Consistently Inconsistent – Round 18 Match Review

July 30, 2011 by Trevena
Filed under: NSW Demons

by Darren Spence

It is bandied around the media all the time. INCONSISTENT. In fact it has been a metaphorical badge ubiquitously hanging around the Demons neck for almost a decade used to describe our performances. Well I am here to say that this is a disingenuous claim. Last years’ results against the Pies aside, our performances against the top Victorian teams have been nothing but homogeneous. Last Sunday the trend continued. The Hawks outplayed our boys from the start and the game was all but over by half way through the first quarter. Hawthorn appeared too strong, applied pertinacious pressure all resulting in too many broken tackles and an alarming number of crucial turnovers. The end result was a comfortable win for the Hawks.

Dean Bailey is often quoted as saying that the barometer of success for the Dees is not simply measured in pure number of wins and losses and ladder position come years’ end. There is much merit in what he says though I truly believe that he, his brains trust, the players and definitely the supporters would love to knock off one of the big Victorian teams and all the confidence that this would bring. As it stands now, if not for the new franchise and some underperforming teams, we would be lucky to finish the season in preantepenultimate place; a result that would surely be categorised as underwhelming on all fronts.

So let’s have a closer look at last weeks’ game and some of the notable performances.

Lynden Dunn – It was good to say Dunny back in the side and he definitely made the most of his opportunity. He provided a great option up forward, presenting himself well and taking some strong marks. Hopefully he can build on this and consolidate his position in our team for the rest of the year.

Manlove 1 – I am very happy to see Tappy back in the side. He is handling himself in a way that belies his experience and youth with his endeavour and toughness. There is an ancient Arabic saying that goes:

Man fears Time, Time fears the Pyramids, The Pyramids fear Luke Tapscott

I look forward to watching Luke send terror through opposition forwards for many years to come.

Manlove 2 – Another game that helps build crucial experience into the Gys. It is invaluable that he gets the most opportunities to play on the elite midfielders of the competition as he inevitably builds into one himself.

Hounding Howe – Jeremy continues to grow in confidence and experience with every game he plays. He has been a revelation this year and is quickly attracting a cult following. He finished with 3 goals, was dangerous all day and took some great trademark grabs.

Stefan Martin – It is official. I hereby declare that from here on in the suffix “the most improved player in the league’ is to accompany any use of his name. Martin, the most improved player in the league, was arguably our best player on the day. He collected 21 possessions and applied some great pressure. On a day where the big Russian was a little quiet, big Stef, the most improved player in the league, continued to grow in confidence.

Ricky Petterd – if Ricky didn’t get one possession for the day he still would have warranted a mention purely on his fantastic 1% effort to smother the ball in the goal square. These are the type of actions that can lift a player and his team mates around him and he certainly now has set the standard that all must follow. He also provided a good forward marking target and like Dunny would be hoping to consolidate his position for the rest of the year.

So now we look forward to this weekend.

You have to give credit to Chris Connolly. Not one normally known to whip out the old cliché, he came up with a beauty in response to a journos question this week on what he thought our chances were against the Cats. He said ‘Every week they are one week closer to a loss’. Now you wont find this quoted in any Churchillian speech, however, it does aptly describe the task ahead on Saturday. In fact, aside from trying to keep track of the burgeoning number of enemies Aker makes on a weekly basis with his vehement vitriol, there is no harder task in football today then taking the short drive down the Princes Highway to take on the Cats on home soil. I am not about to fantasise and say that we will win but I am confident that the boys will give 110% and that’s all you can ask – from there you just never know?

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