Red But Mostly Blue

TWO HOURS TO GO My 4yo just asked me to watch Home Alone after I finish work (lol) - it's his first 'grown up' kid film and has watched it on repeat the last couple of weeks. That should time nicely for first bounce. And there are parallels for bonus points... "This is my house, I have to defend it" TRUE, KEVIN!

That's just because most are arriving at the G in the Range Rovers. In the Range Rovers we probably outnumber them 20:3 as well, so all good.

I think there should be a 20% productivity rule on days your team is playing in a final. Mind you, I'd still probably fail but it's a low bar to aim for!

How are there still 4 hours left?? How much more work must I ponder, and today's to-do items heaved onto Monday must I do until this thing starts already?

Just saw the highlights from our 2000 finals win against the Blues, on the AFL FB page Was great to see that - good comeback and some really lovely delivery into the 50 that day! Would be good to see some of that today. Hopefully no need for a comeback! Also another reminder that Neale squeezed the absolute most possible out of that team.

I listened to some comments from him on Whateley, was pre-team drop, but still very relevant and insightful. Not super surprising obviously, he talked about us needing to be more daring, going for the extra handball/few metres in going forward and risking a few more turnovers. Said Langdon was his magnet this week. Was interesting, would be good to see him make more of an impact, he's certainly due.

Some talk about bad umpires joining the fray tonight. It doesn't bother me too much. If we play good footy, start the game strong and give them nothing, we leave very little work for compromised umpires to do.

Also, we ran out the game against the Pies so well. The fitness is there. The Blues were in serious trouble against the Swans, and they had a big buffer to work with. The answer? DO NOT GIVE THEM AN INCH. Whether we stay close or blitz them from the first bounce (PLS?), we know we can run out the game, and they likely can't. Go Dees

It's D Day! The sun is shining!☀️ It's a year on since we were bundled out of the finals at home... ...IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN We're such a good side that even our classic/frustrating 1-2 qtr efforts have been enough to see off competitors. Most losses, we have beaten ourselves, or been dudded by ARC. We have dealt with limited/no forwards, so much so that we had to tap into a (seriously good) oldie but a goodie in Melk and a backman to keep us going. Even without them we have found ways to win. We will be propelled by a desire to right last year's (and indeed last week's) wrong. We will be fuelled by Gus. We will continue our quest to add another premiership for this amazing club. Won't be easy, the Blues are travelling well. Just needs buy in from everyone. Heart. And fire from the first bounce. I've had my ups and downs this week since Thurs, but we're here now and it just feels right. Dees by 19 pts.

After all that talk no Scache or Grundy, but I don’t hate the changes. Close to the minimum disruption to a team that did everything but win last week. Tommo is good, adds some height out back to free up Lever. I get the Spargo inclusion, fan of his i50 delivery which was an issue last week. But will we play him with Chandler? Chandler has not been good of late and aside from a very good start to the year, very patchy. Will need to be present this week to earn a spot next week if we get there.

Can't give it to us if they don't catch us 😉

So much truth in this!! 🤣

Yeah agree, surely we didn't draft him just to play in the 2s. He would be a decent matchup for Weitering. Very possible. haha yeah, it's hard to argue in favour of leaving out an AA ruckman who can kick a goal or two Really interested to see which way we'll go!!

Wow there you go, I didn't appreciate it was that low. That only further solidifies my opinion that while I am no Schache fan, he is unlikely to perform worse in the ruck, or goal wise compared to the guy he's replacing from a game we should have won, notwithstanding that minimal output. He may even surprise, you never know. Boggles the mind, still mid 20s, 2m? Taken at #2 in the draft. I'll take a goal or two! With our defence, they will make the difference.

If it ends up being Schache and not Grundy, which is a finely balanced argument, I know Schache cops a lot of heat on here, and rightly so, haven't seen him do much. The reality is that he is in for JVR - who did not do much last week, a quiet game by his standards and no goals. Did well in the ruck, which I think Schache can fairly well match, and I don't think we can go astray with another tall in the forward, in the hope that the ball falls on him. If he gives us 1-2 goals, it's 1-2 more than last week, and will be a big win. I don't love it, but it's fair to say we don't have much other option. Grundy is not a forward, he has told as so, and putting Max forward negates the impact of the best ruck in the comp. We'd be doing them a solid. Let's just get Trac, Fritter and the smalls trapping the ball in the 50 and kicking truly when they get a chance.

So it's looking like INs - JJ, Tommo, Grundy/Schache and a possible sub swap as I don't think Laurie will get more minutes.

Salem up forward is a very good idea. Gets him involved in that last kick, and if it goes south we can defend it, rather than things going south at HB. With a bit of luck, and confidence, he'll rediscover that left foot!

Same! Thanks for the link, was a good listen. Hard to disagree with much of what he said really. Even gave me a little more confidence! When we step back a bit, it's easy to be apprehensive about tomorrow's game, but we should have won last week (even without Gus) - and just need to make some tweaks. JJ will be a perfectly adequate swap and didn't mind the Salem idea, would shake up a few things. Give the Blues something to think about.

With the AFL's confirmation that it won't appeal the Maynard decision, we need to: - Care for Gus. Make sure he is OK. This is #1, for me anyway. - FOCUS ON WINNING OUR GAME AGAINST THE BLUES. No other noise. No fugazi, whatever. Our sole and best form of avenging this BS will be to beat the Blues, the Lions... then ANNIHALATE the Pies. Simple. 3 games. 3 winnable games. Every game is winnable, which is a positive and negative. We can't let our guard down, even for a minute - the other teams are looking to do the exact same thing as us. We need 12 quarters from here. That's it, then the boys can put up their feet, many of them with 2 premiership titles to their name. I know this moment, and probably the last week will have galvanised the group - but I really hope it has not been too much of a distraction. We, by rights, even with a non-existent forward line, should beat the Blues, but it won't be easy. They are buoyed by the momentum of the last few months and the excitement of returning to dreaming of a premiership after 20+ years in the wilderness. We can do this, I just hope we see the right Dees (there have been a few versions of us this year) from the first bounce on Friday.

The AFL has confirmed it won't appeal the decision, which means we: - Care for Gus. Make sure he is OK. This is #1, for me anyway. - Work with the AFL (to the extent they want to, or care) to ensure this never happens again, or at least does not happen again without punishment. - FOCUS ON WINNING OUR GAME AGAINST THE BLUES. No other noise. No fugazi, whatever. Our sole and best form of avenging this BS will be to beat the Blues, the Lions... then ANNIHALATE the Pies. Simple.

Completely agree with you. I should have noted my belief that we’re a better team and will win if we come out executing the basics, taking our chances etc. What I meant by fired up is from the first bounce, like what the pies did to us. We did not wake up until it was too late. If we get a head start on the Blues, we win. Something like this and last year’s disappointment can help with the fuel.

Any potential appeal aside, if we don’t come out and steamroll the Blues (on the scoreboard, of course, because we won’t get any favours at the tribunal) on Friday so we can then have a chance to play the Pies in the GF then we’ll never have enough motivation because even last year’s straight sets exit wasn’t enough to come out breathing fire on Thursday. We have to do this. Only way we get any justice is we make it to the GF and smash the pies. And Gus is there, holding up the cup, and grinning from ear to ear, right at the Collingwood army.

I feel so sorry for Gus. He was totalled by a thug and he’ll get no justice.

Not all heads are sacrosanct 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️😡

THAT DIRTY DOG HAS BEEN CLEARED!!