sue

ah yes, that makes more sense than my misinterpretation.

Well that wouldn't work since clubs would nominate the most damaging opponent. And if he went off with concussion before one of your teams was concussed..... It would really have to be drawn at random. Whole sub thing is ridiculous. Since the AFL's motivation is presumably to encourage teams not to continue with a concussed playe, the best solution is to use Independent doctors. Of course finding an unbiased one in Melbourne may be a tad dfficult.

I'd love the hear the arguments about who gets removed from the ground in the non-concussed side. ?

Presumably the AFL's thinking is that players/clubs need an incentive to ensure a concussed player does not play on, whereas they don't see any long term legal suits over a hammy etc. So they don't care if the player comes back on with those injuries. But given some of the arguments against it other have posted, perhaps penalties rather than incentives is the way to go. Though not sure how to manage penalties.

Anyone look at the hawthorn website for info about the match? The only vfl match I saw there was 3 days ago. Perhaps I missed something. Or their PR dept is as bad as ours or both clubs were Keeping quiet for some reason.

I think you’ll find you were the first to mention hugs. And why are premiership coaches exempt from your anti hugging policy?

And who is the boss? Anyone slightly up the heirarchy. So no hugging by Gawn or leadership group after a goal is kicked. Let's not get too joyless.

Gosh, I hope we don't kick any goals this year then.

Agree. This has to be said too often. We should curb our desire to know everything and criticising the club for not being open when it is in the club's interest to keep some things underwraps. I assume when such info is released publicly by the club, that they are aware other clubs will know anyway.

Thanks QB for being the only one to respond to my request and for your thoughful 'press release'. There is not much there that I disagree with and I can well imagine Gawn making that sarcastic dig at Viney. However, have you ever heard the captain of any club make such a detailed statement? And many of the things you say have been dribbled out by Gawn in various statements over the last couple of years (though perhaps not as elegantly as you did). We have been apologised to (too many times), we have heard statements about what we need to work on etc. I expect if Gawn published your statement there would still be a loud chorus from many here saying 'words, words, words, I want action'.

get lost. I don't spend every minute of the day here. My response will be sent shortly and you may be embarrassed about it. I'd rather be happy go lucky than a misery guts.

I really don't know what some people expect Gawn to say. Of course it means little. Given that he has to say something in this modern era, I'd like to see critical posters post some press releases here that are significantly better.

The minor error was AAMI's or the AFL's. Who ever heard of a series with 1 round? Perfectly reasonable to wonder where the rest of the rounds had vanished to.

ditto OD

Sorry, I respectfully disagree BA. So you reckon a team made up of old dee, me and 20 of our ilk would be a great team if only we had the right attidtude and culture. Of course you don't believe that. I say getting the skills in and developed is primary requirement. Then culture can also be important, but without the skills, culture means nothing. Of course skills & culture is best. And re-GWS, their great skills and questionable culture got them to a GF a couple of years ago. Would the MFC with a great culture but the recent players have got that far?

No denying an unmotivated or bunch of elite players not team oriented can be beaten by lesser players playing with better 'culture', but skills first, culture second in importance (though should be coeval).

FCS, watch his post-match press conference. He did not hide the concussion issue. This is getting tedious.

Doesn't the wording of the question imply captain's can't vote their own team into the 8. So we have at least 1 other captain onside. Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight?

Geez, the posters who want to find fault with Goodwin at every turn. If you listen to his comments in full you will hear him mention the concussion issue as well. He may not be the best/good/poor coach but putting the boot into him like that doesn't add any credibility to the case against him.

I am always impressed by those who think they can distinguish (from the outside) some cultural problem from a simple lack of skills which are obvious to all who watch the game. No amount of culture will turn a team of unskilled players into a champion team.

Good grief. You don't think Goody was talking about a timescale of weeks, not years? But if he is out of touch, he is out of touch on everything I guess.

Do we have to poach him?

I think you missed my point OD. If the player is not in the team to play as a tag, then why would you put him in that role in a practice match. The aim of such games is not to win by closing down an oppo player (though nice if we do) but to try players in different roles. If someone is a designated tag player, then by all means get him to tag in a practice match.

Has any team used a practice match to hone a player's run-with skills? I doubt it.

Pretty useless explanation - no detail. Doesn’t even cover the example of the Essendon player turning his back the other day. Unless the word laterally has a new meaning. Hopefully it will become clear in actual consistent practice