Adam The God

Completely agree. Top 4 should and I'm sure is, the goal for next year. If we get some luck at the pointy end and with injuries, our system improves (with natural improvement from our young list) and we hold our nerve, we're a big chance at going all the way in 2019 or 2020.

A bit of a nothing article, but I certainly agree with Lyon's sentiment. Petracca's stats weren't bad, but for a Pick 2, we need more from him. I hope we get it from him in 2019.

Good call. I saw this and didn't think anything of it, but if you see how they've placed the NB merch, it's pretty clear iSelect aren't that BOJ sponsor anymore.

Adelaide had 4 in Walker, Jenkins and Lynch/McGovern. Carlton have Curnow and McKay. Geelong have Ratugolea too who could be absolutely anything. But yes, I agree with you. It's a bit like my argument over our lack of midfield depth. We've no less depth than anyone else. And if Rance or Martin went down at Richmond their premiership aspirations would be significantly dinted. If Grundy or Sidebottom went down for Collingwood they'd be significantly hampered. We've shown in the past that even without Gawn we can beat most opposition.

Nope. But that doesn't mean anything.

In some ways I'm surprised we haven't been linked to him (via apparent club sources), but then in another way I'm not surprised, given our lack of internal leaks. He has to be on our radar.

The 17 game season is a [censored] idea. I like football. The more of it, the better. There will always be inequality in the fixturing as there will always be financial interests at play - the system now relies on it and everyone's wage is based on the broadcast rights. Let's just continue our upward trend and build a success club. The rest will take care of itself.

The club gave away thousands and thousands of free tickets to that game against GWS. We probably broke even but this sort of talk for mine is completely naive. Some Demonlanders keep banging on about extracting ourselves from the NT deal, but you're commenting without any inside knowledge and little awareness of how to run a football club as a business. I also wouldn't expect transparency from the club because it's not in the best interests of the club. If the real figures were to come out, I suspect you'd be rather more hesitant to extricate us from the NT deal. If we can draw consistent crowds of between 35-40,000 against small interstate sides like GWS, Freo, GCS etc, we could then begin to look at other alternatives to the NT revenue stream. But without at least some consistent success, we won't and shouldn't be removing the NT deal. Reality check needed for some. We've been a basketcase for years and have had one good season. During this season our crowds were up, but the only meaningful crowd rise was seen throughout the finals series. Our supporters certainly turned out on their own accord and out numbered the opposition. Let's see how this translates into season 2019 before we go off half-cocked and begin removing important revenue streams.

Brisbane are building some nice depth in their midfield too. They'll trouble a lot of teams next year.

Not sure how long ago now, but within the last 5-10 years. Both stopped commentating the game and returned. I'm not going crazy am I? That did happen?

Looking through our fixture yesterday, I had us down for 16 wins. That's mostly beating the teams we should beat and winning a game against Collingwood, West Coast or Richmond. * I can't see Geelong making the 8 next year. * I think Hawthorn over-achieved this year and are starting to remind me of Geelong in that they're desperately topping up in the hope they've got enough talent to pinch one. Even with Clarkson, I don't see it. * Port are massive under achievers, but they could just as easily miss out on the 8 again. I expect them to scrape in next year though, otherwise a change of coach is coming. * The Dogs could turn it around, but they lack the midfield depth required and barring a miracle they won't make the 8 either. * Gold Coast, Fremantle and Carlton will be similarly placed come the end of the year. I really can't see them getting out of the bottom 4. * Unless Horse changes tact, I see Sydney missing the 8 next year. * GWS will probably finish just inside the 8, but could easily miss. * North will be on the fringe again. I could see them sneaking into the 8. * St Kilda are ordinary, but if they can bring the pressure game they brought under Richardson 2-3 years ago, they could finish on the fringe, but I can't see them making the 8. * I think we'll see Brisbane rise and finish anywhere between 13th-10th. A year too early for them to make finals IMO. That leaves the following teams to thrash it out for the top 4: West Coast, Collingwood, Richmond, Melbourne, Essendon and Adelaide. The rest of the top 8 will be made up of two of GWS, Hawthorn, Port and North. OF THE TOP 4 With injuries, Richmond could miss out on the top 4 altogether. They've had an incredible run with injuries and if Rance goes down, that's 3-4 goals a game they'll be worse off. I think Riewoldt and Lynch will change the dynamics of their forwardline and transform them into a higher scoring team, but a more predictable unit, which will see them lose more often. Collingwood had a very, very easy draw this year. 2019 will test them, but through their easy draw this year, they built some confidence in their system and they still have 2 older champions in the midfield and emerging half backs and mids. I could just as easily see Collingwood tipping out of the top 4 too. West Coast have been thereabouts for the last few seasons and their defensive system and power forwards will make them difficult to beat. Particularly, now that these guys have a flag under their belts. They're beatable, but I think top 4 certainly beckons for them in 2019. Adelaide still have a good list, but injuries proved this year that they're not as powerful as it may have seemed leading into 2018. When we had crucial injuries in 2017, Goodwin pulled the right reigns and devised a system that enabled us to finish 9th and missing by percentage. In all honesty, even though they finished a single win outside of the 8 in 2018, Adelaide were a long way off being the standard of a top 8 team (bar maybe their Richmond game). They're the wild card entry for top 4 in 2019. The hype around Essendon is actually justified IMO. Their midfield is shaping up nicely. Their problem is little margin for error, both in injury (if Daniher goes down again and Fantasia misses, they'll struggle to make the 8 ) and in work rate+system. Their lack of a decent second KPF and a good ruckman will probably see them just miss the top 4, but who knows? This leaves us. If we can stay healthy and fit, our list is well balanced, although still slow on the outside. If Gawn, Oliver and Brayshaw stay fit we'll push for top 4. If they all play and are accompanied by Viney (IMO almost our most important player), we'll make the top 4. I hope Lever, May and one of McDonald/Frost get some serious continuity together next season. If they do, we'll be hard to beat.

