Statistically Speaking
Statistically speaking – Darren Spence
Friday 27 July 2012
Meatloaf had a hit with 2 out of 3 ain’t bad but I seriously doubt Mark Neeld would have been belting out any tunes from ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ at AAMI Park this week as the Demons disappointingly lost – what I thought was a winnable game – to Port Adelaide. History has shown that if you break even on disposals and clearances, have more tackles, more marks and 10 more inside 50s than your opposition then you will most likely win the contest. Yet sadly it wasn’t ‘It’s A Grand Old Flag’ being played late on Saturday night.
Last week saw the start of the Holy month of Ramadan – the Muslim month of fasting in which Muslims refrain from dawn until sunset from eating and drinking – and it is Melbourne that is going through its own form of fasting as we continue to lament the loss of both Mitch Clark and LJ and continue to struggle to kick winning scores. The positive thing is that we are getting the ball into our attacking 50 and (as I said earlier) winning our fair share of the ball – this augurs well for the future and is showing that our game plan is starting to gel with the players. We seem now to be more than competitive in large parts of the game, winning our 2nd opening quarter in a row and now we just need to replicate these performances throughout the entire game. I am positive this will come – sooner rather than later!
As much as the players and staff will be hurting, there were some pleasing performances in the hot and humid conditions up in Darwin.
- Our co-captain Jack Grimes was the leading possession getter on the ground with 32 disposals and he followed that up with 11 marks and 4 tackles in a game where he really led from the front.
- Nathan Jones continued his fantastic season with 26 disposals – capped off with a goal.
- I was really impressed with Neville Jetta’s game. In his first game for the year he had 18 touches in a welcome return to the senior side.
- Brad Green battled hard all night for 2 goals 3 behinds and two of our younger players in Dan Nicholson and Tom McDonald also deserve mention for putting in solid performances on Saturday night.
- A final mention to Jeremy Howe who has a mortgage on the Mark of the Year for 2012 and continues to delight fans with almost a hanger a week!
This week it is the Roos. North have had the wood on us of late – winning the last nine games against us. With North still in the hunt for a finals berth and our boys fired up to atone for last week, we hope to see the Dees put a real dint in North Melbourne’s finals aspirations.
Go Dees
Darren Spence
Random Numbers
- Colin Sylvia led our possession count with 23 and kicked a goal and is showing why he is one of the most important players on our list.
- In a remarkable recovery from a serious lung injury, Tom McDonald quickly slotted back into his pre – injury form with 17 touches in another solid game from the young Demon.
- Stefan Martin took full advantage of the Big Russian’s misfortune playing an admirable game against Griffin with 19 disposals, 26 hit outs and 2 goals and reminding Demon fans just what we have missed this year with Stef out through injury.
- Jack Grimes battled well through injury notching up 22 possessions, as did Joel Macdonald in arguably his best game for the year.
- A welcome return to the team from our ex skipper Brad Green with 3 goals and I liked the way Daniel Nicholson worked hard all day – 18 disposals his reward.
- Solid efforts also by our other co-captain Jack Trengove and Nathan Jones and it was great to see James Strauss running around again (albeit at the misfortune of Luke Tapscott and Mark Jamar). A special final mention to Tom Couch who made his long awaited debut and picking up 13 touches and laying 9 tackles showed just why the Demons’ brains trust were so keen on him. I for one am looking forward to seeing many more games from him in red and blue in the years to come.
Ivor Warne Smith at CHB!
Darren
life: it goes on
Thursday 5 July 2012
Robert Frost once said “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on”. These words would have been ringing in the ears of the Demons’ brains trust after our loss against the Lions on Sunday. No Clark, No Jamar, No Jones, No Davey, No Green, No LJ, No Bartram, our rising star nomination from last week down and out virtually in the first minute of the game…. Are you kidding me!!??? Flash, Green, LJ and Bratram have been out for a while but to lose our number 1 forward, our leading ruckman, our best player this year by a street and a young gun who has been in some great form this year was a cruel blow to the mighty Dees and whilst you will not hear any excuses coming from the lips of Mark Neeld it really was little surprise we didn’t come away with the chocolates up at the Gabba.
