btdemon

Miller's best game was against Freo in 2008 when we came back from the dead. He did things in that game that really good footballers do, not just lead, mark and kick. He bumped opposition players over, wheeled onto his right foot, kicked with purpose and played with a fluency that I hadn't seen from him before. I really thought he became a footballer that day but sadly, it was just a day out. I do hope he can do it again.

It was pretty weird that Moloney, Jones, McDonald, Sylvia & co showed very little aggro to those who were hassling Watts. Yes, he has to look after himself but the lack of willingness to fly the flag for Watts reflected the general lack of energy and cohesion in the whole game. I was puzzled by it and thought, "Gee, they don't appear switched on". As it happens, they weren't.

I was going to ask the same question. I have a lot of time for Bruce BUT! HE SHOULD NEVER TAKE KICK INS!!!! How many times did he kick to a contest yesterday and it result in a turnover and WC score? (this is a rhetorical question). He waited so long and then chose to kick long. His kicking is just too fluffy and inaccurate to let him do this. If you are going to kick beyond the 50 to a marking target, like Jamar, you have to do it quickly and with penetration and accuracy, not one of Bruce's fluffy floaters. By the time he made the decision it was obvious to the WC forwards where he was going to kick it most of the time there were four or five players on hand to contest it. The turnovers from these really cost us. Frawley also lacks penetration with his kicking but he usually kicks short or takes a long run before kicking long which gives his players a chance to find space. Grimes is the most reliable at the kick outs but even he makes the odd clanger. The sooner Strauss can earn a position in the side the better we will be. We need the Gilbee, Hunt, Hurn type kick desperately.

The fact that we need to build a supporter base from the ground up is becoming more and more obvious. When I was a kid in the sixties the Demons had one of the largest supporter bases on the back of sustained success. A significant proportion of those people will have passed on. 46 years in the footy wilderness has had a devastating effect on our numbers. Knowing that we have a really good supporter to membership conversion rate, and intelligent and thoughtful supporters will not sustain us in the future. We need young people to jump on and build a critical mass and supporter momentum. The club are very aware of this and seem to taking steps in that direction. The Casey move is one example. Whether it yields an increase in supporter numbers remains to be seen. The club is creating an exciting new image. Giving access to TV cameras in coaching rooms is a great idea. The fact that we have only had one free to air game in eight rounds is appalling. The excitement around last Friday's game was palpable and it is this kind of thing that generates interest among the young. Kids want to identify with the players as people. At the moment we have a super 'clean cut' image with lots of exciting young players. Scully, Trengove, Grimes, Aussie, Jurrah, Watts, Petterd, Davey and the new generation are so marketable to the young. All exciting in different ways. The more we give access to the media, the better. At the moment we seem to be everyone's 'second favorite team' because of this excitement and because we are seen as such underdogs. This will only last for a couple of years. People may begin to hate us because of our success. Then we have to capitalise on our succes. Success of course, does build support in the young. Look at Geelong. I, for one, used to despise them. Every year I would take that trip down the highway to the annual thrashing by a flashy but inconsistent bunch of show ponies. They have turned that image around to such an extent that the majority of the public believe they deserve every success they have and hope that their own teams can achieve the same level of professionalism. On the subject of Geelong, they have conducted a number of visits to my daughter's school over the past few years. The value of this can't be underestimated in recruiting young people. She met the likes of Sellwood, Milburn, Corey, Lonergan etc. They ran clinics and were incredibly good with the kids. She is a dyed in the wool Demons supporter but has a real soft spot for Geelong. The clean cut image of Ablett and Bartel have enormous pulling power amongst the young. We have this potential at the moment and need to exploit it with as much public access to the players as possible. Whiteboard Wednesdays hopefully show that we are on to it. The one thing we can assume is that we won't survive as a club if we rely on a supporter base that is largely 30+ yrs old and not being refreshed and built at the bottom end. This is a football renaissance for the Dees. We must milk it for all it's worth.

Jack appears to have to really think about his kicking. There is a very deliberate and slightly unnatural aspect to his action. The really great kicks don't think about it that much in the heat of the battle. He seems to take that fraction longer to to kick. I think that is why it sometimes comes unstuck with Jack. As he adjusts more to the pace of the game (like, he hasn't already?) the mistakes should be less often. You get the feeling with Jack that he will work very hard to eradicate any perceived shortcomings in his game. Kicking aside, I just love him. His decisions are brilliant, his balance in contests is superb. The guy will be around for a long time as one of our favorite sons.

