Older demon

Thank you for starting this thread up At the end of 2018 there was IMO a big clean out. I counted 11 players leaving the club: Bugg, Hogan, Balic, Johnstone, Kent, King, McKenna, Pederson, Tyson, Vince and the rookie Filipovic. Of the 11, I would classify 6 as seasoned players even if you doubt their ability We bought in 13 recruits, a number raised by the 2 B category rookies Bradtke & Walker. The remaining newbies are May, Bedford, Kolodjashnij, Preuss, Jordan, Nietschke, Sparrow, Hore, Chandler, Lockhart & Dunkley. Of this group I only consider May a seasoned player and Kolodjashnij perennially injured. Preuss came to us with 8 games. Sparrow, Hore, Chandler, Dunkley & Lockhart all made their debut as did Baker from the 2018 list with a total of 6 debutants. There were some weeks we had 3 of them playing at a time. The 3 who didn't debut were Bedford, Jordan and Nietshke (injured). With so many injuries and players unavailable it is no surprise we struggled and the FD would not has considered how depleted and inexperienced we became I don't doubt that at the end of 2018 it was correct to refresh the list and bring in so many fresh faces but it left us very young and inexperienced outside of the core group. I hope that we won't have as many changes this season or if we do, we bring in seasoned players as we bought a lot of youth in last year. The upside is that many first year payers got a game earlier than expected and I hope this accelerates their development.

So 46 pages of comment varying from he's a hack to he's the saviour. Mahoney's interview offered some clarity Frosty doesn't want to leave MFC but has not been offered a contract yet. There is a contract on the table but it hasn't been offered (Mahoney's own words). The club has said he can explore his options with their blessing. Why? Well, Sam well he is out of contract and the club deems we have an excess of back men. So at the moment, as we have seen in other draft periods players are left out on a limb to ponder their fate. The options are Sam goes to another club on an equal or better contract and some of us, me included, will be sad. Next, the planned import of players from elsewhere falls through and MFC say, Sam we always loved you, come home all is forgiven. Interesting scenario because all all the Frost haters go into meltdown on Demonland. Another option is that no-one wants to offer a tall, quick, key back a contract and MFC say goodbye as well and Sam finds himself interstate or in a local league. The latter is highly unlikely but it has happened to footballers before. He could find himself player at his old school Wesley in the ammo's. There is a lot of events that need to align before we see the final outcome.

Yze being interviewed for the Adelaide job and Scott Burns has withdrawn from applying. Ooze may be heading south. Re OMac maybe the plan is to play him up forward this season. Experiment was on show late in the season

I have to agree. If you look back mid season we were not much better than some of this year. Stop start footy, bomb it long and turn it over a lot. Then for a magic 8 week period everything just clicked and we went into September on a high and played 2 great finals but then hit the wall. Wonderful interview and insight

From the HS this morning HAWTHORN’S luring of Melbourne full back Sam Frost on a multi-year deal came after the Demons had declined to offer him a deal. Melbourne believes Oscar McDonald can fill the third defensive tall option alongside Steven May and Jake Lever, even though Frost was ninth in the Demons best-and-fairest this year. AS stated earlier I am a Frost fan but it appears there was NO offer to Frost and even scarier is their blind faith in Oscar. I fear this is a mistake.

I know Frosty so I declare my bias and I will be very sorry to see him leave as I believe he has something to offer the club. Dal Santo stated this morning on SEN that he spoke to Frost last week and to date he has had NO OFFER yet from the club. This is in line with what his manager has stated despite what others have stated ie That his asking price is too high. I don't think you can trust anyone in the trade period. Personally I think the club would be mad to trade him but I don't know all the cards on the table. What we do know is that Stretch & Frosty don't have offers yet for 2020 which doesn't give one confidence that they are in the clubs ongoing plans. In Sam's case he is currently out of contract and we have May, Lever, OMac and Petty as key backs so as much as this site dislikes Oscar he is in contract. Sam is the easiest to move on as is Billy. In addition we have no insight into what the club expects moving forward and if they want to develop Petty more. I also note that in a recent article by Lever about rebuilding the backline he did not mention Sam. I don't like the decision but other clubs are moving on players. I cannot imagine why Saints want to move on Bruce, Adelaide haven't offered Keath much and Tomlinson is squeezed out at GWS. Every year players get squeezed out or traded. The club determines what happens and the frustration is our opinion amounts to nothing

Gee Max & Clarry way in front of everyone. Pleased Fritta finished of so well (when he went forward)

Frosty in the top 10 surely they will offer him a contract!!!

A tie told you it would be close

Be interested to see how the final result compares to Demonland player of the year!

Not much daylight there so far. We have the close one! And now Frosty is in the top 6

Thank you Nathan for your service to the club as captain, most of it through trying times. I hope this year free from the burden you play well and clock up the necessary games to achieve the 300 mark.

A friend of a friend (so don’t shoot me) says the count will be close, as close as you can get! Original source was a journalist so who can you trust for me it is Gawn and Oliver.

Also forgot to mention that Hardwick besides encouraging chaos ball (which we do) could not emphasise enough the importance of defence. I know they lost Rance early but settled in a very stable defence. If there is 1 thing that gives me hope for coming seasons is if we can settle our defence as the injury plague this year really crueller any continuity with our back 6. I am not sure moving forward who the back 6 will be but the formula is a lock down full back (Astbury) the intercept mark (Grimes) the designated kicker and general (Houli) the run and gun (Short) and midfielders who are prepared to run both ways. I am so impressed with how Hardwick has re-invented himself and his thoughts on the game.

