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Huh Early season prediction??????? 1 Dees to finish on top at end of home and away 2 Dees to win Flag 3 Clarry to Win Brownlow 4 JVR To fire Big Time 5 6 Players in A.A team 6 Brodie Grundy, Lachy Hunter and to a lesser extent Josh Schache to be hailed as "Masterstrokes" of Recruiting as they have tremendous years

I don’t like the implied criticism of Fritta. I thought it was unfair right through the season. He is there to kick goals, not to give them away. In fact, I think the murmur of criticism of him for being selfish got to him and he ended up giving away some critical opportunities to try and be unselfish which cost us a game or two. Sooner or later, someone has to take the shot – so often, with other players we would see the ball being handpassed around and around looking for the perfect opportunity; Fritta is there to take the opportunity and kick the goal.

Speaking of Fritta (and not for the first time today, OF 😉) he had knee surgery immediately at season’s end for an injury sustained during training when he was tackled by (iirc) Greg Stafford, of all the hulking big bodies you don’t want landing on you. 😁 He’s fully recovered and returns home from O/S tomorrow night. He’ll be starting pre-season with everyone else in the first week of December or whenever it is.

Nothing new or insightful or original from Johnno. Dissappointing. But got them a few clicks. Analysis by and large is so superficial by alledged experts. We looked off even in the 10 game streak watching all homes games live. Winning on 20 minutes of brilliance. I have more confidence in the club for 2023 than I ever have had going into a new season since ......forever. No oppo team worries me that they can't be beaten by our list.

For us it would be... It would be easier to close down our running game.

I'm sure I read they were considering Cairns as an option. I know that Brisbane deserve the right to host the GF but the minimum requirement should be that it's played at a suitable standard of venue that will both maximise the match day attendance and provide conditions that are suitable for showcasing the players skills. They seem to have spent the last week looking at every oval shaped park in Queensland in an effort to keep the game up there. If it can't be played at the Gabba or Metricon then it probably shouldn't be played in that state.

a kind of pointless review, call fritta out for not kicking it, and call him out for not passing to someone in a better position. he is a forward and one of our best kicks for goal. i wonder how many times peter hudson, or Lockett passed the ball to players in a slightly better position when they knew they were in range. Fritta was one of the success stories of the year, not a reason we lost.

Agree. Fritter can hold his head up high as he had a fantastic year. But the criticism at the time was warranted for being selfish (the personal abuse definitely not). Far more bigger concerns then Fritta and it was more around our game plan and system. Backing Goodwin has reflected on this and will rectify over the summer.

99 problems, but fritta aint one...

Marty (volunteer for MFC), tells me AFLW training will be on from 6.45 pm at Gosch's. He also mentioned that the men will begin training, mainly at Gosch's from the 28 or 29th of this month. Into their warm-up, which finished with a bit of, grab the sash from a player through a small group, of british bulldog type. Into three groups. Line kicking, stoppages/smoothers/handball and takling, and a hanball game 4 on 4, with rotations to each station. Colvin and Mcnamara working together, kicking and small run throughs. Sherrif working wth a coach doing precision passes. Duffy handling the balls with a coach. Beautiful evening.

There once was a boy named Jackson, That by 2022 went missing in action, He headed back West because that’s what mummy thought best, And from that I still can’t get no satisfaction

We once had a mate called dogga Who turned out to be a list clogger We wished him the best Shipped him off west And hoped his replacement wasn't such a flogger

A small ground is not necessarily a bad thing - it might lead to some more goals being scored. That said, it's a terrible look for the game to have a grand final played in the far outer suburbs of Brisbane at a partially completed ground. How are they possibly accommodating 9000 standing spectators? On that basis the capacity at Casey Fields is about 10K as well, with it's five toilets and one entrance.

From the different members of the Fritsch family that I've met (including his lovely mum), why doesn't this surprise me!! They're fiercely supportive of their boy! I've seen his grandma in the Redlegs room a number of times, she's a walking billboard of Fritta!

If gambling was removed from horse racing, it would overnight shrink to the size of competitive dressage. (Note to the horse lovers: I am not advocating that. But I do think that the horse results should be in the papers next to the Tattslotto numbers, and not in the sports section.)

In my opinion Gerard Healy can stick his opinions where is wallet sits. He turned towards the money years ago FO!

Gosh I hope we win and get through to the GF. Daisy deserves to get a premiership, not only her but the other foundation players who started season 1 with us and have remained loyal.

