Skuit

Do they make the designated sub sit on the sidelines for three quarters of the captain's run?

If he chooses to stay in Queensland as a personal preference, fair enough. But if he is swayed by some sort of outside cap sweeteners that would be highly aggravating. Either we need to make sure the AFL auditors are all over it, or get involved in the same game and not play by the strict rules as is our style if they choose to turn a blind eye. I recall we were once paying for the university fees of a player's girlfriend? With sponsorship ties, etc. there are so many ways to work around the cap. We should call in PwC.

Yes, correlation doesn't equal causation (still, we should definitely engage in a cleansing ceremony in the case of an at least psychosomatic curse), but that doesn't mean you outright ditch the data. Better practice would be to examine any co-attendent explanations for the coincidence, such as the loading theory, which doesn't seem like it would be the case this year based on our fixture. But we also wear different uniforms during Indigenous round, and some players are likely to have a higher media burden. Which is the same for all clubs, so shouldn't especially impact ours. We also won games with the jumper change prior to the name one. Without looking at the results however, our jumpers have graduated to a lighter shade over time and gotten a bit busier. It's a '360' game - being able to instinctively pick out the movement of teammates from a chaotic background is as an important factor. I also doubt this is the issue, but it's an attempt at explanation.

The draft was less than 18 months ago, with a bunch of those players still under the age of 20 showing plenty of promise.

We are one game out of the top 4 with half a game and % to the two teams in between, which we haven't played yet, along with at least three further games against those ahead of us. They also play each other a bunch of times. Destiny is still well and truly in our hands.

That's fair. Fans can criticise without solutions. That is the job of our recruitment team, and they have their jobs because they have more experience and expertise than most on here. I also don't think they are beyond criticism.

Pretty big game coming up for you. Will you cope?

But so many people with criticism and no solutions. What would you do if you were JT Jesus?

I think the failed bid to recruit Issac Smith for the second wing has created one cascade, in our drafting. The failure to lure a KPF is another cascade, which has impacted our drafting. We are not stupid to our needs and have been trying.

What is the solution?

One kick difference in a few games over the past few weeks and Essendon or Collingwood are out of the eight and we're in the top three or whatever. No point calling the road to finals right now.

A clear hole on our list since before 2021. What do you want us to do?

I don't care about your spelling. Fullerton cost what as a back-up? Grundy was a disaster but we should have persisted? Was the trade approach a disaster, or? Who are our forwards is a good question, but the club is not blind, spending our two top draft picks on key forwards following our premiership. Our mids, very good ones, are seriously out of form at present. How is this related to drafting, unless you think we should have pushed Oliver, Viney and Trac out earlier?

All you're going to say? A more constructive approach would be maybe suggesting which key forward we could have attracted for $600,000 or so ahead of other teams.

Watching the hurling again today confirms my belief that the skills of the sport are as closely matched to the AFL as Gaelic footy, if not more. Hard to exactly pin-point, but it's in the aerial movement and space I think. Kicking skills were brought up before, but I'm not convinced kicking a Gaelic round ball prepares anyone better for an AFL ball skill-set than any other random sport. If not already explored, I urge the MFC to take a look.

Okay. You're the recruiting and drafting team since 2021. Go!

The opposition coach fails to mention the outstanding performance of Melbourne a couple weeks ago and Demonland loses its [censored]. Melbourne gets properly done and Demonland loses its [censored], mostly failing to mention the outstanding performance of the opposition. On their home deck, on the other side of the country. It's evident that like me, not many on here actually watch other teams. We were poor no doubt. Losing our backline coordinator in the early stages and our defensive organisation broke down. Definitely a concern, as is our midfield form and a bunch of other longstanding issues. But all credit to the Eagles for a fine display.

This is the key point. The argument is that the Territory and Federal governments would cover any operating shortfall due to an expected return on investment in areas such as health and justice. From a corporate perspective, the pressure on energy company sponsorship makes things a little harder, but I imagine there would be massive interest from organisations country-wide keen to attach their names to an Indigenous-focused team. On field, it would be hoped that a local team would unearth hidden talent and encourage more participants, such that the pool isn't diluted to the extent of the AFL's other recent expansion teams. Playing a Territory brand of football should also keep audiences engaged. Lastly, a lot of people are concerned about the Top End climate, but it's a national competition and there are numerous other quirks of our game (non-uniform ground dimensions, etc.) which make it interesting. Clubs will get better at playing up north and negating the effects.

I went to the 2016 Australia Day T20 match between Australia and India and a Cairns basketball match not so long ago. Everyone was well behaved, but as far as sports go, it all felt pretty disgraceful.

Too late.

You're right. My bad. My life as a borderline gen X outcast. Should have said Chapellgt incident.

The under Naarm sounds a bit like the Chappeli incident.

Which friend? Moonshadow? There's nothing you and me can do to impact the level of shadow across the moon from the perspective of earth, unless we go inside.

I think you meant Fullartime!

Was ready to add another no meme, but sure, why not? Thinking of Paul Chapman to Essendon: relieved of midfield duties and kicked 20 or so at his new club as a half-forward (Dusty seems a fraction fitter). It's better than our small-fry contribution and Martin is a calibre above, if he wants to come for a couple years on a reasonable contract, which is doubtful. But the combination with Trac is tempting even on a bigger budget while we're in our window. Also look at Isaac Smith to Geelong, who walked away with a Norm Smith.