Little Goffy

38 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Why do so many people support Essendon? 🤷🏻‍♂️

In economics it is called the Sunk Costs Fallacy.

Does very strange things to people.

Anyway -

Nice of Tristan Xerri to have a 'just okay' game and then get himself surely suspended, all in tribute to Max Gawn's 250. After a very good game against Port and then monstering West Coast he was probably the chief rival for the All-Australian ruck spot.

The contenders seem to be quickly sorting themselves from the pack, with Witts, English, Jackson and Grundy the ones to watch.

It'll be a fun thing to monitor for the season. We all want Gawn to get the 'outright greatest ever' plaque for his locker, though in keeping with his attitude of course we shouldn't fixate on it.

I would even find some joy if it was Gawn AA ruck with Jackson named as the second ruck/forward.

24 scoring shots to five after half time in Freo-Richmond. Yikes. Could just as easily have been a 120+ margin if Freo had kicked straight.

And a quick nod here to Tholstrup for his job on Serong. Cut Serong's output to less than half.

Meanwhile, for those keeping track of the genius moves at AFL HQ regarding giving thugby a free hit and all that - there was not football on free-to-air television in Sydney today. None.

Looks like this season has a decisive early top-2 and bottom-2 but the remainder is a wide open and completely chaotic race.

22 minutes ago, bing181 said:

For the moment. Longer term he'll need to be able to do more than just play as a tagger.

Not knocking him either, and there's obviously something about being a tagger that really suits the kind of player/person he is.

I suspect the concentrated task and the reduced expectations of doing anything dramatic have helped Tholstrup a lot.

Wouldn't be the first young player to go through a period as a tagger on the way to becoming a more confident and complete player.

We are very much in need of the team-oriented half-forward successor to Nibbler, and Tholstrup has also shown he can be pretty bold and creative when he gets it. I'd hope that is the eventual ambition.

Ugh.

Let's delete this thread and start a new one about Leigh Ryswyk.

No, I'm serious.

Hopefully the new one can be kept clean of people who need to inject their conspiracy theories into other people's small celebrations.

5 minutes ago, Coolx2 said:

Oliver ( A.K.A Dee traitor,just joking) had 39 disposals for his losing side last night unfortunately didn't kick a goal. Teams need mids that are capable of kicking goals also Ruckman.

At the moment we don't have either.

Fortunately we probably have them on our list, just progressing development. To the extent the point is true, probably also a part of why Rivers was dropped and Cross given a run.

The solution, with the right development and coaching, may well already be on our list.

With an optimistic hat on, I can see a future where all of Windsor, Langford, K Pickett, Tholstrup and Culley are primarily mids but capable of putting a goal through, in a handy variety of ways. Lindsay maturing into Langdon's successor would also generate some scoring. Plus, if Rivers returns and shows the potency we all suspect he is capable of, that'll affect the scoreboard too.

Same hat says Chandler, L Pickett, the new and improved Sharp, and Thomas Matthews have a good shot at being primarily small forwards who also contribute to midfield ball movement.

That's a big chunk of the 2028 premiership team, right there.

15 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Interesting Comment, I have NEVER SEEN Faicos take an opponent defensively, and 95 % of his possesions are UNCONTESTED .His game is exclusively built around zero defensive efforts and 100% outside game,which is opposite of a Matt Rowell game, will only win a B &F, as the filth have changed their voting structure to gift him an award. But to win a BROWNLOW you have to have an allround game

Daicos is offensively overhyped but he is a very, very good player and may yet lead Tasmania to a premiership.

14 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Claz a VG first half. The second pretty shabby and zero defensive pressure on opponents. Looks to be a fair way off the pace after HT for mine

Story of the Giant's night, really. Looked like they should have been dominating if not for umpiring by half time, but then they started to fall behind on the 'optional' running and were constantly in urgent, panicky situations. Some really good play but it would be three against four over and over.

