Gawndy the Great

Simple fix. Get WFC and Freo out of Perth. Relocate all 2021 home games to other venues in Australia and the state can suffer the financial and performance ramifications. It is clear now that we know how to respond to outbreaks with short sharp lockdowns. 28 days without community transmission is just ludicrous - we managed to play a whole tennis tournament throughout this debacle. I sense that this is a little bit of sour puss from WA state govt after we awarded the finals series to Qld.

Hunt was a proven multiple goal kicker last year. He has to get a solid run in the forward pocket. Trac is explosive out of the middle and should only rest in fwd line - similar to Dusty. Fritta had plenty of chances and in my opinion is a solid 3rd tall - has the traits of a Gunston like player. He gets in damaging areas just needs to finish off to become an elite forward in the comp. TMac has a point to prove. I'd give him a chance. Havent seen anything about Petty that would have me put him in the starting 22. You cannot go by what we saw a few years ago. So i personally would not take a chance yet..needs to perform in VFL first. Mitch had a few good games last year when given a chance. Form and Practice match performance will dictate his selection. Putting aside Kozzie's family tragedy, he still has a lot to live up to. He wasnt by any means a standout player last year. He needs to improve. So with our current stocks i think we would go: Hunt, TMac / Brown, Spargo/Kozzie Fritta, Majak / Jackson, Milkshake/VBerg The dual listed spots will be determined through practice match performance and general form. I think only Hunt and Fritta are walk-in starting forwards.

I think this will in a way validate your theory. If there is genuine belief in our ability to win a premiership and the entire playing group has committed, then players will have bought in and contract discussions will be concluded pretty quickly. If on the other hand there is decent among the players (which were rumored after season end) then contract discussions will linger and the outcome will be dictated by how much we can pay Trac, Gawn and Clarry without digging ourselves a hole ala Collingwood FC 2020. I find Clarry quite reserved and hard to read. He does seem to have strong relationships with Salem, Trac and Gawn, which will definitely feature in the process he will go through when resigning.

I have a mate who is good friends with his family. Apparently he has sourced unobtanium footy boot studs from Pandora ...(think floating mountains in Avatar)

I think the approach will be different this year. For Lockdowns 1 and 2, we really didn't know how to respond to an outbreak and what controls need to be activated where and when. I really cant see a wave 3 happening as the govt will act swiftly as they have recently with a 5 day lockdown. So we may have the odd temporary short-lived lockdown but i think the concept of hubs will probably not be necessary. It does beg the question of what happens when there is a temp shutdown and the states shut borders with an effected state - particularly when you have a team travelling from / to the effected state. there maybe last minute fixture changes or postponed rounds. I think the afl should plan for 4-5 mid week fixtures for teams effected, but how you make the fair i couldnt say.

Was always going to be a few months for BBB. Sad to hear about Kozzie's mum. Our forward line is going to be under a bit of pressure to make do given in the best of times we were not very efficient. If last year was our benchmark, then BBB does not factor and the only real loss is Weed, which we were able to cover Mitch.

Salt on the wound? Geez it would be ironic if he has a stellar year and we have our 2 key positions players injured. https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/02/11/hogan-getting-better-and-better-in-first-full-pre-season-in-years

Dont forget we have the benefit of having Richo on our coaching panel. He would offer a lot of valuable insight into the kids potential and whether we should take a chance on him. Im on the fence regarding his susceptibility to concussions - depends on what the medico's can tell us about his condition. If he has been given the all clear, who am i to argue with all of the experts and the AFL. Worst case, sign him up for a year, lots of performance based conditions etc. Did we lose much on the Bennell experiment?...probably not in the end, but we certainly didn't die wondering.

Yep they certainly can be if you dont have much cartilage tissue left which is then what leads to OA (ala Tom Langdon). But the fact that he was not in any pain is what you need to factor in, which suggests (not definitively) that you don't have any bone on bone interaction as that would most definitely generate a inflammatory response resulting in stiffness and pain. Obviously this is all taken at face value and as I have learned personally no hard rules when it comes to your bodies own unique response.

Not surprising, it was never going to be nothing. Interesting that it is cartilage damage - whether it is a rip in the cartilage or scar tissue hard to say, but these things are generally repairable.

I want to see the drone footage of that goal!

Not sure whether it has been mentioned already, but the one positive is apparently BB is not in any kind of pain and the concern is more just in the swelling itself i.e. they dont want it to develop into something more significant. Having some degenerative conditions myself I can tell you that there is always pain and stiffness (and my Osteoarthirits is so small that its not even detectable on x-ray or MRI). No doubt he would have had scans on his knee following the original injury and MFC would have definitely known about any structural changes to the knee (i.e. osteoarthritis) in the medical. My gut feel is its something probably not so sinister like scar tissue (formed as a result of the injury) in the ligament / tendon creating some inflammation and swelling in the joint as it rubs some of the boney structures. Hopefully an arthroscopy can clean it up and will allow the effected tissue to heal properly. I'm expecting ~ 3 month layoff but i don't think we can write off his career just yet.

i wonder how those 3 players rank in also in the total posessions stat? A better measure would be % of clangers per disposal or something to that tune. Using the raw # of clangers to measure a players inability to dispose effectively is like using the number of free throws made for basketball players as a true indication of their conversion at the free throw line (hence why we have Free Throw %). I am 100% in agreement that they still need to tidy up that part of their game, because could you imagine for a moment what a beast of a team we would become if just Trac & Oliver became better ball users!!

Hore’s ACL confirmed. poor fella.

So Lewy is back then? I asked in a different post but it wasn’t confirmed? What is his offical role?

Did I miss an announcement re: Jordan Lewis?

We have lacked forward 50 defensive pressure so makes sense to get an army of small forwards. Trouble is our forward line is now so stacked with players it will be interesting to see who gets in the 22.

So much potential this kid has, but it is wasted. Some have suggested he has been played out of position, others may suggest he has played his 'role' for the team. My 2 cents is he looks like he is not 100% committed to the cause - whether that is to be at the club or even playing football. 2021 will shape as a very important year for Brayshaw. He needs to find a way to reinvent himself. He may not get the high disposal count as others , but given his footy smarts and ability to make plays, he needs to impose himself more on the game. I think another failed season will see him considered as trade potential, while he still has some trade value.

A lot of things will change in 2021 as so many things were compromised this year so it’s a hard call to make. 1. Pies - staring the obvious 2. West Coast- still struggle away from home 3. Saints - still yet to prove themselves and back up a good year in 2020 4. Cats are a sneaky chance to drop given their aging list.

One can only hope on that result. Would be great to land Brown and get back a Round 1 pick.

So in effect, Brown for Preuss. I think on the face of it that's a fantastic result.

it does fit the narrative that some people on here are finding hard to swallow.

Wasn’t for sale Titan. Just my humble opinion. St Kilda weren’t a destination club until they threw massive cash at players - same for Carlton. In the end I think it will burn them as they may not be able to keep their better players when contracts needs to be renewed.

That’s what I thought it must be. It’s hard to compete with that unless you pay massive overs. Which given his injury is a bit of a risk.

Because we are not a destination club. The inner sanctum of the footy community knows we are a basket case.