praha

No. They have been distributed to targeted groups such as migrants and tourists that have shown interest in AFL. They're not giving them away to randoms.

Lol if that's the case it would mean two more Finals losses for Richmond. Their fans would riot and Hardwick likely wouldn't survive.

It might boost crowd numbers by a fee thousand, 10k at an absolute maximum. I think 40k is a reasonable expectation regardless.

Is the AFL right serving only light beer at night games when everyone wants beer that actually tastes like real beer?

You're right. We have all round good blokes like Bugg.

Hawks would want more than Watts and that pick. Why would they trade a marking forward who can play back, for a confidence player and a pick? Granted they probably want to stock up but Watts is barely a depth player, he's either top 22 or a deck chair being shuffled in and out. Hawks will be looking to add useful depth to replace injuries.

Players tend to play on though with a bulging disc because it's common and is often passed off as back pain. Generally the best way to counter back pain is to strengthen lower and upper core strength and keep moving, and Watts is already well established there (as all basketballers tend to be which Watts was one). You can play through it depending on the location and I assume the FD thinking is that if it's not restricting movement pre game then it shouldn't hurt effectiveness in game, especially once the body warms up and the adrenaline is blanketing any pain. Anyone that has experienced back pain would know that the best medicine is full body movement as opposed to "resting" because then your body just tightens up and the pain is amplified. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a disc and they gave the all clear because you'll get a few players throughout a year that play through it in combination with therapy. In regards to this week it may be a case of waiting again until pre game to determine the severity of it. He seemed slow on the weekend, no so much restricted by movement. He also had stints in the ruck and worked his way into the game so I'm not convinced any injury he may have is dragging him down. He could have just been well held and struggled to influence.

Strange omissions.

I hear Kent Kingsley is a small chance.

Pineapple of a post.

Like Mumford did last week?

Lol no he didn't. We were just always found out by better teams once our easy schedules were finished up. Whenever we travelled, played a top 5-6 team or had any less than a 7 day break, we lost. Once it hit round 11 we turned to mash and were constantly found out. Daniher resigned in 2007 because he knew his 2003-2006 rebuild was shot. That said we would have bounced back within a year or two and probably won a flag had we supported him and he had the urge to stick around. Think he just grew tired.

It's viable...and I do think we'll bounce back and perform better this next three weeks...but you're right that we've cut it fine. Bulldogs closed the year off poorly last year. We have had our first full 8 day break in a while and it would be weird if we come out flat on Sunday. Lewis was talking us up big in the media today, saying "if and when we play finals" teams will be worried about playing us. He is one bloke that is primed for this situation and along with Jones I expect a massive game from him on Sunday.

And take ten marks and kick 4 goals.

I've hated it overall. It's been fun at times but some of the losses have had me angrier than I've been in a while. Freo, Hawthorn, North x2...Geelong and Richmond are hard to stomach in hindsight. It's been a Rollercoaster. I haven't enjoyed a season in a while..wish I could fast forward to to round 23 just so I know whether we're in or not.

Petracca just said, "Stick with us". Season over, folks.

They are distinctively different players from different eras. Flower played for a team with [censored] house zones and no facilities. That he got them up and into finals in 87 is testament to that. Which is my point. Flowers legacy would have lived on regardless but it was that little bit more special by making the finals in 87. When we had an opportunity he went above and beyond playing injured in the worst club of the preceding 2 decades. Jones' legacy is imo shaped around this very scenario, 30 years on. I'm not saying he can't do it. I'm saying he needs to. We need him to step up to the plate.

He's just what we need in the team. Another lanky defender who can't lower his eyes coming out of defense, nor take a contested mark.

