Little Goffy

Y'know, considering what a MASSIVE TOTAL FAILURE OF HUMANITY these last four years have been, it's kind of funny that Goodwin is currently just a fraction behind the likes of Northey and Daniher for win rate. I'm not saying 'Whoopee everything is fine' but it is possible that not everything has gone to crup just yet. The evident coaching problems of lack of creativity on gameday and lack of consistency in player performance are known and must be addressed, but Goodwin is no spud, even if he looks a bit like one when he wrinkles his forehead. And, yeah, there is still the '2020 is the worst year in living memory' factor.

I'm quite sure the AFL will find a way to schedule our final game for the sunday night and then have us play an elimination final on wednesday. After all, limping into finals by some freak occurence and then being utterly splattered while also feeling we were never given a fair run by the system is just perfect Melbourne.

Interesting spin by Richmond, 'we take no responsibility for our players, you're all quite welcome to dump on them individually, there is no larger problem here... again'.

Sick relatives, newborn babies, anxiety attacks, desperate homesickness... But heaven forbid, another month without getting sauced and looking at [censored]. Richmond have proven themselves serial offenders on every level of arrogance. The 'slip ups' generosity we all offer is exhausted and it's clear they've made a choice of what kind of culture they want to have. I'm freshly re-motivated to see us make the finals just for the chance to lay into this overstuffed git-King of a club. Finish eighth, they'll land in fifth. The hunt is on.

If there is one...

Excellent, we'll grab him cheap as a category B rookie.

Doesn't Jeff White also have a Taj coming through? I wonder how many we can collect? (If any)

My thoughts go to Daniel Bell, who last I heard was already struggling with aspects of brain damage from his string of playing concussions when he was barely 30. The long layoffs for Brayshaw might not only have saved him as a player but also saved him a lot of grief as a human being, and the contrast with Bell are a pointer to how far we've come and how important it is to get it right.

Personally, I'm shocked we didn't already have a thread for this.

It's a big step. Was a clear determination during the week after the implosion against the Dogs. Hugely glad that they got the reward and positive reinforcement for working on it. Ahh, it's good to be a demon for a few days at least. Love those learnings, yeah, love those learnings.

I'm just going to add some exclamation marks for everything already said here. !! ! ! !!! ! ! ! ! !!! ! !!i!i!!i!!ii!!!!I!!!!!i!i!!!

What odds can you get now? Damn, football is a fickle and cruel mistress this year.

Again? But wait, they didn't tank last time they tanked.

I think we can take some comfort int he fact that no matter who wins this game, nobody gets to go home feeling like they matter. My two most disliked clubs and they are both in the levitating potato category. Also, doesn't matter for finals if Essendon win, because either we'll beat them and end the story that way, or we'll lose to them and the rest is dust anyway.

With the Tigers, it is important to remember that their past era of success got them as far as colour TV and established them with a firm presence in the early commercial era. It also established a club culture of 'we are an important club, even our crapness is important'. Whereas Melbourne don't have recent enough, visible enough, glory era to refer to so our failures aren't interesting in the same way an the sense of 'we'll be back soon, so support us' doesn't hold as strong. Of course, you can also look at the Bulldogs, who have been a regular contender with many stars of the game in the last 25 years, but who completely failed to turn that into serious fan growth. And the exemplar of that, of course, is North Melbourne. As for the current situation, I think one of the recent headlines summed it up - you can't trust us. Every time we look like we've turned a corner, every time we have a high profile game, we blow it. Only sustained, respectable performances will change that. And that is entirely a matter of having a mature, professional culture. I still think we're a lot closer to respectability than we were five years ago, but we really, really need to push for finals this year. Just barely missing out might be 'okay' if 2021 goes well because, really, who is going to look at 2020 as a reference point in future. But, really, the best way would be to win all our remaining games, storm into finals and at least knock a couple of overcooked pretenders out - it would be ideal to get a reputation as the club which picks off the smug, entitled clubs.

