2018 Demons

[AmericanAFL]

This video will give you an idea of the depths that we've risen from (and it's probably not too late to get on board).

I had to stop watching this because of 2018 season spoilers, which I realize is a bit strange since I know the results of all three finals games.

Anyway, I appreciate you posting it none the less.

 

[Dark Avenger]

Thanks mate. I would say I'm 75% in for the Dees at the moment. There's a strong chance they're the team. TopKent and Harry made strong cases against the others (they are arguments I'd already considered honestly).

An additional mark against the Eagles is that I had a strong preference going in to choose a Vic side, for a few reasons. One being the obvious fact that it's a Vic-centric competition. If I ever do get down to Australia for a match or two, it makes sense to be where the most footy action is. Secondly, I'd like to watch as many games as possible live, and the game times for the Vic games seem to give me better and more frequent opportunities for that.

My biggest and maybe only remaining reason for keeping Collingwood in the mix is Cox.

Essendon played in the first game I happened to see on tv 4-5 years ago and Daniher was electric, and that's why they remain in the mix. The drug scandal, however, is a big negative.

As for the Dees, I've been a Philadelphia sports fan my whole life, and I would venture that on the whole, that experience seems to be very similar to what you Dee fans have experienced and lived with your team.

Cheers.

I wouldn't barrack for a team on the basis of one player. You never know where they might end up by the end of their careers in the modern game. At the end of the 2017 season Cox almost got traded to Brisbane. There are lots of Aussies playing in the NBA & most will play for multiple teams by the end of the careers. I love watching Ben Simmons but I still follow Charlotte.

 

[Topkent]

Is your Hogan bias positive or negative? I don't think McDonald has been in any of the Dees games I've watched so far, but if he's a central piece of the list I'm looking forward to seeing him play.

Great info on Jones- I'm definitely a fan.

Completely negative. Never really taken much of a liking to the bloke for a few reasons but it's old news.

Tom McDonald used to be our full back, was thrown forward last year and is now better than Hogan as a Full forward.

Just on Cox, understand the connection but he turns 28 before the season starts next year. Most AFL players are retired at 32. If he is lucky enough to make that age that's 4 years of him and then a life time of Colligwood. It's not worth it

 

[AmericanAFL]

The one player objection is a valid one. Still, that Mason Cox door remains open, even if just slightly.

 

[Headless]

The one player objection is a valid one. Still, that Mason Cox door remains open, even if just slightly.

You definitely wouldn't be the first person to choose their team based on a single player.

 

[AmericanAFL]

Now for an observation and a question.

Gawn, and rucks in general, are really bad at timing their leap on the center bounce. Almost every time both players jump too early and are back on the ground by the time they contact the ball. This doesn't seem to be the case on "ball up" plays- rucks seem to be better at judging those. Are there rucks out there better judging these center bounces than what I have seen?

In the Brisbane game, a Brisbane player won a free kick about 45M from goal, and there was thought that maybe he should have been awarded a 50M penalty. When one is awarded inside of 50M, is the team simply awarded a goal?

 

[CWaffles]

Now for an observation and a question.

Gawn, and rucks in general, are really bad at timing their leap on the center bounce. Almost every time both players jump too early and are back on the ground by the time they contact the ball. This doesn't seem to be the case on "ball up" plays- rucks seem to be better at judging those. Are there rucks out there better judging these center bounces than what I have seen?

In the Brisbane game, a Brisbane player won a free kick about 45M from goal, and there was thought that maybe he should have been awarded a 50M penalty. When one is awarded inside of 50M, is the team simply awarded a goal?

No they don't get awarded a goal, they simply take a shot from the goal square.

 

[Topkent]

Now for an observation and a question.

Gawn, and rucks in general, are really bad at timing their leap on the center bounce. Almost every time both players jump too early and are back on the ground by the time they contact the ball. This doesn't seem to be the case on "ball up" plays- rucks seem to be better at judging those. Are there rucks out there better judging these center bounces than what I have seen?

In the Brisbane game, a Brisbane player won a free kick about 45M from goal, and there was thought that maybe he should have been awarded a 50M penalty. When one is awarded inside of 50M, is the team simply awarded a goal?

The ruck is a game of chess, if a there are 2 rucks going at the ball and one can jump higher than the other, then the disadvantaged ruck will jump into the other which nullifies their leap.
Plus jumping into a bloke with your knee over and over softens up the kidneys and ribs.

