At the break of Gawn

Yep, I went the early crow and thought Eagles were going to dominate after the first qtr, but as you said, after qtr time the Eagles looked really slow under done. With the Pies losing, Richmond anything but convincing, Eagles losing and us also losing, there's a clear correlation between shorter pre-seasons (and hence less prep) and round 1 performances.

WCE has the shortest pre-season out of anyone and yet still pantsing Brisbane at the Gabba who pantsed us in the JLT. Not sure how long this short pre-season excuse is going to work for us.

One of Max’s trademarks last year was playing a loose man in defence sort of role to great effect after the centre bounce. I didn’t really notice this watching the game live, but if Preuss comes in, then surely that will help Max clunk a few.

I think the loss of Hogan is going to be noticed a fair bit this year. Tmac is a very straight up and down forward with out any sort of tricks, and I feel Weideman is the same. They don’t have the forward nous to create goals when they don’t mark the ball. I think people were too overawed with Weid’s 1-2 good finals games that they forgot the body of his work. Joel smith might provide something dynamic when he returns to assist with those two tall forwards.

I'm tipping Ryder will have a tough time tomorrow with it being 31 degrees while wearing that giant stackhat on his head. Surely he won't be clunking them with it also obstructing his vision slightly.

Watts will play half back. Played there both JLT games. Ryder and Marshall will be their talls.

100% - some turn to alcohol to diminish the uncomfortable feelings that anxiety brings up, and some get caught in the trap to think that this is the only way to deal with them. Hence, I understand when Peter Bell says Jesse’s anxiety problem can lead him to making poor choices on alcohol consumption. I hope that Jesse can find the right way to manage his anxiety without the use of alcohol.

If I recall correctly, by the time finals came round last year we actually went back to a more traditional 6-6-6 structure, and no more silly centre bounce setups. Thus, we should be well adjusted to this set up.

Have seen on Instagram that Viney is doing an intermittent fasting diet. Essentially he fasts between 8pm at night to 12pm the next day. He’s claimed it’s helped him lose a bit more weight (without losing muscle) and his training hasn’t been affected. Will be interesting to see if he continues it during the season. Also said that “Personally, I think alcohol plays no role in an athlete’s diet”.

Has anyone had their membership pack delivered yet? I upgraded to Demon Seat plus in mid October and haven’t received a thing.

That’s the worst of the lot, but Richmond are in the same boat.

I’m not too worried about that. Isn’t he still in a moon boot? What’s the point of being out on the track?

You realise he was an Adelaide supporter as a kid? Even I would have worn a freo scarf to that game rather than barrack for Hawthorn.

Good summary although a bit harsh on Weid.

How did Gawn get no votes against the Saints just then? Absolutely bizarre.

I honestly wonder if we would have done better in a night game? The heat really took it out of us early. Friday night was the logical time slot for us giving everyone 7 day breaks after the semi-final, but the AFL preferred the TV ratings.

I think from looking at the team stats, it was simply two things that let us down. 1. Work rate of the midfielders 2. Our spike in deadly turnovers resulting in scores (>10 goals) 1. Eagles took 96 unconstested marks. You can’t tackle a bloke when it’s not in a contest so they kept the ball off us after they won the contested ball. Pies only let them take 69 uncontested marks. Workrate 2. Contested Possesions - 158 to 145. Already been spoken about. Workrate 3. Low tackle numbers (34) - because of the Eagles flicking it around the ground. Most teams get low tackle numbers against the Eagles. But ours was horrendous. Workrate 4. Forward 50 efficiency- 69% vs 43%. No pressure on the ball carrier due to the Eagles uncontested style from the lack of work rate from midfielders. Plus our key defenders got killed. Turnovers plus workrate 5. Lost the clearances (40-32) we’re supposed to be the best at that. Workrate

I still can’t understand how we lost the contested ball so easily? It’s our bread and butter and we beat them with their same midfield group in rnd 22. Is it just not turning up? Was it the tackle pressure?

I’ll be quoting that on Twitter when he doesn’t take a mark on Barass next week

@joeboy Might as well do a season one for each player given it was our last game.

@joeboy Might as well do a season one for each player given it was our last game.

Viney sole captain for 2019

My optimism for 2019 just went down the toilet. Before this game I thought, no matter the result, we’ve got a huge few years ahead of us. But this result hit me for 6. So many gaps in this playing group.

That’s light on Frost. Him and Omac were horrible in the first quarter.

I feel sorry for all those fans who have travelled to Perth and those at Fed square. an absolute pathetic display.