layzie

Collectors DVD set came yesterday. Really hope to give it a spin tonight with different commentaries.

I guess COVID really scuppered any sort of plans for this when the AFL went into survival mode and trying to achieve the bare minimum in a season. I would personally love to see representative football again. It doesn't even have to be every year, maybe every second year. If nothing else I'd like it for the players themselves. Being able to train and play with the best in the business ultimately makes you a better player and guys like Skilton and Whitten would attest to that. Even Robbie Flower, I have no doubt the big V games were beneficial for his career. The issue is and always will be the scheduling. Mid-season doesn't feel right as it seems to disrupt the focus for the actual season and you'd obviously need to keep the break. I know they easily do it in NRL and honestly I don't know how. If it were up to me I'd completely bin any sort of NAB/Marsh/JLL Challenge, keep the teams practice matches but do state of origin on the eve of the season. I thought end of Feb worked pretty well in 2020. It doesn't need to be perfect, but I think we miss out on a lot without representative football.

I don't think it's helped. The biggest issue was always the divide between the FFA and each state's football governing body. They were never in sync and there wasn't the same 'flow down' effect that you see in leagues in Europe for instance. So you get some really reputable football clubs like Melbourne Knights, Oakleigh Cannons, Heidelberg who have produced amazing talent over the years struggling to pay the bills. On the other hand this means a league like A-League would make the perfect 'development' league but the problem is that it's been marketed as some kind of super league (almost like the Big Bash in with cricket) that stands on it's own, with private owners that want to win, so you get a lot of youngsters sitting on the bench and not really getting the minutes they need to develop. In my opinion this has and is only going to get worse now that they separated from the FFA and joined a streaming service like Paramount + who couldn't give a rip about the state of the game. The theme of trying to attract the next aging champions league star will still be priority for a lot of these people to bring people through the gates. It's a mess, I'm really no fan of the system in Australia at the top level at all. Especially after experiencing first hand the work that goes in to these clubs all throughout the FFV. I definitely think players have their best opportunity overseas but because of everything mentioned I'm not even convinced we're getting young players ready for that step adequately enough.

Massive. But it does sort of fit with the surprising manner of his firing. Interesting to see what happens next, real fork in the road moment for the NFL.

From the minimal footage I've seen BBB looks in absolute ripping nick.

Happy birthday!

Wonder how many coaches will be coaching from the bench in pre season matches?

Rest in peace great man. 5 flags in 150 odd games, definition of decorated career and he was a vital part of that success.

I think I've learned more about stoppages structures this year than any other. Sweepers and quadrants etc. But in regards to this it wouldn't surprise me if the better tap ruckmen were able to do this at will, it's not always about having the ball.

Haha "Go the Melbourne Team!"

As you've probably heard, Joe Rogan has been having some guests on his show lately that have been providing counter points to the mainstream information and advice being given regarding Covid-19 and vaccination. This has recently resulted in artists such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell requesting their music to be pulled from Spotify and other artists are starting to follow suit. I'm interested to hear from others on this. Who do you believe is in the wrong? Rogan? Spotify? Neil Young? Something else? Quite often you will hear people come out and say Rogan has a huge platform to influence and is doing a disservice to people by promoting bad pseudo science but Rogan himself is claiming that he's just the guy asking questions. Keen to hear what people think.

Went on a bit of a Live Aid binge late last year and came across Dire Straits performance from the same year at Wembley. I've since watched it a few times, one of their better live shows on Youtube I reckon.

I've never heard more people say they watch football on mute these days.

Not sure but it's certainly one of Dwayne Russell's go to lines!

People forget that Balls was on the receiving end often. Gave as good as he got.

Love a bit of shake and bake!

Great vids, cheers!

What a night, smile with every thought of it now.

Rinse and repeat..

Pfft, year of the nothing.

Yeah not sure I agree with that entirely. There were a few things that prevented us from winning the football game but the D wasn't one of them. Bosa and Warner balled out hard, D-Line hung in and while the secondary wasn't perfect they covered reasonably well for the most part. The only thing I would have liked was our rushers to get to Stafford more, obviously easier said than done. They held the Rams to 20 points, if I didn't watch it and you told me we kept that offense to 20 I would have assumed the Niners won. In the case of Kyle Shanahan I do have some questions and is the closest I'd come to delivering the choke tag to. There is now a critical mass of data showing the weird mode he spins into in clutch times. 6 mins left with the lead we go pass, pass, pass, 4th and 2 we take a delay of game with timeouts to go (Mind you Rams had none left at this point), running that stupid play with Trent Williams in motion that has not worked once and lastly Deebo touched the ball once in that last quarter, inexcusable not to use the skilled players when the game is on the line. In the case of Jimmy G maybe, I'd like my 137 million dollar QB to be able to make at least one play when it counts on those last 3 drives/to Emanuel Sanders in the Super Bowl/to wide open Kittle numerous times but that's about it. Saying we choked also takes away from the performance of the Rams, they outplayed us in the end, plain and simple.

I kept re-creating it in my head on a walk this morning and trying to convince myself that he caught it. Gee wiz.

Not going to be saying a lot just yet as theres still a bit of heartbreak. Congratulations to @Gorgorothand the Rams, they played their hearts out today. Defense handled our run game and they found a little of their own. But when it came right down to the do or die moments for QBs to stand there and hit the dart board, Stafford made the plays and Jimmy didn't. Full credit. Tartt's dropped interception will stick in the mind for a very long time..

Crossing everything I got. No doubting the guy's first preference is to be at MFC for a long time, if they make it happen it will be something to behold.

My plan of attack today is to follow along with the AFC score updates and then media blackout begins at 10:30am until 5 when I bowl over any women and children en-route to the car park. Have a good day peeps, looks like we've got a football game in Arrowhead..