Little Goffy

If you have to make changes for injury, Turner in for Jiath and Melksham for Cross is a pretty good deal.

I'm not going to pretend I'm confident, but I'm certainly going into this game on the hunt. The expectations basically make this a free swing.

Adelaide with the comeback now seven goals to two in the second half against Freo, halfway through the last.

Would you believe...

Carlton's opponent next week.

19 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

There is nothing about this project which actually IS an insurmountable impediment.

There's only agenda.

That much I'll absolutely concur with!

It is possible that, 9 months into a 6 week remedial works at my building, I may have a rather pessimistic outlook on construction.

Recently they added the first layer of balcony waterproofing in 95% humidity on the saturday morning of a weekend forecast to have Sydney's biggest storms in months. The engineer had literally called them to say 'Don't do that, numbnuts', but they still did it.

Their solution was to nail black tarpaulin directly into the gutters, but then they didn't tie it down properly so for four days it flung around like a set for Pirates of the Caribbean. "Arr, me sand layer be causing deep rooted bubbl'n, and ye balcony now be pumice."

A horse would have done a better job and I certainly wouldn't let one on the balcony.

Frankly, @beelzebub I'm slightly uplifted to have interacted with someone who seems a proper construction professional able to articulate a project plan. It's like having a night parrot land on your balcony - if one were to have a functioning balcony, that is.

Crows in Adelaide next week for the Blues.

Honestly, does it matter? They could win the next four on the trot, it would just be a temporary remission before an unlucky moment or a game they are entirely outclassed in rips open the mental scars again.

It's hard to say just how much needs to be burned to the ground at Carlton, but it is a lot.

Geebus, twice in 30 seconds a Carlton player kicks it directly into an adjacent, very visible, North player.

Panic setting in.

If that had gone through they really would have had their panties in a Banch.

Bah, they are all going to develop brilliantly and reach their absolute ceiling of expectations.

Xavier Lindsay - Kade Simpson

Harvey Langford - modernised Fyfe

Koltyn Tholstrup - Cameron Ling and Paul Chapman mixer

Caleb Windsor - Gavin Wanganeen (mostly up the ground)

Jacob Van Rooyen - Jack Darling

Jai Culley - David Mundy

Matthew Jefferson - Jack Gunston

Latrelle Picket - Phil Matera

Max Heath - Steven King

Xavier Taylor - Michael Hibberd

Jake Bowey - Rory Laird

That would be satisfactory.

Yeah, I'm happy for a head or two to roll over this.

Basic breach of duty. Will discourage players from being candid with the club when it comes to any off-field issues.

Would you call Richardson to let him know your problems?

As for accusations of 'snakes' - when the club had this conversation with a bunch of randoms, that gave it all the 'inner sanctum' value of a press conference.

3 hours ago, beelzebub said:

What ???

Horses wont know any difference

A racetrack surface which is either compacted from earthworks or has inconsistent hardness definitely increases injury risk, and unstable subsiding soil segments caused by disturbed drainage patterns is basically an on-track landmine.

I say this as someone who thinks racing can eat a bag of soil-enhancing byproducts and that Caulfield would be much better served if racing got out completely, but if we have to live alongside them then we have to account for the stakeholders.

That said, you can definitely bank on them exaggerating the impacts and messing with the project parameters just because racing's hierarchy likes to make people burn themselves with cigarettes just to prove their submission.

2 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

He’s 24yo and has three children, a 5yo and 2yo twins. For this reason alone I hope he goes well 🥹

Is that one Derkson and two Derkdaughters?

51 minutes ago, DubDee said:

I haven’t heard BT commentate for 2 years and I’ve forgotten what an arrogant fool he is.

Worst commentator by a country mile

My jealously has no limits. Two whole years. It is like hearing someone say they've never had annoying neighbours.

It is possible I enjoy football more with my baby son around because I turn the sound off the whole time and actually turn the TV off completely during qtr and half time breaks to avoid the flickering attention-assault of the ads and filler content.

It is fascinating to observe just how much jitter there is, and how much it tweaks around the room. Actual play isn't so bad because the screen is mostly a stable green base colour.

On 27/03/2026 at 15:47, beelzebub said:

Bog standard cut and cover. Done and dusted.

Tell that to the horses!

No Petracca AND no Humphrey?

It's like the ghosts of past and future didn't turn up for the Christmas Carol.

At a practical level, it does make this the first game this season Gold Coast's forward power could be debated. Realistically we'd probably still need King to statistically balance his goalkicking accuracy a bit.

Do we try a tag on Anderson, their other prime mover? Culley or Langford would be tall enough. Fit enough?

Just noticed the game after ours on Sunday.

Whatever happens in our game, that'll be a nice way to relax in the evening, watching the Dogs hunt the 186 on Essendon. Well, unlikely to be watching so much as checking the scores and thinking of that Essendon supporting girl I dated so long ago who got really wound up during bad losses.

