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It's going to be a real interesting watch to see how it unfolds for that reason and what @Lucifers Hero said.

Yet more proof that some supporters here have no idea of the match day roles players are given. They want the forwards to play like Dunstall and Lockett in the 80's and the wingmen to play like Matera in the 90's. It's 2022, football has evolved and for the most part, we have no idea of what the KPI's are for most players on the ground.

The home deck record is pretty misleading. Yes they've won all 10 there this year, but only 2 have been against top 8 teams (Collingwood in Rd 5 when they were a bit his and miss, then Carlton in Rd 21).

Do you have any evidence to support that he is a liability when he goes to the wing? If so you need to send it to the club because he is still more often than not, the player that goes to the wing when JJ or Langdon are off the ground.

Yet he was the first choice of our coaching group to play on the wing when Langdon was injured earlier in the year. But what would they know....

I reckon we should give that red head a go in the centre bounce occasionally. Clayton something is his name I think. Seriously though, I think it will be Gus back to the wing. If not him, then Spargo who played on Langdons wing when he missed those games earlier in the year.

Commentary nearly always leans towards the underdogs and teams on the rise. We had our turn last year. I'm hoping to not hear a another pro-Nelbourne call for many, many years.

Love these multi-calls. I hope watching that over so many times in quick succession helps those moaning about BBB going up with one hand so often understand just how important it is to our team. He stopped the oppisiiton marking it. He stopped the oppisiiton punching it away to the pockets. He brings it down to the place that the smalls are and the goal results. It may not be pretty or classical but it is what needed. If he is not in the position to mark it cleanly, his job is to stop the oppitision mark and keep the ball in the area. Going up with one hand acheives that.

FYI although it’s far from clear on the AFL site, betting sites and premium ticketing site all have a pre finals bye for all teams 26th-28th of August, first week of finals 2nd-4th September with no breaks leading to Grand Final Day on 24th September.

https://afltables.com/afl/stats/coaches/James_Hird.html I'm not sure his record stacks up. 41W-1D-42L at 49.4% Laidley and Brad Scott had better records at North.

Tricky situation for Yze to go in as kind of the "next best option" if the reports that Clarko is the GWS first choice. Second best to Clarko is still a big deal, but if/when results aren't coming, will GWS be patient or does it come in play?

Simple question. If we lose on Friday and don't finish Top 4, can we win the premiership? I am of the opinion that absolutely we can and that the with the current finals structure, finishing 5th or 6th gives perhaps an even easier road to PF weekend than finishing 3rd or 4th.

Some Doomsayers are more evagelical than others so need their own platform to preach their messages of misery from.

100%. Our raw Win/loss record is very comparable but we've had a much harded season to contend with. I believe our 2022 season has actually been an improvement on 2021 when you take in all the factors above and you look past the incredible final 45 minutes of footy we played in 2021. We are not playing our best footy and must improve in many areas to win it all again, but that is exactly the situation we were in at this time in 2021.

McKay also got at least a goal from one of those soft down the ground calls I think also, but the one over the top was completely on May. May was with McKay in the centre square before deciding to leave him to try and impact the kick going to Curnow. Unfortunately it was a total miscalculation as he got no where near it but by the thime he realised it McKay was 30 metres away. Yes it's the way team defence works, but if you leave your man to impact a contest, you need to actually impact the contest which in this case he got wrong. He and Petty still played good games though.

Is it the same guy?

Your first sentence is spot on, but your second sentence is nonsense. After the mark, which he claimed and the umpire paid, he played on, so the magpie player can go wherever he likes. Then he walked it over the goal line. Easy deliberate call.

Yes it is and has been since they tightened the rule up when it was getting abused by several teams. Playing on from a kick in, mark or free kick and waiting for the pressure to come then walking over the line is a deliberate free kick.

No. If you take a mark you have an un-pressured kick to take if you want it. If you play on and the pressure comes, that’s on you and you lose the get out excuse. Otherwise we return to the dark old days when rushing behinds was abused terribly.

It was both correct and very obvious. He claimed the mark and was paid the mark. Then he played on, panicked when the pressure came and walked it over. Easy free kick call to make.

The deliberate rushed? Doesn’t come up much but that was the correct call. Took the mark (and he knew it despite claiming he didn’t), so therefore no pressure excuse, then walked it over. Brain fart by the defender.

I had forgotten about Steele and he is a good player but I don’t think he has exceeded expectations that were on him when he came in from GWS where it was the extremely stacked midfield that was denying him opportunity. Howard’s trajectory was AA when at Port where he was in the leadership group (and captained once). Higgins while sometimes very good is very inconsistent, no different to when he was at Richmond. And looking at Wood’s averages for goals and disposals there is very little reason to say he is now a better player than at North (1.2 goals and 12.9 disposals at North, 0.6 goals and 14.5 disposals at Saints). No one will be writing articles about any of them when they retire saying how their move to the Saints was the making of their careers.

Two things I noticed from last night. However bad our MFCSS gets at times, we should all be thanking our lucky stars or deity of choice that we we aren’t Saint supporters. That is one tough gig. Unlike many clubs, StK don’t seem to be able to bring the best out of players they trade for. Very few playing last night seem to have improved since moving there. Higgins, Howard, Crouch, Hill, Jones, Wood all arguably played better before moving to the saints as did Hannebery and Ryder who didn’t play last night. Long term “good” teams improve players they trade for.

I’m blaming the Collingwood ferals at the game last Friday for my positive Covid test today. I’m sure it’s their fault.

Perhaps there is some truth to that, but until season is over, I find it very hard to conclude anything. Form, fitness and perhaps even 100% correct mindset can’t be maintained at the highest or “perfect” level for 6 months. There have to be fluctuations and perhaps the greatest trick to coaching a team looking to go back-to-back is to manipulate those fluctuations to ensure the team peaks at everything in September. To do so might mean some seemingly broken things get ignored for long periods, which frustrate us all, but with the aim to make the corrections at the right time to bring everything together at the desired time. 6 weeks to see if the coaches can deliver and get the team playing to its full potential, which I think most Demonlanders think is good enough to win it all.