Little Goffy

Every year they wheel out the 'we will be making a decision about this' story. Every year they 'respond to feedback' and keep the day grand final 'for now'. The whole thing is an exercise in undermining the perceived continuity and legitimacy of the day grand final, by creating a sense that it is a year-by-year decision. Put this together with enough cherry-picking of daft online polls, and soon enough it'll feel normal that this is a debatable topic rather than the open-and-shut 'everyone who really cares either way, prefers day' reality. They have already made their decision, they are just working on the tactics to out-maneuver public opinion. It's a lot like the rigged 'pilot programs' and railroaded 'consultation processes' that governments keep using for thought-bubble projects they long ago decided they wanted no matter what the evidence tells them. Odious scumbags.

Perfect example what we've managed to assemble in our midfield. Has some outstanding attributes (kicking, vision, facial hair regeneration rate) but in no way is limited to that. It is a rare and valuable thing, to have a player be described as silk but also be described as someone it is unpleasant to be tackled by.

Well, now we have to grit out teeth and cheer for North, who have Adelaide NOW, and are also still to play Fremantle. We are basically one straight kick behind Adelaide on percentage, and well ahead of Freo. We will have our own bite at Adelaide in the final round, which could well decide which team plays finals. ... Still can't quite process the absurdity of there being a clear top-4, noticably a cut above the rest, but no matter what comes, only two of them will play finals. Next time Gil, get off the phone to the Minister and put some thought into football.

Anyone wondering about the 16 hour fast just needs to consider the times involved. Clearly it is all about ensuring Viney doesn't turn into a Gremlin.

This thread needs more depth to its OP. Anyway... Always good to be able to kick effectively over longer distances. Would be a good thing for Spargo to improve upon and since his kicking overall seems to be ok, rather than in need of total reconstructive retraining, you'd think that improvement would be possible over time. Most importantly, we have asmart coaching panel who will be able to use him effectively, and he is a smart player who will understand that limitation and fo the team thing. Who knows, maybe the little dose of humility that comes with having a weakness is a key ingredient in commiting to team ethos.

I wonder if he'll get a kick today? Doesn't matter the time of year, or even the opponent, I will always get a smile going to see Essendon being rolled.

1. Got married. Tiny ceremony by the harbour up here in Sydney. Then a little dinner by the sea with a small collection of close friends. 2. Got married, again. But correctly to the same person. This time in Vietnam, for the benefit and approval of the new side of my family which by my count is literally (and I use literally correctly) 30 times the size of my 'old' family. Officialy events occured in two different cities and on three separate days and involved three different outfits. Regretfully, I was unable to find a suitabl red-and-blue Ao Dai. Oh, yeah, and these events also blended into the Vietnamese new year, Tet. My third Tet in Vietnam but they never get simple, closest analogy would be if you ran a big traditional extended family Christmas together with a fairly committed effort at both the fun kids-version and the spiritual sides of easter, all at once. 3. Took a deep breath and sat quietly until the room stopped spinning. That took most of the rest of February.

Remember, the secret to success lies in making the game about anythng but the game.

It is only february and I'm already furious at the umpires.

Honestly I can't see how 'monkey see monkey do' has anything to do with a couple of guys arriving at an event? For that matter, been a while since that was any kind of a commonly used phrase. If you think it through, the only way someone could come up with 'Monkey see monkey do' as something to comment on that picture is if they were really, really searching for a way to insert monkey into a comment. I do wish the reaction had been a little more on the 'what a loser, how tedious, bugger off, you're not normal anymore you creep' tone, rather than the 'omg so hurtful' tone. Success in this comes when Indigenous people's feeling when this cr4p happens is 'I'm normal and welcome here, you're not, just bugger off you insect'.

If the AFL wanted to poach talent from other sports on an industrial scale, all they'd have to do is pay a respectable base wage and give the women's game proper fixturing and consistency. Considering half the top women players have strong (some even Olympic) background in other sports already, it is hardly a stretch to imagine an ever-growing accumulation. It is all just waiting for the choice to be made.

It's like the character selection from some kind of online role-playing game. "Here are four options, choose which kind of hero you would like to be"

So the service is great, expect that they keep giving first bite to the midfielders. Boom-tish. (Is everyone glad I'm back from holidays?)

Lists 6 midfielders including three rotating not-full-time mids (Salem, Nibbler, Petracca) but managed to overlook Harmes who played the final third of the season as a crucial part of our midfield mix... makes me hesitate a little when considering this evaluation. Reading the full article, a flag goes up for me in that he has continuously used the very amateur habit of running off half a dozen impressive names and using that as an alternative to real analysis. I think of it as the "Carlton supporter's list analysis" because for about the last decade, at any time, anyone supporting Carlton could have done that kind of 'analysis' and come away thinking 'yeah, we're really building'.

