fr_ap

Terrible news for us - will kick 4.

Whilst the form of langford and Lindsay is concerning, we need to remind ourselves that they've played 20 games. 2nd yr blues are real and against a primed peak age midfield of Brayshaw serong Bolton, it's not surprising they would struggle. They'll struggle against Cripps next week too. Same goes for Windsor, albeit less excused as he's played more games, but I do find myself wondering if he's a centre bounce midfielder at all. He looks like a straight line outside receiver, and I think he is one. Yeah he'll get on the end of a tap or an out the front clearance maybe once a game, but I just don't think he has the tackling, contested, ability or body for the contest that you need in there. He's not a player you want down on your knees foraging for the footy and trying to body it to advantage. Tbh a lot of the players in this team are a bit NQR. Certainly missing a few critical ingredients.

Can someone elaborate on where Taylor needs to improve, what shortcomings he has? For those who couldn't see the game

Yep, can understand that POV. Agree with the other posters point too. If the gimmicks keep some kids interested for longer when their team is at the bottom of the ladder, or long enough for a real football interest to emerge, then surely thats worth a try.

Comprehension lacking here. He spoke confidently and with authority about ALL kids preferences. Not his own kids preferences. He then went as far as to say he promises "kids these days" (i.e. all kids) are not interested in the music or the americanisation. That is a sweeping generalisation. In contrast, I spoke only about my kids as just one example of a group that might have a different preference. I can comment on this because I know their preferences. I'm not in a position to make a generalisation about the preferences of all kids everywhere so I didn't do that. I only gave an example to suggest that preferences probably differ across the board. So no, it's not the pot calling the kettle black, if you understand the meaning of the term. Narrow was the wrong term, agree. It was the very blatant generalisation that your view of kids' preferences is THE undisputed truth that I took issue with. That they are uninterested in the 'americanisation'. Your experience as a teacher may have you close to the mark, who knows - but worth pointing out that there will be many, like my kids, who do like the gimmicks and americanisation. It's this group that the Lions, North and now apparently us will be trying to target. As for wading into your field, I did nothing of the sort....

Perth to Darwin is 3.5 hours. Melb to Darwin is 4.5 hours. Ugh.

Horrendous news for both him and for us. Our most important player but a fair margin.

Speak for yourself....you might be the father of two young boys. You're not the father of all the young boys and girls. My kids love the music after goals and love the half time dash. They're pretty ambivalent on the footy itself as they find it confusing and hard to follow. Now mine are quite little ....too little to appreciate the game for all its beauty and certainly too little to follow the ever changing and poorly applied rules. The gimmicks, as you seem to think they are, are there to cater to different people of different interests of different ages. The people who won't show up rain hail or shine....until one day it clicks. Until then, the music, games, gimmicks keep them interested enough to keep attending. Do not make generalisations on things you actually have quite a narrow view on.

Cameron was a pretty clear #1 for intercept marks amongst rucks last year. Not everyone is out to get us

I think it's Goodwin. Richo not faultless either, and I would have preferred he left at the same time. But he ultimately defers to the coach. Goodwin set the strategy, standards and was the voice instructing and guiding the team in critical moments. Whatever he allowed to fester is on him. It's a little obvious in hindsight - certainly he was able to build a high performance culture (or perhaps sustain what was built by predecessors...)...but he wasn't of the humility and mentality to prevent a culture of complacency creeping in. Very different to the likes of Fagan (they have other cultural problems, but are not complacent).

Yep this is what I'm annoyed about. He said in an interview he's worked on his kicking every single day over the offseason. Mate, you had 10 years to do it. Why now? I honestly think the club was so beholden to these guys who took us to the promised land that they were totally beyond reproach. Total comfort, total complacency. To top it off, Oliver's now also been BOG and given the most articulate and insightful interview I've seen him give ever. This actually vindicates King to be honest, but far out it is frustrating

As much as I don't wish him any ill will, I am somewhat annoyed. It certainly looks like he's applied himself more up there. Faster, clearer. Showing far more composure hitting targets. Of course maybe he needed the change, and maybe the team has others so he doesn't have to do it all. But still, we could sure have used the petracca of last night over the last few years....

Far out he looks 2 metres quicker...lost weight. And actually bulleting passes inside 50... hasn't done that for us in 3 years

Sharp has the tank and speed to go with Nas all day, but not the IQ. He'll get caught out. Sparrow similar minus the pace. It probably decides the game ...I do not expect Koz to be able to get away from Windhager. I agree with the poster who suggested we be the first to go after Nas physically. Would love it if we got totally unsociable on him!!! Windhager does it to Kozzie....

