Engorged Onion

ahhh, can't please some week to week - small things change for the individuals, the coaches, the systems and it becomes cumulative. how else can we account for such massive discrepancies in form lines between what are seemingly teams who are so far apart... bris/hawth, melbs/saints etc etc

I assume there will be some inevitable posts re: 'how did we lose to port' - similarly those who thought the first half against the dogs were awful. To me - this game/ the cats loss, richmonds loss, hawthorn etc - shows how close the competition is, and how mere percentages 'off your game' or at times 'luck' means you win, or get smashed... It's elite sport, it's tough and the margins are always small... AND - I really like what Roos, Goodwin and PJ et al, are building towards...and it may not be 2018...

kudos @Petraccattack, i didnt know you had it in you ??

that was dull... thanks @jnrmac

ive been looking for the '5 talking points' from the WB game on the afl site - has anyone stumbled across it? - could you pop a link to me - cannot seem to see it...

That just described my season also... mind you, i am always optimistic!

Oh, the early call... I remember Richmond and Tambling...

I am frothing for VDB to come back - however the question where does he fit and who does he replace in the current side? Anythoughts anyone?

I was a little tounge in cheek - and also it was irrespective of contract situations... mostly little bro's follow the big dog in the house :)... or go the complete opposite way of course and yer bang on @Ethan Tremblay..whatever sells the papers.

just the alternate view, but why wouldn't his brothers want to come back and play with him???

I always wondered whether mav was a relative of paul...

and at the risk of derailing...did you notice Jordan Lewis going to ground right at the end though... writing was on the wall back then ?

tasty tasty pole(c)

where's the one handed pick up against the hawkers in the highlights package ☹️

I see it that he was trusting trac to be clean and to give back once both players had committed towards trac.

if it was 7.6 at this stage - Freo would have folded and it would be a waltz with yer grandma... instead....

remember 5 weeks ago, when we bitched about high scoring games on friday nights... *cough*

Hogan... [censored] me - Hogan is Gen Z and some... wants to be all things. Mate, lead up from the square... you;ll be fine... Its [censored] like when Reiwoldt (for Saints) would jag 7 marks on the wing... yer ineffectual up there fundamentally pal..

Means players will be trying to run it in to 30m or 5m... and not even add to the score....

i(g)nite?

Ben?

never felt more comfortable about a result... though after the last 3 rounds its probably just apathy...

I think your anxiety around missing finals and your love of the red and blue and how much it means for you for the red and blue to be in finals to validate your existence - is clouding your judgements towards some assortment of dudes who happen to be drafted into some red and blue colours and are also striving for the same success... Good grief - no respect for supporters? don't care about finals? 4 losses in a row is an exemplar of that? Really? The players don't play for me - they've never met me - nor do they fist pump pre match and go - let's do it for the supporters... that'd be media speak. You can't tell me or anyone on the forum straight faced that the effort hasnt been there - perhaps our own expectations are misguided of where the group is really at right now - perhaps THAT's what needs to change.

sigh...like any of this conjecture matters... the team will perform poorly - some will be ok with it, in the context of growth, some will be upset and see it as the old demons... some will continue to support, some will disengage...but THEN jump on the bandwagon when the going gets good again... and all previous crimes of all parties involved will be absolved.

I take your point @Skuit -measured as always. My take is that the coaching staff (of all clubs) when they are implementing a new style/or a game plan, understand that it is a long game - over the course of many many seasons (exceptions would be the Bulldogs, but that was because they were able to throw the ball a lot...). I am sure maturity and cohesion is a consideration based on new personnel coming in - but the realty is (and is most definately being sacrificed)- you can only put on the park the people who you think will fit into your game plan...long term, not just for a few games in 2018 to scrape through to finals...Eg: I would presume rightly or wrongly Frost's papers are marked and that Goodwin does not see him either able to execute the plan down the line, hence blooding Smith and Petty... The staff are playing a long game - Supporters want the gratification now in 2018 understandably - but the FD's selections due to Levers abscence sets us up for personnel who can execute game plans in the early to mid 20's onwards for sustained success... Personally, I am accepting that we will have to cop some hits along the way when integrating new personnel into the system at AFL level/speed - with the assumption (and it's only that) that the Gameplan is workable in the cauldron of finals...but it takes exposure and time together to get that cohesion... I get that others may not, and that a loss or numerous losses irrespective of context, means that they are anxious that its the same old Dee's...