Little Goffy

Remember that time when you worked at that place where you bought/sold a thing but didn't actually work out the price to even the nearest six figures... and didn't get fired? No? Me neither.

I don't know if there's a specific number of wins or ladder position, but at the end of 2021 we will know if things are where they ought to be if the general chatter about us includes phrases such as 'premiership threat 2022'. That obviously includes a premiership 2021! There are two particular things I'll be watching our games for - holding back the tide when things turn against us, instead of giving away bulk goals in 15 minute lapses, and really putting the hammer to opponents when we do get on top. Caveats and footnotes galore. We could have anywhere from 8 all-Australians and

Really, I could have sworn everyone said he was too heavy?

I heard they are offering him a contract of 650k for the first seven years and then 4 million a year for the final two.

In the spirit of it being an exercise in anticipation rather than pretending I know any more than anyone else; B: Hibberd May Rivers HB: Tomlinson Lever Salem C: Langdon Brayshaw Harmes HF: Melksham Weideman Petracca F: Fritsch B.Brown Pickett FOLL: Gawn Oliver Viney INTER: Jackson and without speculating too much on kids, the ready-to-go bodies for the rest of the interchange; Jones, Jetta, VandenBerg, McDo

It's a nice little metaphor for society, reallly. 'It could have been a big hit to income but we'll soften the blow by tossing a couple of the most vulnerable people out of the boat completely.' Righto, with that out of the way, we can get back to all being in this together.

For this draft only (and in classic AFL HQ 'on-the-run why would we let anyone know in advance hey why not announce it after trade period that'll be fun' style) teams can select fewer than three players if there are circumstances such as, um, being Gold Coast or similar enough to Gold Coast that it would be too obvious if they excluded you. I believe there is also an extension to how many late picks you can horde for points burning - previously you could only cash in as many picks as you actually could have taken in the draft. Also worth noting is that if Sydney can't cover their pri

If Sydney's second NGA pick (expected bit in the 20s) hasn't been bid on by the time our 18/19 come up, don't be surprised if one of those selections plus 33 and 50 go to the Swans for a combo featuring their 2021 first rounder in live trading on the night. Gets them a draft pick ahead of their points burning as well as the later points to burn, and gets us realistically well inside the first round of 2021. And we get to make the decision after we have picked our favourite of the options at 18. Sydney would be loving it; pick 3, then top ten level NGA pick, then pick 19, then early s

Not his best year but still better than all but a handful of footballers could ever manage. I'm immensely looking forward to the development of Jackson and the presence of Brown meaning that the burden of being the long bomb relief target is shared around a bit more. Gawn being free to use his fitness more aggressively will add an impossible-to-plan-for component to our attack. He was never going to get to burn off opposition ruckmen with the rules the way they were in 2020 and with the limited tall support, but 2021 could be a very different scene.

Worth noting that Essendon almost certainly tanked the second half of their season, so may be a little more dangerous than they seem. 5W 2L, then 1W 1D 8L. About round 8, someone in the secret herbs and spices department at AFL House must have tipped them off that Daniher would get them the bonus first rounder matching their existing pick. Once a couple of injuries to senior players came in they clearly had no reason to do any better in 2020. Beware, the cheats may be a rabble but they still know how to game the system.

I'm curious, if Colonwood get salary cap relief for delisting a player who they recruited entirely knowing the risk and situation, the possibly consequences could be... Can't finish the sentence. Too long; didn't write! The sense of entitlement is mind-boggling.

If we want to open the game up and add to the spectacle we would only need to make the midfielders tired. Fresh forwards competing one-out against fresh defenders is as edge of your seat spectacle of human contest as it gets in sport. Alternatively, more skills in the midfield to tip the balance in favour of piercing attack rather than scragging defence. The perfect example of that imbalance is the Women's game, where there's no question on the commitment and effort but the skills won't catch up until a generation of girls has grown up with a Sherrin in hand. As a result the women's

Always great when you buy something and it is exactly what it said it was on the box.

It might work in our favour a bit because we have the game's fittest ruck, as well as fit key position players at both end of the ground who can stay on the park for almost the whole game (Bonus: Ben Brown was on the field for something like 98% of the time in 2019) We also have more midfield depth than most so we can rotate without losing too much quality. Perhaps most valuable - tired opponents means less flooding back, fewer intercepts and more chances for our forwards to use time and space to make something useful of our wonky entries.

Possibility 1 - we are confident that with fewer than usual players being taken in 2020, the 2021 draft will be deeper with leftovers as well as being higher 'natural' quality as projected. Not so much a need to get into the top picks. Possibility 2 - our late first round picks might be traded out in live trading to clubs who want to get in ahead of their academy picks, so they can double-dip (can someone confirm for me that future picks can be live-traded?) Possibility 3 - one final trade up to make sure we get Archie Perkins.