Young Blood

An obvious but welcome statement. At least this we can all collectively agree on 100% Only thing I am glad for is we get another prelim at the G I can go to and hopefully live in the flesh watch Collingwood get smashed. Kind of hoping its Brisbane just because they're the most likely to tear the filth apart.

Amen. I'm not keeping my hopes up, but if we could get Jimmy in this role, it's going to go a very long way for us, supporters, in rebuilding some faith and trust with this football department/club.

There's just no way Freo will entertain a trade with what we would be offering. Kozzy was our only pathway to even starting the conversation. Jackson was the 11th highest rated player in the comp this year (just behind Nasiah). He's 24 yrs right in his prime, coming off his best year. He will continue to get better. Skies the limit with this kid. Move on.

I don't mind the idea of Lews getting 'involved' but would have concern about us hiring him as an assistant coach straight away. I think Lewis has one of the best football brains currently in the media (alongside Bucks) but there's a difference between having a sound opinion and great set of ideas/plan and then executing these with a coaching leadership role. That takes practice and experience. I think if Lewis wants to do that one day then he'll thrive. Not opposing you here Ted as I'm sure he'd be way better then most as you say but I feel like this team needs assistants (especially if Bucks is hired) that have recently been in a competitive successful team/role. Someone who has current up to date knowledge of whats working internally in the AFL and can bring that to this team and implement it effectively. As a somewhat related side note I didn't like the Jones hire this year. Love the man and what he's done for the club but felt he was brought in as more of a familiar support person. While Radford was our main midfield coach, Jones was simply there as a respected peer type figure to keep our recently problematic mids in check with positive reinforcement. Now that Radford has left I wonder what Jones' role will be and if he's required moving forward. I'm sure he's learnt a lot from the coaches box and has good footy knowledge but unlike Lewis it certainly wasn't as evident in his media appearances last year. Often it was stating the plainly obvious instead of more in-depth analysis.

I'd be curious if the DL pod crew have watched much of other top 8 teams of late and how they're playing rolling into finals. Are there any teams in particular you think think have maybe similar personel or a game style that Melbourne could aspire to get to in future seasons? I find it fascinating watching how teams adapt in games especially when the corridor is shut down by the opposition. Which is what happened in the Dogs vs Freo game, the most interesting game I thought on the weekend. Freo broke the game open with their faster ball movement by hand, even though its not always pretty (similar to Melbourne atm). They then started winning centre clearence but it was in tight where their ball winners (Serong/Erasmus/Brayshaw) were able to get it out to their best users in Young and O'meara to open the game up. Clearly Freo have one of the best forwardline's in the comp (although I would argue our small/mediums are better). But I don't think our midfield group is too dissimilar to theirs. They have just found a better mix/continuity of roles. Watching Freo on the weekend gave me some hope of where Melbourne could go. If we can find a better balance of inside/outside next season I think we could really challenge again. Langford might just be the game changer in that regard. I feel he could be our Hayden Young with his ability to impact games on the outside. His composure, timing, vision and kicking are already pretty elite. Besides Harvey are there any other players you could see becoming outside mids? The obvious call is to trade out one of inside mids to get a better balance but other then this To me the other obvious three all have a fair bit to improve on Windsor (timing/positioning), Rivers (composure/decision making), Lindsay (experience/fitness).

No the punishment does not fit the crime in this case. Because it should have been five weeks. The AFL started setting this precedent last year. If you don't self-report it is a five-week ban. The absolute circus that went on this week for the AFL to give Adelaide the extra time and leeway to work out some kind of loophole to get it down to four weeks is absolute rubbish. Whately on the call tonight summed it up perfectly its like "horse trading". The so-called evidence to bring the sentence down in this 'medical report' that will never see the light of day is the most bull sh***t thing I have ever heard. PF if you're asking if players shouldn't be banned for games for homophobic slurs, then I think you need to look further outside football with the current state of the world. A mate of mine from high school was bullied for years for being gay, constantly put down daily by his so-called peers. Last year, with all of that trauma and shame compounding him, he took his own life. Incredibly sad. I would love to have my mate back, I would love for him to have felt more welcomed and accepted at school but its too late now. So I urge anyone who thinks this is 'a bit overboard' to really think more broadly. I guarantee there are players running around in the AFL and local football communities who might not have come out but certainly find this sort of language highly offensive and hurtful. Besides the hypocrisy of the current Rankine situation with the length of his ban, at least the AFL is finally taking this seriously. Any player who casually uses that sort of old-world derogatory, homophobic language again on the field will have to think again.

