Bang Bang Bang

The Herald Sun leaks are concerning. Jagga Smith looks certain to be gone. Lalor at 1, FOS at 2, Draper at 3, J.Smith at 4. Leaves us with Tauru - nothing personal with him I'm sure he'll be OK but he's NOT what we need. GAHHHHHH. How frustrating.

Jagga Smith at 5, no doubt about that one. Low risk, plug-and-play midfielder who fills a need. Failing that, probably Langford. I'd be OK with Armstrong at 9 although would prefer a midfielder at both picks. A slider such as Smillie would be good. I am not super keen on Bo Allen due to the WA factor. I have a feeling JT will reach for someone random here a la Kosi and Windsor/Tholstrup.

This is exactly what St. Kilda did in 2014. They saw Tom Boyd get to the Bulldogs on a massive contract and eventually they started getting too cute and they ditched Trac for McCartin. I don't think we should be overthinking the pick. For mine JVR and Disco/Petty/Jefferson/Fritsch is more than enough to build a functional forward line for the future. Our midfield stocks on the other hand are super thin outside of Windsor. Even if Trac and Clarry recapture their best form, they aren't spring chickens anymore and nor is Viney. I am a big Jason Taylor fan but I would be pretty annoyed if we took Armstrong at 5 and he would have to be as good or better than someone like Jye Amiss to make up for it. JT's strike rate with talls over the years has been pretty average too compared to his smalls.

I have little doubt we would have buckled and handed over pick 5 and a F1 for this old man and maybe a F2. Count yourselves lucky Trac threw a tantrum when he did.

Turns 30 next year so basically this investment was for three years, and a third of that investment has been an utter failure. Just a terrible, terrible trade so far. Hopefully he can have a good season or two, or better yet, a winning moment in a final, but I won't hold my breath.

ANB is turning 29 soon so the Crows can expect to get 50-60 good quality, workmanlike games out of him. We should be expecting that if not a little more from the second round pick. Win-win trade and I'm glad we're not haggling over the exchange of future fourth round picks.

Takes way too long to get rid of it and has very little dare in his game. He’s reliable, and a hard worker, and he had a good moment or two in the qualifying final. But honestly he’s as vanilla as they come. Our decline had nothing to do with him.

I’m glad we took our chance when we had it because flags are bloody hard to win. In hindsight when we came back from 45 points against Geelong to win it there was going to be no stopping us in ‘21. Same thing has happened to the Lions. Incredible finals series for them. Zorko is a germ but will be very happy to see Jarrod Berry and Fages get a flag. The straight sets quinella of 22/23 sucked balls but I’d still take it over supporting the Sydney Swans. lol. No hard feelings with Grundy but those who were moaning about him can eat some humble pie.

Same number of flags as Goody since 2017.

What a game, maybe the best I’ve seen as a neutral. Can’t think of too many comparable, maybe that 2011 game where Buddy kicked an outrageous one near the end. Port and Geelong are my two most hated teams so this weekend was absolutely glorious. I would literally pay money to stream Chris Scott’s presser. How’s the Dangerfield and Holmes arrogance thinking they were going to miss the glory next week (ok maybe a bit harsh on Holmes). But nah seriously [censored] off Cats , forever this time please. :)

I swear Houston will be 35 y/o by the time trade week gets here.

This is the most enjoyable Geelong Cats win since 2011. Hate the [censored] with a passion but them absolutely nailing Port is glorious. Haha so funny .

I don’t think anyone is underestimating Houston the player. But for me there are four factors working against this: his age, his position, the asking price and the club’s direction. 1. He’s 28 next year - basically everything needs to go right for us to maximize his value. We might get 50-75 good “elite level@ games out of him at best. That’s not a lot. 2. He plays HBF which is far from the most important role to fill. He’s an AA player sure but he’s not exactly Zak Butters. 3. Two first rounders or pick 5 and change. Enough said, way overs. 4. Are we really pushing for another flag? We don’t want Houston to be the next Tim Taranto. Much safer taking pick 5 to the draft where we can focus on finding Clarry/Viney/Brand Petracca’s replacement.

Sudden death Hawks vs Dogs at the MCG in their current form is peak footy IMO. Deserves 90,000+ Hoping for Giants to win the flag so I’d be happy if they won along with Brisbane and the Dogs. I hate Port and Geelong equally. It will be funnier if Port lose so I guess go Cats.

So we were in the top 4 race with six weeks left, we were in the finals race until about a fortnight ago, and somehow we end up with pick 5. All it took was for us to blow a meaningless game and a couple more results to go our way. Jack Higgins may have single handedly revived us! You beauty. And we get some delicious Blues tears for dessert. Great finish to the year!

Fantastic! Barring a catastrophe, he should get to 300 games. A bit disappointed Lamby didn't consult with DeeSpencer prior to this, but I'll take it.

At least, I dunno, watch the game, before you bring your pessimism to the post match thread. What’s the point otherwise?

Dwayne is cringe but his burnt toast analogy is spot on IMO. I reckon there’s a huge chance we can rise up the ladder again in 2025. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned enough is us pioneering giving ANB a game after a public trade request. I thought he was great, so I wonder if it will catch on? No Jefferson yet but Turner could kick 40+ next year. He can seriously play. JV as dominant as I can ever remember him being. Melksham should definitely play one more. The guy in the ARC should be fired on the spot and never work for the AFL again. Completely gutless and sadly predictable. When was the last time one of them went our way?

This is honestly great news. More beers please Goody!

Why not I say? He can play for three more seasons, and will cost [censored] all in terms of draft picks. We don’t really have any young midfielders he’d be stealing the place of. Salary cap space surely won’t be an issue. In 2025 we will have 33-year-old Gawn, Petracca will unlikely be at his best right away, Clarry still an unknown, Viney another year older. We need all the help in there we can get. But if it all clicks then Macrae would be a huge get IMO. As good as Daniel Cross was back in the day (albeit totally different circumstances).

I absolutely hate Port and I hate seeing us lose February match simulations let alone real games, but in terms of 2024 I’m reasonably pleased with what transpired tonight. We showed we can match it with a good side with lots of players missing or out of form. And by losing Goody can finally give up on that ridiculous hope of making the 8. We now have two ‘free hit’ games to start prepping for 2025. I would personally send Clarry in for surgery, Gawny in for some rest and give Jefferson a debut. K.Brown and Laurie can get proper game time too. May and Windsor can stay in cotton wool. Our draft hand is improving by the week (please don’t waste it on Houston). There’s honestly a lot of 2020 about this season. We will be back!

Well the finals dream is alive for another hour or two. Freo have GWS and Port to finish. If they lose both and we win all three guess what? I’ll let myself out.

The midseason draft is a bit of a strange one, as it's not uncommon for players to be delisted only a couple of months after they were taken. Happens right across the league. I would therefore not be surprised either way at the end of the year. I understand the need for patience, but his lack of form at Casey may also mark his cards earlier than some are expecting.

Goody needs to get on and do a ladder predictor. If we win all three games, there's still a pretty high chance we end up a game and significant % out of the 8. I would be on board with Goody's stance if our destiny was in our own hands. But this just screams desperation and a wasted opportunity to blood some younger players, rest the injured ones, etc.

I would hold your horses on this one dazzle. All I can see is him saying Langdon's re-signing was imminent, and that was well after Sam Edmund tweeted it. Would love if we could get some more ITN posters on here like goodwindees and ChookinPerth, but there's a reason those two stay quiet most of the time.