Chook

Giants needed that goal to say the least. Both sides putrid though.

Giants should put Mumford at full forward and bomb it to him. At least they'll have something to go to.

Imagine Toby Green in this game. Absolutely different makeup to their forward line, even with Hogan out. What a costly thing for him to have done.

Cats will win this comfortably. Harmes needs to follow Tuohy all night next week IMO.

Giants might not score a goal. They look absolutely limp going forward.

"Kicks the first game of this final" — BT Took so long to get a goal that Brian forgot what they're called.

Looks like a game between two bottom 8 sides right now.

Looks like a game between two bottom 8 sides right now. No way we lose to either of these sides. Have to win it all from here.

Eat it Cameron (the post that is). I know who I'm going for now.

Danger with the oil again. What a figjam. Hope it doesn't drip on your boots cause you can't kick straight at the best of times mate.

You've got to question their conditioning regime at this point. Even collision injuries have an element of preventability - high game awareness and good judgment.

I'm feeling the same way. Let's see if we're both feeling that in 10 minutes time. I thought Essendon would boil over the Doggies last week, so I'm not trusting my instincts.

Barely a Giants fan in the stadium (probably normal really), so yet another reason to want the Giants to get up, as the support will then be stacked for the Dees next week. C'mon Giants.

Exercise is the key. It doesn't matter what's going on in my life, if I'm not exercising regularly I'm not happy. At least COVID hasn't taken that from me. The Demons playing well helps too.

It would take until the finals series of 2022* for me to get over not making a grand final this year. If we made the grand final but lost, it would take until we won one for me to get over that. * (featuring the Demons)

It's Friday night. The weekend is ahead and your footy team is safely into a Preliminary final. There's a game on tonight, two sides battling for the privilege of facing yours. You've had a hard week's work, and met a big deadline. You've just come home from a long run, and there's cold beer and warm chicken. You've just had a nice warm shower. Your playlist has shuffled its way through to "These Days" by Powderfinger. Life is ok sometimes.

If Jones doesn't get a farewell game, there's a very strong likelihood the following 10 players will have played more finals than Jones in his entire career by the end of this finals series: Brayshaw, Gawn, Harmes, McDonald, Neal-Bullen, Oliver, Petracca, Salem, Spargo, Viney

The only name on that list that jumps out at you as not long for this footy world is Tom McDonald (maybe Ben Brown too), and even that is based more on the past than the future. Good spot to be in.

Better hope you don't die between now and next year. Death by any cause would throw a spanner in the works I'd think. Give me the premiership this year in whatever capacity it comes.

Gonna stay at home.

Good ins for Geelong. They're old as the hills, but they've got a very good paper list. No idea who I want to win. Please just both kill each other.

Beautifully put. There will be lifelong Dees fans there no matter what, should we make it. I'll be happy for them, and I'll still get to see it on TV so I'm at peace with the way things turn out. Another positive is the hunger to win another one (surely, surely at the G this time) would be massive. No GF hangover I wouldn't have thought. Anyway I wonder who'll win the Semi?

I'm getting horrible flashbacks. High school was a lot of things, but mostly it was kids being better than you at stuff, and everyone being really loud all the time. Would not recommend.

Whateley loves to think of himself as an "agenda setter". He leads every AFL 360 episode with a dreadfully high-and-mighty schpiel about whatever issue has got his goat that night, doling out suspensions and lobbying for rule changes left right and centre. The worst part is, everyone else does actually follow suit. At least Robbo is harmless - Gerard is the real insidious one because people actually listen to him.

Goal number 2 was the worst IMO. You have a young player in Rivers under pressure needing an outlet release option. It's Smith's turn to be that. What does Smith do? Moves towards Rivers but also behind him, making the handpass basically impossible or at the very least much harder to execute. Naturally, young Rivers coughs it up? Who to? Smith's man Cameron. Just awful. Hibberd would never do something so poor. EDIT: In the heat of the moment I thought it was Rivers' fault - a young player overawed by the situation. It was actually a settled Melbourne player who has been in the side all year going to where he had been conditioned to think a team mate would be. Smith let him down, because he doesn't know the system yet. Can't carry that in a big final.