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Go Lordie meets Clarry! 🔵🔴🔵

Congrats to Joel on the birth of his child. Joel will be available for selection.

@Grand New Flag can you please confirm that you’ve been hearing this for a while?

I've seen some negative posts today, but this is the wurst.

No they are only allowed to ask about Grundy

I don’t think we can underestimate the importance or significance of this game The Demons are back. Not for 60 long long years have we been this good. We are playing our foe from the 50/60’s on the main stage in September. Embrace it. Enjoy it.

Very special lad our Ben. Comes across as a very caring person.

This is first class analysis of the four finals games. Some of the best analysis I've heard - clear, makes sense and well articulated. Davis is very impressive. He does the dees game first.

What I wouldn’t give for a repeat of our form line in the 2021 finals series.

I'm coming in from the East Kimberley for this. Can't wait!!!

On a stats level too basic to be mentioned in the Stats thread: Since round 10 (21 May) Collingwood have played 4 games only against teams in the finals. They had a good 2 point win against Port in Adelaide and have lost to Melbourne, Carlton and the Lions. Over the same time frame, Melbourne have played seven games against each of the fnalists (excepting Port) including Carlton twice and have only lost to GWS (somehow) and the conttroversial loss to Carlton. I reckon that is pretty good form coming into the finals.

Originally I was dreading the rain considering our poor performance when it’s been wet. I then realised that Collingwood might actually be worse off if it’s pouring. Now I’ll be disappointed if it’s not raining. I think I’m slowly going insane

Hopefully a future AFLW Star and continuation of the Smith bloodlines at our club. Congrats to Joel & his partner.

Not sure about this picture. The background looks like a gross magnification of someone's intestines. On the other hand, and more importantly, congratulations to Joel.

What did his partner do, other than carry the child for 9 months then ruin her body to get it out? Pffft Joel is clearly the hero here for turning up to the birth, and then playing footy.

Times like this I hate living interstate. Enjoy everyone! Training updates would be greatly appreciated.

❤️💙 Open training at Gosch’s this morning ❤️💙 Those who are coming, make sure you visit the Demon Army tent for a snag in bread! Cheap, delicious and nutritionally sound (sort of). Last night Maysie messaged our incomparable grill-master extraordinaire saying, “save me a snag.” And if it’s good enough for Maysie, it’s good enough for everyone, amirite?!

I'm just here for the @dazzledavey36 Hibberd mea culpa 🤣

These puns are terrible to be frank.

The Carlton game was the perfect dress rehearsal for this game. Wet and we were up against two rucks. We played Gawn and Grundy and the FD didn't like what they saw. He won't be selected.

A Collingwood supporting one? Must be really struggling for business. Not many teeth amongst his target audience.

Will be very surprised if TMac doesn’t play.

Fritta moving freely. Take it to the bank. He’s playing.

A beautiful special human being. So happy for him to have won a flag with us in 2021.

I'm excited! Go Dees! 🔵🔴🔵

Tmac moving v well, looks quick in a straight line Players yelling here piggy piggy to Hibbo made me giggle

My highlight so far and it is going to be hard to top the merchandise girls walking around handing out posters to the fans and trying to give Brad Green one.

Squiggle has it bang on 50% with a slight tilt towards Collingwood. Not sure how that calculation works given most of the models are tipping Melbourne. Although the aggregate model that looks at the top 10 models has it at 50%, with Melbourne to win by...0 points. https://squiggle.com.au/game/?gid=34676 The only people I've seen confident about thia game are Collingwood supporters. The level of disrespect and disregard for us as a team as staggering.

Doubt if last year’s finals campaign ended in misery due to an open training session. 🤔

Here he goes again, shouting away. Pretty much every one of your posts these days, mate, I think of Abe Simpson shouting at the clouds...

