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The main and most important take-way from the interview is that Jake intends on keeping his moustache. Of secondary matters: the back seven are traveling beautifully ATM, Tomlinson has been great, Kossi's form is not a revelation to those that have observed and trained with him for the last 12 months, Weid and BBB at least two weeks away and implied they'll comeback through the ressies, everyone loves Danny Frawley, and Angus Brayshaw is dating Danny's daughter. He didn't say so, but it's fair to also assume the following: we’re not getting carried away with the win, we're giving full credit to St. Kilda because we knew they'd be tough to beat and come out hard, credit is due to the boys for Saturday's win, we’re just happy to get the four points and looking forward to next week, our structures are working well and we kept our shape, blokes that are not in the team ATM are training the house down and ready to go, there will be a few things that, as a playing group, we'll need to look at during the week (and possibly even going forward), the kids are doing well, at some point in the last quarter the sting went out of the game, and we know the GWS will come to play next week.

Noticed any positive traits yet? ?

When he went into the ruck in the second quarter it totally turned the game in our favour.

He's right until he's wrong and then he moves on to being right about something else so he's only ever wrong for a moment.

Glad to see Charlie get some wraps. I've long stuck up for him on here and at games - my sister isn't a fan. His thing - that will come (is coming) with maturity - is staying in games long enough and ideally getting it more. Most of his possessions are in scoring chains. He's a very rare player in that regard. Doesn't get it lot, but when he does it usually results in a score, due to that decision making you mention, and also probably the role he plays. His pressure has gone to another level now though, which means he's staying in games longer. Well done, Charlie. Keep it up.

So another week and you still haven’t learnt to write off immensely talented 19 year olds..?

A mate got out there and I got the following at various times through the morning. It is raining cats & dogs out here Cannot sight Baker - he must be 23rd Man for tonight Qtr time: Casey 4.4:28 v North 3.1:19 Half time. Casey lead by 10 points. 42 to 32. 3QT: we hold a 11pt lead going into the last Qtr (62v 51) Seeing plenty from Hibbo, Rosman, Chandler, Bedford, Bradtke, Melks, Vanders & Daw Majak has taken some very strong marks and kicked about 3 goals FT score: 12.9:81 v 11.7:73- well done Casey The feature of the game was some strong marking in terrible conditions early. Majak & Bradtke in particular! My 3,2,1 would go to Hibberd, Vanders & Daw with a special mention to Bedford

Coaches votes: 9 Christian Salem (MELB) 9 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 5 Max Gawn (MELB) 3 Kysaiah Pickett (MELB) 2 Christian Petracca (MELB) 1Jack Steele (STK) 1 Adam Tomlinson (MELB) Split: 4/5 for Salem and Oliver 2/3 for Gawn 3 for Kozzie 2 Petracca 1 Steele 1 Tomlinson Coaches saw the Salem, Oliver and Gawn performances similarly. The other 4 were quite diverse. Good to see Salem get recognition for a great game. Not easy to get votes as a defender. LEADERBOARD 19 Dustin Martin RICH 18 Taylor Walker ADEL 16 Darcy Moore COLL 16 Clayton Oliver MELB 12 Dan Houston PORT

That’s awesome work by Spargo and ANB, this stuff is infectious. The hard work is evident early this season. When the Saints had their little patch in the second quarter I saw a lot of finger pointing at the ground from our boys, instantaneously I thought here comes the blame game between them, but i since read on here it was all about working out how to restructure. Really pleasing to see some maturity creep in.

I now trust ANB when he has the ball, something I couldn’t say until now. He’s been excellent and Spargo contributes in a way that I never thought he would.

