Red and Blue realist

None of these umpires did either of our games this year. In total we've had those any of those 3 officiate 7 of our games (with 2 doing the Brissy final), in total we received 20 less free kicks than our opposition in those games. The Dogs had any of those 3 officiate 11 of their games (2 did their last final). In total they got an additional 51 free kicks in those games. The dogs only had 2 negative games (which included the Port final), whereas we only had 1 positive game (and one nil game). We had Mollison for 5 of our games and our free kick count was -5 different, Roesbury was -8 (1 game) and Stevic was -7 (2 games). For the Dogs, Rosebury was +44 (8 games), Stevic was 0 (3 games) and Mollison was +1 (1 game).

This makes sense, you can use the same time periods for when the team that finished on top of the ladder won the premiership. 8 out of 9 times we've finished on top we've won the flag, soon to be 9 out of 10.

The good thing about being capital gains tax exempt is that they have the ability to release those gains more freely than those that have tax considerations, so there can be a move to view take gains and use them more often than individuals might. It doesn't replace direct cash flow, but done properly could help replace lost revenue. It will be interesting to see if they ever release the investment strategy they take with the 'future fund', and what they want it to do, cause I agree generating the same level of income return will be very hard. There's a difference between revenue and profit, in 2019 the pokies had rough revenue of $4.5mil but costs of $3mil. Still $1.5mil from $23mil is around a 6.5% return.

Yes, but then they were going to lose the majority of the income anyway, I suspect the Bentleigh club might have run at a loss without pokie revenue, together with cashing in at a point where the property market seems to have peaked, makes it a great decision. The board will have to invest well, but given the lack of CGT issues, they can take a lot more liberties with capital gains than in a normal company or individuals. I also suspect with the season we're having, that revenues will naturally be up (covid pending), which might mean the reliance on needing to use the income from these investments isn't as great.

There's already been talk of Dunkley tagging Trac or Oliver, so all teams are considering this.

So in 2019 (pre-covid) the club made around $4.5mil in revenue with $3mil in expenses, so that'll be roughly (not taking into consideration other items such as depreciation etc.) a $1.5mil loss in revenue that the $24mil will have to cover, which of course it would have lost anyway not renewing the gaming machines. I think the board has done very well here.

Every one of my non Dees supporting mates who've messaged me since the prelim win have mentioned how they would have loved to see Jonesy in the side, shows the respect that he has from other supporters. Thanks for getting us through those tough times.

They have a shop in Ballarat, which has a 8 meter bulldog that lights up at night, but out of the back of this they run a huge amount of community programs - mens health etc. Brett Goodes (ex player and Adam's brother) used to operate out of there for the Dogs and was always welcoming and friendly.

Will WA change some restrictions to regional Victorians now the lockdowns have eased - not saying that people from regional areas will be able to get over for a grand final (if we make it), but what if we asked if Jonesy could come back to Vic and have his family relocate to Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo to have their babies? Then him might be able to travel a little freely - maybe only a few days quarantine rather than a full 2 weeks?

This is correct, although can sometimes be a bit of a misleading stat, for instance if Jones and Hibberd played it changes our dynamic significantly. However, the 6 oldest players on our list didn't play and we've got a total of 8 players who've played 150 games or more and only 3 were in Saturday's team. The dogs had 8 of their 10 players with over 150 games play and the Bombers had 5 of 8. So in comparison to the other teams around our age and experience it seems like we're a bit more even below our older guys. Good reason to believe we'll be competitive for some time. The Cats have 14 players over 150 games, and all of them played on the weekend, that suggests the cliff is coming very fast for them. I used that 150 game threshold as generally most guys are at least 28 before they get there.

I think Rich is the most important player to put time into this week, he gives them so much drive out of the backline, Birchall has become a chipper rather than long kicker and we play much better when we're forcing teams to go short and slow. Sparrow was very good overhead and matches Rich for height so I'd give him first go, but could understand if they brought Melksham in to do a tagging role, he's done it before in the forward line and the defender can't leave him alone because he'll kick goals. I think there'll be no changes, but I'd wonder if they contemplate shutting down Rich.

Don't forget Wines, he'll poll as well against the Blues, and not convinced Oliver will have against the Crows (maybe he'll get 1 or 2 from either/both of the coaches but not much more). Bont might end up with a couple of votes as well. Think if one of Oliver or Bont scores the 10 this week they'll take it out.

