Little Goffy

I have to reassure myself that this is a purely tactical or 'managed old bodies' change, because McDonald has been a proper stalwart this season even at the roughest times. While they have very little else in common, I think Bowey and McDonald share the all-important defender's traits of general calmness and an awareness of what they realistically can or can't do in any given situation. On the other hand, with Amartey and Francis out, a look at Sydney's marks inside 50 rankings has only resting rucks (McLean and Ladhams) as tall targets up there. If there ever was a week to rest McDonald, this would be it. The danger, of course, is that Sydney are forced to play smarter and pick out their smaller players and/or running and gun it across the 50m arc, which would suggest even having Lever come in is going too tall! Best case is that he and May can get right back to the smart positioning combos and push up aggressively enough to be taking intercepts halfway up the ground, as in days of yore. If that happens, we will crunch Sydney horribly, though I suspect no matter how much of a squeeze we can put on, there will always be dangerous moments where their ultra-attacking mids find their space.

Always disappointed when Geelong wins, BUT Melbourne are now outright best results over the last five games. On a five-game basis we are top of the ladder, and we just beat the reigning premiers! Can you caveat a woot woot?

2028 is a lock. The footy gods have been consulted by my personal alphitomancer. But do not fear, the other seasons are still opportunities.

Just for a laugh, and with all the caveats about who we've played recently... Right now, at 4w 1l from the last five games, we are the form team of the competition alongside only the Bulldogs.

We should continue to show our interest in him even if for no better reason than to force Geelong to provide him with a bigger asparagus farm. Midfield depth at genuine AFL level is always a good idea, though. A lot of our promising kids can play plenty of time across wings and flanks and if their sessions in the middle are against opponents tired from grinding out against the likes of Viney and Worpel, all the better. Remember that the Petracca-attack tactic of yesterday was all about letting him take additional breaks early in the game, either forward or on the bench, and then sending him in during the third to be both brilliant and fresh. All that grappling and bumping and getting from contest to contest is a heavy load for the chunkier bodies to carry, so sharing the burden there is just as important as having elite wing running like Langford. And then Windsor and XL will come through and knife you before you know they are there. #2028Premiers!

Somewhere in a storage box in the shed at my Mum's place is a guernsey signed by Max at a pre-season visit to the Demon shop, I think it was before he ever played a game, maybe just those first couple before injury. . Proof of timing would be the sponsor logos and the fact that it was also signed by Ricky Petterd. Oh, it might even be as No.37! Am I quietly sitting on an heirloom?

Similar quote from, of all places, The Pentagon Papers; "If we set out for victory then at least a negotiated peace might be reached. If we set out for negotiated peace we will surely lose everything".

Whatever comes from the rest of the season, you have to respect the club for holding their nerve. Demonstrated 'learnings' from last season, I guess!

Sydney are very up and down from game to game and quarter to quarter, and it depends very much on pressure applied not just to slow their top players but to stimulate the nerves and uncertainty that is creeping through the less celebrated players. Carlton would absolutely have had Sydney's measure if it was De Konig instead of Pittonet out there. And they got a bit unlucky, too. Of course, aside from the potent rucks our team is radically different to Carlton. The headline being the key forwards. All games, ultimately, are decided by the efforts of the lower-rated half of the side, but this game will be a particularly strong example of that. I'm sure Petracca has had a weight taken off his shoulders by the fact that the team is getting it done without requiring him to be his supernatural best. In contrast, Heeney and Warner are simply too important to Sydney - they bring half Sydney's clearances and a third of Sydney's goals. Unfortunately I don't think either would be a good target for Clayton the super-tagger!

Our tail is getting shorter. 'Lesser' players are making more effective contributions. Almost every players can feel respectable with their output today. But also importantly, almost every player is still capable of doing more. Just two wins out of the 8. That's all that is going on now.

6 Melksham - almost single-handedly made our forward line unpredictable 5 Gawn - was just a 'Gawn standard' game until he took three important marks in the last five minutes At this point you begin to realise how even the team performance was. 4 Rivers - Had a huge surge in the third quarter 3 Oliver - remembering how much I like to reward players pushing through bad form 2 Pickett - creative, creative, creative 1 Petracca - recognisably Petracca without a lot of huge moments. Big apologies to a few, especially Bowey and Langond, and Fritsch who did very well coming in a sub, and also Dan Turner who competed hard.

Grim. I won't pretend to have anything further to say, just want to acknowledge this is awful, and to give a nod to everyone who might be feeling that very worst of tensions.

I think that's the part that made it stick in people's minds. Everyone understands that even the most honest and forthright politician will change their plans under new circumstances or pressures. But to then act like people are being unreasonable to call out a deception will mark you forever. I think it is actually similar to the 'recession we had to have' in the sense that it was almost mocking people for having believed the previous good times talk-ups. In contrast, Bob Hawke is looked at with some moderate affection because there was always a sense that he was genuinely disappointed when he couldn't follow through on a claim. So the equivalent for Jackson would be, let's say the trade happens, this time next year Jackson starts saying to Freo supporters that they are immature for resenting it because it was always obvious he was leaving.

Trying to avoid the hype, which is playing in both directions about Reid. I wince every time I start contemplating Reid because at some point I was reminded of Colin Sylvia and now I can't eliminate that thought. Personally I'm reluctant for the club to get too involved in the Reid story because it is one where everyone has ceased being rational. Any given person could be perfectly correct in their assessments but it is unlikely they reached them based on a full view of the real situation.

If player salaries keep rising under the new salary cap is it possible that Jackson's contract could drop out of the top 25% at Freo, changing him to a possible free agent at the end of 2029? SHENANIGANS ENSUE. I assume Max will hand over the captaincy to Langford after the 2028 premiership, and play out a couple more years as a tall defender/ruck. It'll be fun to see Gawn/Jackson back together for 2030. The beauty of this post is it will he either totally forgotten or be the most brilliant foresight in the history of football predictions.

Ideally five players who, at the crucial moment, can be united to form one giant superplayer. From what I've gathered from other threads dor us this draft is going to be all about f/s, next generation academy and such. Could get very complicated quickly if exits do happen, though. I think we would want to gather an absolute top pick, rather than multiple 'good', in pursuit of another star to build our regeneration around.

Walls would come out with the big opinion article where even if you disagreed or felt he'd missed something, you had to take seriously the level of thought he put into it and you had to genuinely argue your case against. If the modern types like Cornes invest one hour to come up with ten 'big calls', Walls would put ten hours into one. I'm glad to know he had full dignity and affection with him.

All this pain proves we're alive.

I just can't grasp how both Fritsch and Van Rooyen have slumped so completely. Fritsch had a difficult and underperforming 2024 but his 2025 has been one chocolate from a box. Van Rooyen went from promising but inconsistent kid on a conventional young tall forward trajectory who had moments but not whole games, to now being outright anaemic. Meanwhile Jefferson looks like he's waiting for his owl from Hogwarts to arrive.

As a recovering statistician I can confirm that stats genuinely believe the all the crazy things they say. "Yes, this train goes to Pakenham, but as a passenger you are much more likely to arrive at Central than anywhere else."

So long as the write-ups keep mentioning his competitiveness I think everyone on Demonland will feel positive about his future with us. "Bring me competitive talls, I will take them all and at any price"

I suspect the bolded part of the text which I highlighted might not have been clear enough on the screen.

"Suns continue love affair after edging comeback Dogs." I mean, who writes these headlines?

Simply not true. Less true of us than any other club.

Three. We can't get the account number right for transfers to the umpires.