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  1. #1
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    Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    The five and 10-year plans that Richmond put forth early in 2010 were greeted with the kind of scoffs that accompanied Bob Hawke's 1987 pledge that no child would be living in poverty by 1990. Richmond had played finals only twice in the preceding 27 seasons, had a debt of well over $4 million and a far smaller, sullen membership.

    Melbourne's plan, by comparison, is actually a little less ambitious than the Tigers of a decade ago. The Demons are aiming for "only" one flag in four years and finals every year, compared to what then seemed an outrageous Richmond ambit of three premierships by the end of 2020.

    Melbourne's 55-year drought – the AFL's longest by two years (St Kilda's is 53 and counting) – and their one finals series in 13 years means there's probably even less faith in the Demons of 2020 than the Tigers of 2010, who had just hired Damien Hardwick and Brendon Gale as coach and chief executive, but didn't have the depth of talent that the Dees have today.

    Four consecutive finals series and one flag is ambitious but also achievable if the Demons get their act together in football and get lucky. The plan to have a new, permanent home base under construction by 2023 might have as high a degree of difficulty as the premiership/finals objective, although Melbourne fans would say there's nothing more improbable than that first premiership since dollars replaced the pound.

    But whether these targets are harder than getting emissions to zero, the Demons were right to challenge themselves with their four-season plan; it will keep the football department, board and administration accountable, although the acid is mainly on the coaches and football staff, given that the financial targets are – as CEO Gary Pert acknowledged – largely dependant on what happens on the field.

    The goal of immediate and consecutive finals confirms that the Demons see themselves as a ready-to-contend team that had a disastrous 2019, rather than a developing list that fluked a finals surge in 2018. The objectives put further heat on Simon Goodwin, who arguably enters this season with more pressure to get results than any other AFL coach, bar Port Adelaide's Ken Hinkley.

    The Demons will need to get Steven May and Neville Jetta fit and firing and improve their defensive method and ball use, while finding another post-Jesse Hogan route to goal. The Demons have played a brand that places too much store in winning the ball first, when the game's benchmark, Richmond, take a completely different approach by having an insurance system in place for the event that the opposition takes the ball forward from the middle.

    Goodwin has a revamped coaching panel in which Alan Richardson has replaced Brendan McCartney, and a new fitness chief in the ex-Port conditioner-in-chief Darren Burgess. The decision to offload Jesse Hogan – criticised in some quarters during Melbourne's early struggles in 2019 – has been justified by the gifted forward's own battles to overcome the demons he carried with him.

    If Goodwin will feel the fire should the Demons fail to meet their own expectations, the club board headed by president Glenn Bartlett will also face significant scrutiny from media and their membership base given the long-term extension handed to Goodwin, the decision to hire Pert shortly after his exit from Collingwood and the growing impatience within a supporter base that, contrary to stereotype, is highly engaged (relative to their numbers, they are possibly the most engaged) and desperate for the club to restore some of the glories of the '50s and '60s. Significantly, Pert describes Melbourne as a shrunken version of a big club.

    Demons design plan to make finals every year and win a flag by 2023

    In their search for a new base within the walking distance of the MCG, the Dees have identified five active sites within the precinct (Gosch's Paddock's being an obvious contender for a ground), with none said to be more likely than any other; there is, as the club admits, a long way to go to land that elusive facility, for which they are counting on the state government in particular.

    But it is the task of climbing the ladder – with the first summit since '64 the club's stated mission by 2023 – that will define Simon Goodwin's coaching career and the fate of the Bartlett board. For once, the Demons have set themselves a standard they can't walk past.

    https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/...18-p541za.html

  2. #2
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Aside from a great ruckman and a few good mids, what have the Demons got?
    The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.

  3. #3
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Dry Rot View Post
    Aside from a great ruckman and a few good mids, what have the Demons got?
    Biggest issue is the midfield.
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  4. #4
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Dry Rot View Post
    Aside from a great ruckman and a few good mids, what have the Demons got?
    Cheese boards, Range Rovers and mountain chalets?

  5. #5
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Didn’t they turn down Goschs paddock when Collingwood were looking ?
    Wasn’t Pert in a bit of strife a few year ago ?
    They are doing some strange things and all over the place still I rekon.
    Bring back the biff

  6. #6
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    If Petracca becomes a midfielder who kicks goals and accumulates (it’s one game, but most positive sign we’ve seen) then they suddenly have a strong midfield. Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes and a few younger players on the fringes seems OK to me.

