Demon Dynasty

Can someone with a smarter footy brain than i please explain to me why Barty (who's supposedly our best hard tagger) wasn't moved onto Rich early in the 3rd as he started to break the game open for the Lions?? I realise there were other players (Black etc) who also needed to be closed down but to me Rich was their "main man" who started most of the run and line breaking etc. Yet we continued to persist with the same Barty match up

Hasn't performed anywhere near his standard before the injury last year. Must be a real worry for Neeld & FD. One dimensional at the center bounces, most of the time he wins the contest he brings the ball to his feet which is mostly an "at best" neutral outcome for us. Doesn't tap (or punch!) to advantage often enough and mostly the ball ends up at his feet. No class around him to tap to in today's team anyway. Beamer et al, still bombing in hope i50 (or tumble punting the ball towards boundary line) etc. Need to move Martin into the middle from next week if we're to have any chance of winning a few games and provide some hope and develop the mid field (both players/new & old as well as the game style) in a positive (WINNING) manner from here. I would bring Fitzy in to replace Jamar from here. Jamar's a liability at this point. Fitzy far from ready, and doesn't necessarily offer a better alternative (maybe worse lol), but needs AFL game time/experience and for Neeld/FD to see what he "might" be able to offer us at this level. Jamar needs to go back to the VFL and try to find his old form (hopefully). I don't say this just on today's game either. Jamar just hasn't shown anything since his return. He's had enough opportunities already IMO and isn't progressing. P.S. Where's his contested marking ability gone? (not alone!)

Too one dimensional, too predictable and too slow with long bombs continually going from HBF to HFF and in many cases losing the pill there only to see it come "fast" rebounding back over the press out the back for a relatively easy Lion goal. No poise or kicking to advantage (or hitting up regular lead up targets) coming inside 50, not enough clearances from the middle. When we did clear around the middle or HF to i50, we mostly just kicked it high in panick and hope. Same as last year, same players doing the same old. Brisbane dominated clearances, spread, run and carry once the ball was brought to ground, which was most of the time, especially around our HF line. The only way to win that sort of game style (ie., losing control of the game when the ball hits the ground after an aerial pack contest following long bombs) is to dominate in the contested marking contests within those packs or instead, don't bomb it and instead look to continually hit up leading targets around the ground. The other alternative is to run it off HB, spread and carry, break lines and linkup to score goals on the run and counter their run and carry with an attacking style of game. We either did none of these things or tried (long bombs hoping for contested marks maybe...or alternatively to win the stopages thereafter?) and failed much more than we succeeded. In addition, after half time, we were either unwilling or unable to work hard enough (when we didn't have the ball) to pressure the ball carrier to cause turnovers anywhere near the standard required at this level. Pressure on the ball carrier after half time.... not AFL standard. Maybe 3 to 5 players walked off with an "ok" game under their belt after today, maybe 1 and at best 2 of those could say they showed something (Magner being one... 0 AFL games!).

No As obvious a "holding the ball" as i've ever seen, nothing else happening within 10 meters to distract the umpires eye either. And the 2nd man "over the mark" in the forward pocket ....TWICE....after Clarke's first goal was disallowed and a replay ordered. Umpire went missing in both cases. But also, where were Melbourne's players remonstrating to the umpire to pull that 2nd lion further away from the mark against Clarke?? Top clubs players do this often and do it with passion, they don't lie down and just accept poor umpiring, they let the umpires know about it big time. We allow ourselves to be dominated by everyone on the field, including the umps. We are not even close to doing the little things that the top clubs do "on the field" at this point in so many aspects, this being just one minor part.

Melbourne vs Brisbane Round 1, 2012 – Team Stats Total games played Demons - 1,619 Lions – 1,629 Games Average Demons - 74 Lions – 74 Height Average Demons - 188cm Lions – 188cm Weight Average Demons - 87kg Lions – 86kg Number of players by category 0-49 Games Demons - 9 / 23 (number of players/average games played) Lions - 10 / 20 50-99 Games Demons - 6 / 76 Lions - 5 / 68 100+ Games Demons – 7 / 140 Lions - 7 / 156 Stats courtesy of footywire.com

I thought the old "Jamie Bennell" (where is he at/what do we do with him) thread might take AT LEAST least 3 to 4 matches to appear this year! AMAAAAZING! P.S. I wouldn't say too much more here guys..... unless you wanna get Old Dee started....HUUUUGE Bennell fan and he'd be getting up about now!! ~ Gulp

No Hard.....just NO!

