hemingway

Very similar to marriage OD. All the same emotions, irrational behaviour, arguments, passions, praise, criticisms, joy, despair. And increasingly often these days, separation and divorce. With others choosing loyalty against all the odds.

People choose to ignore things or maintain silence be they trivial or important for reasons that we can all deduce. The past tells us that. How often do we choose to keep silent on things we have witnessed, heard about or aware of. Truth telling can be dangerous, risky and sometimes best avoided. Most people want to maintain harmony and not speak up. Sadly, this behavioural response has consequences and can damage others, particularly victims of bullying, racism and abuse in all its forms. Not to become involved is all to easy.

Dees out in straight sets. Geelong and Swans in the GF. Just feeling profoundly depressed today.

Brayshaw, the other one. Or Cripps?

Agreed although hard to imagine we could have been as bad as Brissie. But watching the Cats was depressing. Reminded me a little of my thoughts about the Dees a year ago. A great blend of age and youth, of talls and smalls, great defence, great ball movement, running players and forwards that kick goals, and great list depth. And I hate to say it, but well coached. Formidable. But as we know, a year is a long time in footy.

Spot on Lucifer

It’s funny you know. Its easy to accept the landscape or reality of AFL trades. We supporters should understand this with a fully rational mind. Yet we have no problem throwing ourselves enthusiastically into discussions about trading in new players in order to improve the team. And we have to acknowledge that players decide to stay or go for reasons of self interest. And clubs are ruthless in culling players. .As a club supporter we like stability and loyalty when the club is going well. We want our best players to remain loyal to the club yet are happy to wave goodbye to the spuds. We are emotional and feel betrayed if a good player or one with potential wants to leave. We feel that a player should remain loyal despite the fact that the world and individuals no longer value loyalty. Crazy hey.

Agree but also the clubs have to adopt a hard edged approach to trading out players or encouraging players to talk to other clubs. Think no further than TMac and ANB.

It’s a meat market and is getting worse each year.

We forget that young footballers like Jackson are overgrown kids but with immature minds. Families and mates are important to them. Full independence is often delayed. And let’s face it, Perth is a very desirable place to live and it’s small town mentality has attractions over a traffic ridden urban night mare that is Melbourne. I don’t see that the burdensome commute from the inner suburbs to Casey as an attraction.

Really? Incredible. He helped us win a flag. Can’t ask more than that. The boy wants to go home, his family want him home. And life in AFL can be very short with high risk of injury influencing trade worth and long term remuneration. Sorry to see him go because he has the potential to be a champ but understand and accept his decision. Most people would make the same decision.

We will never know but it was a bad look, reflecting a lack of discipline in regard to alcohol consumption and attitude. May is a fantastic player but his aggressive argument and banter is a problem. One of those things that if the team is winning it gets forgotten about but when things are not going so well looks bad. It must rankle with some players as it did with Melksham. Again May probably gets away with it a lot of the time because he is such a great player. I also suspect that Lever is a calming influence. But it looks bad and can only generate doubt about team spirit and it’s impact on others. Most of the time May generates his aggression towards his opponent as he did against Franklin but bad mouthing teammates is the other side of the coin. It needs to stop before it all ends badly. Off the field, the mix with alcohol is particularly dangerous.

