Little Goffy

If the AFL wants to thrive, it needs to be clear to everyone that they are welcome. Gone (or let's say 'hopefully almost gone') are the days when a core of self-important boof-heads can strut around acting like nobody matters but them, spitting on opposition supporters, commenting obnoxiously on every pair of breasts that went past, throwing around foul-mouthed racial abuse, and all that wonderful old-time traditional good old days rubbish. Or maybe it is more accurate to say 'gone are the days when you can do these things, and still have all the people you insult turn up'. People have other things to do with their weekend and their money, and even the old low-importance types like women, Aboriginal people and homosexuals (or *****, **** and ******* as they were known back in the day, of course) have enough autonomy now to just say "No, I'm not joining in, it's not fun for me, only for you". So, long story short, the AFL must demonstrate that it is reasonably welcoming now and is improving over time. As for taking a 'lead' on social issues, I'm not sure the AFL is an appropriate body to do that. Partly because the executive aren't very bright and are mostly marketing/branding types who should generally be kept away from social issues, but mostly for the same reason as above - even misogynists, homophobes, racists and general-purpose 4rsewipes should be able to attend an AFL game without feeling unwelcome, as long as they keep their foul attitudes to themselves. There's a balance to be struck.

Halways into the season, and the standing top-4 are... The three clubs which have won 9 of the last 11 premierships, and GWS. Exciting times.

Is this a new scale of MFCSS? "We look like we might become good, but there will always be a team better than us". Madness.

"Hurr hurr hurr, hold her head under, I'd pay to see that, hurr hurr. Black widow spider! Hurr." Remembering that each of the speakers is part of a clique that has sustained a running campaign to keep Wilson as an 'outsider' in the footy media, despite the fact that she's done more actual journalistic work than the lot of them combined. They're talking about ritual hazing of the outsider, a nasty little schoolboy routine, physically dominating someone - the humiliation and powerlessness of being 'held under' is not an accidental symbolism here. They're reliving childhood memories (or fantasies) of back in the day when yep, violence was an ok way to make other people submissive. And they think it's ok because "hurr hurr just kidding obviously I'd never do that", but the next dumb drunk thug still living in the 80's or earlier knows exactly what is being talked about. You can absolutely bet that in the next few weeks there will be an extra scattering of women having their heads held underwater until they begin to panic-inhale, and being threatened with a fresh dunking if they don't "show some proper respect". It's just something that will happen, accept that fact. Good job, Brayshaw, McGuire and Frawley. At Least Brayshaw and Frawley have stepped up and said 'yes, what I said was unacceptable and inappropriate'. But Eddie? "Anything at all that can be perceived to promulgate domestic violence is unacceptable," McGuire told Triple M's Hot Breakfast. [censored]. Collingwood Football Club President.

Surely addictive products are an area that does warrant deep regulation at least. It is conceivable that pokies could be offered in an ethical, non-life-destroying way, but then they wouldn't make much money would they? I mean, they are machines for stimulating addiction and 'servicing' that addiction in exchange for money. Setting aside personal philosophies on the role of government in modern society, anyone who chooses to make their money by exploiting addiction is an 4rse. Unfortunately, at the moment that still includes our football club. The sooner the better as far as establishing ourselves with more ethical and 'community club appropriate' alternative income streams.

We should be disappointed because we now know we can do better, and we've had opportunities slip. Comparisons to Carlton are silly, they had only 3 players under 26 make a major impact on their game against Geelong. (Docherty, Cripps and Weitering - definitely a great little group, noting 'little'). We were the opposite, with only Jones, Vince and Jetta being 26 or older and having a real effect on the game (plus Watts at 25 if you'd like to include). But we should still be disappointed, because we could be outright crushing opponents if we held our form and our workrate for whole games consistently. Ah well.

We had a few games in good form, then got shaky again during/since the St Kilda loss. We've managed to thump two low level teams in that time and come through with a 5-5 record and handy percentage. We're four goals per game better off on the for-against numbers compared to last season. Clearly we've struggled when our opponents have been able to effectively counter-attack or effectively confuse and break down our own high-risk attacking strategy. Clearly we have waves of bad form knock five or six players to half their usual production for seemingly random games. Right now we are neither 'the next big thing' or 'the perennial losers'. But what drives me crazy, and I think a lot of others, is that in any given week we could look like one or the other. Hawks, Magpies, Swans and Crows to come. There will be nowhere to hide for the next four weeks. I'm not going to mutter any more about our form until we've done that run of four games.

It seems to have not really started, today. Really looking forward to half time and desperately hoping for a mental reset. This quarter is making my skin crawl.

Viney, Vince, Tyson, Neal-Bullen, Petracca all struggling to find it. Kennedy hasn't touched the ball or an opponent for a quarter. Kent has had two kicks, both clangers. We've got more than three behinds for every goal. And yet we are in front. The player's response to this could actually be an important moment for our club.

heh, doing the google search trick didn't work, but if I then went to the relevant image and followed the 'go to website' link from there, it let me in. Fluff article. Just a bit of friendly pre-game hype.

