SaberFang

A huge chunk of Hawthorn's membership is Tasmania-based. The AFL, in their almight wisdom, deemed a Western Sydney club was more lucrative than the few hundred thousand fans down south that were crying out for a team, so the reigning premiers get another injection of cash into their coffers instead.

Bandwaggoners. The tarps are being dusted off in Adelaide.

I, for one, do not see the appeal at all. I can't believe so many clubs are chasing him.

Nothing would make me happier than seeing Essendon get smashed now. Port just hit the front.

That was our heartbreaking St Kilda loss and the heartbreaking Essendon loss rolled into one game for Richmond. Lost in the last 30 seconds AND had far more scoring shots (they kicked 6 bloody posters!) for an eerily identical behind count to us. Had a good chuckle, poor Tiges fans.

That's 4 games in a row that Geelong have buggered my tips. Bastards.

Well that's an interesting strategy; just parking all 18 players in defense. You'd stop opposition goals but would need a miracle to score anything.

The problem isn't so much watching players running after the ball the whole game, it's more the endless cyle of ball-up, mark, tackle, ball to ground, umpire whistle, another stoppage. Wash, rinse, repeat 5 times in a row before someone FINALLY breaks free. It's goddamn awful to watch. What needs to happen is a radical overhaul of the umpiring. Start calling the endless deliberate out of bounds kicks, handballs, rushed balls, etc. AS DELIBERATE. Start awarding possession to teams rather than the endless parade of ball-ups and stoppages we see now. How many times a game do we need to see a player either run out of bounds while in possession, or conveniently tap the ball 4 times towards the boundary, before you finally wake up and realise that players are exploiting the rules?

The theory is that the fitter and more rested the players on the field, the more they can run and chase the ball in a big rolling maul for 120 minutes. The idea is to tire them out by reducing the interchange, thus forcing (by stealth) the coaches to stick their bloody players into the positions they're meant to be, rather than teaching their players to run with the ball the whole game.

The AFL are their own worst enemies. Inventing rules to fix rules to fix rules to fix rules to fix rules... all of which are implemented from knee-jerk commentary reaction. Not surprised whatsoever that Roos' logical, thought-provoking comments about the effect of expansion and compromised drafts on the state of the game was completely ignored by all major media outlets today.

GWS are doing a very healthy job of getting multiple top 10 draft picks in their club every year AND retaining their best selections from years past. Of course, they're only in that position because of the extremity of their draft concessions in the first place. They can now lose depth players and get first rounders in return. No other team has that luxury.

I can only imagine the mess of umpiring if zones come to pass. Just imagine umpires paying free kicks for a forward stepping one foot outside the forward 50 from the opposite end of the ground. As usual, the AFL will make a kneejerk reaction that only makes the situation worse.

Brisbane's only problem is their injury list, likewise Gold Coast (well, okay, they have cultural issues coming out the whazoo). Carlton's comfortably the biggest mess in the league right now.

And the complete inability of umpires to umpire their endlessly changing rules consistently. It's amazing how some sports find it possible to not constantly change their rules.

I can guarantee that as 50+ point blowouts continue every round across the league, the less kids will take much interest in the AFL.

You'd think tonight would be a wakeup call to the AFL. An almost perfect representation of everything that's wrong with their precious game. Nothing will happen though. Head in sand syndrome.

Carlton players not even trying. It's not quite tanking, but just standing around pretending to care isn't exactly losing with dignity. What a mess.

Zero sympathy. They've created the mess the game's in.

So when Hawks pick up Treloar or Danger, what will Gil do? I'm predicting, "we still don't have quite enough data about player movements to make a decision."

Serves them right, they are directly responsible for this mess. Not only the dilution of talent across the league to protect their precious expansion experiment, but they scheduled Carlton 7 Friday night games. Laughably shortsighted and they deserve every shred of criticism they're getting.

Father/son rule in the year 2035, here we come! Well, assuming the AFL haven't declared all heritage club father/suns must be forfeited to the Western New South Wales Suns expansion club.

So considering the lad's only missed one game since being recruited, is it safe to say (on current form) Bern might end up with 80+ games at the end of Goodwin's first year? You'd give him the extra year just for the offspring!

The best teams need to build their core through the draft then recruit the missing pieces. We're still a few more drafts away from being in that position.

My mate lives in the same building as Bernie and couldn't speak more highly of the guy. By all accounts he's a pleasure to chat with and the perfect neighbour. Just like you'd expect from a good country lad! Club should auction off a beers-with-Bernie night post-season for the Treloar fund.

If he goes to North he's an idiot. They're going nowhere. I've heard Collingwood have offered him $200k more than GWS have, per year. GWS offered him the same deal as Shiel.