tiers

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.

It is said that the real issue is to protect the head and to protect the game and the AFL against future litigation. But, the real issue should be not the tackle but the recovery if an injury to the head occurs. There is already the concussion protocol and maybe this needs to be enhanced eg. 10 days first time, 20 days second time, one month for three or more times. Our great game of footy cannot eliminate hard tackles and subsequent unfortunate footy injuries. Good tackling means pinning the arms and rotating the tacklee. In the hustle and bustle of the game, accidents can happen. Deal with them in the recovery, not in the game. BTW Neita is one of the tribunal members.

Kick straight and there will not be any behind kick ins. Problem solved. Or Kozzie can run wider than the receiver and track the kicker in.

A difference of 76 between best and worst is not right. Time to rethink umpiring and rules. We were down 9 frees against the lolly blues - 13 to 22. Could it be that we were ahead of the doggies?

+1.

Is Judd one of the new breed of young footballers who start at half back - Daicos, Sheezel, McVee this year, Bowey and Rivers for us in 2021. Smart footballers who face the ball and can read the play, win the ball and make good decisions.

The way we move the ball forward, leading patterns would be of little use. However, JVR has the football smarts to overcome this apparent deficiency. Let him have the freedom of the forward line and he will shine. We screwed up Jesse by continuously dropping the ball on his head, let's not screw up this kid.

It will all be to no avail if we don't hurry up and find a settled, reliably performing forward line. Using Maxie and Grundy as key forward targets will not get it done in finals and JVR is proving to be a better roving CHF type than FF type.

I would take Jesse Hogan back in a heartbeat. One of the smartest footy players I have seen who was both badly affected by personal maters and by the inability of the coaches to use him for maximum value. Even so, he was great.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I recall that it was Lachie who won the ball was starting to leave the contest. To suggest that he was not contesting the ball is wrong. If the ball is free between two players, both should be entitled to contest for possession. If the ball is on the ground, then both should be entitled to adopt whichever method suits - either scramble along the ground to reach the ball or to stand and bend over at the right time. That the two players adopted these two alternative methods does not make it a reportable offence if one player is inconvenienced by the body of the other. What have I missed?

Lachie was the hittee (not the hitter) and still managed to win the ball. What could be wrong with that?