Bombers have already given their opponents 20 goals twice this season. Bulldogs are second only to Gold Coast for scoring, but they've done that against the Lions, Crows and Giant, not Eagles, Tigers and Cats.

The talls are quite the story.

Darcy and Naughton on Zach 'hollow' Reid and Ben 'sometimes' McKay.

English on Blakiston is likely to be a wipeout at ruck and around the ground. Simply not fair on Blakiston, a defender with just 11 games, to have him in the role. It would be like sending Adams out there to 1v1 Gawn.

2 hours ago, In Harmes Way said:

Does a positive and three negatives make a positive or a negative?

Well, if they are one and three after this weekend I think they'd call it a negative.

Hilarious though that the Blues can go into total crisis and still be a game ahead of Essendon.

Hrmm, you can take a mark then kick long to a contest near the boundary, or you can take a mark, play on to a runner who takes a bounce before firing it to a target in the risky chf zone.

Very hard to track that statistically unless you've got access to the premium packages.

Side thought - Bowey is going to be gold when he comes into this side and system.

Michael Voss commenting on the Blues' prospects this weekend is also Michael Voss explain what has gone so terribly wrong at Carlton;

"I certainly wouldn't come into this game not thinking that can't happen"

I paused for a moment to clear my head and realised that our defence gave away just five goals in three quarters of football.

I don't care if the opposition is withering away at the contests or dropping their heads, letting through barely more than a goal each quarter is a serious effort for a defensive unit which faces the main downside of a new game style.

Credit to the old guard of talls;

Lever 11 intercepts, 4 1%ers, and 400m gained if you don't mind.

McDonald 8 intercepts, 9 1%ers,

And despite some anti-highlights which mobilised the haters

Petty 7 intercepts, 9 1%ers

Howes stuck to his task, Lindsay got his job done, and Salem recovered with maturity after starting the game like a dog on fire.

It is such a tedious, unimaginative bit of merchandising.

Where are the collectibles?

Where are the consumables?

Where is my Max Gawn easter bunny chocolate and set of Sherrin eggs?

[censored] hang on that would be brilliant.

16 minutes ago, 3KZ is Football said:

Will be an interesting watch to see where Jack Viney fits back into the side on his return.

Will he play a more forward role? I can’t see Viney and Steele both in the middle at the same time

I swear it wasn't that long ago I thought our gameplan was becoming 'have repeat midfield stoppages, bang one long, force repeat stoppages, bang a shot at goals, repeat', and our team sheets sometimes looked like it had two 'follower' lines. We even had two full-time rucks!

Isn't it amazing that after years of leaking such players from the club for various reasons, we are now wondering if we can fit an injured one back in?

Related to that, I've been thinking about how much our midfield has changed. Much less weight being thrown around - even before you account for the height of Langford and Culley - and much more diversity of types.

More range in height, much more range in bulk, more range in style, more experience and ability in other roles even amongst the youngest.

Going to be absolutely fascinating to watch that develop.

2 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Hey Little Goffy...you're not a school teacher, are you? It's like you've been correcting people's homework!

Not quite. Besides, if I were a school teacher I wouldn't generallly set homework. Evil stuff. The occassional long-term project so kids can feel like they really did something substantial and (hopefully) memorable.

I'd also ritually burn NAPLAN test papers.

As for multi-bumping this thread, I just had a little spark of realising that there had been a bunch of outlandish predictions made which were already true or already becoming credible. Fun times!

On 02/03/2026 at 16:44, Ghostwriter said:

The MRO will judge without fear or favour regardless of which team’s player is in question.

I know, LD-vC. You said outlandish, not certifiably nuts.

Well, that didn't take long to beak.

Aren't we all shocked.

On 02/03/2026 at 17:24, Wells 11 said:

Turner gets an AA call up.

Kozzie top 3 in the brownlow

Dees win more close games than they lose

Kozzie on the way now with an early 3-voter.

I think the Saints game counts, but does 'from 6 goals down to four goals up' count as close or just ridiculous?

On 02/03/2026 at 18:15, bing181 said:

By the start of next pre-season, Simon Goodwin will be an AFL head coach.

The opportunities will be there. Goodwin and Voss were both 'coaching' from the bench in the Swans-Blues game and part of me expected them to swap at half time. But surely Goodwin knows better than to go to true basket cases like Carlton or Essendon?

Kingsley may decide it isn't worth bursting a blood vessel for this.

On 02/03/2026 at 20:03, joeboy said:

Everyone will agree with my 3 worders… at least once this season

Got pretty close already. Have your three worders improved or are people just in a good mood?

I'm genuinely looking forward to the grand 'Demonland consensus game'.

On 02/03/2026 at 20:37, sisso said:

Melbourne play on wildcard weekend and Collingwood finish bottom 6

Already looking like a total lack of outlandishness. Nil Outlandishnicity.

On 04/03/2026 at 12:27, DeeSpencer said:

1. Tom Sparrow wins our B+F

2. Harvey Langford gets dropped for at least one game at Casey

3. Paddy Cross debuts in March

Nailed number 3 already, while Langford is showing some second-year blues which might warrant a short break. And now Sparrow goes and plays his personal best game. Contender?

