Lets focus on the positives....

[Bartram_Class]

Just a few to consider here...

- Valenti's form in the middle of the park, 20 odd possessions.
- No sign of a lapse in form from Jones, carrying on from '07.
- McDonald in and under where he does his best work.
- Buckley's 5 minute burst in the 2nd quarter where he tore it up.
- Zomer's effort when he came on.
- Garland, some strong marks and 3 goals to boot.
- Stef Martin at FB, promising.

I'm not too disappointed, we fought back well in the 3rd before running out of puff in the 4th.

 

[Jimi]

- Stef Martin at FB, promising.

I'm not too disappointed, we fought back well in the 3rd before running out of puff in the 4th.

Who did he play on?

 

[goal sneak]

Got to agree with most of them BC.

Valenti just knows how to win the ball. The step up in class did not worry him, just carried on winning the ball. Bailey obviously rates him highly. Reckon he would have been in at 80% of the centre bounces. I too rate him highly and reckon he will win a B&F at the Dees one day. Is it right to wish injury upon Ben Holland so Valenti can be promoted?

Stef Martin showed some signs. Made a few errors but you have to remember he has only been playing football for 2 years. Looked raw but took a couple of good marks and gave run out of the backline. Will only improve on this performance.

Buckley was great. Has a great turn of pace and what about his goal from 55 into the breeze. Hopefully he plays a full season in the seniors this year and continues to improve.

Jones as you said continued on his way from 2007. Is such a leader too. Could he be the next captain of the Demons?

Garland was good with 3 goals. Is a good athlete and may be able to take over the Robertson role in the future.


On the other side of the ledger Jace Bode was horrible and will never be up to AFL standard.

 

[master bate]

I missed the last quarter so some of this could be wrong...but

The middle of the half was a draw, which was a good effort considering the team we had. Actually even letting them belt us in the last quarter wasn't too bad, the first quarter was most of the difference, 33 points down plus kicking with a 5 goal breeze and you get most of the 72 points just there.

Buckley's goal!!! 60m dead straight into a stiff breeze where Steve Johnson didn't make the distance from 45 out. Supersupergoal.

Stef Martin - sure can move well, it might take a year but I can really see a future for him in the backline - I hope he plays more than Holland, Miller or Paul Johnson as our big tall along side Carroll, Rivers and Frawley (dear melbourne recruiters, please draft everyone 195cm plus who plays basketball in the state)

Jamar wasn't completely hopeless

Valenti and Jones, very good they just need some class around them

Meesen was exciting (can we get him in the centre) Aussie was great, McNamara looked very promising, Maric showed skills, Cheney was rarely sighted. Zomer is like the Juice of 2005/2006 (lock him in the gym, just cause he wears ferg's number it doesn't mean he has to be skinny)

Still think Yze isn't a defender but he did play well there.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

I think what we need to remember is that it's the NAB Cup. It means nothing, and we all know it. Not only that but we have a new coach with new ideas and they can take time to sink in. Add in the fact that we were missing several key players and we were playing the reigning premiers on their home turf and there you have it - a big loss.

Some of the kids showed promise which is good, but I won't start judging anything until Round 1 begins.

 

[demonfan9]

I couldn't even tell who some of our players were to be honest - being on the bottom level, without the benefit of having a scoreboard, a radio, or even a record to look at player numbers.

Geelong were very slick. They use the ball tremendously out of the backline. You always hear about their game style (handball from defence through the corridor) but until you actual see it live at the ground, then you have no idea how effective it is. The bastards had players everywhere. They handballed left, right, over their heads, through their legs...and they still find a running teammate.

In contrast, we struggled under their intense pressure and could not find enough space to use the ball. As a result, our skills were deplorable and we gave the forwards no chance.

