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Actually this is the poster I want to see.

There's been full sized gallows towed to Parliament House where people there attached the noose to a Daniel Andrews effigy. Numerous MPs have had their lives threatened and that of their partners and families. Some 'protestors' have taken to sharing the contact details and addresses of MPs supporting the bill and have shown up at their homes. One speaker spoke about wanting Dan Andrews 'dancing on the end of a rope'. Another spoke of the 'satanic peadophile cult'. Multiple Liberal Party MPs have publicly shared images of Dan Andrews as Hitler. One Liberal MP crashed his car while nearly 3 times over the legal limit - after having a few drinks with a QC who coincidentally had drafted an open letter slamming the new pandemic bill. Media crews have to be protected from attack by police. This all in the last few days or so. But binman's post is hyperbole?

Have you got this one?

I like our 2nd pick as well with Angus Sheldrick. He's a Viney/Neale clone... already 88kgs at 179cms. Effectively our Jones replacement who is a similar height and weight. I found this espn article about him quite interesting. He fits Goody's player criteria being that he is a tough competitor and 2 way runner. Earning best on ground honours for Western Australia in their 10-point win against South Australia in this year's final clash between the two sides, Angus Sheldrick is the prospect who has scouts talking. Over the past two months, Sheldrick has built one of the most impressive resumes, also winning the head-to-head midfield matchup against pick one favourite Jason Horne-Francis in the first Under-19 Championships clash between WA and SA. Horne-Francis was unable to impact the game through the midfield and was relegated to playing in the front half, in what was a surprise disruption to an otherwise near-flawless close to 2021. In the WAFL Colts Grand Final, Sheldrick battled on manfully and was the dominant force through the middle, amassing 27 touches despite copping a bad corky in the second quarter and an unsportsmanlike knee to the ribs while down on all fours in the third quarter. Given Sheldrick's recent eye-catching performances, his best on ground display at the weekend's final Under-19 Championships clash should surprise no one; he's a competitor who shows up every week and does what is asked of him. In each of the Championships games, WA was clearly a level above through the midfield and the contribution of Sheldrick played a large part. An impressive stoppage midfielder, the 17-year-old is a strong-bodied stoppage specialist with a height and build akin to Lachie Neale. At 179cm and 88kg, Sheldrick is strong over the ball and routinely wins first possession, works hard around the ground to receive loose ball gets, possesses an explosive burst of speed, shrugs tackles and tackles with intent, plays a strong two-way game and hits the scoreboard. Impressively, during the WAFL Colts finals series, Sheldrick kicked six goals from three games, while kicking another two goals in his final match against SA, including the sealer. Where Sheldrick will need to put work into his game is his kicking and decision making. He is effective feeding outside runners by hand but at this stage lacks polish and precision by foot. Whether he is under pressure or has time with ball in hand, at times he will attempt ill-advised kicks that lack situational awareness. Gaining fans in recent months, Sheldrick is viewed as a likely mid-draft choice and would be a strong value selection for a club looking to give their midfield an immediate boost of competitiveness. AFL Draft Weekly Wrap: stoppage specialist Sheldrick a WA bolter

Crikey, binman. Where do you get things like 'bad actors', 'unhinged, dangerous bad actors', 'organising forces' type stuff from? And the 'perversion of the concept of freedom'; 'very real threats to our democracy and freedoms'? Fairly emotive and forgive me for saying hyperbolic stuff. There are a lot of angry people in Victoria for a raft of mainly covid related reasons but as you say they have a right to march and to protest. There is an element of 'rent a crowd' in most protests, as there was with the construction industry a few months ago. Just to clarify, the attack on the Shrine of Remembrance was during the construction industry march not the marches this week. I don't condone any rough stuff or violent intentions in any protest but we need to be careful to not over react to the 30 sec news bites and newspaper headlines or to imply there are evil forces behind every protest. But to be calling people names for exercising that right and raising unfounded fears is a long bow. By the way 10,000 in a protest is a decent crowd by Melb standards. The Melbourne BLM march was about the same. I think it is really sad that you have drawn parallels with the BLM march as that is such an important cause. But it was irresponsible, as at the time we were lurching from one covid outbreak to another and iirc we were in lockdown, and went against the express requests of the government and police. Let people march and perhaps tone down the rhetoric.