From memory, there were only about two 'holding the ball' decisions paid last night. One shocker against Scully. Incorrect disposal was absolutely rife from both teams because of the conditions and the umpires let the game go and then seemed to pick those two arbitrary moments to ping players for supposedly dragging the ball in. Scully had absolutely no control over that one.

I am rapidly gaining confidence in the FD's ability to pick the right guys. On three levels they seem to be getting it right most of the time. Firstly, they seem to be making good tactical selections for each game in relation to match-ups and tactics. Rivers proved to be a great call last night even though some think he doesn't fit into our new defence. Hughes was OK and PJ did some nice things but the conditions didn't suit him. On the second level, they are only picking players who deserve a spot. It appears that players now have to show consistently good form at Casey before being picked. This is sending a strong message to the list and suggests a real change in culture at the club. I thought that Joel McDonald was a bit stiff even though he had an absolute shocker against Nth. But in hindsight they were right to drop him. Likewise Martin. There are guys like Cheney and Jetta playing at Casey who have potential and add great depth but again they will have to earn there spots. Newton has only been picked when his form at Casey demanded it and dropped as soon as he didn't perform in the seniors. Thirdly, the players who are getting a game are largely repaying the faith shown in them by producing great form. I was not completely convinced that Bennell had the right stuff but he is proving me wrong. The FD obviously know this. this may slightly contradict my second point but I don't think Bennell ever deserved to be dropped for shirking that contest. Yes, this FD is giving me confidence that they really know what they are doing. Thy are picking the right players. I have not felt like this in all my years as a Demon supporter.

"Being at the footy and yet not really being at the footy." Hmm.....so true. Its like "Footy LE" or "Footy Lite" (trial version)

After watching the WB v Saints match I predicted (to my wife and myself) that we wouldn't be able to play the game style that has won us the last three games. The ground is too easy to bottle up and our game atm relies on space and run. Another poster on here said that we picked too many talls. Talls weren't the problem. North had effective talls who were able to take contested marks on the forward line. Ours weren't. Our boys really looked tired and lacking spark. They turned it on in the third but probably spent all their energy. North were able to fire up and capitalise. I also think that Firrito's foray into our huddle was also designed to fire them up. The worse thing about the game was not the loss, but again another serious injury. I hate Darklands. It is as ill-conceived as Waverley. Crap, dangerous surface, horrible vibe, crap facilities! It only ever brings us pain. I have only been to four games there and each time we have had injuries. Remember Davey's hammie in 2005 when he was absolutely on fire. It is a dark and evil place full of bad spirits. I am placing the same boycott on that ground as I have on Kardinia Park (I have not seen the Dees win at Geelong in all the years I have been following them.) In fact, I won't even glance at Darklands when I drive past in case I get the heebies.

Or an auntie with balls.

Couldn't get to the game last night. Don't have Foxtel (Tight-arse). Not one game this season on free to air telly (Sucks!). It seems that most of the bigpond replays have glitches in them. For instance, the replays stop half way through the quarter. I've tried everything. Help me. signed.... Desperate

Sorry enforcer. i didn't see your later post. I'm so sick of the negative, carping Bailey bashers. They remind me of "Mr. Negative" Mark McClure.

I can't believe there are still people who think we don't have a game plan. The same people who were calling for Bailey's head 4 weeks ago. Well back off! We just beat the fancied Lions with a brilliant game plan for God's sake. The team is now learning how to do it. There will be blips. Will you guys start harping again as soon as we lose another game? Bailey knows what he is doing. Isn't it obvious? Just enjoy it rather than looking for a whipping boy.

What I meant was, I think Dangerfield was seen by our coaches as a key play maker and was often tackled by more than one person. Dangerfield's arms were often pulled behind him. I'm not saying that they went out to get him but he was often tackled by more than one player. Dangerfield is very strong in the body and I think our coaching panel were aware of that. I was not saying that they deliberately set out to injure him but if the practice of gang tackling in this manner is part of team strategy across the league then it will ultimately end in serious injury to somebody. It is a coordinated approach where the collective strength of two or three is pitted against one man. The person being tackled cannot protect themselves against falling awkwardly or having their head rammed into the ground. This is why the NRL banned spear tackles.

