Maluski

Hunter and ANB just miss out, rest of the team was poor-to-average.

6 May 5 Spargo 4 J Smith - Why does this guy get NO love on demonland? competed all night, 4 goals basically, given Kozzie stole one off him with his undisciplined selfish reversal free kick 3 McVee 2 Lever 1 Sparrow

6 Petty 5 Oliver 4 ANB 3 Langdon 2 Harmes 1 Petracca Honorable mentions to: T Mac, Joel Smith, Bedford - who would have played great games had Sparrow, Jackson and Rivers been dropped as many on here called for.

666 Oliver - champion 5 Petty - solid as a rock 4 Gawn 3 Fritter 2 Spargo 1 May (heavily penalized for poor discipline, and x2 suicide turnover kicks into the middle, otherwise was amazing)

Nibbler out, Bedford in Milkshake out, TMac in

Saints in the lead! Go saints!

6 Milkshake 5 Petty 4 Hunt 3 Salem 2 Brayshaw 1 Gawn

Nice thread In Harmes Way. I've given it a go, created some more cryptic clues for current day players: A) I'm desperate to watch this Dee play in Darwin, in order to see him, i'll even take the jumbo, ta, thanks for offering. B) Interestingly, King and Colbert were both born after April. C) Many on here might not like Hird, but i feel sorry for him, I hope he can stay out of danger. Improved out of sight. D) The Grouch and the Farmer. Coming along in leaps and bounds. E) Always tries hard. Namesake of the great. Big tank. F) Absolute gun, please sir, may i have some more, highlights reels from you this year. Heard Sheedy said he had a joke of an interview for our coaches position G) I love doughnuts, but what is my middle name? The fox's abode is in sight. Chase that fox. Hope he lives up to his potential. H) Speedy. A bit too predictable. May go cold / missing in action from time to time. I) Edgerton has been able to Forge a path in the Aussie film industry. J) Great at taking marks effortlessly, lissome, kicks skillfully, has a massively long kick for goal. What more can you ask for?

Looking at the likely Geelong line up, I would reckon their bottom 6, matched up vs our bot 6, are: Mark O Connor - never even heard of him, a 6-gamer who averages 12 D (disposals). Avg S (score of supercoach and dreamteam) is 53. 3.3 score involvements, 1 tackle. Compare him to our weakest link JKH: 34 gamer with 15 D, 62 S. 5.3 scoee involvements, 4 tackles. Big win to JKH over O Connor. (yes I know these scores arent necessarily perfectly indicative of a player's worth but they are a decent-ish surrogate marker) Jed Bews: 70 gamer, 11 D, 43 S, 3.6 Marks, 1.6 ScoreInvolvements. Bigger bodied bloke, probs most comparable to Vandenberg. AVB has him dominated easily. Statswise he covers him in disposals (15), marks (4.8), SI (5), score (67) but most importantly, grunt. Jack Henry: Has done some decent things as a young 21 gamer. 11 D, 58 S, 0.4 goals, 2.6 SI. Spargo: just 15games, 15 D, 58S, 0.8 goals, 5.3 SI, pressure forward. Spargo wins here imo. Jake Kolodjashnij: 69 gamer, 11D, 54 S. Classed as Key position player similar to Weideman. Weideman 17gamer, 10 D, 52 S. Probably a draw. Menzel: 72 gamer, 11 D, 64 S, 2.3 goals, 6 SI. Murdoch: 107 gamer, 15 D, 72 S, 0.5 Goals, 4.2 SI, 3 tackles. Forward who moves thru midfield. Both these Geelong blokes are skillful, but light 'soft' type players which dont stand up as well under finals pressure imo. Comparatively, Hannan: 32 gamer, 12 D, 58S, 1.6 goals, 6.4 SI. Draw, or slight edge goes to Menzel. ANB 56 game forward/midfielder, 17 D, 76 S, 4 tackles, 1.1 goals, 6 SI. All more than Murdoch, absolute domination here. JKH, ANB, AVB dominate O Connor, Murdoch and Bews. Spargo beats Henry imo. Weideman/Kolodjashnij is a draw. Only Menzel edges out Hannan. Overall scores for bot 6 players: Demons 375, Geelong 344 Go Dees! Time to crush the kitten pretenders!

My list in order of quality + how critical they are to the team's success: 1 Gawn 2 Oliver 3 Brayshaw 4 TMac 5 Harmes 6 Melksham 7 Jetta 8 Hibberd 9. Salem 10. Viney 11 Pettraca 12. Lewis 13 O Mac 14 Frost 15 Jones 16 Fritsch 17 Neal-Bullen 18 Weideman 19 Vandenberg 20 Hannan 21 Spargo 22 Kennedy-Harris Evidence of the critical importance of the bottom six is the Tiges success last year. Their 'spare parts' forward line of lesser light players (eg Graham kicking 3 goals in the granny). I reckon our bot 6 compares very well compared to the other finals contenders.