There is a very great deal to like / love about Max, both as a footballer, a champion at that, and as s bloke who was prepared to put in the hard yards for a few years to be better than initial forecasts and promise. As a Captain of a footy club, he is excelling; as a player he is now (in his category of play - the ruck), beyond legend status in real time. The fans, the team, the coaches all love him and the bias of footy 'experts' such as commentators just have to grin and bear it. His talents are his vanguards for all to see and feel. In the meantime, every time, Max just goes about his business with modesty, composure and humility. His mother and father must be extremely proud of the man that they have created and nurtured. Onyer, Max. There will never be another Max Gawn.

Surely the Herald Sun experts wouldn’t get it wrong, would they?

AVB has his sights set on the Corporate world of Finance & Investment and the move to Old Xavs is tied in with a great, long term appointment at PWC. A lot smarter than he looks is AVB and he knocked back 3 strong approaches of 1 year contracts with very reasonable extension triggers to commence his Corporate career.

Agree. I love the fact that i am lucky to live in a country where the overwhelming majority of people are prepared to honor their social contract obligations. Sure there are a very, very tiny minority of people who want to have their cake and eat it too - that's to say enjoy all the benefits of living here (eg universal health care, representative government, opportunity to vote, relatively effective public transport systems, functioning infrastructure, ok education system, etc etc) but not prepared to honour their social contract. But that's part of the price we pay - in any community there will always be such people. I'd add that a related modern phenomena is conflating the views of a very noisy minority with majority public sentiment. The white noise of social media, the targeted trolling, the publicity stunts etc etc serve a specific purpose - to create this very illusion. And i have to say those strategies are very effective at doing just that. But those of us who choose to honor the social contract - the overwhelming majority - should refuse to buy into the illusion. Don't engage. And certainly don't allow ourselves to be fooled by the illusion. The tiny mob don't speak for us. The tiny mob don't even speak for each other - there is no unifying narrative. Just a grab bag of disparate grievances. And for that reason the tiny mob will ultimately dwindle to a sad gathering in a phone box (a non 5g one). Bottom line is we are approaching 90% double vax rate for people over 12 in Victoria, and we will get to that figure nationally early next year. Let's say half of the remaining 10% have not been vaxed - but not because they are anti vax as such (eg apathy, health reasons, religious views, hesitant, cultural, cognitive issues etc etc). That leaves 5% who might genuinely be considered anti vax. So, 5 in every hundred. The very definition of a minority view. The mandate question is harder to quantify becuase we don't have the concreteness of the vax rate as reliable measure of sentiment. We do know from countries like Germany that without mandates double vax rates will plateau in the mid 60s (sadly for a country i love and have people there i love, they are in for a hellacious winter). And becuase of this most people in Australia understand the logic of mandates. And the majority of Australian support mandates. This is evidenced by a number of polls that show the MAJORITY of Australian support mandates. Australia has one of the most effective democratic system in the world. Not perfect of course, but by any measure we have opportunities to influence public policy decisions that people in most other democracies could only dream of - and people in totalitarian countries can't even dream of. The noisy minority have the freedom to take their fight to the ballot box and make their case. And the overwhelming majority can also make their call at the ballot box. And we will.

The really troubling aspect of the anti-vaxx movement (which has been around long before Covid) is the recent cultural appropriation of certain right-wing extremist language and behaviours recently encouraged and abetted by the Trump administration. Namely the endorsement of violence to 'defend' their viewpoints. Previously anti-vaxxers were thought of as alternative types more likely to buy organic produce in hemp woven bags than rabble rousing rednecks dressed in flouro. Like ABC news breakfast this morning mused, I too wonder what the reaction would have been if it had been an Islamic group driving around town with makeshift gallows and effigies? These people aren't just vile, they are dangerous and their actions aren't political, they're criminal. It is an overt threat of violence to elected representatives that our society should not only condemn, but prosecute.

Yes, we have strayed a bit. The important point from a football perspective is that the players, officials and employees of venues have a safe workspace and that spectators can attend games in a way that keeps them as safe as possible. Let's be clear, though. There isn't really a vaccine mandate. A person can choose not to be vaccinated. What is being mandated are limitations on what unvaccinated people can do. Not being able to pursue a professional sporting career is one as is attending venues such as the MCG. It's really not that much different from mandates that allow employers or venues to prevent people who are intoxicated from participating.