However, when you look at the big picture, there's no need to panic. We played the best team in the competition at their home ground. We were missing many players, including those important to our structure (Neitz, Davey, Bruce, McLean, Moloney, Rivers, Carroll, Whelan, Wheatley, Bartram, Petterd, Miller, Dunn, Frawley). We had many first gamers, and you could tell that they struggled to adapt to the pressure and intensity of senior football, in particular their decision making, skills, and inability to lay tackles against the stronger Geelong bodies. Also, Bailey obviously experimented with things such as playing 4 ruckmen (Johnson in defence, Meesen in midfield), and Yze and Bate across the half back line rather than their preferred positions up forward.

We've played one practice match against the best team in the league with half our team out, so in summary, it means jack shit.

 

[cougar000]

Got to agree with most of them BC.

Valenti just knows how to win the ball. The step up in class did not worry him, just carried on winning the ball. Bailey obviously rates him highly. Reckon he would have been in at 80% of the centre bounces. I too rate him highly and reckon he will win a B&F at the Dees one day. Is it right to wish injury upon Ben Holland so Valenti can be promoted?

Stef Martin showed some signs. Made a few errors but you have to remember he has only been playing football for 2 years. Looked raw but took a couple of good marks and gave run out of the backline. Will only improve on this performance.

Buckley was great. Has a great turn of pace and what about his goal from 55 into the breeze. Hopefully he plays a full season in the seniors this year and continues to improve.

Jones as you said continued on his way from 2007. Is such a leader too. Could he be the next captain of the Demons?

Garland was good with 3 goals. Is a good athlete and may be able to take over the Robertson role in the future.


On the other side of the ledger Jace Bode was horrible and will never be up to AFL standard.

Thought this myself if McLean don't step up then I think Jones is the man in waiting, to I see a bit of Judd in him but a little bit harder at the ball than Judd.

 

[Super-Chief]

I was at the game and when I saw the team I knew we were unlikely to get close.

I've just gone through the team make-up which was:
- 3 rookies: Zomer, Winnameiri, Valenti = Average 0 games
- 5 others with 0 games: Martin, McNamara, Weetra, Cheney, Maric = Average 0 Games
- 6 with 10 games or less: Bode (2), Garland (2), Warnock (4), Bode (4), Buckley (6), Newton (10) = Average 4.6
- 6 with 11 to 52 games: PJ (27), Jonesey (29), Bate (33), Bell (45), Jamar (52), Sylvia (52) = Average 40
- 6 experienced players: Holland, White, JMac, Yze, Green, Robbo

Love to compare this with Geelong's but couldn't be bothered.

The good news is that all these kids will be better for the experience and also that we won't field a team anything like this again this year.

The only downside is that if we have as many injuries as last year our lack of depth will be a problem.

Although we obviously can't read too much into the result, it was disappointing that we didn't field a better and more competitive side to give us a realistic look at where we are at.

 

[Crimson Azure]

It was only 71 points & it could have been 121 points.

Young blokes were good.

 

[The Great Gabsby]

• Jones was impressive, seems to have improved from last year, particularly with his work in close.

• Buckley showed signs of being a star. Had no idea he was so fast.

• Valenti was just a ball magnet. Appeared to be struggling with the speed of the game at times but that was to be expected considering it was his first game. Will provide very handy midfield backup this year.
• Wonna pressured well, once he gets a bigger tank he will be quite useful
• Mcnamara looked composed beyond his years. Good signs from him.
• Martin I though played rather well considering the ball was down there every 20 seconds. Definite full back future.
• Sylvia showed how damaging he can be in the 3rd quarter. Now we just need him to do that for the whole game.....

Does anyone else think it was a ploy by Bailey to have this many first gamers in this game? I have a feeling he wanted to show all the boys with no previous AFL experience what the best team in the AFL plays like, so that he can give the boys something to aim for.

 

[Supermercado]

I saw nothing yesterday that changes my views that we will finish 10th or 11th.

There was promise amongst the kids, and a bit of slop from some seniors but with the players we were missing we're at least a 6 goal better side than that. Especially on a ground where we've had one win and a one draw in twenty years.

 

[demonfan9]

Does anyone else think it was a ploy by Bailey to have this many first gamers in this game? I have a feeling he wanted to show all the boys with no previous AFL experience what the best team in the AFL plays like, so that he can give the boys something to aim for.