    Lever and May should lead a solid defence.

    Kicking goals is going to be the hard part for them.

  7. #7
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Go_Dogs View Post
    If Petracca becomes a midfielder who kicks goals and accumulates (it’s one game, but most positive sign we’ve seen) then they suddenly have a strong midfield. Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes and a few younger players on the fringes seems OK to me.

    Lever and May should lead a solid defence.

    Kicking goals is going to be the hard part for them.
    They are such a capable team if they get going. Petracca is an important player for them
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  8. #8
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    They will finish 9th-12th and we will have to put up with another summer full of crap about how good Melbourne are.


    Melbourne at the moment are having a huge shit fight between the players and the admin over who captains the side. It's 31 days until the season starts and Melbourne are indulging themselves in an argument over who gets to be captain.

    They won't make the finals and anyone who thinks they will is kidding themselves and needs to keep away from the kool aide bottle that Simon Goodwin is handing around
    Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again, Dougal!?


    I have, yeah Ted, you big gobshite

  9. #9
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Go_Dogs View Post
    If Petracca becomes a midfielder who kicks goals and accumulates (it’s one game, but most positive sign we’ve seen) then they suddenly have a strong midfield. Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes and a few younger players on the fringes seems OK to me.
    Who runs the ball?
    They targeted outside run at the trade period (Tomlinson / Langdon) but we don't know if that will help - there's nobody in the centre to can break free from congestion.

    Jury is still well and truly out on Melbourne for mine. May has had an interrupted pre-season and Frost has walked. Oscar McDonald is a battler in the back half at best.
    Western Bulldogs: 2016 Premiers

  10. #10
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Mofra View Post
    Who runs the ball?
    They targeted outside run at the trade period (Tomlinson / Langdon) but we don't know if that will help - there's nobody in the centre to can break free from congestion.

    Jury is still well and truly out on Melbourne for mine. May has had an interrupted pre-season and Frost has walked. Oscar McDonald is a battler in the back half at best.
    Lever isn't as half as good as they make out either. Good luck to the kid and all for getting that massive contract but he's not the player they hope he will be.
    Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again, Dougal!?


    I have, yeah Ted, you big gobshite

  11. #11
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Twodogs View Post
    Lever isn't as half as good as they make out either. Good luck to the kid and all for getting that massive contract but he's not the player they hope he will be.
    Lever's ceiling is amazing but he just doesn't get a clean run at it.

    They paid through the nose for Lever though (two firsts, with change) and we got the same player from the same club for effectively a future second rounder. Keath is a little taller and heavier though (and older).

    I still have no idea why they chased Preuss.
    Western Bulldogs: 2016 Premiers

  12. #12
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Twodogs View Post
    Lever isn't as half as good as they make out either. Good luck to the kid and all for getting that massive contract but he's not the player they hope he will be.
    I agree when he plays as a lock down defender, when he plays as an intercept he is awesome. It is still a really small sample size of games compared to what his career will be - assume they’re dying for May to play that lockdown role and unleash lever as a second tall who breaks off

  13. #13
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Big Max Gawn is the sole captain this year for the Dees. No leadership group either
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  14. #14
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by GVGjr View Post
    Big Max Gawn is the sole captain this year for the Dees. No leadership group either
    No leadership group is interesting. I'm big on one captain and one captain alone-otherwise you dilute the message. The boss is the boss.

    But he needs help. I can't understand the lack of a leadership group.
    Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again, Dougal!?


    I have, yeah Ted, you big gobshite

  15. #15
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    Re: Demon targets pile extra pressure on coach Simon Goodwin

    Quote Originally Posted by Twodogs View Post
    No leadership group is interesting. I'm big on one captain and one captain alone-otherwise you dilute the message. The boss is the boss.

    But he needs help. I can't understand the lack of a leadership group.

    MAX GAWN will lead Melbourne in 2020 after being voted in as the Demons' sole captain, with the club going down the unusual path of abolishing the notion of an official leadership group.

    Gawn, 28, has been promoted from a position in the leadership group to the role of skipper, and will take over from the co-captains of the last three seasons, Jack Viney and Nathan Jones.

    Instead of heading up a leadership team, Gawn will be supported by just vice-captain Viney in the streamlined group, refined to reflect where the list was at.
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

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