Rodney (Balls) Grinter

29 minutes ago, YearOfTheDees said:

*There will be a team of dentists outside gate 2.

Wasting their time.  I think Collingwood supporters prefer the toothless look.

12 hours ago, Superunknown said:

Wait - this is important as our club does this too. Is this a case of GFG holder not getting a guaranteed ticket? That goes against the very product Does it not? I have had one since 2020 and although I was able to get a ticket in my basket in 21, didn’t buy it as I’m in NSW (just wanted to say I had a ticket , for 5 mins😂) I’d want to be sure of getting one

Edit: saw post on previous page. Standing room for 1k wtaf?

 

you either get a GFg or not - misleading if not and then ACCC might be interested if not 

I've had a GFG ticket since 2018 (optermisic I know, but it nearly came off that year).  2021 I bought a second for my son and I.  Thinking about it now, I'm a little disappointed the club didn't do something more to acknowledge and compensate those that bought GFG memberships in 2021, but I guess you could put the whole MFC membership in that camp and they did put on the day at the G I guess (that I didn't go to, due to being interstate and it being a little hollow).

The Ticketek finals ticking system is a farce.  The AFL are part of this issue as well.

Any grand finals guarantee tickets should be effectively quarantined from the general pool until very late in the week.  If there were a few thousand left unclaimed a few days out before the day, I'm sure they would find a good way to sell them (probably at a huge premium).

You also shouldn't need to sit in a phantom online que duing business hours to get access to tickets.  From what I've read, Ticketek themselves have confirmed what a farce this is with people basically pulled out of the que at random, rather than based on when they entered the que.  The current Ticketek system just adds stress and frustration to a time that should be enjoyable and exciting for AFL fans.

In 2023, you should be able to pre-enter all your membership details, seating/price point preferences and credit card details into the system in the days or even weeks before to register an application for tickets and then be sent those tickets to your account a day or so after both teams have qualified. 

Obviously for non garrenteed tickets there would need to be a lottery element to that, but at least that would be better than sitting around in the random que and wasting time for the eventual frustration of not being assigned a ticket or the ticket you wanted anyway.  What's more if the clubs and the ticketing allocator actually cared enough, it should be possible to take some of the randomization out the allocations and allow those who applied, but missed out on tickets for previous games first option of being allocated tickets for the next one etc.

Saw on one of the North FB pages they think that Charlie Spargo is gettable for them.  Played well in both finals apparently (Casey? and Vs Carlton).

I do rate Charlie and if he values actually playing in finals, I can't see him going to North.

5 minutes ago, McQueen said:

We get the drift 😂

It's not like any of us needed any inspiration to have a good heave at the moment.

1 minute ago, Jaded No More said:

The dog sat down on the bed and accidentally pressed the remote with his hefty bottom with 5 seconds left in the game. He is a therapy dog I tell you. 

And a smart one

7 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Think again.... they may make it IF the umps don't kill them in the process but they have a woeful record at the G

Yeah, but they hardly play at the G.  Should have really beat us here home and away and beat us convincingly in a final last year.

I think that poor record counts for diddly squat.  They are playing so much better footy than Collingwood.

5 minutes ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Did the AFL change the rules during the week???

High tackles, Throws, Trips all OK

Nah, if you've got a Collingwood or Carlton jumper those things and more are all endorsed.  You know knock a bloke out why don't ya - it's all good.

3 minutes ago, Winners at last said:

I won't be watching the GF, let alone attend. (I'm an MCC member.)

I want to see Brisbane smash them.

Get a hair cut Moore you Farbio

The AFL has lost the plot with the umpiring of the holding the ball rule.

DeGooey took on his opponent,was dragged to the ground with ball in hand and apparently that's play one.

Far out.  Take the rule out of the book.

Suck that Collingwood 

The Giants need to put a jumping shoulder smother on Maynard.

Legal play apparently.

4 hours ago, BaliDemon said:

Some footy journos like Sam Landsberger are pushing the deal will get done ‘quickly’, Sydney will get Grundy relatively ‘cheap’ angle. “Melbourne’s mistake” … “They want him out the door” … “Didn’t deem him good enough for senior selection” … etc etc.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-trade-news-rumours-whispers-2023-brodie-grundy-sydney-deal-could-be-first-deal-done-brynn-teakle-north-melbourne-kai-lohmann-contract/news-story/ec3d2b218bdb8b496af364cdbb801fa7

Double speak a plenty in all this talk over the value of rucks.

