Little Goffy

Sydney are very up and down from game to game and quarter to quarter, and it depends very much on pressure applied not just to slow their top players but to stimulate the nerves and uncertainty that is creeping through the less celebrated players.

Carlton would absolutely have had Sydney's measure if it was De Konig instead of Pittonet out there. And they got a bit unlucky, too.

Of course, aside from the potent rucks our team is radically different to Carlton. The headline being the key forwards.

All games, ultimately, are decided by the efforts of the lower-rated half of the side, but this game will be a particularly strong example of that. I'm sure Petracca has had a weight taken off his shoulders by the fact that the team is getting it done without requiring him to be his supernatural best. In contrast, Heeney and Warner are simply too important to Sydney - they bring half Sydney's clearances and a third of Sydney's goals.

Unfortunately I don't think either would be a good target for Clayton the super-tagger!

Our tail is getting shorter.

'Lesser' players are making more effective contributions.

Almost every players can feel respectable with their output today.

But also importantly, almost every player is still capable of doing more.

Just two wins out of the 8. That's all that is going on now.

6 Melksham - almost single-handedly made our forward line unpredictable

5 Gawn - was just a 'Gawn standard' game until he took three important marks in the last five minutes

At this point you begin to realise how even the team performance was.

4 Rivers - Had a huge surge in the third quarter

3 Oliver - remembering how much I like to reward players pushing through bad form

2 Pickett - creative, creative, creative

1 Petracca - recognisably Petracca without a lot of huge moments.

Big apologies to a few, especially Bowey and Langond, and Fritsch who did very well coming in a sub, and also Dan Turner who competed hard.

Grim.

I won't pretend to have anything further to say, just want to acknowledge this is awful, and to give a nod to everyone who might be feeling that very worst of tensions.

4 hours ago, lorn said:

Howard's "Not a core promise" is like Trump's "Alternative Facts". They're another way of saying "lies".

I think that's the part that made it stick in people's minds. Everyone understands that even the most honest and forthright politician will change their plans under new circumstances or pressures. But to then act like people are being unreasonable to call out a deception will mark you forever.

I think it is actually similar to the 'recession we had to have' in the sense that it was almost mocking people for having believed the previous good times talk-ups.

In contrast, Bob Hawke is looked at with some moderate affection because there was always a sense that he was genuinely disappointed when he couldn't follow through on a claim.

So the equivalent for Jackson would be, let's say the trade happens, this time next year Jackson starts saying to Freo supporters that they are immature for resenting it because it was always obvious he was leaving.

Trying to avoid the hype, which is playing in both directions about Reid.

I wince every time I start contemplating Reid because at some point I was reminded of Colin Sylvia and now I can't eliminate that thought.

Personally I'm reluctant for the club to get too involved in the Reid story because it is one where everyone has ceased being rational. Any given person could be perfectly correct in their assessments but it is unlikely they reached them based on a full view of the real situation.

If player salaries keep rising under the new salary cap is it possible that Jackson's contract could drop out of the top 25% at Freo, changing him to a possible free agent at the end of 2029?

SHENANIGANS ENSUE.

I assume Max will hand over the captaincy to Langford after the 2028 premiership, and play out a couple more years as a tall defender/ruck. It'll be fun to see Gawn/Jackson back together for 2030.

The beauty of this post is it will he either totally forgotten or be the most brilliant foresight in the history of football predictions.

Ideally five players who, at the crucial moment, can be united to form one giant superplayer.

From what I've gathered from other threads dor us this draft is going to be all about f/s, next generation academy and such.

Could get very complicated quickly if exits do happen, though. I think we would want to gather an absolute top pick, rather than multiple 'good', in pursuit of another star to build our regeneration around.

22 minutes ago, Deesprate said:

Compare Walls to today media incomparable. Great analyst and coach. Very sad the he and his wife both died from cancer. Donated his medals to Carlton museum a true legend of the game.

Walls would come out with the big opinion article where even if you disagreed or felt he'd missed something, you had to take seriously the level of thought he put into it and you had to genuinely argue your case against.

If the modern types like Cornes invest one hour to come up with ten 'big calls', Walls would put ten hours into one.

