old55

I'll be there for the first time - looking forward to it.

If so they'll be in touching distance of each other at the sardine tin

Tempted to go to Carlton vs Gold Coast on Sunday just for the schadenfreude. Suns a very good chance I think.

If I was Harley Reid I'd go there in a heartbeat. He's confident he'll make it, he'll be an immediate hit playing in front of adoring fans and be at ground zero for their rebuild. King of Perth.

Agree, WC is a rich powerful club that can provide lots of off field opportunities. The lifestyle in Perth has broad appeal too. Unfortunately they'll be back with a vengeance - enjoy their suffering while it lasts.

The Saints warrant a "blockbuster" fixture but who is their natural opponent? Maybe Collingwood - GFs against. Rivalry round, probably the best I can come up with is: Saints v Pies North v Essendon Demons v Dogs Blues v Tigers* Cats v Hawks* *Two of them are blockbuster fixtures already. I'd be keen to see other combos ...

They must be very accurate cuts. Perhaps a microtome?

I confess I was skiing at Mt.Hotham that weekend.

This has a very strange feel about it - that both players would go to the coach simultaneously. I can imagine one player might do that but I struggle a little to see how the situation evolved where both do. Maybe they both received a post-game bake and got together to discuss the way forward and came up with this.

We're talking about doing away with no prior opportunity to dispose of the ball. If the ball winner is tackled immediately on gaining possession and even one arm is pinned then a handball is not an option, only a kick is and it's not easy to hit your boot if you're being spun in the tackle or you're being tackled from behind and front-on which happens at stoppages. Ball winners need to be protected. That will be holding the ball or incorrect disposal and ball-winners will be unfairly penalised. While we're going on a tangent with interchanges, here's mine - grabbing the wrist in a tackle should be a free against the tackler because it unfairly limits the disposal options of the ball winner. Pinning the arms is fine but grabbing the wrist is too easy.

Craig McCrae is all class. Compare his reply of "zero" effect of illness on his team with Chris Scott's whiney performance after the 2021 PF. I grew up to hate Collingwood but there isn't a more likeable pair of leaders than McCrae and Darcy Moore.

I had the AFL app open and was discussing with my daughter how the stats all showed it was actually a 6 goal win to us. Collingwood supporters seemed unappreciative of this education.

There's a significant proportion of tackles where the arms are pinned and a legitimate attempt to dispose is not possible. Free kick against the ball winner. ANB and Jack Viney will each have 5 free kicks against per game.

"No prior" is "no prior opportunity to legitimately dispose of the ball"

What I want to see is consistency. IMO, the Butler decision to get off was correct, Mansell is hard done getting suspended and Sicily should know better and deserves to be suspended. As people have posted, some concussion is inevitable in a 360 degree contact sport.

Christian has been going alright since he came back too

No prior means defensive midfielders will just sweat on ball winners at the stoppage, gang tackle them, free against the ball winner.

I don't like it - it makes clearance work too hard.

If Port can beat Geelong, as they should this week, we'll have the opportunity to inject a world of hurt into them the following week and send them to 6-8, then needing to go 7-2 to make finals.

Somehow ended up in a bay full of Collingwood supporters who were surprisingly quiet and well-behaved all match, however one Magpie gent did comment to me upon leaving "You're why I hate Melbourne supporters". Took that as a compliment.

The Mansell outcome is very harsh. He's the new ANB or Chandler.

Rivers can't get a game? Snap @speed demon Just to be clear - my preferred 23: B: May Tomlinson Lever Hibberd Salem Rivers McVee M: Gawn Grundy Oliver Petracca Viney Sparrow Brayshaw Langdon Hunter F: Petty JVR Fritsch ANB Chandler Pickett S: Jordon Look it's bad luck for Bowey, Spargo and Smith, just like it's bad luck for JJ. Harmes too.

It's an attractive option but the question remains the same with this configuration - what's the total 22? As @speed demon posted above - you're going to need to leave someone vital out to achieve it - someone like Sparrow or Brayshaw. There's a lot of Petty in, Bowey in, Oliver in but not a lot of who out.

That's all fine for the forward 7, but who goes out for Oliver? Please give me the 22 that this 7 fits in. I think you'll find a midfielder misses out that you want in.

I said he should play midfield and I was therefore comparing him to those competing for a role in the midfield. You said you didn't have time to read the article on DE% I referred you too but you've persisted in making subsequent long posts. A little more listening and a little less talking and you might learn something.