hemingway

Thank goodness, a huge compliment to you. Marketing has become the scourge of the modern world.

Great info furious. Enjoyed your summary with its insights. The feedback I got from the folks in the area was overwhelmingly positive. The players and coaches were engaged with the kids and enjoying the moment. Not all Dees fans either. The goodwill created by the community engagement is enormous. You realise that we have a quality group of players. Talented and with great values. All leaders in their own way. Obviously Max, BBB, Vines, Mayzie and Trac standout but they all seem impressive in the way they present and the behaviours they exhibit. Hopefully we will win another flag in the next year or two but if not I will still get enormous satisfaction in supporting such a strong club that is doing everything right in its quest for success. We have great people on board. We have come a long way baby.

As you know Uncle, I’m not a well man.

Red would love Mary Poppins !

I suspect it was a gentle loving caress before planting a wet kiss (on Clarrys hand).

Thoughtful

Footy has become a meat market with clubs, players, agents and the media all participating in the frenzy. It’s unpleasant but that’s the way it is. It gets worse each year. I am increasingly detached about it all and try not to invest emotionally in who comes or goes. Contracts no longer provide security to the player or the club. And speculation will continue to haunt the industry as player agents and the media have a vested interest in ensuring that a story keeps bubbling away. There will always be a core group of elite players that will commit to long term contracts but the rest will be fodder for speculation. I would be surprised if Kozzy commits to a long term contract given the emotional tug of family. His value to the club will depend on whether his heart is at Melbourne or elsewhere.

When he does something he looks good. Polished. But for mine, he does not do enough. There is no further improvement likely. If Melky gets a regular game we have problems. Much rather see his spot go to a young player that can develop and have more years left in the system. However, I agree he is a handy depth player to cover injury. .

The story of Jake’s career.

Feel sorry for Adem if he misses out. Can’t help but think that he would be a better long term option than Scott. The young Bombers would do well with a guy like Ooze with his calm head and development skills. But early success is the key to keeping the knives at bay. That will be a problem at Bomber land. Any club with Sheedy seeking to influence decisions is not healthy.

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.