The Taciturn Demon

Great news. Brilliant return to form recently. Pity about the injury.

If Collingwood were mediocre, what were Carlton? You can give me every single excuse in the world and I'll never believe we did well to get 'so close' against THAT Carlton team.

Stop. Stop. She's already dead.

Good to hear. That makes much more sense.

Really tough. Denby Taylor and now Rigoni. I also find it quite bizarre that our two top draftees from last year are without a contract almost a full month after the end of the season. I suspect the tiered salary system is a bastard to work with as a list manager.

Me too. Looks like a stem-the-bleeding kind of setup.

Really interesting question. The fact it's so difficult to answer with any certainty doesn't strike me as a good thing. On the subject of the thread, I'd be incredibly disappointed if we lost games this year playing an old and experienced team. We should be pumping games into the under 25s.

It's bizarre. Two shocking trades in a row.

I've seen some bad trade deals in my time. Can't remember a worse one than this for Zanker.

I think that would be unlikely. They got Todd Patterson from our women's programme and Derek Hine is the big boss. If Jason Taylor went there he'd presumably need to take a role below the one he has at Melbourne. I agree we need to keep him, though.

He's in Howe (7) territory for me. There was zero chance you would have made the AFL without us, [censored]. Hope you can find some gratitude between barnstorming runs off a half back flank for Peel Thunder. At least Howe got to a hundred games for us.

"Pack up". Jesus Christ. Nah, but we have to be 'grown up' about player movement.

December 2025: Eight teams should make it at least to a Prelim. October 2026: Oh my god! Only four teams made it to a Prelim. Here's why those who failed to make it should now merge or be relocated...

AFL site reporting Richmond the most likely to get the Number 1 pick from GC.

Oh, he was undoubtedly great for a solid period and from very early on. And you may well be right about him trimming down and getting back to something like his best. I suspect you're a far, far better judge than me. I just get the feeling he's done as an A grader. I can see him becoming a solid contributer but not much better.

Doesn't matter how big the chip on your shoulder is if you're going at 12 km/h when the other team is on the move after a turnover. If anything, the chip will only be weighing you down.

Zanker Goldrick Mahony O'Hehir Dethridge Johnson A Mackin Paxy Rigoni Anyone else? Assuming Zanker is gone, Mahony would be my number one priority. Loved her first season.

I didn't realise this was possible, but I just did a quadruple take.

Oh god. Of course Kearney did.

Yep, they definitely did - as a ruck and as an old fashioned ruck rover, if I remember right. We punch above our weight, for sure. I've also thought for a while now that a couple of teams don't use their size advantage particularly well - they sometimes get into a second-to-the-ball groove, apparently confident that their tacking will lead to turnovers. Latter-day Adelaide teams, and Fremantle, spring immediately to mind. I like what I saw of Beasley, too, although I remember her skills being a bit rough. I think this explains why they went for O'Hehir ahead of Fish, as well. I wonder if a tiny consolation is that we can play Wotherspoon out of the goalsquare without worrying about cramping Zanker's style. Wotherspoon strikes me as the archetypal medium forward who can play tall. Her marking is superb and her kicking is beautiful. This is a great post! Loved it.

It's been very amusing to read some of Emma Kearney's gloating over the past few weeks. Incredible lack of self-awareness and humility.

Ah, so that's what (maybe?) Kate Hore was talking about a few years ago when she said Melbourne wasn't fancy and didn't tempt players with cars. I thought it might have been a reference to Sydney, as they'd just lured Chloe Molloy.

Big mid for sure, but a very close second is a defender with really strong hands - a dependable interceptor.

I'm sure you're right. Geeze, it's brutal, though.

Hmm. I reckon she was more than adequate. Maybe this is another example of me having absolutely no idea about the defensive side of the game.