 

[TheCount]

Now for an observation and a question.

Gawn, and rucks in general, are really bad at timing their leap on the center bounce. Almost every time both players jump too early and are back on the ground by the time they contact the ball. This doesn't seem to be the case on "ball up" plays- rucks seem to be better at judging those. Are there rucks out there better judging these center bounces than what I have seen?

In the Brisbane game, a Brisbane player won a free kick about 45M from goal, and there was thought that maybe he should have been awarded a 50M penalty. When one is awarded inside of 50M, is the team simply awarded a goal?

For the most part, the lack of timing is because of the umpires bouncing the ball at different heights. Some umpires don’t get as much height on their bounces as others, and they continually rotate thru the middle of the ground, so if a ruckman doesn’t keep track of which umpire bounces how high, which i’d guess that few would, they won’t time it too well.

Also important to note that the Brisbane game being at the Gabba, where they’ve got a permanent cricket pitch in the middle which is rock hard, the bounce will be an extra couple of metres higher than any other ground

 

[Fork n Hell]

agree with Topkents post above. inferior ruckmen jump early to nullify the superior rucks reach and leap, forcing the better ruck to go early as well, so they can at least hold their position instead of being used as a stepladder all day. it doesn't worry us too much if our ruck (who is superior to all others) doesn't get a clean tap, as we have one of the better groups of inside mids in the AFL to clean up the contested ball anyway.

 

[AmericanAFL]

agree with Topkents post above. inferior ruckmen jump early to nullify the superior rucks reach and leap, forcing the better ruck to go early as well, so they can at least hold their position instead of being used as a stepladder all day. it doesn't worry us too much if our ruck (who is superior to all others) doesn't get a clean tap, as we have one of the better groups of inside mids in the AFL to clean up the contested ball anyway.

Appreciate the input. Who wojkd you say are the better mids for this on the Dees?

 

[Fork n Hell]

Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes are our best inside mids. all young guys who should only get better with experience as well.

 

[TheCount]

Appreciate the input. Who wojkd you say are the better mids for this on the Dees?

Clayton Oliver, the ginger in the number 13 jersey is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

I highly recommend just watching him when the ball hits the ground, if you don’t focus on him, you might actually miss how good he is, as his hands are lightning quick

 

[Topkent]

Appreciate the input. Who wojkd you say are the better mids for this on the Dees?

Oliver is clear number 1, I think it takes a really keen follower to understand the purity of his clearances.
Most people who play the game can win a contested footy, but someone like Oliver can win it, then get his hands free and steady to hand it off. It's one thing just handballing to the first jumper you see of the same team, but he has an ability to assess multiple options at once and then fire off a handball to someone 10m away who is clear in the space of about a second and a half.

Petracca I think is our second best at doing this, however he is more of a forward at this stage as his kicking vision is even better so he needs more space to work.

Brayshaw is tough, he will fight for any ball but doesn't have the polish of the first 2. He will improve it but he's a little more get it forward at all costs.

Jones is a warrior. He just grits his teeth gets the footy and gives it to someone else. He has a 6th sense of when he is gonna be tackled and will step away.

Harmes last 8 weeks were incredible, he became a monster inside and near impossible to tackle. Loves a don't argue (stiff arm). A bit like Brayshaw not as polished but Harmes also plays a defensive role inside where he shuts his opponent down and then will work hard to get the ball. Has a great balance.

 

[Topkent]

Haha and I bloody forgot Jack Viney

AmericanAFL wait till Viney gets back from injury.
He's one of the shortest blokes in the competition but don't let that fool you, pound for pound he would be in the conversation as the toughest of all time.

Mum's would remove their kids from games he was playing as a young fella as he was hurting kids with his attack on the footy.
Even in his first season at Melbourne the coaches had to pull him aside and ask him to relax as he was hurting his teammates.

He plays footy like he was a pitbull kept in a cage for 3 months while it's owner poked it with a stick and poured water on it everyday.

 

[Fork n Hell]

Haha and I bloody forgot Jack Viney

AmericanAFL wait till Viney gets back from injury.
He's one of the shortest blokes in the competition but don't let that fool you, pound for pound he would be in the conversation as the toughest of all time.