There's no point having captains and a leadership group if you're going to spread the accountability across a whole team including players with less than 50 games experience. Lyon made a good point about Saturday, they scored 10 goals in a row with ease and there was little resistance. It was a major indictment on Lewis and Jones and Co. Goodwin said at quarter time that we were too quick in the wind. That's part coaching, part leadership problem. Leaders are directors that ensure the directives are met. There was no talking or resistance to an onslaught that made us look like the worst team in the comp. And it's happened multiple times this year-- Freo, Hawthorn, first game against North --when we had our leaders playing without injury. GWS are very good,I'm not even angry about the loss broadly, but that first quarter was shocking revelation of where our leadership stocks are at.

Flower was a league above Jones. Nate is half the player Flower was.

Long ago, WA. Long ago.

Well, yeah.

Watts and Jones need to make a stand this next three weeks and prove they're not perennial losers. Jones is the captain and needs to shoulder that responsibility. Simply signing on during dark times isn't enough because it's an easy "out" when things don't go well. "Oh, well he stayed with us in dark times...". Mark my words, if those two can't get up and give us what we need, we won't get close to any of our next three opponents. Even Brisbane will towel us up. Those guys epitomise a losing culture, and they've never had a better opportunity to turn that on its head. If we miss finals this year and Jones can't perform over the next three games, do not be surprised if he's shopped around at season's end. It's going to happen eventually if we can't break this funk with him playing the role of "leader". I called it two years ago that he'd be replaced as captain and should be shopped. I honestly believe the likes of Oliver and Viney will benefit being 100% in control of the midfield. That just can't happen with Jones in the team as it currently is. He has three weeks to turn that around otherwise you're going to have to put up with another off-season of me calling for him to be traded. It's fate. He's back in the side, our midfield is at full strength, we have three games to book a finals spot, our first in ten years. He absolutely needs to lead this club to a final berth. Geelong fans wouldn't expect any less of Selwood, Hawthorn of Hodge. If you want to see leadership under scrutiny, check out the Bulldogs' leadership over the past month, made up of players with a 20th the experience of our leadership group.

It's a big test for our leadership group as well. There's a reason why Viney was made Co captain, and this talk of Jones being somewhat displeased initially suggests he has something to prove. There has been no bigger test of his leadership character than what he faces in the final 3 rounds. He needs to go above and beyond going through the motions and breaking even. The same goes for Vince, Lewis, and to a lesser extent, Jetta and Hibberd. We need Jones to take this team on his shoulders and guide them to a finals appearance. I know it's a lot to ask, but it's his time now. There's no point up your gaming on QB, ANZAC Eve, if you're not going to do it in the last 3 weeks with your team's first finals appearance in a decade on the line. I'm going to be watching Jones more than anyone in these final 3 weeks. I've been critical of him on this forum multiple times, but he's never *really* been put to the sword. His time is now. El Capitán needs to be the one with the final say. If he's not, then he'll just be proving Goodwin right for taking captaincy exclusivity off it. It's a privilege, not an entitlement. He now has to earn it for the first time in his career.

A lot of people not responding to the question. Highlighting we've improved is one thing. Failing to hit important KPIs is another. You can improve but still fail in your objective. It's been a very tough season and it appears we've hit a wall. Imo missing the finals would undoubtedly be a failure. We're 4 years into a rebuild now and have shown that we are finals capable. If we miss out on finals with 13 wins (which won't happen - if we win 13 we make it), then it suggests we've "improved" incrementally at the same rate as the teams around us, but have ultimately failed to move up into the upper end of the league. That may very well be something that is out of the club's hands and you can only do so much. However considering some of our losses this year, particularly North last week, it would imo be a major indictment on the leadership group if we falter -- again -- at a moment when finals was within reach. We have failed to embed ourselves in the top 8 with one very poor loss. We now have an opportunity to redeem that and move back into finals contention. Faltering like we did last year is a massive failure considering we end the season with 3 games against teams below us on the ladder. You couldn't possibly argue this season has been a success if we miss finals from here. We've improved, sure, but it would still be a failure. The current variables make it easy to distinguish between success and failure.