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Ok here goes I was rung by a person from the club, not the President or Gary Pert. However they were of some importance and I believe they were well informed and honest. Basically what I have thought for some time appears to be correct and the information provided by Dante is correct. WE are now in a long term situation meaning nothing is going to happen fast. We have little power and are at the mercy of the Government, AFL and MCC. The club is bound to a secrecy agreement that they will not disclose details of discussions. The reason other clubs are getting money is because they have a site to spend it on. We do not. They have looked at approx 30 venues within the middle ground of Metro Melbourne and while they would prefer to be close to the G they will look at any venue that the Government brings forward. He was adamant that the Olympic park Magpies episode would not happen again. Currently we are using Goschs and Olympic park facilities and Casey. He believes that between the two we have facilities as good as most of our competitors. The club is committed to both venues for Girls , boys and VFL teams. also said they need both as one venue is not enough for the three operations. He also said that contrary to popular beliefs the players do not see travelling to Casey as a big problem in fact they enjoy being able to train in privacy. While admitting that it would be good to have one home for the whole club he did no believe the current situation was placing us at a disadvantage to other clubs. Now some of the above you can say well he would say that wouldn't he. My view is we are some time away from a central home for Players and fans but currently we are not at a disadvantage.I firmly believe it is not for want of trying, there is just currently no spot.

Absolutely agree with your first sentence. Not sure though about your second.

Melbourne superstar Clayton Oliver has undergone surgery on his thumb to fix a niggling problem in his right hand. The Demons on Wednesday confirmed Oliver, 25, had gone under the knife to get on top of a minor issue which had been bothering him in recent weeks. The injury is expected to fully heal over the next few weeks, allowing Oliver to return to full training when his teammates come back from their Christmas break next month.

I know this is now accepted wisdom on Demonland and there is no doubt that it would have been nice to have had the opportunity the Cats had to rest players towards the end of the season. But we didn't. People regularly quote the games against NM and WCE as opportunities to rest players but of course this would have been pretty meaningless because it was midseason. People quote Gawn, who came back for the WCE game, saying he shouldn't have played. Perhaps so but that game in all likelihood didn't impact his form or physical condition at finals time. The reality is we had a very hard draw in our last month or so and we were fighting tooth and nail to stay in the top four. The concept of "resting players" is really only meaningful when you talk about your keys, it doesn't matter if you rest JJ, Sparrow, ANB et al because they are not your key drivers and a rested soldier isn't likely to have an impact. If you're going to rest players it needs to be the Generals and to do that puts at real risk the chance of winning games. And we needed to win every game we did. Don't lose sight of the fact that a loss to Brisbane in the last game meant missing the top four and no double chance. I believe we were just unlucky. Oliver was injured late in the season as was Petracca. I think Viney was injured against Brisbane where he was just about BOG and then didn't fire a shot in the finals. For a player "made for finals" that's odd. Gawn was badly beaten up but LJ was in awful form (for whatever reason) and there wasn't another ruck on the list. Who knows what other injuries were. I think we just needed to beat Sydney and get a weeks break to give the injured players a chance, but we didn't. It just wasn't our year and I don't think the proposition that "we made a bad mistake" is any part of the reason.

I'm convinced that speed is more a product of ball movement, not leg speed. Teams that have a higher handball:kick ratio will be slower because the ball moves more slowly up the ground.

For the most part, I think Tomahawk is an amazing player and he deserves to be reconsised as such, but he's also a dirty cheat. Happens too often and the fact the AFL makes allowances for him that they don't for other players is a disgrace. His clumsy wirly bird arms everywhere effort that broke Steve May's face wouldn't have been allowed for any other player. FFS, tiny Chandler fell forward into a guys back accidently and got rubbed out for matches. Blatently pushing guys in the back etc and winning games off the back of it is cheating. That the AFL are weak as and consistently let him get away with it isn't the point. Stop making excuses for him.