I can't help wondering - Mr Pickett is at work, and Australian workplace harassment laws do cover harassment by non-colleauges (i.e. customers, members of public). I don't know, obviously I'm just reaching out for any possible new way to attack the problem without invoking totalitarian powers. How do you change the shadowy and miserable corners of people's hearts? All we can do, it seems, is try to support and reward each other's better natures.

It'll upset a few people, but Nibbler is exactly the type we need to add to our forward mix. Can't wait to get him back from serving Shaun Burgoyne's suspension. I wonder who will be picked to serve the rest of Dalhouse's suspension? Could be Nibbler again!

Surely the lack of pressure up forward against the bulldogs points to an opportunity for Harmes to prove himself up there. Has the fitness to keep chasing, knows how to tag and tackle, tall enough to cause trouble for any given opponent, and has shown he can counterattack and kick a goal. He's nowhere near his most effective where he is at the moment and our small forwards truly shamed themselves on the weekend.

I'm finally feeling it. I'm suddenly really wound up for what I expect will be a ripper game as a spectacle and a hugely important one for both teams. Strangely, I have an uncanny feeling like Melbourne are just supposed to win today. I've got no doubt. It is weird, weird, weird.

Geebus, Bruce is like a nine year old commentating. Three seconds behind everything going on, can't see the actual play unfolding so gets randomly excited about things that aren't actually happening and then asks the question 'Wouldn't that have been great to see?' Seriously, he's turning into a 'did you see me mum' level commentator.

Whatever is best for Hogan, even if that means a move still in Perth to replace Kennedy. I think we can agree there's little point to fantasizing about Hogan the player if Hogan the human is suffering.

Carlton are more of a threat to spots in the 8, but I still think they'll win tonight. Probably by 8/10ths of one point. Obviously Demons going to slap the Doggies down and go a game and 25% ahead of them. Port will despatch Hawthorn because Port wins change nothing and Hawthorn losses bring happiness to little orphan kids everywhere. Essendon will upset Richmond just because lols and that would put us ahead of Richmond. Also, it will be hilarious watching the Bombers finish just outside the eight year after year after year and constantly saying 'but we beat some good teams so really we're the best'. Fremantle may or may not beat the legless one-winged Swans. They ought to, but they are still Fremantle. Adelaide vs Geelong is nobody's business. Lions will reinforce the question mark on St Kilda's credibility in finals. West Coast will, on the one hand, help our buffer in the eight, on the other hand probably lock us out of the top 4. Collingwood will somehow manage to bugger it up against North and find themselves just barely in the 8.

Is it possible that Richmond have finally gone properly ahead of themselves? Would be hilarious if they now dropped a couple of their upcoming games, whether it's Freo or Essendon for the upsets or just some good solid failures against the eagles and cats. Their top 4 ambitions already look shaky, any slip-up and it's an elimination final. Wouldn't mind earning first shot at them, too.

I especially like how it is a completely different process to get the broadcast details and the game details, and you can't have them open at the same time or go from one to the other directly. #intuitive #gooddesign #humancentreddesign #definitelynotheaduparsedesign Also, as someone who can't watch that many games directly and enjoys playing with the stats to get an idea of what is going on in a game, I love the non-smooth horizontal scrolling and lack of heading-field retention in the player statistics. I'm nitpicking, but hey, it's the only way we'll cover everything. Ooh, ooh, and I love how every freak'n week there's a new ever-so-related video with the fearless leader telling us how much he has the feels for

Bulldogs, Kangaroos and Magpies together make up at least half the 'top 4 finishes' for free kick differential each year since 2015 (inclusive). So that's three clubs claiming a 'top spot' almost every year while the remaining 15 clubs average a spot every ten years. Three of those six season (including this year) ALL THREE of those clubs have finished in the top 4 for free kick differential, and over the same period NOT ONE of those clubs has ever finished outside the top 8 for free kick differential. Personally, I can't figure out a conspiracy theory that would include the Dogs, North and Collingwood, but the result is there to see! As for the Eagles - the last time they finished outside the top 8 for free kick favour was 2004, with ninth. From that year they then managed ten consecutive years in the top four, but, interestingly, they've not been getting such a spectacular run in the last few years. Still better than normal, but not so spectacular.