The low crowds are because of the way tickets are allocated under covid rules. 75% of the MCG is available, but not of the total seats. It is 75% of the MCC, 75% of AFL/Medallion club, 75% of reserved seats etc. So to use the AFL area at the MCG as an example ( I don't know its capacity but lets call it 20,000), that means 15K allocated. But there aren't 15,000 Richmond and Hawthorn AFL members. Let's be generous and say there are 10,000. That means 5,000 seats do not get sold, alongside the 5,000 unavailable....in that area alone. Now using our game when you put a side like Fremantle in the MCG. You would need nearly 15K Melbourne supporting AFL members to be there, just to fill up the allocation. At Marvel, the Medallion club ( only using a vague memory here) has 12,000 seats out of a total capacity of 50K. So only 9K can be sold. Not many fans can afford to buy one of those seats, and the same problem happens. So while we have AFL, MCC, Medallion club and reserved seating areas, we will continue to have unsold seats.( under the current method of allocating tickets). (...and reserved seating includes those areas of the ground that Ticketek/Ticketmaster allocate to themselves to sell at higher prices....it is why you can't find a GA ticket for your membership, but they will sell you one in their areas)

The only thing stopping us beating GWS is ourselves. Two good wins (albeit vs wounded prey) and a game vs GWS, another wounded team. While we've had injuries they are far less significant. It is the type of game where our players get ahead of themselves and become cocky thinking a win will just happen. We need to turn up and play 120 minutes of committed football. No 'drinking of bathwater', please. It will be a test of what is going on between the ears.

This. It's a commonsense strategy for a specific situation. The coaching across the first couple of games has been phenomenal. We won playing a back half game while getting smashed at the stoppages in round 1 and then we completely nullified the Saints run and won plenty of stoppages while creating incredible forward pressure in round 2. The skills and determination of our list have not changed over the last few years but the cohesion of the team and ability of the coaches to implement dynamic game plans across the first two weeks of this season is really exciting. Long may it continue.

I went through a divorce recently that ripped my heart out. I was depressed. if it wasn’t for speaking to my mates I’m not sure how I would have coped. One of the first ones I spoke to suggested I get counselling which I did and helped tremendously. I disagree with you Hff. If I didn’t speak to my mates I doubt very much I would have sought help and who knows how things would have ended up. I reckon Spud would have loved it, as I’m sure his family in attendance would have too.

Haven't seen this referenced anywhere else: Today's club website 'Stats That Matter' article features the combined 50 pressure acts of Charlie and ANB. Impressive, numerically and to watch, particularly in Charlie's case.

Lastly Nathan Jones always was, still is and forever will be the best Jones brother.

"Fremantle coach Ross Lyon made it clear it’s on the players to improve their goalkicking, as due to limitations regarding player work hours, the coaches simply don’t have enough time or access to make shots for goal a consistent formal part of training." Madness. It's like a snooker player saying there's not enough time to practice sinking balls, or a golfer saying there's not enough time to practice putting. Those guys would be looking for new jobs one week later. "[David] King said allocating time to goalkicking was clearly necessary — whether that came through contracted hours or the players using their time off to work on it." Players have to use their "time off" to practice a fundamental skill of the game? 'Fundamentally if you’re a full-forward or a centre-half forward, a forward pocket, you’ve got to convert. You can’t do that under the current program — there’s just not enough kicking being done by the current players.'" Something something cart something horse something. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2019-whos-to-blame-for-inaccurate-kicking-epidemic-and-how-it-can-be-fixed/news-story/4fdaf79cdbc2c26df92474f2fbdf3e3b

The only unforced change will be Baker out as sub for someone else likely Vanders I suggest. I am not a Hunt fan but that was the best half back game he has played in 4 years. His balance of attack and hard nose defence was excellent. Brayshaw is playing possibly the most important team role in the skinny side defensive wing. I didn’t see much switch tonight or fast movement from half back from the saints which is their standard. Even when we needed a mid rotation we preferred Jones to him. Maybe we should consider that his role is not about possessions but structure and maybe he is actually doing it well? With Viney I would argue there is no one other than Benny Brown that is a definite 18 starter,. Whilst we we are winning we deserve to maintain a winning team and those banging the door down can wait their turn.