The re-mastered sped up version sounds to me like "the once fabulous Fable Singers" have been over dubbed and overly auto tuned or just digitised to the sheizenhouzen! Way too gay! Music is too fast versus the original, which has authority, depth and kicks the new versions ARSE! When i first heard this version on S.E.N. a few years back i thought it was them having a crack at us being seen on the field as soft or something. I even sent a complaint, but then realised the club was peddling this crap lol. Why do we continually change our heritage every other year anyway? Jumpers, Colours, Song, Logo. Just leave the bloody things alone! And i want me RED back!! We ain't and never will be the roy boys (yeh i know we had a similar maroon back around the turn of the last century but hec.....leave it for the heritage week would ya!). If we keep changing the basis of what defines us "every other year" no one will have any idea who we are soon, including ourselves! Bloody wet eared marketing graduates trying to make a name for themselves....GRRR! Ok...that's Rusty's Rant for this week.

Good to hear. Thanks Condemned. A decent start to the season and we're on our way. Just wondering why we haven't got a radio push going atm? Many other clubs out there have been spruiking in a big way the last few weeks. Or have we, am i just listening to the wrong station (S.E.N. mostly)?

A privilege to be there with my brother. I didn't see any past players although we did spot "Ballee" (as me and bro used to call him) from our crazy fanatical days with the gang in the outer a few decades back, walking through the throng. I wonder if he's on here? I kept my eye out for WYL, but no luck. Went to the Transport bar afterwards for a scotch as per Jimmy's request. Y & J's sounded like the place to go but nvm. Very humbling listening to Bryan and i thought Garry's "lighter" eulogy was well timed and a nice touch. What a fighter and super bloke our Jim was. R.I.P. big fella

A definite must if we're going to snare the big one. We have to dominate in all aspects of the game in order to beat our opponents at the highest level, including the hardness factor. We should be playing "Like Demons" every week anyway i would've thought. Hopefully this will be one of Neeld's non negotiables for ALL players wishing to pull on the red and the blue from here. We have some tough fellas, eg., Tappy, McKenzie, Beamer and Jones. But Beamer seems to be the only antagonist in most games, so maybe time for a little more "agro" and "fly the flag" licence given to the others listed above as well as Jamar/Sylvia etc

"A Tribute to Jim Stynes".... GEM Chanel 90 tonight at 10.40pm for those who haven't seen it

I have no idea what Neeld and the FD are expecting from Watts in the medium to long-term. Maybe they have no fixed position at this point and are still assessing the player and the best role for him, and then the best role for him within the current team confines/requirements. Maybe they have a firm idea already. Who knows. The 2 obvious options though are, as you said, a KPF or a half forward playing a high lead up game, drifting into the mid mid field (probably wide at this point). In addition he'll no doubt be used in various other positions in the short term, as seen fit by Neeld & co. as a utility. In the next 1 to 2 seasons I can't see his role changing in a big way from its present one, unless Neeld/ the FD and of course Watts himself are able to bulk him up big time from where his body is atm in order to place him in a KPF role. If the FD (and i don't include Neeld/Craig here as they've only just walked in the door) had him marked as a future KPF (pre Neeld) then to date they've done a pretty average job in building a body on him that would allow him to play that role from later this year or next IMO. And you would think by next year (year 5 and 3 full pre seasons under his belt) this would be pretty close to happening. However, he's at least 2 to 3 pre-seasons away from playing and holding down a KPF posi on a regular basis IMO. So that would put him in a potential KPF role from 2014 at the earliest, IF he can build a body that allows him to play it. Maybe they never had him marked in such a role. Others on here and obviously within the club would know where they saw him in the medium to long term prior to Neeld arriving i'm sure. So that leaves him playing a half forward/playing high/hit up/ and an outside utility role, occasionaly drifting across HB as well when needed. Maybe he'll end up turning into more of a Gazza type player by the time he fully develops in 2 to 3 years, rather than a KPF. If he's being positioned into this type of role then i suspect his playing style wont change all that much from what he's doing atm. Obviously he should, and more than likely will, get a whole lot better at it and could be quite a big star playing this sort of role. However, there's also still time to mould and build him as a KPF too under Neeld. He'll need to take some big leaps forward in building his physique in the next few years though if he's going to be successful here. A big leap in power/size and strength will help him mentally to play this role for longer periods in future, and with a heap more confidence when hitting those packs hard. If he puts his mind, and body to it, i believe he can be successful in either role. He still needs to build the bod even if he's heading for a more outside role. Not telling anyone anything new here but he (along with others at this stage of their development, no he isn't alone!!) gets pushed off the ball too easily a little too often in the hard contests atm and having a stronger/bigger physique will also help him stick more tackles. He's a work in progress that shows glimpses of something special during patches of a game. Nothing unusual for a player at this stage of his development playing in such a high level. This will improve as his tank and physique improves no doubt. We know Wattsy has plenty of class once he gets the ball and uses it well. Unfortunately he doesn't have many friends here, so i guess the FD need him to play the utility role around the ground until or unless they find serious alternative classy ball users/disposers, allowing Watts to play a different role more of the time. My gut feel is, if Neeld and the boys can develop 2 or 3 of those alternatives in the mid field (eg., Gysberts/Couch/Magner/Others) and 1 or 2 off half back (Blease/Others?) over the next year or 2, then Wattsy will gradually be moved more towards a KPF type role. If these options don't come on as Neeld & co. might expect or we can't find enough of them, then expect Watts to remain playing his present utility/occasional outside forward role for most of the time....for quite some time. Either way, he's gonna be a beauty mate eh! B)

