deelusions from afar

Surprised for the love of Bevo - he has underachieved with the list they have. He has a flag which is an incredible achievement... but has never made top 4 in the season. I think he can coach and is definitely creative... but since their premiership season his teams have largely been underwhelming with the talent he has had at his disposal.

I'm in two minds - I think the players like to troll the media a bit and part of me thinks good on 'em But as you say it's not a good look for the club and just encourages negative headlines which I wouldn't think are in the best interests of the club or Kozzie.

Who's the likely skipper?

Haven't read all the responses here but they are far more negative than they should be in my opinion. It is a pre-season game. We are not the finished product. I remember getting smashed in 2021 by the Dogs in the pre-season and thinking we are miles off it. We know how relevant that was ultimately! A few reasons why I'm buyoed by yesterday: Fremantle are a good side for us to have played. Their defence is one of the best in the league, they are very good at clearance and can open you up on turnover. They also have some very dangerous forwards. They arguably have the best list in the AFL (though their gamestyle / performance over a season doesn't live up to that). It is a critical year for them and so they would have taken this match seriously. The conditions were very hot which definitely favoured the dockers over us. We were close but not quite at full strength - Pickett (until last Q), Petty, McVee, JVR (injured early). They're pretty hand players. Yes we won clearance, inside 50 and kicked a lot more points (and lost the match) but it felt a bit different. There was definitely a real effort from some to lower the eyes (eg Trac to Clarry) rather than bombing. Still a lot of work to do but this is something we will be working at all year if we're to reach our potential not something that can be fixed over night. I liked the different combinations in the middle which meant that at times Clarry, Viney and Trac all started forward which gave a different feel. Having Langdon (and Pickett) in the centre square made us look less vulnerable to opposition sets where they have have smaller, quicker players in there. Johnson competed really well - I think he could play the role that Goody was wanting Petty to play last year as in compete in the air, get the ball to ground, fight and scrap and snag a goal or two if ones for the taking but more about competing and fighting. His give to Fritsch for a goal when on the ground in a pack to me shows he could be very valuable (even without being a big goal kicker) Clarry kicking goals (even set shots) was fantastic. If he can kick 20 to 30 this year, he will probably win the Brownlow. There's a lot to tidy up but a lot to like. Langford and Lindsay weren't as prominent but they seem like hard workers - it gives them a good sense of the next level they need to get to which I'm sure they will rise to it. We had more scoring shots than a team that should be finishing top 4 in our first proper outing (in tough conditions in the west). There's a lot to like and of course a lot of 'learnings'. Bring on round 1

I think people also forget that pre-knee James McDonald was turning into a very special player (I think it happened towards the end of the 2000 season?). He was still a very special player but seemed to lose some of his athletic abilities post knee surgery and yet still went on to be captain, BnF winner etc.

I feel like I'm missing something here. Has dominated pre-season, has a number of weapons as a player, apparently is a good person, was well liked by all at West Coast... and yet was delisted by West Coast who are one of the bottom teams. Why did they get rid of him? Was it injury? Off field stuff?

Is Ben Crowe still going to be involved with the club throughout the season or was he just for the camp?

Respect your opinion but for me it is as much about how he handled after it was all public rather than what happened. He initially said as head coach the buck stops with him. But following those words, he never took responsibility. And then hung on and sued whoever he could despite blind freddy knowing that he had to just fall on his sword. Maybe it's understandable that he has an entitlement / messiah complex given what he was able to do as a player - but to me he stuffed up majorly and then never took ownership and showed any remorse for his actions that caused it or the additional harm he caused by fighting it for so long. It was all about him and he showed no awareness. The whole thing has clearly taken an enormous toll on him and others around him which you wouldn't wish on anyone - but for me there's nothing to suggest that his character has changed (not that I could truly know from hearing him on a podcast or two in recent years). And after what we've faced over the last few years, I think character is very important.

Yes agree - all 4 of our top 10 draft picks of the last 2 years have good kicking skills and are good runners - most seem to have some speed too. I think the key for us will be getting the ball in the hands of our best kickers (those four plus Riv, Knuckles, Pickett, Fritsch etc) ideally on the move. It's amazing how much better everything else looks when that happens.

Surely a bit top heavy forward of the ball? Can't see us playing with all 4 of them in the one side - though given the extended benches ususally used in pre-season matches they should all get some game time.

