The Taciturn Demon

It doesn't get any more annoying than to watch Sophie [censored] Conway beat you.

Excellent comeback. They absolutely dominated that first quarter. We found composure and look OK.

This would be quite a thing. Which players - apart from Steele and Pickett - do you think are most likely to make it happen?

That's interesting about Toumpas. I remember being so excited about him and then being absolutely baffled by his AFL form. I still don't get it to this day, but your explanation certainly helps.

The Tapscott trap?

Of course. But it's entirely plausible - drafts where Xavier Lindsay is as good as it gets aren't unheard of - and it does conform to a worry/warning about this draft that seems to have existed for a very long time. I kind of bought the (I hate this word, but) narrative that we very deliberately traded out of this draft not just because we wanted two high picks in a really strong draft, but because we knew we were giving up a future pick in a significantly weaker one. Now we're being asked to get excited about 7 and 8. I don't think the Petracca trade was terrible, but I do wonder if the 2026 GC first rounder ends up being a better player than 7 and 8 in this draft. Pure speculation, I know, and in the end, if Jason Taylor likes a couple in this draft in those spots, I'm all for it. But I'm a little bit nervous.

I love Xavier Lindsay but... ooh geeze. That's worrying.

Is there a bit of Jai Culley to Robey - or am I way off?

If this is what he meant, it's a huge relief. I thought he was harking back to what I see as a bit of a tired cliche that supporters are just children who don't understand that in the real, adult world, player movement is inevitable and on the whole good.

I like Max a lot and think he's excellent in the media. But I notice here that he's gone the "grow up", "be mature" line. I hear it a lot when it comes to player movement. I've heard it for 20 or so years, to be honest. I get where people who run with this line are coming from: nothing is forever, and certainly not in the top level of a very popular sport, where competition is ruthless. Also, there are always circumstances like the one we faced with Alex Neal-Bullen. Yes, the grown up thing in that case was to say "Yes, we love this player and want him to stay with us, but we know there's more to life than football". But... ... couldn't you mount an argument that the height of maturity or grown up thinking would have been to nip the problems we had in the bud as they became obvious. What I mean is, yes, beloved players are always going to leave clubs and sadden fans. And there will always be excellent B-graders who are crucial to premiership success and get squeezed out when the cap space inevitably tightens. But great teams keep great players at their best for as long as possible. Great clubs naturally nurture one-club champions (or in Hawthorn's case 250-game champions who play two or three tepid seasons somewhere else). It might be grown up for supporters to now concede that it's best to cut out losses with those two players and start afresh. It also might be grown up to say that Petracca and Oliver need to accept their fair share of responsibility for our precipitous drop. I think it's also important to be grown up about the huge mistakes of the past. Ignoring them or shrugging them away as spilt milk is not mature. To my mind, anyway.

If he's anywhere close to Pickett, we should scream his name out. Watson... maybe I don't watch enough Hawthorn, but I'm not totally convinced.

Also, probably Pearce's best game for the year. Interesting to see what we do with Georgia Campbell. I think she's got it, and I think the ruck might be her best possy (especially with the forward line stacked).

Heath McNamara Zanker Hore Fitzsimon Gillard

Thought we might have been fading a bit as the season has continued, but that was a tough win. We've been relying on too few recently, but there were strong Demons performances all over the ground today. Really good to see.

Spending a top 10 pick on a small forward makes me nervous. If Dovaston is the eighth best available player, so be it. If we're picking for need, he'd want to have some tricks.

It's ungracious to talk about umpiring when you're flogging a team, I know, but this is so bad it's dangerous. Just wildly different interpretations of every rule, and zero interest in protecting players from reckless [censored].

Good quarter. Fitzsimon having a superb game. Heath important, as always. Shout out to the absolute sook standing beside the ground mic. Definitely wearing beige chinos. Possibly Tom Petroro himself. I reckon if I was Daniel Harford and I knew six out of the 40 players, I'd try to keep the comedy to a minimum.

Sheesh. Please stop letting the Swans waltz clear out the front.

No.

A lot depends on what happens in the off-season. Who has niggles. Who bursts suddenly into prominence. Who finds a new position. Who fades for one reason or another. But if I was guessing, I think there are very strong indications that King, who has politely said in public he won't throw everything out, will throw almost everything out. For that reason, and because I think we need to do it, I'd be looking at a Round 1 team that looks very different to Goodwin teams of the past 18 months or two years. Salem Petty Howes Jiath Turner Bowey Lindsay Sparrow Windsor Fritsch Kentfield Chandler Viney Mihocek Langford Gawn Pickett Rivers Adams Steele Culley McAdam Heath

Oof. We could be in for a rude shock soon.

A middle aged man in beige chinos chucking a massive tantrum is the most 2025 thing I can imagine.

2019 was a stunner. I've got a feeling 2024 will go close to it.

Bit nervous now. Starting to look a touch shaky. Interesting to see who plays on Molloy.

It's death ride time. Bailey Humphrey. Sleeper agent. You know it makes sense.