Little Goffy

Sigh. It is all looking too familiar. Scrappily keep ourselves clinging on in the general play but completely failing to take the opportunities when we manage to send it forward. Gradually falling behind... and then... The shoulders drop and there's a 15 minute period where we give away multiple goals. Sometimes the cycle repeats twice in a single game, sometime the slump period just runs out the rest of the game like against Geelong. It is almost the exact opposite of our 2021 experience - grinding away with a slight steady advantage, until the opponent can't keep up and we shatter them at some stage of the second half.

Also being fair,the comments themselves were of substance and articulate, so I guess you were just the right amount of wound up but walked through the wrong door!

Wrong thread buddy. About half a page of the wrong thread, too! Or should that be half a spool?

I'm not saying the umpiring has been strange at times this round, but I do feel like the officiator's cellar shouldn't be opened until after the game because the 3/4 time tipple is clearly having an impact. Anyway, nice to see that Maynard will certainly get rubbed out for a few weeks for that completely unwarranted elbow directly to the face of an opponent after the ball had already moved on.

Excellent. Just one question, though; At Australian Alliteration Academy, are all adequate applications accepted after arbitrary automated assessment?

Hmm, in 2023 to upgrade our Tholstrup pick from 14 (pre-acad etc) to 11, we gave up two picks, 27 and 35. From the entire draft pool still available from those picks, there's only a handful of players to have played ten games so far. Shaun Mannagh pick 36, Joel Freijah 45, Hugo Garcia 50, Harvey Thomas 59, Lawson Humpries at 63, and the one that might sting a bit is Calsher Dear at pick 56. It is kind of funny that Darcy Wilson, who we had an interest in, ended up sliding all the way to the pick we originally held. But in the same draft I wonder would we want to wager Wilson when we wrapped Windsor as winger alweady? Wreaks of weckless wecwuiting. Still, it does look like that draft dramatically dropped away in quality from as early as pick 15, which has been a pattern for a few years now. Even when you discount the fact that only 60ish picks are being used compared to 70-80 each year just a decade ago, the mid to late draft value has been iffy. Long story short - I don't think we missed out on any lurking Chad Warner.

Stewart available for one round in between issues. Dangerfield not being suspended for yet another elbow to the throat, and then confounding our defence. Such is life. Just Geelong's captain and vice-captain playing probably their best individual games for the season. Wouldn't have minded if Coniglio had been managed sore for round 1 instead of being played as a permanent forward, given he has only played in half the Giant's games. He was a matchwinner against us for sure. But aside from lamenting the cruelty of the footy gods, it looks like as a team we have a major problem with veteran strong-bodied mids being sent forward. Touk Miller kicked three as the Gold Coast mids romped through for about ten goals between them. The North game is about the only one not defined by midfielders kicking goals against us, and even then, well, plenty of mids and mid-sized players kicked goals against us, it was just incidental on top of everyone else kicking goals against us that day.

Imagine how calmly we could approach the rest of the season if we could just close ranks on this being the healthiest approach. Imagine the other conversations we, and the club internally, could have if we were able to set aside the bombardment. Reminds me of the times in my life when I've sat down to try to get some important work done and got up an hour later with still a blank screen or page in front of me because the entire time was consumed trying to digest the sheer varieties of entirely useless pressures and stresses that had been layered over the task.

You'd think, with that name, he'd have a wide part through the red.

Time for a free agency party to end all free agency parties. LDU and Worpel and Hewett and Bontempelli all in one go. Class, grunt, depth and away we go. I'd suggest Sam Draper as a backup ruck/forward option but he's just... so... annoying. On the other hand, if he switched to us and did well, the irritation for Essendon supporters would be exquisite.

