layzie

Time to go and explore new opportunities, thanks for everything James. Glad Cal referred to him as a premiership player.

Bills, Cowboys, Eagles

The decision to recruit Grundy and the non-selection of hin these past few weeks are two different things. It bugs me how it appears he wasn't even considered for selection because his papers were stamped. If anything that was just another distraction for the team. Regardless of what was happening and where he is/isn't going, we had this guy healthy and at our disposal and did nothing.

Not sure how I feel about this. It's very intriguing to hear that he broke out of his usual demeanour but I'm wondering if this was the right approach. I usually associate sprays with lack of effort and for the most part at least I thought our players brought effort. I also think that Goody has to take some responsibility in this one, he's the one who sets the game style, he's the one who the buck stops with at selection, he's the one who decided not to use Schache. You can sink the boot in to the players as much as you want but when you have the ball in your forward line, have 3 stoppages in 30 seconds and see one of your best stoppage mid/forwards taking ruck duties in a game decided by 2 points then there will be question marks over coaching.

It seemed like a lot of work has gone into this over pre season and for those first 6 or 7 rounds was bearing fruit. I saw Max at training before the Anzac game really working on that ball drop and straight line run. I don't know whether it was because there isn't as much time to do this in training during the season but a lot of them seemed to revert to their old habits. That shank 30 out at the Punt Rd end was the old Max all over. I also think the psychological aspect was at play not only for the inaccuracy but for some of the decision making and execution with field kicking. For whatever reason we were not at our psychological peak in this game.

They should just give a goal as benefit of the doubt and change it if wrong. Will bug the hell out of us fans every time they go back to the middle after we've all celebrated but it least it will be right.

Thought the Rams played really well Gorg. Nacua was everywhere and making our suspect corners look just that, especially Charvarius Ward who gave up at least 3 of those big catches. Just goes to show that there are gem WRs deep in the draft. Going to be interesting seeing him and Kupp work together when he's back. The game came down to turnovers really, Niners 0 Rams 2, that was the difference. I was impressed with Purdy's ability to manage the game and make the short to medium throws when they needed to be made, it was a tidy game from him, didn't throw a TD but didn't give the ball away. In the long run though we need our QB able to throw a deep ball occasionally. Wins a win.

It's a slippery slope. The moment you start thinking about one thing that wasn't fair then it become 2 and 3, before you know it everyone is thinking the same way. This was a team that dealt with the blows so well this year. Max's MCL, the Oliver struggle, Petty and Melk's injuries. Yes the incident with Gus was very different and I do understand if it took the wind out of them but it's very sad if a golden opportunity was dropped on the floor because of it.

You're right, a lot of the time the game feels setup for us to win, in some cases like Friday it even feels like shooting fish in a barrel. It's not pleasant and we know how hard the boys have worked so it hurts to see them kicked but it was going to come.

Agree, will head down the peninsula and go fishing Despite not having fished in 15 years.

I didn't watch the show so I didn't hear the tones or manner in which he said it, I'm really just going off what people are saying and I do think that sometimes bad things happen in finals and you have to keep your focus on the job. I do think however that it was a grueling week and could understand if it took a lot out of them. We don't know exactly what the leaders said and Ralphy has obviously put his mayonnaise on it.

The Giants seem to have everything in sync right now especially their midfield. We shouldn't be overly surprised considering there's still plenty of good talent in there and guys who have played together a long time and know each other's game. This has been Josh Kelly's best season for a while in my view and Coniglio who really fell off the cliff as captain is back to playing some really good footy. I also can't get enough of watching Tom Green, that's the player you want first if you're picking your side, game on the line with the clearance there to be won that's the guy. I don't seek out former Melbourne players and actively cheer for their success but watching Jesse Hogan and the way he's going about it is bringing me a joy that I don't feel often in this scenario. He's moving well, taking some ripper contested marks and he seems to have got his set shot routine down nicely. Working beautifully with Bedford, Daniels and Greene when he gets down there. Backline is ultra solid and it just shows how much they missed Sam Taylor during the season. Buckley and Himmelberg as well who hold their own in one on ones. Hopefully Briggs gets up but apart from that I think the Dubs have a bit to offer in this prelim. If they start well and take their chances early they will be pushing the Pies all the way.

I said it before the game that it would either bind us together or weigh heavily and either way I'd understand. I don't think Lyon is off the mark, maybe the timing wasn't great as it was still raw but when is the timing ever right?

