Deestar9

As much as I hate it …I’d take 2 as well. My reasoning is play under as much adversity at the start of the season ..can only hold us in good stead for the back end. Kozzie will learn to pull back a bit & as a club we learn to deal with best 22 players missing & testing our depth .

Weideman generally played well for us against the Hawks. Happy for him ..with Wright out he will play every week

Watched it on replay just to hear Jake Lever on otherwise a “joke” of a show. Two interesting points from Jake I noted …1st in his After game interview..” we didn’t really enjoy our wins last year especially during the first half of the season “ & 2nd point on Sunday footy show “ last seasons wins …we weren’t really playing our best footy “. Paraphrasing a bit but as a supporter I felt exactly the same last year. This win was back to 2021 excitement.

i think we can all safely say that our new recruits ran rings round Baker. Nothing against him personally but his form and disposal at VfL level never stood up at AFL level and he had plenty of opportunities. I wish him & Weideman all the best at their new clubs but they added nothing to ours.

Not sure it was head ? More chest area

Tom Stewart …huge loss. Can’t stand Cox ..

You put it far more eloquently than I but a perfect summary …

Again I go back to TMac’s comment that ANB & Spargo play the most important roles in the team. There is def no like for like in our reserves .

Obviously the MFC coaching panel have seen plenty that you haven’t seen. It’s not necessarily the best of our depth players that get’s picked rather the best for team balance.

We have heard from several different players during pre-season that they will be playing (at times) diff positions. Clarry in the Tigers game played a little at half back. The thinking behind this is of great value especially “in game” that if a player goes down …multiple players can shift around & cover an injured player. This will be tested on Sat night …we will have 22 fit ..hungry players who if they play their roles we will win. The bulldogs have their own injury problems & their so called “tall 4 “ are just as unproven as the Grundy/ Gawn combo although I have a lot more confidence in our combo.

So how do you think they’ll set up with our forwards given that both Gawn & Grundy will be in there at times ? Temptation would be to maybe throw Darcy back there . Horses for courses I think 🤔

Interesting listening to Grundy being interviewed & he gave BBrown a huge wrap

Really enjoyed the Grundy interview with Whately …the more I hear him ..the more he impresses . Of particular interest was his comments about our training standards and attention to detail ..

I preferred to listen to TMac’s interview on the “Tossers” podcast where he stated that the two most important players in the team were Nibbler & Spargo. His summation of their roles was very interesting and I guess not many of us would have known that .

It was on a program on Stan called “Show Me the Money 2”. It was about the AFL draft …what goes on behind the scenes, I really enjoyed it. In one scene & I’m paraphrasing here… Grundy was saying he could get how the “suits” don’t want you but when the coach looks you in the eye & doesn’t want you then I’m like …..well I’ll ply my trade elsewhere & I’ll see you f#*king Kings Birthday. It was said with a grin …I think Dwayne got the wrong idea !

You’re correct…Chandler should have got a Free for push in back & kicked a goal but the goal umpire erred as it did hit the post & he paid a goal. Max didn’t kick the goal

I'm not re-inventing the wheel by stating that to win a GF final everything needs to go right. You need 22 fit & committed players...22 relatively (by finals time) healthy players & a modicum of luck. I have no doubt about commitment but finals time the health of several players & unfortunately our top liners was seriously compromised and no amount of luck was going to change that. To suggest that bringing in VFL players ( & I have no doubt that some will become very good AFL players in time ) would have enabled us to win a GF or even a final is ludicrous. It is actually disrespectful to the players who weren't fully fit and also to the opposition. A half fit Gawn ..Trac..Fritch..& Oliver to name a few would be streets ahead of whoever came in. If Gawn hadn't come up & JVR had come in ...I have no doubt our losing margin would have been far greater. To validate that point..with our best 22 this year..we might see a Chandler or a McVee come in but that would be because a Salem & maybe a Viney are missing so basically our side is the same & our additions have been through recruiting. We could fill 200 pages of theories about who didn't play..who should have played throughout the year but the cold hard facts are 2022 was a year that everything didn't go right. Now how lucky are we as a club & diehard supporters that with everything crossed..2023 looks like it could be a year that everything goes right.

he got a "tap" to the solar plexus from Baker

Not really ..,MCC/MFC membership is generally paid when you pay your MCC membership..the option is there

Goody also said that …

There were 10 players at Victoria House the week before the Swans game. Max alone was there 3 times. MFC won’t use injuries as an excuse and we all know there were many contributing factors but don’t dismiss the fact that we had a lot of players carrying stuff.

Hmm…maybe illicit substances v grog. Whatever anyone’s opinion is on drugs …should they be legal /illegal is irrelevant. At the moment in todays society ..he was taking an illegal substance. I get the “everyone does it etc” however AFL players in general have an extremely short playing career & a 1 strike & the ensuing fallout he will cop as a 20yr old should send huge warning signs to the industry as a whole.

What about Collingwood & the media in general take a good hard look at themselves. He is basically a 20yr old smart [censored] with not a particularly high IQ & if Collingwood had a better culture he would have been told to “pull his head in “ and concentrate on his footy . But no ..,apparently he is a breath of fresh air & footy needs some personalities. You act affronted because inevitably he has gone down the slippery slope that in this AFL obsessed climate can oh so quickly happen. So save your platitudes for the young people who don’t have the network & education around them that you get if you’re an AFL player. Don’t excuse him because “everyone else is doing it”. For mine he is in danger of going down the same path as many other talented young players who have excuses made for them quite simply because they play AFL .

I’ve read this theory on various media outlets over the last couple of months …

We have a fit Ben Brown..Tom McDonald ..Bailey Fritch (our Premiership Forward line) available at this stage. JVR I’m sure will be great for us but he will fight for his spot …