Little Goffy

Poor Sam. Does anyone else sometimes look at his expression on field and just think 'this guy knows he is cursed'? He clearly is cursed, but good on him for carrying on despite that.

Noah Anderson?

Isn't there some kind of secret code about ruckmen? Same as 'never hand-ball to a ruckman running past' - 'never let a ruckman be captain'. I'm just being silly of course, but it doesn't happen often. It would be interesting to see how Gawn responds, because at the moment he's got all the fun and the candour that you want from a champion, and I wonder if having the role as a formal representative of the club might actually limit that a bit? What are the key things you'd look for from a captain these days? - Consistent good form and effort on field, and in training. - Visible and memorable media presence and positive relationship with fans. - Makes teammates feel more confident about themselves and their place in the club. - Helps teammates understand their role and responsibilites as professional footballers. - Communicates effectively as a representative of the players to coaches and club. I'd generally say Gawn meets all of these, though some are insider details we can only guess at. Viney and McDonald might have met all these criteria except they've had such poor individual years, for various reasons.

We do that exactly, except for the horns part. So close to the original that I must give a nod and imply a secret handshake.

Yep, Fritsch is clearly most effective as a forward, he just has the habit of making himself useful there. Not often spectacular or genius, just keeps things going. Frost, on the other hand... yeah I for one am not comfortable with the amount of risk that comes with having him deep in defence. But there's no doubt he brings a lot of the initiative and spontanaeity that can help keep things unpredictable going into attack. On a wing, that crazy pony has space to run around.

I worked out a complete gameplan drawing inspiration from a combination of Macedonian combined arms, the Roman cohort organisation, the aphorisms of Sun Tzu, and modern blitzkrieg breakthrough tactics, and the anthropology of pre-historic weapons and warfare. I'm not kidding. So now at least everyone knows I am just as frustrated as they are, even though I'm usually the one saying it will all be ok in the end.

Ugh. According to the AFL match page St Kilda's transition game has been far more effective than Melbourne's. The Saints have won 41 defensive half intercepts and launched 37 points from these, while the Demons have won 50 defensive half intercepts without generating any resulting score. Before I saw this I was merely bitterly disappointed, now I've got that feeling of futile anger that lurks in the depths of your gut.

Well. It looks like we now know exactly where we will finish on the ladder. Very odd, on percentages we are effectively three wins ahead of the suns but two wins behind the blues.

Bizarrely, the 3AW commetators think he is among the best on ground, which even from their own comments doesn't make sense, they are noting the turnovers.

After a couple of dud tunes, we have another for the victory playlist - James Brown, Get on Up: Starts with a goal to Fristsch, finishes just after Smith nails his. So all our goals have been thanks to two mighty smooth songs so far.

I'm playing some music alongside the online radio commentary. "160 million dollar Chinese man" from the Ocean's 11 soundtrack just got us three of the coolest-sounding goals ever. I'm gonna keep the funky rhythms going because clearly I've foud the answer to all our problems.

And that's just specifically for whacking Simon Godfrey! Hall and Everitt immediately come to mind as other candidates in the Godfrey-smashing game. Maybe it is part of being listed as All-Australian in the 2000s? Kind of like the current policy of Browlow medallists being allowed to whack people in the face, except back then it was compulsory. So... just leaving a thought out there... if jnrmac is going to the trouble of digging up ancient footage of misdemeanors and only bringing the one of Goodes... that kind of implies that there might be some... um... 'ulterior motive', shall we euphemistically say.

Ease up, Scarlett did specifically and in a bit of detail talk about how he now realises that he had been given a wrong impression through media slant, hype, and so forth. He also says that now that he's seen the actual interviews and comments Goodes made he 'has a lot more time for him'. Seriously, a guy comes out and says 'I acknowledge I had a wrong impression' and you still leap on the tiniest phrase to infer that 'you're probably a racist'. [censored] move. Pull your ego out of it and let some actual healing happen.

The only thing better would be to trade with Adelaide and then offer Carlton their own top pick back.

It is pretty simple. Nobody saw it coming, everyone is confused about what happened, and to the extent that anyone can see where the problems are, they are practical and itemised and the general mood (outside this forum) is that the club is competently run and very actively setting about correcting the problems. I know, right, maaaaadness!

Darren Burgess saw this thread and signed up.

Yep, the idea that Goodes was some kind of unique sinner is just contemptible. Generally when people come up with an excuse so obviously contrived and inadquate, I take it as a simple confirmation they can't come up with any actual good reason. How many times does it need to be said: Goodes was booed beyond anything experienced by any other player in the modern game, because racists put a LOT of effort into pushing an agenda which grossly misrepresented the things he said and did, and enough people were fooled by (or personally keen on) that agenda to create an avalanche. People who were fooled, can now look to the scum who misled them, in media, in politics, and in forums, and say: 'what you did was wrong, you manipulated me into doing something that I now understand was wrong, I will not forgive you or trust you'. As for the people who were genuinely keen on the racist agenda... well...

