Demon Dynasty

Yeh, i heard from an inside source that he's moved away from 'chalk and talk' to 'differentiated instruction' ...so he must be a 'good teacher'!

First para....ya. Nice. 2nd para... ummm....not sure i'd rank Bailey an equal to or better coach than Sheedy at the time the decision was made. Whether he was the correct person for the job or not is another matter depending on the MFC's criteria/decision making processes/budget etc.

How about as Director of Coaching??

I find it offensive that you're connecting a player not quite right with my name. In future i would ask you to consider this before using it so loosely! B)

Nice lol. I have a strong feeling this may have happened to us and other lessor clubs a few times before BZ. Seems we haven't learnt much. Next planet China maybe?? Hang on we went there already didn't we Maybe that's what we were planning/doing while the AFL was shafting everyone over the GCS/GWS arrangement

Which double standards lol? What guilt lol? You're use of the word guilt implies that anyone that doesn't quite respond in the manner which you (and RPFC) approve of must be guilty of a Demonland offence! (teehee) Wasn't saying you're denying them a right as such, just comments from you and RPFC that allude to the fact that most comments on this re: Scully not being played if he hasn't signed are crap and those writing them are full of crap lol. I was one of them although what i was saying was press for a more definite outcome by pushing for an 'in principle' agreement in the next 4 weeks. If it falls over, and he refuses to sign, IMO he's shown his hand. If so, we then look to get 8 -10 games into alternatives. Nathan Thompson said exactly the same this evening on SEN just out of interest. Not that his backing makes it a sound argument. As for my use of comic sans.....heyy....it got a response out of you Rhino. That's a pretty good reason i reckon! Oh, if you dislike it so much.....you could always get it removed as a font option! Ummm....the IMO bit means you're kind of joking yeh?

Sorry Rhino/RPFC but you're missing the point boys. It's about us getting our hands on a pretty nice prospect No.1 draft pick and potentially losing him a few years later, without any compensation. Thanks to the machinations and greediness of the AFL to expand the competition at all costs. I think Davey and Sylvia were priority pick and rookie draft pick no. 3s at the time yes? And i would like to think we should expect reasonable compensation for both of them as well if they were to move on. In the end the massive conjecture re: Scully staying or going would be lessened somewhat as an issue generally, were we not likely to be shafted in the process and instead were likely to be duly compensated for him signing to a newly created club. Or alternatively, we had received a fair return on him on the field in terms of many years of service/output/performance (eg., Ablett's contribution to the Cats) as well as compensation. Also, last time i looked, people are free to express their views on this site aren't they? What makes the two of you so sanctimonious on this issue? People might be wrong, the might be right, they might be somewhere in between with their views. They should have a right to at least be heard. Who knows, along the way we might all learn a thing or two. I know i am. Some very good contributors on this site who add value and excellent views/feedback. Yeah i make mistakes too and i speak dribble sometimes no doubt. But along the way i'm learning from some of you. Including you and RPFC at times. Cheers B)

Fair point. Probably not. But, how about an 'in principle' agreement subject to a review of the terms of pay after the CBA is done? Where there's a will there's usually a way isn't there? I'm sure they could come to some arrangement in principal subject to the finer details of the CBA. There's also maybe the Pratt option for some sort of work arrangement after football...ahem If there's a severe falling out at that point and they can't deal, sure, maybe GWS wins out and after much sweat and tears we lose him. But at least until then the never ending and constantly growing conjecture/speculation is deadened somewhat so that Scully and rest of the players can focus on the 2nd half of this season.