Whatever virus infected the "no TS no BS" thread has finally begun spreading. Or, the old one has gotten old enough to spawn. Either way, it's a worry.

He's an excellent defender in any team, and our other defender's can't claim any great run of form at the moment. I've been really impressed by, of all things, his spoiling efforts. Which is Exhibit A for both clauses above!

Although, 11 contested marks would be close to double the highest number anyone has had this season...

The Normans are coming!

5 goals to 2 up at qtr time and we're all a bit disappointed, and we know we should be ahead by more except we fluffed some chances. As we should be. But it is a far cry from the years of feeling like being down 5 goals to 2 was a better than expected start!

A lesser Simon Godfrey with a $#%stain attitude.

Or are they?

Of course would've been a good player to have, but best of luck to her. Aside from Daisy, who I see as a true Red & Blue symbol, I'm not too worried about gathering all the best talent right at the start. The development pathways for women players have been so limited that whichever club makes the most effective investment in building skills and match fitness will rapidly outshine the others. I can only hope our club pushes hardest in that early arms race and quickly establishes itself as the dominant club for women playing football.

Stringer kicked five goals but was a no-show for the coaches' votes this round. Would suggest the coaches know it was the set up that gave him chances, not anything brilliant he did. I agree with buck_nekkid - we're going to have to avoid the 'diamond' or it will be ad nauseum in a hurry. Need a new name. Half-back double thrust? Backend surge? Ball-less rebound? But more seriously, does this strategy also bring an argument for keeping a very very open forward line?

That 'demon diamond defence' scenario makes sense. It certainly fits with the recurring nightmares I'm now having. The same vision over and over where the opposition get a really quick and wide spread from a centre clearance to the wing,meaning those extra numbers we've pushed up can be bypassed kicking long down the flank. Bang bang it's over one of their loose targets inside 50 are having a shot from an uncontested mark. High risk. On a 'winning' day we might gain two goals then give away one. On a losing day, the reverse. It may actually be a game plan built to suit our team strengths for many years to come - the combination of midfield clearance guns and some top-rated forward targets. Not quite working consistently right now as several of those guns are also still kids, but it could be a winning approach long term. Next time I see the spread-wing-flank-mark-goal horror against us, I'll comfort myself by muttering something like "Enjoy it while it lasts, y' bastards".

We have an amazing record of losing when we are favourites, which for a decade has meant the other team must be in pretty bad shape! We also have a remarkable track of being smashed by teams who changed their coach the week before, even back when we were a competitive side. Oh, correction - even back during the last time we were a competitive side. I'm gonna tip against the Bulldogs because their defence concerns me greatly and we now have a couple of tall marking options plus Petracca! More seriously, Stronger does worry me a bit. Redpath and Campbell are both the kind of 'real' tall that always troubles us, though perhaps over the day Campbell and Roughhead will both be sucked into an inevitably failing ruck battle against Gawn, which could limit their forward effectiveness. My main worry is that a couple of their lesser known but dangerous players, like Tory Dickson, Toby McLean and Caleb Daniel, will break loose on us and kick a few. That and Luke Dahlhaus. This should be a glorious game, especially if you like a quality contest for clearances, and spending all day crapping your pants because the whole game is going to be appallingly dynamic and unpredictable from minute to minute.

Kind of an awkward situation, that Casey is out of room for key forwards, but for various legitimate reasons we can't quite settle the Melbourne forward line. By the numbers, Sam Weideman is almost identical height and weight to Jack Watts. Obviously you'd expect Weideman to put on some more muscle and maybe even a little height, making him more of a true key forward. It is kind of a poignant comparison - imagine six years ago, we draft a key forward with a top-10 pick, he starts his career by being one of the top goalkickers in the VFL, taking a steady flow of marks and contested marks... the hype and pressure would be unconstrained. The lid is being kept on nicely for Weidemann, and for Hulett. They'll have time to develop, time to learn that training and making professional progress is the real core of their job, regardless of games played. Petraccattack, am I reading the individual stats right, or are they missing some stats? Weidemann has not kicked a behind this season?!

Bwa ha ha, Come ooooooonnnnnn FREOOO!

Not a single club below 9th has won a single game against any club from 9th up... except against us. West Coast also hasn't beaten anyone in the top half, the Bulldogs have only one win against the top half, against Adelaide (currently 9th), and Adelaide in turn have just managed the one top-half win, against Sydney, out of five games! On the other hand, we have a 1 from 2 record against the top half and a 3 from 5 record against the bottom half. WHEN we win on sunday, we'll have a better record against good sides than against weak sides. So really, who cares how hard our draw is! Y'know, I even think that unlike say Collingwood or Richmond, there's been some kind of coaching and culture plan going on where we are setting ourselves to match up against the best and to be finals-ready when the time comes.

Think positive! A good margin in the win over the Bulldogs + GC over GWS + Fremantle over Hawthorn ... and we're into the top 4!