deelusions from afar

I think people also forget that pre-knee James McDonald was turning into a very special player (I think it happened towards the end of the 2000 season?). He was still a very special player but seemed to lose some of his athletic abilities post knee surgery and yet still went on to be captain, BnF winner etc.

I feel like I'm missing something here. Has dominated pre-season, has a number of weapons as a player, apparently is a good person, was well liked by all at West Coast... and yet was delisted by West Coast who are one of the bottom teams. Why did they get rid of him? Was it injury? Off field stuff?

Hi there, I'm hoping the demonland community can help me settle some debates I have been having with some people recently. Basically I've said that there are double standards in the way the club has been treated in the media particularly towards the end of last season. Some of it was warranted - there were a lot of problems as we know. However there was also a pile-on mentality the saw us hounded for things that wouldn't rate a mention at other clubs. Are people able to direct me to articles which point out some of these things - from memory some of the things that come to mind are: there have been players so drunk / so under the influence that they were carried out of nightclubs etc and it barely rated a mention and the club was still held in high regard in terms of culture. There was excuses given for clubs injuries etc. There's the amount of $$ given to other vic clubs for their facilities from state and fed governments (has someone collate this somewhere) Attendance at games - which team has great numbers at games in the middle of winter against small interstate clubs when they're not in contention? I'm sure there's other categories. This isn't intended to encourage a woe is me mentality - it's more to have a place where we can set the record straight.

Is Ben Crowe still going to be involved with the club throughout the season or was he just for the camp?

Respect your opinion but for me it is as much about how he handled after it was all public rather than what happened. He initially said as head coach the buck stops with him. But following those words, he never took responsibility. And then hung on and sued whoever he could despite blind freddy knowing that he had to just fall on his sword. Maybe it's understandable that he has an entitlement / messiah complex given what he was able to do as a player - but to me he stuffed up majorly and then never took ownership and showed any remorse for his actions that caused it or the additional harm he caused by fighting it for so long. It was all about him and he showed no awareness. The whole thing has clearly taken an enormous toll on him and others around him which you wouldn't wish on anyone - but for me there's nothing to suggest that his character has changed (not that I could truly know from hearing him on a podcast or two in recent years). And after what we've faced over the last few years, I think character is very important.

Yes agree - all 4 of our top 10 draft picks of the last 2 years have good kicking skills and are good runners - most seem to have some speed too. I think the key for us will be getting the ball in the hands of our best kickers (those four plus Riv, Knuckles, Pickett, Fritsch etc) ideally on the move. It's amazing how much better everything else looks when that happens.

Surely a bit top heavy forward of the ball? Can't see us playing with all 4 of them in the one side - though given the extended benches ususally used in pre-season matches they should all get some game time.

The wings are the most interesting watch for me. Clearly Windsor is groomed for that half back playmaker role (like we've seen from Max Holmes). Once he's comfortable there, he'll likely eventually get some time in the midfield so that he becomes our ultimate mr fixit - plays wherever we need him most. He may still play on the wing at times this year but it looks like the plan is for him to set us up at half back. Our other obvious winger from previous seasons is clearly Langdon as others have mentioned. Though I was interested to see him play a lot at half forward in the second half of last year (to pretty good effect) - particularly as they gave ANB more midfield time in the absense of Trac. Was that just last year or is that a sign of things to come? I would think that either he or Sharp will play the high half forward role that ANB previously held down. Others think Chin might do this - but given the gamestyle shifts we've seen, it's likely the coaches will want / need both. If the other of Langdon / Sharp who is not at half forward has a wing spot, then it leaves one more. I'd say Billings has it at the moment. But they will likely give opportunities to others such as Lindsay, Woewodin, even Spargo if he gets fit. It probably won't be a popular opinion, but if they are looking to play Fritsch further from goal, I wouldn't be against giving him a go (even as a wing rotation). He's done it before and is probably one of the best inside 50 kicks we have - I think a lot of people forget because in recent years his kicks have mostly been shots on goal. But he will cause headaches for opposition because of his aerial ability and capacity to cause damage by foot. Potentially could get outworked the other way but it would be risky for opposition to let him run free as he doesn't need many touches to turn a game. And of course when he does switch to the forward line it will cause additional headaches for their defences to adjust. The wing will be an interesting watch!

How are we looking in the midfield at Casey - I felt that was where a the lack of depth at Casey (and Melbourne) cost us last season. I know we've had a few signings - who of them will walk into the Casey midfield?

Filling out I agree with but taller ??

Definitely - Lever was already at the club but had done his knee so (from memory) we were relying on Frost / O Mac as our key defensive posts who did a great job in most matches. We had a young talented midfield but hadn't structured the game plan to suit our list. 2019 was a disaster in terms of lots of players needing surgery in the off season and so we didn't have a great pre-season. As we know our game plan was structured around contest and defence - when you have Track, Oliver and Gawn in the middle and May / Lever in defence it makes sense. But we didn't evolve in '22 and so have been found out ever since (despite being bloody close last year even with significant injuries).

I think the trickiest part will be in the adopting the changes to the game plan - from what we know, it looks like we will look to attack quick off the backline, playing on from marks, more agressive in our kicks forward etc which leads to more gettable shots at goal but also open to the counter attack when it doesn't come off. I feel like we were trying to do some of this early last year but basically didn't have the cattle / fitness. It took us around 2 years (2019/2020) to learn our 2021 premiership system. I feel like we have a better basis to work from (eg better defence etc) so maybe we can adopt this shift a bit quicker?

The quality of the questions was well below what the Demonland community could come up with. Could we somehow address this next year - eg people with genuine questions write them on here and then the ones with the most likes / votes get asked?

Given it's December... can we just say we have elite pressure?

Not sure if that would be possible if you gave your left leg? In all seriousness though, thanks to you and everyone for braving the heat and providing these reports!