But like the Black Knight’s fighting response to King Arthur in Monty Python’s Holy Grail – “Look you’ve got no arms left”…..’It’s only a flesh wound” the boys did put up a valiant effort. Amazingly (given the final score) we actually had more inside 50s and more contested possessions than the Lions – a very pleasing result on a day when little else went right. The fact that we failed to convert our inside 50s into scores is a reflection of the huge hole left by Clark. And our lack of spread leading us to be smashed in uncontested possessions was not helped by being one man down early in the hot and humid conditions in Brisbane.
However there were some solid performances from our boys on Sunday and here are some of them:
- Colin Sylvia has started to put together some solid form and with 21 possessions, 7 marks, 5 tackles and a goal he is starting to get back to the player that we all have all so badly missed.
- I keep ‘hounding’ Howe and on Sunday he was arguably our best player. In almost identical stats to Sylvia he also picked up 21 disposals coupled with 7 marks and capped off a solid day with a goal. In a year where some players have stood up and taken their game to a new level Jeremy Howe would undoubtedly be at the top of this list.
- Stefan Martin heralded a welcome return to the senior side with a solid game. 21 disposals and 20 hit outs was a sound performance from the big man.
- Others that warrant a mention include Sam Blease with 2 goals and I also liked the game from Jack Trengove.
This week it is the Tigers. With a rivaly that stretches almost as far back as the game itself, these games are always big – regardless of their respective ladder positions – and this will be no exception. Hopefully we will see the return of some of our key players this week but regardless it is another fantastic opportunity for our developing side to show what they’ve got on the big stage. Let’s hope for some luck on the injury front and sit back and enjoy what is bound to be a fantastic contest.
Go Dees
Darren Spence
An unwavering passion
Some may say it was ‘only’ against GWS but their form of late has been sound and the demolition job our boys imposed upon the newbies I am certain will be the precursor of our return to our rightful place of ‘Masters of the MCG’. In a win of this magnitude it isn’t difficult to find players whose performances warrant mention but as it has been all year some Demons continue to stand up week in week out.
To save myself time I have written an algorithm whenever I begin by mentioning our highest disposal winner {INSERT NATHAN JONES HERE}. Jonesey finished with a game high 33 touches and once again was arguably our best player on the day.
No more knockers for Jack Watts! He is having an amazing year and 27 possessions and 7 marks across the half back line was another great game. It isn’t just the amount of touches he gets its the way he uses it that has many Dee fanatics salivating at the mouth.
Matthew Bate had his best game for the year with 28 touches, Jack Grimes continues his rich vein of form getting his hands on the ball 26 times and Colin Sylviawould be pleased with his return to form with 23 disposals and 2 goals.
Mark Neeld continues to show just how good a coach he is and his move to play Jared Rivers up forward to further help out Mitch Clark paid off in spades with ‘Old Man’ kicking a career high 4 goals. Col Garland kicked 3 and not to be out done, Mitch Clark also kicked 4 all in the first quarter! Sadly we will miss Mitch for the rest of the year but Neeld’s masterstroke at least gives us confidence that we have some capable options for what is an almost impossible player to replace.
Moving two of our key defenders up forward has also had another huge benefit. It has given Tom McDonald the opportunity to show the football world just what he is all about. And show them he has! 26 touches on Sunday has seen him rewarded with the Rising Star nomination for the week. A fitting reward for a rising star for the mighty Demons. Talking about rising stars, a final mention to Jeremy Howe who had another outstanding game and who Neeld has mentioned has the ability to be an elite midfielder.
This week it is the Lions. Brisbane are coming off a great win and the boys are sure to be smarting after losing to them in Round 1 this year so this game will be a cracker! Can we make it two in a row??? Of course we can!!!
Go Dees
Darren Spence
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