Mum's would remove their kids from games he was playing as a young fella as he was hurting kids with his attack on the footy.
Even in his first season at Melbourne the coaches had to pull him aside and ask him to relax as he was hurting his teammates.

He plays footy like he was a pitbull kept in a cage for 3 months while it's owner poked it with a stick and poured water on it everyday.

I was waiting for this lol

 

[FootyGuy13]

An additional mark against the Eagles is that I had a strong preference going in to choose a Vic side, for a few reasons. One being the obvious fact that it's a Vic-centric competition. If I ever do get down to Australia for a match or two, it makes sense to be where the most footy action is. Secondly, I'd like to watch as many games as possible live, and the game times for the Vic games seem to give me better and more frequent opportunities for that.

In the Brisbane game, a Brisbane player won a free kick about 45M from goal, and there was thought that maybe he should have been awarded a 50M penalty. When one is awarded inside of 50M, is the team simply awarded a goal?

The reason why the AFL has 9 teams in Melbourne and 9 teams not is because before the AFL, there were 3 major Aussie Rules leagues. The WAFL in Perth, the SANFL in Adelaide and the VFL in Melbourne. In the 80s, the VFL saw the opportunity to expand the league into other states. After getting 3 interstate teams and 1 more about to enter, the VFL renamed themselves as the AFL and continued to expand further. Attendances for the WAFL and SANFL leagues have been falling since.

50m penalties inside the 50m arc place the free kick into the goal square. While most will score a goal from there, some have still managed to score a behind from so close.

 

[schmuttt]

Oliver is clear number 1, I think it takes a really keen follower to understand the purity of his clearances.
Most people who play the game can win a contested footy, but someone like Oliver can win it, then get his hands free and steady to hand it off. It's one thing just handballing to the first jumper you see of the same team, but he has an ability to assess multiple options at once and then fire off a handball to someone 10m away who is clear in the space of about a second and a half.

Petracca I think is our second best at doing this, however he is more of a forward at this stage as his kicking vision is even better so he needs more space to work.

Brayshaw is tough, he will fight for any ball but doesn't have the polish of the first 2. He will improve it but he's a little more get it forward at all costs.

Jones is a warrior. He just grits his teeth gets the footy and gives it to someone else. He has a 6th sense of when he is gonna be tackled and will step away.

Harmes last 8 weeks were incredible, he became a monster inside and near impossible to tackle. Loves a don't argue (stiff arm). A bit like Brayshaw not as polished but Harmes also plays a defensive role inside where he shuts his opponent down and then will work hard to get the ball. Has a great balance.

Brayshaw also works better into space than the others IMO, and his tackling is probably the best of all of them.

 

[AmericanAFL]

Really great info from all, it will be helpful, thanks.

Looking forward to round three vs North, probably tomorrow.

 

[dazzledavey36]

Its crazy to think that we froth our mouths over the prospects of Brayshaw, Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, yet we tend to forget about Jack Viney amongst it all.

Fully fit i would hate to think just how good of a player he could be.

 

[AmericanAFL]

Its crazy to think that we froth our mouths over the prospects of Brayshaw, Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, yet we tend to forget about Jack Viney amongst it all.

Fully fit i would hate to think just how good of a player he could be.

I've watched first two rounds and a constant thought has been "where the hell is viney". I was bummed to learn in this thread that injury keeps him out for the first 6-7 games.

 

[FootyGuy13]

I've watched first two rounds and a constant thought has been "where the hell is viney". I was bummed to learn in this thread that injury keeps him out for the first 6-7 games.

Brayshaw comes back Round 4
Tom McDonald comes back Round 6 (it's his younger brother Oscar in the backline)
Viney comes back Round 9

 

[harry000]

Brayshaw comes back Round 4
Tom McDonald comes back Round 6 (it's his younger brother Oscar in the backline)
Viney comes back Round 9

I've watched first two rounds and a constant thought has been "where the hell is viney". I was bummed to learn in this thread that injury keeps him out for the first 6-7 games.

Viney only plays 7 games between round 9 and 16.. has some more time off before turning to make a real impact in the finals.

 

[Capt_Concussion]

Viney only plays 7 games between round 9 and 16.. has some more time off before turning to make a real impact in the finals.

His game against Geelong was so good. I wish someone would make a Viney vs G. Ablett highlight reel.

 

[Ablett2Garland]

Natalie Portman is demons fan, the red and blue always looks good, classy.


once a demon, always a demon