The wings are the most interesting watch for me. Clearly Windsor is groomed for that half back playmaker role (like we've seen from Max Holmes). Once he's comfortable there, he'll likely eventually get some time in the midfield so that he becomes our ultimate mr fixit - plays wherever we need him most. He may still play on the wing at times this year but it looks like the plan is for him to set us up at half back. Our other obvious winger from previous seasons is clearly Langdon as others have mentioned. Though I was interested to see him play a lot at half forward in the second half of last year (to pretty good effect) - particularly as they gave ANB more midfield time in the absense of Trac. Was that just last year or is that a sign of things to come? I would think that either he or Sharp will play the high half forward role that ANB previously held down. Others think Chin might do this - but given the gamestyle shifts we've seen, it's likely the coaches will want / need both. If the other of Langdon / Sharp who is not at half forward has a wing spot, then it leaves one more. I'd say Billings has it at the moment. But they will likely give opportunities to others such as Lindsay, Woewodin, even Spargo if he gets fit. It probably won't be a popular opinion, but if they are looking to play Fritsch further from goal, I wouldn't be against giving him a go (even as a wing rotation). He's done it before and is probably one of the best inside 50 kicks we have - I think a lot of people forget because in recent years his kicks have mostly been shots on goal. But he will cause headaches for opposition because of his aerial ability and capacity to cause damage by foot. Potentially could get outworked the other way but it would be risky for opposition to let him run free as he doesn't need many touches to turn a game. And of course when he does switch to the forward line it will cause additional headaches for their defences to adjust. The wing will be an interesting watch!

How are we looking in the midfield at Casey - I felt that was where a the lack of depth at Casey (and Melbourne) cost us last season. I know we've had a few signings - who of them will walk into the Casey midfield?

Filling out I agree with but taller ??

Definitely - Lever was already at the club but had done his knee so (from memory) we were relying on Frost / O Mac as our key defensive posts who did a great job in most matches. We had a young talented midfield but hadn't structured the game plan to suit our list. 2019 was a disaster in terms of lots of players needing surgery in the off season and so we didn't have a great pre-season. As we know our game plan was structured around contest and defence - when you have Track, Oliver and Gawn in the middle and May / Lever in defence it makes sense. But we didn't evolve in '22 and so have been found out ever since (despite being bloody close last year even with significant injuries).

I think the trickiest part will be in the adopting the changes to the game plan - from what we know, it looks like we will look to attack quick off the backline, playing on from marks, more agressive in our kicks forward etc which leads to more gettable shots at goal but also open to the counter attack when it doesn't come off. I feel like we were trying to do some of this early last year but basically didn't have the cattle / fitness. It took us around 2 years (2019/2020) to learn our 2021 premiership system. I feel like we have a better basis to work from (eg better defence etc) so maybe we can adopt this shift a bit quicker?

The quality of the questions was well below what the Demonland community could come up with. Could we somehow address this next year - eg people with genuine questions write them on here and then the ones with the most likes / votes get asked?

Given it's December... can we just say we have elite pressure?

Not sure if that would be possible if you gave your left leg? In all seriousness though, thanks to you and everyone for braving the heat and providing these reports!

Does he have his father's pace / agility?

Not sure what you meant by "are we?". My point was that we had a number of losses where we were absolutely smashed which is a change from the previous 3 season00s where we were almost in every game. This year we had Freo x2, Bris at the MCG and obviously a few late in the season eg Dogs where looked miles off it. The compeition is very even so even the best teams haved a howler or two. For us, it was more than one or two. You take away our early wins to the dogs and hawks (before they got going) and what was our record against the top 8 like - despite being not far off it in terms of wins, we finished 14th for a reason. Had we somehow made the 8, we wouldn't have troubled anyone in the finals. I'm hoping it is the combination of a number of things that have been (hopefully) resolved since the season finished - disunity, instability off field, injuries etc

I'm optimistic (it's December!) but then I think of the two beltings Freo (who did not make the finals) gave us where we were about as competitive as we were in '97, '08 or '13!

Interested to see how this guy goes - to finish 2nd (only to Sharp) in the 2km time trial as a second year player is a decent effort. Shows he has the enurance to go with speed. You know he will always give 110% and will get the most out of himself. I think he may be more special than most people here realise.

Yes I agree - Petty was disappointing last year but was coming back from a significant injury. And right from the start his accuracy was not there (which was a strength for him in 2023) Having said that, he was still 11th in the league for contested marks in 2024 and played less games than everyone ahead of him other than Charlie Dixon. I think another big body is needed around JVR - not sure if Disco or Jefferson are there yet? Maybe AJ is the answer? For this reason I think they will want to use Petty as a utility - if May, TMac, Lever hold up then he is not needed in defence.

I kind of agree - but thought they revealed a bit about Lindsay eg what JT thinks he can do as a clubman / leader, has to work on his groundball consistency but is good at centre bounces (reading of the play / timing), good skills, good speed, great competitior, big game player. Even though we've heard most of this it is interesting hearing which qualities they go to first. Would have been good to see the equivalent for AJ

I was thinking the idea to play him in defence is odd... but then I think of a player like Max Holmes who I think started on the wing and now has spent time at half back, in the midfield and i think even at half forward? Basically wherever they need the spark. Maybe they think Windsor could do this for us? With Sharp in the team we have another winger already - though it will be interesting to see if they persist with Langdon as a high half forward and/or if any others such as Lindsay or Spargo are ear marked to be part of the wing rotation