Leaderboard

The highlight of my day was when Gussy thanked me for coming. HE thanked ME! GUSSY THANKED ME FOR COMING!!!!!! edit: so excited I forgot to tell y’all my response: I said, “All good Gussy, I’ll see you here again next week” 😃

Goody gets us a flag, backs it up by finishing second and still gets little respect on here truly bizarre

Maybe because he's been out injured for half the season, has played one match at Casey where he didn't do much and pulled up sore, is clearly not match fit and takes a while to find his form. Otherwise, a baffling decision.

JVR just ran out with a shirt that says “I am debuting in a final and will be the next Dermott Brereton”

Wait, what? The team that beat Brisbane by 10 goals at the Gabba two weeks ago? Outrageous!

Just read someone suggest bringing in Schache. I’m tapping out, threads cooked.

The ones complaining about our lack of changes are likely, I suspect, to respond to the semi as follows: If we lose - all hell breaks loose If we win by a small amount - pathetic, we beat them by 10 goals twice this year, we're no chance against Geelong If we wi by a big amount - who cares, we beat them by 10 goals twice this year, means nothing

ima not touching that 😑

looks like his voice has finally broken.

I just returned from Perth on a Virgin Flight and met a well-known player manager and forward scout for the swans the player manager stated that Freo are waiting on Lobb to Decide to go to the Bulldogs they will have to give up plenty for Him that will open the way for Jackson if he decides to go Freo there has been no indication that he wants to leave also he has a big Knee Problem that requires an operation. Melbourne will want plenty maybe Young or Serong have been spoken about among the Managers one interesting point that was made is Jackson appears happy with Melbourne and the WCE have not indicated any Interest and are concerned that he has no Forward Craft. The Forward scout told me that Don Pyke of the Swans is a Brilliant Strategest and is the big reason for their improved Form he maybe the Coach of Essendon Also, he said Goodwin is very Conservative COACH and not daring the issue compared to other sides success in the Finals has been the enthusiasm that youth brings is infectious Melbourne needs to be daring The player Manager told me THERE WILL BE CHANGES AT THE END OF THE Year with coaches. Lastly what our strength the defense has become our weakness other sides realize that if the ball is below their knees they panic. I think we have blown it but still have firm belief in those proud leaders Max Clarry Viney May and Brayshaw that they may prevail

The only thing more predictable than us going in unchanged is the reaction from Demonland.

The conservative and probably correct decision. Cannot help but think that with all the walking wounded our season is sputtering to its end but let's hope not

Right? They weren’t in any hurry to get away. Stopped at every request for a photo and/or autograph. Not surprised though, especially BBB: he is always keen to interact with fans. PS: not sure if I mentioned this already, and it’s no biggie, but GUSSY THANKED ME FOR COMING!!!

Particular shoutout to Gus, Mayzie, Fritta, Salo, Viney and Brown for being so generous with their time and signing and taking photos with the fans.

They came out looking confident and serious, head down and into the warm up. Williams gets the volume and talking going ("hit your target"), as they go into little kick modes. Then, they use 3/4 of the oval, to move 4 players off the line, pass the ball around and deliver to a player leading the 4 off the other end. Looked good with clean footy and hard running. They split into their line groups. Mids clear a stoppage and follow up with bringing the ball back. plenty of talk and support to each of them. Forwards don the bibs and put a bit of pressure on the ball carrier from the arc and then pass to a lead. Backs, move the ball between them all, within the 50 arc. Sims, like last time, squad against the coaches. On the coaches side wearing bibs were all the emergencies. I expect given that, we will go into tomorrows game unchanged. Finished with goal kicking. Plenty of inside out snaps from the boundary, with most kicking using their set shot routine, generally chaotic. Finally the signings and mingling with the crowd, behind the white rope as they walk back to AAMI. Tracc moved reasonably well. I noticed his change of direction steps were still a bit hampered. At one stage he was tackled repeatedly by Sparrow and I think, Vines. Passed through that test, easily and happily. Last thought, as the session moved on I could see a nervousness about their work. Go Dees

Embarrassed? Towelled? In our three H&A games against Sydney and Collingwood we led all of them at three quarter time. In the final against Sydney we led by two goals halfway into the third quarter of one of the best and most intense games of the year. In the Geelong game we weren't at our best but still closed to within a goal in the fourth. They were all in their own way frustrating/disappointing, as every loss is to an extent, but in no way were we embarrassed in any of them.