My favourite is people protesting we live in a dictatorship, ignoring completely the fact that if we did live in a dictatorship, they wouldn't be allowed to protest. I wish all these "I did my own research" nuffies would open a history book.... or any sort of book.... or learn to read... or get a job... or find a friend... anything productive really.

Yeah nah. When I was a kid my mother used to complain that our local butcher used to put his thumb on the scales when he weighed her meat order. Mac needs to check this next time he weighs himself.

Goody: Thanks Nev. Come in, Shannon. Take a seat. I have a project, but it's tough - not for everyone. But I think you're the man.

Our plan A is killer. It's up to the opposition to stop us executing it. Plan Bs are for them to worry about. As for next season. Reckon I'll be a hell of alot more relaxed about the whole thing than what I have been in the past. Fresh off a soul cleansing Grand Final win an' all. But I expect us to get even better with the monkey off our back. Reckon it'll free us right up, give the boys the flag winning confidence knowing they can get it done.

A few years ago I got a call from the club, in a membership drive. I'd already renewed as it happened, but we had a bit of a chat. The fella who rang introduced himself as Max Gawn. He'd played his first senior game a few weeks earlier and I'd been in Melbourne and saw it. I remember him going for a bit of a run through the centre, and he played with a kind of looseness that was really entertaining to watch. I told him so, and wished him well. I said I saw Robbie Flower's first game, and now I'd seen his too - great times, seeing someone play their first game with flair. Of course, I had no idea what a god I was talking to, and Max would not remember a random supporter telling him that, back then - but I do. It makes the pleasure of his extraordinary rise all the more wonderful, for me. Must be like that for everyone he shook hands with, made a coffee for, etc. Fabulous stuff. And then - look at the impact these guys have! Like Justin Langer going on about how the team went out there and played for each other, cared, and especially that they made it fun - it was the Max Gawn songbook! Culture-changing stuff. They make you so proud... Love these guys.

The Geelong Preliminary Final was one of the best individual games I have seen from a Demons player.

He is a dud skills wise and decision making. All journos have made him out to be the next Petracca just to sensationalize it. He can tackle and is professional. Surely thats a minimum pre requisite for any 30 year old footballer. Not a big loss.

I'd like to see BBB have a big uninterrupted preseason and fully fit could get back to a 60 goal season

Not trying to be silly but does it matter? As long as she brings her best abilities to the role. I felt the Pies supporters anger/angst re Bridie O’Donnell over the top.

Agreed. Like all aspects of society people can choose to follow the rules or accept the consequences; in this case curtailed opportunities to partake in a large part of our community and its activities.

I'm a big fan of Sheldrick - he impressed me in all of the games he played in but particularly, in the last one against South Australia. I regards him as a real junk yard dog type of player who will do the hard work work for his coach and can learn under Jack Viney. I understand that Geelong are very interested in him.

Gone for vs rich game , was a wet night , required extra effort

Such a fantastic podcast. In disappointment terms, Burgo's departure ranks a close second to Jurrah and ahead of Jako for me. I'm not sure that everyone really appreciates what we've lost - one of those blokes bagged us a flag. And sports science isn't going to go away anytime soon. To stay ahead, our club needs to recruit the best in the business from the worldwide pool.

You’re not a very trusting soul are you? In one of the posts above, Caligula’s Cohort has linked the Herald Sun article on yesterday’s mock draft. If you click on the link you will get to the article which CC cited. A couple of posts below is a post by Chelly which quoted Pick 11 going to St Kilda. Chelly also noted the height and weight particulars that are the same as the figures from the training article and which WJ highlighted in the screen shot in his post (with red border added). He paraphrased from the article that the players at Monday’s training “also had their measurements taken for the first time since the pre season”. I will try to access the article later on and provide screen shots attesting to this if you still have any doubts. 😀

I agree.

I’m not questioning what he said in an interview. These measurements were taken on Monday by AFL staff at the training session.

We got one thing over all 3 of those sides, a decent defence. Having a gun midfield and an ability to attack can get you a flag. Having a great defence keep you in the mix for longer periods.

