13thFlagIsComing

I wrote this in another post after Sunday's game..

After the frustration of the Demons in Alice yesterday I had to delve into the data of how bad our kicking has been since the start of the 2022 season to date.

Since this was completed between screaming kids getting to bed on a Sunday night, there might be a 2% error rate in the data but you'll get the gist of what I was trying to find out.

Since the start of the 2022 season till after todays match:

• Melbourne has played 84 matches.

• Melbourne has kicked more points than goals in 32 of those matches. (approx. 40%)

• Melbourne has won the Inside 50 count 25 times in those 32 matches.

• Melbourne has won 13 matches and lost 19.

• This year alone Melbourne has kicked more points than goals 8 out of 12 matches.

I'd be curious to see wether our numbers are compared to the rest of the league for the same period?

I'm worried that we are the clubhouse leader by some margin...might be time to head to the chalet!

After the frustration of the Demons in Alice yesterday I had to delve into the data of how bad our kicking has been since the start of the 2022 season to date.

Since this was completed between screaming kids getting to bed on a Sunday night, there might be a 2% error rate in the data but you'll get the gist of what I was trying to find out.

Since the start of the 2022 season till after todays match:

• Melbourne has played 84 matches.

• Melbourne has kicked more points than goals in 32 of those matches. (approx. 40%)

• Melbourne has won the Inside 50 count 25 times in those 32 matches.

• Melbourne has won 13 matches and lost 19.

• This year alone Melbourne has kicked more points than goals 8 out of 12 matches.

I'd be curious to see wether our numbers are compared to the rest of the league for the same period?

I'm worried that we are the clubhouse leader by some margin...might be time to head to the chalet!

I always believe that the players that win you premierships aren't the ones that play in a premiership.

I wrote the following on Demonland in 2020... parts still ring true today.

The Curious Case of Simon Goodwin

He’s stubborn in his beliefs.

Inflexible when it comes to gameplan.

Barely shows emotion in the box.

Has unshakeable faith that the process will win in the end.

I’m talking about Simon Goodwin..I’m talking about Neil Craig.

Remember Neil Craig before he came to the Demons? He was the coach of the team nicknamed the “Crowbots” due to their persistence on playing a single brand of football regardless of the in-game situation.

The similarities between the two are striking. Craig 

• He's stubborn when it comes to his football philosophy.

• Inflexible when it comes to the gameplan.

• Not a match-day specialist coach.

• Barely shows emotion in the box.

• Has unshakable faith in sticking to the process regardless of the situation.

I could be talking about Simon Goodwin but i'm actually talking about Neil Craig.

It's quite clear to me now that Goodwin's coaching philosophy has been moulded by his experiences with Neil Craig.

Craig's "Crowbots" were drilled to play a certain style (mainly numbers behind the ball with superior gut running)and never to stray from this for any reason. If you jump on the Bigfooty website, you can read threads on Neil Craig that sound exactly what we are saying about Simon Goodwin 13 years later. Take a look for yourselves: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/neil-craig.368842/page-10.

Whilst Craig is without question Goody's greatest influence when it comes to coaching philosophy (as well as personally)  it is time that Goody's takes a leaf out of the Malcolm Blight playbook. I mean he only coached Goody to 2 flags in his first 31 games. I'm not saying that he suddenly throws Steven May forward a.k.a Shane Allen in 97' but he has to step outside his comfort zone of process/ stubbornness and for the rest of this year and next thrown in some creativity/ uncertainty into his coaching. 

Looking at Simon this might be a tough ask as it isn't in his demeanour to be outgoing or coach with flair. It's just not in his DNA. His body language suggest he's gone back into his shell as right now the process the club has invested in isn't working. You can see it in the coaches box every single time the camera cuts to him. His face has the look of "What do I do now?" before turning and quietly talking to an assistant coach. 

 The Goodwin / Craig combo worked as Goody was a workhorse who would prepare harder than anyone  at the club to drive him to success & Craig had the tools methodology that worked for him. Our team has too much natural talent to be stripped away but it nearly has.

The Crowbots made the prelim twice  in the first 2 years but never reached the same heights under Craig. 

So where does that leave the Dees right now?