I'm glad to know he had full dignity and affection with him.

All this pain proves we're alive.

I just can't grasp how both Fritsch and Van Rooyen have slumped so completely.

Fritsch had a difficult and underperforming 2024 but his 2025 has been one chocolate from a box.

Van Rooyen went from promising but inconsistent kid on a conventional young tall forward trajectory who had moments but not whole games, to now being outright anaemic.

Meanwhile Jefferson looks like he's waiting for his owl from Hogwarts to arrive.

As a recovering statistician I can confirm that stats genuinely believe the all the crazy things they say.

"Yes, this train goes to Pakenham, but as a passenger you are much more likely to arrive at Central than anywhere else."

So long as the write-ups keep mentioning his competitiveness I think everyone on Demonland will feel positive about his future with us.

"Bring me competitive talls, I will take them all and at any price"

38 minutes ago, Sydee said:

I must be looking at the wrong AFL ladder atm - we are 15th and frankly that’s a pretty fair reflection of where we are at atm

I suspect the bolded part of the text which I highlighted might not have been clear enough on the screen.

"Suns continue love affair after edging comeback Dogs."

I mean, who writes these headlines?

1 hour ago, Sydee said:

They are top 4 and we are bottom 4

Not sure it’s a surprise they outnumbered our supporters who do have a tendency to drop off if we aren’t playing well

Simply not true.

Less true of us than any other club.

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

We have now possibly reduced our major issues down to two:

We can't kick a football accurately and

We can't play four quarters.

Three.

We can't get the account number right for transfers to the umpires.

Well, credit to Pickett for not giving up when half of Demonland already had.

Gunston lining up for a goal to earn the umpires yet another Goal Assist.

Got home from grocery shopping (I don't choose the timetable) and saw the clip of the trip on Pickett with the bonus throw by Sicily.

Just revolting. Like seeing maggots coming out of your kitchen bin. Stomach churning.

Tom '3/4 Full'arton!

16 hours ago, BW511 said:

Gus was very good aerially, for a HBF or winger. That is not something we have with our current mix of Salem/McVee/Howes/Lindsay/Rivers.

That part of his game was quite underrated and complemented Lever and May incredibly well.

Brayshaw's awareness was second to none. Always where he needed to be in order to take relieving marks or to force opponents to kick it right where May and Lever (and Hibberd) wanted it.

Mentioning Hibberd, that is another medium-height excellent defensive mark missing from our list since the glory. We can realistically hope McVee develops in that direction, but at every height 'good readers of the play who can take a defensive mark' should be high on our most urgent shopping list.

Are you reading this, Kalani?

I had tonight's Blues-Saints game entirely muted even when I gave it my full attention tonight and it really is a much better experience. You see things more clearly; you notice facial expressions more, the play feels more dynamic, you piece together for yourself what the free kick was for, and if you comment about something yourself you don't have to talk over the bore wetting his pants on the microphone.

Another thought I was reminded of from this game - did the media go on a sniping spree at the Saints for their flat 20k crowd against the Dockers, or is there a functional 25% adjustment when comparing to Melbourne crowds?

When this thread first appeared I was earnestly sympathetic.

But now, at 30 weeks of bump and feeling heart-aching relief every time I get to feel new round of busy kicking and wriggling while my wife sleeps, I'm just beginning to get a glimpse.

One different thing I am sensing when insomnia take me circles just how utterly, utterly lonely that grief would be.

More than I ever thought, gestures like this matter and I'm really glad the club made the commitment.

From the parts I watched, seemed like St Kilda's marking in connections kept them in the game, but their fumbling kept them out of it. Strange seeing the Saint's disposal efficiency being okay, but then you realise that a lot of those fumbles weren't even disposals but simply failing to pick up the ball cleanly and that sort of thing.

Carlton supporters will be very pleased with the whole-team moment of gut running to lock up every St Kilda opponent as the Saints tried to bring it back quickly from a kick in. I think it ended in a Saad spoil-tackle which then led to the McKay sealer.

I'm happy for McKay personally. Always good to see a redemption arc go 50m and through the middle.