Cam Mann's Roar Profile

I figure that any game decided by 2 goals or less makes those teams pretty much inseparable. Kicks after the siren even moreso. So the games the Demons could easily have won 4 more games this year with Geelong (twice!), St Kilda and Power, which would see them sitting 2nd or 3rd with a place locked in ad a more accurate rating of the team.

Finals is a different game all together. Demons may spend all their tickets to get over the line, that could bring value in itself just to get that monkey of it’s back, however I can’t see them causing too many issues during that time.

Could it be a grand old flag after all?

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Hodge coming in isn’t the worst idea and probably be a lot cheaper!

Pretty far from a North supporter. Just an objective view and I’ll think you’ll find few people who didn’t think Swallow was one of the best in the comp for a few years

Based on the way they’ve won and the burying of sides. I believe they’ve turned a real corner. I don’t think they’re a top 4 side and they only sit that high due to the dismal opposition they’ve played, but I give them enough credence for top 6.

First 3 or 4 rounds, anyone can beat anyone. It’s after that red mist of the season opening settles you get to see the real baseline of clubs and Demons looked to have filled their position gaps and locked on to their playing style. Their inside 50s is a good measure of their dominance and their goal kicking options will worry a lot of defences.

The Hawthorn loss was a masterful coaching demolition of Simon Goodwin and hopefully he learned from that.

Melbourne are in the top four - but will they stick around?

Cheers Dougie – It’s inevitable that one cops supporter wrath when you bring any sense of negativity into an article. Appreciate the levelheadedness of your read. I’m betting the Dogs climb the mountain a couple of times more over the next 5 years

That youth is one of my main points – I think success early can breed complacency. The older heads haven’t seen much success and it can be dificult keeping the lid on things for a new season.

This team is going likely to grab another cup in the next 3 to 4 years. I just see the dip before the spike coming soon.

I wrote this before Roughhead injured himself and the Ruck depth now will be an issue. Most teams were managing a ruckman’s absence with the 3rd man up, but now I have no idea how it will play out. Will it be the beast ruckmen of the 70s and 80s back? – Either way they will need Roughhead back ASAP.

Picken was definitely a massive influence on the results, but I think that the majority of that wave after wave or Red White and Blue was that group of younger kids. Easton Wood had amazing games throughout the year and Matthew Boyd never does anything by halves, but it was that brigade of youth that I thought got them over the line with sheer tenacity most times.

And I watched a lot of Tom Boyd through the season to see if he was going to live up to all the hype and controversy around him and I don’t think he had much of influence on any game apart from the GF. Best I could give him was that he contested and brought the ball to ground. But, again, just my opinion

My massive fear is that it’s going to be expected that this ‘natural progression’ will have the players expect finals. So many media outlets have them playing finals already – I’ve seen them get well ahead of themselves before and be brought back to Earth the next week.

The only thing that saves me from my normal melodrama is that a new coach will want this as much as as anyone and the Jordan Lewis addition. I don’t care if he plays 10 games a year. Having that leadership and first hand view of how to be the hunted and keep winning is invaluable.

If we get in, it will be by fingertips – Unless we beat St Kilda in Round 1 in which case I’m blocking out Grand Final day to make sure I’m going.

2017 season preview: Melbourne Demons

Good points, Arky. How many of them have played at 110% for the season? The Bont, Libba, Wallis still have more to give but is that going to be enough when GWS kick into that extra gear or the Demons or Saints kids begin to click? A lot of people aren’t seeing the Dogs in the top 4 this year, and from there it’s only small leap to suggest that they could fall out all together.

I think the 6th to 10th could be a logjam this year and the Dogs could find themselves in that, very easily.

It’s definitely a bold statement. There are just as many arguments to suggest they will be an even bigger force to be reckoned with this year. But that’s the beauty of opinion pieces, I’ll happily write an apology piece if I’m wrong.

I’m not saying the Bulldogs are a bad team by any stretch of the imagination. I think thus group has a couple more flags in them – I just think they’ll dip before they peak again.

The changing goal posts from Hird are well documented. On the first day of the self reporting he stated that he would take full responsibility for this. He’s now shown that he’ll do anything but.

Others have tried to defend him by providing me with the org chart of Essendon at the time showing he wasn’t in charge. The same org chart that had ‘fuzzy lines of responsibility’ from their internal review.

The defence of Hird is tenuous at best.