8 minutes ago, BDA said:

the anti-wokesters are actually worst than the wokesters but both are unbearable.

I do feel it takes a special kind of weird to go to the trouble of opening a thread and commenting that you don't care. Or to go out of your way to find something so you can then claim it is being obsessively shoved down your throat.

It is like a pub two suburbs away had a pot&parma discount night and you travelled there just to say you prefer schnitzel and why isn't there a discount on schnitzel, when schitzel is already discounted every wednesday at your local place.

This has probably already been posted but just in case;

Paddy Cross mid-2025 article

I feel like this genuinely gives an impression of the type of player he is, so that's helpful.

Fingers crossed but I can easily imagine him joining the Cameron Pedersen tradition of always being a bit more valuable than he seems.

6 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Who will be the most obscure and under the radar Carlton player to kick a match winning 4 goals this week in the vein of Ashton Moir or Matt Owies, as per recent Carlton/Dees game?

I’ll go with Francis Evans on this occasion.

Hudson O'keefe for me. Always nice when a player kicks more goals in a game against us than in their entire previous career. At 202cm, we might not have anyone for him.

I'm going to run with the theory that King expects Rivers to present himself as a leader at the club and a key part of the new generation.

That would make dropping him about expectations for how you are going as a player and what you aim to be. Subtler than 'you were our worst on the day', but very interesting if it is an act demanding excellence from someone who has the attributes.

I mean, if you might be Shaun Burgoyne, don't settle for being James Aish.

Worth remembering that King was there for the 2006-07 hard conversations and subsequent choices to become great, which turned a bunch of talented players into a mind-meltingly dominant team.

Three goals in a quarter while both teams run around frantically is a weird viewing experience.

The unpaid frees for the Giants, including a couple of non holding-the-ball decisions right in front of goal, have really farted in this game's bathtub.

I wonder if that will be auto-censored and I would be fascinated to know what people's guesses will be.

2026 NAPLAN TEST: Complete the sentence; "The umpire has [censored] in the bathtub."

With Jagga Smith currently so clearly the presumptive Rising Star for 26 it will be a real feather in his Tholstrup's cap when the KoltLock ^TM keeps him to 15 low-impact disposals on sunday.

I've begun to keep an eye on the progress of the 2025 draft class, just because I got a whiff of a hint of an impression that very few players from that group are making an immediate impression.

Duursma and Duff-Tytler are off to a nice start for West Coast, both being important in their win over North. (Oh Clarko, you blew it)

Dean has been a solid defensive presence for the Blues already, which is impressive and will be interesting to assess this weekend. Uwland has not shown too much.

Other high picks to make an early debut include Grlj (fine), Dovaston (okay) and Dyson Sharp (not great, but playing for Essendon so why bother - and now dropped by Essendon).

Other than that there is just Josh Lindsay, who has played one game at half-back for West Coast, for respectable effect, and El Achkar and Kondogiannis at Essendon who have also both been dropped presumably for morale reasons. Oh, and mature age rookie Jack Watkins at Port really enjoyed beating Essendon, so good on him.

The 2024 draft had about ten players play close to a full debut season, and many more play 10-17 games. Just a few games in and the herd of potential full-season debutants is already below that.

Incredibly, three rounds into the season there are only half a dozen new players getting regular games, and three of those are at West Coast, which included picks 1 and 4.

I suspect, much like when Melbourne appeared to pay overs for Lever all those years ago, Jason Taylor assessed the overall chances of this draft and said 'Yes, now is the right moment to go hard using a high pick to get a high-potential unknown quantity.'

AFL website spruiking Clarkson's comment that he expects to see 'the Essendon of old' out there.

I can only assume he is referring to the Essendon of the 1930s (I never realised that awful decade had one saving grace), or possibly he means that James Hird and Tim Watson will be taking to the field.

3 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

It’s embarrassing… trying desperately to hype up a game between Essendon and North and all they’ve got is a reference to a period at the turn of the century when both teams were successful. Bottom of the barrel right there.

