Little Goffy

No relation.

THE FINAL ROUND Some may say that round 11 is the halfway point of the AFL Home and Away season. But if we lose on saturday evening, it is officially season over for the Demons. Anyone familiar with my posts will know I am the last person to write off a season, but, here it is, win now or bake cookies for the rest of winter. Currently, bizarrely, Melbourne sits 'only' two games and a bucket of percentage (accumulated deficit of approximately 200 points) outside the 8. In a mad world, in a strange season, and with an incredible surge back to form, this is not impossible, starting with a solid win over the Crows. However, lose to Adelaide and the maths changes dramatically and decisively. St Kilda (5/5) plays Port Adelaide, ensuring that one of these teams will go 3 wins ahead of us. With the Crows win also putting them to 6/5, a loss for us this round puts us a plainly insurmountable 3 wins and large percentage behind the top 8, while also needing to out-perform 3 further teams that will finish this round on at least 5 wins. On the other hand, beat the Crows and they stay vulnerable on 5 wins, and with Hawthorn facing a rejuvenated Brisbane in Brisbane, while Fremantle face Collingwood at the 'G, there is a genuine chance that the final spot in the 8 remains in the hands of a team on just 5 wins after 11 rounds. There has never been a more '8 point game' this early in a season - if we take that slot, it will be because Adelaide lost it, at our hands, in round 11. With their coming games being against the Giants, Tigers and Cats, a loss to the Demons now will likely be the start of a downward spiral. It is precisely what happend to Adelaide last year, so why now have it be the same this year?

According to the latest public service announcements, if you eat this pizza, you don't love your kids.

Yikes, people are nasty on the internet, hey.

Allegedly, inside mid who can play forward line, giving pressure and tackles. Sounds good to me. Hmm, descriptions include being not so reliable at short kicks but much better with the longer kicks, including shots at goal. You'd have to think he'd be a shot to play this season (isn't that half the point of the midseason draft?), so the dream of having a full 44 players actually play in one season is still alive. Now that we've got him we can stop tanking and surge up the ladder, yes?

I thought it was hilarious when the calls came in for a 'comprehensive review into Essendon injury crisis'. Daniher, Smith, Fantasia and a couple of minor players with minor injuries. Boo freak'n hoo. At last count we are missing 11 players who would reasonably hope to be in our best 22 when fit. Plus a few more who might normally be those player's replacements. As for age, start with bonus points for Garlett (29) and Smith (28) only being out there because younger, preffered options aren't available. But that is perhaps splitting hairs. The fact of the matter is, we recruited a number of mature players (Hibberd, Melksham, May, and Lewis) to provide some experience and consistency to support a super-powered young group both to achieve now and to develop positively for the future. Right now none of them are available to play their role. Put that together with a wider injury malais that means we can't switch young players in and out on form, or even simplify or tinker with their roles, and it does explain a lot of the mess we are in. A lot, not all. Anyway, I am trying to take solace in the opportunity to see what we can make of the likes of Lockhart, Hore, the Wagners and so forth.

Ha ha, the question nobody gets around to. I think the answer you're looking for is 'will be better for the run'!

Clearly Spargo is in to pinch-hit against Mumford. Or possibly, somewhat more realistically, to hang over the shoulders of Heath Shaw all game to slow him down. In the end, we all know it isn't going to be team selections that win or lose the game. Not with a dozen players out and everything on the line.

He took a slowly sinking ship and made it adequate for a lot longer than anyone expected. It'll never quite be possible to judge how he performed as a coach. To many mixed factors; aged champions on the list, depth issues, successfulish use of free agency (Waite, Higgins, Dal Santo), a whole bunch of 'just ok' draft selections and so on. North and Scott have done the right thing by eachother, to allow both to have long conversations with people about what they do next. In general principle I think Scott could play a valuable at the Demons, but it would have to be after a whole lot of those conversations, because there's no doubt he's a 'big' personality. Could be an interesting partnering with McCartney, like some kind of misfit buddy movie from the 80s. Where would North be now if instead of Scott they had taken a coach who failed? What if it was Scott at Carlton and Malthouse at North, would we still be debating whether North deserved to exist?