Well he did say in his press conference that he played the youngsters in key positions, instead of "hiding them on the bench".

Good learning experience for them.

 

[Super-Chief]

A quick follow-up to my previous post about Saturday's team this time showing the players missing:

The team that played:
- 3 rookies: Zomer, Wonaeamirri, Valenti = Average 0 games
- 5 others with 0 games: Martin, McNamara, Weetra, Cheney, Maric = Average 0 Games
- 6 with 10 games or less: Bode (2), Garland (2), Warnock (4), Bode (4), Buckley (6), Newton (10) = Average 4.6
- 6 with 11 to 52 games: PJ (27), Jonesey (29), Bate (33), Bell (45), Jamar (52), Sylvia (52) = Average 40
- 6 experienced players: Holland, White, JMac, Yze, Green, Robbo

Missing:
- Likely starters round 1 if available: Clint Bartram, Cameron Bruce, Nathan Carroll, Aaron Davey, Lynden Dunn, Brock McLean, Brad Miller, Brent Moloney, David Neitz, Ricky Petterd, Jared Rivers, Paul Wheatley, Matthew Whelan = 13 players
- Possible other inclusions: James Frawley, Chris A. Johnson = 2
- Unknowns: first 2 draft picks = Cale Morton, Jack Grimes

When I look at this many missing senior players, it makes me feel a lot better (I'm trying very hard to stay positive). I would expect most of these to be available round 1 (say, 8 of them) and to go in with only a few of the inexperienced players who played against the Cats..

Looking at this list, they couldn't have all been injured so it looks like Bailey decided to give all the new boys a taste of the big time.

 

[Jonesy2]

Does anyone else think it was a ploy by Bailey to have this many first gamers in this game? I have a feeling he wanted to show all the boys with no previous AFL experience what the best team in the AFL plays like, so that he can give the boys something to aim for.

It was a very brave move from Bailey consideration it's a first game as coach and against the reigning preimer. He must have been scared we could have got blown away by 100+. But good on him, he didnt put his own personal pride ahead of the teams round 1 preparation by not playing any players that where underdone. I am sure he could have played a few seniors to make the scorebaord more competitive but that would have sacified our preparations so good on him. If they werent 100% dont play them at the end of the day NAB cap doesnt mean much.

 

[dutchy12]

It was a very brave move from Bailey consideration it's a first game as coach and against the reigning preimer. He must have been scared we could have got blown away by 100+. But good on him, he didnt put his own personal pride ahead of the teams round 1 preparation by not playing any players that where underdone. I am sure he could have played a few seniors to make the scorebaord more competitive but that would have sacified our preparations so good on him. If they werent 100% dont play them at the end of the day NAB cap doesnt mean much.

Good point Jonesy.

Were ppl impressed by Sylvia's game. I thought his 3rd quarter was fantastic. He really does show promise in glimpses.

 

[stickman11]

We had half our side out.. . add in our missing players and we are not that far behind Geelong.

Robbo will improve and Newton just needs to settle. Didn't help that we over posses the ball.

 

[Jonesy2]

Good point Jonesy.

Were ppl impressed by Sylvia's game. I thought his 3rd quarter was fantastic. He really does show promise in glimpses.

Yeah Sylvia was awesome in the 3rd term. He really has all the tools to become a superstar. All the small glimses we have seen over the last 3 seasons really does get you excited but he just needs to get his body right and the rest will take care of itself. Hopefully he fulfills he potential, because thats all it is at the moment.

 

[MicksterD]

I understand that its just one game in the NAB Cup, which means little in the scheme of things, and we played the reigning premiers on their home turf but the thing that worries me is that we gave away Travis when there are still too many pretenders in our side. It feels like the Demons heirarchy are watching a different game because they keep giving the pretenders opportunities. Paul Johnson and Ben Holland are two of these guys and although I acknowledge that Brad Green is usually a great ball winner his game was an absolute disgrace for a guy who said he was going to stand up and be counted.