It's ironic that we've gone back to this after Goody said they liked the three talls and wouldn't be reverting from this again. FWIW, I actually think it's the right call on this particular occasion. May and Lever rarely do well intercepting in the wet, just like Max, so having to worry about another tall around them potentially fumbling, is not something we need. Instead, we have smalls and mediums to mop up at ground level and hopefully keep their smalls at bay. I think this is a complete horses for courses move. If we were playing Brisbane this week, I suspect we'd have three defensive talls. What's unusual is we didn't try two talls on KB, we went with three. And it worked very well, but they were minus McStay. I presume we're banking on winning CP and territory, and on slow plays defending inside 50s, we'll drop Max behind the ball. While on fast plays, we'll be better with quicker smalls, rather than cumbersome talls, and the Collingwood talls are unlikely to clunk a lot in the rain/greasy conditions.

I can't stop looking at the hurt someone went through to merge those excel columns together in those very specific, ugly ways. I'm sure I'll acknowledge the content soon.

The Tommo/Hibberd call I'm sure has a lot to do with the bleak weather conditions. It's going to be a tough contested scrap with most of the game probably being played below the knees. That suits Hibberd more.

Probably two good ins when it comes to experience. Im just so keen to watch Trac and Viney. Finals Trac and finals Viney are just built different!

‘At odds with the fitness staff’ feels like an orange/red flag (given their fitness staff is Darren Burgess)

McAdams' game more closely resembles Melksham than our other small forwards. Probably keen on him as a replacement / cover for Melk.

Walking into Demonland the day before a final...

Political implications?

A moronic filth supporter put on social media oh Melbourne supporters must have given tickets back as the snow must be good. So I replied or a Collingwood supporter must have been sent to prison. Honestly I hope we smash them

Clearly he’s not taking this seriously enough.

Goodwin has always been about whole team mentality attitude. Think back to when we took the whole squad to Perth back in 2021.

It’s only week one of the finals and the media requests have already started to come in. Channels 7, 9 and the ABC have asked that cheer squad members (those who can) turn up at various locations this Thursday and Friday mornings for live crosses during their breakfast shows, beginning at 5:30am. We’ll have members turn up, just as we did last year. Our Collingwood counterparts were also approached for the Thursday morning outside the ‘G live cross at 6am but declined the request because it’s “too early for them.” True story.

Tmac staring down a possible second premiership medal. At his age and with the state of his body, he would be silly not to relish this chance and leave nothing out there. He has absolutely nobody pushing for his role either, unless Ben Brown can get a knee replacement done in a week. So no fear of messing up and losing his spot.

Tommy mac is our Snake Baker - a gun forward who comes in to dominate the finals:

He's wearing a hat but its just precautionary

plugger mac for milkshake confirmed, as expected this is the most hyped up i have seen goodwin in a press conference

It's a great experience for them. I'm sure they are loving being in a finals build up. They need to get used to it 😁

Im with you.. Am strangely quite confident. The gane we need to win these finals, against these opponents, has been on display all year. The caveat is...... not necessarily all together in one game. Now this may seem a bit left field( how odd for me ..lol ) but im thinking along the lines that Goody and Co have been foxing and hedging a little. Like horse training you practice elements when doing track work...you trial particular ploys during trials and undee races...then you bring the "package" to the big race. There have been times in games thar frustrated me... why weren't we doing X.. why.....why..why.. and then we did. Almost like the classic...hold your fire until you see the whites of their eyes. In other words...a bit like a space shuttle or the like doing correctional "blasts" .. you only have an ability to do some things for so long....use and time well. This might be what some describe as "flicking the switch ". Invariably it's done as quarters change. Id imagine at that point all line coaches will go over exactly who does what, who goes to who... goes over the game plans.. i.e.. big Reset. Without doubt ( to this observer ) some games were live trials. To see how long, how well, how effective the team could implement particular parts of the strategy. Yes..the strategy as 'Bull' would suggest, is to win. But ultimately it's to win one particular game on one particular day. In the end all other games become merely a means to an end. I expect a tussle. I see the game against Sydney as perhaps the most poignant testimony to us winning. I'm not expecting a high scoring game....unless we get a hold of them early and they are worthy and capable opponents similarly primed for battle. But we're better. . We will need to bring the total game tomorrow, and we need to be ON from the get go but I'm suspecting there will be enough in the Red and Blue that will smell the air and remember 21.. this is Finals...and these are ours. Collingwood are susceptible. They get wobbly. .....and we'll nail them. Go Dees 20/30 points.