Max is a champion ruckman, a champion person and now he is our champion premiership captain. What a man what a legend. It is hard to put him into words.💕❤️💙

That’s a shame. I always liked that he stuck around with us after he finished playing. It felt like the players responded well to him on game day

Firstly, a ‘premiership hangover’ is not making the finals, or being in serious contention in finals, the year after a premiership. Collingwood did not have a flag hangover in 2011, they made the grand final, a grand final they were favourites for, and while hindsight is 20/20 it would’ve been fascinating to see that game play out had it not have had the cloud of the mishandled Buckley handover hanging over it. A one year contract extension for Malthouse before those finals and I think Collingwood win. Bulldogs and Hawthorn did both drop away after their flag years. What do they have in common: 1. They were both surprised, neither were the best team all year, Hawthorn was a young up and coming team that surprised an all conquering and dominant Geelong team at the right time. The Bulldogs were far from the best team during the season, not even top four, got on a run and managed to peak at the right time. 2. Won before they internally expected to. The equivalent for us would’ve been winning in 2018. 3. Relied heavily on a few stars, for Hawthorn Franklin, Roughead, Hodge, Lewis, Mitchell, Crawford and Dew (in the GF) were all huge, for the dogs Stringer, Jj, Bont, Dahlhaus and Easton-wood were massive. It took a few more years for Clarkson to craft the system that won them 3 more flags and Crawford and Dew retired leaving holes in the list and the dogs were found wanting when JJ, Dahlhaus and Stringer had fluctuations in form. The challenge for us is that the league is far tighter than it was back then. You can realistically make an argument for at least 12 teams making the finals next year (Melbourne, Dogs, Brisbane, Cats, Power, Sydney, Giants, Essendon, Richmond, West Coast, St Kilda, Carlton) whereas in 2009 and 17 there were really only 6 legitimate challengers. In terms of a hangover, the good news for us is of the last 21 flags only two teams haven’t made the finals the following year and we are very different to them. We were the best team all year, we lost 4 games by an average of 11.5 points, that’s frighteningly good consistency. We have a great system, star players but also great role players, some great leaders and a lot of younger players looking to improve not to mention a plethora of talent trying to fight their way into the team. We have also been building for a while, we definitely underperformed in 2020, we were ready for finals but our consistency let us down, you could also make the same argument for 2017. Now that our consistency in season is better (our only weakness is still bringing our best for bottom teams) I’d be stunned if we’re not top 4 heading into finals next year. And we’ve shown our brand stacks up in finals, we’re 5-1 in finals under Goodwin, pretty damn good.

If we have to use pick 57 plus change for Woey that leaves us with picks 17, 37 and 49. Pick 37 = 704 points, Pick 49 = 504 points. Combined = 1208 points Our pick 17 = 1239 points and pick 18 for example = 1201 points. So we do have a bit to play with to move higher than our pick 37 if we combine them for a trade higher. In recent years we have seen us be very imaginative and daring on draft night. Expect the unexpected.

List debut year (for the Demons): 6 players remain from the inaugural 2017 list: Lampard, Mithen, Paxman, D.Pearce, L.Pearce, Scott 2 from the 2018 list: Hore, Zanker 3 from 2019: Gay, Hanks, Heath 7 from 2020: Birch, Colvin, Goldrick, Parry, Petrevski, Sherriff, Tarrant 6 from 2021: Bannan, Caris (YTD), Fitzsimon, Magee, McNamara, Simmons (YTD) 6 new to the Demons in 2022: Brown (St Kilda, Carlton), Campbell (Pick #41; YTD), Gillard (Pick #42; YTD), Harris (Carlton, Brisbane), Purcell (Geelong), West (Rookie; YTD) [YTD = yet to debut in AFLW] Age breakdown: 18-21 = 12 22-25 = 11 26-29 = 2 30-33 = 5 Games leaders and upcoming milestones: All going to plan, the 2022 season will see some players in the league reaching the 50-game milestone for the first time. To reach 50 games in AFLW in 2022, a player will almost have had to play every possible game and a good number of finals. So, these seemingly small milestones are worth celebrating in the next few years. Birch is the most experienced player on the list with 40 games (18 with the Demons), aged 24 for the 2022 season. That’s the 8th most games played in the league. Paxman is the leader for games played just for the Demons, with 39. In reach of 40- or 50-game milestones in 2022 H&A season: Birch – 40 (18 Demons) Paxman – 39 Scott – 38 Harris – 37 (Brisbane, Carlton) Mithen – 35 L.Pearce – 33 Hore – 31 Lampard – 30 D.Pearce – 30 Our new players and their new numbers: Brown (#28): De-listed by both Carlton and St Kilda but brings experience with 18 games and still just 23. Played defence for Casey in 2021, so will provide some much-needed depth with the retirement of Downie. Campbell (#1): Our first father-daughter pick! 182cm ruck. Averaged 20.9 hit-outs and 8.4 disposals for the Eastern Ranges in the NAB League. Gillard (#17): One of the tallest in the 2021 draft pool at 190cm. Will turn 18 in December 2021. Definitely a prospect for the future and another protégé for L.Pearce. Harris (#7): Needs no introduction, although misunderstood by many outside of AFLW circles. Played 37 games with Brisbane and Geelong after bursting onto the scene as a 17-year-old in the Exhibition Series. Now 24, she’s 8th on the AFLW all-time goalkicker list and one of the best contested marks in the league—a prized trait in AFLW. All-Australian 2017, 2018. After a poor 2021 season with the Blues, a new environment will hopefully spur a return to form. Purcell (#2): Played 19 games for the Cats in 2019-2021. All-Australian and Geelong B&F in 2020. ACL injury in late Feb 2021 means her Demon debut may not be until late in the 2022 season. West (#11) : A basketball convert who was rookied from the Casey Demons after an impressive 2021 season. Won Casey’s B&F and the VFLW Rising Star in her debut year. Some handy midfield depth, and from what I saw of Casey, a bit of an X-factor.