Not exactly the ruckman in this throw in but …

To me, cheating in our great game involves a deliberate attempt to obtain an unfair advantage by circumventing the intent and the spirit of the rules in a contest. That's what Bartlett did. Our great game has many rules that are designed to provide a fair contest and that are open to interpretation. That there was almost universal condemnation of Bartlett's conduct should be enough to satisfy my definition.

Freo finishing last would be nice - of course we'd all love to see that But it won't be happening. I was terribly disappointed Jackson left. I have now come to terms with his leaving and feel we will actually be a better and more consistent team with Grundy as his replacement To me he is the biggest loser - he's walked away from a great team, a club with a huge amount of history and the opportunity to play alongside the best ruck and arguably the two best midfielders in the competition I still feel he will regret his decision in due course

Losing those 3 won't make a difference to our speed in 2023. Baker didn't play a single game, Bedford was a cameo (i did like him by seasons end though) and Hunt was used as a lockdown defender predominantly in 22, wasn't used to break lines. We aren't super quick but we are not slow either. I'll be interested to see how we move the ball next year.

The reason Geelong are so disliked is because the AFL for years have not enforced their own rules. Duckwood created a whole generation of duckers, arm raisers and knee droppers that were continually rewarded. Fortunately there seems to be some addressing of it this year, despite the persecution 'outcry' with Ginnivan. But it is a mess the AFL created through neglect. Unfortunately the blatant back shoves that Tomahawk does are laughingly described as 'strength' and don't get penalised. No other team I can think of has had 2 players who have got away with football murder for 15 years. Fortunately one has now gone and the other is surely one or two years maximum away from retirement. Maybe then we'll have a level playing field.

So the government is bringing suggested locations to us. Is this how it normally works? Would have thought we identify the location and then engage with stakeholders. I don’t like the fact we are reliant on the government to this degree. What incentive do they have to act promptly or to care at all. thanks for the intel OD. Sounds like this thread will run and run

You are a funny man 'Nev'... ...but seriously, I guess it's still a waiting game for us. "Been a long time" to quote Led Zeppelin. Thanks for taking the time to contact the club and to fill us in on your reply 'old dee'... Much appreciated.

could get a bit semantical we could be open to number of sites that fit our criteria at the same time as having a particular preferred site i'll put it as a 0:0 draw

We definitely need more speed but we looked okay in 2021! Was surprised we didn't take a punt on a speedy linebreaker in at least the rookie draft but you can only select what's there I guess Losing our three fastest players will be irrelevant as none of them were/are very good

No they won't. I'd love to see them choke again.

If there was quadrupple vomit Emoji, I'd wack that in on the strength of that info. Its a real disgrace, bloody Feral falseteeths of humanity 3 times, Carltank 6 us on top of course🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮😱🥶🤬💩👺😡

from today's hun. great predictions for dees in '23 Expert ratings: Who is under the most pressure in 2023?

This phrase can be used in almost any situation.

Curse you to hell Selwood.

Pretty hard to eat a roll without teeth.

This is true, but I don't usually stalk a poster and go on a spree, I'm more free flowing...

So shall we petition for his resignation because he has some wealth? Perhaps a toothless Collingwood supporter could take the roll...

ru serious? you are the demonland record holder for facepalming

If AFL was played by billion globally you would see the same stuff. Are you aware of what life is like in Argentina? the economic and social issues? Football is more than a sport, it represents hope and something to escape their lives. Millions attended and did not riot, but of course the story is the ones who did. Poverty and large crowds can lead to this. There is nothing intrinsic in football that makes people riot, the issue is much bigger than that A remarkable turn out, shows how much it means to them.

If you are going to dream then dream big is my policy.

that's coz you were locked up at the time due to covid, od

What happened in Argentina involved millions of people and wasn't safe for the bus to continue. Don't think soccer is alone with celebrations going a bit haywire from time to time though. When Richmond won the flag police had to block off traffic to Swan Street. There were brawls, property damage, people dancing on cars, flares being lit, people climbing buildings, people lighting stuff on fire - people smashing bottles. Plenty of examples in America of teams winning the Superbowl, World Series, NBA finals etc and acting up as well.

