How can the Afl call this a level playing field when one team plays 4 games in 18 days & the other team having had longer breaks??

im very proud of Goodwin who has never complained but the reality is it definitely has impacted on the team.. 

It's unfortunate (putting it mildly) that our only game on the Friday night stage was after such a heavy schedule. 

I actually think we weren't used to a Friday night game. Lead up would be out of whack and maybe all the fumbles were due to the different lighting and colder evening.... (amongst general poor skills too....)

A level playing field fixture would interfere with the AFL's profit margin so it won't happen.

It's a real concern that the team that was the youngest of all clubs for most games last year was given a fixture like this, given the AFL knew the interchange cap would increase the risk of soft tissue injuries off short breaks. 

We have been unlucky but not done any favours either. Need to start getting these blokes back

It was poor by tge AFL, but we won 3 and lost 1. I'll take that. 

And in doing so I think the players would have got a lot out of this.

Injuries and short breaks, did very well. That is the message the coaching staff will be using this week. 

And it will get worse before it gets better - 3 of next 5 games are interstate! 

• 9 day break till Carlton game at the G. 
• then 6 days before Crows in Darwin. 
• after that 2 of the next 3 are also interstate (Tassie, NSW). 
• then the last 3 are at the G.

We had a bye after our other NT game and the club wanted a lot of games in Victoria in the first half of the season.  So we can't have everything going our way.

And to be honest, I think our fast and furious style of play is taxing on players.  And the more players that are out the more pressure it puts on players that are on the field.  eg Losing ruckmen probably exacerbated Watts' early injuries to the point where he finally broke down.  Not suggesting we should change our game style, just saying the fixture isn't the only reason we have a lot of injuries.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't be surprised if the club goes to the AFL with revised fixture requests next year. 

To make it a level playing field we would need to travel much more.

West Coast have to travel 10 times this year. We travel 5, and two of them are our home games which we have sold for a large amount of cash.

Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.

 

It's a very even competition with lots of close games. It's about as level a playing field as you'll ever see.

We had a difficult period, but we also need to be able to accept that it's a difficult game. The younger guys need to know you have to show up every week, and I think the club managed it as well as they could have, and never shied away from the challenge and gave excuses.

It does beg some questions as to WHY we had to travel to Perth and back, off a 6 day break to play last years Grand Finalists....

4 minutes ago, SFebey said:

It does beg some questions as to WHY we had to travel to Perth and back, off a 6 day break to play last years Grand Finalists....

Can you imagine if it happened to Collingwood oh no oh no that wouldn't happen to the Golden [censored] club would it.

Gotta be a team who can say "anywhere, anytime''

This stretch was a massive challenge. I genuinely thought that we could lose all 4 of them. 

We came out 3/1. Last night was where we fell in a heap which was semi expected. Pick our selves up and go again next week.

Sick of the excuses.

4 minutes ago, BAMF said:

Gotta be a team who can say "anywhere, anytime''

This stretch was a massive challenge. I genuinely thought that we could lose all 4 of them. 

We came out 3/1. Last night was where we fell in a heap which was semi expected. Pick our selves up and go again next week.

Sick of the excuses.

Agree with this, hopefully we learn from this.

The boys just ran out of gas.   

6 minutes ago, BAMF said:

Gotta be a team who can say "anywhere, anytime''

This stretch was a massive challenge. I genuinely thought that we could lose all 4 of them. 

We came out 3/1. Last night was where we fell in a heap which was semi expected. Pick our selves up and go again next week.

Sick of the excuses.

This.  We've known it was coming for months, and to take 3 wins away from those 4 games is a mammoth effort when you factor in the injuries.

Hopefully we can regroup and get our momentum back next week against the Blues.

Not much sympathy for a team who sells two home games to some of the hardest destinations in Australia

Last night was abysmal from a future sponsorship viewpoint

As mentioned win wise we did okay out of the stretch but the incremental impact of injuries could cruel the remainder of our season

The scheduling was rediculous and counter productive for the AFL who want to preserve their Friday nights mostly for the best performing clubs that will produce the best spectacle on the night that gets the bigger TV audiences. So why schedule us for 4 games in 18 and send us to WA to boot, which is effectively a 5 day recovery for our first Friday night block buster in how many years? Sheer incompetence from the people who determine the AFL FIXture. 

2 hours ago, The heart beats true said:

It's a very even competition with lots of close games. It's about as level a playing field as you'll ever see.

We had a difficult period, but we also need to be able to accept that it's a difficult game. The younger guys need to know you have to show up every week, and I think the club managed it as well as they could have, and never shied away from the challenge and gave excuses.

Agree...But the other team should have played 4 games in 18 days also.....

 

2 hours ago, BAMF said:

Gotta be a team who can say "anywhere, anytime''

This stretch was a massive challenge. I genuinely thought that we could lose all 4 of them. 

We came out 3/1. Last night was where we fell in a heap which was semi expected. Pick our selves up and go again next week.

Sick of the excuses.

That must be our attitude. 

The AFL draw is a complete mess, but the only way we will get looked after in any way is to win big games. 

Last night i hope was a massive dose of knowledge for all our coaches, to get to the next level. 

For all our improvements, we need more. 

Finals are all about hard consecutive games. That has always been the case. 

Learn Demons. Suck it all in. Ask questions but do not make excuses

Simple for me. Negotiate a bye after Darwin. Minimum 7 day break after Perth trips. Club needs to be stronger. 3/1 in this period has been excellent but at a cost. Rotation needs to be much better.

At least Simon Goodwin has been upbeat (in public) about the 6 day break blocks. Part of development etc.etc.

But the guts of it is that Ch 7 commentators do not even know our players and get a surprised when Jetts shows just how good he is.

CH 7 determine the draw . Equity does not compete with profitability. ( I really do assume that BT and Lingy do it because they do not get paid otherwise .....)

Imagine the hue & cry if C'wood , Richmond, etc got the draw that Melbourne,Footscray and Saint get.

3 hours ago, Win4theAges said:

Can you imagine if it happened to Collingwood oh no oh no that wouldn't happen to the Golden [censored] club would it.

Good point Win4theAges. You are right of course. But their wingeing and self-centred psychopathy have cost them dearly for 60 years. Two flags in that time shows they are about as resilient as a wet lettuce. 

3 hours ago, Win4theAges said:

Can you imagine if it happened to Collingwood oh no oh no that wouldn't happen to the Golden [censored] club would it.

Oh yes please, if you can take anything from that it would be to see eddie's head pop right from his shoulders