tiers

Training hard in hot weather leading to involuntary ejaculations of the contents of the stomach through the mouth was a old timers standard measure of effort and determination. Think RDB at kangas in the 70s. In reality, it was a sign of ignorance about the need for constant hydration during exercise. All those "drink carriers" during the match are a response to modern understanding of hydration. Even cricket has adopted this regime with drink eskis strategically placed around the boundaries to hydrate fast bowlers. That Spargo went too far is a fault of the club for not monitoring his efforts. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.

Depends on whether the game is played in the air or on the ground. Until weagles won, I cannot recall the last time a strong marking team full of talls won the GF. Given that we do not have a phalanx of marking talls, then we should play play a ground game that matches our strengths and has been shown to be successful. Maxie and Brayden are big enough to scare most teams even those with lots of 200+ strugglers. 2020 Go dees.

If Jeffy is playing a 40+ goal per season game next year, he will be in and Goody will find a way to cover for him if necessary. A firing Jeffy will take away a first or second ranked defender from many contests lest he sneak away and find a path to scoring. A Jeffy who can't find the ball will release a first or second ranked defender to place pressure on other forwards. Spargs and nibbles contribute in other ways beyond scoring as defensive forwards and creating linking plays. With Jeffy it is all or nothing. A simple equation - score and you're in, fail to score and you're out. We should know early in the season.

" can predict 60% of non contact injuries ". Do they have any contact injuries? As for the data it seems that, over the long term, the unbiased analysis of basic empirical data could be expected to produce patterns that would assist in preparing game plans and even selections against opposing teams to maximise chances. Are the data available for each team only or are they more broadly distributed to all teams against all opponents? If more broadly distributed then I can envisage a time where real time data analysis would supplant coaches' decision making. Please don't let that happen.

To Watson 11 re one on one stats. Using Rance a a model for a highly rated defender, it seems that the lower the % the better over a career. But is Taylor better than Rance (questionable based on AA selection) or is it really only a measure of game plan and game style for each player n a team? Is it better to never be outmarked or to prevail in ground contests? It would be interesting to see Neville's stats as he is rarely beaten one on one and also my perception is that Lynden Dunn was also very solid in one on one but only at ground level.

To Watson 11. Your description of the process ie working backwards after the fact to find a combination that matches the outcome, would imply that the calculation could produce a different result for each player and each team after each game. A post facto reality check that in 2017 we had a good list. Unless the results were either aggregated or otherwise moderated over a series of games, how would that assist in predicting outcomes of future games or is that not the intention of the algorithm?

It seems to me that the one stat that is missing is "value per possession". Of course this is so subjective to be impossible to measure but given that weagles stats in 2018 were not elite then perhaps there is something else out there. When I see Tracca receive the ball in a pack and in the mayhem turn around and off one step kick a goal tells me that possessions and score involvements are not enough. Or when I see Tracca receive in midfield, spot and deliver perfectly to Spargo who in a blink handballs to TMac for an easy goal, raw stats and algorithms become meaningless. It's all about that immeasurable quality - footy smarts. And we are starting to accumulate it is spades. 2020 Go dees.

The top eight teams for games played are the teams who have been regulars in the finals in recent years including 6 out of the last 7 flags (Footscray the exception at 11). Experience as measured by games played as a group matters. We are 13. One more year together will see us near the top. Then we pounce. 2020. Go dees.

In our backline we will have May and Lever, who were standout key defenders in their former teams, Hibbert is an All Aus, Nev who should be All Aus, OMac, Salem, Frost, Lewis, J Wagner, Fritsch, Smith, Kolo and others who can fill in. In our midfield we will have a rotating mix of Clarrie, Viney, Jones, Harmes, Brayshaw, Nibbles, Hunt, AVB, Stretcher and others who can fill in. All serviced by All Aus Maxie and perhaps Preuss. In our forward line we will have TMac, Weideman, Tracca, Melksham, Hannan, Garlett(?), Spargo and rotating midfielders and ruckmen who can kick goals. The key element is depth. And no one knows who might step up from the draftees and rookies. Give them time to play together as a unit to develop the innate and intuitive understanding that top teams show and I am confident that we can be successful. 2020. Go dees.

The Weid moves like a natural footballer but will take time to fully blossom. He can mark, kick, chase, tackle and run as well as, if not better than, others at his age and stage of development and has footy smarts. I think of his set shot goal from near the boundary after running backwards to take the mark and also his mark and goal from the square during the finals. Only good footballers can do this. Give him time. 2020 Go dees.

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The 50m arc was introduced in the late 1980s to help the players and commentators judge distances and for all these years was not a part of the rules of the game. Now it is to become part of the rules like crappy sports like netball and hockey where whistle blowing is an essential element of the entertainment. In our great game, free kicks were meant to be earned at the contest, not from silly little technical infractions like this. It was bad enough when the centre square was introduced in the 70s (although the logic for that was at least arguable), but recent rule changes like 50m for having a little toenail one grass blade over an imaginary line, interchange miscounts and this latest abomination, are destroying the beauty of our great game. I can see 12 players in a Walls/Fitzroy style huddle at the line before a bounce ready to block for one player to escape and run or 12 players strung out like a moving fantasy of beads on the 50m arc or other schemes that I will divulge only to Goody. It makes a mockery of our great game but will look like dynamic art when viewed from a drone camera perched above the ground. But it's not footy. 2020 Go dees

The 6-6-6 rule is a sacrilege and a violation against the beauty and spirit of our great game. Those who introduced this rule deserve to be castigated to the fullest extent by all believers in footy. A pox and a curse on the afl who are seemingly trying to take our game away from us. That coaches and teams will game the rule and find numerous unpredictable or unconsidered methods of manipulation is a given. Imagine what Sheeds, Clarko, Barrasi or any former cunning backpockets would do. Leave our great game alone. Been watching fox sports afl old games from before the intense involvement of the rules people and the game in the past was a thing of beauty and still watchable and enjoyable today.

