Little Goffy

It is a feature of the rucking world.

Preuss, Grundy, and arguably even McInerney from Casey was missed because the position was filled.

At the same time, having that second ruxk option who can also be respectable - just a role player - as a marking target makes a great difference to a team. They stretch defenders and if they are fit enough they really stretch wingers when they offer the long lead.

Right now I'm also recalling Darren Jolly and Stefan Martin who were stuck in the traffic jam behind Jeff White, and Mark Jamar who was the emergent successor.

Ruck is a merry-go-round and having the best is not a problem. We may yet be extremely lucky to have Heath doing the big target 70-30 fwd-ruck role.

I have my own suspicion that Gawn will often drop back to provide some intercepting height, which we know he does well, and that Heath will be a continuously present ruck for the forward portion of the ground. Saves Max a ton of running, supports our vulnerable tall defenders, and is also very appropriate with the new faster ball ups.

7 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Way to douse a fun thread, Red! 😄

On the bright side, in 2028 while we are winning a premiership, Collingwood will have no Pendlebury, no Moore, only one 30yr old Daicos and a banana's chance in Hobart of rebuilding smoothly. Not only are the drafts compromised, but Tassie will blow out the salary cap market.

The only conclusion is that Geelong and Hawthorn are both unaccountable easy beats.

Huzzah!

Kind of wishing Clarkson had gone to Gold Coast while Hardwick had endes up at North.

Pretty sure Clarrie has kicked at least one goal against Geelong tonight.

Everyone else has!

I think the true strategy is finally taking shape.

Petracca's contract plus putting the pressure on to bump up Humpty's contract. Just that little too much salary cap squeeze.

Ben King free agent.

4D chess being played here.

On 25/02/2026 at 22:00, Ghostwriter said:

Actually, NC… Clarrie knows only one other person with the same first name as mine. She lives in Shepparton and her surname is Cobbledick. If you do get to talk to him when passing on my best wishes (and love) please be sure you say “… from Gosch’s” so as he doesn’t think it’s the other gal (this has happened before). Thanks x

Must be hard to resist saying "From Cosch's".

2 hours ago, roy11 said:

Growing up I kicked a footy with my left foot but a soccer ball with my right. Found that odd.

I'm surprised you didn't fall over doing that.

Amusing myself looking at stats while commuting, and twigged to an odd similarity.

Bailey Humphrey 2025

Jake Melksham 2018

Footywire comparison

Just a couple of clearances a game difference.

Now, I think Melksham's late career bloom at half forward is criminally underrated, but does that mean I think he was worth two first rounders? Hrmm.

5 hours ago, DeedleDumb said:

Shouldn't we follow the formula of stocking up on mids and smalls in the draft and then trade in a couple of established key position players when we are ready to have a tilt? Like we did with Lever, May and Ben Brown before 2021?

Give Dan Curtin a couple of years to develop and I'm sure we can Lever him out of Adelaide.

See what I did there? Gosh I'm hilarious. Maybe we could use a Crowbar?

Geelong to beat Gold Coast for death riding purposes and because it'll be funny when Geelong stumble out of the top 4 late in the season by dropping multiple 'should win' games in the final 6 rounds, including us in round 20.

St Kilda to thrash Collingwood so the Pies can be miserable for 100% of a season, but also so the Saints can get ahead of themselves in time for round 1 against us.

GWS will beat Hawthorn in a farcical game interrupted by storms at the basically open-air Showgrounds stadium, with 8,750 fans getting drenched before and after on the long open concourses between the stadium and all parking/transit options. Oliver will look fine in the wet because finesse ain't gonna be a thing.

Brisbane will beat the Bulldogs in a shootout that will make the media froth their pants while overlooking the dangerous lack of defensive commitment from both sides.

Sydney will carry on the tradition of having star forwards kick bags against Carlton. Carlton will carry on the tradition of their ex-forwards outscoring them, although usually it is collectively, not just one. It'll be a vile game to watch, though, because Sydney is turning on its classic foul humid weather designed to harm all mammals. Expect a last quarter of nonsense. Possibly on-field vomiting.

17 hours ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

I will not make a deposit in the swear jar when we play Collingwood this year

Surely your swear jar has bought itself a mansion on the coast by now, has moved out and is blocking your calls.

11 hours ago, layzie said:

I'm going to write a book of standard lines to post when a key player signs a long term deal. All your favourites such as:

"Fantastic news. Well done lad!"

" Important to lock down this key piece for the future. This has made my day!"

" Wow!"

"Yessssss"

And many more..

"He signed the roof off"

"Contracting the house down"

One which always applies for young players;

"He could be anything in a few years!"

Like, by 2029 Langford could be a barstool, a giant octopus monster, or a new stand at the 'G.

A figurative and also literal giant of Australian sport - I had the pleasure of once encountering him ducking his way out of a lift at the 'G.

I came to AFL about the time his presence was peaking and his voice and style are synonymous with the game.

Would I even be so invested in the game if not for his beautiful blend of calm enthusiasm? An enthusiasm which always seemed sincere, unconfected, and give space for (and probably amused by) the rest of us periodically losing our minds.

