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My testament to Tayla….

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/lucky-we-had-someone-as-courageous-as-paddy-footy-star-pulls-girl-from-dangerous-surf-20220221-p59yay.html I know Paddy get's up some people noses, but I for one think he deserves mad respect for this (as does everyone who puts out for others selflessly). So let's tease him for being part of Geelong's geriatric midfield, but let's also keep a tad of respect for someone who more than once has had the tall poppy treatment and at least to my eyes been a courageous and fair player.

Profligate waste of money and the world's resources, just 30 years after construction. Concrete production is the world's single biggest industrial cause of carbon pollution, responsible for 8% of global emissions.

Yehhhhhhhh…………………….nuh

Well done to the man, helping someone in need is sign of good character on his part. Happy to bag him for being a part of Dad's Army, and for being a bit of a sook/diver on the footy field, but it sounds like this girl and her family were in strife and he helped to prevent a tragedy. Well done Paddy 👏.

We can all speculate but there is one simple, obvious fact. There is a new CBA coming mid year and no manager worth his salt would let their player sign a new long term deal without knowing what is in it. The media are going to have a feeding frenzy because that is what sells papers and draws clicks/page views. They will conveniently ignore or play this down because Gus being gettable is a far bigger headline than ‘nothing to see here’. Another thing we know is that, unless he is a brilliant actor, he loves the club and has extremely close ties to players and coaches here. He has been a huge part of building this group that, fingers crossed, are about to experience sustained success. He clearly has a head on his shoulders and is very articulate. He will almost certainly have a career either in the media or in coaching. He is not in the position that some players are in where they need their payday now as there is little waiting for them on the other side of footy. Lastly, Gus is a jet. I know, when you think you might lose a player it hurts less to point at all their flaws and reasons why you don’t need them but he is a great player. No Gus = No GF, as simple as that. If you back and look at the replays for the whole year you will see how important he has been to our game strategy. Our wings and last line defence were our biggest problems even during 2018 and certainly post. May and Lever shored up our last line and Langdon and Brayshaw fixed our wings. If we can maintain things this year we should cement ourselves as a system based team. Once you reach that point, literally no one is irreplaceable. If you can lose an Ablett or a a Franklin and maintain your winning system it is solid proof that a system trumps individuals. I’m hoping that for all the reasons above Gus signs in the back half of the year to a deal that looks after both him and the club. magic eight ball says ‘all signs are positive’, despite media click bait.

Some things are bigger than footy

While I expect to be howled down for this, I really don’t understand the “hate” for Danger on here. As a player, he has been, and possibly still is a champion, earning a Brownlow on the way. As a person, he obviously has the respect of all players to be elected as their Player Rep. And now, to top it off, he helps rescue a few struggling swimmers. Yep, he is known to take the occasional dive, and sometimes a bit careless with his shoulders and elbows. I think a little less of him for those quirks, but I can’t and don’t hate him. And to be honest, apart from these quirks, I enjoy seeing his great skills on display. If Danger had left the Crows and come to the Dees, instead of the Cats, it would be a very different attitude towards him, I’m sure.

Possibly saved lives. And possibly the most important thing he has ever done. Doesn’t get much bigger. And humble with it.

Harris is on another level to the competition. Her used of her body in marking contests, her hands, her kicking; there isn't anyone I can think of that matches her in AFLW. She could be the difference at the pointy end of the season. Massive win for them, genuine contenders.

That's funny. "Bloody hell, the queue for chips is too long. Let's go to the Gabba instead." I know, it's not the average punter that they care about. But the decision makers aren't queuing up for anything, they're getting silver service in corporate boxes, so why would they even think of bars & pie stands? It's absurd. "Yessss .... we could hold the Games at the G ... in theory ... but have you seen how long it takes to get a beer?" What is driving this is the impressive sight of the WA stadium where the grand final was played. There is no "southern stand" or "northern stand". It's all one one huge circular stand with consistent levels, seating, nice steep gradient and no gaps. This is about keeping up with the Joneses more than any actual deficiency with the current stand.

I agree with all that bin, but I reckon a comparison with the late and great Sean Wight is even more valid, including the Gaelic footy connection.