I'll be a little bit surprised if we lose, actually. And obviously disappointed. Ever spot we climb on the ladder downgrades Essendon's draft pick, and that is an important task. Plus, win this one and we get a bit of momentum and sneak a win over Fremantle and then we can knock off Richmond and the Eagles and we'll have an even win-loss record by round 8 and have a mandate to just get obnoxiously violent at Hawthorn and get the big upset despite incurring a few suspensions and boooyaaa we're back. Wheeeeeeeeeee! Wheeeeeeee! (that sound is me riding the unicycle which is our current bandwagon)

Collapse in depth of effort, perhaps? Roost... people get banned for lesser insults than that. To be safe from further such moments, I'll adjust to the Full Metal Jacket version of "wipe that [censored] grin off your face, Pyle/Lloyd."

Seems strange for the calls to drop Fritsch to be intensifying when he actually turned in a respectable game on the weekend. Unfortunate that he missed his shots because other than that he clocked 17 disposals, a couple of goal assists, three contested marks and third highest in the team for metres gained. Even managed a bit of chasing and corralling. He's had a dog of a start to the season but he did at least show some genuine involvement - enough to argue that the worm is turning. In fact, I'd quietly suggest that our forward line is getting it together as much as possible given the collapse in depth of our midfield. As for the quality of Lloyd's comments - I'll never know what I really think of him because I just get annoyed at the sight of him. Reminds me of the now ancient movie 'Dave', where the president meets his double and tells him "You're a very handsome man, but wipe that grin off your face. You look like a schmuck."

We're lucky the Whyalla foundries don't have a playing field.

Credit to RookieMeCentral, their draft profile is another of those which exactly pins him down even several years later. https://central.rookieme.com/afl/player/james-worpel/ Would be of interest if we do lose or seek to move inside mid stock. Even if both Petracca and Oliver stay, I cannot see how we would choose to retain Sparrow unless he really begins to show something. Personally I'm losing patience as there are other players who would have begged for the level of opportunity and consistent time in the firsts, which he has received and yet not progressed beyond a barely adequate support act. Worpel was injured and subbed off barely halfway through his first game of the season, and still had more impact in that game than Sparrow's averages this year or last. As always, not 'at any price', but to fill a role to a reliable AFL standard, as a free agent on a realistic salary, it would be a yes from me.

Bitterly disappointed to not have been sent my package of Quietus as a member benefit. Although, I guess for fans of the No T$ No B$ thread, Plan D is more appropriate since it is banana flavoured. Anyway, people are losing sight of the bigger picture. This start to the season is a beautiful start, a great start, it is a start that will make us strong and soon we will dominate every other club. There will be no more losses, we will win over every club, or maybe some draws, but definitely no losses.

Nobody ever asks for help from the anthropologists. We spend so much time picking apart the dysfunctions of gurus and self-promoters that it is practically impossible for us to get momentum for a public relations campaign. Our leading slogan would be something like "Let us explain why you probably shouldn't trust us". But, in all seriousness, be prepared to fear the first club which gives a quiet anthropologist a cupboard under the stairs to live in, a notebook, and a daily ration of bread and coffee. "Uh, guys, so, um, yeah, so, like, here's a little list of a bunch of things that you're doing entirely as status-affirming rituals which just suck up time and energy for a zero-sum result, and here's a list of things you could be doing instead which are specific to achieving your actual purpose as an organisation in harmony with each individual's sense of self."

Facebook keeps trying to get me to re-engage by sharing 'memories' from both my ancient wall posts, and, alarmingly, images sent through chat a decade ago. What Facebook decided I wanted to see this morning was my post of April 7, 2013, saying "Oh, Melbourne Football Club. Why would you behave like that?", following the 148 point loss to Essendon. So I had a dig for other gems from the period; 2012, March: "This year it took the Melbourne football club a full hour and a half of the season to plunge into crisis. Sigh." 2014, March: "I hate round 1. I hate Docklands stadium. I hate injuries to key talls. I hate losing on the so-rare occasions when it seems like the Demons ought to win." In fact, by August 2014 I actually posted that I'd 'had about enough' of the Melbourne Football Club. But, no, I guess you can't escape trauma-bonding that easily. As a side note; 2012, November: a little comment on Caroline Wilson describing the paralympics as 'not like a real sport' and 'just watching people muck up'. As for playing Essendon this weekend... reasons to be optimistic... um... We taditionally do well in games against other Victorian clubs when played interstate. 🤪 It is a saturday night slot so I can't watch because of the broadcast deal, and we generally do better when I don't get to see it. Essendon are just as capable of stuffing up a "must-win and winnable" game as we are. A solid win could push us as much as five spots up the ladder.