Not having concrete plans in terms of a venue is bad enough, but we don’t even know on what day it will be held. I heard tonight at banner making that if it’s in Melb it’s definitely on the Sunday but if in QLD it’ll be either the Saturday or the Sunday. The fact that nothing’s official 10 days out is beyond ridiculous.

I would normally be critical of your petty pedantic nitpicking Demonstone , however, that is certainly an example of where some work is needed! I particularly like the juxtaposition of that peculiarity and the background sign referencing "Bakery Hygiene"!

Some media for a couple of our rising stars. We've all become big fans of Mackin this season: https://www.womens.afl/news/114435/the-whirlwind-trip-that-brought-b-to-the-dees Mackin also on the podcast with Mithen, McNamara and West this week, a fun chat and lots of talk about her transition to Aussie Rules - the story about her first training is amazing: https://omny.fm/shows/lil-ben/lil-lize-s-blaithin-mackin Chaplin has been a solid contributor, persistence has really paid off: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1248221/two-years-in-one-chaplin-s-rise-in-the-red-and-blue Her talk about the VFLW season made me reflect on the opportunities for games our players have had this year, even those that haven't necessarily been in the AFLW team consistently. Big leap from previous years after Covid wiped so many VFLW games in particular. As much as I like the idea of having the seasons at the same time so one can feed into the other, this year's never-ending season has clearly worked to accelerate development for players like Chaplin, Gillard, even West.

They could have milk crates painted in team colours for players to sit on. Dressing sheds could easily be put in place with a shipping container each. Goal posts. One wheely bin each for point posts. Two wheely bins placed on top of each other for goal posts. Gotta make it a showcase event.

Our constitution is now set for a while I'd image but I was interested in these comments reported in The Age today from Gowers. "Diversity is not just a male and female thing. Diversity is about differences of opinion, ideas, cultural backgrounds, religious views, which creates a melting pot of contributions which allows you to safely have a broad discussion about a range of topics". Hawthorn is having an election and choice we were denied with the members having the opportunity to hear from candidates and then making an informed choice. I'm still smarting over our (members) lack of choice of directors, lack of information and lack of input into the constitution. It reflects so badly on our Board. So much groupthink, lack of fresh ideas from people who have been there too long and who have an overwhelming sense of entitlement.

I would have thought Southport Sharks ground would have been a sensible option if the really wanted to play it in Qld. We'll done AFL. How's that betting scandal going? Clowns

this a good article on what the afl gets out of gambling. it's from a year or two ago https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-afl-s-engine-how-gambling-money-underpins-footy-20220214-p59wa7.html

Exactly right. There are some sports that rely on gambling for it to be relevant - horse racing for example. And its why I don't support that sport. Football is different, when I was a kid gambling was barely on the agenda when it came to VFL footy. Now as a teacher I find it terrifying that kids are talking about betting odds as a factor if a club is favourite or not to win. That is definitely social engineering, it should not be part of the venacular of footy. I'm a big supporter of the "enjoy the game, not the odds" campaign, and I'm pleased a lot of the clubs, including Melbourne, have done away with revenue from gambling and pokies.

A bloke who kicks 6 goals in a GF, including a quick 2 that started the revival that won the flag, then followed up by being the only AFL player to kick a goal in every round the next season is abused in a restaurant? I cannot think of comment that won't get me suspended from Demonland. Whatever you think I'm thinking - triple it!

THAT goal in Perth. I’ve never wanted a goal so much in 57 years

Fritta's role is to kick goals. I believe that his eyes and mind are always on a goal kicking opportunity. That he once ignored Tracc in a better position is not a failure. He was just doing his job. It falls to his team mates to support him in this role by shepherding, leading oppos away, loud voices etc. Six goals in a premiership buys a lot of indulgence..

Cats are interested in drafting Ed Allen at the National Draft.

From Dogga to Dog, A now Cockburn based f l0g Fin.

Brad Johnson is a great bloke but he offers very little in the way of insightful analysis. Of the many problems we had to deal with last year Fritta was well down the list

It is the secrecy that annoys me the most. If it has ground to a halt tell us. Tell us if it is 10 years away.

Shambolic. Assuming the weekend of the GF was known when the H&A draw was released then all competing clubs outside Victoria should have been told to nominate and secure an AFL standard ground at that time if they wanted to host it. Not an issue for Victorian clubs as the AFL own Docklands Stadium.

