Lord Travis

Wasn't the best 38 disposal game by any stretch, but most clearances on the ground, high metres gained, and doing a job successfully on Cripps is worthy of praise and a key reason we won. His move further up the ground has been a good one for us. Our defense has been more balanced, and our midfield has another weapon. Since his move into the midfield 3 weeks ago, we've played some of our best footy for the season. Keep it up Gus!

Kudos to Melksham and Hunt for their games against the Blues. Both maligned and both missed a premiership medal and have had to fight for their spot. We've been much better since Hunt came into the back six at Bowey's expense and Brayshaw pushed further up the field. Hunt's ability to lock down on smaller agile forwards is very important to our defense, but his pace and agility rebounding is important. He doesn't get as much ball these days, but he makes it count and has learnt to lower his eyes with shorter passes too instead of always blazing away. He basically won us the game in the last few minutes, with three inside 50s leading to two goals. His ability to break the lines with great sidestep and pace before sending it forward was match winning. He has to stay in the 22 now for the remainder of the season. Melksham has clearly worked on his defensive pressure like the coaches wanted, and though it's still not outstanding due to lack of pace, he's putting in the effort and getting some rewards. Was an odd sight seeing him become the best marking forward on the ground when McKay and Curnow were playing! Credit to him for always staying involved, keeping his eyes on the ball in every marking contest, and making the most of his opportunities. We need goal kickers, and he's proving he can be one right when we need it most heading into finals with TMac unlikely to return this year. Honourable mention to Petty also for winning the battle with the current Coleman medal leader. Curnow had a few shots at goal, but some were from unrelated downfield free kicks, and most weren't from high percentage positions. Petty wore him like a glove and comfortably beat him. Great effort and still surprising to see a 21 year old do such a good job in a tall defender role against some of the leagues best players.

Playing well at Casey and may get a call up soon if the coaches want to change the dynamic of the team. He was rightfully dropped due to poor form and low impact on games this season. We’ve been better since Hunt and Rivers came back in at his expense. Bowey has a long career ahead of him and the fact he can develop at Casey as well as AFL level shows how far we’ve come with reliance on young kids. He’ll make his way back into the AFL side at some point soon and hopefully hold his place. His kicking and decision making is all class, but he has other parts of his game he needs to continue working on (as all players do).

Pretty confident we’ll beat Brisbane again this week. We’ve had their number in recent years and they’re not in good form. They’re the weakest team in the top 6 on form. We also travel really well, so it would be a surprise if we lost to them this week. Most likely outcome is we finish third and play the Swans at the SCG for week one of finals.

You [censored] ripper! Got out of jail there and not it’s sweet seeing the Blues fans in agony. Thank god for Kozzie!

He’s been [censored] second half of the year so probably works in their favor 🤣

Also smashing Pretty Hate Machine by NIN waiting outside the ground for mates! Fire up Dees!

Weather update from those close to the G? Also any word on Kozzie being a late out for knee issue?

In 2021 we stepped up sure, but this year we’ve folded at the sight of pressure and lost 6 games against top 8 sides. I’d consider games against our main competition as big games, like the two against the Pies in front of huge crowds at the MCG as a prime example. I’m still hopeful we can get going and hit out straps again in finals, but evidence says 2022 demons don’t handle pressure well.

Where has all this Naughton talk come from? Is it just wishful thinking or was there rumors in media or on footy forums? He would compliment our forward line perfectly with his size and aerial ability. If we could turn Jackson into Naughton it would be the biggest coup in recent memory!

Been played as an undersized key defender at the Blues (when he can get on the park). Had ACL, then syndesmosis and back issues. His issues pre-draft were his size for a mid (193cms) with explosive burst of speed and kicking, hence there was hype he could become the explosive forward-mid type. At AFL level those strengths are nowhere to be seen, not sure if they were overplayed as he was a bit of a man child against kids and so against men he's average. He's been below average at AFL level thus far and looks unlikely become anything more than a role player type at this stage. If you believe the footy forums also, he has poor work ethic and is a bit of a [censored], so not the most coachable type. Wouldn't bother unless we can get him for a token fourth round pick.

No point booing Cripps. That’s silly, he’s done nothing unwarranted to our club or players. I do hope he has a stinker and we belt them though. The tears of the Blues fans missing finals would be sweet.

Precedent has now been set - bumps to the head that result in concussion are now legal. Could be some absolute lunacy ahead!

