TheWiz

If the AFL and Players Association are serious about creating an environment that puts players safety and welfare at the forefront, then for a medically retired player the balance of the contract should be treated outside of a club salary cap. If not, what would this mean for future contracts for players with concussion histories and would clubs be prioritising medical observation?

Great idea WCW, like other posters have commented, is it possible to include on a banner?

I’m with you Jane. The moment I heard them booing when he was still down I vowed to never go to another Collingwood game again. This would be even harder on the players, and I hope the club can use this emotion as a positive force this season. They had an opportunity to against Carlton and didn’t. This is their chance to do it again. Do it for Gus.

Congratulations on an amazing AFL career Gus. Decisions like this are always the most difficult, but you have the whole of your life to enjoy and well done in prioritising that. You’re forever a Dees legend 🏆🔴🔵

Im struggling to understand your point. You’re saying it’s irrelevant of our drafting to cover Gawn, then you use an example where if Gawn didn’t play we would have had Grundy - which from the other rounds he covered - we would have been fine?

I think Lloyd is right in a few instances. - have we been playing too safely? Yep, fair call. Couple of questionable calls last year and there seemed to be a reluctance to change any strategy part way through games. For example I think we all felt the frustrations at the continuous and predictable kick outs. - have we relied too much on Gawn? No. We drafted for this need with Fullerton, and last year we drafted Grundy and mixed up our forward rucking. Sure he is aging, but unfair to say we’re relying on him when we’ve actively drafted against that. - uncertain on how we’ll perform this year? Yep, ok I can see that. My personal view is that we will finish top 4 and win the granny, but I can see how others see our injuries (particularly forward injuries) as a continuation of last year and that it’s been a few years since our last finals win. I wouldn’t say this is ground breaking journalism, and nothing for us to get our knickers in a knot about.

My thoughts on today’s intention wasn’t necessarily strategy, it was more being able to play players in new roles and give rookies an opportunity to play in a higher standard and see any gems - like K Brown. For example I don’t think we could say we were looking to shut them down this way or play this way when we had a 19 year old rookie ruck at the bounce and Max on the bench! It’s a scratch match! I think we’re singing from the same hymn book, and Carlton’s community match should be a better indication of pressure, strategy and intent.

Watching on TV. Could see Trac on his haunches and looking a little bit uncomfortable early in this 2nd term and haven’t seen him since. Can anyone at the game see him? Update: He has come back on around 24:00 and moving fine

Been impressed with Billings. Clean on hands, pretty accurate inside 50 and has stood up well in tackles.

Excited to see Windsor, how Billings will be played, who will be more suited to backfill Pig’s role out of Tomlinson / Howes, any opportunities for Verrall, and from a game play perspective how we enter forward 50 and our accuracy. For Richmond I’m interested to see Yze’s style, and also keen on seeing McAuliffe - apparently a jet. Go Dees

As much as I hate this type of commentary, they’re right - we’re incredibly frustrating to watch. We are so much better than some of our results, which for a number of reasons (injuries, inside 50s, sub decisions etc) was what it was last year. The only way to silence everyone is to win games. I really hope we take that step forward this year and win it again. I honestly believe we can. Go dees.

They’re going through a lot of change with a new ruck and new midfield, so potentially might not be clicking R0.

To all the haters…

Stop it you’re making me ill!! After the way they behaved last year I will never go to another Carlton or Collingwood game unless it’s a Grand Final.

Any news on May and reports he looked in a bit of discomfort in the last training session?

Agreed. I thought they might do that with North, but given the latest cash pump and draft package they’re probably safe!

Whilst we were on the bottom we had to endure two expansion clubs and free agency. If clubs don’t get their picks and performance in line between now and 2028 they’re in for a rough ride… or if they’re in VIC the risk of being moved.

Thanks so much Wheelo, this is really interesting!! I’m a bit unsure how I feel about Gawn’s average tackles. On the one hand it’s pressure and potential turnover, but on the other it could be an injury or suspension risk! (Particularly with how big some of these guys are).

I’m currently on $39 for Foxtel Plus and $25 for Sports HD. Big increase. Will have to balance the cost of living, or the Kayo buffering + a very unhappy partner!!

Oooft this is fantastic - thank you. What’s your source? Would love to dig into this further and look at intercept marks and tackles as well What’s really interesting from this stats is Grundy’s rankings too.

100% agree! Was just referencing Gawn as I think he is the best ruck, a known player to us, and also Preuss moved from Melbourne to GWS so a relevant comparison to my previous point about GWS’ ruck coaching and recruiting.

Not a problem at all and I know that wasn’t and would never be your intention!

Hey WCW, just a note that noob is a bit more of a put down term and mainly comes from online gaming. Newbie might be a better term if you don’t want to offend!

He did do his shoulder in 2021 and back in 2023. Interesting stat for 2022 is that his average hit outs was 32.6 compared to Gawn’s 27.0…

The first half of his season was fantastic but he dropped off a bit towards the end. Marshall would have been close to AA over him. Will be interesting to see how he performs this year. Alternatively could we pinch GWS’ ruck coach?! They never seem to have a shortage of good rucks. Mumford, Preuss and Briggs. All journey men towards the end of their careers and all have done well there.