It looked to me that both Hibberd and Melksham were playing for their spots and were trying to hard. Hibbo, nearly took out Smith early in the 3rd and was directly involved in 3 of those 4 goals they kicked quickly at the start of the 4th, the Murphy goal he was his direct opponent but then dropped out the back of the pack by 3 or 4 meters which enabled the quick snap goal. It looked to me that he dropped back hoping to be feed the ball so he could move it out of defense rather than stay closer so he could impact his opponent if he got the ball. I think if Rohan comes back Smith would be the much better match up. So I'd go: May, Viney and TMac in for Hibberd, Melksham and Sparrow.

I think bringing Hibberd back in without the chance to regain touch could be worse, he was so bad those last few games and looked so low on confidence that it would be better (IMO) to send him to a scratch match (no Casey unfortunately) to get some easy touches and then bring him back in when he's right. Bowey has been fantastic since he's come in because he's been so clean, he's really taken Hibbo role.

I suggested last week that we don't take him on the plane with a back injury, so no hindsight, just turned out to be one of the few errors the FD have made this year. He might have seemed right, and wanted to keep him with the rehab staff, but at the end of the day it looks like it's going to cost him at least 2 matches out of the team.

Hopefully it shows they are confident it is just a minor issue, but sitting on a plane for 7 hours, playing then jumping on a plane for 4 more hours the next day and I'm surprised there weren't a few more injuries. The club must have thought their medical guys were better equipped to take care of him over there? And maybe he's closer to being right than they are letting on, but now we have top 4 guaranteed they are being super cautious.

Shouldn't have gone to Perth, one of the rare mistakes the FD has made this year. I'd bring in Weid and Smith this week, with AVB and Hunt going out, with JJ back to the sub role, just to give Sparrow 1 more week of full game time and then plan to swap them over next week.

I actually think Hibberd would be better served with a scratch match than a top level game. He was incredibly fumbley in his last few games, so going back with a little less pressure to find touch I think would serve him better than maybe increasing the need to perform. Get him back in the team with confidence as he was finding the ball ok, just then either fumbled or used it badly. I'd give Smith a go off half back as some have mentioned, to see how he goes when he's not trying to be a key defender.

There have been scratch matches going on, but it seems from all clubs the reporting has ben very low key this year. You only hear about a big name coming back from injury, but they have been going on.

Ideally we finish 1st and they finish 4th or we finish 2nd and they 3rd, they way we know all our finals will be in Melbourne - if they are even played here?? Finish 1/3 or 2/4 and if we lose the first week there is the possibility of playing them in Adelaide in a prelim.

Dean Margetts just retired from West Coast - https://www.afl.com.au/news/662950/statement-afl-umpire-dean-margetts-announces-retirement

Not officially yet, but why in the world would they risk him? We're guaranteed to finish top 4 it's smart to rest anyone with soreness or injury concerns. At least save them for Geelong who were likely to play first week of finals as well.

I can't see us making any big moves this offseason, but doesn't mean it still can't be productive. I wouldn't mind if they went for a little more mature depth, we've got 5 guys who'll finish the season over 30, and I think only 1 will definately stay (hibbo - maybe daw as backup). While I think our leadership is pretty good and getting better, if we can grab a couple of guys that could play a role in the seniors if required but are generally good role models, I think that would help. Guys like Hamish Hartlett, Tom Lynch (Adel) etc. would come cheap, both in salary and because we could get them as free agents or very late trades.

He hasn't ben anywhere near Cal's draft lists, and I can't find him rated in the top 2 rounds for any of the big footy drafts, of course they can change now he's had a little exposure, but he's not going to an early pick but looks very consistent when you look at his game stats (I haven't seen him play so can't speak to how he actually looks).

No, we need more than that, West Coast also had Embley, Chick, Braun, Banfield etc. So a good mix of at least 7 or 8 who can roll through the middle at various times. All great sides have more then just 2 or 3 great mids, they have have at least 7 or 8 guys per game who can at any time go into the midfield mix, I think between Trax, Clarry, Viney, Harmes, Gus, JJ, Sparrow, Kossie, ANB, Langdon, Salem and Rivers we've got a pretty good mix to throw in, with Trac and Oliver as the mainstays.