Skuit

Surprised no-one has taken a reading between the lines. Not criticising Goody for opining openly, but it's a bit out of character for him to speak out of school where it concerns another coach's decision-making. Smacks of the Roos' playbook - sending a message through the airwaves that Daniel would be supported at the MFC (a la Melksham). I now firmly believe he may be a target; fits our game-style, would cost basically our Spencer compo, and a reasonable upgrade on a few of our forward-halfs as to finishing-skills. Happy for it to happen.

Now that we're drawing toward the season finale I'm waiting for the twist that stevethe/ and bin/ are really the same man . . .

Despite many blaming poor delivery, our midfielders don't contribute enough to the score from around the arc (Tyson and Bernie were two who went entirely missing this year in this regard) and our key forwards are lacking (sorry, but it's true). Also, poor delivery is a function of our game-plan on two fronts; with Simon's Tsunami, we're deliberately kicking to an undermanned forward-line with the hope of at least bringing it to ground and then trapping it in through a combination of forward pressure and an advancing high press. If this succeeds with the opposition struggling to clear, we then create an opposition flood against - ironic in the sense that Roos was at the helm when this game-plan was being devised - with the result that it's harder to pick and execute short targets. Note how we entirely dominate periods of play without adding much in the way of scoreboard pressure, but the opposition keeps in touch by occasionally getting through the line with a touch of luck and scoring easily out back. I trust in Simon, and part of this game-plan may have been a reaction to our our personnel (i.e - no genuine tall-playing forwards but a raft of mediums), but I would hope that there's a few tweaks being considered in the off-season.

I'm sold on Petruccelle based on basically nothing. stevetheman - what's your opinion for where he will end up going in the draft? Is the late-20s range realistic in regards to his purported upside and the potential for other clubs to take a punt. Which other clubs do you think would be keen for his type?

Balta to potentially slide? The sub-editors around the country are licking their lips in anticipation.

https://www.createspace.com/6019715

Rejected overtures from several clubs. The unique combination of weapons equals enormous upside.

You should all get this book. 800 pages worth of sweat and tears. At the very least, it will make for a redemptive bucket-load of confetti on grand final day.

Godammit. Does that mean our next flag won't be until 2035 (AFLX)? I'm going to need to either drink less or drink more if I'm going to make it till then.

A lot of what Clarry does is almost imperceptible in the thick of the action. Can't blame mortals for failing to recognise his brilliance.

Sorry - I meant the DE% stat can be misleading but those with a poor DE% for this match really were horrible.

For all that the stat is worth, DE% culprits sub-66%: ANB 47.1% Brayshaw 65% Tyson 58.3% Gawn 37.5% Hannan 60% Harmes 60% And Tomald, Vince, and Hibberd with 6 clangers each. Stat passes the eye-test in this instance (except for it being actually worse). Story of the day.

Disposal by foot. The usual suspects. Outmarked when it counted and outnumbered at the contest early on. Provisos

Any talk of Levi on the move? We need coverage for Pedo.

Too true.

We'll call it a truce LH as I have no facts to offer either - but I do believe the evidence you provided actually points to what I'm saying.

You serious? Stalled badly this season? I'm not sure who you were watching last year but I thought he'd come on significantly this year until a month of poor form prior to his demotion. And he may be in his sixth season but he hasn't really had a clean run at it up until the last couple seasons. But whatever.

Pedo! Quite remarkable considering his undersized second-ruck status as well - as the part-time rucks generally tend to give away a few extra frees in the contest.

I'm not really that type of person, but I can't fathom why someone in their early 20s would really care if they earned $800g per year over $700g? Seems much of a muchness to me, and I would certainly be looking at other factors (which would immediately exclude Essendon and North) . Yeah, yeah, footy-players have a short career and have to capitalise while they can . . . sounds mostly nonsense to me in this day and age and with those figures. You'd have to be pretty stupid to be a multi-millionaire before 25 and not invest wisely enough to grant yourself your own post-footy career. Anywho . . .

The last extension the brothers signed at the same time for the same length. Seems more than a coincidence. And Tomald's reasoning for the short extension shouldn't be taken at face-value - anyone with even minimal insight could discern the direction in which our club was finally heading. Just to be clear - the suggestion wasn't a knock on Oscar. He was drafted and can earn a contract extension in his own right. But with UFA looming, Tomald can make it pretty clear he wants to play with his brother into the future. We're not going to match an offer if he signals his intent to depart. Hence, if we're looking to jettison a tall defender to make room for Lever, Then there may be some extra-normal considerations that are coming into play - or at least Omac could get the express nod over Frost in what might otherwise be a coin-toss.

I'm not so much concerned that Omac wasn't drafted on his own merits but that it may cause some ructions if he was jettisoned in favour of Frost when they're both performing at about the same level. Didn't the Macs sign together at the same time for the same length or am I completely imaging that? Also, I consider Omac as Tmac/Lever-light, whereas Frost has other weapons. So although I prefer Frost over Omac generally, in the sense of bringing in Lever and keeping Frost ahead of Omac, t's more a matter of personnel balance and having a ultra-dynamic back-line.

Anyone get the sense that the Macdonald brothers have formed a bargaining bloc? And if so, can anyone recall anything similar ever happening in the past? Don't want to add to the can-of-worms, but if we got Lever I would prefer Frost over Omac. Sam adds a different dimension to the mix, and I think would form quite a formidable attacking ensemble with Hunt - while Frost, Nev and Hibberd reliably hold down the fort. But genuinely think that may not be a possibility if we want to keep Tomald on side.

Those consecutive six-day breaks and our horrid injury list were surely related. Above all, it's a duty of care thing. We've also had some fairly concentrated travel-patches. I don't know if this was at our request, but to bung WA into the middle of the six-day schedule and then climate-hop for a month is pretty taxing on the body.

Like straight after the game? As the club song rings out? Eddie up in the stands Roman Colosseum style with a thumbs up or down on FIGJAM's fate? I need to set my VCR.

We also have a crop of youngsters who have demonstrated their individual resilience through challenging personal setbacks; Hogan, Trac, Brayshaw, Salem. It may be of some extra benefit in the long-run.