MEET THE COACHES
Friday 15 April – Mark Williams and Brian Royal in Sydney
MFC coaches Mark Williams and Brian Royal are coming to Sydney especially to talk to you. All NSW Demons are invited to this special event on Friday 15 April at 6.00pm at the Castlereagh Hotel. Here is your opportunity to ask Mark and Brian how will we “press” and overcome the “press”, what strategies are in place to reduce turnovers and spend more time in the forward line, who’s shining at training and who’s stepping up to another level this year?
Date: Friday 15 April – from 6.00pm – 9.00pm.
Venue: Meeting Room, Level 1, Castlereagh Hotel, 169-171 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.
Ph: 02 9284 1000
Please rsvp to sally@nswdemons.com if you are planning to join us.
MFC in Sydney – MFC coaches Mark Williams and Brian Royal – Friday 15 April
MFC in Sydney – MFC coaches Mark Williams and Brian Royal are coming to Sydney especially to talk to you. All NSW Demons are invited to this special event on Friday 15 April at 6.00pm at the Castlereagh Hotel. Here is your opportunity to ask Mark and Brian how will we “press” and overcome the “press”, what strategies are in place to reduce turnovers and spend more time in the forward line, who’s shining at training and who’s stepping up to another level this year?
Date: Friday 15 April – from 6.00pm – 9.00pm,
Venue: Meeting Room, Level 1, NSW Masonic Club, 169-171 Castlereagh Street, Sydney. The club is located between Park and Market Sts. (NB: This is not the Masonic Centre which is in Goulburn St!) Ph: 02 9284 1000)
RSVP to sally@nswdemons.com if you are planning to attend
Watch the game on the Big Screen with the NSW Demons at the Camelia Grove Hotel
Join the NSW Demons to watch the Melbourne v Hawthorn game live on Fox at 4.30pm this Sunday at the Camelia Grove Hotel, 146 Henderson Rd, Alexandria.
Ph: 02 9516 5611. Check out our websites www.nswdemons.com and www.thecammy.com.au for more information. Join us each week to watch the Melbourne game as all matches will be shown live on the Big screens at the Cammy.
Melbourne v Sydney Match Review
This week’s review and preview of the Dees matches by Darren Spence
Well the year is now underway and for the first time since the launch of the Commodore 64 computer and the J Geils Band topped the charts with Centrefold we see ourselves with a draw in the first round of the season. I am not sure how I feel about the result. I know I am disappointed that we didn’t win but on the other hand I feel we got out of jail as the truth be told we were out played for the large majority of the match. Robert Frost once said ‘always fall in for what you are asked to accept. Take what is given and make it over your way’. That’s all well and good Frosty but I guess it’s like being fed brussel sprouts for dinner by your mother – yeah I know they are good for me but they taste like crap and doesn’t mean I have to enjoy them!…It’s a sure fire bet the old Frosty never barracked for the Dees and for certain was never fed brussel sprouts!
Now as for the game – at quarter time our three leading disposal winners were Stef Martin, Luke Tapscott and Col Garland. Now I do not know if they run a book on stats like that but rest assured if they did I am certain you would have gotten better odds on me changing my allegiance to Collingwood then that specific trio leading the possession count. Not taking anything away from these three as they all had a terrific quarter and indeed game. Let’s look at their games and other notable performances……
• Martin has taken his good preseason form into the proper stuff and looks over his past injuries and looks set for a great year. If he can hold his body together he is going to be a massive help to the big Russian.
• Tapscott!!!…….now from the outset I have to confess……there is a lot of manlove coming from this writer for this man. The boy is built like a tank and has the biggest neck I have seen since James Frawley. I love his penetrating kicks that break opposition lines, his ferocity over the ball and the confidence he showed in his first game. Mark my words – this guy is going to be a big show for the Rising Star this year and is a budding Paul Chapman in the making…..Did I say there is lots of manlove??…well yes there I said it again.
