tiers

Hardeman is a genuine contender for best on a HBF. Frank Davis, premiership player and club captain, does not come close and Jetta was good for too short a time.

Rivers has one major advantage over Hunt - he can take contested intercept marks. In that he supports May and Lever in holding out the oppos. Jayden Hunt is the unlucky one who missed out on a flag due to a late season injury and could not get back in the team. His run and flair were always good to watch and we should wish him well even though he plays for the weagles.

Best coach - Norm Smith. There can be no argument. Best defender - any list of choices that does not include Brett Lovett is embarrassing and offensive. Ingerson, Yeats, Carroll, Dunn, Bowey, Rivers as all time best defenders - what were they thinking (or smoking)? Please withdraw this ridiculous competition.

Yes and no. No case: We have been competitive and in a winning position in all games and yet for the past few weeks we have been without Clarrie and our four proven KP goalkickers Fritsch, TMac, BBB and more recently Petty. Except Clarrie, none were available for the lolly blues game and it showed. Yes case: Even with the absentees, our definite strengths in the backline and midfield should have been enough to dispatch weaker teams with some comfort. That we haven't is not a good sign for the finals. Grundy adds not much, JVR cannot carry the whole load and the smalls cannot cover for the absentees.

His football experience is not what should be sought or a place on the commission. The commission needs ex players with both playing experience and administrative/management/director skills from their post playing years. For Danger, and the footy world, it is too soon and, as others have said, he would be too conflicted and totally inexperienced to fill a board type position. There must be plenty of former players who could fill a board position.

After Ray (?) Carr and Darren Cuthbertson I am always reluctant to proclaim a new full forward until there are more goals on the board. But he is promising and this is the time of the year for a new champion forward to announce himself. However, how refreshing it was to see Petty and JVR take marks in the forward line without having to compete with Gawn or Grundy (I know he was not playing). Its hard enough against the oppos without having to compete with your own team mates.

In 2020 they were trained to be stronger and fitter at the end of games and in the finals. Truncated game time and fewer matches adversely affected their potential strengths. That's why in 2021 they overpowered the oppos in the finals.

Unless the team has an intelligent and competent coach, having the best mids, ruck and defence counts for little. Coaching is all about bringing the talents together to succeed. BTW, Northey's 1987 and 88 success was based on recruiting for 87 Viney the Elder, Spalding, Dean, Lovett and the return of Lyon. Plus we still had Robbie. Swooper's great skill was in lifting the remaining players to match their standard.

+1

So what. Four seriously competitive games in each of the first two weeks of the finals where every score counts (remember % counts) plus four simultaneous games in the third week could potentially enhance the rights.

That's why my original suggestion of 1,4,7,10,13,16 / 2,5,8,11,14,17 / 3,6,9,12,15,18 is so much better. Every te4am has a chance to improve.

What interest do you expect from 15 v 16? My system retains the interest in all games as wins/losses and percentage count all the way to r 22 and the better performing teams play against all types of opponents.

Who? Let them join the VFL.

Gotta leave something for Andrew to do.