Part of the disappointment this year stems from the fact that our expectations established on the exhilaration of our remarkable flag win have not been met. Our expectations were probably unrealistic. Certainly talk about a dynasty and back to back flags was premature. We know that it’s incredibly tough to win flags and those that do have to have everything going for them. And a successful team has to take the opportunities at critical times during a match. Injuries (or lack of them) and form played a major part in the outcomes last year and this year. There were issues around selection and tactics that have already been discussed in detail. In 2022, the team was away from the pressure cooker of Melbourne for most of the year and clearly benefited from being away together in Perth. The team bonding and energy created from training and living together appeared to be beneficial physically and mentally. The team, coaching and support staff were focused on this watershed moment in club history. To expect that the team would come back this year with the same energy and sharp focus was unrealistic. A little like the difficulty of an Olympic Gold medallist winning another gold medal. It’s not easy and the competition also gets better each year. And everyone wants to knock you over. It’s physically and mentally harder after the ultimate success. It is unrealistic to measure success only in terms of winning the flag. We have had a successful season but because of our expectations it has brought its disappointments. So it is important to learn from the mistakes and build improvement through coaching techniques, fitness regimes, skill development, recruitment and team selection changes. We need to introduce new players and play them. We need new blood and we need youth. And this means taking sensible decisions on a group of existing players. It is time for a number of our Casey players to be given the chance at senior level to provide the energy and enthusiasm we lacked this year. All is not lost. We still have star players and a good list but we will need change and improvement to win the flag in 2023. Supporters need to remain positive and manage their own expectations. Buy memberships, turn up for games and enjoy our successes through the season. Remain constructively critical at times of failure but without bagging players and coaches. Success is temporary unless the club continues to grow and improve each season. All for one and one for all.

Goody is not going to get a job in the creative arts. He has his method and sticks to it. But on this occasion I would have tried something different. Particularly given the poor form of many. Disappointingly predictable.

God, the AFL for its marketing and $ spent on entertainment, pay big bucks for Robbie Williams. Some folks might like him but he is seriously old school even for a bloke like me. Seriously underwhelming and middle of the road. We have so much home grown talent that would be preferable.

The risk of playing Petracca. High risk of further injury. High risk of not getting through the game. High risk that any movement through the hips and legs will be severely compromised. In a game that is likely to be intense and frenetic his fitness he will be fully tested by Brisbane. There will be nowhere to hide. He will be targeted. If we win, a high risk that he will not play in the Prelim. With a number of players under an injury cloud, with some doubt about their fitness to play, playing an injury impaired Petracca only worsens the overall team strength and balance. Watching a slow limping footballer will not help anyone’s morale or confidence, in particular that of his teammates. However, I’m sure Brisbane players will be delighted. Coach and staff definitely need to step in and say No.

A few seasons ago I thought Grundy was the best big man going around. Ruck work, marking, kicking and ground skills were exceptional. Given his injuries and time out of the game , I’m reticent about picking him up given doubts on his capacity to get back to playing regular footy. I’m also reticent about picking him up from Collingwood, because they rarely let a talented player go unless they are convinced that the player’s fitness is permanently compromised. There are exceptions of course, Peter Moore, being a case in point, but generally they make few mistakes in regard to their medical assessments.

This game along with the smashing of North were simply exhilarating. After such a long drought it was like the dam wall breaking. We played and won both games in such brilliant fashion. The team showed the football public that the North game was no once off fluke. After the game, like Paul Kelly’s iconic song, I ran across Gosch’s Paddock in Leaps and Bounds. My old man was seriously ill in Box Hill Hospital (these were the halcyon days when you could get a bed in a public hospital). He had been in trouble with the nurses for having his tranny on high volume and celebrating after a Demons goal. Our mutual joy was palpable as we reviewed the game and talked over the highlights. Memorable days.

“Love is in the air”

A really important role and Rendall inspires trust and confidence. Low key but impressive. No BS. Players are under so much scrutiny and pressure these days. Understanding, empathy and support are critical. If the mind is right the body follows.

All class.

Poor form OD. Your view of the Weed is well known. Just let it go. He is a Melbourne player and deserves better. Sam has been disappointing but let’s leave the derogatory comments and allow team selection to do the talking.

Ok but still don’t like it.

You have to worry about our sanity and life purpose.

Don’t like it all. What’s the protocol here. Would he be given the ok by the club or has he just gone off at the mouth. Can’t see the coaches being impressed unless there is some Machiavellian thinking going on. Should have remained humble and not comment on the opponent. Stupid.