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Genuinely hope the guy is alright.

I have mates who are struggling to deal with their current plight and they say you must be loving this, maybe I’m just older, but in early 2021 I made a decision to not worry about other teams and not to bath in their misery. I thought let’s just focus on the Dees and we all know how that ended. I have commented to them that they need a reality check, they have missed finals for 2 going on 3 seasons, 5 years since they were premiers and have played finals for 26 of their 33years of existence. I explain what it was like following the Dees from 1980 to 2020

Agree, WC is a rich powerful club that can provide lots of off field opportunities. The lifestyle in Perth has broad appeal too. Unfortunately they'll be back with a vengeance - enjoy their suffering while it lasts.

Did anyone else read the thread title and thought it was in reference to the GWS game in Alice being transferred to the MCG like it was mooted weeks ago?

I wish him a full recovery. In 12 days time.

Poor bugger. Probably best he take a week for the benefit of his health and wellbeing.

Another issue that has been bugging me is commentators piling on Fritsch after he was thumped in the chest with significant pressure, while looking the other way and not prepared for contact - surprise surprise he fell to the ground. Calling him for staging. Pizzes me off big time. Don't thump guys off the ball and especially when they are not looking. Its a free every single time. Not one commentator called them out on it.

I just don’t like the way the draft is progressing. If players can choose to go to only the teams they want to then the bottom teams and poorer clubs are truly screwed. Which …. one day… may be us again.

Yes, there really is a Bye Street in Wagga Wagga, and, according to Google maps, others in Queensland, SA and the UK. So, with apologies to Lucifers Hero, what are they saying about us this week? The MRO has done us no favours by not finding anyone to suspend for not actually having caused any physical harm last week We’ve got them at a good time….they’re still scared and scarred from the 186 point thrashing by Geelong I’ll bet none of their supporters will be at the ground this week…they’re all up at the snow We’re meeting them at a bad time …they’ve never lost a game during the bye All camembert and no dinner Feel free to add your favourite. The more stereotypical, the better.

Brian (Damage)Taylor was very quick to label Fritter as a stager after the first replay (and his peanut gallery all concurred). They show the zoomed-in second replay which shows that there was definitely some force behind it, and it was met with a stony-silence. I wonder how many other professional sporting leagues around the world have as many hacks in the commentary box as the AFL does.

Just on this, I really respect Bowey for staying at Cheltenham. He had offers for private schools, but wanted to stick with his mates and come out of the public system. I wouldn't say it's harmed his football at all...

And stop flying for screamers, which to this point in time, he has not achieved once, It takes him away from crumbing, risks injury to himself and team mates and at this point, given his success rate, is a totally undisciplined and probably selfish act. He is our crumber, not Warwick Capper.

Disappointing news for us but I’m happy for Norf. It’s always good when big talent sticks around at smaller clubs.

Thats the kind of inside the box thinking we need.

pfft, we don't ski LOCAL

Poor bloke, imagine being stuck in Adelaide longer than absolutely necessary.

King was critical of Murphy, not Fritsch and said the free kick was there. Dunstall concurred. The diving comments initially came from Taylor on the Channel 7 telecast, supported by Watson. BT is so far past it that it's got beyond a joke. The day he's pensioned off will be a blessing for the entire footy community

As AF said a few posts ago, that Max is being blocked in the marking contests regularly, without free kicks. He is also often belted, when trying to mark, again without free kicks. The umpires ignored 3 blocks against the Pies and yet a touch on the opposition sees a soft free kick goal, too often for it not be a direction and more than just coincidence. At any other club his Coach would be screaming and as we don’t seem to publicly, I hope we are privately to the Umpiring department.

somebody buy her a pony!

When I entered the MCG on King’s Birthday wearing my Melbourne scarf, a Collingwood supporting lady asked me why I wasn’t at the snow. I just said, because my Range Rover has broken down. She looked at me with a mixture of surprise and jealousy. (Of course, I don’t have a Range Rover. Nor have I ever missed a game because I was at the snow.)

Yep I hear you, different for all kids and families. Been good for both of them, they haven’t gone right through the oldest will have done Yr 10-12 and the youngest commenced half way through Yr 9. Whilst the sport is great, it’s the academic side where I have seen the benefits although my oldest had academic drive and would have done well at most schools. All I will say mate as some advice is enjoy the journey of fatherhood and the time together. I have a day off today and dropped my two boys to school this morning and just talked about life on the journey in, which is not something we do a lot of with the busy lives we have. I had one of those life flashbacks watching the oldest walking off towards school and my mind went back to dropping the same boy off for his first day at kindy. I thought it would be great to do it all again with both of them

Ok that sounds horrible and I will make no further jokes about him being out for our game. Speedy recovery to him. Internal injuries are no joke.

