Little Goffy

Sam Walsh would have been a nice player to gain via free agency on a pretty good contract, but >$1m is wild.

What a strange time for Carlton to be looking to set its list in stone. I guess they are still dominated by the 'just a little more and it'll click' view.

A couple of strange ones, a couple of omissions. He gives a rationale designed to be a decoy to the fact he's just lazy.

Ah well, mostly I'm just annoyed that someone is getting paid good money to half-4R53 it like this.

@WERRIDEE by all rights should be a millionaire in this media market. His teams are frequent and he gives them a full 4RS3 every time.

I feel like refreshing a thought I tossed in about 40 pages ago.

'The injury' was the first time in Petracca's life he had experience actual fear, he didn't cope with it, then he didn't cope with the fact he didn't cope with it, and in trying to find external reasons for that he completely transformed his relationships to fit a perceptions that it wasn't him who didn't cope.

On the one hand, it is a sincerely sympathetic story and just unfortunate that the damaged relationships were with 'us'.

On the other hand, it is triggering my 'oh, poor little rich boy with the ultra-supportive large extended family and talent for a thing society celebrates out of all proportion to its value, did you have a boo-boo and only had the support of some of the world's very best medical services and a realistically unlimited budget to access those services? awwww, awwww'.

But that isn't a part of me I like.

I'm trying to compartmentalise it to being just another reminder that most AFL-level footballers have had a supportive and resource-rich structure around them and their chosen path so far back they were still wetting the bed. I can resent that and still feel okay about myself.

Those two main highlights of Latrelle excited me more because he looked for and kicked to a target forward than for the speed and running. Being able to run and weave without it consuming all your mental bandwidth is pretty valuable even if you aren't super quick.

Running like a wild thing might just be his version of wait-and-see!

But does taking a bounce every five steps count as padding your stats? Was he at some point coached by one of the Shaw brothers?

The article during the week had Jefferson talking about how he has been working on his ability to get his mind right after a poor start to games, so here's to a big second half?

Just watched the highlight of the two Pickett goals. Must say, he is looking lean and powerful.

I'm finally getting a bit of the classic pre-season irrational optimism hit.

2 minutes ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

Please clarify, who is Batman?

So it seems that Jack Steele and Max Heath are doing well considering we got them in exchange for an expired six-pack of yoghurt and an unreliable TV remote.

My deepest sympathies to St Kilda fans, but at this stage I don't think even Mr Miyagi in a three movie arc could teach Ross Lyon humility.

Not sure where to post this but has anyone, anywhere, ever seen anything to suggest that Essendon's Sam Durham is an 'emerging star'?

I guess it could be something to observe in the Essendon pre-season games?

Seems like a 'better than average' player and good all-round midfield contributor, but after four years basically uninjured and at 24yrs old, you'd expect more than that to be considered an 'emerging star'.

Or is it possible the AFL website is basically a proxy for the Bomber's hype machine as thye try to put a respectable gloss on needing to give a pretty good midfielder a high value six year contract?

1 minute ago, In Harmes Way said:

I wonder how my radiator would go with sparkling water in it?

It would become a carbonator.

Per the practice match thread, will DriversDepot be prioritising Penrite oil?

Holy gobsmack, that might actually be a useful way to apply AI.

Specific, concrete information, combined into a sequence based on linear parameters.

I hope they remember to map in all the low bridges. All to easy to imagine an AI chatbot seeing a bunch of articles on oversize trucks striking overpasses and concluding 'this is a place where oversize trucks go'.

Viney will be made cherry ripe for finals when his grit and hardness will be most valuable, and his occassionally iffy kicking and decision making will be mitigated by playing him exclusively in the guts to give our young lighter bodied mids some relief.

By then I will also have achieved consistency when spelling our coach's name.

46 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Think you will find the complete opposite on this.

Carlton supporters know hes got enormous talent and want to see him succeed as a player. If he gets a gig then its because hes worked incredibly hard (which he has) and put in the work off field.

Fair enough alternate perspective. I guess both can be entirely true given how divided Carlton are at the moment / the last twenty years.

I guess my interaction with the Carlton world leans towards the 'we must reset our culture whatever the cost' group, while the other side of the coin is 'we just need a couple more high quality players to reach the critical mass of a complete team'.

It reaches an acute point with the run of father-son selections, the Camporeales, Harry Dean and prospective Cody Walker. Do you try to rebuild the list and culture urgently, to give these kids the best possible environment, or do you try to hold onto the mature players and some 'difficult' players long enough to also ride this wave of young talent?

Perhaps some circumstances finally swinging Derkson's way.

Carlton re-listing Elijah Hollands would cost them thousands of memberships - the Carlton rumour mill knows well enough and there's disquiet about him even being around the club on the VFL list.

I mean, there can be multi-season bruhahahas about Melbourne's culture, but Carlton's issues are just as well known even if they aren't rehashed in compilation videos every three months.

I was going to say it was 'premiership player plus annoying little moustache' but as a still teenage girl Molly will probably need to invest time and effort on both counts.

Oi, give me to at least midday okay?

I'm still stuck thinking it has something to do with vowels.

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Loved his quote in reference to your children going to school:

"Don't say to your kids that you've got to go to school. Instead say that you get to go to school"

It is very effective because if you repeat that kind of thing often enough for long enough the unhappy people just kill themselves and the problem is gone.

3 hours ago, Fritta and Turner said:

No Jeffo

There's under the radar and then there's really under the radar.

"I present to you the ballistic missile submarine Red Jefftober".

The ninja godzilla?

Or going for the full obscurity reference, Heart of Gold!

This is why clubs play the absolute denial strategy with the always nonsense claim that culture is perfect.

McDonald & Gawn; "We weren't perfect."

Cornes; "Melbourne admits culture is fundamentally broken and they are all pathological liars."

At some point actual football people will have to start taking classes normally intended for people leaving abusive relationships. Learning to not engage with deliberate drama and the deliberately unreasonable statements designed to suck people into an argument and therefore back into the conversation and 'relationship' you were trying to escape.

What does it say when media training teaches the same skillset as abusive relationship recovery?

Just on the Darcy choice as No.1 - Cornes has been super bullish about him, for example recently predicting Darcy will soon pass Jeremy Cameron's 11-goal game. So at least it can be said Cornes genuinely believes Darcy will be that dominant a player.

I do think Darcy is a gun and I'm not sure there would be many players I'd rather magically recruit to Melbourne, plus he has a great first name, but I also think once you are talking about the top three or five it really is all about personal preferences.

Fun fact.

The further you get from Queensland, the faster the cane toads hop.

It's an amazing natural experiment.

Each year cane toads move around a bit, and the boundaries of their range spread a bit further.

The toads which hop more and are fitter and move on more are always the front line of that boundary.

Since they are there with the other 'high-hopping' toads, they go through a kind of situational selective breeding. Big hoppers mate with other big hoppers, and every season that cycle is renewed.

A relevant biologist would be able to tell you if a toad was a Queenslander or from the NT just by watching them for a while, and definitely would be able to confirm it based on leg muscle power.

Make of that what you will.

Two things;

Bit weird to take photos of people when they are getting their first ever prostate check. (Once you see, you cannot unsee)

No Oliver and no Petracca. Wow.

On 28/01/2026 at 09:28, Dr. Gonzo said:

Okay, so that's the plank, yes?

1 hour ago, Cranky Franky said:

Good old LG. Ever the Goodie acolyte & apologists.

Still sooking because we sacked him instead of offering him a 5 year extension.

Oh, you're gonna love it when I'm a full-on Stephen King acolyte.

2028 Premiership, baby! Here we go!