The Taciturn Demon

Woof.

Gawn Steele Chandler Salem Langdon (he might play 300 games and never learn how to handball) Tholstrup Didn't mind Culley's game. Kossie pretty good. Lever OK.

He'll get another gig somewhere else and that club will be making a spectacularly bad mistake.

I'm going to forgive a fair bit this year, but hard to forgive that third quarter. Game had settled. Had an OK second quarter. Had a chance to reset and show a bit. Folded. Apart from anything, the lack of dare and enjoyable footy on the rebound was startling. The goals we kicked were very Goodwin era because the forward entries were very Goodwin era. Maybe the wave running and handball chains are what we do against Richmond, North and St Kilda but not yet against the better teams. Tell you what - Xavier Taylor can't come on quick enough.

That worked on multiple levels.

I reckon Culley will take better ones this year.

I loved the flamehead logo at the time, but I don't think it's timeless. I'm happy to leave it retired. I love the idea of presenting the demon in some way - probably a vestige of being very against the merger at a very impressionable age. But I think the monogram looks great in lots of different situations. I like that the current logo uses it, but the surrounding shield is a bit underwhelming. A plainer use of the monogram plus some form of graphically evergreen demon (not necessarily in the same motif, and possibly used completely separately) would be great.

That may well be the case. If it's true, it's deeply embarrassing for everyone in a position of authority there. I also agree that in total, the players they've thrown money at are less than impressive. They're either cod ordinary (Flanders), decent but far from superstars (Silvagni, Ryan) and a very good player whose position they have well-covered (TDK). I just think begrudging opposition fans joy at an unimaginably unlikely win like that one is a bit miserly. Unless it's Carlton, in which case, go hard and go often.

I'm all in on making fun of Ross Lyon, who is not just a weird sook, but gets an extraordinary media run for such a well-documented pervert. I also think their recruiting strategy is risky at absolute best. More likely, it'll be a disaster. Fair game. I do find it a bit harsh, however, when Melbourne supporters begrudge Saints fans joy at last year's game. It was one of the worst losses I've ever seen precisely because it was statistically the greatest final quarter comeback ever. Even if you ignore the numbers and ease back a touch on the fact it was all down to Melbourne's incompetence, surely it was one of the best 30 minutes of football you could ask for as a supporter.

I can definitely see him needing some time to get his body ready for the constant physical hits of AFL footy, but I thought I heard King say he was in the top five runners at the club already (which came into consideration when the list team looked at whether he was worth a risk in the first round). I could be wrong or have misinterpreted that.

Yep. We can't play 100km/hour footy for 120 minutes over 22 weeks. And even if we wanted to, we still have to kick long down the line every now and then. Culley is a great target. So is Mihocek. I really hope Langford can be, as well.

Genuinely didn't think he could be this player. I thought the hard hands and inability to find separation were stuff he'd have to cope with for his whole career. Just one game, of course, but it looks like that's not the case. If JVR can be more than just a solid 25 to 30 goal a year trier, we're in a better list spot than I thought.

The more I watch Culley, the more I find the West Coast delisting perplexing.

I like this. I like it when a player who genuinely wanted to stay at a club admits being moved on is something they're still getting their head around. And I like his gratitude and thought for the St Kilda fans. Also like the fact he thinks he didn't have a great game and needs to get more of it. High standards - especially when you consider he was at less than two thirds of centre bounces.

Is this Ross throwing money down the toilet after the recruiting binge or is it Ross taking money out of the toilet after agreeing to do an ad for Uber Eats?

Ah yep. Line officials failing to raise the flag. Hard to win a game of Australian rules when that happens. What a clown. Conversely, I thought King spoke really well in the press conference.

This was probably the best thing for me. Someone on here mentioned we got thrashed in the midfield. If we did, I didn't notice, because we were so much cleaner than I remember us being. Also found this fascinating: Is that King working out the best centre bounce attendance mix or is "rotation" the new black?

Wonderful win. Hope Steven is uncorking a robust cab sauv and firing up the camcorder.

Gawn van Rooyen Mihocek Jiath Lindsay Windsor

This is very interesting. I read Windsor and Langford in the guts as reason for excitement but also for patience. But this is a reminder that we're actually not that young. And a player like Turner, as you've pointed out, is young and has few games under his belt but has already shown himself to be reliable. Even if the mid-range players don't establish themselves or improve like we hope, they shouldn't be getting pushed aside - at least not by the mid-level teams. I was starting to the think a comfortable loss was on the cards tomorrow and that I should maintain low expectations throughout the season, but only because I had this misconception that "We're young". Maybe I need to be more optimistic.

I think it was as explicit as coaches get. Previously, at the very very start, he talked about us having good foundations and not wanting to change too much. That's gone now that Petracca and Oliver are out. He's going a completely different way - and rightly so.

Absolutely murdered. Also, when asked what happened in the last quarter against St Kilda in that game, Goodwin explicitly said they sent Langdon to Wanganeen-Milera. Again. Same result. The biggest hope I have from this game is not necessarily a win - I'd love one, but it's just too hard to know how these teams stack up against each other - but the beginnings of a complete shift away from the Goodwin era. His gameplan and system were magnificent in 2021. By 2025 they were anything but.

Very sad. I remember listening to him as a kid in the late 80s and early 90s and thinking he was a somewhat dour caller, or at least way less compelling than McAvaney and Landy. I don't know this was because, being under 12, I didn't get his subtle humour or whether he was just way less confident in revealing his wit than he was in the 2000s and 2010s. Anyway, I think the funniest people are self-aware and self-deprecating, and that's what made him such a joy to listen to when I was older. His obvious fondness for the Demons didn't hurt, either.

Such an interesting insight. I've often found myself thinking "I hope Goodwin/Roos/Daniher is screaming at them" after a particularly bad half. But this is a total abstraction. I'm not thinking about precisely what will be happening and how people might be feeling in the dressing room - I'm thinking only of the need to channel my disappointment. As you say, I'm looking for some kind of performance to alleviate my fury. But when you're confronted with what that actually looks like and the way it actually effects people, it's an entirely different story. I don't like Toby Greene at all, but even I think that Kingsley spray was too much, in great part because it was in front of his peers. It was ritual humiliation. Fascinating you say you see no value in it at all. I tend to think you might be right, but a lot of people will say - I think maybe Paul Roos might even have said this, and a few have said it on this thread - "Some players respond well to it and others don't." Maybe. I wonder if some players seem to respond well to it but deep down everyone who gets called "soft" or "pathetic" in front of the people whose opinions they value most highly, is worse off in the long run. The thing a couple of people have mentioned about being OK to cop it as long as there is an element of collusion rings true to me. The other thing is, aren't these players hearing very difficult, potentially embarrassing, things simply delivered with more anodyne language and without the public humiliation, every week in video reviews?

Great news! (Just on the photo - I'm sad to say, that's what happens when the government doesn't fund public education and children are literally grilled inside un-air-conditioned, roof-less portables.)