• A team prepared to run harder & play quicker than anyone else but at the cost skill and execution. 

• A team that has been drilled to stick to the gameplan no matter what.

• A coaching staff that lacks creativity at selection & game day.

• A senior coach who shows no emotion in the box. 

So Goody for the sake of your career...be less Craig and a little more Malcolm.*

*and maybe put Joel Smith forward to crash packs. Couldn't hurt!

My 2 cents on the whole fiasco we are going through atm. I have no insider info just my perspective on everything. 

- COVID causes teams to go into hub where there is limited access to exterior vices, players eat sleep, breathe football and come together as a unit to win a drought breaking premiership.

- Trac's contract renewal at the time is based on the promise of 1) We will have a training facility confirmed in the near future (meaning no long drives to Casey)  2) Internal culture issues will be rectified 3) Levels of professionalism will be risen around the club to match Trac's levels (this states that there is either different levels acceptable for different players) to ensure that the list we had maximises its potential to win multiple flags.

- The current club executive drop the ball on addressing underlying issues that have been kicked down the road for 3 years. 

- Potential promises made to Trac regarding the above haven't been met or not met to the level he expects.

- Internal split (players & potentially administration) on the issues regarding Clarry & Joel and how those issues have been handled.

- Trac's injury and subsequent recovery issues.

- Frustration with the quality of players traded in compared to the players traded out.

I wrote the below in July 2020  (thought I posted it here but must have been for another site).

Found the old Google Doc and just had to cut and paste here. Wether the points are still relevant or not who knows!

The Curious Case of Simon Goodwin

He’s stubborn in his beliefs.

Inflexible when it comes to gameplan.

Barely shows emotion in the box.

Has unshakeable faith that the process will win in the end.

I’m not talking about Simon Goodwin..I’m talking about Neil Craig.

Remember Neil Craig before he came to the Demons? He was the coach of the team nicknamed the “Crowbots” due to their persistence on playing a single brand of football regardless of the in-game situation.

When I see Goody i see the below:

• He's stubborn when it comes to his football philosophy.

• Inflexible when it comes to the gameplan.

• Not a match-day specialist coach.

• Barely shows emotion in the box.

• Has unshakable faith in sticking to the process regardless of the situation.

It's quite clear to me now that Goodwin's coaching philosophy has been moulded by his experiences with Neil Craig.

Craig's "Crowbots" were drilled to play a certain style (mainly numbers behind the ball with superior gut running)and never to stray from this for any reason. If you jump on the Bigfooty website, you can read threads on Neil Craig that sound exactly what we are saying about Simon Goodwin 13 years later. Take a look for yourselves: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/neil-craig.368842/page-10.

Whilst Craig is without question Goody's greatest influence when it comes to coaching philosophy (as well as personally)  it is time that Goody's takes a leaf out of the Malcolm Blight playbook. I mean he only coached Goody to 2 flags in his first 31 games. I'm not saying that he suddenly throws Steven May forward a.k.a Shane Allen in 97' but he has to step outside his comfort zone of process/ stubbornness and for the rest of this year and next thrown in some creativity/ uncertainty into his coaching. 

Looking at Simon this might be a tough ask as it isn't in his demeanour to be outgoing or coach with flair. It's just not in his DNA. His body language suggest he's gone back into his shell as right now the process the club has invested in isn't working. You can see it in the coaches box every single time the camera cuts to him. His face has the look of "What do I do now?" before turning and quietly talking to an assistant coach. 

 The Goodwin / Craig combo worked as Goody was a workhorse who would prepare harder than anyone  at the club to drive him to success & Craig had the tools methodology that worked for him. Our team has too much natural talent to be stripped away but it nearly has.

The Crowbots made the prelim twice  in the first 2 years but never reached the same heights under Craig. 

So where does that leave the Dees right now?

• A team prepared to run harder & play quicker than anyone else but at the cost skill and execution. 

• A team that has been drilled to stick to the gameplan no matter what.

• A coaching staff that lacks creativity at selection & game day.

• A senior coach who shows no emotion in the box. 

So Goody for the sake of your career...be less Craig and a little more Malcolm.*

*and maybe put Joel Smith forward to crash packs. Couldn't hurt!

