Roast Dempsey

Remove this Banner Ad

Yeah a few horrible efforts on the weekend, and while he can spoil, run/carry etc i can't help but feel his best position isn't in defense.

It has been said and I am inclined to agree that a move to the wing might be the answer. His clean pickups and pace could replace lovett and break open the game at times, and he wouldn't be forced to make decisions out of half back that rely on a high disposal efficiency where he obviously struggles at times and we get punished. All he'd have to focus on is putting it to the advantage of our forwards which might be just the tonic for his decision making out of defense.

I know everyone should play their role and we are still developing players but sometimes its gotta be ok to take advantage of a player's strengths and prevent their weakness from being exploited to some degree.

Sure he's played some blinders down there, and every team is looking for and thrives on that run out of defense, but could this be a case of square peg in round hole? Or maybe his dodgy hammys prevent him from extended running too often outside of the defensive 50? Or does he not have the tank to run all day?

It just sticks in my sometimes shady memory over the last 4 weeks that his contested work getting the ball has actually been ok, so no need to ditch him, just maybe take advantage of this in some way.
 
Seems to me that Knights plays a lot of players out of position, and maybe this is where a lot of people's frustrations with players is coming from.
Knights seems to think that Houli, Dempsey and Myers are all half-back flankers, but its obvious to nearly everyone on here that they aren't. Personally I think that Dyson and McVeigh would serve us better as half-back flankers with their above average kicking skills and move Houli/Dempsey onto the wings rotating with Winderlich where their speed can be better used and Myers onto the ball. Our line up would look something like this:

Slattery Pears Fletcher
Dyson Hooker McVeigh
Dempsey Watson Houli
Reimers Gumby Zaharakis
Monfries Hurley Williams
Hille Stanton Myers
Bench: Ryder, NLM, Winderlich, Melksham
 
Dempsey has been horrible there is no debating it.

I could stomach his unaccountable style if he was causing serious damage going the other way but he cannot seem to clenly handle the ball for a passage of play and his disposal is selling his team mates into trouble.

We all see that he and Winderlich, two players that had break out years last year and players I expected to take the next level towards the A grade, have been poor but seem unable to attibute the sides performance to anything other than Knights' gameplan. When Knights picks a side Dempsey and Winderlich would be picked in the first 5-7 players because of the improvement shown last year and the styles of game they play. When their contributions are non-existent our team virtually shuts down.

Dempsey should not be dropped yet. He has one more chance to get the basics right but if he fails to perform this week or if he performs now and fails in round 5 he is dropped for a two week minimum.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Pocket_Pears said:
Seems to me that Knights plays a lot of players out of position, and maybe this is where a lot of people's frustrations with players is coming from.
Knights seems to think that Houli, Dempsey and Myers are all half-back flankers, but its obvious to nearly everyone on here that they aren't. Personally I think that Dyson and McVeigh would serve us better as half-back flankers with their above average kicking skills and move Houli/Dempsey onto the wings rotating with Winderlich where their speed can be better used and Myers onto the ball. Our line up would look something like this:

Slattery Pears Fletcher
Dyson Hooker McVeigh
Dempsey Watson Houli
Reimers Gumby Zaharakis
Monfries Hurley Williams
Hille Stanton Myers
Bench: Ryder, NLM, Winderlich, Melksham
Click to expand...

I really like that team:thumbsu:..hopefully myers keeps getting a stack of the ball in the vfl and knights is smart enough to play in the middle when he returns to the team. Prismall will eventually come back into the team. And that forward line needs to remain the same to allow them to work together and gel as a unit..no more switching hurley and reimers back and forward.
 
You have actually nailed a good team there Pocket_Pears!!!!

Good balance and players in good positions to suit their skills and (what seems) their preferred and most effective style of play.

Pretty good job, you should drop a resume into the EFC my friend.
 
Bump. Biggest liability in the side. No more for now or I'll explode.
 
Yep, needs to go back to Bendigo so we can put another dour, unskilled player in the back half so we have no run and drive.

Maybe he was hanging 15m off because they had loose players everywhere and he was trying to cover more than one base.

Stop listening to Robert Walls!.
 
Not accountable enough to be playing in that (half back) position full stop. 2 options for Dempsey, either play him up on a wing or half forward, or play him at Bendigo, cause he is leaking way too many goals to the opposition. Dempsey is by no means a bad player, his only flaw is the defensive component of his game, hence the only way to correct this is to play him at Bendigo down back to work on this, or play him further up the ground to provide that x factor for us when going forward.
 