On 04/03/2026 at 14:40, Temporarily Hopeful Demon said:

Fritsch gets back to kicking 50+ and AA contention.

Don't know if that's 'outlandish' but I don't think many people are expecting it.

1 goal, 2 goals, then 4 goals... he'll have 50 by round 6, and one thousand and twenty-four by round 11. But seriously, at 2.33 a game he is indeed on target for 50.

On 04/03/2026 at 19:57, Palace Dees said:

Melbourne finish 10th

Kozzie wins Brownlow

My 566.25 to 1 multi gets up

$50k hits my TAB account

I donate $1k to Demon Army

Then I wake up 😩

A little part of you must be clenching up just a bit after the Blues game, hey?

Might get to add a wing to the palace.

On 04/03/2026 at 21:54, NeveroddoreveN said:

Both Gold Coast an St Kilda fail to deal with expectations, both finishing outside the top 8.

Melbourne is a massive surprise packet, looking like they can beat anyone on their day....ends up 4th, could have been top had we not dropped a couple of games against the bottom 4 teams.

Collingwood and Geelong have trouble with consistency, they struggle vs faster ball moving teams....they end up limping into wildcard round.

Already looking right about the Saints. Gold Coast have had the perfect flat-track bully start to mess with their heads as soon as they hit a road bump.

Collingwood and Geelong you've basically described verbatim to reality, so points deducted for lack of outlandisquacity!

6 hours ago, Bowserpower said:

Steele is ok but hes not elite

True, but he knows it, has the humility to accept it, and makes decisions accordingly.

Jack Viney has had Wolverine-style extreme surgery to replace all his bones with Nokia 3310s.

Big move to get a new major sponsor, but we have also cornered the entire Finland AFL market.

Potential for Pickett to be truly emblematic for the King era, given his willingness to accept risk, accept failures and keep going. It is almost enthusiasm for the risk 'Whee here I go!'.

His first half was not good - full of turnovers and failed attacks. He kept going and turned it around just like they say true champions do.

With a number of potentially very, very damaging young players on our list, particularly in the ball-moving roles, he sets an example which could make us terrifying to play against.

And a delightful prospect for any key forwards bored or underappreciated at their current club, too.

13 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

I’m sorry but this isn’t about slightly negative comments my point on the game day thread is the personal attacks on players especially the whipping boys like Sparrow, Lever and Kolt.

We have the resident peanut going on about Clarry not being in there as the reason for yesterday and we have supporters stating King has destroyed our defensive capabilities in a few months.

How long have we all been involved in or watched footy, judging by our supporters demographics I’d say the answer for most of us is a long time. So by all means vent, fumbles, poor efforts at contested loose ground balls, players not attacking the aerial ball coming in, getting smashed at the clearance and skill errors that’s fine.

Don’t get personal and King is what 9 quarters into his coaching career when these comments were made, Give him some time to prove he can change things or not. We’ve put it out there how we’re going to play and opposition teams aren’t just going to allow us to do that, they’ll put work into us to prevent the run and we have to work through challenges and figure it out. Carlton had 17 days to go away and work on a plan to stop our run and win the game

Maybe see what King and the team can do to counter what Carlton bring

The smashing at the clearance yesterday was obvious to all of us, and as I said we have the old Clarry and Trac whingers saying I told you so, well the boys need to learn the hard way and exposure does this as it did for the Hawks when the moved Mitchell and O”Meara to expose the youth. Well I think yesterday Sparrow, Kossie and Windsor worked their way through it and with Steele adding far more structural wise to our midfield I think the new brigade can continue to develop.

The defence struggled early yesterday but who wouldn’t have the way we were getting dominated at the clearance and couldn’t create any run from our D50 meant they were under siege. Well done to Lever and Tmac who stood tall and to Kolt and Howes who both turned around shaky starts.

Anyone who has sat in a coaches box understands identity what’s happening, stay calm and try to work through what’s been presented. It won’t always work but at least see how a coaching group responds

So kudos for yesterday and we move on to Gold Coast who’ve also had time to counter our game they present a huge challenge with their ability to win contested footy, run 2 ways and impact the scoreboard.

Vent if you want but keep it reasonable

I'd just like to add that the constant stream of one line 'Player x you muppet' and 'Player y eats donkeys balls' is completely unhelpful and ruins the thread. Totally useless tedium for anyone who had hoped to get a sense of the game from a Demon perspective.

Maybe a simple guideline would be for posts to actually describe something.

Like 'Alistair Nicholson has allowed too many marks on the lead against him, but then loses tracl of his opponent when he tries to plsy in front. I think we need to shake up our tall defenders"

Instead of 'Nicho is a slow and dumb spud and Daniher should be sacked for playing him"

Just noticed in stats sheets that Cooper Duff-Tytler is being abbreviated as 'Cooper D Tytler'. So I guess we know who is going to be the King of the Pirates one day.