Bang Bang Bang

Out of contract young superstar plays career best game over the weekend. Ralphy is a smart journo, this story was always going to fill the Monday papers but he doesn’t have much to go with. It’s mainly speculation at his end.

Jake Bowey should be ineligible for the Rising Star when he already is a star.

Lot of similarities between the Blues and the 2021 Dees. They are looking really good. OMac being a starting key back can’t be a good sign for them though.

Man, I’m already angry thinking about Geelong and they haven’t even run out yet.

Mitch Cleary is highly respected and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that tweet headline last night… but it’s all looking very positive. They ain’t flying across the country to tell us he wants to go to Freo.

Oh and can I just add. Freed from desire. MIND AND SENSES PURIFIED! You whining, diving pack of spuds.

Salem was a big loss, but Bedford came on and showed plenty. Still hasn't sunk it that we are reigning premiers with the best [censored] player in the league. By a long shot. Weightman can go and take a long walk off a short pier.

Goody being as cool as a cucumber all game but then going bananas at Oliver's goal got to me. What a moment.

They spoke about it in total for a minute or two. Wouldn’t say Brayshaw categorically shut the rumors down, but I definitely get the feeling he’s more likely to stay than not after hearing how he responded. I love that Gawny had the audacity to ask him straight out too. Cheeky but makes for great content.

Hunter is an insufferable, diving, smug campaigner but I also rate him pretty highly as a player. So this news makes me doubly excited.

If only we had more anecdotal evidence to go by.

Thought I might not be as invested this season, but was already resorting to dropping F-bombs and even the occasional C-bomb by early in the second quarter. The vulgarity was mainly directed at the horrific umpiring, but also at our continual butter fingers at inopportune times. I like ANB but he's infuriating to watch when he's off. Just can't handle the ball cleanly. To be fair he was far from alone tonight. Nice to see that becoming a Premiership team doesn't now make us immune to complete and utter spuds tearing us a new one either. Matthew Kennedy, give me a [censored] break. Bloody good to be back to be honest.

He is grossly underrating Bayley Fritsch. Robbo had him at 16 in his last list, which was perhaps a fraction high but still much closer to his true standing that not even in the Top 50. LOL! On a wider lens, there is no way in hell seagulls like Merrett and McCrae (and even Walsh if I'm being harsh) are better than Tomahawk and Toby Greene.

Watched the replay last night. There wouldn't be many, if any, players out there who are better on the non-dominant side than Kozzie. I'm sure we recruited him in 2019 to mainly fill a specific need, but he's going to be so much more than that. His impact can't be measured on statistics. I also think Bowey was better than he was given credit for. I think it just comes as a massive shock when he actually does make a mistake. Won't hold my breath on Joel Smith staying fit, but he was really impressive. Tomlinson seems to be back way earlier than expected? Not suggesting any corners were cut, just pleased to see him out there and playing well. When he first went down in Tassie, you could be forgiven for thinking 2022 was a wipeout for him in terms of playing good footy again and yet here we are.

I think the recent Boxing Day test is a good reference point. Even though they are always dead rubbers, Ashes tests always pull the highest attendances. 2013 : 91,112 2017: 88,173 2021: 57,100 Crowds were WAY done last year despite full capacity being allowed. They were also way down in general in the early rounds of the 2021 AFL season, even factoring it that we only got to 75% capacity. Sadly, I think it will be 45,000 or less March 16.

I’ve only watched the full replay once. But I changed my username not long after September 25 and have watched that sequence 100+ times since. I still tear up most times, as I can literally feel 57 years of pain shattering away like glass in that moment. It was truly a surreal experience that will most likely never be replicated, even if we win another flag.

Feel like Big Benny Brown is in for a big year. He has already justified the trade on the back of his work in 2021. Heck, he justified it on the back of the Grand Final alone. But quite often, he'd dominate early in games before drifting out. I put that down to a lack of conditioning. Now, he's had a year in our system, has a full pre season to build miles in the legs, and is approaching the sweet spot of his career (29 y/o is absolute prime for a key forward IMO, particularly for one that started his career a bit later). He basically guarantees us a goal every time he takes a set shot. 60+ goals isn't out of the question in 2022.

Depends on the player really. Franklin and Judd played their best footy at 21, where as Hawkins reached new heights at 32-33 and is showing no signs of slowing down. I'd also say that modern players are generally more durable than they used to be. I remember when 30 was generally the age you'd expect a player to bow out. It's more like 32-35 now. May and Gawn are both turning 30 very soon but have fresh AA blazers in the wardrobe and should be at their peak a while yet. Trac and Clarry honestly have an eternity of good footy left in them.

Long deal for Fritsch out the back! Recovers and signs!

This guy seems really unlucky. Drafted mid season to the best team and eventual Premiers, who also had no real injuries. To rub salt into the wound, the only competition he could have potentially staked a claim for selection in was shut down shortly after arriving and didn’t return. Must have been a poor trainer or something. Will back our list management team on this one.

He could retire tomorrow and still be an MFC legend forever. But we still have 7 years to enjoy, the majority of which will be in his prime. Not sure why his "spin" out of traffic doesn't get the plaudits Dusty's "don't argue" gets. It's every bit as glorious to watch in full flight.

How many years for Dogga would you be happy with? Sometimes young stars don’t progress as expected for different reasons. I’m thinking of Jesse Hogan, Jake Stringer, Joe Daniher who were all once 20 year old stars. Patrick Cripps is not elite anymore after being one of the competition’s best a few years back. There are more examples I’m sure. That being said, I’m comfortable enough with Dogga being a generational talent that a three or four year extension (+1 already agreed to in 2022) would make an already perfect 2021, well… even more perfect.

Good early signs from Jacko. Hope he's next to put pen to paper.

Don't want to tempt fate, but since the start of 2017 Petracca and Oliver have missed a grand total of ONE game between them. Incredible durability. The signing of Dunstan has little to do with them. The signing still makes sense though. Viney will probably play 60-70% of H&A seasons for the rest of his career, and we're never ever again having a run with injury as good as 2021. If Choco can do with Dunstan what he did with Ed Langdon, then he might be able to push Harmes or JJ out of the team at certain points. Dunstan will cost nothing, he was on fire during the mid part of the season and 27 year old 100 gamers are exactly the kind of age profile we should be adding to the list. Good job Dees.

It's a good question and one I've thought about a lot. For me, these three are very hard to split but are the clear standouts from the 21 we kicked or whatever it was. 1. Petracca. Capping off arguably the most dominant individual GF quarter in history with THAT. Get outta here. (Little did I know he still had a hand to play in another) 2. Oliver. Legitimately pondered the possibility I had died and was at the pearly white gates after this goal. And yet it's still only #2. 3. Fritsch's 4th. Was a bloody goal without any context, but add in the crowd noise, BT's commentary, Fritsch's celebration and the realisation we were back made it pretty special. MIght be time for yet another rewatch of the 3rd quarter.