It funny you should say that, i was gob smacked. I can't recall who it was, or whether was half time or post-match analysis, but it was fox. And as you say they accused Fritter of being a stager. Which is pretty harsh accusation given the implication of being a cheat. Then they showed the video, which to me showed the Pies player (murphy?) bumping Fritter pretty hard, and certainly when he wasn't expecting contact. As you say, absolutely a free very day of the week. Maybe it was Dunstall who then said blocks should be paid, but otherwise they all simply ignored what the video showed - Fritter did not stage for that that free. And so not did not retract their accusation of staging. Yet another example of media narrative not supported by evidence - in this case Fritter is a stager. That was such a stupid free to give away. Completely unnecessary. I would have thought a much more relevant discussion for people supposedly analyzing the game would have been to question the discipline of the Pies or whether they were frustrated about the strategy to have Fritter shadow Moore and were trying to break that tag.

Love that - a good opportunity for Bont to learn from the best in the business.

Commentators bang on about it because it was a problem 3/4 years ago. And it was talked about often. And most of them are pig ignorant about issues like this. They parrot the same old stuff. The other thing that adds to it is the fact we don't have a Key goal kicker like most other clubs. We have Fritch but McDonald, Petty, Brown etc aren't kicking bags. Its lazy to say we have a connection issue because our scoring shots and results are clear evidence we don't. But if you asked any coach if they would prefer 10 goal kickers in a game or one guy who kicks 10 goals I am pretty sure we know what the answer would be,

The umpires are so one-sided towards Brisbane in this game it’s shameful!

Personally getting sick of non MCG tenant clubs trying to cash in with home games at the MCG.

If so they'll be in touching distance of each other at the sardine tin

It's their grand final.

If I was Harley Reid I'd go there in a heartbeat. He's confident he'll make it, he'll be an immediate hit playing in front of adoring fans and be at ground zero for their rebuild. King of Perth.

It’s only 4 weeks ago Cornes was saying how Larkey, Sheezel, Wardlaw may not want to stay at North if they didn’t show improvement. Wardlaw signed an extension later that week. Things are never as bad as they seem and never as good as they seem. I hate West Coast but they are a proud club with a lot to offer in terms of facilities and off field benefits. They are rock bottom now and will be down for another year or two, but they will bounce back and be pushing for finals in 2026ish. Ginbey is a Luke Hodge type leader, Allen is similar and now they have fully committed to the rebuild they will unfortunately work their way back

It seems I’m one of the few people here that doesn’t mind Dangerfield. Hope he recovers well.

Bah, it's Dangerfield, [censored] being sympathetic!

I agree. Don’t get me wrong, happy to capitalise on any opportunities it may present for Melbourne, but having been on the other end of go home draftees, I reckon the minimum length of the initial contract has to be longer than 2 years now.

Well, Larkey was pick 73, so sometimes they do. 😉

Need to go down to Kardinia Park and kick the door in.

If we apply the same pressure we applied on Monday we'll win every game.

In one of Cal’s recent podcasts, Reid was being interviewed, and was asked about potentially going interstate. He replied by saying something like he was really close to his family, and sort of left it at that. It was easy to read between the lines.

Alright. I’ll retract this.

Fancy a number 1 pick going to the worst team in the comp err that's kind of the idea

Yes, it was truly amazing that, at a time when half of football’s punditry were going ape over Mac Andrew and the Suns picked him at #5 (one after Nick Daicos), club recruiters gave St Kilda a free hit at Owens and to a lesser extent, Windhager.

Chris Scott’s 300th against the Dees.

Thanks for that. Explains a lot actually. Immoral and unconscionable.

I must admit that I have not read every post in this particular discussion, but one thing I want to mention is the number of children I saw of the match in Melbourne colours: very pleasing indeed. My grandson got his jumper autographed by Kozzy Pickett before the match and after the match, high-fived by Max Gawn: best day at the football ever he reckons. Lots of kids now growing up as Demons supporters😀!

Kane Cornes in today's Age.... "But Reid’s career would be at risk of stagnating, rather than flourishing, on the big stage should he, as expected, be drafted by the Eagles. After Jason Horne-Francis’ exit from North Melbourne just a year after being announced at No.1, Reid should make it very clear to the Eagles that he could do the same. He would only need to tell West Coast of his intent to return home to a Victorian club after his mandatory two-year contract expires, if not sooner. If Reid and his management group are savvy and strategic, they can engineer the Eagles into trading the No.1 pick to Melbourne, which is prepared to offer multiple first-round selections in return for the first crack at securing Reid." https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/why-the-afl-s-next-big-thing-needs-to-avoid-football-s-graveyard-20230614-p5dgje.html

Talk of dropping Neal-Bullen is always a good laugh. He’s one of the first picked by the coaches every week because he fronts up and does the thankless hard stuff that the general footballer watcher doesn’t appreciate because it’s not flashy etc. He was our 8th best overall rated player on the weekend. He was rated the best player on the ground overall defensively. We beat Collingwood because we had applied immense pressure on the ball carrier. Nibbler had 26 pressure acts, the most of anyone on the ground with Viney second at 24. Nibbler had 6 effective tackles, third behind Viney and Trac. He had 5 tackles inside 50, the most of any player on the ground. He was a key part of our victory and I’d go as far as saying if he didn’t play we would have lost that match. What he brings in pressure and running to link up or block space is immense, and as long as he keeps fronting up and busting his gut he will rightly never be dropped.