DubDee

Dunstall called it the best game he has ever seen by a ruckman. This was a few days after the game and he was completely serous. Truly remarkable. No coincidence the players played with such freedom and confidence in the GF. he sets the tone. Absolute masterstroke making him captain, look an obvious call now, but not in 2019 imo

I know we are filled with confidence at the moment and perhaps wondering how many more flags our team will deliver in the next few years. I am curious however, as to how the team will cope with the expectation, pressure and hunger issues now that the curse has been lifted. We will of course face some adversity like key injuries, downturns in form, however our list is in excellent nick and all the pieces seem to be there. It is difficult to predict, we missed finals the last 2 years, yet we seemed unbeatable in finals this year. I looked to some recent examples of teams struggling to back it up to see if there are any parallels. 1. Hawthorn Won flag in 2008, missed finals in 2009 and came 7th 2010. People say they were too young and that is correct to a degree. They did have Mitchell 26, Hodge and Sewell 24, etc. They needed more talent and more years in Buddy, Roughy etc. However I dont think anyone would have predicted they would miss finals and scrape in the next year after their flag. Hawks finished 5th in 2007 and 2nd in 2008 so their trajectory was on the up. 2. Collingwood won in 2010 (GF in 2011, then declined) - obviously not a hangover as such but worth a look as they were talked about as having the best young list in years and we all wondered how many flags would they get out of their list (similar to us now?). Luckily Buckley came in and took care of the rest. 3. Bulldogs flag in 2016 - missed finals next 2 years, didn't win a final again until 2021. A bit like the Hawks were a young side but the next 4 years people would not have predicted. I reckon they are the best example of a hangover and we need to avoid this obviously. There are examples of successful eras obviously so let's hope you track like the Tigers. I would not be surprised if we have a few shaky moments early in 2022 and lose a few early games. Hopefully us supporters don't lose our heads, we will settle and do well I think. The priority for us over the offseason should be the players mentality. Have a break, enjoy it. Then come back and train even harder than before. If our mindset slips even a little we will fall hard. This is easier said than done as a release of pressure/intensity is completely normal and unavoidable after a drought break. You need to acknowledge it and deal with it. Anyone think we are a chance of a flag hangover, however big or small?

Wrong. It is proven that vaccinated people transmit the virus less, resulting in less people in hospital and dead. Also, once we reduce the transmission significantly and have everyone vaccinated, we can attempt to eradicate the disease like we did with polio etc. much harder with covid but its the only way. So if you chose to not get vaccinated, you are impacting us all including your own family. Hopefully you and yours do not get sick and end up in hospital.

Reckon we could ask the Bont to attend to re-enact his 3rd Q goal and celebration?? 😂

Would be very interesting to be listen into the talks the club would be having with the Vic government regarding crowd size. I understand we do not want to make any promises we can't keep if somehow things don't work out as we hope for lessened restrictions. All going well, we will hit 90% double dose in a week and then we should make an announcement for 50K at the G or whatever they decide. should be interesting practice run for boxing day, there will be a lot of interest in the crowd and logistics Keep the afternoon of the 5th Free folks! it will be epic!

Liam Jones is a fool. And a selfish one at that. If you don’t want to protect yourself at least do it for your family and the community. if there were mitigating factors I am sure he would have mentioned them.

Nothing happy about another season without seeing the boys play when it matters

They have broken the mould and proven it’s possible to stay top 4, 10 years after their dominant period 2007-2011. However they have only one GF in that 10 years in a heavily compromised season. so I would say it is possible to stay in finals without the draft but not possible to win flags or have periods of domination. If Geelong couldn’t do it with their list, I don’t think anyone can. I think they are proving that flags are not possible without the draft. luckily, our club still value the draft and I hope they continue to

The Clubs 4th best coach in 150 odd years? Not bad. Give him a few more years

The stupidity of the vaccine hesitant or anti-vax crowd is hard to fathom and impossible to argue against - I’ve tried. When people are that belligerent and not willing to trust medicine or science, it is not possible to sway them. Jones could lose his career and for what? Not having the 21st vaccination of his life? (Guessing here, assuming he has been vaccinated before in youth and for travel) I know a guy who is a high school principal and won’t get vaccinated. He will now lose his job and livelihood. what can you say??

Is physical media when there is a fight on TV?

Something tells me the mods are still drunk after our GF win!?

Where is Young, Ash and Warner?? young especially looks a beauty. So quick and clean and a great kick.

Im happy with the most dominant finals series I can recall and winning the GF by 74pts. Don’t see this as a big issue fritsch, Trac and T Mac have already improved their goal kicking on last year

It's an interesting theory and delicate balance handling slightly injured or sore players. Firstly you need a head of performance to have the backing of the coach and FD to make potentially risky calls without fear of being blamed. It seems players training through niggles or slight injuries is more beneficial (at times) to giving them a rest even in January to build resilience. If you rest the player until they are not sore then sometimes that injury or soreness may just come back when stressed again. Burgess certainly found a wonderful balance over the past 2 years. Good to hear he has 12 months of mentoring the new bloke that should keep us in good nick.

I guess we will find out. I reckon there might be a few cranky people on here next season when we lose a couple of games early just because players are young does not mean that will naturally be better next year. We will be targeted, pressure will build. improvement is not linear. I still think we will be right in the mix but I'm not as confident as some. we did miss finals the previous 2 seasons

Simply making the point that the majority of players were in great form this year and on the law of averages it’s unlikely to happEn to that degree again. Re injuries, good management can’t help collision type injuries for example

We had virtually no injuries many players had career best years these two thing are very unlikely to happen again on the other hand we have real belief and unity and confidence. I would say this should balance out

I understand people thinking GWS will be a threat next year based on some of their stars and their second half of this season but I don't see them as anything more than an also-ran: They lack culture and professionalism - no coincidence their injury list is the longest every year. Their captain has fallen off a cliff the likes of which I have never seen. Their VC will miss a third of a year at least their senior leadership in Ward and Davis are past their best They lack tall fwds - as much as I wish Hogan the best I doubt he can perform consistently their backline is inexperienced, although they found some good youth down there, you don't win a flag with a young backline they have 5-6 stars of course but their bottom 6 is poor

Talent has never been his issue. Team ethic, staying focused and playing his role - all big question marks. Zero chance of coming to us. We recruit team players and players of the highest character

No doubt she will be the Coach of the Demons W team before too long. Has all the tools and is a pioneer. She would be throwing away a fair bit of money in the media though, her role with 7 will only grow. A woman coaching an AFL men's team? it's hard to imagine but things change huh? obviously no reason why not but it'll take some time for that to happen I reckon

Thank you - I agree 100% with everything you have written. He is a buffon, who was once a good commentator but has lowered his colours to inflate his ego over the years. He is more interested in being one of the boys and being 'cool' and right in his eyes rather than complimenting the game in his peripheral role. The Kozzi moment - number 2 - is the perfect example, just call the game don't give your opinion on where he should kick it FFS. The commentary becomes about whether BT was right or not rather than the game. The worst part he could have been a great commentator, he has a great voice and can build excitement but he's gotten too big for his boots and now looks an arrogant fool.

Will it be a twilight game??

Haha. Still not convinced mate? sell the near term future? He is the near term future. Get on board

Give him what he wants. He has given us a flag and has the squad absolutely perfectly positioned for more success. a fabulous coach and well respected man.