Apparently you don't need a good ruck,  but if all you have are under developed kids to play the role, who would get smashed then maybe you need at least a solid performer with height and a developed body - turns out they arn't that easy to come by and if you've got one that is, then they're worth something.

Add to all this is that Grundy isn't your average second string ruck and has put in a solid comeback season after having an injury cloud hanging over him when we picked him up.  Hicky was a solid contender, who had Max's respect.  I've no doubt the Sawns would appreciate that he bought that to their side and would this value the contribution a player like Grundy could make.

Collingwood desperately needed to offload salary cap space and valued that more than anything.  I don't think we're in that same position and think we certainly won't want to accept unders for Grundy.

As an asides, while I don't think it's what is driving the Grundy trade, I'm woundering what our plans are for the cap space that we free up from Grundy?  Does that help retain a player like Jordon or give us greater barging power to attract a mature key forward?

16 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

A general comment reading this entire thread.

My take at least is that I felt we did show backbone throughout the season, consistently.

Goodwin and co had to go back to the well numerous times to reinvent the forwardline due to injuries.

Outcomes are not a measure effort, or 'backbone' - but we are indoctrinated into a belief that those that work the hardest get the rewards. And outcomes are never guaranteed, doesnt mean its not painful though

In today's world of click-bait headlines and sound-byte journalism, our society, more than ever, thrives on the binary. It's a win-or-lose mentality, and nowhere is this more evident than in the world of AFL media. Too often, the media, in its pursuit for engagement, adopts an exceedingly simplistic approach to analyzing the complex dynamics of the game.

A team's performance on any given day is boiled down to mere outcomes – victory or defeat, heroics or blunders. The multifaceted nature of preparation, team dynamics, strategy, individual performances, and sheer unpredictability of the game often get lost in this binary view.

If a team wins, every decision leading up to that moment was right; if they lose, every choice was wrong. Players are lauded as invincible heroes one week, only to be derided athe next. There's little room for nuance.

Equating outcomes directly with success or failure is a dangerous misstep. I'll contrast it with parenting.. (not sure why, but it makes sense to me)

Imagine for a moment if parents adopted the same black-and-white thinking with their children as the AFL media does with the Dees (or whoever) If a child came home with a failed math test, would a supportive parent label them a failure outright? Or would they try to understand what went wrong, provide guidance, and encourage effort and improvement?

They face challenges, setbacks, and triumphs. A parent knows that defining a child's worth or potential based on one test or one moment is not only unfair but damaging. They understand that resilience, effort, perseverance, and learning  😀 are more critical indicators of long-term success than any single outcome. Of course this approach 'doesnt sell papers'.

As a society, we'd never tolerate such behavior towards children (humans???),  so I'd invite you to take a step back when reading things that are not nuanced and are black and white.

If you are feeling inflamed by Campbell (or whomever, at any given point in time) - just remember. You are the product.

Couldn't agree more EO.

When you look at what the MFC and it's leaders have been through over the past 15 years, nothing about that says 'fragility' to me.

Being though isn't about not being knocked down, it's about the getting up again.

We bomb out of finals contention in 2020 and the AFL media were sinking the boots into us and had almost completely written us off in 2021 (Brad Johnson if I remember correctly was one of the few who thought we could be up there, but most wrote us off).

Many of the core group from 2021 had been there and suffered through years of getting thrashed and being the laughing stock of the AFL, yet found a way to persevere and build themselves and the team around them into a team that has a premiership and 3 top 4 finishes in the past 3 years.

Despite all the injuries and setbacks we copped in the back half of the season and during finals, that we lost both games by around a goal or less, shows that the team had grit and spirit to fight out games and not drop our bundle and get thrashed on the way out as many others have in finals. 

There were stages in the second and third quarters against Carlton when they really looked like they had the ascendancy and were going to run away with it, but we held in there and got ourselves into a winning position.  Similar Collingwood where despite being short Angus and a fresh substitute player we could bring on in the back half of the game, we fought our way back and nearly snatched it.  In the 2021 GF, we came back from being 18 points down midway through the third and hardly kicked a point after that.

Forward line efficiency and consistency is something we need to rectify.   If we do that we will be THE dominant force within the AFL and no one will get near us.

Lions and the Giants either or will do.

In summary, in response to the question of disfunction, I'd say neither of our management or players are.  To the contrary, you don't get where we have over the past 3 years if your dysfunctional.

The results of our past two seasons do say there is room for improvement though and I think our track record says that we'll critically review seek that improvement out to give ourselves the beat shot at it again in future years.