I despise managementese but hopefully he's looking at 'work cut out for him' and thinking 'opportunity laid out in front of him'. Assembling an agenda of actually achieveable goals based on Demonland gripes for the last six months, his checklist would read something like: Item 1: Reform our mdifield capability by adding the proverbial yard of acceleration and a bit of agility to our young beast group such as Petracca, Brayshaw and Oliver. Item 2: Maximise the advantages of the group of relatively light, not-quite-tall mobile players like Hannan, Fritsch, Hunt, Kolodjashnij, Smith and Hore. Item 3: Help a few older players stay refreshed and nimble, particularly with helping Jones in the necessary reshape to play on usefully in 2020, and also Hibberd and Jetta as particular examples. Item 4: Ensure our key position players have the 'right kind' of confidence-building weight and muscle, whether adding or subtracting from the gross amount, and get Tom McDonald back to the front of the running trials. Item 5: Above all else, bring in a risk-controlling program to develop the 'protective' strength and flexibility of our host of players going through recovery or with patterns of injury. There we go, easy. And now I have a baseline on which to judge the poor guy. Does he know what he is in for, if we do anything but triumph continuously for the next five years?

Agreed, I thought that a slide that far would be fantasy-land, but my wondering is about whether a dip as far as say 11-14 could conceivably happen, Jake Lever style. It is a conundrum. We agree absolutely that the team needs some genuine dominant creative players far more than it needs an extra 'acceptable' role-player here and there. I think the wounds of top draft picks of the past have me reluctant to put all that hope on one pick right at the pointy end. You can quite reasonably point to missing out on Kelly (and Bontempelli two picks later for emphasis), and it is also fair for me to shudder remembering our own history of top-4-pick mediocrity, and point to Boyd, Billings, Scharenberg, Kolodjashnij and Aish from the same top-end picks of 2013. So, my perspective is, if we can manipulate our way to two very good (e.g. 8 & 13) picks and use them to take the kind of naturally gifted players who slip a little through injury like Kemp or a question mark like Cripps fitness or Fyfe's size, or even just someone underestimated like Heppell or Docherty. I'm also of the opinion that we'll somehow claw our way up a couple of slots, back ahead of Carlton and the Swans, and pick 4 doesn't have the grandeur of pick 2 in this draft. Having said all that, I totally respect that anyone confident of grabbing the next Kelly or Walsh would vomit at the idea of passing it up.

Just dwelling on Brodie Kemp's injury and potential slide. Seems like a bit much to hope that he would now be available at our second round pick, but it does make me wonder if the possibility of him being around in the teens might make a pick-downgrade trade more appealing. Naturally there's some hesitation about any kid with a long-term injury, especially when acceleration and agility are a feature of their game, but we aren't looking for more reliable blunt instruments, we're looking to add some really dangerous and creative types who can put oppositions off balance in amongst our usual midfield grind-grind-grind. You don't get that without taking risks. There are a whole lot of players suitable for us but with some question mark on them. Byrnes, Sharp, Worrel (inj), Mahony, Bianco, Williams and now through injury to Kemp. Does anyone else feel like the 'place to be' in this draft, other than top-3, is in the early teens? Could make for some interesting upgrade/downgrade trades and even live trading on the night.

I agree in general but also kind of accept (what I imagine to be) the reasoning. I'm of the opinion that the club was quite aware of the reality of our list and that we needed to keep turning over players while we look to fill the gaps we have. Unfortunately, Kent and Pederson for example turned out to be players in the kind of roles we could really have used a bit more depth in this year. Still, would they have realistically been in our 'future premiership 22'? Probably not. I'm starting to come around to the idea that the club decided to take a calculated risk of a crappy 2019, with their minds fully focused on the proverbial utimate success. All looks like a pile of stinking rags at the moment because every risk we took has simultaneously gone bad for us. I'm sure the club wasn't anticipating this situation and quite likely expected that we'd still hold a spot in finals, but I am also sure that they aren't planning their recruitment and development efforts to 'do pretty good in 2019'.

West Coast 214.159 for the season. It pays to kick straight and/or take marks close to goal and/or get behind your opponent's defence for run-in goals.

Personally I thinke very player who is performing in their current position and needs time to build a relationship with their teammates in a complex and team-oriented part of the ground where they excel, and which was a significant vulnerability right up until, oh, pretty much when they became available there after a bout of injury, should be moved to a different position.

Um... year on year... Wins: +3, +3, +2, +2 Ladder position: +4, +2, +2 +4 Looks like a pattern being continued to me. Honestly your false logic and misuse of stats sound like they came from the national society for climate change denial. The claim by others (including the ever-reliable and wise Garry Lyon) is that 2018 is the aberration. The evidence is that it was not, but rather part of a rolling pattern of improvement. Possibly overperformance on account of two runs of sensational form and hitting a couple of 'suitable' finals opponents, but only in the realms of 'pleasant surprise', not 'wild and wacky amazeballs'. Given the circumstances of this season I'm completely comfortable calling 2019 the aberration. Wouldn't mind putting it in the same aberration basket as Richmond's 2016, Geelong's 2003, Hawthorn's 2009, Port's 2000, Sydney's 2009, West Coast's 2013, Brisbane's 1998, Essendon's 1997, or Collingwood's 2005. I honestly wonder if there has even been a single premiership won in the last 30 years by a club which had not gone through an unexpected slump just before. Oh, Hawthorn's surprise 2008 premiership, which was funnily enough immediately followed by an unexpected slump. Thing's went to all kind of crap this year, for sure. But frankly anyone who now wants to wallow in self-pity so completely that they feel a need to write off 2018 as meaningless needs to get their MFCSS medication checked. Including Garry Lyon. Anyway, the argument is simple: there's a much stronger case to say 2019 is an aberration than there is to say 2018 was.

Yep, definitel an aberration - that's what I think whenever I see incremental improvement year-on-year over a number of years. Sigh. Everyone wants to have the biggest feelings.