18 contested marks in the competition this year. Next best = 9. She’s a star, and proof (as if it was needed) that a happy footballer is a better footballer.

Tayla Harris, just wow! Right up there with the most influential game I’ve s seen from any player in the AFLW.

In the latest Gus and Gawny, Gus describes Oliver as "...looks like superman, no-one can tackle him". It will be scary for the opposition to have two immovable forces in the middle who can both turn on the jets at will.

what a win! going into half time with 0.0 and then to win! Great our fwd line is good enough we don't need Daisy up there anymore, she is much better behind the ball 2 really tough games remain but we are looking strong and every kid we bring in looks good, great recruiting

For the posters who are melting, obviously I’m joking around, what he did was a fantastic thing (I still don’t have to like him though).

I won't have the heart to bag him anymore even though he's such a FIGJAM. What he did at the weekend was hero level. Huge respect

Blasphemy!

Announcement by the Victorian government this morning of more lessening of restrictions, including mask wearing. Looking good for Round 1.

The AFLW fixture is broken but it can be fixed. Some posters have noticed that in the hastily put together redraw of matches, the Western Bulldogs who have played six games to date, have only three games left on their fixture. Geelong have played seven matches but are drawn to play four more including the mysteriously unplayed Round 7 game v Fremantle from Sunday. That game is the key to the puzzle. It should be scrapped and replaced with a game between Freo and the Bulldogs which would then ultimately lead to all teams finishing the season on 10 games. The question for the AFLW is when to play the game.

There’s a roof going over the ‘G so you’re all good with the undercover part.

So are you saying you won’t buy a membership if you aren’t assured an undercover seat? And you were a member in 2013? So possibly getting wet < 2012 Neeld era Dees? Maths is wild.

What are the odds of the same player having a kick after the siren against the same opposition twice? Assume the free was for holding the ball against McGee she was pretty unlucky, but the result is the same both times! Purcell looked like a really good midfielder to add to our depth. Zanker was almost non-existent. Good coaching from Mick Stinear to move Daisy to defence and shift Bannon from the wing to deep in the pocket to offer another tall foil so Harris wasn't continually triple teamed. West continues to improve, she just needs to have a bit more confidence in her own kicking, should never have handballed to Hore from only 15 metres out from goal. Hore was also quiet again. Pearce of the Lauren variety continues to influence the coalface, her ability to make second efforts at ground level after a stoppage are first class, as is her ability to take the ball from the ruck and throw it on her boot (the latest example this week lead to Harris' 2nd). Parry tried it a couple of times when filling in in the ruck too. Gillard was pretty impressive for a first gamer, can only get better for the experience, her height will be welcome in an undersized backline since Downie retired. Hanks, Paxman both continue to rack up possessions and metres gained in the engine room, as does McNamara on a wing. What a great win!

