Demon Dynasty

Big fan but not sure he should have continued on into 24. Obviously im not privy to his situation but it would appear his ailment is resulting in a one step forward, 2 steps back result almost every time he hits the track. And even when he does make it back he seems to be mostly in the rehab group in the last 6 months or so if my memory serves me correctly. He's been a solid contributor and helped us to break the drought but all the signs are there. A hard but early decision is the most likely and appropriate outcome for everyone IF he fails to come back strongly from surgery or has even one more significant set back.

Isn't Trac's mid minutes more to do with rotations? This is where i would've loved to have seen Rivers come into the middle for serious mid minutes, effectively substituting for Trac in a significant way. Allowing him to play more substantial minutes forward. I like the Kozzy tag team suggestion and this would make that duo more damaging with the extra time together. Trac was just 'ok' at CBAs in 23, but for mine was slightly more damaging when moved forward. Rivers in could have been a good move to accommodate this. I'm not bullish on Sparrow getting the job done here either (CBA attendances and effectiveness). And alot less on ANB. That's just not his gig and teaching an old dog etc must have some impact on his potential to deliver here surely? Effectively not really on him if he was asked to step into it and it doesn't come off.

Agreed. In isolation it's a severely poor return if the intent was for both to get heavily involved at CBs

Nibbler we can forgive as he probably has very little experience at CBAs. Sparrow on the other hand. We probably need to be patient and wait for the real deal to unfold over the first 6 rounds or so before starting to dissect what appears to be working or not imho. I wouldn't place too much emphasis on this type of hit out. Most players probably had a free ticket to just loosen the cobwebs and run out the game without too many goals / KPIs etc coming into play.

Were a fair percentage of his missed set shots last season a result of not taking his time in the set up? Nonchalantly just waltzing around and shooting at goal. That doesn't mean he always missed under this scenario but i'd love to see the accuracy percentage vs times when he did take his full allotted time. Nor did he always rush these shots. And i'd hazard to guess he kicked more accurately when he did! I also have a gripe here and this is with any player taking a set shot...not just Kozz. That is, unless you're looking to score quickly as time is running out and you're behind, any player taking a set shot needs to use the maximum time allocated wherever possible. This achieves a number of beneficial outcomes imv, including... 1. Player shooting gets to recuperate somewhat which may help with composure and energy when shooting at goal. A foot or two could make all the difference between winning and losing as we witnessed with Clarry's shot against the Blues. Of course Maxy did have an unfortunate hand in spoiling that (literally) and pretty sure Clarry did take his allotted time here so probably did about as good as he could on this occasion. This is certainly no slight on Clarry in this instance whatsoever. But let's say he didn't take his allotted time and his mark was a few yards closer to goal...it could make all the difference under those circumstances. Even the diff between going out in straight sets or into another Prelim! 2. Given the ball is at our scoring end of the ground, a player who takes his full allotted time allows us (as the attacking team) to set up the press as best as possible. Conversely, a quick set shot at goal plays into the oppo's hands as we don't have as much time to set up behind the ball and lock-in the press, offering the opposition more space/time to work the ball out of their defence and potentially transition quite quickly for a quick end-to-end goal! 3. All players get to recover a little more and, given that the ball is in our defensive half, this should (in theory) help our boys to defend the oppo more effectively when they attempt to clear their D50 vs the alternative of a quick kick.

Apparently she started the friendship bracelet thingy many moons ago when only 900 or so ppl attended her concert/s here. Had a tiny bit of success since it seems! I propose changing you're nic to WCS (S = Swifty)... or just Swifty!

Hopefully McQualter will have a fair influence on methods & systems as well as ball movement, transitioning and the modus of delivery coming inside 50 Bubs. Maybe even a slight say in the manner in which we're defending at times. I'd also like to see us release the shackles on offence and play with more run, risk a flair/dare this season. Do we have the skills and high end forward talemt to pull that off though? We looked far too predictable in this part of our game at times throughout 23 i felt the oppo had us easily worked out much of the time. The constant bombing and mostly wide to the left pocket plus May almost always kicking out to the left wing targeting Maxy. A bit of run and carry out of the square wouldn"t hurt at times either? I reckon we are now a work-in-progress with a minor rebuild required and probably at least another two to three seasons away from getting ourselves back into a position to make another prelim. Especially given the injury interruptions to so many forwards to this point.