Salary cap. Draft-first strategy to accelerate a succession and minimise bottoming out. Also, comparisons to Hawthorn are strait up onerous. They struggled along for five season after their pair of strait-sets exits.

Ooooooh, happy memories. Fox SportsThey ‘would have lost anyway’, but Scott didn’t get why p...They ‘would have lost anyway’, but Scott didn’t get why prelim wasn’t delayed for sick Cats

Let's play the old game - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1292232/match-review-collingwood-magpies-recruit-dan-houston-learns-his-fate-for-high-bump-on-carlton-blues-lachie-fogarty https://www.afl.com.au/news/1203210/match-review-kozzy-pickett-learns-fate-for-high-darcy-moore-bump Favouritism. Clearly. I do wonder if Maynard hadn't come along and bulged his forehead vein and created a drama, would it have been 3 weeks? The theatre is the thing.

Schultz cost a first round pick and pick 34. Perryman was a free agent but was graded first round compensation so the contract must be substantial. Dan Houston cost (deep breath) John Noble, Joe Richards, pick 34 and their first pick 2025, and no doubt a fat wad of cash. Dan Mcstay has been solid when available but has played 14 then 5 games in his first two seasons with the Pies and still has a high-priced contract to 2027. Tim Membery is another solid citizen and I think would have been handy for us to grab. But all up, Collingwood have taken themselves out of multiple first rounds of the draft and even gone thin in the second round, while pushing their salary cap to its limit in ways that clearly require backended contracts which will limit their bargaining power for years. They've gone all-in for right now. There's no law against it but they aren't looking like contenders now, despite Tom Mitchell being their only injured played who has ever played 15 games in a season, and you wouldn't want to be the successor to McRae inheriting the dust. The thing about Sharp, Billings, Campbell, Culley, Johnson, Schache and Hunter is that they cost very, very little to acquire in trade or salary cap. In fact, the whole lot of them combined might not match just Dan Houston. Grundy, well he's already got a 1000 post thread. Anyway, our recruiting outside the four top draft picks in two years has been unambitious and it shows, Collingwood have gone all in geting the shiniest toys available. It's comparing apples and dugong.

JTR, have you considered driving backwards?

Fun fact - Melbourne could make no changes to its team and just play the exact players we already have out there for another two years and it would still be a younger team than Collingwood fielded tonight. Oddly enough their only player with less than 50 games experience, Ned Long, is already 22.

Something horrible about watching people have a genuine mental implosion. Carlton players became so frightened that it kicked them out of even the most basic routines. You can see the cogs jam in their head as they make the decision 'I'm convinced that what I normally do isn't going to work, so I will do something else even though it never works at all in any circumstance'. 45 minutes of panic. They only calmed down when there was nothing left to lose. Voss will be gone first. There's nothing wrong at Carlton which can't be traced to the coaching, and Voss doesn't have any proverbial credits in the bank. Poachable, based on 'what you see is what you get' rather than any fantasies. Walsh seems to be stagnating at Carlton and is a restricted free agent for 2026. Currently still only 24yr 9 months. On his current form he is 'just another midfielder', but even as that he could be a useful winger/midfield utility. A return to his best form would be something extra. Kemp was shopped around by Carlton last season (which I hear is the ultimate sin), is a tick under 24yrs, a complex but interesting prospect who had a slow start to his career due to injury, and is out of contract this season. As a tallish (192cm) swingman he would likely have a role. No need to fantasise about him suddenly becoming much better, just filling a role.