Skuit

Untackable means you don't have the agility to move off your line. Untackelable means you can't be tackled. AVB was both highly untackable and thus highly tackelable.

So quietly I intended to imply he may a pest or be acting too big for his boots for a footie freshie.* The golf-buddies connection is a weird aspect. My footy career ended when I punched one of my best mates (after a match) and split my knuckle beyond Medicare repair. It's the first and last time I've ever hit anyone - so I'm not sure if that means it's out of character or not. We got over it though. *See earlier secondary disclaimer. No, nothing condones Gaff's act. Yes, I'm prejudiced by wanting him in my team.

It's been a while but one of Pedo's standout traits when he played down back was his defensive and intercept marking. The problem was that he was too slow to move it on - and that's in an era of late-stage Grimes. He has evolved since then, and is also more athletic - and, although I haven't seen him in action down back at Casey, I would expect perfectly capable of taking on Smith's role, if that's what we need. Which I don't think we do. For this match at least. But we also need to resettle the back-line as quickly as possible. How many reversals in the one post is that?

Predisclaimer: this comment does not intend to imply anything and nothing should be inferred from it. I got the sense that Gus was pretty close to taking a swing at his own brother during our Freo match-up. Does anyone recall any near-miss jumper punches that were thrown? If anyone thinks I condone Gaff's act, see the first-line caveat.

Vanders looked like a poor man's Tyson out there on the weekend. Which is exactly how he may have been described at times in the past. There's not much more to it. It was an average first game back after a long lay-off. He will need to show improvement - which I personally think he's capable of. But discussing it is almost pointless at this stage. Check back in March next year.

Sure, I trust the AFL to get simple things right.

The captain just negged the rare positive thread on here.

The game doesn't need any more subjective grey areas.

While this is just a snippet, I have never seen the level of camaraderie in the AFL that is currently being displayed by our key young crop. From memory, the Gus/Trac bromance moved onto Clarry after the initial display. Time will tell, but I'm not sure that the importance of this bond can be understated. They've probably played less than 20 games together as a unit. Is Goodwin the right guy thread is where this video belongs.

You mean like Lyon saying the incident was 100m off the ball?

I'm expecting eight down to seven. So the hope is we knock off West Coast in the first week and they rebound to meet us in the GF. That's seven games - and so then Gaff can make his redemptive debut in the red and blue round 1.

Stop. Q uo ting ,,,,

Not much of a mention for Brayshaw so far but I thought some of his work in the middle was outstanding today. He's evolving in a way I didn't expect. Nimble in traffic. And is also developing a good rapport with Clarry.

There's a pretty good chance we'll be meeting West Coast twice over the next six weeks or so. Would have been a bit awkward with Gaff there. Shame he wont be available until our Anzac clash though.

The AFL has a bit of a problem on its hands with this GCFC experiment.

I'm holding JKH responsible for Nat's cheekbone. WTF was that hospital ball?

You're right. My mistake.

So I wandered over to BigFooty and some bloke posted this in the rumours thread: 'The deal is effectively signed off on. Gaff to Melbourne on $1.2M for 5 years with a side trade to WC of a very promising young mid. This trade facilitates a smooth transition. Gaff's manager is in Perth this week to finalise the details with WC. We met Melbourne end of last week. Evidently it is all remarkably amicable.' Passes the first filter of my bs detector as to language/content (though the reported cost is quite something) and fits with my vibe on the subject. But the side-trade of a promising young mid? And I assume we get something decent trade-wise in return for it all to be above board. Any idea/speculation who these parties might be if the post is accurate? Note: the suggested offer from our side and the trade facilitation for a matchable restricted agent doesn't exactly match up, but maybe the figure is off the mark or that is indeed Gaff's worth on the newly inflated market.

The last potential finals ladder manipulation occurrence that springs to mind was I think 2015 and involved us. The memory is very vague, but my recollection is that if Freo tanked against us in the last home and away round they could play the Eagles in WA in the first round of the finals rather than travel to Geelong. They didn't tank, and went on to score a rare win at Kardinia after playing exceptionally well. But it was maybe Blight who suggested in the lead-up that they should tank - and that speculation alone is an incredibly bad look for the AFL and exposes the flaws in the current finals system. I've been banging on about the potential of a higher-placing finals travel disadvantage for years as to our nation-wide competition and 'double-chances' - and I'm horrified that it may be us who cops the exact worse scenario this year (placing behind a WA team in second with a Vic team in fifth against an interstate or weak team in 8th).

This was the close to scenario I was talking about. We win all four and swap with GWS and the path to the GF becomes harder. Crazy - but we need to drop one of our matches. Even sixth could end up better than third.

Third will be a horrible spot to finish. A likely trip to Western Australia - the second in a month - and then a potential return to play 5th spot - possibly vs Collingwood or Hawthorn - at 'home' - possibly again after one of these Vic teams played the same venue vs 8th spot the week before without having to travel. Finals format is flawed. We need to take it easy the next few weeks. And a tank may be on in round 23 if third spot is in play.

220 × 293 - en.wikipedia.org

To me it looked like the ball actually went through the points. Never mind it hitting the post. Could be a massive fall-out if that's the case.

Nathan Basset. It's not often spoken of but Port have had the least scoring against for two years running. All Australian defender (alongside Goodwin) and multiple premiership coach with Norwood. Hard nosed, a strong communicator and development coach with an aggressive defensive outlook. Previously followed Goodwin to Essendon. Former Demon The missing piece of the puzzle.

I still see the tackles against as an issue. We've been the most tackled team for the past two years but we brought these numbers down a bit earlier in the year. Now we're back on top. Is there a link between the tackle against stats and our parallel post-bye form drop offs and injury counts from this year and last? The team seems fit enough. But across an AFL season, getting slammed into the ground and jumped on more often is going to add up on the body.