Didn't mind him, sad to see it go this way but best of luck.

I guess we just stink?

Duxy shouldn't be ashamed of that vision. It spoke volumes and was what we were all feeling at the time.

Great article from George and sums up a lot of what we're thinking. What is frustrating me when it comes to people backing our gameplan is looking at these last two games in isolation, then looking at the missed scoring chances and exclaiming that if the kicking were better it would be perfect. It's not that simple and a lot of the people saying this know that. The gameplan does stack up for the most part, two top 4 finishes and few losses bigger than 12 points backs that up. But for me it isn't a case of converting a couple more chances, for me it's starting to look more like what got us here won't get us there. We did it against the Swans in 22, long ball after long ball and it was easy to setup defensively for. Same thing against the Pies and this game. The season and what we do during it is great but it's a dress rehearsal for these big time games. If the accuracy issue wasn't bad enough we then hear about injuries and missing two players from our best 22 is enough to totally derail us. We hear people saying losing Gus hurt us badly in our structure and yes it did. Injuries played a part believe me but guess what? Many teams lose players in finals that way, very rarely does it ever go to script. You have to deal with whatever is thrown at you. We can say whatever we'd like and make all kinds of excuses but at the end of the day we had 160 mins of football to prepare for as best we can and make our statement. Whatever happened in it was always 'enter at your own risk'. I don't see any other way this can be seen as a failed campaign after bowing out the same way last year.

*Queues up video player*

It would have been like us offering Ben Kennedy for Jake Lever.

I’m happy to see that so many of you got the chance to meet the great man, you’ll cherish those moments forever. I would have loved the chance to meet him. I was however fortunate to meet Carlton legend Adrian Gallagher on the eve of this season and had a really good chat about the influence that Ron had on his career and life. Gags was not only coached by Barass in successful sides but also in business with him later on at fine establishments like the Cherry Tree, The Mountain View and the Royston. The one thing I really took out of my chat with Gags was that while Barass gave a lot of sprays to players, he would a) Always give you a chance to have your say and b) Moved on from it very quickly afterwards. He never held grudges. Players like Gallagher, Tiger Crosswell, Crackers Keenan seemed to have love-hate relationships with Barass but followed him to his other clubs. It speaks volumes.

I was at ground level of this view and going off the consistency to pay holds and pushes in the game I'd written this one down as a free. They totally whiffed that one I thought.

Here's a positive: Selwyn Griffith. After the struggle to fill Burgo's shoes in 2022 (From what we could see anyway) I thought he really stepped up to the plate this year. We were back to covering the MCG well and for most of the season we finished games very, very strongly as opposed to last season. Whatever he's doing, he's got the balance right and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in 24 with some new faces and hopefully a healthy list. Go Selwyn!

It's been hard to bring this subject up without someone pointing out that we've won the ultimate success but I think there is merit to it. 4 finals in a row on the MCG, 3 of them with horrible inaccuracy in front of goal that cost us in the end. Instead of putting this down to just bad luck and hoping for it to be different next time if would be good to drill down into this and find out why this is happening. Great teams are mentally sound when it counts and they don't kick 17 behinds in finals too often. You could look at things like execution under pressure in the last few minutes as well but I'm not as critical on the Viney and McVee mistakes because that is largely fatigue factor and we've seen those guys stand up time and time again this year. We should have never been in that spot in the first place.

100% I love how in the absence of sniko or heat sensors or whatever they use that we've all just accepted that a finger moving is definitive proof of touching the ball just like a non-moving finger means that there was no touch. Fingers move quite easily, I can hold out my hand right now and move fingers easily without a ball touching it at super speed. I would be practicing to flap all fingers frantically when reaching to touch. It might look silly but they're only going frame by frame so I'd say it plants enough seed of doubt. I'd also be doing exactly what Marchbank did in Rd 22 and plead with the goal umpire the second you whiff it and put the seed of doubt in his/her head too. You won't be branded too much of a cheat because no-one can really tell anyway. Yes there is sarcasm in this post but sportsmanship is dead and the rules and technology are there to be gamed. Who cares how you win just win! 🙃

I dunno. I have been critical in the last 48 hours with aspects of our game but I don't feel like potting individual premiership player's playing styles. I love Kozzie's hunger for a goal and I love Spargo's selflessness to look for someone in a better position. You may well be correct in your assessment for Kozzie going forward but I didn't mind his game on Fri.