This is not all that far off the truth DZ and is why some players need to be well 'managed' throughout what is a massively long and gruelling season as well as in-game. Even more so now we have the gather round. Especially the more mature / senior fellas like Viney, Max, Hunter, ANB, Salo & May, to name a few. No doubt the FD & sports division is all over this and managing loads on the track etc. However, i also hope SG & his team have learned from 22 / 23 and use certain matches to ensure the mature fellas get the odd break and freshen them up throughout the season. Hopefully in full readiness for Sept ...IF we get there. Whilst giving some valuable minutes and exposure to worthy recipients (who earn the call up) from Casey. An area i felt was pretty poorly managed last season with too many 'same olds' getting the recall or maintaining their spot even when performance was nowhere near the level required. In some cases for consecutive weeks or months! Having a fit & healthy Clarry well in the mix early on will obviously go a long way to helping carry the heavy mid-field loads and rotations required from match to match. It's a worry we apparently didn't see any CBAs from Rivers today. Along with many others here i thought some time from him through the middle was well and truly due. On the flip side maybe the FD aren't seeing the likely replacment for him coming through as we had hoped. Alternatively they have trialled him on the track and didn't like what they saw so much?

He's struggled ever since he was dropped back to Casey for a short stint last season imho. There's no doubting his endeavour and work rate around stoppages. He works super hard to get space on his opponent and to offer an option but im just not sure he has the skills, power and footy smarts to impact at this level outside of the very odd cameo where he does get off the leash after all the hard work to shake off his direct opponents. Sometimes i feel he works too hard on the shake down part, which then sees him coming up a bit short with ball in hand. His ticket's possibly already spent with the first part of the equation!? Good luck to him in 24. He had a fab start to 23 before dropping away badly. Hopefully he can recapture that early form and hold on to it for most of the season.

Goodwin has been using a very loose rolling zone roughly a kick (or somewhat less) behind the footy for the last 2 seasons, particularly in the 1st quarter of matches and also quite often (but not always) at the start of 2nd halfs. By loose i mean in the first quarter the zone is often (but not always) starting too deep for my liking. Often giving up the first 40/50 meters or so in our F50. And also players guarding grass that are a tad too far away to impact a slightly wayward or mis-directed kick/handball. Works ok against average to lessor oppositions that have more of a tendency to turn the ball over. However, the better oppos have had a field day out of the middle and in transition off HB or FB (kick ins). They just don't fluff their disposal as often either via better skill levels and/or a combo of a lack of intense pressure from us in a full court sense. They also take huge advantage of the first 40 meters or so of almost zero pressure (where we effectively hand them this via the loose zone WHEN Goodwin & Co. decide to utilise it) to quickly work their way to their preferred 'launching' spots. Then hammering home their kicking skills to hit up their targets, which often have the jump on our defenders due to the speed of transition. The speed on the oppo's transition often resulting in more 1 v 1s where our defenders are caught out and any spares unable to make up the ground to provide an assist. The 'lay-off' rolling zone worked a treat in 2021 when we had players capable of closing the grass quickly while giving the appearance they were almost out of the contest sitting off their man somewhat. This close down speed/capability (possibly through a much tighter 'lay-off' zone) resulted in us intercepting, spoiling and causing turnovers more often, then blitzing from decent places into our own 50 for the resulting punishing turnover score/goal and/or repeat entries when implementing the press. For whatever reason, our ability to bring this level hasn't really been apparent (consistently) since the 2nd half of 2022. I can only hope Goodwin wont persist with it in it's same method/modus in 2024, at least not against the best rated clubs anyway. Average to lessor clubs shouldn't matter too much either way. We really won't know whether he is or isn't until we're into about Rnd 4 to 6. Fingers crossed he's adjusted this tactic in a significant way when the real stuff starts in a few weeks. Against the better clubs we need fairly heavy pressure and a much tighter zone starting from the first kick in (from a behind) all the way up the field if we're to prevent some of the 'run on' blow outs we witnessed over the last 18 months. This will hopefully result in the better oppos turnIng the ball over more often in more dangerous places to provide us with better looks and potentially higher scoring opportunities. Which should = more wins! The forward stocks continue to be a real worry though given the number of injuries and potential decent players who are either out and/or struggling to stay on the park.

