Jim ‘One Game’ McCoy

Cats obviously can’t afford to be that bad two weeks in a row, but... R20 beat Roos but looked horribly shaky R21 lost Giants and only won the last qtr R22 beat Saints but lost first half R23 lost Demons but only won one qtr, and gave up a 44 point lead to lose by 4 points. QF lost Port losing every qtr and only kicking 5 goals the entire game. It's a five week block of poor quality football by the Cats...'cept for that 15-minutes about which, we do not talk. Completely running against what we'd come to expect from them. There's no third chance, is there? Do they go with the same group? Or bring in the big Fijian? All I hope for is two teams to beat the absolute [censored] out of each other, and turn up Fri week in a demoralised, battered state against us.

Gaff over Sloane every day of the week. Don’t give up Hogan. Ever. Plenty of salary cap room.

It wouldn’t be beyond us to have a flat one. But I don’t think we will. This seems a different mindset to last season. We’re playing FOR each other. There’s a confidence. There’s a ruthlessness. There’s a flint hardness. Last year we lost to bottom four sides, this year we’re smashing them. I’m interested in seeing how our ball movement matches up to a more defensive group. We’ve looked very fast moving it, without having any overt leg speed. Least bounces in the comp this year. Want to see how we move it against better teams. I spoke with a senior player after the Hawks loss: they were trying to use the corridor more. At that stage we were 18th for corridor use. Now, we own it. He said it was a confidence-thing. Now you see players turning inside before going down the line. It’s good to see, but take some elite kicking.

In the same vein: Cats, Hawks and Tigers were all going better back then. Especially the first two. NR lost me when he said we racked up wins late last season... Which Season 2017 was he on about? We fell away terribly. Last season we would lose to bottom four rabble (Freo, Hawks, Roos x2) but this year is a wholly different mindset and physically developed(ing) team working for one another.

I especially liked Petracca, after his third, willing Hogan and those around him to ‘keep going, keep working’ despite being 13 goals up. Gus was simply magnificent. We’ve still got all of June, July and August to go before the main stage. A footy season is a marathon, not a sprint. The boys are playing hard, skilful, exciting footy. The pressure must be immense. It’s great to watch. Its funny being a lifelong Demon. Who gets anxious in the last qtr when the demoralised, 15 goals down opposition kicks two-in-a-row?! On to the Dogs...

Yeah, this was playing in my mind last night night. Giving the Dogs two days, 26°, interstate travel. Hope they made their flight last night. And hope any ASADA drug tests didn’t stop someone catching that flight (alà Clarrie with broken finger)