No, Bartlett took advantage of the rules as they were then written. Current rules clearly state hands in the back should be penalised

Hawkins dead set pushed his Lions opponent in the back removing him from the contest right in front of the umpire at the cattery. No free..play on. Even Hawkins appeared to be laughing. You dont want to have a tight finish at the cattery. We've recently done it and won but having no crowd definitely helped.

Isaac Smith is still a great runner and Gary Rohan has excellent chase down tackling but the Cats didn’t sprint their way to a flag. The thing we need is less guys with suspect mobility - busted Lever, Tracc with a broken leg, Salo with no groins, Ben Brown, Gawn rucking 80% without an ankle. Talls really being able to cover the ground and pressure should be a big step forward on last year. Even in first halves when Ben Brown could move we looked like a great side, once he was cooked at half time we couldn’t score. If JVR can establish himself as a mobile and physical presence we’re looking better, even if he doesn’t do much with the ball. Apart from that we can get bounce from half back with Salem, Bowey, Rivers. We can pressure with Pickett, Nibbler, Spargo and who knows Fritsch might chase a guy once in his life. Could do with some more outside run which Hunter hopefully helps with. A healthy JJ, Sparrow, Harmes and Gus should all fight for midfield spots. Grundy hopefully provides some inside burst too whilst holding up in the ruck. I think we’ll miss Bedford and Hunt to an extent. We didn’t really replace either of them. Bedford would’ve been good depth especially if Pickett goes on ball more, and Hunt’s defensive spread was undervalued. Even if you didn’t like him in the best 22 he could provide 10-15 solid games that help you win in May and June. Taj Woewodin might be a chance to be a depth defender with so toe who can give us a bit of what Hunt did. Is Chandler good enough forward cover? Can Andy MW take a big leap despite an interrupted summer? Does slimmed down Bill Laurie suddenly run twice the speed? Is Ollie Sestan so good that we have another mobile marking target and the smalls can work around him (unlikely but that’s the joy of the offseason).

We'll do it in a canter

Geelong put everything into 2022. Selwood gone and Hawkins another year older expecting them to be around 6th next year, especially with their tough draw

Reckon Riv has the size strength and pace to go with mids and smalls of the opposition. He is a big unit now but not sure his one on one skills will match Hibbo's.

No

I think Carlton will fill the Collingwood slot for 2023, they are due and if they start well the nomentum will carry them through. Too many good players to stay down

Very eloquently put picket !!!

The most important thing right now would be that Luke and his family have a Merry Christmas, that's all.

Now, this is a game I find particularly boring...too much scoring & so predictable. Each to their own I guess.

I don't dislike him that much, but I still think he's a cheat. To knowingly keep breaking the rules based on knowing what you can get away with is the very definition of cheating if you ask me.

I dislike him but that's just a ridulous assertion.

I reckon pies are no certainty to even make the 8. How would of they gone this year with our 2022 fixture? 11- 11 Their army of supporters helps them over the finish line but they wont have the same staggering luck in 23. Theyll be taken more seriously too. Premiers? lions dees cats blues maybe swans. Injuries will come into it as usual.

The idea that people punch on at soccer games because there's not enough scoring could be the dumbest sporting theory ever floated.

so you instinctively don't like successful people who make money fair enough, but maybe next time keep tl;dr in mind

The Van Diemens?

Sounds like every game day thread I ever read

The severe bans extend from international games through to registering to play Sunday League football. Even if you’re banned you can find a way into games though, the infrastructure and lack of technology makes it difficult to enforce.

You're right. Ox was elite at this. His body use around boundary throw ins inside forward 50 was pretty impressive.

I was tossing up between the filthy niners and the Cowboys.

Did any other training watchers notice this sign on Hoddle Street today?