Fair enough, you're probably right and know more than i do.

Which is why they're giving him a chance to adapt the game plan/style with what appears to be a fairly obvious timeframe/KPI's. I don't like it necessarily but they'll give him the rest of this season and next to really implement the changes, which has been pretty obviously indicated. Its been noted by many that swinging larger gameplans changes especially dramatically offense wise isn't something you can suddently fix or get right in a single off season (yes yes should have happened earlier) so we've been commended by decent media heads for adapting/learning the new faster gameplan on the fly which is working in patches. Seems like the playing group still trusts and respects him so they're not going to blow it up for the sake of it just yet. Whether we like it or not he's not going anywhere anytime soon. But fine with people venting about it as the ol tradition when its not going great. I still feel like our fitness is the concern with us dropping off in games more then we used to with energy/effort. That was always our staple over the last four or so years.

Worth the risk IMO. We have a bit of history in bringing in players for second chances/fresh starts. Hasn't always worked but I feel our culture within the four walls (not in the hyperbolic media) is pretty sound and there aren't too many repeat offenders once they're in the red and blue in terms of off field stuff. We're getting some credit now with how well the club dealt with/supported Clayton through his struggles as a perfect example of the clubs cultural integrity. As we saw on the weekend we can take it right up to the best in the comp. We have a top four backline and ball winning/contested midfield. We're just lacking some extra skill/kicking across our mid/front half which I feel we're slowly addressing as well as a genuine natural tall forward. Our backman-turned-forwards in Petts and JVR are going OK but imagine a fit and firing Jamarra in the mix.

I know a mad demon supporter dentist that can cover his bills for the next time he loses teeth again playing for us 🙂

Exactly this. There is simply no one else who would be performing Petty's role better. I thought he looked off all day, heavy legs, wasn't able to get separation at all, and just got locked in wrestling contests. We kicked it on top of his head time and time again with predictability leaving their third tall or ruck to come and pluck it. Petty didn't finish well yesterday but was fine otherwise I thought considering the circumstances. People expecting the natural key back to play as a dominating forward who kicks bags each week are delusional. He's there to contest, create spaces with his physicality and hopefully kick a few which he missed yesterday.

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Weird assumption. He's absolutely filthy with himself whenever he makes a mistake or error. I always see him putting his hand up or is visibly frustrated with himself when he stuffs up. Have also seen him bring up his mistakes in pressers. Perhaps he gets a little too emotional at times in the heat of the moment. However, he simply holds himself and his teammates accountable. Why is this a bad thing? I think anyone who knows or has seen interviews with Maysy off the field knows what sort of supporting team first character he is. I have no doubt he would have been wrapping his arms around Lindsay and Max post game when the dust settled.

Wholeheartedly agree. The pure joy on Trac's face in that changeroom before the team song was so heart warming.

Welcome to modern-day sports media. These are the guys that are the most successful and sought-after these days within the media world. Its taken a while but the American Sports writer/pundit approach of stretching a story or fabricating has now fully reached AFL via the likes of Morris/McClure who don't care about integrity/reputation as long as they're getting the clicks and attention from the supporters and greater AFL landscape. Its been a smart, cunning move to have them on shows like SEN feeding these stories to the more respected ex AFL announcers who feed into the game of it without tarnishing their reputations within the AFL, this seems to be giving people a sense of validity within some of the nonsense stories being spread around by these muppets. Sadly, we're going to have to get used to it as it's only going to increase. I've managed to build myself a filter of anything reported by Morris and the likes to simply block it out.

or AJ I think Campbells lack of mobility is probably keeping him out of the side along with the fact he's really just a true ruckman, less so a forward. With Max fit we really just need someone to pinch hit in the ruck who can provide a contest and PRESSURE up forward so I think it will continue to be JVR or AJ picked over the next few weeks. Maybe if the oppo plays two genuine rucks might we look at TC.

