Demon Dynasty

Those rankings only applied to Rnd 4. But even after Rnd 6 he is still outside the top 5 who have played so far this year, sitting in position 8. Still a good result. Suffered in the match against the Blues with a DE % of around 44. As your probably aware there's a fare bit of junk within that stat and in particular disposals out of the last line of defense so take it with a grain of salt. Just a very rough indicator of how well players "might be" using it. Sitting top of the table out of players who have played all rounds of footy so far is Georgiou with a percentage of 80.5

I would really love to see Kent take the next step Master. I think he'll be a solid contributor if given the right assistance, opportunity and allowed to settle into a specific role/position in the short term. Hmmmm.... words from the wise. BZ i can hear you saying... "Waiting waiting waiting" lol And it would appear, until now, that unfortunately nothing has changed. I'm sure Roos and team will be focussing their efforts here but in the end IMO this is all between Mr Watt's ears. Will Watts go "all in" on his defensive side and effort/attack on the ball and carrier when he/we don't have the ball... or is he just happy to plod along and rely on his talent with the ball and use his occasional evasive skills to hit targets/scoreboard? The ball is in his court. Let's hope he can turn this around.

Ok folks, 6 Matches in and we have a bit of data to work with. Firstly some good news courtesy of Champion Data. The Demons are giving up 42 points per game less versus last season's average. That's a big turnaround. In addition we're the only team in the AFL, so far, who has yet to give up a coast to coast goal to the opposition. I'm not sure how many we gave up last year at this stage but i'd be betting it was a few more than the big O Lets take a look at some rankings on some popular team junk stats versus league averages. I've also included the Hawks and Cat's rankings as well just so we have a reference point on the 2 most successfull teams in the last 7 years. For those interested i've included the last 6 matches under Neeld (Rnds 6 to 11, 2013). Tackle Average (per game) Demons 64.3 (12) Neeld 60.5 League 66.8 Cats 74.0 (4) Hawks 52.5 (18) Clearances Demons 30.8 (18) Neeld 31.8 League 38.7 Hawks 41.3 (5) Cats 35 (17) Contested Demons 131.3 (17) Neeld 116.7 League 139.5 Cats 143.5 (6) Hawks 143.3 (7) Uncontested Demons 217.7 (8) Neeld 184.3 League 222.3 Hawks 260.7 (2) Cats 217.5 (9) Effective Disposals Demons 253.3 (11) Neeld 213.3 League 261.4 Hawks 300.2 (2) Cats 257.7 (8) Effective Disposal % Demons 71.7 (10) Neeld 69.8 League 71.4 Hawks 73.7 (4) Cats 72.0 (7) Clangers (lower rank = better) Demons 44.2 (6) Neeld 47.0 League 45.5 Hawks 44.0 (5) Cats 47.8 (13) Contested Marks Demons 7.2 (16) Neeld 7.8 League 8.7 Cats 12.2 (1) Hawks 8.5 (9) i50s Demons 41.8 (18) Neeld 36.2 League 49.8 Cats 55.7 (1) Hawks 54.5 (3) Marks i50 Demons 8.3 (15) Neeld 6.5 League 10.7 Cats 16.2 (1) Hawks 13.5 (3)

It's a hopefull sign Worm. Need Garland to return and find some form off HB though IMO as well as one or 2 other classy running outsiders through the middle who can hit targets. Possibly Salem/Kent/Tyson here? Need the Hulk on the park as well and a full season under his belt with the rest of the crew. 2016 maybe?

So Mr D.... what you' re saying is...the folding stuff he was on put a whole lot of noses outta joint and he was shunned on the field and hung out to dry by the bulk of his team mates? If so it sounds like a pretty unfortunate set of circumstances.

Ha...thx Dee. Diamond Jim. Im pretty sure i saw all 4 games lol or thereabouts.. The only memories i recall about Jim was he was built like a brick shyte house, could kick massive torps and his on field performance was about 10 rungs below the massive hype surrounding his pending arrival. And as for a footy god....hoping it will be Mr Roos who finally jolts this place out of its 7 year apathy. He'll need to find a champion or 2 (maybe more) in the draft to make it happen though me thinks. Fingers crossed that Hulk will be one of these if we can get him fixed.

To a limited extent out in the public eye yes, i personally look for that in every AFL footballer when watching the game ie, defensive effort side vs attacking capability and disposal skills. It' s pretty much a minimum required standard from all AFL clubs now that you're capable going both ways....regardless of how clever a player might be with disposal skills.