teared me up leoncelli looks like he could still go around

Had one of the Foil prints arrive ( sorry for the reflection and the marks, need to wipe it down when I get home!) I reckon it looks great, also grabbed one of the Wegart ones as well, only issue is as above, the 21 looks a bit slapped on compared to the original lettering style.

These girls are hungry, and have been hungry for a few seasons now. They were bitterly disappointed in losing the prelim and are desperate to do better. I have no doubt they will aim to go better and win the premiership. If the address from Kate Roffey during the preseason training wasn't going to give them inspiration, and give the message the club is 100% behind them, nothing will!

Ah "multi-dimensional". I hope TGR enjoyed the flag!

I have read everyone’s posts and believe that as a team we reached another gear during the finals and I also believe that it was no accident but the culmination of a well thought out plan. Our improvement is based on elite fitness, team first behaviour and having a great group of players that trust each other and their coaches. We could be on the brink of something very special as in 1939-1941 or even 1955 - 1964, we witnessed something this year that none of us has seen before and barring unforeseen circumstances we have the talent and the depth to carve out our third dynasty.

Mission completed. Job well done. Thankyou. Not sure nev jetta would have been the best fit. I think he needed to go to another club like Yze did and come back triumphant. But why the pies......

Jones maybe? Be great to keep him around the club.

I had a beer with Max’s parents at The G the day he debuted. They were nervous and just rapt that he got to play a game. To think that he has gone on to become the first premiership Capt in 57 years must be mind blowing for them. I doubt they’ll remember me but it’s something I won’t forget.

Well said.

These sort of posts can come back to bite us but I think we are unlikely to suffer a premiership hangover (I know everyone would think that after winning). My reasons are: Competition for spots. There are a number of very unlucky players that will be super hungry (Tomlinson, Hunt, Jordon (does the sub count?), Smith, etc as well as others who might be a good chance to be in our best 22 if they can get a decent run at it eg Chandler, Weid, Laurie. Minimal post season surgeries (as far as I know), no retirements from players that were in the 22. Picking up Dunstan can't hurt either. Not playing finals in Melbourne. I think there would be a hunger to win in Melbourne in front of a Melbourne crowd at our home ground. We were the dominant team - we didn't fluke it or get lucky or win before we were ready. We have had many learnings - I feel like our 2018 year was a bit like other teams when they win before they're ready. Obviously we didn't go as far but learning what it takes to get that far and how easy it is to drop behind the pack will be really important for us in 2022. There's room for improvement - many players coming into their prime and others we've only seen a glimpse of their potential (Jackson, Kozzie, Riv, Bowey etc). I'm not saying we'll win it next year as so much has to go right with injuries etc but would be very surprised if we are not thereabouts.

Darren Cuthbertson 19 goals over three weeks 7, 7 and 5 in 1991

Dunstall called it the best game he has ever seen by a ruckman. This was a few days after the game and he was completely serous. Truly remarkable. No coincidence the players played with such freedom and confidence in the GF. he sets the tone. Absolute masterstroke making him captain, look an obvious call now, but not in 2019 imo

A mate of mine and lives next door to Brad and he sent me this. He supports Richmond and was nearly as happy as me that we won.