Great take. I see this too as someone whose played/watched a lot of basketball. There's a real difference between using the body in basketball and football. I can see Tom being great at boxing out, he holds his ground OK but in footy you can bump and use your arms more in a marking contest and he just doesn't seem to be able to create space for himself to compete in the air. I think it's hard to critique ruck/forwards in terms of intensity. You have those the natural instinct like the Xerri types it clearly goes a long way and you can build your skills/craft off it. Then there's the Max types who I wouldn't say play with great intensity, he relies more on his work rate and positioning to stay engaged and impact each contest. I'm not sure Tom has enough of either of these key traits to really make it as a full-time AFL player unfortunately. What I will say is unlike this week, I thought Tom worked well in terms of simplifying our structure/positioning. I think there's some merit in having a bigger body who holds position and creates space for others. I think that both JVR and AJ get sucked into contests or where the ball is sometimes and could do more to hold their position and create space when needed. Hoping especially JVR can learn this and not have to fly/attack everything to create space for others and/or be an option off the post contest clearance more with more space to work with.

I was at the game watching them from the members with bino's. I'd say 3/4 of the team looked impassive or stoic after the siren and understandably so. It made sense to me and was my kind of feeling as well. I'm sure they were all feeling a bit of 'why has it taken until round 6' like we all of felt. Also looked more like relief or a bit of weight off in the change rooms.

Kozzy in his post game interview mentioned a few times how he was given freedom to 'have fun' and hunt the footy due to other players 'having a role'. I know Viney was holding off Serong most of the game but I noticed quite a few times our mids keeping their opponent locked a bit longer then usual after the tap to allow Koz to really hunt the footy. I think Goody will persist with more Kozzy midfield time as he alluded to in his presser. He's starting to really learn the craft, timing and positioning to have a big impact there. Almost untaggable and if he was to be this would open up opportunity for Clarry and Trac to take over more. I think moving Kozzy into the midfield has been a terrific move by Goodwin. Gotta give him his flowers there.

Anyone know why Clarry is still throwing up at quarter time breaks? I saw this happening at pretty much every game last year, often as he was walking back to position at quarter time which I thought was simply due to him being underdone with no preseason. But I saw Clarrie again today on the outside of the quarter time huddle throwing up most of the drink he had in his hand and looking a tad uncomfortable. Just curious if anyone had seen this prior to 2024 or with other athletes as a regular occurrence and potential reasoning. He doesn't seem overly phased and just walks back into the centre square for the next quarter. But it can't be good for his hydration/energy losing that much fluid/electrolytes every game. Could be meds or something other health related of course and understand we don't talk about those here. Just asking out of care for the fella as its always a concern when you see someone being sick on the ground. Hope he's OK.

Even more forwardline time coming for Trac. I know he can be effective there but we need him firing in the middle. We can't be relying on a 19 year old each week with that responsibility. I reckon there's fitness concerns or maybe they're protecting him somewhat after last years events. All I hope is now with Lindsay back in playing HB/Wing with Windsor that this will finally free up Rivers to go into the middle.

Apologies for this. This was not my intention at all I was just having a bit of fun with it and its been taken the wrong way I think perhaps. I have coached under 16s footy and basketball. Its that old thing where we don't admit it to many if anyone. but we as coaches certainly have a few players that we are close to and bond with that hold a special place I certainly have a few favorites that I connect with and respect (I certainly won't tell others though). Thats all I was asking based off your observations as I know how much you see Goody connect and get behind all the players. Just your guess really but I hear you. For the record I don't think Goodwin picks players based on who his favourites are, I think its childish to think that way about a professional coach at the highest level (nor would I do this at junior level). I was playing off this false Demonland narrative in my previous post mainly because I liked the meme. I think Goody selects players like Melksham because he has a good relationship with and trusts him, having a longer history of coaching him and giving him some key roles of which he's been very successful at Melks time at the Dees. Thats why he's thought of so highly by Goody. I know he feels the same for many other players at the club. Sorry Ghosty! Huge fan of your work and all your contributions to the Demon Army and this forum ✌

OK Ghosty @Ghostwriter I see you disagreeing haha. I'm sure you've been asked but right as of now who do you think are Goodys top five faves from watching on? Also this has nothing to do with the speculation of him playing senior players over others etc. Just that we all have faves (even if we can't admit) and wondering whom Goody is warming to most atm.

Melksham is Goodwins number one boy.

What was the reason? the off field stuff? For the money I thought he was solid enough as a player. In his first season at the Dees in 2023 he played a full season on a wing. I thought it was a good move because he freed up Brayshaw to play in other positions of need including midfield where Gus really gave us a huge boost. Hunter ended up top 5 for the club in disposals and metres gained. I definitely don't think Lachie was the perfect player but was complimentary enough to our stars in that first year before his body let him down and had to retire early. God we've had rotten luck.