A few things -i am loving that we have some mids who are choosing to run, handball and share the footy around in the midfield to find time and space. Sorry to say it, but so much of our bad i50 entries in years gone were trac, Oliver and Viney just smashing it on the foot. We're not going to win many contested possession counts....and our stat profile is going to look very different ...but wowee it's so much better for the forwards. -CJ is exactly what he's always been. He will create a bunch and cost us a bunch. I wish he was a bit better 1v1 so hopefully this can improve, as it did with Bowey. -Im not sure Kolt has the brains for top level footy. He's half a second slower on the uptake in general. Looks fine in a set shot, or in space, but doesn't have the quickness of thought AFL footy requires. Remains a weirdly poor choice by J Taylor who normally prioritises footy IQ. -Laurie absolutely does have the quickness of thought, but his size is a limitation if he's to be a mid. If we could combine Kolts body and Bill's brain, we'd have a player. ATM we have two halves who will probably never be much more. There is more hope for Laurie than Kolt imo. But bill has had a few more years in the system. -We will concede some big scores this year. Might score a few too...but just be prepared. We've been so miserly for so long it's probably going to sting when it happens ...

Just because he plays well for the Giants doesn't mean he was going to rediscover things with us. Like many before him, probably needed the change of scenery. I wish him well.

Not sure what the fuss is on Ah-Mu. Huge guy and that gets him some grabs. Adams needs to be better. But there is no way he's AFL grade. I am quietly a little bit excited by Kentfield. Just looks and moves like a player.

Don't agree on Lever. Might look good in certain constrained match Sim situations, but his lack of athleticism, lateral movement and offensive ability is no longer at the level the game demands from an intercepting 2nd/3rd tall. Also if we do intend to move the ball faster, the backline will look very open. He's doesn't have the speed to close large gaps of space. Yes he can read the game, but with the speed teams move the ball he'll often be helpless. Add to that his limited 1v1 defensive ability and it's all trending in the wrong direction for him. In my opinion of course.

Agree with this. Was there that day and thought Sinnema showed a lot of promise. Was very surprised we didn't pick him up.

Okay...but surely you understand that the Men's has a significant influence on W attendance. It doesn't exist in isolation ....they are literally marketing to the same supporter/customer base using the same brand. Yes, there are W fans who aren't M fans and plenty of M fans who aren't W fans (yet), but the overlap in the middle of that Venn diagram (people who will have an interest in any/all things their club does, like you and me) is by far the biggest component. Every supporter base is either under/over penetrated in terms of their engagement converting to attendance. Ours has been relatively high (comparing attendance vs membership) for some time now in the Men's, as we had a period of success. There actually isn't a lot of juice left to squeeze out of our supporter base. Despite that our W engagement is not that bad across the board..certainly ahead of other clubs. North's penetration has been very low in the Men's, which means far more opportunity for the W. People need their fix somehow....It's no surprise that with a historic all conquering team that has won 26 in a row, their conversion is currently through the roof. Winning does that. In all sports, in every continent, for all of history. For what it's worth, I know several people (middle level, not "company guys" who'll spin a tale) in the Ops team at AFL house involved with AFLW, and all the engagement metrics are tracking about where they should be given its maturity, rapidly improving standard and competing sports in the landscape. Considering we are a very small market which is highly saturated with sporting content, and the total societal stigma the W is fighting against, it's going fine. The attendances rival and sometimes exceed A-League and Rugby. its a build....was never going to happen quickly.

What's with the bemoaning of our crowd? I went to the QF and whilst I don't know the attendance number it seemed vaguely the same as the number yesterday, maybe slightly less, but we weren't playing a Victorian side. FCS folks, North have won 26 games in a row and their men's side hasn't won a game in 5 years. There is a 50-100k supporter base there absolutely desperate for relevance and success....some of them were like ravenous junkyard dogs when Garner kicked that goal, it was genuinely bizarre. They are incredibly frustrated and starved of success. Of coure they're getting around them....

Extremely frustrating finish after being the better team all day. For a team that had won 25 in a row, they don't exhibit much skill. Bunch of contested bullies and in the last they decided to go full clobber mode. Agree with others on our lack of a big contested mid...Garner just gets it and moves it forward. Not much else to her. We were the only team moving the ball with system and showed far more skill I thought. Had the chance, didn't put them away. North fans were horrific and are clearly used to belting every team. Most don't know the rules and have clearly jumped on the unbeaten bandwagon. They couldn't believe it when they had a [censored] paid against them. When we had jumped them and I was just cheering loudly as the only dees fan with my little fella (who can be a bit extra), i was told by several to shut up. They're clearly not used to having any opposition. May their men's team continue to languish at the bottom.

Remind us why he's fallen?

Hibs leg was good but it's not what made him great. He was all heart and grit. Hated losing a contest. Thats what we miss.

What's with the lack of hype around here on Xavier Taylor? Looks like an absolute sure thing if ever I've seen one. High floor but also high ceiling type. Vlastuin clone