Rab D Nesbitt

Didn’t do them any good in the long run considering they no longer exist. They were a club that operated on a shoestring but consistently punched above their weight.

Unless anyone is too sore to get up for Thursday I'd be looking at minimal changes for this one. Harley seems to be playing within himself right now (understandably) so perhaps it's an opportunity to bring in Nibbler for his pressure acts and good engine as a replacement for this week. I still think a side needs 10 wins to be guaranteed of a place in the final eight and not have to rely on percentage tipping them in. There's also that drawn game that makes things messy. This makes the Port game a high stakes clash in that sense so I'm expecting us to go with our strongest side. If our best isn't good enough then we could still go 6 - 3 in our last nine games and make sure we totally rinse Adelaide, North, Freo and Sydney to get our % up. Collingwood aside all the other games are just potential banana skins at worst based on our most recent form. Lots to play for yet.

Trac made a mighty effort to break through the Brisbane line to give us that opportunity and I feel if we'd just been able to corral them into their own half in that final minute of play we may well have had one more bite of the cherry. Still, it was our really poor kicking in front of goal that cost us this one TC.

Well that was frustrating. They were a lot cleaner when the ball hit the turf until we started to click in the last quarter and really started to smash into the contests. Fritta not handing the ball back really stuffed us at the end after Trac did so well to set up that one final chance. All those missed sitters in front of goal really cost us too. Viney was fantastic again and his kicking to a target has improved out of sight.

Geez. Even the umpires couldn't get North over the line. What a bog ordinary outfit they are.

It's the pre and post game rituals I miss. Stomping Ground at opening time for mussels, frites and a pint of something really dark. Tamura sake and jazz bar on Gertrude St if it's a later game on a Saturday. They have a lovely sweet potato amber ale. After the game it's over to The Tippler on Wellington Parade until the crowds have gone. The scarf doesn't go on until I head to the ground.

I guess they don't want to lose that physical presence from the team. I thought they may have gone with T-Mac and moved him between the forward line and the wing like we did quite a bit back in 2018. It looks like nobody will be gifted a game this season.

As long as there are good enough gym facilities up there for us that could be a winner Pates. With the draw being turned on it's head anyway who's to say they couldn't both now be our home games.

Ah, you're right D11. I just saw that we were named first in the schedule on one of the posts above and automatically thought we were the home side.

Geez. That's a 'mare of a schedule. Adelaide and North designated our home games but at their home grounds ?? What a stitch up. I thought the Queensland sides were told that they would be playing in Tasmania as it's probably the only time they'd have to leave their own state for the rest of the season ?

I know. Scary. And his replacement when he retired was Curtly Ambrose.

Whilst still living down in Canterbury in Kent (UK) I volunteered as a listener with The Samaritans for three years. Some interesting things I remember from that time were that only around 10% of the callers / visitors were people genuinely suffering from suicidal thoughts or depression. Many were prank callers if you can believe it. Also, I found that the people who had made the decision themselves to call us usually fared far better that those that had been prompted by family or friends to do so. Maybe because they were in a headspace where they knew they needed help and were comfortable enough to seek it. Psychotherapy can also be a game changer in regards to depression but again the results I think can be much better when the person seeking help understands that they will be the one doing most of the work and not the person they're paying to listen to them. For anyone at their lowest ebb during this time complete openness can be really helpful but also be when someone can be at their most vulnerable to any sort of mild criticism. Coming out the other end though can be character building though as it can really help people understand the steps and triggers that led them to those low points and also make it far easier to articulate to themselves and others what they are feeling. Particularly for males I think that is a great tool to have in our mental health kit. Long term depression can be as painful and debilitating as any physical illness and I came to the view that in most cases someone would have to be at the very end of their mental and emotional endurance to actually take their own life and that it's certainly not a cowardly act. Anyway, that's my two bobs worth on the subject.

Party pooper ?

I'm a bit conflicted about tonights game. Although it might be good for us if the Saints tripped up the thought of Adelaide having a 0-17 season does warm the heart.

I'm looking forward to the day when our midfield of Gawn, Oliver, Petracca, Viney and Brayshaw is as ominous as Garner, Marshall, Holding, Roberts and Croft.

We've been building towards this kind of display. Can't wait until we do it against a good side. Next week hopefully.

Ha! Nothing, I promise LH. Although I'm finding it does take more and more to get the same hit these days. Once I've plateaued I find a quality dark ale helps take the edge off things. It's all about finding the right balance.

There's nothing quite like good coffee to help find that sweet spot of optimism prior to the first bounce. Two down so far and I'm already quietly confident.

I wonder if they might consider Adam Tomlinson at CHF to replace Tom, despite not being considered for a place on the wing last week.

Peter V'landys might talk a good talk but surely he wouldn't be looking forward to the prospect of a dozen or more AFL sides calling QLD home for the next two months or more with games being played most nights of the week. As long as they don't all resemble the Sydney v Richmond game last week of course.

We seem to be covering a lot of positive territory on this thread and it made me wonder what everyone's thoughts were in regards to Australia Day. Apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere or if it's considered slightly off topic. Ignore me if it is. I think we could kill two birds with the one stone perhaps by declaring / voting for a republic and thereby creating a new national day that everyone could feel comfortable celebrating. This would then replace January 26. In an ideal world of course we would just be mature enough to understand that it's no fun celebrating something that upsets so many of our fellow citizens for obvious reasons and change it anyway but it's not an ideal world we live in. Personally I'd go one step further and take the butchers apron off the flag as well if we really do want to grow up as a nation but I wouldn't want that to sidetrack the bigger discussion we're all having here. It would have the added benefit of pissing of royalists though which can only be a good thing considering we're now living in the 21st century.

Hi Rjay. I hadn't realised that the QLD government were moving on the situation in NSW this quickly. I guess what baffled me was the AFL putting a strategy in place to take us out of that state whilst simultaneously flying Richmond into NSW to play GWS. Hawthorn are also staying there for another week. We could have just as easily played the Giants and flown to QLD a week later if the situation required it.

Ah! I see BBP. Is that for certain ? Still don't see why we can't stay for at least another week as well and play the Giants. We can't be flying up to Coolangatta just for the day surely if it's our home game.

Except that Hawthorn are staying there to play the Swans at the SCG.

This is a bit nuts. Why wouldn't they keep both Richmond and us in their current states so that we can play GWS and they play Brisbane ? Hawthorn are staying in Sydney to play the Swans after their game against us. Baffling.