But!!! He did tell them lose again and you won't be getting a game next week.

Just told goody to put kozzie in the middle for 5 when he and the team need a spark ... completely ignored me 🤣

Our forward line is so uninspiring. It’s hard to see us going all the way this year with Ben Brown being double teamed and no one else stepping up to be a consistent threat. We’ve got one tall forward in BBrown, so in theory we have a heap of smalls putting on heaps of pressure locking the ball in. Good in theory, but in reality it’s not happening and we’re getting torched on the rebound. With the amount of players we have clearly injured or underdone, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re out in straight sets.

That is how we played Brisbane at the Gabba recently. Delivery was deep i50 and we scored freely and accurately. Couldn't understand why we didn't try it last week in the 4th when the game was on the line.

They’re doing a 3/4 field drill where they’re marking on the wing but then progressively bringing in into the middle and kicking up the guts into the forward line rather than going to the pockets. Hmmmm

I think we'll smash the lions and book ourselves a prelim spot. After that anything is possible. Carn boys

Mmm. Despite some strong arguments against, I'll back in our premiership coach. If it doesn't pan out, it doesn't pan out. Been a great year and I'm grateful to everyone at our club for making it what it is. P.S I reckon it'll pan out.

So I guess the definition of sanity is to do the same thing and expect the same result? Good, ‘cos it’s the same team that beat Brisbane two rounds ago

Not sure why people question @Ferghus31. He has had 4 posts in two years with no history of trolling or making stuff up. I accept that what he has related is what he was told. How much is accurate he has no way of knowing but it was good of him to report to DL. Happy to hear this info and we make up our own minds.

A half-baked McDonald on a wet MCG in a final would be an absolute selection blunder. How can we still be arguing about this. His turning circle would be akin to the titanic, he would struggle to clunk marks and fumble below his knees. Just move on. We missed the opportunity to debut JVR, so we sticks we got

The match committee has been right more times than it has been wrong over the last couple of seasons and I have to trust this week's selection. I know that this team and these players have the ability, talent and a team structure to win this game. They have performed well over the last couple of seasons and defeated Brisbane by nearly 10 goals two games ago. I am sure that the coaching team will have them primed for a good performance and have them ready for whatever Zorko's Zeros will throw at us. The game against Sydney illustrated exactly what can happen if we lose our discipline. I doubt that will be allowed to happen this week. I want to us out-pressure them and out-work them across the ground. Confident of a win - Dees by 7 goals

Dumbest post all week. Short memory

Goody is not going to get a job in the creative arts. He has his method and sticks to it. But on this occasion I would have tried something different. Particularly given the poor form of many. Disappointingly predictable.

Oh ffs.

Boring but sensible. Classic Goody

Why did I open this thread.

That’s a wrap.

You mean Geelong that have been top four 9 out of 10 years with only 1 losing GF to show for it. You assume we are not striving to evolve? hopefully we don't take 10 years like the Cats did to change things up. I am not saying we don't have issues or that Goody doesn't have his weaknesses, I just don't get the negativity without acknowledging the positives. Success does not come easy, there would be issues behind the scenes we are not aware of. drinking our own bathwater? give me a spell!

And with that, Brisbane went from $3.15 to $3.45. Go figure that out

All we are saying is give the Rooy a chance.... (You know you are trying to sing this now 😁)

Sweet mother of god! I’m old enough to be his older sister. 😁 I actually told him he’s not done growing yet and he’s still got a ways to go and he said, “I hope so!” very enthusiastically. So this was the one time that a player has outdone me on the excitement scale.

