Stu

It's a good read, and I highly recommend the Mongrel Punt's content. They're a refreshing change from the news corp / standard AFL industry journalism, so I'm hesitant to share their paid content here, robbing them of revenue. Here are the final 14 (well actually it's 13) questions: 6 – HAVE THE DEES MADE ENOUGH CHANGES TO A FORWARD LINE THAT HAS NOT WORKED? 7 – IS CALEB WINDSOR THE PERFECT RUNNING-MATE FOR ED LANGDON? 8 – HOW HIGHLY DO WE RATE THE YOUNGER DEMON DEFENDERS? 9 – IS BAYLEY FRITSCH THE MOST UNDERRATED FORWARD IN THE GAME 10 – CAN KOZZIE PICKETT HAVE A ‘CYRIL’ TYPE OF YEAR 11 – WHAT DOES A HEALTHY JAKE LEVER DO FOR THE DEES? 12 – IS SIMON GOODWIN UNDER A HEAP OF PRESSURE IF THE DEES ARE OUTSIDE THE TOP EIGHT AT THE BYE? 13 – WHO IS CHECKING INTO THE LAST CHANCE HOTEL IN 2025? 14 – WHO IS THE NEXT BREAKOUT PLAYER AT THE CLUB? 15 – IF THE DEES WERE ONE MOVIE CHARACTER, WHO WOULD THEY BE? 16 - was just missed completely by the writer 17 – ANYTHING TO ADD ON THE DEES, MRS MONGREL? To summarise "I’m predicting a wild ride into the final 4 for the Dees. I’ve never been wrong." 18 – IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE CLUB, AS A WHOLE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 19 – WRAPPING UP

Given the amount of sprinting and cardio work prior to the drills, I imagine fatigue played a large part in the turnovers and is a deliberate strategy by the coaching department to teach the players how to make smart decisions and execute properly when fatigued and under pressure.

If we can into February with nothing more than some awareness or strains, that is huge. It means everyone will have a great fitness base that if they do get an injury just before the season starts or during the season, they still have that base to build back from. Much better than trying to build that base during the season because of injury during pre-season.

JVR doesn't lose one-on-one contests, even when he's out of position. Just fights and finds a way to bring the ball to ground.

I'm not sure if you've read the original update re. Mt Scopus and then commented, but there has been a range of information provided by other posters over the last few hours that should allay yours and @Fuchsias Forever's concerns about the project now being dead in the water.

Wait till Kane Cornes hears about this... he will self-combust.

Is it just me, or does a young Peter Landy look like current day Toni Collette?

Regarding the way Lindsay positions himself for contact, I see that as more a way to dispose of the ball more accurately while getting knocked off balance. He prepares himself for the tackle / bump and ensures his hands are free and his body is aligned so that when the hit comes, his centre of gravity isn't knocked too far off line.

Did you boo him/her?

This is the reason why the best soccer academies, focus on ball control and skill in until around 12. They play on smaller fields to remove physical advantages more developed kids might have (speed, endurance, etc), so that all kids develop the needed technique and skill. Once they get to 15, the chance for technique and skill improvement is marginal.

Spot on! Macrae knows he's got an aging list and they're doing what they can to squeeze out any success while they have Sidebottom, Pendlebury, De Goey, Howe, Elliot, Mitchell, playing alongside Nick Daicos. I don't think any of them are going to get better, only decline. Once they retire they won't have the quality needed to seriously compete. Daicos (spews in mouth) is a generational player that won't be as effective once those players retire. Membrey is low-risk option for them to offer depth in an area they have very little while they believe they're a chance for another flag.

It's important to remember that our 11 wins this year would land us in 9th to 12th in all other years, assuming the extra game we played this year was a game we won (so a 10-12 finish in a 22 game season). Getting 14th with 11 wins and 98% is genuinely great for us. We had a pretty terrible season that started going awry in December last year. All that considered, we still finished with 11 wins and lost 3 games to GWS, Port, and the Lions by less than a goal in the run home to the finals. @ChaserJ insightfully likened this year to 2019, and I agree. We're extremely lucky to have pick 5 with the amount of wins we had this year. And it's not like we had a great season and failed to do well. A pick swap will likely end well for us, given all of these variables.

Assuming Sydney beat Brisbane, we will need around a 4-5 goal win if we score 90 odd. Less if scores are lower. Definitely possible. Go swans!

In 2023 we won 7 of the last 8 games, with the one loss against the blues by a margin of one goal line decision. Goodwin said last year there was a focus on playing well at the right end of the season (compared to how 2022 went) and he’s said a lot similar this year. Given how well we’ve played since the bye, I’m bullish about our chances over the next 6 weeks. I think we will at a minimum get to host a final.