Cheers Pumping Dougie

It’s riled a few people, but it’s clear divide of Essendon backers vs the rest of the ‘corrupt’ AFL world.

To be fair that was kind. I appreciate that Cale Morton wasn’t mentioned.

The only way is up for the Melbourne Demons

I agree that the root cause is not the doing of one man. They all pushed the boundaries and all pushed too far. My meaning there was more to do with ensuing madness that followed. That is more or less entirely at the hands of Hird. Everyone else that has been involved has been punished by losing their job.

Without a shadow of a doubt Chris Scott is doing exactly as he was asked and doing it very well. It’s extremely rare to see a dominant side change coaches, so the situation itself is an anomaly.

When I say “I look forward to seeing what happens to Chris Scott if Geelong starts to slip.” I mean I’d like to see how he coaches, see if he is a good enough coach to bring them back up, to halt the slide. I think he very well could be, but it will be interesting watching.

Harvey is an amazing player and I love watching guys like he and Lenny Hayes keep pushing their bodies to the brink year after year when football lore says they should be done. Harvey knows no other way than to hell for leather at every game he plays. But I couldn’t agree more that he should not be the talisman for the team.

You have to wonder if North have recruited too heavily toward grunt and strength and not enough silk. It’s obvious Daniel Wells hasn’t had the impact that you would expect from a Number 2 pick. Injuries granted, but he is still an inconstant player. Swallow should be pushing for Brownlow status having seen some of the skill he sometimes exudes.

It looks like they’ve noted this lack of outside players and went after Boak and Dal Santo…. but they’ll need a Boomer -Mark II if they want to take that next step they’re teetering on!

Boomer or bust for Harvey and North Melbourne

Pushing sides to the boundary to take their shots is now so glaringly evident that as Brock Mclean so eloquently put it “Blind Freddie could see it”

Sides casually running through the corridor against Melbourne won’t be the avenue of attack anymore. But it is true that once the Demons are faced with a potent forward line they will be found out.

Defensive Demons have opposition teams misfiring

I think much of the talent was there, but horrendously coached by Neeld. They were actively playing agianst his game style ‘See Moloney’

Roos hasn’t done much more than teach them to hold the ball and enjoy playing footy again. Step 1 is to reduce the points differential and Step 2 will be to start to grab some of thise close ones.

Melbourne and Paul Roos making ground

Douglas’ bump was thuggish. The ball was gone Ward was no longer involved in the play. He targeted him and the only reason for the hit was to put him out of the play. Should it have been in a contested situation Ward would have been aware and braced for contact.

The Intellectual resources need to be capped, in my opinion. making up positions in the administration to horde talent. I’ve expanded in a recent article I did.

Robbing the AFL’s rich won’t help the poor

Equality is a must in the AFL

The reason A-League is ranked so lowly is because almost every team plays like rubbish outside of the domestic league. The rankings are based on performances of not only the A-League, but of the Asian Champions Leauge which houses some amazing talent and a lot of money. Guangzhou Evergrande, for example, is the richest club in Asia, rivaling the highest levels of Europe.

If A-League sides start adapting to the playing against these Asian sides and progressing further then the rankings will shoot up.

Melbourne Victory unconvincing in Asian Champions League

Football

Currently Melbourne share facilites and offices with the Storm and Victory at AAMI park. This is another reason it staggers the mind to see how Melbourne could be so bad. They have state of the art training facilities, access to the most succesful teams and coaches in Rugby League and the biggest Football side in the country… but none of it transfers!

Precisely.

The rich clubs should be offering more money to get the best people in the top jobs. That’s their benefit of having the money. However they shouldn’t be allowed the top two or three people in a specific field. That experience and knowledge is what needs to be spread around. Innovation won’t be stifled, if anything it should be going up as the level of competition rises.

You’re right about the FFP, but it is there to create a (more) stable financial model in all clubs so they don’t spend into oblivion, like Leeds as you say. It’s more about the other end of the spectrum than AFL, having too much rather than too little.

I’m a Liverpool man but I think the toll of the season will hit the younger members of the squad and considering it’s not a very deep squad at the moment I imagine 3-4 would be an accurate finish. City have been there and know when to hit their straps. It’s still theirs for the taking.

The reds (provided Henry opens his wallet in the next transfer window) will have a much better chance next season. I’ll be happy to watch the current top 4 in any CL matches.

Remarkable run for EPL contenders

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