I don't think this is a significant reason for the heat this week P man. Yes, he is down on confidence and is certainly off with disposal. But I think anyone who's seen a fair bit of Watts realises it's not the disposal/goal shooting side of his game that's the issue (ie., when he receives the ball). It's what he isn't doing and the lack of effort shown when he/we haven't got the ball that's the issue here and has been throughout his career so far.

Guys i think half the problem here is a list that is so lacking in depth. It means out of form or NQR players, like Watts, aren't replaced by obvious talent/effort players at Casey who are pushing up. I think if that were the case we wouldn't be too worried. I realise Watts is a No.1 draftee but in a club with a much deeper list, he would be just another young developing player who may or may not make it down at Casey level over the next year or so and just maybe push his way into a very solid senior team (pushing a very good player out IF he shows super promise rather than just "ok" form). Part of the problem lies in our history of poor recruiting/development so far. If we fix this we solve the issue of players continuing to get a guernsey when they clearly aren't up to it yet or are in poor form. This applies to Watts or anyone who isn't a proven senior AFL level player already with years of experience/quality results and/or a champion of the club. With regard to Watt's effort on the weekend in particular, if Roosy TRULY believes that was acceptable and he deserves a follow up game, then Mr Roos i hate to say it, but we are on a very fast train to nowhere.

While i agree with the fact that some in the crowd are slagging off at him even when he's doing something right, he kills off any chance of that not happening by being one of the poorest defensive/effort players on the field far too often. On the second part, you seriously haven't attended enough matches, or maybe you have but it's been in a reserved seating "Redlegs" area or something, if you think there will be a time when there isn't bad behavior (which for others might appear to be normal footy crowd nonsense) or, in your words, "bottom feeders" getting their jollies at the expense of other supporters, players or umpires. It's been happening at the footy since the day dot. Don't stress so much about 'em. Just enjoy the match or i can guarantee you'll have very little hair left at the end of this season.

Often you find that players who spend alot of their time in the last line of defence have a distorted DE Deez due to a decent amount of disposals being lateral handballs/foot passes under pressure (or maybe not under pressure) and outlet kicks from the kick in to pockets etc. That said, you are correct in thinking it must have been fab. Dunn topped the DE rating for the team with 92.3% in yesterday's match. Not a PB for him though. That was against the Eagles in Rnd 2 ... 93.8%. The best result so far this year, at least for a player with say 15 possessions or more (ie., something worth considering), was Watts with 96.3% in Rnd 1 vs The Saints. Might have been playing off FB for a good part of the match to achieve this. Someone here might remember the details.

I think i'll bring one to the G next home game ...getting too freaky for me. Being the Melbourne "Demons", surely we must have a few practicing wiccans out there. Come on guys, get a circle going and cast a protection spell or something!

A bit late but thread isn't closed so.... 6. Dunn 5. N Jones 5. Cross 3. Pedersen 2. Vince 1. M Jones

Excellent example of what a slight build player can achieve at this level IF he wants to and he applies himself TT. I made this exact point to "she who must be obeyed" on way to game yesterday. There's no excuses at this level for effort and self development after 5 full pre seasons. "Do you want to play footy, mate? I'm not sure if you want to play football, or not. That sort of effort isn't helping your footy club," Brown said. "He needs to start having some sort of urgency around the footy." - Nathan Brown - The Sunday Footy Show. Full article here: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/jack-watts-urged-to-work-harder-20140427-zr0ch.html#ixzz304DKMqmY

Ughh....our only decent player with attacking flair/run off HB and he's out after his return game at Casey for a few minutes. Amazing....should i say it?

I wouldnt want to be the oldest but we sure lack experience against most except the newbies like GWS who on paper we should have knocked over if experience counted for anything. This wont change soon until we find quality ins for some gaping holes chook. How long is a piece of string is the answer i guess.

Me too. And if we can make more of them forward thrusts i think we'll see the i50s improve a bit. Then we just need players to clunk a bit more in there and kick accurately. Severely lacking some good contested marking capability both up forward and around the ground. All easy to say of course. The big Russian might help with contested marks somewhat but probably not in tonight's weather. Big shame re Hulk's back. We really needed another genuine marking option up forward who can kick multiple goals. And not saying he would be our savior here in the short term even if in. Just a handy addition to keep us in games a little longer and possibly win a extra ones throughout the year, taking the focus off Dawes as well and another tall from the opposition to man him up.