RE: Bruce, he should have stayed retired and would have remained one of the greats. His reputation would have been further enhanced due to the lack of decent commentators these days. It speaks volumes about the state of commentary that Bruce even came back. Commetti was the same too. He shouldn't have come back. Even he'd lost it. RE: Essendon, they're still cheats. ?

I agree, although I think Essendon are the stop-gap until Carlton dig themselves out of the mire. The AFL want a close contest. Essendon are more likely to provide a better account of themselves (with a large audience watching) than Carlton would.

Spot on mate. Big chance to lure the likes of Kelly to Melbourne in 2020 on the back of another strong season, but a vastly improved fixture list with exposure on the big stage.

Bloody great! Collingwood had a walk in the park draw this year. Next year will tell us where they really sit.

Brilliant draw. We get to play Essendon, Collingwood and Richmond in big MCG home games. That's a wonderful result for us in a year when we won't get the home gate receipts of ANZAC Eve and QBD. We've been rightly rewarded and I'm glad to see Carlton have been relegated to the Sunday afternoon graveyard spot. If we can make top 4 in 2019, it will be a dream for our sponsors. Our brand will be front and centre in prime time most of the year. ?

This problem has been compounded by the fallacy that being a lawyer or an accountant earns you lots of money. These courses are packed out, meaning many young people miss out on those courses. It's also these industries that are flailing and becoming increasingly automated, which then in turn impacts on the choices young people have to follow when it comes to their career paths. Coupled with the cost of living and inflation, young people are [censored], which is why there has been such a large growth in wellness and wellbeing in the younger generation. The new post-neoliberablism era - it's still about the self, but you are connected to others, which is far healthier. Our generation has a willingness to open up and deal with their mental health demons - I am currently producing a mental health doco on millennials and it's garnered a groundswell of industry support. Having a close circle of friends, healthy relationships with your family, a stable work/life balance (yes, I'm not perfect when it comes to this side of things, but a work in progress- I'm passionate about my filmmaking and have difficulty letting go - just ask my wife!) and an ability to acknowledge your mental health when it creeps up on you, are keys to happiness in life. Along with pursuing things you're passionate about.

This is the glaring issue for mine. We've no midfield depth, unless we see Salem, ANB and Lewis roll through the middle, which I don't think we'd want. That would leave maybe 7 guys that can go through there from: Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, Brayshaw, Viney, AVB and Jones. It'll be interesting to see if we pick up any delisted FAs and what our draft strategy is.

Do we really have significant depth though? I'm not convinced.

Lol. Are Carlton being hyped up though?

No doubt our list is still a work in progress. I think we were simply hamstrung by the deal we had to do for Lever (which I support).

And don't get me wrong. I hate Essendon with a passion. They're a blight on our competition and should have been sat out of the league for a year and not allowed access to the first round of 2-3 drafts. Their 'sanctions' were far too weak.

I concur. I don't concur. Absolutely do not deserve more night games. They did not manage to make the finals and were comprehensively blown away in week 1 of the 2017 finals series. We deserve more night games and prime time exposure because we made a preliminary final and were a whisker off the 2017 finals series. If we were talking about the fixture going into 2018 I'd agree with you more. But they failed in 2018.

Agreed, although their spread away from the contest that killed us a few years back has not been addressed. Fortunately, Essendon's ruck stocks are weak and if we get first use from Gawn, we should account for them.

I agree with the sentiment that they overrated Billings and perhaps Salem, but we have no idea whether Cripps, Merrett etc were also in our top 3-5 players.