Lord Nev

For sure, neat kick; which will be very handy for us, I just don't think he's an automatic selection at this stage. I think he'll absolutely have to earn his shot at the 'other' wing, we do have options there.

You mean round 20 like last year when you said this:

Might be just me, but at this stage I don't think Hunter is a lock by any stretch.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/123997/young-demon-clayton-oliver-caught-drink-driving

It's almost like different people are different....

Absolutely there will (hopefully) be lessons learned from the physical management in 2022. But Burgess wasn't there. So blaming him or assuming what he would have done is just silly. That's the part I disagree with. You're right with the coaching staff point, we don't know how much say Griffith was able to have in terms of selection etc, I would wager not much given what we know about Goodwin's stubbornness with such matters in the past.

So Burgess took us from a physical rabble to a team that steamrolled into the finals and won a flag, but now he's to blame for a season when he wasn't even there? Come off it. I agree on the resting players and lack of rotating others through, but to blame someone who wasn't even there is ridiculous.

I would have thought the programming would be more based around ratings tbh.

1. Kozzy re-signs 2. Grawndy experiment works 3. Home base announcement 3b. JVR and Howes play a decent amount of games

From what I understand, Koz moved from WA to SA during his teen years and lived with family there which he is still very close with. I don't think the chances of his mum asking him to move back are very high, but there's always the scenario that losing his mum has made him consider being closer to family again. On top of that, I believe his dad lives in SA these days.

Spargo is statistically the most effective kick inside 50 in a team that notoriously struggles with kicks inside 50. Would be great for him to do it more, but it's completely incorrect to say he adds nothing to our scoring power.

What?

21 year old who moved interstate for work at 18, lost his Mum and his family are all in other states with his strongest connection in SA. Hasn't re-signed yet and despite the club saying he loves Melbourne I haven't as yet seen anything mentioned about talks progressing (might have missed that somewhere though). Not saying he will go, personally I think he'll stay, but add the above to the rumblings of media types with Port connections and you can understand why supporters are a little worried and think it's a chance.

I reckon this is where ANB gets a raw deal from some on Demonland personally. IMO, almost every time he gets caught with the ball he's just received it from a teammate under pressure. It would be amazing if he had hands like Clarry, but how rare is that?! I think this is one of the reasons he keeps getting selected (along with his running ability and pressure) - in that he will genuinely do what is best for the team even if it earns him the ire of supporters who don't see the big picture.

I like JJ, and he's almost a victim of being too versatile, but the one thing he doesn't have is a burst, and when you look at Goody's midfield mix with Clarry, Trac, Viney, Sparrow, then over to players like ANB, Harmes and even Kozzy, they all have that burst from the pack when needed. Even Gus has a way of being able to make space off a few steps despite not being quick. I can't see JJ breaking into that group until he adds some kind of ability to 'step away' into his game. Have felt the same with the comparison to Junior, just doesn't quite have Junior's legs yet, but he's had more than his fair share of bad luck across his development so he's probably go a lot of improvement still in him.

I'm definitely keen on Bowey being back in the side regularly, Chandler will be an interesting one - With Bedford gone and the talk of Kozzy playing some midfield then the opportunity should be there for him.

Yes, the very same Sparrow who was continually selected after Jordon wasn't... Tag, you're it

Same Tom Sparrow who finished higher than Jordon and won the coaches award? Righto.

But he's also smart and our best kick inside 50 - Speaks to the whole point about ball movement being more important than leg speed.

Hang on, you've also previously complained about Hawthorn getting government money, this feels like a bit of a bet each way. Hawthorn will be getting $20m from the federal government, they're expecting about $15m from the state government, $5m from local grants, they're receiving a $10m donation from an ex-pres and they're going to use around $16m from the sale of their pokies venues apparently, that's 2/3s of the expected $100m cost. As of around November, they'd apparently gathered less than $1m in donations towards Dingley from supporters. Supposedly they have another $25m or so to find, and if a Tassie team comes in their finances will take a hit. Can you name any clubs that have built an entirely new base using only supporter donations? Can you imagine the supporter reaction if the club asked for that?

Hasn't stopped us trading in May, Lever, Grundy, Langdon, Brown etc. though. North Melbourne is a more "lucrative" location than Casey, how are they going attracting talent?

Ha! Was literally thinking about this the other day when driving past! Yeah there's the vacant corner spot and that block of apartments/offices has never been completed and has been sitting there doing nothing for a couple of years. I wonder if that could house our admin, shop, pool(s), meeting rooms etc and then maybe that corner over near the bridge we were looking at could house the gym/changerooms so players can walk straight out pretty much onto Gosch's? Not exactly "all in one" but pretty good and over time we may even be able to obtain more spots in that area and really make it ours.

I'd wager I'm younger than you OD, and I genuinely thought I'd never see a flag in my lifetime, don't give up hope mate, and try not to let it dampen your enjoyment of our (hopeful) future success. Thanks for passing on the info and Merry Christmas!

You've been pretty critical/vocal about the current board george, out of curiosity did you put in a nomination? Genuine question just due to your passion for the admin side of things.

This is true, but I don't usually stalk a poster and go on a spree, I'm more free flowing...