12 hours ago, Nietaphart said:

Seriously? It’s the dogs fault??

Well I know it wasn't me who bit him, officer.

Now I'm having flashbacks to a police transcript which included the line "Yeah, and they sewed my nipple back on"

Get well soon, Fritta. It could be worse.

Aww gee doing just one is hard.

I'm going to stack a few sub-claims into the big one which is of course Melbourne making the top 4.

So the contingent claims are;

Freo lose both games against West Coast, costing them the top 4 slot.

Geelong finally stumble through a combination of age and, finally, scandal breaking through the mysteriously opaque media. Their brittle defence cracks under a Kingsterminded attack, costing them a crucial 8-point game and bringing Melbourne into the top 4 instead of them.

Collingwood just aren't that good, and enter into another long slow decline, with Tasmania playing finals before they do again. Not really related but just fun to picture.

Giants injury crisis hits their top players, with no game this season featuring all of their 2025 best 6 and nobody from that group playing more than 17 games.

Hawks get fugured out and found out by fast counter-attack.

Suns, again, think it'll just happen for them because they are so hot, and drop games they should win.

From the other end of the ladder, each of North, Richmond and West Coast improve significantly while multiple teams finish the season in the 10-12 win range. The shortage of easy pickings means that just 14 wins and good percentage will slip you into 4th spot.

So there it is, my outlandish prediction that has to have the entire season assembled around it.

But lock in the 2028 Demon Premiership. Just like the old gypsy woman said.

How many people can say;

"Won a premiership where the whole team strategy relied on what I could do, which I did better than anyone else in the league."

Nice. Not as if it gave us all deep insight into tactics and selection, but I enjoyed a bit of relaxed 'presence' within the club.

Probably a ton of editing work to get that assembled, so credit to the media team for the effort.

20 minutes ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

Better than this.

How did you get Bryce Gibbs' scans?

Returning to the topic for a moment, is anyone else feeling conflicted because of a deep relief about no apparent concussion, but real bitterness about a kid on the cusp of making AFL grade being pranged out at the very last obstacle?

Batman will rise again!

3 hours ago, SPC said:

Did he have the scans done in Ballarat? If so, and from my experience of the health system here, we might not have results till Friday

If you put some pressure on you can get results back by tuesday, but they might be someone else's hip replacement scans.

1 hour ago, sisso said:

My guess is out 4-6....

Wash your mouth out!

Don't you know 426 is where this tall forward curse all began!?

1 hour ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

“Jeffo, get the ball”. There. Fixed.

"You get to have a foot stress fracture!"

25 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

No worries mate and thanks for your clarification.

My wife and partner of nearly 20 years passed away from suicide around 5 years ago now, so your initial post was somewhat jarring, but I agree with the sentiment within the further context you explained.

As I think you appreciate depression can often be a deeply rooted beast.

I'm taking some time to quietly gaze out the window, watching a tree in the rain. Y'know.

@Rodney (Balls) Grinter I also know you to be a thoughtful poster and appreciate the sincere engagement.

This stuff burns on the same level as dismissive emergency room doctors who send people home with a couple of panadol.

10 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

I see your other post Goffy and know you generally to be a well meaning, thoughtful person, but without further context, explanation or qualification, the above is a truly horrible statement.

It is a truly horrible mirror to hold up. Comments like 'you get to go to school' directed at kids who are having a horrific time at school are pure gaslighting and the only people they reassure are the parents and other people who want to imagine that nothing deeper is wrong and their kids just need to cheer up and have a better attitude.

Basically teaching a child that the problem is them.

I went to high school in the 'suicude 90s' and I have a long memory and do not always mourn silently.

On 19/02/2026 at 15:21, GS_1905 said:

i get what this bloke is on about. Especially with Gen Z's and Millenials (Im a v.late Gen X), but I'm still torn on whether these kids (and adults) lack resilience, bought upon by a sheltered upbringing. Im no shrink either so have to defer to the professionals somewhat, but what sticks out is that we seem to have more problems now with MH, crime etc than we did when i was younger.

As for his work with MFC, im surprised Gary let him off the hook. He was undoubtedly behind the Love Fest of MFC 2025 off-season camp, but either the horse had already bolted and he was left with an unfixable situation OR he isn't as capable as i was led to believe.

Crime is down significantly since the 90s and earlier. Very significantly.

Also, there's no real way to compare mental health issue prevalence because until recently mental health problems were something you suffered in silence, self medicated with alcohol, or inflicted upon your loved ones.

Lance Franklin had mental health issues and addressed them and is apparently continuing to thrive.

Gary Ablett Sr 'didn't' have mental health issues and masked these non issues by partying so hard a teenage girl OD'd in his apartment, and has since then been a borderline recluse.

30 years ago Dani Laidley would have just quietky cut her wrists in the bathtub.

Pretty much everything except capital gains tax optimised housing speculation, the run-down of public assets, deregulation and the shift to meth has been a real improvement these last 30yrs.