1 hour ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Definition of the football department at the MFC:

• Goodwin – senior coach
• Richardson – GM of AFL Football Performance
• Yze – midfield coach
• Chaplin – backline coach
• Stafford – forward line coach
• Williams – head of development
• Whitford – VFL senior coach
• Radford - opposition strategy and education

Can someone who has real world knowledge and practical experience in such an environment please explain, in practice, how does a football department actually work? For example:

• What does the FD do during pre-season as a group?
• What does the FD do during a ‘normal’ week as a group during the season?
• How do the backline, midfield and forward line coaches work, in an integrative manner, during the year and on gameday?
• How is information passed between these coaches and then onto the players?
• Who reports to who?
• Who is in charge during the game of making moves and adjusting strategy and tactics?
• What does Simon actually do?

Well reasoned post Queanbeyan, but the title of the thread is over negative click bait garbage.

I'm really interested in the response to the questions you've posed, but my summary is that we did pretty well this season with the chips we were dealt.

So Grundy won't be viewed as a sucess in retrospect, but the opportunity was there and worth a try.

All up, I think Goody has the right approach and is always looking for ways to get better, without throwing the baby out with the bath water, but also prepared to make tough calls and changes when things clearly arn't working.

Few saw us even making finals at the end of 2020, let alone making a premiership in 2021, so people can continue to write us off, I say.  We'll be competing with a pretty good chance next year and I have confidence in the bulk of the players and coaching staff to do whatever is required to get there.

Really not liking some of the negativity and criticism of our coaching staff and players on here this morning.  If we'd won, by 5 points there would have been some very different reviews.

Thought we learned a lot of lessons from 2022 this year, but just got smashed by injury upon injuries to our forward half.  Yey the players played their guts out and kept us in games when we were dealt some rubbish hands on game day as well.

In 2021, everything clicked for us in our attacking game in the last 5 or 6 games of the home and away, but this season, every time we got close in that regard we had another injury to a key part of that forward setup that put us backwards.

In retrospect, I wished we'd appealed JVR's suspension, because he might have been the difference against Carlton and what he did was a whole 3 levels less severe than what Maynard did.  But next week, we probably would be smashed by Brisbane, like I hope Carton are and in all, I think we just didn't quite have enough go our way in the back 3rd of the season to be a truely dominant contender hitting the finals full of confidence like we did in 2021. 

Three top four finishes in as many years says we have the troops, the coaches and the culture to take us to another premiership with a few more tweaks and a bit more luck go our way.  Max, Viney and Goodie are great leaders, with quality around them on that next level as well.

5 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

was playing on nick riewoldt at 19

he's been a warrior but his body is shot

If only we had that version of T Mac now.

His best years were wasted when we were putrid or not quite there yet.

Tommy was an absolute athletic weapon when he was younger.

1 minute ago, David-Demon said:

Viney for mine had a good serviceable game. 

Maybe, but if we'd had the Jack Viney that rises to the occation, plays out of his skin and carries the team on his shoulders version of Jack, we'd probably have won.

I'm not being hard on Jack, because the reality is it's neigh impossible to do that every week, but it would have been nice.

We got smashed at centre clearances at times tonight and some better performances out of our mids might have just got us over the line.

Let's face it, we somewhat fluked it in 2021 when the key forwards we had in T Mac and Brown were able to stay out on the park enough and contribute at a level that ment we had a functional forward line.  Dogga was a reasonable contributor who's marking capasity we've somewhat replaced with JVR.  But until that point our forward line was a weakness up until 2021 and unfortunately, they were only able to hold it together physically injury wise for that one year.  BBB was an absolute asset in 2021 when fit, but he's body has fallen apart since then, likewise T Mac.

To a certain extent I think we pinned too much hope or faith on Weid making it as a key forward and didn't draft enough supplementary talls to develop along side him.

This season our forward line has just been smashed by injury at every turn.  T Mac and BBB trough age, accumulated injuries, Petty, Melksham and Fritsch through bad luck.  While Fritsch played tonight, I think he's struggled to get back his elite set shot accuracy in an injury interuped season.

I'm hoping that JVR comes back next year physically more developed, has benifited from the exposure and development he has got this season and imposes himself on games more as he really looks the goods at times and his goal kicking accuracy is superb.

Like @picket fence, I think Joel Smith needs to be played as a regular forward as he's got all the weapons on the lead, in the air, with his set shots and is also defensively excellent with his elite pace.  I was equally as impressed with some of his substitute backline roles late this season, but forward is where our greatest need is.  Needs to stay fit and on the park the whole season next year and really hit the start of the H&A running.