Tracc actually looked fine. He trained just as everyone else. You wouldn’t know he was carrying any injury.

Sausages in bread were outstanding.

I agree with David King's comments on 360. I think we can win tomorrow night without Petracca and we need him at 100% against Geelong. We saw what happened last time he said he was 'right to go'. He was absolutely useless against Freo when he was crook. This is where the coach needs to step in and think about what's best for the team on the night as well as going forward. I'd rest him, then load up and throw everything at Geelong.

Kozzy doesn’t have any strapping on his knee either this week. First time in a few weeks.

First time I've seen JVR in person. He's a seriously big unit.

NO CHANGE

So it basically sounds like, thanks for paying a million dollar for priority 1 for the last 90 years while we sucked. You WILL get a ticket if you register, but that ticket could be standing room only in left toilet cubical. May the odds be with you.

I don't get everyone jumping at shadows with Trac It has been reported that the hairline fracture does not impact his play as pain is the only issue and can be managed. so this is no issue The only issue is the corky and if he is fine to play then play him. he has 7 days to recover for the Cats We are a real chance to lose to the Lions, their fwd line is playing better, they get 2-3 good players back and have confidence from last week. How will we feel if we leave out Trac and then lose? I agree if Trac was high risk to exacerbate an injury to leave him out but I dont believe this to be the case (happy to be corrected)

I much more optimistic about our the young component of our list. It's hopefully true that we won't have access to early draft picks for the foreseeable future because we'll be contending and all our best players are locked in on long contracts, but we'll still have a first rounder each year and Jason Taylor has a proven track record with later picks. Assuming absolute worst case scenario that Luke Jackson goes to Freo and we convert him into Brodie Grundy and a replacement for our missing 1st rounder this year, our 18-22yo list is looking solid. Future AAs (2): Pickett, Petty. Proven premiership players (5): Spargo, Bowey, Jordon, Rivers, Sparrow Likely AFL-level (6): Bedford, Laurie, JVR, Howes, Chandler, Turner Development (5): Rosman, D.Smith, Woewodin, McVee, AMW I'm assuming Baker will be delisted and it's probable that Bedford or Chandler will leave for more opportunity this year. Even if only half the "Likely AFL-level" and one of the "Development" players make it, we've got 11 players or half a team in that list. We should also be able to free very significant salary cap and be heavily involved in the FA market. As has been posted elsewhere, we need to continuously turn the list over to make sure that the young players are getting AFL opportunities and stay the journey with us. From @Lucifers Hero excellent contacts thread, we have the following players coming out of contract over the next 3 years and I think we can probably move all of them for cap and list space. Maybe recontract some on short-term deals and bring forward the trade of others. That's 11 off the list with a hell of a lot of cap money freed up. 2022: Hibberd, Melksham, Hunt 2023: Dunstan, ANB, Weideman, Tomlinson 2024: B.Brown, Harmes, McDonald, J.Smith I think there's every reason to expect that Max and Steven May can play into the 2025 season, Max is already contracted and I expect May to get a solid contract extension next year. Our 2025 22, taking those changes into account and not adding any new draftees or FAs, looks very competitive: B: Rivers May Lever HB: Salem Petty Brayshaw M: Langdon Oliver Jordon R: Grundy Petracca Viney HF: Spargo JVR Bedford/Chandler F: Pickett Gawn Fritsch I: Bowey Sparrow Howes Laurie In 2026 we've still got Turner in the hopper as a potential replacement for May and we've got 4 draft, trade and FA years to find a ruck/forward replacement for Max.

I told Paul Roos to give Colin Garland a go in the midfield. He didn't seem to agree with it. Two weeks later Garland got rotated through the midfield. He was a better Backman. But he did try it.

It was always up to Jack whether he was going to be a star. I don't believe he wanted it enough but that's just my opinion