No, not tongue in cheek. I don't want to bag Daisy as she is fantastic and the best special comments person in the footy media. But in the second half i think she got a few things wrong. Funnily enough the examples you highlight are two of those things I hate to say it but BT was right - that kick should have gone to Pickett not Tmac, albeit not for the reason BT said. And curiously for the very reason that Daisy noted a few minutes after that the kick to Tmac was the right option. Pickett had space in front of him and if he did win the ball he would have swept it forward into our forward line with his electric pace, as he so often does, which would have made it impossible for the dogs defensive zone to properly set up and mids etc to push back and allow a forward like Fritter to lead into space. But of most significance kozzie was close to the boundary, so if he had not won the ball there was a high chance it would gone over the line for throw in and stoppage, allowing us to set up behind the ball and get our defensive zone set up (which, ironically, was Daisy's argument for why it was right to go to Tmac). If his opponent wins the contest, they are hard up against the boundary and either have to risk switching (which we are brilliant at defending) or kick down the boundary line, which is how we like it as we set up to cover it and if we can't intercept smash it over the line for a stoppage. Tmac was central, nearly in the centre corridor and had a man on him (ie not leading up into open space for an easy spot up kick). If the dogs win that contest it is in a very dangerous spot, one that is very hard to defend, as they have three lanes to choose from going forward. Going to Kozzie near the boundary was the percentage play and as such in line with our tactical model and related team rules. The fact we ended getting a stoppage and were able to to set up behind the ball was lucky. As for the comment about us going into our shells, that was the one of the things that really rankled for me. At one point Daisy said we needed to 'rediscover our dare' and later after we had kicked some goals, used the example of one of our players keeping the ball in play rather than letting it go over the line as an example of us doing so, noting it was something we weren't doing in the second (ie before we 'rediscovered our dare') But that is how we play, and how we always play - indeed there was an example in the second quarter where Gus did a look away over the head handball right on the boundary line rather than take it over as he easily could have. I posted right after the grand final that Daisy fed into what i think is a false narrative that the dees were looking shaky and came back from the dead, so to speak. I think she got it wrong in the third declaring we desperately needed a goal just for confidence. We had a poor second quarter. The simple reason why was that they smashed us in contested ball. It was not surprising the dogs lifted their rating in that quarter, but it was really surprising we dropped off. And they were clearly on top. The dogs carried that pressure into the third, but despite them getting the first goal in the third (early) we were matching them in contested ball and had clearly got the game back into the shape we like it to look like. It was back to contest to contest. We had stopped their transition game. And stopped them flicking it around. And stopped allowing unpressured kicks by the like of Daniel. We were back grinding. This is how we played all season. Absorb opposition pressure, let them take their best shot, and then kick a goal against the run of play and then pile on multiple goals and take the game away from our opponents in a ten minute burst. There were so many examples through the season of that exact same pattern, and funnily enough examples where that occurred in the third quarter as it did in the GF. The two best examples were the round 17 Port game and the round 23 Cats game, where both teams were on top but couldn't score enough to, in the Cat's case put us away and in Port's case get in front. In both games our opponents could only manage 2 goals (same for the dogs), despite throwing everything they had us. What Daisy, and all the other commentators, should have been all over is that the dogs simply had to get more reward for their effort in the third quarter. Two goals was never going to be enough, particularly because we had such a huge fitness advantage. We were always going to score a goal and all evidence was that once we did we would pile on more. It is important to note in this context that it is not like the dogs missed any easy shots or failed to take their opportunities - they only had 2 scoring shots in the third, both goals, and perhaps only 2 or 3 other deep inside 50s that might have resulted in a score. We didn't win it becuase we 'rediscovered our dare' or scored a goal to get our confidence back. We never lost our dare or our confidence. We won the game by absorbing the dog's pressure and getting our pressure levels back to where it needed to be, after it had dropped right off in the second The dogs lost the game by not finding a way to score more goals in the third quarter. They simply had to get get the lead out to 5 plus goals, and even then i am confident we would have reeled them in. In fact if anything i'd argue the dogs needed to show more dare in the third. They needed to take more risks, switch more often perhaps or try different match ups. Instead they just played into our hands and did the same thing over and over, largely trying to engineer a goal from a inside 50 ground ball, which is their go to. They were the critical points that needed to be made.

As above, the refurb/rebuild is part of the agreement to host the GF at the G for an additional 20 years. How much is that worth to the Victorian economy? As part of that agreement the AFL also secured funding for grassroots football (I think; actually that may have been part of the agreement to buy Docklands early 🤔 - although it would all be tied up into the bargaining and agreement between the AFL and Vic govt)

What's driving this is the AFL wanting improved facilities for its patrons. This was part of the agreement to increase the GF contract until 2057 (now 2059) with the MCG Trust/Vic government agreeing as part of that to upgrade facilities in the southern stand. As an AFL member and therefore someone who sits in the southern stand I can tell you it is certainly outdated even compared with the northern stand including seating and facilities.

I can’t wait for this. It will be my first visit to Casey and my first live game since the Carlton game last year. Go Dees!

Do you realllllllllly like him on the beach though??