And there ya go... exactly what I was quietly worried about.

He was absolutely red hot in the last season with the Demons - virtually untouchable and a fabulous avenue to goal. I thought that his loss was a complete catastrophe and wonder what he - and his teammates - might otherwise have achieved. I thought that he did not perform at quite the same level with the Swans as he had previously with the Demons but remained one of those forward line enigmas who had hit their straps. We, as supporters, generally lost faith in him for such disloyalty to those who had blended to make him such a great Demon.

If it's out at Ipswich, they should be able to line up some awesome half time entertainment with locals bringing their cars for a drifting event around the boundary line (if they have a boundary and if it's not a rectangular rugby league field we're playing on). Some ethical issues here for the AFL if half of the cars are stolen although ethics is not usually a concern for them. They can get the local limp bizkit covers band to play ( I believe they're called limp buzzcut as they're all airforce dudes from Amberly air base) They could also include a half time dash from goal line to goal line with competitors carrying a stolen flat screen tv. West Brisbanites love their AFL

For starters there won’t be any players on the bench… for there are no benches!

Surely having opinions and insights from someone like Healy, who has not aligned himself with the club for some time, is going to be more valuable than having insights from someone who still identifies themself as connected to the club?

I know we are getting off subject, but that final against the Swans in 87 was one of my fondest memories. I remember thinking, " I bet you're glad you left Gerard" ha ha

Jeez I bloody hope so. I'll be cheering for the Crows on Friday night.

...Awaiting the first numbers from the Club for season 2023......

There is an ad for some non-alcoholic drink that you can drink so you'll still be "one of the boys". Hard to dunk on a non-alcoholic drink though. It's hardly a "gateway" drink; more of the opposite. A lot of ads infer being part of the group ...camping with the boys (and girl) ... as part of the beer drinking experience, but I can't recall any (maybe I am just too inured to the whole ad business) that link "mates" and "alcohol" as explicitly as the gambling companies do "mates" and "betting". It's insidious. "You can't be part of a group of mates if you're not gambling with them" is the barely-disguised subtext. It's borderline social engineering.

I absolutely agree with you on this, Ollie. I've never had the perception of Fritta ever being selfish, and I do think the media criticism of him hurt his confidence in that respect. It's a big reason why players need to listen less to the media and more to their coaches. He has not been the issue. I do think a bigger aspect this year has been the absence of TMac, and the leadership he provided - the forward line missed that once he was injured. We need him fit and raring to go next year.

Don't forget the Gawnlow and Paxlow voted by Demon Army members!!

It's a more complex ecosystem. The TV networks pay for the AFL TV rights using money they earn from advertising. The more advertising revenue they can earn, the more they can bid for the rights. So, in effect, the AFL is a downstream collector of betting ad revenue. There have also been separate sponsorship deals between betting companies and individual clubs, although I'm not sure there are any still in place.

I wasn't directing outrage at betting organisations nor am I averse to a punt. My beef is with the saturation of all things sporting with gambling ads/odds quarter time, half time etc etc and the reliance of the AFL, SEN etc on the income of betting agencies. It puts them in a compromising position. Ciggies are a good comparison. Tobacco Co's certainly have the marketing budget and could easily (and would be desperate to) replace the betting agency ads in terms of media saturation but they can't for a good reason. What's the difference between kids watching gasper ads versus gambling ads? I also agree with you that for most people it's a bit of fun or makes it interesting, but the level of advertising is ridiculous and there are too many people that 'take it to the next level' (pardon the pun). I'm quite surprised by the amount they get away with in advertising.

Actually think BBB is alot better once the ball hits the ground than many give him credit for. Yes he looks awkward, but in my view he has brilliant footy sense that means even when he misses the mark, he knows where to go to put himself in dangerous positions to stay in the contest and be useful option in chains that end up in goals, whether he's the one kicking them or some deft tap ons to others. Don't think he would have been the leading goal kicker in the league over a period of 3 years if he was a one trick pony and couldn't do stuff off the ground. I also think he's an absolute asset and great teacher for guys like JVR in this respect.

Well, if that’s what happened to him, that is an absolute disgrace. If anyone saw him in public and didn’t do him the courtesy of leaving him alone, the only way to treat him would be to admire and praise his absolute class and elegance as a player.

Sadly, you’re spot on. ☹️