• Garland is quite often maligned and under rated by fellow Dees supporters. But not this one!…..Whilst not in the upper echelons of ‘manlove’ quite just yet – I have always rated Col and on the weekend he went some way to repay my faith. His second half especially was fantastic on Adam Goodes and his game played a critical part in getting us back into the game.
• Moloney, whilst a little slow in the first quarter, tore the game apart as the match went on. I can’t remember the stat off hand but I think I heard somewhere that he had 34, 589 contested possessions on Sunday (give or take a few).
• The Dean Bailey and Ricky Petterd show…..Bails’ use of the new sub rule worked a treat as Ricky came on in the last quarter and had a huge impact on the game. Bailey definitely had the better of ‘Horse’ Longmire in his tactical use of the new rule.
• The entire squad of 22……I made the comment during the game that I cannot remember a Melbourne side that had as many numbers at the ball and around the stoppages as I had seen on the weekend. The endeavour shown by the boys even caused me some unwanted blood flow such was my excitement!
Now we look ahead to this Sunday’s game against the Hawks. Another tough game awaits as both teams will be desperate to have their first win for the season. Both Luke Hodge and James Frawley have been named by their respective teams and their inclusion of will have a big impact on the result of the game. Am I confident??….yes somewhat….a bit like when a mate sets you up on a blind date….you know he is going to ‘look after’ you but on the other hand – well you just never know!!
A review of last year and the off season
The time has almost come!!….The time is almost here!!….Not that I am counting or anything but by the time the ball is first bounced in anger it will be 302,190 minutes (or 18,131,410 seconds to be precise) since we have last seen our beloved Demons run around for premiership points. I don’t know about you but I feel like the children of Jeanne Calment (who had the longest confirmed lifespan in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days (44724 days total)) – waiting for their inheritance to come through. The debacle that was the Ashes series is now just another page in the Wisden analogues and the 2011 AFL series is upon us!
Not that the off season hasn’t failed to provide us diehard fans with some respite over the past few months. Let’s look at some of the highlights….
- The first AFL team to win in China on the back of LJs brilliance
- Our first win(s) in Adelaide since Jesus Christ told his followers that he was going to visit Dad and would be back in a few days
- No doubt The Clash’s hit ‘Should I stay or should I go’ is one of Tom Scully’s favourite IPod’s song as he weighs up the merits of become a billionaire before his 25th birthday or playing in a premiership with the Demons.
- Brad Green nominated as our new Captain.
- News that big Jimma is feeling better than ever as he continues his courageous fight with cancer
- The return of one of our prodigal sons in Todd Viney to MFC ranks (and the added bonus that his son has also declared his allegiances to our Club)
- Two All Australian in James Frawley and Mark Jamar with Brad Green desperately unlucky not to also get a nod
- Jack Watts, Neville Jetta, Addam Maric and Jack Grimes amongst the players to impress in the NAB cup and pre- season games.
Now we look ahead to the 2011 season with much anticipation. Our young developing players have another pre season under their belt and with some shrewd picks in the AFL Draft we have every reason to enter this season with much optimism.
Two areas of focus during the off season by the club would be our ability to ‘press’ and deal with an opposition ‘press’. Just look at these stats below from last season:
- Melbourne was the 2nd worst team in the league last year at converting turnovers to score. We set up our defense a long way from goal, gaining 38.9% of our turnovers in the defensive 50 and 73.2% in the defensive half – clearly the most of any team
- The Dees gave the opposition 25.0 forward turnovers per game – the most of any club. However just 36.1% of these were punished with opposition scores – ranked 5th.
- For the 4th consecutive year, Melbourne finished the season with the worst differential in the competition for time spent in the forward half. Last year it was -:7:29mins, nearly a minute and a half worse than the next lowest team.
So, not only did we not “press” when they have the ball (instead we sag back a long way behind the ball) but we were unable to deal with the opposition ‘press’ when we had the ball!
If we are planning to play finals this year (there I said the ‘F’ word!) these stats need to improve and I am confident that this year we have the game plan, the caliber of players and right people in our brains trust to accomplish this ambition.
Darren Spence
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