Gawndy the Great

That is [censored]!!

Im ok with -7 or +/- 10 for that matter as its around the mark of being neutral.. But for crying out load +80 is absurd...What about the Tigers at -74 i would be equally livid if i was a Tigers supporter...I dont hear them carrying on about it too much though. The interesting stat would be the differential trend line from week-to-week transposed with the umpires....now that would tell an interesting story.

yes i know that. what was implicit in my post was the fact that we are in (or approaching) our premiership window. If he wants to chase success over remuneration, then he would need to take a shave...otherwise he can chase the $$$ and become part of a team that may not get to where we are right now. 2.4-2.6M over 4 years isn't that bad of an offer either... we can definitely put in further sweetener clauses if he were to back end his contract as well. We just couldn't afford $3M over 4. The other thing is that he is a potential great player but hasn't done much to command big $ just yet so we would be silly to pay overs, which 3 over 4 is given where he is as a player right now.

Why not offer Cerra a 600-650K 2 year deal or back end a longer term 4 year deal so that we can cope with the current salary cap restrictions and the fact that we are in a premiership window. I dont think we can go after both Maynard and Cerra unless we take a premium player off our list though but its exactly what we need to do. I think Jetta, Jones will probably need to retire to free up some cap space (probably worth 400-500K combined?) Mitch Brown is possibly another with Daw able to hold a ruck and forward contingency plan. That is probably another 250K. That maybe enough to get Cerra in the door. As for Maynard he is probably a 400-500K / year player. I would make Hibbo's contract extension decision on the basis of whether we could secure Maynard or not. But hard to see Hibbo in the back starting 6 once Tommo and Hore are back from injury. Not sure whether the numbers work but there is at least a plan to add two key players to our list and it will only cost us a first rounder (cerra) ... dont think we have one of those ..hmmmm

Blueprint to beat us. 1 - make our defenders accountable 2- lock it in our d50 and create multiple stoppages. We should be able to fix this.Surely. in addition if we find some form in goal kicking accuracy which we are also 18th. not saying to take these stats to top 4 but at least top half and we will back to winning ways.

Interesting- I did notice this stat on the weekend. Apparently we sucked against Collingwood and GWS in this area as well.

Oh I’d love to get Erol Gulden. Kids a gun. How does a Ballarat kid get picked via the Swans academy. Daylight robbery.

agree its a long shot. however no player would want to leave a team that is building ... our only hope comes from teams that will be on the down or are have precarious situation. 1. Richmond. The dynasty is over. They will be a long way away from a tilt at the flag. Expect them to be competitiv for the next 2-3 years before putting up he white flag for a rebuild. 2. Collingwood. Rebuild mode - plumb for the picking. 3. Geelong - maybe they have one more year after this year, but its an aging list so we may be able to target the youth that are not getting a game. 4. GWS. Looks like since the 2019 GF, they are neither here or there. Their core is starting to age and they have a few that will come of contract and ask for too much given the coin that Coniglio, Kelly and others are demanding. 5. Carlton / Suns / Freo. Probably have 1 more year up their sleeves before players want to chase success. 6. WB: They have huge talent on their list that are not getting game time. We maybe able to pluck a player here, but not many would want to leave given their potential to win a few flags.

that actually makes sense... with bolton having tasted success, he is probably now keen to get the $$$

The Tiger's dynasty is over anyone on that list wanting to chace more premierships should be on our target list. Bolton, Baker, Sydney Stack (questionalbe) are the three i think are young and hungry enough. There is also the Suns, which i'd expect to trade in some draft picks for experienced players. We should look at offering up a mature bodied player that would compliment their gaps, which is leadership and contested footy to help their outside players - Viney, Harmes, Gus would be the first few i'd look to put up. If they were interested in Weid, id look at that quite favourably. We have to be super aggressive this year and relentless if we are going to be a serious threat in the next few years. You just have to look at the Doggies list to see what we have to compete with, because they will not be wasting anytime trying to target backmen to complete their masterpiece.

