Go Ds

Hey! As a traditional Dees supporter snow means snow! 😂

I stand corrected! 😁

It's always interesting when someone volunteers information they don't have to. After games coaches can't admit that actually their team is hopeless and instead have to diplomatically use cliches to keep the supporter base happy. But it was telling that after maybe 2019 Nathan Jones repeated how much faith he had in our team and thus would keep playing. I had my doubts but 20 months later the team was purring along so nicely he couldn't get a game. These player comments don't promise miracles but they're a very good sign.

Some of that is fair. But I'm not sure we can complain about merely having an interstate game first up. While I hate how Collingwood play less interstate games and we always seem to be fixtured for away games against Geelong and West Coast every year only some teams can get a cushy easing into the year and some teams will have to face daunting teams early.

Right now i think we have every reason to be quietly confident. (Admittedly I would have been quietly confident (of improvement at least) in years such as 2013 and 2019.) I can certainly understanding wanting the AFL media to be some neutral entity, not over or underrating any team. But these days AFL, especially for 7/8 months, operates on a 24/7 basis with plenty wanting almost constant engagement with the sport, meaning anything remotely AFL-newsworthy becomes a topic of discussion. I'm sure some on here love that saturation coverage so I can't really criticise it that much. (Except when it's too personal or downright dishonest.)

After I saw his name on here the other day I stumbled upon an article maybe from the West Australian newspaper on Facebook which had maybe 4 or 5 WC supporters comments lamenting Culley's delisting.

I have mixed memories about that game. I was so thrilled that my team, that at the time couldn't even win a chook raffle, that night at least won something which proved we weren't completely useless, and we'd just won a premiership of sorts. I guess us making the finals later that year shouldn't have been particularly surprising. But at the same time I had to watch that game with lines and 'snow' on the TV. It turns out my [censored] brother had left our ZX Spectrum computer plugged in so the memory wouldn't wipe his current game of Minder on it and it caused interference. Given he was probably a bigger Dees fan than me his stupidity also impacted him. Memories! :)

It really wouldn't bother me if they did this. While there are games such as our grand final where I'd have been happy to see another hour's play 😂 there are so many boring games where those few extra minutes just drag. I wouldn't want the exact replica of 2020 season but often it was enough to have the 18 or so minute quarters, and not have those extra few minutes where the leading side would probably win but it's almost like they're padded out same as many horse races where jockeys just bide their time until they reach the home straight regardless of race distance. Those 2020 matches didn't feel like they were lesser. Same I don't necessarily get to the end of a film and feel that its 95 minute run time meant it was inferior to a 100-minute long film. The percentage difference between a game with 28 minute quarters vs those with 30 really isn't much. Would a reduction reduce injuries or prolong player's careers or mean the best players rest less on the bench? Footy will never be perfect and the AFL could certainly overdo rule changes. But little tweaks might make the game better. I can't help but think that many bemoaning cricket when the one-dayers (and T20 later on) came in now see that they didn't exactly ruin the sport. Arguably those short forms helped improve it.

Just as long as they weren't in the arms of In Harmes Way way too long.

And it'll be confusing when we have both! 😁

Interchange, yes. But emergency? Surely he's in the team at the moment.

Umm reading through this whole thread and seeing so many names mentioned I'm a little surprised to not see Kolt mentioned at all. Where will he play?

I have to work at being optimistic. I'm not even sure I really am. I'd just rather savour the good Dees moments and try as much as possible to shrug off the bad. Sport should provide joy more than misery. (BTW I've had over 40 years - 45 - of following our ups and downs. Admittedly there were a lot of ups from '87 to '94 along the way. But anyway I know I'm not the only optimistic supporter of 30+ years.) Anyway, peace -we're on the same side.

I don't think you're being aggressive or I'm being defensive. It's just a slight difference of opinion. Except when injured Gawn keeps making the All-Australian team and while May probably won't be AA this year I bet a lot of teams would love him in their backline. Also he played the GF on one leg. Age stops every player eventually but no reason why both can't be major players at least for another year or two. And could not the likes of Windsor, Roo, Langford, an improving Rivers etc make up for those who left? You said Swans and Pies changed a lot (which I'd be happy for your to elaborate on... some reasons are obvious). Can't our changes also have us playing close to our 21 standard? Anyway our predictions will likely count for nothing and either of us could be way off. I wouldn't have tipped Dog, Tiges (in 17), Eagles, Demons or Cats in recent flag years NOR the premiership hangovers plus myriad other team fortunes recently. The great thing about footy is that Lions, Dees and Roos supporters at this moment can all believe they will win the flag and they at least can't be proven wrong. Pre-season is all hope, hope, hope!

She did go into a lot of horror films after E.T., which critics tend to downplay. :)

And why have we left ours? We have most the GF side plus it looks like we've topped up well in the last couple of years plus some of young GF players can still improve. Also Sydney went within a bee's whisker of back-to-back flags 6 years earlier while Collingwood went from a 4 or 5 goal-lead to a tiny loss in the GF then 5 years after they atoned. Were they both "entering"?

I'm only relaying what the guy said. It's still amusing given Gawn may now be in our best ever players.

We've all heard and read so many predictions and similar. For better or worse while it's lovely to hear how good our team or individual players or coach or culture or whatever is there is only one thing that matters....results! I don't care if some thought we were the 2nd best team in 2018 or tipped us for the flag in the subsequently horrible season after or said Melbourne was really only the 6th best team in 2021 (or the nonsense that it was a 'Covid Cup'). Let the media and general public or even Goody after each game say whatever; I just want to see us win as many games as possible and hopefully again surprise the whole football world, just 4 years after the droughtbreaker.

Collingwood '23 Richmond 17 Sydney 12 geelong 07 ............

I really feel like there'll be considerable improvement this year - good young (improving) players, some luck with injuries, better pre-seasons/fitness. Surely we make the 8 and maybe even win the whole thing. But sport is so unpredictable. There'll be plenty of moments where teams' fortunes/expectations will change this season - same as in every other. Cliched as it is I'll be taking it one week at a time.

Yep, spicy pizza and maybe teams can provide some old tubes of Deep Heat to really make it feel like 'Demonland'. 😂

What did you ask the chat GPT? Literally "who will win the 2025 AFL premiership?"?

I met a guy who was friends with Max at primary school. He said back then he was a very ordinary footballer.

Who knows? But people tend to write players off too quickly. If McAdam is fitter or Billings either realises this is his last chance or something else clicks for him they will be more valuable.

Yes, it is a great name. I know you're not at fault.