Collingwood can't rely on winning this way every round... I have this strange strange feeling that in just a few weeks time they are going to be hit by a serious upset.

Commentators on radio just described the grass as slick, too. Maybe there's been a general vaseline spill att he SCG?

What is Woiwurrung for 'Do something about your ball-drop' and 'follow through properly'? Get a few of our players to memorise it in a second language, it might just stick, mindfulness style. For that matter, to celebrate indigenous culture we could definitely embrace a bit more of the traditional mentor-based teaching instead of the modernist classroom-as-factory approach, that's for sure.

Damien Barrett is often annoying but to his credit has always been solid on the need for consistency in umpiring and tribunal and that the first focus should be protecting the players. Even so, it was a mild surprise to see this on the afl website, part of his (often annoying) "If... Then" weekly article. Conveniently the clubs were in alphabetical order for this point...

It's alright, you haven't quite boiled away completely yet!

Is it greater than, or more like that concentrated chemical dust left over in the bottom of a beaker when a science experiment is allowed to boil away completely? 5mg of concentrated MFCSS, enough to destroy worlds.

I got some inside mail from the club: apparently it was a selection headache.

Officially the longest injury list, at 15, with only a couple of rivals at 13. We've also already used 34 different players, which is a number typical for the end of a season, not slightly before halfway. Start by adding Vandenberg, Lever, Smith and Hannan, who are likely inclusions when fit and haven't yet played a senior game this season, and we're up to 38. Let's imagine that Kennedy-Harris and Maynard get at least a dip at the last-chance saloon. That takes us to 40. Nietschke and Walker (what does 'indefinite' really mean?) are injured for the season, leaving only teenagers Chandler, Bradtke, Bedford and Jordan available for a season-debut. So, Casey-watchers, of those 4, how many might get an AFL level game? Throw in the possibility of a mid-season draftee who, if drafted, would be likely to play given the selection would lean towards immediate need. 41 + the four teenager possibilities. If there's any comfort, Richmond made it to 42 players used in 2016 on their way to just 8 wins and rubbish percentage, before winning the 2017 premiership. So perhaps 'testing the depth' and a chance to examine what you've got is a secret advantage. Hee hee ho ha ugh.

A while back I noticed that one of our players bears a striking resemblance to Sebastion d' Avis, the last great king of the Avis dynasty of Portugal, who legend has it will one day rise again on a foggy morning, to restore the glory of Portugal. I present to you, his royal highness Clayton d' Oliver! (c1570)

Viney has been having a poor season by his standards and definitely has limitations which prevent him from being a superstar. But I seem to be going through a phase where I am just getting fed up with hyperbole and egofarts. A player with 32 Brownlow votes in his first 98 games, can we at least accept that there might be a range of valid opinions about his past, current and potential future contribution, and that it is not necessary for one particular perspective to be declared THE ONLY TRUE FACT THAT EVER THERE WAS HEAR ME FOR I AM YOUR LORD. Seriously, try a little humility.

I've not let go of 2019 yet, but the thought of a mental reset, the right reviewing of our coaching/conditioning, and (touch wood) a clearing of the injury load, yep, that has me strongly anticipating 2020. But nevermind, I still think there's a six-game winning streak on the cards going into and after the bye, to reset the whole scene this year.

Wow. Mumford got off? Completely? Not even a 'reckless'? Yep, for the sake of the game, he needs to be pummeled back into retirement. And I'm sure any regulars on here know I'm no fan of any unnecessary roughness. It was a clearly deliberate hit, by a known repeat offender, with no approach to or eyes on the ball, against the exposed flank/torso of a 30cm shorter player who was already low to the ground and facing the other way, which sent the target to hospital with broken ribs. If the AFL is going to let that wash, then I really think the players have a responsibility to step in. At best Mumford spends the game sore, distracted and limited, at worst it slows Mumford from his own sniping. I think everyone -except- Gawn should be taking opportunities to casually bump Mumford at every chance they get. Gawn should be 100% focused on beating him in a purely football sense. Team instruction: bump, harass, sledge Mumford any time the moment comes up. Line in the sand, for us and for the game.