I'd take an interest in a Sheedy v Pagan 1 on 1 backyard game.

It seems to me that both clubs have been crippled by 'greats' who took that to mean they owned the club.

Maybe our 2025 clean-out has protected us not just for seasons, but decades to come?

I certainly have full confidence that Gawn would never be the manipulative coterie-jockey type who always needs to be 'involved'.

A quietly courageous thing to do at this moment when hate crimes are skyrocketing.

Hopefully gives a little glimmer of light for some footy-mad 12 year old just beginning to realise he is that which he has been taught it is appropriate to hate.

Martin and Gawn have dealt with such different circumstances in their respective careers that it becomes a bit misty to compare them as players.

Martin was in a 15-win team three seasons after being drafted, the year Gawn was in a 2-win team. Doesn't make Martin less of a player, but does have to shape any comparison.

It is unlikely Gawn would ever win a Norm Smith medal, but just imagine the reverence for him now if Melbourne had kicked straight in finals. Sigh. The 2028 Premiership will heal all wounds.

As for Fyfe... peak Fyfe... leading clearance player for the competition even when Ablett Jr was running around, also contributing a goal a game and setting up another directly, taking a contested mark or two every week, something like 2/3rds of his disposals were contested, and spent as much time on the ground as you'd expect from a tall defender, not a midfield/wing/half-forward/forward.

His injury run was a blow to football. I suspect Freo killed their golden goose because they were so desperate to hit a premiership 'now' that they squeezed everything they could out of him at every moment. Too many minutes on the ground, too many quick returns from injuries.

13 hours ago, John Demonic said:

All that extra loading on the dance floor including extensive finger stretches, has adapted his body to the rigours of AFL

Turner really needs to tuck in his shirt and bust some moves.

2 hours ago, Previously known as LITD. said:

I'm sure there's a 3000 page manual at every insurer.

That's the one they give to customers.

The internal manual is only 30 pages.

The executive summary is only three words; "Be a [censored]"

7 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Im neither disbelieving nor disputing your information.

I'm just amazed.

Disco never dies.

Rightio,

Adelaide because Geelong, finally, are stuffed. (touch wood, spit into the wind, throw salt into your spit etc)

GWS because Collingwood aren't that good.

Brisbane over St Kilda in a close one so Ross can have something to say and the media moisten their underwear.

Fremantle over Richmond, would seem obvious but it is Fremantle.

The body without a soul will lose to the soul without a body.

Port over West Coast, again, should seem obvious but...

Melbourne will pip Carlton in a ripper. McKay will kick half a dozen but half a dozen Demons will kick two each.

I throw in a 20 for anyone who can get a nice big banner up saying

Our ex players are better than your ex players

Nibbler, Baker, Bedford, Oliver, Hogan, Petracca, Grundy, Jordon, Jackson, McVee, Spargo, O.MC,

vs

De Koning, C Curnow, Kennedy, Silvagni, Chesser, Durdin, Owies, Dow, Fisher, Setterfield,

It is starting to look like a bonanza season for ex-Demons. Almost certain at least one will have a hand on the 2026 premiership cup. If I had to choose I'd go with Nibbler except... eww, Adelaide. Maybe good-guy Baker at these fancy new Bulldogs can snag one and keep the franchises out for one more season.

I wonder how muxh it would affect our development of we were 0-2 and fresh from a 12+ goal loss, instead of 1-1 and a 48 point loss.

Because realistically that's the difference Gawn has made.

How much does it affect our midfielders' development that they know they're in with a realistic shot of a favourable tap and clearance opportunity at every stoppage, instead of starting from a step behind as well aa being younger and lower rated than almost any opposition midfield, and in the process of reorganising with all three of our prime mids from the last decade gone or injured.

Gawndalf watches over us and renews hope every dawn.

Has anyone else suddenly started getting ads for collagen powders after posting to this thread?