With respect to kicking I liked what Damian Hardwick had to say this morning on coaching. IMO opinion there are 2 game styles, Hawthorn with their precise hit the target movement of the ball that won them 3 straight flags and Richmond who will chip to a loose target but prefer the chaos game of run and gun or kicking to their forward marking targets. Hardwick's point was that in 2016 he was trying to coach his footballers to improve their weaknesses i.e play the Hawthorn precision game. In 2017 after a review and close call to getting sacked he decided to coach to their strengths which was run and gun. He also said he coached less and didn't micro manage the team and let them play (I suspect this means he didn't need the runner but the team leaders looked after on field adjustments). Similar sentiments from Grundy in an interview last week. He said Buckley's attitude was work harder to achieve success which drove the players nuts and if it persisted Grundy wanted to leave. Buckley got reviewed, came close to a sacking but changed his attitude. Less is sometimes more and play to your strengths. Set shot kicking is a skill and I hope the new coach can improve this but also moving the ball into better position for set shots is important to and that is game style. I have my doubts that some players will ever be good great field kicks but if you cannot hit a target then kick it to space and let them run on to it

If we look at the premiers and their player mix I can see some glaring gaps in our list and team. Roos wanted big bodied mids but IMO the game has changed and 1 or 2 at most and the need is for speed. Consider these 6 players from yesterday and their height" Prestia 175 cm, Short 178 cm, Rioli 179 cm, lambert 178 cm, Bolton 175 cm and Baker 173 cm. They are all quick and mobile and kick well. That is 6 players under 180 cm and they win the flag in fact 2 out of 3 and a near miss last year. Also note they play 2 ruckman. MFC have Viney, Spargo, JKH & Bedford under 180 The target is pace, pace and more pace whoever they may be

For what it is worth I believe Sam Frost still has a lot of development in him and is a keeper. At Wesley he was gun basketball who played in the footy team showed some run and gun and then had the football coach and basketball coaching fighting over him. He has come to football late and it is up to MFC to further develop him. Areas for improvement are kicking and decision making but he is not on his own in this area at the club. Player development is not something our club is noted for and it is about time it improved. Many posters here believe that he would develop at Hawthorn or North, well I want MFC to show they can develop him better. May can play full back, lever the back pocket intercept marking and Frost at CHB.

There is 1 KPI not mentioned yet and it is often used when negotiating contracts. It is where you place in the Best & Fairest. When shipping off Watts it was always mentioned he never got in the top 10 at the B&F. MFC may be waiting till after the B&F and where Frosty finishes before offering a contract. Frosty was 8th in the Demonland player of the year and a similar result at the B&F would increase his worth.

For those with short memories here is the 2007 draft in which master was taken, There are some interesting names and he was taken pick 3 just before Cale Morton. McEvoy at 9 and Dangerfield at 10 with Rioli at 12 wow. Shows that the gems can be later than expected. Furthermore Tarrant at 15 harry taylor 17 and Alex Rance 18. For me I think we can do better than Masten

You are correct that Jared Rivers coaches a VFL side and is a life member at MFC and still very close to most of the MFC players. Say no more

His foot injury is not my opinion but direct from a former team mate who left, retired and now coaches a VFL side.

I believe it is the brain child of Gary Pert and mimics what he did at Collingwood. It would be of interest if any of our Collingwood contacts remember this being done and how often along with the format of the meeting.

I filled in an online petition some started with a submission to re-sign Frosty. It is run by change.org I think it would be a grave error in judgement to not offer Sam an new contract, but then the FD have made a few blunders in recent times. I cannot divulge more without giving away my identity

One of the things I admire about the current setup is that there are NO leaks. For all we know a review has been done and while we are emotionally invested we are not in the loop who this is info is supplied too. We rely on opinion, rumour and innuendo. Roos gave sound reason why you don't have an external review and reminded us all that the board meets regularly to look at and review each department. The club is constantly reviewing itself and without knowing the exact information we can see that at mid year some serious re arranging of coaching staff occurred. In the last 8 games there was always at least 2 first year players in the lineup often irregardless of form and players sent off you season ending surgery. I suggest there has been lots going on and several assistant coaches have moved on, again this didn't happen by accident. The external stuff and leaks of info are not about fixing things but appeasing the excess number of journos and the insatiable desire supporters want in order to see justification for what is happening at the club. Be patient sit back and see how much of the so called stuff actually happens. The club has plans to have a members forum later this year where members will be invited to hear what is going on and express their opinions give feedback.

Jack will be the first to admit it hasn't been his best season. He had half a game at Casey in their last practise match and then came into the team for game one against the Power, as did Jones. Not the ideal prep for a season and that foot injury has to be managed and will never be 100%. He has a role to play in the team and most times does it to the best of his ability. I wouldn't trade him but wish he would learn to use his right foot instead of always turning on his left and to occasionally not get drawn to the contest and cover the outside. He has been told to toe it down as he is so footy focused he can be annoying to the other players. he has on occasions admitted that he needs to backoff onfield and on the track when communicating to his team mates. Nothing that cannot be fixed and let him develop.