My 2 cents on Pert and Roffey.

• Pert: Never liked him. When he talks i feel he goes round and round in circles and doesn't bring anything to the table (like a Goody press conference). He's a CEO for hire not a Melbourne person. 
• Roffey: Gees she was all up and about when we were up and about...fast forward to now and does any one know where she is? She's gone to radio silence. 

The issue I have with these two is that they will back Goody to the hilt because if Goody goes down with the ship, they have to go down with him. They three and linked together so tightly that they would rather move on other staff that aren't aligned to Planet Goodwin so the three of them are always protected. 

Could you ever see a time where Goody moves on from the club but Pert and Roffey stay? Not in a million years.

As for the home base...until I see something concrete i'm not listening to 1 word from out of Pert or Roffey's mouth on "there are so many parties and its a delicate process...as soon as we have an update you'll be the first to know" 

For all the talk of Western United's new stadium...sure ain't much going on out there...and it's 4 years overdue. 

Wonder what the learnings out of this would have been? 

On the 2021 Melbourne Season Preview on the "Lace Out" podcast I picked him at the start of 2021 as a future Melbourne 200+ gamer & potential captain.

Tracking in the right direction my boy!

Had 4 windows open on my desktop for AFL Members tickets.

• 1 at 11:30
• 1 at 11:30 on incognito mode
• 1 at 11:45
• 1 at 11:45 on incognito mode

And the result...?

Purchased 4 tickets off the Ticketek app on my phone whilst my 4 windows continued to spin.

The feeling over the past month for me is that we have been smarter in our list management and strategy than this time last year. 

Last year we ran out the season on fumes and had no depth that the coaching department felt could step up at this stage of the year.

This year we have had to adapt on the run with injuries, blooded young players and tinkered with different game modes.

Whilst we aren't coming home like a freight train in 2023, we are just biding our time and waiting to strike come September.

Confident the longer deal on slightly less cash will allow Dogga to sign a 2-3 year deal and Gus gets 5 years on slightly higher coin than Trac & Clarry.

What a morning!

Over to you Gus & Dogga. 

...and yes i need to update my username lol.

7 hours ago, pineapple dee said:

Having the AFL integrity unit investigating this incident is akin to having the Irish government set up a squad of Leprechauns to help people find pots of gold.

The AFL has no business using the word 'integrity ' under any circumstances 

According to the official bookmaker of the AFL - "integrity" is currently at $4.20 and the smart money is coming for "no integrity" at $1.72.

If you are looking for value this weekend combine "integrity" with "No further investigation required" and "We've gone through the Due Diligence" and you can get them at $8.00 this weekend in our "same AFL Investigation multi." 

But as always when we bombard you with gambling ads on TV, radio, the internet, the newspaper and billboards and really mean it as a token gesture fully knowing it actually doesn't do anything to deter...gamble responsibly.

2 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

We’ve talked about May and we’ve talked about Melksham, but I’m wondering what Joel Smith is currently thinking? We haven’t mentioned him. By all accounts he organised the dinner and presumably asked the 5 or 6 others to attend. So a close knit bunch of guys, friends, going to dinner. Then Joel, by all accounts, is verbally denigrated by one of said friends. If I was Joel, would I want to be playing down back with that person any more? He obviously doesn’t trust or believe in me. I think I might ask Goody if I can train with the forwards from now on.

It will be interesting to see how (and if) the fences can be mended after this. I have my doubts they can.

Always been an advocate for Joel to be up forward. Can obviously leap and either take a mark or provide a contest.

Has the speed to get off his man on the lead. 

Sadly i think that time has passed. 

Way of the world these days.

Wonderful thing about our club is the system we've built both on the field and in the coaches box is firing on all cylinders at the moment.

Will be a bit of extra press for this game now with Yze going up against his old club.

If we get a good win (pardon the pun) will the footy shows next week start talking up Ooze as  a possible coach in waiting for 2023?

...and before anyone says anything, yes i need to update my profile name. :) 

Anyone who can get to every game is extremely lucky.  

No-one has the right to pot shot members / supports for not going to the games.

Everyone has their own circumstances why they can't go to as many games as they would like to.

