawes/Spence will be better for the run!

Give t-Mac a medal. Given the heat and who he was playing on that was one amazing game