Tony Tea

What's the definition of madness? Melbourne kicking it into their forward line and hoping for something different.

We've banged our heads against a brick wall of a forward line long enough. The Deenasty is vanishing before our eyes. (Probably from all that head banging.)

We won the 2021 flag because of everything that happened back then

I can't see any non-smoking gun that would exonerate Harmes, and it looks more guilty than Hunter, so take the week and move on.

Our weaknesses have been on display for 12 months. I don't think that qualifies as kneejerk. But yes, plenty of posts, mine included, have been pessimistic and critical and maybe it would be a good thing if we all toned it down. Maybe.

48 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

A couple of weeks ago a Pies supporter told me Goodwin is not a great coach, almost saying he was lucky to have a flag and overrated.

Well, I agree with the Pie.

3 minutes ago, layzie said:

The honeymoon period of the 2021 flag is finally coming to an end

It came to an abrupt end in the middle of 2022.

Carlton are rolled gold certainties next weekend. We're cooked.

1 hour ago, FlashInThePan said:

We are a great team

We had one pretty great year.

We're not winning it this year.

Look at West Coast. Simpson came on board for the 2015 season and with a system similar to ours (bouncing off McGovern and Barass) built to a flag in 2018. Not that WC had to do as much building as we did, since they already had a lot of good players. But then a few teams sussed them in 2019, more in 2020, more again in 2021... 2022, 2023 and now they are a shambles. As the losses and injuries and age profile took their toll, the gameplan static, confidence and hunger ebbing, virtually no players improved, they became easy-beats as other clubs streamed past. That's what we have to avoid. Our current players must get better, our gameplan must evolve, our ability to deal with opposition adjustments must improve. Last year we struggled to beat the strong, well-organised sides; same this year. Collingwood on face value is a much better side. Brisbane hard to toss. Port up and about. Freo getting their mojo back. The Saints with their defence first mantra will be a challenge for our dodgy-fwd-entries. Even the Dons made us look silly. The Dogs are on the improve. Adelaide will chip it around and avoid bombing to May and Lever - separating the defence becomes meat and potatoes for competent oppositions. If all we are doing now is trying to fine tune 2021's style we are cooked. I'm not calling for wholesale changes, but wholesale sameness doesn't cut it against hungry challengers. Well, perhaps I am calling for wholesale changes, and all that that implies. We're already hovering on the verge of FTB status. 

Dare I say it - 2021 was a weak year. Or was 2021 our Hawks 2008? Have we got two or three more years of development before we back up with another flag or three?

Collingwood's tactics can be summed up by the old military maxim: get there first with the most.

13 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

It’s about to get worse with Pies winning. Again

Yeah, but Carlton losing. Every cloud...

Happy we won't enter next week's game at 10-0.

On 5/20/2023 at 8:02 AM, dazzledavey36 said:

I know it'll never happen but I'd like to see us throw Bowey through the midfield.

Yes. He's our best user, and he's one touch.

I saw this at the time and said to the bloke next to me it was NQR, and asking for trouble.

27 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I feel like we are trying to win differently.

Yes. There's no point sitting still like we did last year (in my opinion, to pay the faithful from the flag side); we need to come up with variations. Hopefully those variations aren't revealed too early in the year and we have something up our sleeve for the big games at the big end, because good teams will clog our transition, and we'll have to win with our one-wood.

Teams have gone to work on our clearance game, but our clearance players have prioritised joining in the transition game. It's an interesting dilemma - win the clearances and lose the transition, or win the transition and lose the clearances. We will be busy finding ways to win both. And that's what matters at the business end.

5 minutes ago, Satan said:

Melbourne is clearly thinking the Dockers will improve after a slow start to the season, which has netted Justin Longmuir’s men only one win from their first four games.

"Melbourne is clearly thinking" looks suspiciously like pretending to know something.

When this photo was doing the rounds a few years ago plenty opted for Sicily, but it's no contest. Clarry by an ear.

There are a few Demons in Castlemaine, including a hardcore Demon who lives across the street from us.

8 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Good luck to him in his rehabilitation but those Perth Demons are something else. Their colours are red and black, not red and blue. 

Perth was a powerhouse in the 70s, but since they lost the potential-three-peat 1978 grand final in a major upset (in pouring rain, despite Bosustow starring for the Demons, and with Perth favourite son Barry Cable captain-coaching East Perth) they have been the league's underachiever. 

Premiership Shemons.

It has always seemed to me that Clarrie gets marked harder than his peers. It's almost like pundits will jump on the first hint of a reason to mark him down, as if they want to mark him down. However, a third spot in 2022 is not the end of the world.  

A freak, but I don't reckon he would suit our current game style.

Ironically, the Herald Sun is Australia's leading listicle paper, which makes Bucky a listicle clogger.