Go the Biff

At the end of the sports report on Channel 7 news last night, Tim Watson said he'd been to loads of big games at the MCG but had never heard it louder than what it was yesterday. Deafening.

I agree with a fair bit of this but I'd be intrigued to see another tweak to our set-up forward of centre once Petty returns - unlikely as that is for the Geelong game. The main drivers behind this are 1) Spargo's best is great but he's been poor since he managed to get himself knocked out. 2) I don't have faith in Smith as a KPF, especially going into September. So, I'm wondering how it would look if we replaced Spargo with Smith. We lose a bit on footy smarts, ground ball gets & ball distribution (not losing a lot on Charlie's recent output) but we retain tackling pressure & speed with Smith. He can also push up to perform the connecting role from defence that Charlie sometimes does. Additionally he can give us an aerial option that Spargo can't. As well as that, he could be switched to a negating forward option should an opposing intercept defender (e.g. Tom Stewart) get off the chain so this gives us some strategic versatility as well. This obviously depends on a couple of other things going right. First, Petty has to continue to develop. He's our best CHB but I think he'll end up being our best CHF as well. Tomo also has to hold his form. The "two talls plus Hibbo" was trialled and in my view made our defence less effective. Old mate Tomo has gone from cast-off to critical in a matter of days !

Tidied it up for you

Disco injured apparently

I'm normally happy if the Doggies get stiffed on a free kick but jeez that was harsh 😳

Some sort of pick-up and goal from Horne-Francis

Shouldn't be on that list. Bloke was a star and played fair. Conan was his in club nickname as I recall.

Robbie wore glasses at U19 level. Not sure about reserves. He'd replaced them with contacts by the time he made his senior debut

Better than Smith's full game stats last week which somehow got him promoted 🤔

Wouldn't mind seeing Lachey continue his Ben Brown succession plan. Would also be happy to see Darcy Moore emulate his old man's career path.

Why would you do that ? Kings Birthday gets massively overrated on here. It's one game worth 4 points just like any other. I'd much prefer to beat those black and white bastids in September rather than June.

Hah ! I was raised on Collingwood dominating home and away seasons only to [censored] it up in grand finals. It's a long established tradition and I hope its due for a return

Would be more enjoyable than watching this game

If there's any booing I hope it's from Fremantle fans because Jacko is stinking it up. Perhaps we get a sign saying "We Want Our Teeth Back" 😁

Bravo BigShorts. Should be compulsory listening at all levels in the AFL. Unless things change there's gonna be a serious, serious injury. Players are being rewarded for placing themselves at risk. The ruling by Gleeson just put a player closer to permanently losing the use of his arms and legs. It's just a matter of time

Nah. Were that the case I'm sure you'd have also typed feet take longer to heel

I saw what you did there 😏

Excellent post which will probably get lost in this thread but it's worth serious debate. I've been of the view that the AFL missed a trick a few years ago. Rather than call play on when a player ducks into a tackle, the ducker should be penalised with a free kick against. The action would soon be coached out of players if it's costing the team.

Bloody hell. I'm no friend of Norf but even I'm wondering how many times the footy gods can fart in their faces. Brutal way to lose.

The only snippet I've heard on Munro was during the Casey coverage a few weeks ago. I believe I heard one of the commentators mention that Jimmy had a 6 to 8 week calf injury. Can't recall exactly which game it was so I'm not inclined to go searching for it.

Agreed. But this part of an over correction in protecting the head in terms of player responsibility to opponents and "duty of care". What seems to have dissipated is an individual's duty of self care. In this case Day had the capacity to use his free arms to brace his fall. That he didn't shouldn't fall on Sparrow in my view but that's the environment we find ourselves in. No winning this so move on. It'll be another player from another club in the coming weeks. Best get used to it

It's not just you. There's a push in the back epidemic. And it should be called out. It's not strength in the contest. It's cheating. Hands in the back rule should never have been rescinded. It made it easier to adjudicate and disarmed players like that Collingwood / Freo nuffie James Clement who built a career on cheating.

Might have got away but took far too long in doing so

Brad Green should attach an invoice to his please explain response

Just another example of what a remarkable human being he is @old dee