Whether it's Petty down forward again or we recruit another mature key forward, I think we still short that third key forward.  I was impressed with those 3 or 4 games that Petty did impose himself as a forward this season, but something really does make me feel we lack that third key defenders and or the player to take over Steve May's place in the side one day and I think Petty is that guy.  I like Tomlinson's determination, but I'm comming (perhaps somewhat belatedly) to the conclusion that he's just that fraction off the elite key defender material that made us so great in 2021.

2 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

It’s pathetic. I’m not have a crack at our mob but I was so disappointed the sheer difference in support. What is it that makes us have this little support? 

I think we do all right for attendance and passionate supporters, but our lack of co-ordinated vocal support is apaulling.

I think it's great the Demon Army have supposedly created a fun, social atmosphere, but they need to tell whoever leads their chants to step asides, because they don't have a clue and they have killed the vocal support for the team.  The pace of the chant they orchestrate is too fast and doesn't give the rest of the ground a chance to match the pace and join in.  Location behind the goals is also wrong as it is only a pocket of our supporters that sit there and it's hard to get the rest of the crowd to join in from that location.  

I feel the only time we do get a decient chant going it doesn't originate with the cheer squad and that's a real disadvantage.  That and that the MCC portion of the crowd actually need to get loud and support the team, rather than just be there to look pretty and socialise down in the bull pit or where ever.

I actually think the MFC did themselves a huge disservice with turning the former 'red seat' area on level one of the Northern Stand into a reserve seat only area that is now only ever half full as our previous MFC members area was always full and full of passionate supporters and the chants were led from that location by the cheer squad.

As for Carlton's crowd tonight, full credit for turning up and getting loud, but the degree of booing of every opposition shot on goal is an absolute disgrace and they've taken that mantle of bad sportsmanship from West Coast.  I can understand the odd boo, when the shot is being taken from a rank free kick, but to boo each and every shot is poor form and shows them up as being a bunch of ferals. 

3 hours ago, Wodjathefirst said:

The umpiring was disturbingly bad, that is a fact. (The four umpire system was a complete failure all year and sadly, I think it is here to stay)

2 hours ago, Hatchman said:

I never say much about the umpiring but it was disgusting. The AFL has to improve the standard of umpiring, it is just not good enough. 

The umpires tonight were putrid. 

Can say all everything that needs to be said about our poor goal kicking (which I think is actually more to do with our game style, which somewhat forced us into where we took our shots from where we did and results and more rushed behinds) but asides from that the guys tried their guts out and in reality I thought we dominated the second half.

Feeling really bitter and cheated by the umpires last night though 26 free kicks to 19 and giving them 3 x 50m penalties (only 1 of which I could actually understand what was there for) to our zero absolutely shifted the momentum of the game and kept them in it.  Some absolute shockers in the last quarter in this respects - giving them deliberate out of bounds when it hadn't been paid all night, that dubious free kick in our forward pocket, that to rub sault into the wounds they then paid 50 on top of and took the ball from deep in our 50 when we were applying the screws to 2 / 3rds the way down the feild, that rubbish free against Sparrow on their half forward flank when they got into him.  Total bias BS.  In a game of inches, they gave them a mile and helped them over the line last night.  Freaking furious.

3 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Seriously should have kept Bedford.  Did we consider matching GWS's offer or were we just happy to let him go without a fight?

Gave away any speed we had in Baker (probably the right call), Hunt (fair enough to a degree as he had a shocking 2022) but to also seemingly  not fight all that hard for Bedford?  Our last really zippy small on the list outside of Kozzy & AMW that had showed he had potential with his few limited entries as sub, then straight back to Casey.

Great post overall DD, but this is the part that really got me.  I didn't think Hunt was a complete loss in 2022 and if you look at it, he was a key component why we beat Carlton in our second last H&A last year.  Still for our list profile his age wasn't something that went in his favour, so can understand why we let him go (I'd still rather have kept him in a way), similarly Baker.

But Bedford always looked like being a quality player and like you I don't feel like we fought hard enough to keep him and got sweet FA in terms of trade compensation for him too.  When Geelong had their period of sucess 2007 onwards, they created a culture of guys that were willing to hang around on less money and/or more limited oppertunity, in order to be part of a great side and this is something I don't think we've emulated as well as we could have.

12 minutes ago, DubDee said:

this is remarkable. never thought i would see this day

used to either get jeers or worse, pity when i was the only kid wearing a Dees jumper

The other beautiful thing is hardly a Hawthorn jumper in sight.  I think I saw one Hawthorn scarf.

They were everywhere in my day.  Clearly the ĺack of sucess in the last 10 years that most primary school kids would have been around for is biting and long may it continue.