Just now, Demonsone said:

Hope the afl are proud that they ignore the heartland of footy & foundation clubs and support northern clubs with exclusive academies to remain relevant vs the nrl, one can only imagine what the afl would be doing if the Swans had the same poor record as WC has experienced in the last 5 years

we know full well; look at the gifts given to gc17, gw$, and the bears

the desire to keep propping up the northern sides is extraordinary

Edited yesterday at 11:331 day by whatwhat say what

2 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

we know full well; look at the gifts given to gc17, gw$, and the bears

the desire to keep propping up the northern sides is extraordinary

Do you blame the Saints going for all chips in as the drafts are compromise actually corrupted along the bs fixtures

Just now, Demonsone said:

Do you blame the Saints going for all chips in as the drafts are compromise actually corrupted along the bs fixtures

no, i don't blame them - it's a different way to play it

i personally can't see it working for them as they've had to pay $2m a season to keep nas, and they're only getting him for 2 seasons as it stands, and then they've paid a small fortune to bring in tdk and sosos and flanders and i don't think they're quality enough to justify it

I reckon McQualter has no idea as a senior coach.

I know they have very little experience across the park, and even less so now that their former skipper packed his bags for Brisbane, but the players play like they've got next to no idea how to move the ball, their defence is a mess and their midfield cannot defend.

The Eagles are way more important to the competition than the Suns and GWS combined.

Freo don't really cut it.

13 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

The Eagles are way more important to the competition than the Suns and GWS combined.

Freo don't really cut it.

Yeah but is their current period of awful-ness impacting their existence in any way?

2nd most members in 2025, at 107,079, up nearly 4,000 on the previous season (despite 2025 being a 1-win season, and their fourth consecutive season in the bottom 3).

They have a wait list for reserved seats. They averaged over 42,000 to their home games last year - Fremantle, who were a top 4 contender for most of the season, averaged 46,000.

Their supporters haven't dropped off yet. They finally have some promising young talent (Duursma, Reid, CDT, Shanahan).

They're effectively the biggest/richest club, whose demise is almost entirely self-inflicted. The AFL doesn't have to worry about them, because they'll always be big/rich, and the tide will eventually turn.

Keeping GC and GWS viable and ensuring there is constant competitive/interesting AFL product in NSW and Queensland is far, far more important to the AFL than helping West Coast get out of the hole they built for themselves.

1 minute ago, titan_uranus said:

Yeah but is their current period of awful-ness impacting their existence in any way?

2nd most members in 2025, at 107,079, up nearly 4,000 on the previous season (despite 2025 being a 1-win season, and their fourth consecutive season in the bottom 3).

They have a wait list for reserved seats. They averaged over 42,000 to their home games last year - Fremantle, who were a top 4 contender for most of the season, averaged 46,000.

Their supporters haven't dropped off yet. They finally have some promising young talent (Duursma, Reid, CDT, Shanahan).

They're effectively the biggest/richest club, whose demise is almost entirely self-inflicted. The AFL doesn't have to worry about them, because they'll always be big/rich, and the tide will eventually turn.

not one iota

they're massive, and they will remain that way regardless of results on field

1 minute ago, titan_uranus said:

Keeping GC and GWS viable and ensuring there is constant competitive/interesting AFL product in NSW and Queensland is far, far more important to the AFL than helping West Coast get out of the hole they built for themselves.

before covid the reports internally at the afl had it that the cost of running them was about the same as the increased revenue brought in by the broadcast rights that they had attributed towards them

i can't imagine that has changed

2 hours ago, Demonsone said:

Hope the afl are proud that they ignore the heartland of footy & foundation clubs and support northern clubs with exclusive academies to remain relevant vs the nrl, one can only imagine what the afl would be doing if the Swans had the same poor record as WC has experienced in the last 5 years

One doesn't have to imagine. $100m at a minimum, has been poured into that joint.

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

The Eagles are way more important to the competition than the Suns and GWS combined.

Freo don't really cut it.

how so?

9 hours ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

how so?

Freo is to Perth what Port is to Adelaide.

They bring their rusted on supporter base plus the Contrarians but the State teams are Adelaide and West Coast. Have a look at the Reserved seat waiting lists for these two teams together with their share of the local media and you start to appreciate the relative importance.

Just my opinion from spending a lot of time in Adelaide mainly

31 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Freo is to Perth what Port is to Adelaide.

They bring their rusted on supporter base plus the Contrarians but the State teams are Adelaide and West Coast. Have a look at the Reserved seat waiting lists for these two teams together with their share of the local media and you start to appreciate the relative importance.

Just my opinion from spending a lot of time in Adelaide mainly

agreed for the most part with this, based on the limited understand i have of the transience of east and south freo club's supporters glomming onto the dockers

the pear has a genuine feeling of being an organic football club with an established identity that they really work hard to emphasise since the reunification of the 'power' and the 'magpies' under the one club mandate - what basheer etc did to the maggies side of the pafc was deliberately cruel

their supporter base has a massive - and justified - persecution complex as a result

Watching Bombers is reminiscent of the Neeld era. Basket case. Great to see

Bombers are so ****ty that dogs are going at half rat power.

I don’t think I’ve seen a player look as emotionally frustrated as Zach Merrett this year. He must be wondering what the point of it all is.

2 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I don’t think I’ve seen a player look as emotionally frustrated as Zach Merrett this year. He must be wondering what the point of it all is.

He was correct in wanting to leave. Both Carlton and Essendon are in death spirals and will take a decade to fix. Commentators say how both clubs screw up draft picks but I think that’s wrong, they cannot develop players. Cripps and Merrett are outliers.

Dogs need to make this interesting by only being allowed to kick with their opposite foot.

22 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I don’t think I’ve seen a player look as emotionally frustrated as Zach Merrett this year. He must be wondering what the point of it all is.

that’s why you let players leave if they really want to. eg Trac or Merrett

Does way more damage to have them stay

I've got this game on mute so I can't hear the screaming and whimpering.

Auto-subtitles are great.

"You won't get dirty touches, but you can have an impact on the balls"

Ok, hindsight is 20-20 vision but I had a sneaky feeling we'd win today. I also have a feeling that the Bummers could run us close next week. I've seen enough footy to know how these things can play out. I'll be in Adelaide so hope I'm wrong

Uhm…

What the [censored] actual [censored] Bulldogs???

You’re playing Essendon right now, you know. Essendon! ESSENDON!!!!

Get it together ffs.

2 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Uhm…

What the [censored] actual [censored] Bulldogs???

You’re playing Essendon right now, you know. Essendon! ESSENDON!!!!

Get it together ffs.

They have taken the foot off Ghosty after half time.

Just now, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

They have taken the foot off Ghosty after half time.

Thanks Y! That explains it.

I got home and tuned in like our match was main course and this match was sweet, sweet dessert but all I got was fairy bread 😭

I am kinda hoping now that the Bulldogs have blown the chance of absolutely thrashing Essendon. That Essendon come back get the hopes of their supporters up but heartbreakingly they still lose.

Ugh hearing Buckley’s voice, and very happy that Kingy is our coach.

We showed today verses gold Coast how pressure can trouble good teams, and now the Bombers are doing the same to the Dogs. The Bombers are so poor, but they are having a red hot go.

Joyous to know that no matter how hard they try, they will still lose tonight.