I note in the papers today that the league had discusses/considered/thought about changing the draw into 2 sections namely r 1-17 and then r 18-22. Back in 2018, I posted an alternative draw that has more than a passing resemblance. Here it is again with some minor edits and corrections to bring in into the 0s. AN ALTERNATIVE STRUCTURE FOR OUR FOOTY SEASON A more balanced draw for the home and away season To balance out the draw, the teams should play each other once over 17 rounds. Home and away advantage (ie interstate travel for Victorian clubs) can be rotated each year. At the end of the round 17, the teams should be placed into three groups of 6 viz. 1,4,7,10,13,16 / 2,5,8,11,14,17 / 3,6,9,12,15,18 or other suitable combination but NOT 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc. The teams should play a round robin series of 5 games within their respective groupings giving a total of 22 games for the H & A season. All points earned in rounds 1-17 carry over. The draw for each group should be made by ballot so that the draw for each grouping will be unique to enhance the mystery. This approach smooths out each team’s chances as no team should play multiple games against top teams or lower teams so that teams at each level have a fair chance to improve but no team gains an unfair advantage because of the opposition or the draw. Theoretically, each team vying for finals should have a more even chance and there would be greater interest in each round. Introducing a finals season A week off after the H&A season gives the players a chance for a rest and refresh and offers the prospect of a finals season, distinct from the H & A season and different to the current finals series. Divide the top eight clubs into 2 groups of four – 1,3,5,7 and 2,4,6,8 – each to play a round robin series to determine the top team in each group based on both wins and percentage. Every game will be important as, win or lose, percentage counts. And at the end, the two top teams play off in the grand final. All four matches in the third week should be played at the same time so that teams can't game the system. The broadcasters would have the challenge to cover all four matches simultaneously using "round the grounds" images and reports. What a dynamic and exciting day of footy. Pros Enhanced excitement and interest in rounds 18 – 22 and four matches a week for the first three weeks of the finals where just winning will not be enough. The margin of victory and its effect on percentage will count as well. Every score will have real meaning. The grand final would then be the ultimate match of the season with both teams having gone through an exhaustive process to prove their worth. Another week’s rest should be introduced to extend the promotion of the grand final and to ensure both teams are at their best. Delete the byes to fit it into the length of the current season or start the season earlier now that the ‘G is no longer required for cricket. Cons Finishing 1 and 2 or top 4 might lose its appeal. The argument that the WB benefited from the bye (in 2017) is correct – but shouldn’t the best teams win, not the team with least injuries at the start of the finals. Injuries can occur in the finals that will test team lists but at least they could all start even. Short notice to make arrangements for the last 5 weeks of the season. So what, arrangements for the current finals series are made on short notice so just extend the time with the extra week’s break factor to deal with the additional complexity. That’s why Gil (now Andrew) is paid the big bucks. Footy Awards Week Brownlow, rising star, MVP, coaches and all other awards to be held in the week between the H&A season and the finals season to be known as "Footy Awards Week", an event in itself with daily functions with the Brownlow as the climax. What a celebration of footy. And then the final’s season of 13 matches without distractions. What joy. Summation What a dream – a much more exciting and interesting season in six phases – a pre season competition, the first 17 rounds, the final 5 rounds, Awards Week, three weeks of round robin preliminary finals (no semis, elimination or qualifying needed) and a MONSTER GRAND FINAL. That’s what footy is all about. Why not?

Is there any other ruckman going around who can win a game like Maxie did last week? Whilst he might not have had the minutes in the ruck throughout the year, and missed some games, he is still, by far, when on song, the most dominant ruckman of this era and deserves to be AA no matter how little he has played as a pure ruckman.

The [censored] went ultra conservative with Danger last year and gave him extra time to rest and recover. Is it possible that Clarrie is on a similar path? So long as we are winning without him, let's make sure that we have a fully rested and recovered Clarrie back for the finals.

Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Two AA ruckmen has proven to be one too many in any team. As for their forward craft, neither are convincing. It makes if worse when both are in the forward line contesting for marks with JVR or BBB. Unless Grundy can show that he is able to fill a tomahawk style role (take marks, kick the occasional goal, contest ruck contest in the forward line) he might be redundant. Not too late to rejig our ruck and forward strategy. One dominant ruckman around the ground and a selection of contesting ruckmen in the forward line (eg JVR, BBB) to prevent the oppos getting easy access. If Maxie needs a rest, JVR has shown that he can compete as well as take marks. Let it rip.

The 1964 GF back line was Neil Crompton, Bernie Massey, Tassie Johnson. No Miller who, at the time, was the first permanent back pocket "ruckman" and not a follower.

No pre booked tickets, no saturation promotion, lots of standing room and primitive facilities. What footy was like in the good old days.

Watching him kick in with magnificent drop kicks was a joy in the 60s. Got his autograph at the 2014 50th anniversary of the premiership.

An accurate kick from 20-30m closer to goal offers even more opportunities to penetrate a defence. Please do not make nonsense inferences from what I said. It's just that, at the moment, we have plenty of ball users but a dearth of ball carriers (Ed L excepted of course). Frost and Hunt were undone more by the team's lack of a plan to take advantage of their unique skills than by their respective deficiencies.

Was once. Living wore me out.

I do the equivalent mentally every working day. But I only work half a day each week. Too tiring.

Its not ball users we need but ball carriers who can break through. We lost Hunt and Bedford (who were otherwise not best 22) but, apart from occasional Kozzie, there is no one else. Time to find some run.