Some Rankings and a look at the 2 teams age/experience etc. Please note that games experience/age/weight etc do not include changes for Rnd 6. Average Attributes @ Rnd 5 2014 Demons Attribute Swans 187.4cm Height 186.0cm 87.3kg Weight 87.0kg 24yr 7mth Age 26yr 2mth 61.7 Games 101.9 Total Players By Games @ Rnd 5 2014 Demons Games Swans 12 Less than 50 6 5 50 to 99 4 3 100 to 149 6 2 150 or more 6 Note: Blue Headers indicate Demons ahead, red the Swans. Contested Demons 15 / 131 (Rank/Ave per game) Swans 3 /148 Cats 5 / 147 *League ave 141 Uncontested Demons 10 / 214 Swans 14 / 203 Cats 8 / 219 *League 221 Effective Disposals Demons 11 / 252 Swans 14 / 243 Cats 8 / 262 *League 260 Effective Disposal % Demons 8 / 71.9 Swans 15 / 67.9 Cats 7 / 72.0 *League 71.2 Tackles Demons 14 / 63 Swans 1 / 78 Cats 3 / 74 *League 68 Clangers Demons 8 / 46 Swans 17 / 50 Cats 13 / 48 *League 46 Contested Marks Demons 15 / 7 Swans 8 / 9 Cats 2 / 11 *League 9 i50 Demons 18 / 43 Swans 8 / 51 Cats 1 / 57 *League 50 Marks i50 Demons 13 / 9 Swans 9 / 10 Cats 1 / 16 *League 11 Clearances Demons 18 / 31 Swans 10/ 39 Cats 15 / 36 *League 39 1 %ers Demons 9 / 52 Swans 4 / 55 Cats 12 / 50 *League 51 * League average figures exclude MFC Data: courtesy of Footywire

All this negativity..... a little overwhelming

I'm in total agreement Mono. It's a marginal call slightly in favor of the big Russian IMO. Just out of interest.... Average Contested Marks from 9 games last year for Jamar 1.10 For the 5 Rounds so far this year, Spencil 0.40 Dean Cox, widely regarded as the best in the business, averaging 1.0 per game in season 2014

No biggy Col. Cheers mate

I think you're confusing me with Demon3 as he is now using the same avatar as mine Col. This could spell trouble ~ gulp

We are a fair way off WYL. It's an important factor letting us down week in and week out and has been for a few years now. The Cats are 2nd only to Port Power in "contested marks" averages so far this season. Hawks are 10th here and The Demons 15th. We average approx 20% less contested marks compared to the Hawks and about 63% vs the Cats. Approx 19% less contested marks every week vs the league average.

Yep. Cross and JKH massive positives for me so far. JKH obviously a long road ahead but love the early signs. It's no accident that Cross leads the tackle averages so far this season, 4th in clearances and 6th overall in effective disposals. Let's hope he can keep it up. Been a huge helping hand through the middle so far and is providing Jonesy with a decent chop out.

Agree with this sentiment BB. It's hard to watch some of our boys coming out of the back line at times. Garland might take some pressure off T Mac here though and hopefully free his mind up a little and maybe even guide him a little when it comes to options etc. What we do need is to replace each soldier with a better one. I'm not sure we have too many "better ones" running around at Casey atm. Effective Disposal % is a very questionable stat, especially down back where we see so many junk/panic disposals and strategic switches, but 1 percenters and tackling are a little less questionable (maybe). We should also be looking at these numbers in comparison to League averages (if i had that sort of time and could be bothered). Lets look at some numbers so far down back.... Player Averages Effective Disposal % / Team Ranking Georgiou / 2 Grimes / 6 McDonald / 8 (Ranked 12 up to Rnd 17 last season with 75.1% vs this season so far 76.2%. Slight improvement? AFL average is presently running at approx 70.9% but that's overall. Need to see the one for backline players only). Dunn / 11 Terlich / 12 Pederson / 16 1% ers / Team Ranking McDonald / 1 Pederson / 2 Georgiou / 3 Dunn / 5 Grimes / 7 Terlich / 9 Tackles / Team Ranking Pederson / 6 Terlich / 8 Georgiou / 19 Grimes / 21 McDonald / 23 Dunn / 25 Rebound 50s / Team Rank Grimes / 1 McDonald / 2 Pederson / 3 Terlich / 6 Georgiou / 8 Dunn / 9 (understandable as often designated kicker and sometimes plays forward)