Nasher

Honest question: why do you pay any attention to what happens in the off season if all you want is to “see it happen in front of you“? Literally all that happens at this time of year is hope gets sold, words get said and houses get trained down.

He got it from the same place Hardie got the info that MFC signing Bennell was “unlikely”. His arse. I don’t even need to be from WA to know the reputation these guys have for never letting the truth get in the way of a good story. Toss in Karl Langdon and you have the perfect trifecta of tiny WA fish trying not to get eaten in the small pond, battling for relevance.

In the interview that was mostly about Gawn, Mahoney said Bennell’s calf strain set his rehab back 3 or 4 days and it’s the kind of issues they were expecting to encounter. He said Bennell has done everything asked, is popular among the team, and even explicitly said he was well placed to earn a contract. That’s as close to “it’s locked in” as you will ever hear. So I guess Brad Hardie was pretty close when he said a MFC contract looked unlikely ? I honestly wish I could make a living out of just making s*** up.

Nah, it’s annoying when people bump current topics off the most prominent part of the forum with ancient stuff that has no currency. My stance on that hasn’t changed since 2005. I’m not stopping anyone from reading old threads.

It’s been so long since I’ve locked a thread that I’ve lost the button. Found it!!

I always thought the Franklin deal was done by the Swans knowing full well there would be a bite-in-the-arse factor in the back end but the increased flag prospects in the front end made it worthwhile. And I think it was.

I nearly puked when I read this post. Maybe Petracca’s progress is evidence that we should be patient and let players develop at their own pace instead of heckling, abusing and carrying on like impatient, entitled twits.

Surely it was obvious it was going to be a fluff piece by the title. Why read it if it’s not your cup of tea?

I got this book for Christmas and knocked it over while camping with family in the last week, and it was an absolutely fantastic read. It’s his life story (obviously) but looking through an analytical lense — his philosophies in life in leadership and how they were shaped by his personal and professional experiences. You get some insight in to his time in to the MFC - in particular how he transformed himself over time, his relationship with Chris Fagan (his right hand man and underrated influence in the relative success over that period) and how the club never really gelled at any stage he was here (financial issues, revolving door board and CEOs and so forth), particularly in contrast with his stint at West Coast at the end. Personally I got more out of reading about his time at Essendon though as a player and then a coach. It painted Kevin Sheedy in a very different light for me. It even made me want to watch the 1993 grand final - puke! Given that it’s heavy on the philosophical side of life, if it’s a yarn with all the gory details of the ins and outs of Neale’s time at the MFC (or anywhere else), this isn’t the book, but personally I lapped up every word and it cemented Neale as one of my life heroes and all time favourite footy people.

As I was reading through that excellent, detailed, insightful post, with no recollection of it, I thought, “the first reply is going to be a one-liner from a long term member with a very high post count about how all that is just an excuse and other clubs have injuries too”. I think I’ve been here so long I actually know how threads will play out without even needing to read them.

@Clint Buzzkillstill probably has the box of leftovers.

That just sucks. Life really is a bastard sometimes. Best of luck to him. Love that the club will extend his contract. At least he doesn’t have to go through the mental stress of wondering if he’s going to get the chop, on top of a second consecutive year of rehab.

What? Jeez, sounded like he was just getting going. Got to feel for the guy.

I think it goes without saying that I’d like to be told the truth - if half the side is injured then that’s an issue I’d like to know about. All I’m saying is I don’t need the reports to be “tempered”.

Just another voice of thanks for the great training reports. As an interstater I obviously can’t go watch training but even if I did I doubt I’d pick up on the detail you guys do. Awesome stuff. I’ve seen a few calls for balance in the reports - personally at this time I’m looking for all the reasons we’re going to be awesome. Reality may or may not kick in later, and that’s fine, but it’s not what I’m interested in in the off season.

How have Adelaide and Geelong played one game less than the other teams? Was there an abandoned match in there somewhere? Edit: Googled it, match in 2015 was abandoned following the death of Phil Walsh.

Goes in the same basket as player salaries for me. Got no idea how you can assess it from the outside and therefore don’t know why anyone cares.

I think it’s just reality - I agree that ideally all players would have their kicking technique down pat by AFL, but in practice plenty of them have ingrained bad habits, and it’s not isolated to the MFC. I also doubt they’re using the ball to teach them how to kick from scratch. They would all know the theory. It’s more that it gives the immediate feedback and it comes cheaply, or possibly for free. A 1%er, if you will. I think in terms of concerns, this ranks a solid 0 out of 10

I can’t wait! I’ll definitely notice when Burgoyne retires. Anyway I’m definitely happy to already declare myself an old fogey - knowing the rate of deterioration of the moving parts of my body gives me a serious appreciation for these blokes that kick on in to their mid-late 30s, and mine hasn’t been subject to 20 years of punishment of contact sport at elite level. I don’t reckon the young men and women in their early 20s would truly be able to understand that; I certainly didn’t. The Shaun Burgoynes and Kade Simpsons of this world definitely have a gift.

I believe you mean @Mdemonski3. Not sure how many iterations of this person there are ?

Damn, I missed this thread the first time around. What a stroke of genius to invent a Twitter account dedicated to one single pick swap. ?

Yep. Although I’m still young clearly- I’d be the second oldest player in the AFL after Shaun Burgoyne. The prospect of people being able to maintain elite fitness at my ages seems absurd to me, I can’t scrub the toilet without my knees hurting, and I only have to look at a carb to stack on 5kg.

What becomes more evident as you get older is just how young 18 is. It gets harder and harder to reconcile how 18 can count as “adult”. The interview with Jackson was one of a kid in a man’s body bouncing off the walls with excitement (which I loved by the way). Unsure at what point I officially became an old fart but it appears to have happened.

This comment aged even better than you could have expected I reckon mate!

Gosh some people are worry warts. Being from WA doesn’t automatically imply they’ll want to go home. There are heaps who haven’t. I’ll stress out about the go home factor when I see evidence of it happening. All I’ve seen in Rivers and Jackson so far is two excited kids, who had long mentally prepared themselves that they might have to move, who can’t wait to pull on the red and blue.