Rab D Nesbitt

My only trip to the west was the round one game where we kicked 2 goals 8. If this is to be our only visit to the House of Boooooo next year then I'll take it.

So, one game in the [censored] end of nowhere and the other a Friday night blockbuster in Launceston. Could've been worse I guess.

It takes too long to get served at The Tippler on a Friday after work anyway.

If self fulfilling prophecies are anything to go by it looks like we're a stick on for the regular 3.20pm Sunday slot.

I can't think off the top of my head of another country that has the same geographical sporting schism we have in rugby v footy that then leads to the ridiculously convoluted and ham fisted decisions made to try and alter it.

Personally I'd prefer we stick to what appears to be an unofficial 'no [censored]' policy. My NFL side Green Bay seem to have similar ideas and it has only enhanced their reputation as a brand when competing for new fans and among players who might otherwise look to avoid six months of the year living in the frozen tundra. For what it's worth I also think the way we conduct ourselves during the trade period enhances our chances of recruiting the right players to our club and with the rival teams we have to deal with (Fremantle look away now). It's not just on the field that those one percenters can make the difference.

A full midfield ensemble is music to my ears.

If I'm reading this correctly it seems that the concern relates more to what we do if either or both of our main spearheads gets injured again more so than whether we have enough tall targets sans injury. However, we shouldn't let our fear of the unknown (injury) distract us from the far more important issue of everyone playing and executing their role as instructed. Yes, it's that old chestnut of system versus personnel again and for me it's by far the best contingency for troops that fall during the next campaign. Having now addressed the issue of outside run we can reasonably expect to see the ball being delivered inside fifty more swiftly and more often, thus allowing our forwards (whoever they are on a given day) better opportunities to lead and mark into space. However the need to either recruit or develop a quality crumbing forward is crucial to having the multi faceted forward line we require for the coming season.

The language of a tabloid journalist. Give me Martin Flanagan any day.

Better to be marmite than vanilla. Thanks for the memories Frosty.

Tomlinson and Langdon? Winger, winger chicken dinner.

Yeah, great minds and all that ha ha. Sure we had a few games where I thought we were truly hard to watch this year which you never want to happen. I do think though that a lot of everyone's angst and frustration lies in the fact that we're so capable of being really really good. Sometimes once I've got over the disappointment of a game I try and compare us with the times when we really did have nothing to look forward to and there's just no comparison, I think.

Personally I don't think there's very much that separates most teams. Players executing their team role on a match day makes all the difference and as a collective unit we have as much talent as anyone else in this league. It's all very well to bemoan the lack of a plan B or C when things aren't working but first we need to make sure that our plan A is burnt into everyone's hard drive so that it becomes second nature.

There's only so much interest you can wring out of forty blokes looking for a change of scenery. Horse racing however has the capacity to make almost anything else (apologies motor racing & golf) look exciting.

A nice little insight into how he sees our young playing and coaching group. I'm almost more impressed about the fact he didn't say learnings once.

Trades in and out are always subjective and I'm not in the Chicken Licken camp on this one. One swallow doesn't make a summer and all that...

Just read the interview and am all clichéd out. If Gawny takes over I'd like to see him give all his post game interviews in haiku next season.

Before we can start thinking about where we'd celebrate a premiership (open top bus down High St, Armadale ?) we have to become consistent finalists. Along with a franchise player or two (apologies for the Americanism) it's what will get the next generation of fans wearing our guernsey again in the schoolyards around Victoria. Get it right on the field and everything off it becomes just that bit easier.

Sounds like he's sticking fat then.

I'm tipping general apathy will make it back to back wins.

I guess it's not unreasonable to think that all of them have been re-contracted on small coin so overall not a big outlay in the scheme of things. All are still quite young and one or two may still surprise and become a valued commodity over that time. In the absence of any more information it looks like a relatively small gamble on the face of it.

Chelsea only became a big club when Roman Abramovich decided to park his oil wealth in SW6 and will stop being one when he finds a new favourite toy.

Just to buck the trend I chose Melbourne because we were bottom and nobody at my school supported us. Whenever our team starts to eat me up emotionally I just look for a circuit breaker. A long swim or bike ride usually works or failing that just good coffee and conversation. If we're going to live long enough to see a flag people them we have to learn how to look after ourselves.

Dee's ??‍♂️

Every team being called Mighty. (Mighty Demons, Mighty Blues etc) The Mighty MCG. Really? Every player being a Superstar or Legend.