In under Rusty-Nails

Yep. Maybe a good end of season topic me thinks

Good post. Don't hold your breath though Jnr. Might take a while

Not at all. An ideal time to trial non-key aspects of specific strategies. Everyone (even 2nd tier players who might not be considered in the starting 22 but who might force their way into the seniors sometime into the season either through super form or as a replacement for suspension/injury) needs "game time" to practice their role in whatever strategies are being tested. And the NAB cup is an ideal testing ground. Nothing to lose as long as you aren't showing your full hand to the opposition. Even if you were showing a good part of your strategic hand, the opponent's never going to really know if you only had half your expected 22 on the park eh. And why not ask them to go hard and try put a win on the board for the team while they're at it. But you're taking what i said out of context a little HG. I only said it was a ...."decent "indicator" of parts thereof"... of Neelds bag of tricks versus the other NAB matches. I agree in the sense that it certainly wasn't a true or great indicator by any means of his full quota.

Neeld and Craig wouldn't be so naive to show the opposition key aspects of what we've been seriously trialing in the off season in any NAB game IMO. But yeh, the Pies game would be a decent "indicator" of parts thereof, given that Neeld has a pretty 'personal' interest in the outcome (psychologically) being first time up against his old comrade (competition) at his former stomping ground.

Might be something to this. Victoria isn't doing so well in the economic stakes versus some of the mining based states atm. And besides, lets face it, we've never been one of the well-to-do clubs out there $$ wise in the past. Even when we've had a little success. Always bemuses me when other supporters call us silver spooners, snow goers etc. We have our % share of well-to-do members/supporters like other clubs, but nothing like the numbers existing in the top 4 to 5 clubs from what i've seen in my travels. So many opposition supporters travelling around with personalised number plates...Bombers, Pies, Saints, Richmond and Hawks in their beamers, audi's, Caprices etc. We have em too sure, but dwarfed in comparison i reckon. Jimma's spirit is now well embedded and infused both in and outside the club. Even more so now obviously. And with extra efforts from existing members to purchase extra memberships where they can afford and other people donating some to Reach people etc etc, It's only going to grow from here. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict 45,000+ members by close off this year. This club is about to launch like never before. We're about to witness an amazing dynasty, both on and off the field over a number of decades which will cement this club to its rightful place as one of the powerhouses of the AFL. I certainly don't expect this to take place 'on field' in one season either. But the beginnings will be clearly visible by year's end. Mighty Demons Forever! B)

Wow. I was thinking exactly those thoughts and words this morning Juzz as i was contemplating the loss and thinking of the positives to take from his life and efforts. Nice post

Read the warning last night but still shocked. What an inspiration to so many. Only met once but feel very privileged to have had that opportunity now. Ty for so many memories and your amazing efforts on the field. Hall of Fame Legend not far away big Jimma Condolences to family and close friends

Good info re other teams having "true" crumbing forwards. Although some of them i'd see as mid sized forwards rather than "small" crumbers as per the banner. I don't see Jurrah in this role for us though. Sorry but i'm still not convinced about Jurrah producing on a consistent basis most weeks let alone trying to play a small crumber's role. I agree, we definitely need a fast small crumber like Stokes/Betts to feed of the clunkers like Clarke and our other "many" mid sized forwards that rotate through there IMO. It's not a choice of class mids versus a small crumber either. We desperately need both and will probably need to give away some decent players (Sylvia, Martin, others?) and maybe a few draft picks to get them.

Thanks Macca. As you've no doubt already realised, there was no scientific basis for any of the points i put forward lol. I hear what your saying though re just hitting the track and sweating it out and going hard. No doubt Neeld and the boys will be on top of all the fitness/conditioning side etc. Will be very interesting watching the next few years unfold that’s for sure.

Yep. That's a decent alternative. My only issue with that song is the main message. Not that we haven't been there many times already!

Yeh....that's the one Hell Cheers