This whole process is taking far longer than both the bloody matches he’s missing. What a waste of time and money!

Didn’t see him is a laughable defense. If he didn’t see him, why did he even jump in the air? Why didn’t he extend his arms and attempt to grab the ball from the air? Why didn’t he extend his arms to spoil the ball? Why did he turn his body and put weight behind his shoulder? If he gets off, then the precedent is set; bumps to the head that knock out opponents are fair game. No way he should get off.

Should increase the suspension an extra week for wasting everyone’s time and money. He carelessly bumped and knocked a bloke out who’s now missing two weeks. His suspension is lenient if anything.

Bowey and Rivers could be up there as well. Expect both to have good careers for us. Not surprised the Swans have 6. Swans and Freo have the best young talent and will be competitors for years to come. Amazing that Andrew Brayshaw and Aaron Naughton are still both only 22!

I’m offended I wasn’t included swearing pessimistically and expressing my hatred for the pathetic Doggies scum of a football club 🤣

Percentage is the most reliable indicator of a teams performance. As the fixture is not equal, lower placed teams from the previous year such as Collingwood have an easier run and can accumulate more wins (which is all that matters). Teams that make finals with a low percentage usually fail come finals time. They have struggled over the line throughout the season, and once the pressure rises in finals they are no longer competitive. The lowest percentage by a premier in the past decade is Richmond at approximately 114%. Dogs won at approx 116%. Premiers average percentage over the past decade is 131%. Collingwood currently have the lowest percentage for a top four team in over a decade at 106%. It’s why I rate them as very long odds to win the flag. They’re a middle of the road team who have had a good lucky run. Statistically, some of their wins this year have been anomalies that will not happen again. They have no consistent game style that they execute consistently and instead rely purely on emotion and momentum. Credit to them for making it this far, but it is not sustainable. When pressure rises, you need a defined system and style or you’ll run around like a headless chook and be dismantled by a well drilled side. If they win the flag, it will be a miracle (or nightmare) and they will statistically be the weakest premier this millennium (I didn’t bother scrolling back past 2000).

If loading has cost us a top four finish in our premiership window, then it was a [censored] waste of time.

Cripps should get minimum two weeks. Wasn’t a marking contest, he chose to leap and then bump head high, and he didn’t extend his arm to try and spoil the ball. Ah Chee was concussed and will miss two weeks now under concussion protocols. Should be 3-4 weeks, but will get two. Anything less and it’s blatant corruption from the AFL trying to protect a star player from a team they want in finals.

Our inside 50 conversion rate was 4% above AFL average last night. As poor as it looked at times, we scored fine. We lost because their conversion was 16% higher than AFL average. We defended poorly all across the ground, especially defensive 50. This was a defensive loss, not an offensive one. The coaches would be furious we got into another shootout instead of slowing the game down and controlling it. It’s a failure on their part that they weren’t able to get the players to do that. I was sitting near the bench, and last night is the most animated and angry I can remember seeing Goodwin.

Really disappointed with the lost and feel like we’ve failed another test. We’re not as good as we were last year and we can’t seem to hold leads and run out games when the heat is on. That said, Collingwood 2022 are the luckiest team in history. What they’re achieving is a statistically anomaly. Fans and media can bang on all they want about their spirit etc but data says they’re lucky and there’s no rhyme or reason for their winning. To be second on the ladder heading into the second last round with a percentage of 106 is mental. No team has ever won a match when they’ve lost disposals by +80, clearances by 20+, inside 50s by 20+, contested possession by +20, uncontested possession by +50, contested marks +4, same disposal efficiency. The only stats they won were tackles and free kicks. Last night was basically a statistical impossibility. If that game was played another ten times over they wouldn’t win again and would lose by an average of 6-7 goals most times. Credit to them for never giving up, but what they’re doing is luck and unsustainable. If they somehow win the flag, it can only be considered a miracle (or travesty). They are not worthy. Anyway, we reload and go again against Carlton next week. They’ve been in pretty poor form, so if we lose to them then it’s real alarm bells leading into finals. We need to get back to our defensive gamestyle and take control of the game. No more shoot outs ever again for this team unless we recruit some serious front 50 weapons in future.

So the Pies coach and players have all said in interviews they talked about it and used it as motivation. Why did Ed give them ammo?!

Loading back on again this week eh