iv'a worn smith

You get no debate on Robbo from me, but Connolly's pedigree as a journo is far ahead of Robbo's. People forget he regularly went in to bat for us, even in our darkest days and unlike his colleague Caro, he was not supportive of the 'tanking' push. I will always read Connolly before most others.

Absolutely correct Bub, although I thought the loss against Carlton was far worse in a lot of ways. But against the Cats, we were never going to win agains a side which was finals bound and looking for a top 4 finish. Clearly any hope we had of playing in September vaporised the week before against Carlton, so the guys just switched off. That said, for Roos' last game as coach, you would have hoped they would have flown the flag.............. just a little?

I'm in love with Siri.

Ahh, I think you mean fallacy. And, um, the last fortnight is exactly what I am questioning. If you want success, then hard work needs to be sustained. That is all I was referring to. By the way, did your know Freud's principle of penis envy is a Phallacy.

Personally, i think he is a very balanced journo and leaves the likes of Denham, Barrett and John Ralph for dead. Maybe you'd prefer the mangler of the English Language Slobbo?

Your opinion, but Rohan Connolly is one of the best footy journos going around. Do you really think he would be that subjective in his professional role?

What the last 2 weeks showed is that you can take nothing for granted. I think the attitude that we are going to imminently play finals, is the main cause of complacency, as evidenced over the last 2 weeks. Come trade period, draft and pre-season training, there will be a few sides currently outside the 8 saying exactly the same thing. As each year goes by, the ante is upped incrementally. Who will go out of the 8 next year? St. Kilda honestly believe they will be a show next year, given how they finished off their season. I suspect Carlton, Power, Collingwood and Essendon will have similar expectations. I can only see North going out next year. Over the last 10 years, history has shown us that the final 8 does not radically change from one year to the next. For us there will be nothing guaranteed unless we are prepared to work for it. One thing that we have shown this year is that we are still not prepared to work hard enough, both mentally and physically.

No doubt big Maxy deserves this, but I also get the sense that the AA team is not just about football ability, but an individual's marketability as well. Max not only has had a great year, but he is also somewhat of a media darling ................ oh, and it also helps if your team is winning crucial games, which get you into finals. How can they leave Nick Riewoldt out of the squad of 40, over Jack Gunston. Gunston, even by his standards, has had an ordinary year. There you go, I just contradicted myself. Anyway, well done big fella. Richly deserved.

can I just get over 2016 please

And the future? Who knows for sure?

We were never going to win today.........but a flogging like that.....well. Our season ended last week, with that deplorable effort against Carlton. We played a side today, which is the only Vic club to retain a home ground advantage and who were playing for a top four finish. Roos has changed the culture of this club, along with PJ in particular. It is now up to Goodwin to put some steel into these young bodies and minds. Enjoy your mad Monday boys, but come back fit and ready for a gruelling pre-season. As for the football department, please be smart with the trade period. We have little, if any aces up our sleeves to bring to the trade table, but we will have to be smart........... we need to be smart. I love the club and always will, but stop breaking so many hearts.....please

OD, as I said in my original post, I found some of the selection decisions hard to fathom. I admit, I may be drawing a long bow, but I was just looking for some method, in what seems to be some selection madness. Once again, we did not come to play and I reckon if we are honest, we knew in the first 20 minutes that a loss was well and truly on the cards. Absolutely disappointing outcome, but maybe their collective eyes were on a bigger picture for the future. Or maybe, there minds were on a bigger prize a week later and they simply - once again - got ahead of themselves.

He's not on his own. There were a number last week, who have performed well for most of the year, but put in shockers on Sunday. Who do you suggest should replace him if we drop him?

Maybe. Perhaps bigger picture stuff????

Can the moderators explain to me why the vernacular term for cats, warrants being [censored] on here? Seems very odd to me. I can only guess that the moderators see it as some sort of sexual/sexist term, but methinks that is drawing a very long bow. What has the world come to .............. really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the sense from Roos' past match that he genuinely believes that if we made the finals this year, it would do more harm than good. If we got belted in a final, it is possible that the dent in confidence may be irretrievable. Personally, I am of that view as well. Selection decisions were somewhat hard to fathom. I am not sure if it had anything to do with senior players having to qualify for Casey finals. I haven't checked the stats on that, but selection was hard to work out. That said, right now I think Carlton see us as their Biartch I think Roos wants something far more sustainable than anything we have had before and does not want to replicate Port's effort of a few years ago, only to drop of dramatically in the years following. This is a one step at a time process of continuing to educate the mindset. I only hope we finish off the year with a red hot crack against the [censored] and a launching pad into 2017.

I guess so if you believe in beat ups and the old journo's axiom of never letting the facts get in the way of a good ole fashioned populist gabfest. But great to hear Maxy just the same.

Hurley has re-signed with the Bummers

Yep, dementia clearly has set in. I was getting my years mixed up. Barry was still lucky in my view though. It was a crude attempt at best.

And often the cheeky train driver, running the 4:38 to Blackburn, would cruise past the oval and toot the horn. People would often run on the ground believing that the siren had gone. I was there the day Barry Bourke took out Hudson. Hudson had 8 till half time. I reckon Barry ran 50 metres to take Hudson out. You can only wonder what the MRP would have done to him, if such an action happened today. We ended up winning that day, with Frankie Giampaolo kicked the winning goal from the goal square at the swimming pool end. Great memories.

I agree and I wonder if we give him a run this week in the seniors????

They will gum you to death.

Agree with most of this, but without one man, Roos and the rest that has resuscitated this club would not have occurred, but for one man. Peter Jackson.

Tim Buckley - Night Hawk...in'