Be still my thundering heart. 2 Rounds done… 2 wins and 8 premiership points in the bank. So very strange. There were even some good coaching moves made during the game. I was not far off in my prediction last week. I predicted a 4 goal win – close, except that it could have been anywhere between a 3 and 10 goal margin. Big difference between Round 1 and Round 2 was that the midfield looked well organised and ran hard all day. So with Round 2 done and dusted we turn our attention to Round 3 and our game in Canberra on Sunday against the Great Waste of Space (GWS), The AFL’s version of the creature that was created by Victor Frankenstein. With this, the Waste of Space’s 10th year as a ‘club’, it should be settled and well structured. However, I do not think that is the case. It has been the poor cousin living next door to the Swans based in a wasteland of AFL fans. I can see constant messages being sent by the Captain of the good ship, Waste of Space, Reading “Send Lawyers, Guns and Money, the natives are restless”. I am sure from that paragraph you have picked up that I do not hold this ‘team’ in high regard. I do not even hate them, more that I am miffed at their existence. To hate them I would need to have some respect for them. Still, I have to put that aside and look at the actual footy. There are 4 premiership points to be won and lost….. this is serious. I want us to grab those points. The facts: We are playing them with an extra day’s rest. Advantage us. They are travelling back from a loss in Perth. Advantage us We play in Canberra. ? (well it is a fact) Our third string forward line still misses a lot. Advantage them. Problem areas of the game for us: After the performance last week, it is difficult to identify the major problems except for one. More on the later. Defence was again very good, and they were well organised to cover the main threats that the Saints presented. Himmelberg and Ninja Green look to be the main threats for the defence to look out for. Their kicking for gaol against Freo was just about as bad as ours was against the Saints. They had 9 players from the midfield that between them kicked 0.10. While May and Lever did not have an easy time of it last week as they had in Round 1, the rest of the defenders stepped up and worked as a unit. We need them to keep it up and look to improve against the Waste of Space. The midfield does not have too many problems given that level of performance across the board. The hard part will be maintaining that quality. This week we need to come out hard and fast in the middle, give the opposition no space and produce the repeat efforts in close that were a feature of last week’s performance. We need the midfield to dominate so they give us as many chances as possible to have scoring shots. (This bit is a cut and paste of my comments last week with a couple of minor adjustments – I know I am being lazy) Now let us turn our attention to our forwards. The good; we kicked a winning score last week. The bad; it was not that many goals (as it should have been). The ugly; the bad kicking for goal. Almost twice as many behinds as goals. In the forwards I like the structure and the players. It is functioning well. Kossie and Spargo together are a great double act and the talls are getting to the places they need to. When the goal kicking accuracy sorts itself out it will be a sight to behold. Freo kicked 11.21 against GWS’s defence with pretty much the same forward setup as played against us with a couple of changes. Perryman looks to be the best of that lot with Cumming getting a lot of possessions from half back and being their main carrier out of defence. Will be interesting to see who plays on him/who he plays on. The selection meeting this week will be simple. Shut the door, have a couple of beers, eat the cheese board, catch up on the news and announce ‘no changes’. The MFC ‘glass half empties’ are having a hard time of it at the moment and a few of them seem to have gone to ground. I am sure they will surface again the near future. If we keep winning, I await the first post criticising the players for wearing short socks and how it is a sign that Goodwin has lost them. The big question is; will Dr.Frank’s Creature run rampant and create fear and havoc or will the Demon hoards contain, restrict and then overrun the self-entitled love child of the AFL? (A thought; does this make Sheedy Frankenstein’s assistant, Igor?) I am going with the Demon hoard to bring home a good win making it a 3-0 start. 6 goal margin to the Dees.

https://www.titusoreily.com/afl/a-highly-unhelpful-guide-to-round-two2021 Even reading it after the round has finished is well worth it. Although the bit about the Dees has a familiar ring to it, the win has given that glimmer of hope. It appears he may have a future as the "Kiss of Death" tipster for the Herald Sun.

his response to the win was quality too https://www.titusoreily.com/afl/the-monday-knee-jerk-reaction-afl-round-two2021

Both players are moving fast out of the bottom 6

Wait a minute - flag favourites ?