Tayla's post match interview was very impressive She spoke extremely well and came across as a very genuine and team focused person Glad to hear that her family was there to watch her - she certainly put on a great show for them Hopefully she continues to enjoy more success with the mighty Dees

Agree on bolded bit (and the rest actually). She is such a clever footballer - exhibit A was her decision to play on immediately after marking about 45 out, running to 30 and kicking the goal. She would never have made it from 45 and gave them no time to cover the line. Also loved how she kept running towards goal on the off chance the ball stopped before crossing the line. That is a smart footy brain at work Speaking of smart, it was a good move putting her forward i thought as she is natural footballer, like Tayla, and as such reads the ball in flight super well, which gives her a big advantage over lots of defenders, many of who it seems me struggle one on one against such players. Libby Birch stands out becuase she is one defender that reads the ball so well. I'm starting to think she is up there in our top 2-3 most important players.

She is such a fantastic player to watch. What she lacks in skills and finesse she makes up 10 fold with her intensity and attack on the ball. In that sense she reminds me a lot of Viney. And she reads the play so well and times her attack her on the ball and when to zone off brilliantly. I'm guessing that is part natural ability but also large part her experience of playing Gaelic footy all her life and playing that sport at the elite level. I wonder if that that is perhaps the most transferable skill from Gaelic footy? I also wonder if Goldy playing further up the ground might negate that skill a bit as at half back she has more time to watch the ball coming at her.

The Southern Stand will be reserved exclusively for Collingwood supporters and all bars will serve free beer to C'wood members. The grateful general population will re-instate Eddie as Collingwood president for life, with 2 statues of him outside the ground.

And Kate Hore. We need them both in form if we're to win this comp

Thought Goldy was good again. I do like her playing further up the ground where breaking the lines has more impact. Now for Eden Zanker to find her best form.

If his grand final effort has given him the confidence that he could deliver that on a regular basis for a full season, he'd be mad to sign a deal until that had played out. There would also be a lot to play out with the arrival of Dunstan as well as what happens with Harmes and Hunt who are similar age to Brayshaw and while not like-for-like players they do share some 'turf'. Brayshaw, having sacrificed his own stats and glamour for the team, would be well within fair play to be asking for a long contract that provides the security to let him not be anxious about what he is costing himself by not being a star midfielder.

Is the AFLW being umpired by first timers or something? The umpiring in that first quarter was horrendous...

I reckon the whole season so far is very similar to the blokes last year. We're playing well for half a game most weeks and just getting the job done without being great. You can see Daisy, Paxman, Bannon, Lauren Pearce, West etc just building into the season and slowly gaining confidence. We could find another gear yet. Time for Zanker to switch on. Harris, what a set of hands she has and just hard at it. Loved Bannons running goal. Two Lions players stopped to watch if it would bounce through. She just kept running into the goal square to make sure it went through. Great win (and a stupid free at the end) Go Dees

Didn't prove me wrong until they did. Great win by the girls…and Tayla Harris is a monster, but the thing I love most is her attitude - she's clearly committed to being a great teammate and working hard.

Excellent win. Although with a big rest advantage making a huge difference. Credit to Mick Stinear for good coaching adjustments, but a worry why we thought the existing plan would work. Nor do I think 6 behind the ball and way too much corridor kicking at half forward will work. But: Bannan FF - tick Paxy wing - tick Daisy spare back - tick Gillard as Harris Andrews will work long term too. Reads the ball very well in the air. Liv Purcell is the solid built mid we’ve been crying out for too. Needs time to get back to full fitness but she’ll be huge for our midfield.

A super enjoyable game to watch. The skills were great, in large part because of the brilliant conditions and surface A good example of my point about the need to play all the AFLW games on AFL standard grounds with stands to provide protection from the wind.

So here is the thing, we supporters spend our time focussing on player's onfield abilities because that is as far as our involvement extends. The thing about Angus is that he clearly sets the standards off the field through his group dymanic skills (starting fun training clubs, podcasts etc) his training expectations in general and the fantastic culture that he brings. It should not be underestimated how valuable he is to the club in general.

‘Well in excess of 100k’… You are just setting yourself up for disappointment. We need to be in the top 4-6 teams for 6+ years with at least 2 flags and then we can talk about having market share like that.

He should have prepared himself like a professional athlete.