Lord Nev

Because of the amount of regulations and red tapes involved in gaming, the closest they've been able to get is vague links through security companies. I think you might be overselling their power somewhat.

Didn't the Hawks nearly merge with some other loser club back in 96...

It should be when dealing with an out of form player in a team with 0 chance of playing finals after about round 6. It's incredibly poor management if it's what has happened.

Interesting given the timing of the Darwin game being replaced by an MCG game, a conspiracy theorist might say...

Strange that it survived for 150 years without pokies but then folded within 2 years after not getting a pokie license.

Yet he played every single game and had no surgery in the post-season. Something's not right there somewhere.

I don't disagree at all about the hypocrisy of the AFL slamming pokies while courting betting agencies, I believe there will be shifts in that as well, but I think the pokies, particularly given the density of their operation in poorer socio-economic regions, will be the first cab off the rank. And sorry mate, I see where you're coming from but I just can't agree with you that a founder of a responsible gambling foundation would be at all divided, particularly one who also oversaw us signing the responsible gambling charter a few years before the pokies announcement. In fact, he went as far as to say "it is an important moment for me personally" at that signing. I think you may be underestimating his stand on the issue.

Yep, but that's no guarantee he plays forward the whole year. (You may have picked up I'm not big on making future predictions)

There's a very strong push back growing in the City Of Casey, which is one of the worst areas for pokie addiction.

Yep, I've made no statements about clubs being told what to do (although there has been very strong statements made by senior AFL leadership), and sure pokies are making some clubs money, but that's not the crux of what I was saying. There's no argument that that they make money. It's not just North and the Dees that have moved out of pokies either, plenty of strong clubs have also. Jackson was a founding director of the Responsible Gaming Foundation, so I'm not sure I agree with your statement that wasn't keen on this decision.

Yep, some good points mate. I personally don't really have a stand either way on pokies, it's a grey area of the balance between free will and socio-economic targeting IMO. I don't think pokies are fading away as such, I just think we're seeing the very beginning of businesses predicting how their pokies involvement may effect their perception in the future. It may take decades, but the 'writings on the wall' comment was more about how when you see big business moving away from something that makes them money then for me it's a sign that they are forecasting.

The writing is on the wall for pokies if you pay attention to the industry. Sporting clubs are widely exiting, there's cultural shifts in the hospitality industry; and in the last 18 months or so both Coles and Woolworths have divested themselves from that part of their businesses (albeit in differing ways). It's not a matter of what is 'legal', it's a matter of what is ethically sustainable in a socially conscious consumer environment.

Haha fair enough mate. Look, I have big big hopes for him and think he holds the key to our success in a lot of ways, so let's just agree that an up and about Gus will be huge for us if it happens.

Seemingly then you rate the umpires opinions higher than the coaches. I don't share that view. Especially when we're talking about application. And you must not be very familiar with the Brownlow if you think there's never been any 'flukes'. What was he 'underdone' from this year? The club said he had a 'back issue' which was resolved well before the Christmas break, you're just making excuses. There is no 'evidence' of a bounce back. The bounce back itself will be the evidence (should it happen).

Fair enough mate, we do see it differently then a bit. Hard times test resilience and leadership, and we had very few that showed any signs of that this year which to me says the message hasn't gotten through to this point. Hopefully that can be changed as much as possible during the offseason, but you don't win a flag by giving up when things get a bit hard or you're not getting enough 'reward'.

Wasn't rested, played every game, no operation or rehab in the post-season. Doesn't seem like it.

$1,000,000 says he lacked application in 2019. That's the point mate. The consistency of application. Staggered that you are happy to give people a pass for poor performance because 'things got a bit hard in the forward line'.

Sorry mate, can't agree on this. I thought we were lifting expectations? Isn't that what you always rant about? Your own application shouldn't depend on the performance of others. Did Gawn fall away? That's your standard right there if you want to actually go out and win a flag.

I've still got very very high hopes for him, and when at his best he gives us one of our very few genuine inside/outside options. On a semi-related note, I hope we've got some qualified mindfulness or something similar staff involved in the club, we seem to have a fair few on our list who have had very significant confidence battles.

Not sure what the forward line has to do with this willingness to run.

'Being played out of position' is no excuse for poor application. Gee wiz, of all the people to lower their expectations...

Ah yes, the old 'came 3rd in the Brownlow' argument. He also finished 6th in our best and fairest. Which one do you think is a more accurate assessment of his attitude? A shock 3rd placing in the umpire-voted medal he wasn't even invited to, or a 6th place finish judged by his coaches? Not sure Goodwin agrees with you in regards to the consistency of his application given he dropped him for exactly that reason. I'm actually quietly up and about for our 2020 and I see Gus as a possible real factor for us, but as I've said in another post, it seems strange to me when people make statements that contradict available evidence. Dropped due to poor attitude and application, then a shock Brownlow finish (and if we're being brutally honest, he didn't deserve that placing and got it on the back of running forward from the work of others), a horrendous 2019 where his effort was deplorable and we all waited for the injury reason that has never been forthcoming, training reports mentioning his half hearted application this preseason, but apparently magically he's going to be completely different next year just cos. Doesn't make sense to me. I hope he does turn it all around next year, we need him to, but it would be contrary to evidence.

Great post mate, love a good analytical one! Totally agree Fritsch looked the goods in those last few games, and seems we can lock him in for the forward line next year, but I'm not sure you can expect him to carry that form all the way through a season, particularly once he has other forward options around him more often that take a big chunk of that opportunity away. Let's remember the 3 games where he kicked bags there was no TMac, Weid or Smith(s), and the other forward options were a 19 year old key defender and a 33 year old half back. I especially wouldn't be judging Rayner, Cerra and Dow purely by disposal counts at this stage though, and remember Fristch has 3 years on them, and as much as I love Fritsch, geez imagine having Rayner, Higgins or Ryan in our forward line! My response wasn't meant as a slight on him at all, I rate him very very highly, just think top 3 in his draft year might be a stretch.

Wasn't just referring to that one claim though. There seems to be a lot of 'we will improve because this will happen and this will happen etc etc' without any evidence to back up the claims being made. I'm 100% a Fritsch fan, particular forward, reminds me a lot of Green in the way he plays there, but I just prefer to try and base predictions on evidence rather than make a guess about a result by guessing things that will lead to it.

Seems to be a lot of eggnog being consumed along with the 'optimism' on Demonland currently. So, you're saying Fritsch (who I'm a fan of btw) is better than at least six of Kelly, Rayner, Dow, Stephenson, Cerra, Higgins, Ryan and Naughton? Wouldn't think he's anywhere near 'consolidating' a spot among the top 3 there if we're using evidenced based metrics.