Whether you call it a 'spear tackle' or not, three blokes grabbing one bloke, holding his arms and ramming him head first into the turf is only designed to do one thing, hurt him. I noticed that was the approach to Dangerfield throughout the game, and was a very effective tactic. However, if Paddy Dangerfield had been made a quadraplegic, he, his family and the three blokes who effected the tackle would all have to live with it for the rest of their lives. I think the AFL has to look at it immediately before we have a tragedy. Also the 'pigeon tackle' and the 'chicken wing' need to be scrutinized ASAP. Just remember guys, a whole lot of us have written all week about about Guerra's dirty tactics. I love the new toughness of our players but I don't want to see a tragedy.

Probably means that Sylvia hasn't come up.

"cheap, childish humour", on the Footy Show?.... No way. Its normally such an edifying experience.

We're not on free to air telly AGAIN!!! For the third week in a row. Sheesh!

People on this site have hoped that Watts will end up being a Jonathon Brown or Nick Riewolt. I commented earlier this year that I thought he was much more likely to be a Royce Hart. A fast, highly skilled, floating type CHF. I noticed this morning the AFL site has a bigpond highlight package of Royce Hart. It confirmed in my mind that this is the type of player that Watts might be. For those who are too young to remember Hart, have a look http://bigpondvideo.com/AFL/255610 . If Jacky boy ends up like this I will be very happy.

Not only does this type of tackling raise the likelihood of shoulder injury but also means the head can be rammed into the ground giving the tackled player no chance of protecting themselves. The 'duty of care' rules should come into play here as the intention is to injure the player. Guerra may be a very nice person (I can't judge him as I don't know him), but on the field, he is and always has been, a grubby mongrel. What can we expect from a man whose name in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian means "War".

I was watching Geelong v Hawthorn on Sunday and thinking about how physically strong Geelong have been over the last three years. How they have been able to brush other teams aside with their strength. This was also true of Brisbane in their hayday and the Weagles. I averaged Geelong's heights and weights from Sunday's game. Average height - 188.5 cm Average weight - 87.3 kg Average age - 26.2 yrs Average games - 124 Melbourne on Saturday, by contrast had the following stats: Average height - 186 cm Average weight - 84 kg Average age - 23.5 yrs Average games - 62 Stats and averages can be very misleading, and we've heard all of these before but it is interesting to note that we look smaller because we are. Not rocket surgery I know, but we are a full inch shorter in the old money, and 3.3 kg lighter. If you take young Stephen Motlopp, who played very little part in what was his first game, out of Geelong's averages, then their weight goes up to 88.2 kg! By the same token, if you take JMac out of the Dees figures then our average games goes down to 53. It all points to the fact that we probably can't really be a genuine contender for two years. Oh....and before anybody says it, my name is not Captain Obvious.

Watching the replay of Saturday's game made me go back and look at some games from last year. Petterd played an absolute ripper against WC. I was struck by his great marking, liveliness, cleverness and the unpredictable nature of his game. He has enormous natural athletic ability and a great sense of where the ball is going to be. He is also very hard to match up because he is very quick on the burst but is a great mark for his size. If he could improve his kicking he will be an great player (hopefully for us). He's been a real surprise asset this year. I must admit, when fantasizing about my ideal lineup for 2010, that I couldn't necessarily fit him in to my best 22. After his last couple of games he would be in my first few picks. I hope we can keep him. He is a gem.

Garry Lyon should know better. He is obviously quite close to Jimmy and the club in general, and to fuel speculation about Bailey at this stage is really damaging. Yes, he is a journalist, and has the responsibility to ask questions, but it would be very easy for him to play a straight bat. Even if he thought bailey was the worst coach in the world he shouldn't be eroding the confidence in his position when he knows Bailey has a year to run. I see it as injudicious at best, mischievous and disloyal at worst.

Jack the Ripper at FF worries me. He was prone to 'going missing', in fact he was never even sighted as far a I know. We need someone with more 'presence' at the pointy end (no pun intended).

Actually, maybe there is some Karma. Who was it on this forum, or was it 'ology, who was recently censured for publicly celebrating Morton's injury? Have the football gods punished us all for his sins?