I agree. The MFC can only pay him what they can afford going forward. They must have some idea at this point what this is approximately or am i jumping the gun showing my contract/football club/trading ignorance?? It's time to stop f%&ing around and bring in the commitment sledgehammer. If Scully's so committed/loyal to this club it's time to sign. Give him your best deal/contract MFC/FD/Schwab and lets hammer a deal in the next 4 weeks. If it can't be done and he doesn't want to sign i say he gets no more senior game time thereafter. Loyalty amounts to actions not words or delay of negotiations/contract signing. If he wont sign or isn't happy with the deal then IMO he's shown his hand. Demitriou is half right. If we didn't like the options given to GCS/GWS we (and possibly other weaker/lessor Vic clubs who thought it was a crappy outcome for Vic clubs going forward) should have made a stand before allowing the AFL to push this through like the big bully or dictator they are. Nicely said btw Kennett...for first time i can recall you've said what many (but not all i'm sure) followers believe. The club is bigger than one man. Ablett Jnr., in my opinion, unsettled the Cats with this staying/going nonsense right through 2010. He should have been a man and stood up and just said half way through last season (at the latest) "boys, i've made a very hard decision.... i'm heading off. Time for the Geelong FD to blood a rooky or a senior rooky" The Scully Saga is now having the same unsettling/draining/deflating effect on this club IMO. And by the way, surely Ox could have given his old club 2 bloody days before releasing his big Scully revelation! What a dunderhead. No way someone like Dermie or Daics would undermine their club the day before such a big game like that. Instead, they'd be down there firing them up and giving their support (or at least offering it), such as Dermie's 'line in the sand' rev up at half time in 2004, when the Hawks were said to have had a soft underbelly....ring a bell anyone!!?? Yeh, we should be bigger than that, it shouldn't worry us, we should be more professional blah blah blah, but some of our boys may well have had Ox as their idol growing up and some of them may watch the show/read papers etc. Some of them may have 'believed' or still do, that he's staying....or maybe they were totally focused on the big game they hadn't thought about it much of late. Only takes 1 or 2 to be slightly affected and the rot starts to spread. You don't think this crap unsettles some of the younger pups or could have had some effect before the game Monday? I told him so too on SEN yesterday. Bloody selfish act with absolutely no gain for anyone other than to big note himself...."look at me...look at me....i told you first right here on the 7 Footy show"! Woopy fricken doo Ox!! It's been doing the rounds for months mate! How bout sticking fat and giving something back to the club and the supporters who gave you so much over so many years and waiting 2 fricken days for your huge announcement!! You can still make it and big note yourself, whilst also taking into account your former background and loyalties and the importance of the game that was about to take place. As you can see, i'm [censored] enough on this to give him a second spray! If we lose picks/compensation by taking the above option IMO we just have to suck it. We had our chance to stand up to the AFL earlier and we didn't. If you don't stand up to the school bully at some point, then you gotta expect to get your face rubbed in the dirt from time to time eg., Sylvia's broken jaw with no one even sighted/Trengove 3 weeks for a tackle with no prior record/Scully to GWS without any compensation etc. If he doesn't or isn't signing, at least we can get 8 - 10 more games into someone that is going to be here.....or alternatively we finally get an answer and move on with the rest of the year....fully focused on the game itself and the development of ALL players.

Good point on Brown/Maxwell. If we're aware of it then the FD and players should be all over it. Hard to counter obviously. Will be interesting how it pans out tomorrow. I just feel if we try and stretch them up forward with the Gawn factor early. Might mean they have to change up their regular game plan a little. Yes, with lots of wishful thinking, this could mean Maxwell not playing quite as loose and worrying him into playing a little deeper defensively in order to be the 3rd man up against Gawn etc, or maybe forcing Brown to man up on him for a period. Hard enough covering their 2 monsters down forward, let alone the 3rd random like Brown coming in. If so, this should (one can only hope) mean less opportunity for Brown to make those forward runs/thrusts as often. Or alternatively maybe less opportunity for Maxwell to get as many free possessions, and when he is getting them he's trying to set up play from deeper in his defense (provided Gawn's playing out of the goal square), hopefully nullifying his freelance style of play in his usual 'half back loose man' role. Even if it only works for 30 - 40 minutes of the game. Every little bit helps. There's so many factors that will need to go right for us tomorrow though. In particular, forward pressure inside our 50. Really looking forward to it. Carn the Demons!

