sue

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

I'm sure there will be mistakes, but I just fear they may be out of all proportion because this has not been thoroughly trialled, especially seeing what real coaches do to fiddle it in real matches. The questions I and others have raised don't seem to be answerable yet. That is unsatisfactory with the season only weeks away. I too would love more open footy (though I don't think we need much more scoring for the game to be a better spectacle) and hope this rule will achieve it. I just wish it had been trialled first. The AFL by their own admission are implying that the first few weeks of the season will effectively be the trial and they will tweak things as required. Supporters of a club which misses the finals because of some losses early in the season due to errors or uncertainties in this rule will doubtless be overjoyed by the improved spectacle.

The Jackson 6 posted this in another thread and it raised a question for me: How does the umpire decide which player is the man on the mark and therefore has to 'stand'? Presumably whoever is nearest. And does the umpire first direct him to where the mark actually is? I didn't see any clear evedence of this in the practice match. Say a 1 on 1 mark is taken, can the defeated player runaway to a legal position 5 m away before the umpire calls 'stand', at which point he won't be on the mark? Can the umpire call him back? Even if there is a man on the mark, it may well be worth another player (who would not otherwise run forward) to also man the mark but 5m away to where the man on the mark used to stand in recent years. This all seems poorly thought out and coaches cunning plans may cause it to be changed frequently, eg. the above poster's suggestion that he hopes the area is extended to 10m.

Thanks. When there is a rumour which turns out to be wrong it is good to know how it came about and to know it wasn't someone just stirring or being malicious.

I didn't notice anyone definitely believe it, really just hanging out for confirmation or hopefully dismissal. OD's not given to wild rumours and his posts were reasonable. Maybe though his source should be asked to provide coronory care for some of us older members.

Watching the game yesterday I had the impression players were reluctant to even approach where the mark actually was. They'd run towards the mark but stop often 5 or more metres short of where they were entitled to be. I don't know if is due to the new rule - can't think why it would be but..?

There is also a delay in the play-on call resulting from the fact umpires breathe - that affects when the words 'play-on' exit their mouths. As I don't get tired of saying (though some may well be tired of hearing), the solution is to let the player on the mark decide if the player with the ball has played on. If he gets it wrong the umpire can issue the penalty.

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