Just because finally we have an ultra competitive team on the field for what looks like the next 3-5 years doesn't mean everyone can just drop everything and adapt their life to the fixture of the MFC.

As much as I love the club, unfortunately unless I can get childcare at the footy then I won't be going to a few games this year as I have 2 kids under 6. 

Im predicting 24-25,000 for the game. Easter weekend and lots of families going away for a few days R&R.

Anything over 28,000 would be a great result. 

23 minutes ago, poita said:

You clearly didn't go to school with their feral supporters in the 1980s and 1990s. Apart from bandwagon Hawthorn supporters of that generation, they were clearly the most obnoxious supporters. My hatred of Essendon has been raging strongly for well over thirty years.

Oh I feel your pain.

Primary School in the 80's

St Bernard's in the 90's

I've now erased 2000 from my memory thanks to last year. 

Having had to wear that jumper for Little League as I grew up 10 minutes from Windy Hill...makes my skin crawl thinking about it. 

Being at that win @ Windy Hill  in 1990 was my childhood version of winning the premiership. I can still recall Darren Bennett taking the [censored] and lobbing goals from 50 over the back fence and out of the ground and Peter Landy's all time favourite call of "Heaver...Leave it to Heaver!" 

For those outside of the North-West of Melbourne and can't comprehend what it was like, imagine 99% (there are a few supporters i know that are actually non-biased and can have a chat about footy with) of their supporters with the smugness of peak Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson and letting you know how [censored] your team was ...every....single...week. 

I wanna see Bomber supporters going into nuclear meltdown mode at the ground and listen to them sook on SEN driving home after going 0-3 tonight and how they "shouldn't have got rid of Sheedy and that's the reason why we are in this mess."

The only match of the year where I go into feral mode and want to inflict pain and misery onto a club...and sit back with a smile in my face while it all happens.

1 hour ago, Lord Nev said:

Not sure they'll be moving Gosch's after doing all the work on it, so can probs cross that part off.

Also, not sure which off ramp you mean, but assuming the one coming off the SE Fwy onto Punt Rd? If so, I don't think it could be straightened given it involves being in the left lane and exiting to the right.

What's the 'indoor hall'?

I had visions of a multi-story training facility along the lines of Tottenham Hotspur currently where Car Park F is located. 

Spurs facility also has an indoor hall which would be fantastic if there was something like this to allow all teams onsite to use.

Something along the lines of the team whose name I cannot say have at their training facility near Melbourne Airport. 

That mockup was my preferred wish list of re-aligning the offramp to create extra space for 2 x Rugby / Football pitches.

On 10/18/2021 at 11:22 AM, 13thFlagIsComing said:

What you suggested is what i've come up with in my proposal earlier in the thread.

Must admit a bit disappointed that the Gosch's Paddock isn't being fully developed (like in the Master Plan  i came up with below) but something is better than nothing i guess. 

I must admit i'm curious to see what happens with the Training Facility and surrounding areas off the back of the news report.

Hopefully most of the above comes true in some way shape or form! 

33 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Serious question: Is that actually what was said or have you crafted what you imagined might have been said? Because, if it's the latter, it's very fine trolling!

Nope that was all in my head. I've heard it enough times to know it off by heart! :)

Heard the same message for the past 5 years and we'll hear the same for the next 5 years

"As much as we would love to give an update, there's no information to give at this time. It's a complex process with numerous parties. "

"We are in constant discussions with the State Government, Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust and the AFL."

"We've seen the preliminary plans and we believe the facility that we are putting together will be a world class state of the art training facility with a Social Club so our fans can come together and sing the song after a win only a drop punt from the MCG located in the heart of what we believe to be the best sporting precinct in the world"

"I can understand the members and supporters are probably getting a little frustrated at the lack of an announcement but as soon as we have the sign off from all parties to give the go ahead we'll gladly update you all."

Still waiting.......

Feels like we are sitting in Seat 1A but are still being served the economy meal.

Just goes to show that the AFL wanted their cake and eat it too.

Teams that finish 1st and 2nd on a Wednesday night but teams that finish 10th and 17th on Friday night?? Seriously!!

There better be some sort of compensation from the AFL in regards to this decision in the fixture.

Possibly another Friday night home game early in the season?