deanox

And wouldn't let a Melbourne player go to the mark.

Has the weather cleared a bit? We look a little cleaner with the ball and have started moving it really well. Hore has been pushed forward of the ball (after being behind the ball and on the ball in the first half), and she's been instrumental in both goals.

Unreal goal to Hore, snapping around her body in traffic in the pocket.

Heath out. Went for a HIA. Reports on tv said "she's ruled out for the rest of the game with an elevated heart rate". I have no idea what that means.

Umpires helping Collingwood here. No way that kick didn't travel the distance, no holding the ball etc. High pressure game, we are struggling to use the ball cleanly which is our game. I suspect we are trying to keep Collingwood from scoring and win it that way, rather than win it by smashing them.

Shocking decision, should have been a shot from directly in front

Pisano's kick inside 50 for Zanker goal was great.

I think he looked more at home as a hunter - or at the least someone who's role was to be in the chain - compared to how he looked in the AFL high half forward role which is more about holding structure and covering ground and then being ready to receive when the opportunity presents.

Honestly, if our new coach is choosing who to retain based on whether they show up to watch the ressies final during the rholiday, then they have their selection criteria wrong. I can't believe anyone is that much of a line ball decision that it would make a difference.

There is a lot to like in this squad.

All good points as well. It is much more complex than"drop them to put a rocket up them".

My guess is because these things are complex. He seems to be a confidence player as well; perhaps they felt he was someone who would respond positively to encouragement and support and self belief rather than to punishment and being chastised?

We have as many picks as we need list spots. If we need to draft 12 players, we will have 12 picks. But the last 7 picks might be all in a row at the end of the draft.

It's because those people seem to think "change the coach and it will all get better".

AMW back in the squad puts a bit of pressure on Salem and also potentially provides cover for Rivers or McVee to spend more time in the middle too. I think his injury probably set back some of those plans.

An era that I think we'll look back on and say "it could have been more". It just goes to show how hard it is to win flags. It is a very fine margin. A couple of kicks, a bounce of a ball, one less concussion, a Melksham ACL. Any one of those changes could have resulted in another flag or maybe 2.

@rjay it should be on Kayo?

One of the worst 36 point losses I've ever seen. Could have been so much more than that.

Maybe he just needed to pull on the jumper of his childhood club to feel the passion? In all seriousness though I think it's one of the biggest flaws with the AFL and pathway systems. It is all set up to try to unearth the next star, not collect the best 414 players in Australia (23 players per team each weekend). I think that AFL lists are probably the best 270 players in Australia, plus a bunch of journeymen and developing kids. It's possible that high percentage of players 271-750 are not on AFL lists, which means they don't get the fitness and conditioning and have no prospect of making it. If you aren't drafted at 18, you fall so far behind draftees in terms of development and conditioning that it is rare to make it later on. I'd love to see more invested in the 50-100 players who don't get drafted each year. Expand the rookie list. Let those kids play VFL or even the next level down if they aren't up to it and are just working on fitness. Similarly, expand the reserves list so that the VFL level comp (or officially the reserves) can be made up of the next best players in the country, where those players can be training full time for fitness and the standard of reserves is much higher. Surely playing against the best would fast track development of elite juniors?

I think Charlie has the opportunity to extend his career with a reasonable length contract (longer than he'd get at Melbourne) as part of free agency. With a new coach coming in, and being a fringe player, you'd think he might explore options. Similarly, we might be ok with losing him for a 3rd round compo pick so we have points for Kalani White. I suspect it will be win win whatever agreement is reached. Charlie is a 4th generation AFL player. His dad Paul, played 90 games for Nth and Brisbane. His grandfather Bob played 80 including a losing grand final for Footscray. His great grandfather, Bob Snr played for 65 games for Footscray and 2 for Melbourne! Add to that his great uncle Ricky also played for Footscray. With Charlie now having over 100 games under his belt at the Dees, there is a chance there will be another Spargo running around in the future!

Both little league matches in front of me are 5v4 with one side getting flogged. Red team has more players in one game and blue in the other. It's like watching our 666 debacle from last weekend all over again.

That's the Sullivan Line gone.

If he declared for Melbourne, Gold Coast would cut him out of their academy, the training,coaches, VFL squad opportunities etc. The fact he is coming down and playing and training with Casey really telegraphs which direction he is headed.

Just adding to this that Goodwin joined us in 2014 as the "senior assistant" anointed to take over from Roos, and thus would have had just as much input into 2014 and 2015...

I'm not worried about Kolt. Doesn't mean I think he'll make it, but I think it's too early and I still don't mind his selection: he's a high ceiling, low floor candidate. He was injured preseason, and deserves a bit of time to get fitness right and find his spot in the system before we write him off. He has had so many "maybe moments" where he has fumbled or spilt a mark or not been clean with his one touch. It's not what he showed in his under highlights, where he was clean with good hands and strong overhead for his size (I know they are cherry picked highlights). I don't know if that will translate to AFL level; maybe the extra speed and size and pressure means he is at his limit. But I still think he has attributes that will be valuable if he makes it, and for those reasons I am happy we are giving him a go. I do think he could use time at Casey to really get on top of the pace of the game but I'm not sure who comes in for him as a half forward. Billings? Sharp? Spargo? Are the only options. So I'm happy they are backing in a kid.