I think that was our best win since 2018 when you factor in the opposition and playing them at the venue they clearly play their best footy. Maybe you could argue the Collingwood win last year at the Gabba was our most complete performance since 2018 but this one was more satisfying. With regards to our inaccuracy, I’d rather win a 3 goal margin by having 13 more scoring shots than winning with having 5 less shots because we had to rely on the opposition’s inaccuracy. Disappointing to miss so many but at the same time it was good signs and reflected our dominance for much of the game.

Are we meant to conclude that the small crowd is because most Richmond supporters are vampires?

I see that Spuds Game is as much about encouraging men to talk as it is to encourage us to look out for and listen to each other. Probably all of us will have either experienced or know people who have experienced mental health challenges and the more equipped we are to speak and/or listen it can only be a positive thing. Removing the stigma also makes it easier for people to seek professional help rather than suffer in silence.

Rubbish post. Not that it should be your business, but they were well and truly separated before anything developed between Garry and Nicky. Might be hard for you to understand, but she is not "me missus", she is a person in her own right with her own free will. Garry has gone through his own mental health battles and been pretty open about it all, especially given he's a pretty private person generally. He's also lost one of his best mates to this fight. Who are you to jump on the internet and start making personal judgments about people, none of whom you know, while trying to talk up the mental health cause.

No thank you.

Gawwd Jimmy did you count the number of times his "Deft"handballs opened up the game and resulted in goals?? Cmon Man, he is just a "Magic"player!!

I dont think I have seen a single person say LJ is a natural forward He is learning the craft, we all know hes a natural ruckman

Most of these guys would have no trouble getting a kick under no pressure to within a couple of metres of a team mate standing 40 metres away The problem is in my opinion is not so much about technique but what is going on in their heads Think golfer on tee who rarely hits a ball off line until he gets to his bogey hole - there he regularly hooks the ball into a hazard - not because of technique so much but because he is focused on missing the fairway Fritsch always looks to me that he is over thinking every kick - if he ignored the goal posts and just imagined he was kicking to a team mate behind the goals he might just find things turned around quickly

I'm not a Hunt fan but I suspect his pace off half back complimets the execllent trio of May Lever and Tomlinson . He provides a different option also to Salem. I think he deserves some time given the - so far - overall defence performance.

It is a shame this thread has gotten sidetracked. Anything that promotes mental health illness/support/treatmewnt/awareness and advocates more discussion surrounding the topic should long continue. The AFL previously had a Beyond Blue round, but uncertain if that is a thing anymore?

If you were capable of learning lessons, the bolded bit is the key here, and would impact your final line.

Have to give Oliisik his props here. Thank you Kozzie for all the excitement and hope you have bought to me over the last week. Because of you I will drive 3 hours this weekend.to watch you create havoc for gws. I wonder how you will be with brown isolated up fwd?????????

Ive heard differently from both East Freo and Aquinas. Very hard working and driven young man with good skills and decion making. Will watch a bit of him this year in PSA first VIII, my boy is at another PSA school but a bit young for first VIII this season. Woey Snr is one of the new coaches at my boys school so taking a keen interest for several reasons

I'm just wondering about this. We saw a lot of high kicks, mostly from our side, but the Saints were doing it too. Does the ball maybe carry a bit more with the roof shut at Marvel? That could explain the issue. Another random thing I noticed. Tomlinson seems to have really soft hands. Even full stretch with a ball you'd expect to bounce out, it just seems to nestle into his hands. He was good last week and even better last night. Very happy with the team right now. We're winning ugly. There's still massive scope for improvement. If we iron out those issues and otherwise keep it up, we're going to do well.

You have got to be joking.

Apparently Hunt played on Butler and kept him to 8 disposals.

I thought Hunt was very good today.