6 Gawn 5 Harmes 4 Brayshaw 3 Frost 2 Salem 1 Oliver

https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/08/01/powerful-fragile-demons-can-beat-anyone-day-especially/ Well written piece, decent summation of where we are at imo. Agree that when we are on, can knock off anyone (lower consistency, but higher peak than a team like port adelaide) I think its pretty much a case of 'fake it til you make it' for the Dees in closing out games against a quality oppo. We've pumped the bottom sides, but simply have been so rarely in winning positions against decent sides over the last decade, that we havent had much actual game practice in closing out games/icing the clock. You can run as many simulations as you like in practice sessions, but nothing substitutes for game day experience. Cool, calm experienced heads (eg Vince's lateral kick across the ground to maintain possession) are tge order of the day to lead and teach the young brigade (your Petracca's etc) Even though we werent convincing in the dying stages vs adelaide, the win will give the team great confidence for the next time we are in a similar scenario. Having said that, doesn't mean I won't be pacing up and down like a madman next time we're ahead and being run down in the last qrtr! :@ ? Go Dees! Edit - oops rookie move, posted to wrong forum, can this be moved to the general dees forum ?

6. Oliver - just wow. He must have a really sore back... From carrying the team so many times. 25 contested possessions and clearances, tackles quality disposals galore. 5. Gawn - dominated a quality ruck opponent in Sauce Jacobs 4. ANB - ran all day to support and pressure, tackles galore - stepped up big time. Can be much maligned by us Demonlanders (incl myself) but played a great game - no wonder he gets picked every week - easily ahead of Tyson in my books 3. Harmes - ripper lockdown job and racked up possessions too 2. Lewis - 2 crucial goals in clutch moments, great game overall 1. T Mac - awesome presence, great conversion Apologies to Brayshaw, Petracca

If we only beat Adelaide out of the harder marches and end up with 12 wins only, we can make it if the bombers upset port or the hawks, according to the ladder predictor results i entered

Spot on. Goodwin's game day coaching is atrocious. Stubborn as an ass. When you have a 4-5 goal lead you shutdown and slow the tempo of the game, not turn it into a free flowing shoot out. T Mac should have been moved back, spare behind the ball, after Geelong's first goal in last qrtr, or at least after the 2nd. Give Hogan the responsibility and freedom as the number 1 forward. If they manned him up, good, that means a congested forward line for them and an open one for us. Epic fail from Goody.

Agree. We finally have some players at, or stepping up to, elite level. Sadly, our bottom six are absolute duds. Scores for Jones, Milkshake and Brayshaw very harsh

Agree with most comments. We should have won that game, were the better side, simply were less accurate and lacked composure at the end. 90 seconds left when Trac marked on the wing. Should have simply run the clock down, maintaining posession with chip kicks backwards and sideways. Alas we have been in winning positions against quality teams so rarely in close games, that we have zero experience in milking the clock properly. Given the loss being under a goal, there wont be wholesale changes. The sensationalist calls for Hogan, O Mac to be dropped... Never gonna happen. Smith, Vince, Lewis all did decent jobs. JKH however, is just so ordinary. Not even close to being at AFL level and has little potential for improvement imo. Out for someone - Hibberd if fit, but doubt it, so probs Hannan or Kent. Id love for Vanders to come in, but doubt that given Goody's comments re match fitness. Hopefully the week after. Going tall in forward line hasnt worked in the past, we just get cut to shreds when the ball hits the deck, so im not keen on Weeds at this stage

6. Clarry - absolute gun 5. McDonald .......... Tom obviously, where would we be without him 4. Petracca - broke a few tackles, had an impact, 8 tackles and a goal to boot 3. Harmes - great tagging job(s) 2. Fritsch - so clean and classy for such a young player 1. Milkshake - kicked 2 and helped set up another 3 goals Apologies to Brayshaw, unlucky to miss

The geelong and adelaide games are essentially 8-point games. If we win at least one of the two, we probably make finals at the expense of the losing team. If we lose both, i'm pretty sure we miss the top 8.

6 Brayshaw 5 Gawn 4 Oliver 3 Hogan 2 Salem 1 Milkshake

I will ... double check to make sure its not a replay from a previous season.

6. Gawn 5 Jones 4 Fritsch 3 Brayshaw 2 Spargo 1 Hibberd

6 Oliver 5 watts 4 spencer 3 garlett 2 petracca 1 hunt

6. Oliver - wow, what a breakout game - the sky is the limit for this kid 5. Vince 4. Jetta 3. Gawn 2. Petracca 1. T Mac

Lol, ye that's what I was thinking, surely he can afford a bit more. He must have gone all in within like 3 hands, because when I turned around to have a look like 6 mins later his seat was empty. Probs a good thing, with the demons history of gambling issues ( the Ox and Daniel Ward and good old Neitzy scuffling with bouncers outside Crown, etc)