What has happened in the past when our destiny has been in our own hands? I predict nothing will have changed and we will have learnt nothing from history and we will falter. I'm expecting 1-3 in the run home and we slip outside top 4. I wouldn't also be surprised at 0-4 and a 5th straight loss in week 1 of finals to end our 2021 campaign. Suns: will smell blood and have been in good form. Our boys will chalk it up as a win and we know how that story goes : (Loss) Eagles: fully packed Optus Stadium (trip from QLD >> Perth) our boys will be sluggish, tired and lethargic and the Eagles will be buoyed by their recent form: (Loss) Crows: will take some confidence in their last win over us, however at the G we will just get home by < 2 goals (Win) Cats: in strong form running into finals with all pistons firing. Anyone remember Roos farewell . Well lets home we dont have a repeat of that, but am expecting a rather dominant display with Hawkins kicking 5+ goals (Loss) Form of late is worrying and i have absolutely no confidence or belief that the boys mental toughness or the coaching staff's planning creativeness / intelligence is anywhere, where it should be. Like always, i could be wrong, but the expectation of winning that i had in surplus amounts in Rounds 5-12 has all but disappeared.

I was thinking exactly the same thing. Just has a smug face you’d love to slap with a cold fish. The fact that he took an almighty specky and probably a strong contender for mark of the year made it worse.

If there’s anything positive from tonight it’s the fact that we won’t have the weight of expectations now that we have dropped off top spot. I don’t think we are truly ready for that. I’m happy to let the Doggies or the Cats carry that burden for now whilst we regroup and replan for the finals. I think Brown is starting to find some connection and partnership with TMac and the mozzie squad.

We rely to heavily on our defensive setup to win our games. It maybe would have worked 10-20 years ago but the AFL clearly have changed the rules to reward attacking high risk footy because it’s entertaining. The Doggies fit this to a T. I don’t mind having Bowey work off half back for the remainder of the year but not sure on his form line in the VFL. I wouldn’t bring in Weid for LJ. Let Gawn play his original role from years back and let Brown / Tmac do some of the rucking duties. Maybe have Bowey for LJ to give us some skill off half back.

I think most in the know will tell you that hit outs don’t really mean in the overall scheme of things. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10-20 years the centre bounce isn’t scrapped/modified to further reduce stoppages. Maybe a modified netball/ soccer type of thing.

There wasn’t much in it but the Doggies stoppage and midfield work is just poetry. They seem to have so much time and space coming out of stoppages where we fumble or go to ground in the contest. It’s like we are all in all the time no coverage on the outside. Can be fixed but it’s a preseason job not something you can tinker with mid season. Umpiring is just pathetic I mean really pathetic. Minus the two gifted goals to the Doggies - probably wouldn’t change the result but sheesh we would have had a better chance. Viney was good tonight, Trac was poor, Oliver was good but not great. Gawn is terribly out of form. I mean just stinking big time - his tap work was woeful despite the huge number of hit outs. LJ should have a test - he is cooked. JJ was nowhere to be seen. May has played better. Hibbo is off it - I hope he finds because he’ll probably playing a lot more vfl next year.

That’s the game folks

That would have been 50 if it was the doggies

19-7 frees the Doggies. Who would have thought the umps wouldn’t ruin this spectacle. 2 goals from [censored] frees. Always on the receiving end.

I think every.week we just have to expect 2-3 goals due to poor umpiring decisions. We just seem to attract this crap.

We are winning the important stats. Just cleaner usage and the tide should eventually turn.

Seriously why are we persisting with this guy. He has shown nothing in his time at the club bar the 1 game in 2018. If we are controlling the narrative we should do everything to ‘keep him with the club’ but find a suitor to try and snap a 2nd rounder and exchange that for Maynard or Cerra. Kelly will milk every penny at GWS unless they have a Treloar list management probl and look to offload 6-700K off their books. Is there anybody else ? Do we make a play for Shan Bolton? He is exactly what we need speed and skill.

Tell me he’s not umpiring our game and your just pulling my leg? I don’t think I can handle another umpire ravaged game.

We don't have much history to go by but at least 3 out of the 4 the losses this year included measures in opposition game plan to consciously avoid the intercept and have defensive minded forwards. I cant recall whether we have won any games with this tactic being employed. The strengths of the Doggies is absolutely their ball movement from stoppages and their spread. Whilst we get sucked into the contest, they send fewer players inside and sling shot out. They have good ball users in the HF and can deliver deadly blows through smart/quick f50 connection. The tactics of this game will be interesting because the Doggies like to send an extra number into a stoppage / contest area while we are happy to have our extra in a defensive sweeper role. If both teams play their own style we will see a similar result where our midfield pressure and defensive structure will probably win out. If, however, the doggies have done what others have, then it will be an even midfield contest and if we are losing against bottom 4 sides in this situation, i cannot fathom what a Bulldogs outfit will be able to accomplish.

It is the blueprint to beat us, so not surprised at all. Just have to ensure that the midfield brings an extra level of defensive intensity and sustains it for 4 quarters.