When the cats flowed out of defence where were the Dees? - Q1 and Q4 felt like a training drill for the Cats and to be honest I question whether they even gave a sh*t about Q2 and Q3 because they seemed to switch off in those quarters and then switch back on in Q4.

On the positive side I think some of the youngsters really stepped up and took their opportunity with both hands - Buckley and Valenti were the two standouts for me and Garland did a reasonable job for a skinny kid too.

 

[RandB]

I never saw the game so I can't comment on things like effort and so forth...

However, the following factors were always going to be either irrelevant or out of our hands:

1) Teamwork - with a lack of senior players not only was their a lack of leadership to encourage the youngsters but we had so many players playing together for the first time that they would have been both nervous and foreign to the task. Given that many of the other 1 to 2 year players were not too experienced it is no wonder that many players were just worried about their own performance.

2) Gameplan - similar to teamwork, if you have that many inexperienced players then they won't even know how their fellow players will perform let alone exact some sort of a gameplan. You need a player group that understands each other in order to play to a game plan, not just a bunch of arrows on a white board.
_______________________________

There was only 1 possible positive outcome from the game (based on the players we played) and that was how the new players handled themselves personally. From the posts I have read many of them did quite well.

The only other incidental positives were that we didn't sustain any major injuries (that I know of) and it didn't take long for the new players to get some experience of a tough away game under their belt ie crowd and opposition.

 

[Pjkimber]

On the positive side I think some of the youngsters really stepped up and took their opportunity with both hands - Buckley and Valenti were the two standouts for me and Garland did a reasonable job for a skinny kid too.

In my opinion if it wasn't for the youngsters we would have been beaten by triple figures. Where were our "leaders" like robbo and junior? White was substanded as was green. Very disappointing effort by our senior players.

 

[MicksterD]

In my opinion if it wasn't for the youngsters we would have been beaten by triple figures. Where were our "leaders" like robbo and junior? White was substanded as was green. Very disappointing effort by our senior players.

IMO Green was nearly worst on ground - made some rookie errors

 

[demonfan9]

IMO Green was nearly worst on ground - made some rookie errors

Green's disposal was very poor. Can't count how many floaters he kicked.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Green's disposal was very poor. Can't count how many floaters he kicked.

Brad Green is always like that - hence why he got dropped from the leadership group. He may put his body on the line more often, but he also goes missing far too often and he doesn't run defensively.

Then you hear him whinge about not being in the leadership group and how he wants to get back in there... then, as one of the senior members of the side, he plays like rubbish when you need him to stand up. Typical.

 

[2 Dogs]

I think what you have to remember is that average players normally lift their game when better players are around them. If no-one in the team is good enough to set a standard, who are they going to look to for an example?

The inclusions of out senior players will not only affect the skill level of our team, but also lift those inexperienced players who don't want to be letting the team down. Its much easier to get away with making mistakes when the whole team is making them.

 

[saj_21]

I was at the game and when I saw the team I knew we were unlikely to get close.

I've just gone through the team make-up which was:
- 3 rookies: Zomer, Winnameiri, Valenti = Average 0 games
- 5 others with 0 games: Martin, McNamara, Weetra, Cheney, Maric = Average 0 Games
- 6 with 10 games or less: Bode (2), Garland (2), Warnock (4), Bode (4), Buckley (6), Newton (10) = Average 4.6
- 6 with 11 to 52 games: PJ (27), Jonesey (29), Bate (33), Bell (45), Jamar (52), Sylvia (52) = Average 40
- 6 experienced players: Holland, White, JMac, Yze, Green, Robbo

Love to compare this with Geelong's but couldn't be bothered.

The good news is that all these kids will be better for the experience and also that we won't field a team anything like this again this year.

The only downside is that if we have as many injuries as last year our lack of depth will be a problem.

Although we obviously can't read too much into the result, it was disappointing that we didn't field a better and more competitive side to give us a realistic look at where we are at.

Well geelong have the most players in the afl who have played between 50-150 games. and had 14 premiership players in the team on satdy.