I am ordinarily against a co-captain model but, in this case, it would be befitting for Jones to retain a part of the captaincy so that he might be the one to raise the cup should we achieve the ultimate victory. To deny him the possibility of this major honor would be intolerable given his dedication, service and leadership over the bad years. No one in our history (other than Robbie) would deserve this more. Viney (or whoever) can then focus on their own games and provide the lift in spirit when needed. We should actively seek and develop multiple leaders who can provide dynamic on field leadership and/or cool heads and on field direction.

Can anyone say for certain that Tracca is not training to the seemingly "Maxie level" demanded by the commentators here?. What if he is and this is what maximum Tracca looks like or what if he is training to the level required by the FD for HF flanker and part time midfielder or what if he straightened his kicking and kicked 30 a year and dished off many more? He fills a valuable and vital role and, let's face it, not everyone can be a dashing Brayshaw or a ball magnet Oliver.

To Jane02 Get a grip. To risk missing a possible demons GF just for work is unconscionable. Change job or tell the conference that you know it all and it's not worth attending and get someone else to take good notes.

Incremental improvement will do.

Maxie is Maxie, Tracca is Tracca and Garry is just an opinion these days. I am unaware of any real evidence that Tracca is not trying 100%. Just because he looks less urgent doesn't mean he is. Apart from 42 shots at goals in 2018 does anyone know how many he dished off eg. Jones goal early in the last quarter against cats, pass to TMac near goal square in one of the finals? Quick possessions, good decision making and makes a great contribution. Let him play his game, not ours. 2020 (magic in numbers - 1+9+6+4 = 20) Go dees

2020. Go dees.

Footy is always about possession and territory. Those teams who can win the ball and maximise territory gain will ultimately prevail so long as they can retain possession where it counts in the forward line. Our problem in the past has been that, notwithstanding a majority of forward entries (i50s), we have not been able to retain possession and score often enough due to our inablity to retain possession and defend quick exits. Getting the ball through the midfield to the forward line has not been the problem. So, in order to improve, we must keep the ball inside 50 for longer periods and develop methods to score from those opportunities. One way to keep the ball in the forward line is to deliver the ball with more precision to a teammate. Weagles showed us up badly in the PF by their ability to deliver precisely. Another way is to deliver the ball quickly and deeply into the forward line and then hold it in, the so called manic/chaos theory. Players like Frost and Hunt who have both mongrel and pace can carry the ball through the midfield and deliver it deep. Tracca, AVB, Jones and others can then hold it in to create scoring opportunities. Both game plans have merit but require a mix of players who can rotate through the wings eg Frost, Hunt, Salem, Stretch, maybe KK, Fritsch, Hannan and perhaps more as 2019 proceeds. Speed is good but let's not get fixated on one plan and one style. If speedy wingers are available to be drafted, then good. If not, than let's adopt a different plan for success. We have the players for both and a coaching panel that can modify its plan to suit the players we have. Go dees, 2020.

TMac, OMac.

Please, no more snide comments about Jesse. As supporters, we invested far too much in his ability to score goals when his real talent lay elsewhere. He was an outstanding champion of our club and deserves to be remembered fondly. For various team management and balance reasons, he was never allowed to reach his full potential. His real talent was up the field as a running CHF where his ability to read the play and get to a contest, win the ball in the air and on the ground and dispose to the best position was second to none for a 193 player. There was even a post that suggested that he play CHB. He would have excelled in this position and, if the trade had not occurred, it was a viable option. We should thank Jesse for his contribution and wish him well at the dockers.

Does this imply that there was no learning of his craft at kangas? Or Goldy too dominant/precious?

Jesse was going anyway this year or next. Letting him go this year for trades to acquire established seasoned players was smart. It is not certain that even a first round draft pick next year for Jesse would have been better. Our record shows that, while Jesse was a real contributor to high goal scoring, we scored highly and won many games without him - think weagles, GWS, cats and dorks this year. Bringing in a gorilla minder to stiffen up a backline with stoppers such as Jetts and OMac and running attacking players such as Hibbo, Frosty, Jades, Sales, Leaves shows strategic planning. May was not my preferred choice but he was selected to plug a hole and play a role. If he does his job, we might stop the leaking and, together with any goals scored by Jesse's replacement, break even on goals. As weagles showed this year, two ruckmen are better than one if used intelligently. Highlights of Preuss show a big, strong, mobile, marking ruckman who can score goals. Imagine Maxie patrolling the backline and Preuss frightening the opposition in the forward line. If this can be pulled off it could be the master stroke of the decade. Wallace is a blunt, soft, broken tool.

Let's wish them all a speedy and permanent recovery.