FireInTheBennelly

Did anyone else notice toward the end of the game big Maxy was unable to compete in a ruck contest? Looked to be having some kind of back pain I thought???? No idea though as he was ready to go for the next ruck dual. I thought it was odd but no mention of it from commentators or anyone since.

Intentional, high contact, [censored] force. 1 week.

We'd probably try to turn him into an inside mid unfortunately.

When did they self-report? They were about to be raided and were warned in enough time to destroy evidence. Delusional [censored]!

So he played for Carlton then?

Umps will be looking to fix up the free kick count here, if Power make the most of it they'll win this.

Sure it wasn't drug awareness for coaches? Too soon?????

I think 'The Brazilian' suits him better.

Wasn't it Carlton as well last year? Is this a strategy for the AFL to pump up Carltons home crowd numbers?

No, but apparently AFL Tribunals are.

'I had no idea what I was selling, I just knew it cured cancer.'

Agreed. I'd love to see a forward line of Hoges, TMac, Weids, Fritsch, Spargo and Jeffy. Hannan and Melksham interchange, with those 2 and Trac rotating midfield/wing and forward. Oppostion coaches would have to seriously think about their selections to combat that, rather than the other way round. Apart from Garlett, they all have good years ahead of them still, hopefully he can find some form quickly.

Special mention needs to go to young Fritsch for Spargs first goal as well. His spoil on the bigger, more experienced Hurley was a beauty. Charlie was waiting exactly where all good small forwards should be, front and centre.

I think Nifty deserves a bit of praise after today. He's copped a fair bit on here recently, and I'm sure even he'd agree his form hasn't been up to his usual standard. I reckon he had a right ball tearer today, winning some crucial contests. Might be a few on here due to give him a pat on the back. Well done Nev.

Why do you ask?

I had the same thought. Harmes is a long, long way off getting it right. He doesn't know the secret. He has to eat far more Chinese food, and ditch the fork!

Fully agree. Unfortunately our guys can put in as much effort as they like, it just won't matter. Until we can come up with the required skill level we're going nowhere. Kicking, handballing, marking, picking up the freaking ball. We're way below par on all of these, and haven't even gotten to things like target selection, shepherding and general team acts. Our skill level has been horrible for as long as I can remember and I can't understand why. Do they use footballs at training? Why do they appear to be a foreign object during games? If we could hit targets we would've been so far in front by Q4 it wouldn't have mattered how tired we were, we would hold on. The issue is so much effort goes into each skill based turnover that we're getting no return and it becomes mentally draining as well as physically. A step forward? In effort only, and only from last week. This year has so far been a big step backwards from 2017. I recall Jared Rivers saying when he went to the Cats, that preseason training was so different. The responsibility was on players to come back in shape so they could work on skills. Can any preseason track watchers tell if we've caught up to that coaching strategy yet? If not, why not, and if so, why have we not improved? Do we have skills coaches, and are they actually 'skilled' coaches? We have a lot to work on.

There would appear to be a 'veil of incompetence' hanging over our club.

Thanks for the arousing training report.

The more ugly look for me is the tackled player dropping the ball and then winning a free kick for the lingering tackle. It's got to be either incorrect disposal or play on if no prior. You can't penalise a defender for doing what he's been doing since Auskick. He has no idea the ball's come loose. See Isaac Smiths goal.

Hawks have been doing it for years. I recall us trying it a few years back, from memory Dunn was involved. The result was the kick being recalled and we were warned not to do it again. Chalk it up to equalisation I guess.

Interesting strategy, always pass to your teammate under the most pressure.

Think about it for a second. If there were no clubs or pubs with pokies, where would the gamblers have to go for a fix?

Looks like a good time to dust off the old cobwebs....

Perhaps it should be known as 'the closure goal'?