The Pies are a footy machine with the likes of Swan and Thomas in obviously. Question is will the machine be as well oiled without these two key play makers as well as their No. 1 ruckman missing? Looking across the lines i think we break even through the mid field or possibly a marginal win here. If so, it then comes down to our forward line applying enough pressure to keep the ball inside our 50 often enough and long enough to counter the offensive dominance/muscle of the Pies and their ability to run through lines and deliver from their half back area. They love to spread and use the whole ground. It'll be interesting to see if we can cover this constant spread strategy tomorrow and apply enough pressure to force the stoppages/turnovers and go back the other way. We did it pretty well against the Dons. Pies are at a different level of course. My main concern tomorrow, apart from the likes of Shaw, Didak, Dawes, Pendlebury and Cloak (as if that isn't enough of a headache) is what does Bailey and the FD do with Gawn and Watts? Does Gawn play a role similar to last week as a back up to Martin, or do we play him down forward as a decoy but also to try and stretch the Pies defensively (height/match up wise) and TRY to unsettle them down back as much as possible. Gawn to me is a very big potential X factor here that just might be capable of taking the Pies out of their normal defensive game plan/comfort zone. I'm not saying he can or would be a match winner. Not at all. Just add that X factor....maybe. And yes i realise he played forward last week too. Just i'd like to see him open there if starting or at least start there when/if he comes off the bench rather than straight into the ruck. I just hope we don't see him down back to start off the game in some kind of negative role to try and shut down one of their talls. Would be sending a very 'defensive' type message to the Pies i feel. I would see this as highly unlikely however given his role last week. If the FD has to do so as the game develops then so be it, he just has to play the role asked of him i guess. In tomorrows game, i really wouldn't like to see Watts up forward much as i don't see him being able or capable (at this point in his development) of applying enough physical pressure to our opponents when we lose possession in this area. He seems to be growing in confidence week by week off half back at this point and I'd like to see that continue tomorrow, rather than asking for a 'break out' style of performance just for tomorrows game in order to 'show them pies' what he's made of etc. I think it comes down to the opening 10 - 15 minutes tomorrow in terms of what the Demons bring to the table. It's gotta be a huge statement IMO in order to set the scene. I would use a subtle reminder that they shouldn't take being called a cheat lightly, from anyone. And i'm talking the down and dirty stuff....but with finish on the score board when we get the chance. If everyone's committed to the same cause tomorrow, lead by Beamer/Jonesy/Sylvia/Martin through the middle (fingers crossed) then anythings possible. If Sylvia is not 100% then i'll be thinking twice about things. I think he's that much of a key for us tomorrow. As i believe he was last year against this mob. He'll need to bring his A game if he is completely fit. We should be ripe. Time for the boys to make a statement that they've arrived and are no longer the whipping boys of the AFL with some no-nonsense, in your face, but classy finish football. Subject to injury/luck, maintaining a solid structure down back, and applying/maintaining significant forward pressure, then the Demons for mine. 3 to 4 goals. B) Mighty Demons Forever!

I think that's pretty correct. I posted the basic experience stats on the 'pinned' Melb/Coll preview post up the top of the forum which is much more readable. Sorry bout the quality of this. Nothing worse than trying to decipher a mess of stats. I have an excel/word version if anyone would like me to send them a copy. Just leave your email details via my profile if you'd like and i'll send to you this evening/ASAP.

Arghh. The table didn't post properly. Oh well. I tried lol. Mods can you delete this thread please. Soz B)

I'm just putting this out there as a very basic line by line look at experience between the teams tomorrow for anyone who might be interested. This may be a one off depending on the response it gets or the lack thereof lol. Please note that this is the team line ups as named. I'm not expecting the teams to line up exactly in this order obviously. There's so many variables in terms of where they might start, i haven't the time to start guessing and shifting the match ups. I'd love to include other stats across the lines also and possibly weight them for each position in order to arrive at some sort of comparable 'player rating or ranking' so we can view it pre-match. Stats such as clearances, contested possessions, effective disposals, tackles, contested marks, hit outs to advantage etc. Would take serious time commitment though and not sure how much value it would add, if any, other than for mere curiosity purposes. Then again, we might just find a magic formula for predicting wins/losses and make a fortune lol. Not that i'm condoning betting or anything of that nature The stats below are purely total games played so far for each player and across each line and the differences between us and the our arch enemy. Stats courtesy of footywire.com. Cheers. Total Games Surplus/Deficit by line BL: Davis 212 O'Brien 121 Reid 39 372 FL: Bennell 43 Sylvia 112 Green 230 385 Positional Surplus/Deficit -169 -9 191 13 HBL: Toovey 76 Maxwell 147 Shaw 125 348 HFL: Howe 1 Watts 28 Gysberts 11 40 Positional Surplus/Deficit -75 -119 -114 -308 C: Goldsack 59 Sidebottom 46 Wellingham 62 167 C: Scully 22 Moloney 118 Jurrah 27 167 Positional Surplus/Deficit -37 72 -35 0 HFL: Tarrant 242 Dawes 40 Krakouer 111 393 HBL: Morton 55 Rivers 116 Strauss 3 174 Positional Surplus/Deficit -187 76 -108 -219 FL: Didak 192 Cloke 134 Brown L 231 557 BL: Nicholson 2 Frawley 70 Macdonald 101 173 Positional Surplus/Deficit -190 -64 -130 -384 Foll: Wood 52 Pendlebury 112 Ball 176 340 Foll: Martin 38 Trengove 25 McKenzie 25 88 Positional Surplus/Deficit -14 -87 -151 -252 Int: McCarthy 13 Buckley 27 Fasolo 0 Blair 21 61 Int: Jones 102 Gawn 1 Jetta 27 Evans 3 133 Positional Surplus/Deficit 89 -26 27 -18 72