WeAreEssendon said:
Yep, needs to go back to Bendigo so we can put another dour, unskilled player in the back half so we have no run and drive.

Maybe he was hanging 15m off because they had loose players everywhere and he was trying to cover more than one base.

Stop listening to Robert Walls!.
Click to expand...

Sorry, didn't realise I am not allowed to critisize people on here.
Great game dempsey.
 
WeAreEssendon said:
Yep, needs to go back to Bendigo so we can put another dour, unskilled player in the back half so we have no run and drive.

Maybe he was hanging 15m off because they had loose players everywhere and he was trying to cover more than one base.

Stop listening to Robert Walls!.
Click to expand...

Robert Walls? Get a clue mate, this is an ongoing problem. Stick him on the wing or the forward flank, or get him out of the side and bring in someone like T.Slatts who will relish the chance.
 
played a very frustrating game tonight, always been a defender of demps but getting a niggling doubt now, too many poor disposals, bad misjudgments tonight, needs to improve
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Yeh he was very bad today, very very loose. He was the only player attacking with run in the 3rd quarter when we lost it though, but this didn't come close to making up for his lack of accountability.

He wasn't alone though, was there anyone in our backline that didn't get pantsed tonight?
 
His main problem is that he is just not a defensive minded player. Is very loose, concedes goals and has a propensity to turn it over. Also pulled out of a contest tonight that resulted in a goal. He seems to be one of Knights' pets so doubt he will get dropped.
 
I'm a big Dempsey fan, but he was very poor tonight. He can't seem to string more than one good game together. He should have been moved onto a wing or forward halfway through the first quarter.
 
Tonight's game hardly warrants Dempsey being dropped as he's been very good this year when we've been up and he had many mates tonight who played shockers also.

McVeigh, Fletcher, Gumbleton and Winderlich had games they would rather forget quickly.

Besides, when the opposition is getting the delivery we witnessed tonight, noone would beat Varcoe and co.

Why Atkinson and Howlett were dropped is beyond me.

Finally, the Hawks will rip us apart next week, putting the final nail in the coffin as far as our finals aspirations go.
 
I am just about the biggest critic of Dempsey's you will find. When Courts has a bad one, self professed, I will voice my distain for him.

Last week, was the worst game I have seen him play, perhaps on par with the West Coast game.

Tonight. IMHO. He was good.

People are screaming and yelling that he was hanging 15 metres off Bartel and the like. We must have been watching different games. Dempsey was very good, attacked well and took the game on, all game. Unlike many. He wasn't playing on Bartel for any more than 20 minutes, rotating through players like Varcoe, and even Stevie J for a few moments. There were many times where Dempsey was caught behind, and there were 2-3 free Geelong players close to goal. Who do you want him to go to?

If you want to talk about players who had poor nights defensively, take a sqizz over at Dyson, Hocking, McVeigh and Pears. They all are jumping up and down saying hello. I can't even count the number of times McVeigh going to ground led to a Stevie J goal. (okay, I can, twice)

I'm not sure how it looked on TV. But at the game, he was put under the pump quite a bit. He only turned the ball over once, and for him, especially on a night where he actually got alot of the ball, I think this criticism is unwarranted.

In fact, I question where it was last week, because he played far better tonight then he did against the Swans.
 
Whats the go with Pears? He looks like a player lacking in confidence since returning from his broken arm.

Thank Christ Mooney wasn't playing or we'd have lost by 5 goals more.
 
yaco55 said:
Stats do lie.

Dempsey has been very poor in the last 2 weeks - In saying that he was worse last weekend.
Click to expand...

Mate, I was at the game and I didn't look at the stats until just then while I was posting. Dempsey played a good game, regardless of what the stats say.

When I say Dempsey has a bad game I get blasted for not looking at the good things he does. When I say he has a good game, apparently he has done all these bad things. At the game, there was not one 'fickle' supporter who were lashing out on Demps. And believe me, I go to the football with the biggest Dempsey bashers, you will never meet.
 
EVERLAST said:
Whats the go with Pears? He looks like a player lacking in confidence since returning from his broken arm.

Thank Christ Mooney wasn't playing or we'd have lost by 5 goals more.
Click to expand...

Rushed back and struggling big time. Why we would move McVeigh off Johnson and put Pears there i would love an answer on.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Roast Dempsey

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top