So aside from the back half, which will surely improve as the season rolls on.... looks like more of the same through the middle and into F50 aka 22/23. Windsor will hopefully slowly move in to a wing role and/or fight for that spot with Howes depending on the progress of Hunter. And one of the most glaring deficiencies in 22/23, no CHF but instead using small HHFs, small-mediums & mediums to try and hold down such an imprtant KP role ughh. I guess this role would (in the past) be shared amongst the likes of T-Mac & BBB. But alas their best appears to be now well behind them. No zip out of the middle and still exiting (mostly) in straight lines into 50 allowing the oppo defenders a pretty straight forward look instead of heading out wide when Koz isn't in there in order to change the angles coming inside? Robbing Peter by using Kozzy in the middle for significant minutes (which i actually like) but then missing his chase down pressure i50 when he isn't there and watching the oppo waltz the ball out with relative ease? As you said...we need 2 or 3 of Koz. Schache nowhere to be seen when the heat is on? Haven't seen a minute of the scratches yet so i'll stop there before i dig too big a hole. Will review later 😄

Ah yes...the wonders of the wilderness

Or maybe you just have better taste and were recalling a much better era of music Red. We must excuse all swifties, for they know not what they're doing!

Not even a mind as brilliant as yours would have been able to conjure up those two gems Rab!

Wod just to set the record straight, from my experience there is no "walking" to Casey. There is hot stepping across lilly pads via marshy ponds and sloshing through the boggy everglades before finally arriving at said entrance. Ok maybe Summer is an exception!

Apparently the Filth collect the used ones off the streets and recycle them as underwear Step (over) one...Get Some!

Sadly May also has a terrible shank when kicking for goal and almost always misses to the left. Unless that was somehow corrected over this pre-season then me thinks this flaw alone would be enough to scare off the coaches / FD from ever giving this any serious consideration. Not to mention the 'robbing Peter' part you mentioned. When fully fit and firing he is def the best 1 v 1 defender going around imv. As they say, "when you're on a good thing..."

There are very few built like Jack though 55!

Appreciate all the detailed reports here. Thanks to PF, Brennon, WCW & anyone else i might have missed. Just to confirm, Maysie left the track after 20 min or so yes? If so that is a real concern. Might be best to put him in cotton wool for a while, fully assess and go from there? Last thing we need is May breaking down with a nagging niggle throughout the season. No Petty, May and/or Clarry early would be a real bummer.

https://fb.watch/pWzwGIScff/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Probably everyone's just being super cautious here and any sign of a niggle he's under instruction to just play it safe from a training perspective. Full assessment after a scan and then he rolls with the outcome, advice and his own feelings about it from there. Finger's crossed on May's groin niggle. Sounded like he was on track for a great pre-season.

Would love to see him groomed to play a HF role in 2024 IF Salem's on target to complete a super pre-season (for a change!). Most likely won't happen though, which would be a real shame. Emphasis on finishing around the sticks is more critical with Melk being out for the bulk of the season. Salem, and to a lessor degree Marty, Disco and Hunter (if fit), should be able to cover off on Bowser's role reasonably well. Rivers / Billings / Howes could surely cover Hunter's 2023 wing role and will provide more dash, penetration and finish coming inside anyway. Something that was sorely missing for us in 22/23, especially the finish coming inside off both wings!

He's a natural winger., good two way runner and a smart ball user coming inside. Hope the FD don't see him as a HB instead and waste his silk there. I umderstand starting him there in the short term as an entre' but not for long. Need to fix the connection conundrum and Howes will play a big part in that solution IF he's groomed to play there (hopefully sooner than later).

Maybe a tad prem but that would be exciting. Certainly looks like a class winger in the making (touch wood).

Great to hear but i'm taking this week by week. Fingers crossed. Smith likely to be listed as such for the rest of 24 surely? Somewhat concerning. Hopefully no set back here. Looking to the rest of the reports from track watchers here with much interest.