Aye and doesn't that new arrangement make having stars a whole lot more fun?

I for one am perfectly happy for Richmond to subsidize Demonland. Personally I find Richmond quite ignorable.

Out for 'X' weeks, apparently.

Round 1 had a pattern of delivering some of the most miserable moments during our most miserable period, so I'm still a little wary of it. But... on the one hand I'm much more confident in our team's ability, and on the other hand I'm much more confident that our team has the resilience to carry on with a strong season even if we do stuff up round 1. It is a bit like, I'm looking forward to round one as a big deal, but only because it is the start of the season, not because I feel like it is any particularly crucial, tone-setting game.

Wow, not content with just a player, Bugg has gone on to totally blindside an entire club in one go! As for the weirdos here who are getting into some kind of hatewank session about the girl, get some dignity you creeps.

I'd argue that it is something for players to decide for themselves, and the choices they make will and should be reflected in their contracts. "Great player, huge natural talent, constantly re-injured because has no drinking discipline during recovery from surgery". "Great player, huge natural talent, can't rack up midfield minutes because like fried food a bit much" I mean, realistically, Petracca for example would be earning a lot more by now if he handn't pranged himself playing (basketball, I think?), Sam Blease's career might have been a whole different deal without that nasty break playing schoolyard kick to kick. Of course, there are also players who have missed half a season after slipping in the bathtub or tripping on a fence cable. It is all increments of risk with a huge grey area. Long story short: Players can make decisions about their off-field behaviour and risks they are willing to take based on their own understanding and comfort, clubs should educate and encourage good decision-making, some stupid risks can legitimately be ruled out, and in the end it all shapes what a player is worth to a club.

First video is a work of understated comedy genius.

I think the 'grace when losing' comments were more about not being a pack of sooking 4rseh01e3 who act like they've been cheated out of something they are entitled to. To put it another way, 'external' grace when losing. Being decent human beings and all that. Which Hawthorn have defintely lost sight of. Internally, no doubt they take losses hard, but most importantly they turn them into a guide for what to improve. It is curious, the two personalities of the Hawthorn football club, especially when you look at it from the concept of psychological 'locus of control' - the idea of how much you see your life as being under your control, versus how much you believe things beyond your control will decide things. Ha! I just realised, Richmond at their worst had a complete reversal of Hawthorn's split internal/external identity. All their players and coaches had too much belief that things were either going to happen 'naturally' or were beyond control, such as draft picks maturing and the predestined super-list stomping along. Meanwhile, the external, all their supporters and coterie people and the like, believed that they could change it all, hence the constant uprisings and interferences. So what do we learn from this? As supporters we have to accept that we only have a small effect on results, but we must always make sure the players and coaches know that fate is in their own hands.

But also, if Davey could get our entire team kicking the way he could, it would just be magical to watch. We could play the Blue Danube from the speakers all game and it wouldn't match the grace.

Yeah, I get a bit annoyed about whole separate streams of development and 'special programs' and the like in a lot of situations, but this is one where it makes sense. And importantly, has a sunset to it - once it succeeds in the goal of normalising the idea of Indigenous people being coaches, it'll wind down naturally. In a professional community as small as AFL-level coaching, personal contacts make all the different. Because of the legacy of separation, because of the competing priority of supporting your community (e.g. Neville Jetta) and because many indigenous players emerge from comparatively remote places (the article notes "... trips to the Northern Territory, Cairns and regional Western Australia to target those who typically aren't exposed to leading coaching strategies "), the direct personal connections aren't going to be as strong. Plus, somehow still, there are little bits of creeping racism which can really stink up efforts at networking. Networking is particularly vulnerable to pissy little low-key racist exclusion. All it takes is just a couple of soft-racist types to do some moaning about how "such-and-such is only getting an interview because we want to look politically correct" or "that guy is only at this event to make up the diversity numbers" and an Indigenous prospective coach is having their credibility and worthiness questioned by people who would otherwise not blink at giving them a chance. Even quite earnestly not-racist people can be influenced by the grumbling of someone they respect, particularly because the actual racial motive might be all but invisible, so to anyone listening it just sounds like a colleague making an honest observation. So that's the lay of the land, but with the momentum for change now, through the likes of Davey and Whelan and Jetta, it really should just be a matter of time. I'd understand if you still find it irritating, but at least take comfort knowing it is a temporary effort that'll just straight-out solve this particular problem in the long run.

Wow. People forgave Denis Pagan faster than they are letting go of the hate for Neeld. It is starting to get a bit cringeworthy.