The argument for Preuss in is that GWS don't quite have a handle on the really big forward targets, and Preuss in would allow he and Gawn to rotate between beating up a second-string ruckman (using two massive bodies as bludgeons) and forcing one or more oft he GWS defenders to be that extra bit accountable instead of playing their favourite zoning off and rebounding game. Also, I'm not personally sold on Smith, just yet, so it seems a simple positional swap.

Can I start a petition to the mods that this expression and its variations be added to the [censored] list? I wonder, if we went back through a few years of posts from absolutely everyone, indiscriminately, on occasions where they had included this expression, would we find that the whole damn lot of them could be deleted without removing a single helpful or interesting contribution. You could even use it as a kind of modernised 'reducto ad hitlerum' for determining when an in-thread argument his digressed enough to be worthless to everyone except the pepole in the argument. Whatever the particular observation, this expression demeans us all.

Having sat through up close the horrific GWS-Carlton game, I can say there are a couple of things to be sure of in team selection. Whitfield can never be left alone. I have never seen someone be so effective at knowing where to be to give teammates an option or to just be in the right spot when the opposition stuffs up. Our vulnerability to the fast counterattack is like providing a swimming pool full of children to a Whitfield-shaped shark. He just can't even be left alone. Similarly, though Heath Shaw isn't the Supercoach machine of the past, he is still a potent rebounder and has easily the most running bounces in the game. Put a forward on him to really lock him down and hope for the occasional lucky turnover, otherwise just accept this is an effective way to 'spend' the effort of a young player Also shockingly, horribly visible was that Carlton were allowing GWS to swap the ball around, switch play, take their time, wait until the disorganised and depleted Carlton defence got out of position and a hole opened up. Six GWS players had more than 10 marks (18 for Whitfield) on their way to 154 total, just mind-boggling. This actually speaks in favour of keeping that 'press' going a bit, not giving them quite so much time to wait and see, maybe forcing a few errors. If they are given time, they can find one of their top users/runners in just a little space and CRACK they gain a clean 70m and your whole team is out of position. Better to hunt them than wait to be picked off. Fact is, the final scores greatly flattered Carlton, as Carlton supporters around me fully acknowledged with deep sighs. If GWS had kicked better at goal (including three out-on-full or falling short just int he last quarter) and kept their foot on the pedal, it really would have been 186+ territory. This is hard to reconcile with the GWS of the previous week, struggling to kick a meaningful score. But the main thing I'd argue is that Carlton let GWS feel comfortable and play at their own pace and make their own choices, while Hawthorn got up in their faces and forced them to move without getting all nicely set up. We should expect to have a burst or two of rapid scoring against us, any time our pressure efforts drop off. But we should also expect to gradually grind ahead any time we do have the psychological initiative - they are far from invincible. Ont he bright side, Carlton somehow managed to kick 7 goals despite only having a grand total of 4 marks inside 50 and most of their 35 entries being true rubbish. Harry McKay kicked 3 of them, suggesting that GWS don't quite have a gorilla-keeper on hand. So Preuss might be a worthwhile addition. So, my ins would be Preuss and whoever the hell we think can stay with Whitfield, and anyone prepared to work hard all day on pressure, even if they aren't super-brilliant once they have the ball in hand.

What an 'interesting' mess of a season. Keeps the possibilites just that little bit alight. Excellent to see Adelaide still not quite getting it together. Keeps my 'on the hunt' dreams alive for the NT game. I'll be at the Western Sydney / Carlton game tomorrow and will try to report as much as I can on GWS from up close. On another note, 'our' Bernie Vince seems to be going alright on the MMM commentary panel, currently doing Geelong-Bulldogs.