Melbourne vs Collingwood Round 12, 2011 - Experience Stats Total games played by Team Demons - 1,160 Magpies – 2,238 Average games played per player Demons - 53 Magpies - 102 Average games played by category 0-49 (games played) Demons - 18 / 14 (average games/number of players) Magpies - 27 / 7 50-99 Demons - 63 / 2 Magpies - 62 / 4 100+ Demons – 130 / 6 Magpies - 164 / 11 If you'd like me to include something else or look at something else for comparison purposes feel free to give me a holler and I'll try. Cheers

Nice post Scoop Dermie mentioned the lateral movement aspect when he was asked about his thoughts on Tom Hawkins recently and his inability to take the next step in his development. Basically said he was restricted to being a lead up (straight line) forward who struggled with lateral movement. In Dermie's opinion, one of the significant differences between a good forward and a great forward. Probably a significant attribute for any forward really, not only medium sized. Even the largest of the large forwards, Plugger, was able to use lateral movement to his (and the team's) advantage on many occasions from what i remember of him. Ok maybe straight lines but at least in a lateral sense lol. I liked what i saw on Fri eve....but i'm gonna keep a lid on it a little until i've seen a good chunk of him under fire. Also recall getting highly excited about a debutant in the early 90's who had an amazing 4th & 5th game, and his 6th wasn't bad either. A total of 19 goals in 3 matches. Speckys allover the place! Pretty much downhill thereafter. Not saying they have anything in common. A long time ago too. Just saying....EZY now!

Hope he doesn't rub it in our face again! I'll throw a wobbly!

Nah. Think Swan and his mates might be goin over to do a little community service or maybe some low altitude training instead! (see link below)..... Arizona Fires

SWEEEEET RP..... and even that's more than it deserves!

+1 Dan. Much better option than relegation which AFL will never consider and is not even worth discussing. Details would need to be worked out but other than that.... BRING ON THE CONFERENCE!!!

2nd that. IMO the worst football commentator to get a gig on radio/tv. How the hec did he get this gig anyway? I always switch off whenever i hear him on. Gaze/Watson aren't much better on that morning show, maybe worse, but at least they've played at the highest level of their sport. I'm not saying you have to have played at that level to commentate, but you have to be able to add some value and have reasonable command of the English language surely eg., Gerard Whateley and Anthony Hudson.

Hope so WYL. The spirit of the MFC might return with this long overdue honor. In the end it has to come from within the 22 running around for the Red & Blue though. Some good signs on Friday evening. Fingers (and toes!) crossed that we are on the cusp of a new era at the club.

MRP is answerable to the AFL. Pies are the jewel in their Vic crown and the heavy weight (ie., biggest money earner/spinner). IMO the AFL would more than likely want the best possible outcome for their heavy weight favourites both Vic and interstate. Provided of course the incident isn't too controversial or likely to be questioned to the point of being embarrassing. At worst.... he gets off with a fine/reprimand. Preferred outcome would be no sighting at all. That way the MRP avoids the scrutiny/controversy if he gets off with fine/reprimand and Daisy is still in the Brownlow running. Demons and other lessor Vic clubs (in the eyes of the AFL.... this is only my opinion/gut feel...i hope i'm wrong on this) are fair game and likely to be scape goated in such incidents in order to demonstrate that they're upholding the goodwill and spirit of the game (eg., Trengove incident... 3 week fiasco).

6 - McKenzie (amazing tank, tackling/intensity and 2nd 3rd efforts. Potential upside....scary) 5 - Rivers (best game in years. Getting back to his solid best) 4 - Martin (led the way from the 1st bounce with many first touches and nice disposal to advantage. Improving tank/efforts/execution slowly each week. Best game for mine so far) 3 - Jones (led the way with the intensity and attack on the ball carrier all day. Capable of taking himself to a new level from here if he keeps this up) 2 - Gysberts (couldn't split with Bennell...2 each if i could. Great link man and line running. A few more pre-seasons to build tank and body & to start sticking some tackles and... HELLO!) 1 - Bennell (sublime finish both outside & in close. Option selection 1st rate in most cases. Burnt off opponents giving us that extra chaos and unpredictability creating space & time for others to work their magic. And dare i say it, straightens us up through the middle when he's thereabouts with his ability to find players running forward!) Apologies to MacDonald, Moloney, Jetta, Evans (amazing 3rd game and great work rate!) & Howe (adds an extra dimension to our forward line and some good work up the ground as well! Loved his attack on the ball and carrier. Exciting 1st up game.)

~ Thinks this means Choco's predicting a draw. Not sure my nerves can handle another one!