Little Goffy

I instinctively like him, think he can develop into a solid versatile defender. Unlikely to be a superstar but neither are a great many players who build 200-game careers and are part of important moments.

Surely Petty back, May forward.

Well, that does cheer me up. Realistically Pickett is one of the all-time greats of the 'small forward who slides through the midfield' role that has become crucial in the contemporary game. This contract is also an emphatic reminder that there is life after this season and something to look forward to. Now we can also begin to really enjoy watching the All-Australian match-up, which is currently Pickett in the smalle forward plus midfield role doesn't have any close rivals for performance. Jamie Elliot and Jack Higgins are the 'small forward only' competitors. Pleasingly, Toby Greene is not on the pace this season, and even tiktok is starting to think Nick Watson is a bit overrated. I have no reason to mention Watson except to mention he is not worth mentioning.

But seriously, Pickett in my mind ranks somewhere in between Cyril Rioli and Gary Ablett Jr., now that he is showing that ability to play up the ground as well. In fact, he has actually put together his highest goals-per-game run at the same time as taking the extra time in the middle. As an exercise, slot him into this line up of small forwards published end of last year, and remember he has only just turned 24. I for one hope that the Van Rooyen / Jefferson combination can build up to provide the tall structure which makes life more fun for the little guys. afl.com.auBetts, Breust and ranking the top 10 small forwardsThe team at AFL.com.au has come up with a list of the 10 best small forwards of the AFL era

Imagine being stuck on the list at a football club that has just scapegoated and sacked your father for not magically transforming a full cliff-dive rebuild into an instant return to contenders? That would be vintage Richmond, I must say. Fun fact: between Tom Hafey and Damien Hardwick, a Richmond coach (not including caretakers) was more likely to coach less than 50 games than more than 50 games. 7 below 50 games, 5 over 50, and just two (Tony Jewell and Danny Frawley) cracked 100.

link https://x.com/_684148249_/status/1802217029308715466 Max Gawn is not lone. @hasumpstuffedup was 100% in agreement, 50m penalty. But instead the player who took the mark was called to play on before they were even ahead of their mark. Coincidentally, the Magpies won by a point after "Zac Fisher got one last chance to win the game for the Kangaroos, but his hurried snap in the dying seconds drifted wide." One wonders if a set shot from about 20-25m out might have gone through.

Max Gawn has been quoted that not only was he surprised to be called to play on, but actually was anticipating a 50m penalty due to multiple Collingwood players encroaching on the mark. The audio is unclear in the 'last two minutes' video about when exactly the play on was called, but there were clearly three Magpies inside and not leaving the protected area.

I mean, I know calling holding the ball against someone who has been tackled and then sat on happens sometimes, but normally they at least check that the player being pinged is actually the one holding it, instead of literally having the opponent pressing it with both hands against their kidney. Deeply true. Only commitment to club keeps me anywhere near Australian football now.

Bed bugs for the lot of them. These umpire-influenced games, in the wider context of deep institutional biases, really drain my love of football. I would guess this that this weekend I watched a total of 30 minutes other than our game, and it'll be less next weekend. My football watching has dropped to; Demons Checking on Carlton just because my brother is a blue and likes to chat football sometimes. Literally no other club interests me. Why bother even hating? Even for the Demons I no longer seek out a pub if the the game isn't free to air, just listen to online radio while doing other things. I used to inhale football news, watch three games a weekend, never miss a Melbourne game, and routinely wear my scarf just because I enjoyed a bit of random street banter about football.

To b fair, ballerinas get on with it through all kinds of pain and injury without so much as a sharp intake of breath.

Pendlebury fumbled. For those keeping track.

Most annoying part is, it doesn't even work out financially in the end. Having, what is it, seven clubs (Richmond, Geelong, Sydney, Brisbane, West Coast, Collingwood, Hawthorn) win all but two of the last 23 premierships is draining people's interest in the game, particularly when there's so much of an establishment 'favour' implied and there isn't even that wide a participation in grand finals or preliminary finals. Ten thousand extra Collingwood memberships vs 20,000 other memberships lapses for disinterest and despair.

Well, we already know which side the umpires are on.

North with the all-important 'first to reach 60 wins the game' milestone. That's the one, isn't it. I really thought West Coast had sealed it when they kicked that sixth goal. Amazing effort by North to almost double their score in the last 20 minutes. This might actually be the worst round of football in the AFL era.

Checking scores on the North v West Coast game, and I find myself picturing a see-saw in a playground where there is just one fat kid running from one end to the other to make it swing. Oh, no, wait, somebody forgot the rules just before 3/4 time and now BOTH SIDES HAVE KICKED MORE THAN ONE GOAL IN A QUARTER. An absolutely breakthrough game and clearly the AFL should expand to 22 teams as soon as possible with such a depth of talent available to cut through dour defensive systems.

Other commitments and a general lack of appetite for the game at the moment has meant I've watched a total of not even ten minutes of football this round. A round with an average score below 60 but still an average margin over 20. My appetite is not whetted.

I had a look at the scores just now, and I must say a good laugh does ease the pain. A game where the team that kicks 0.6 in the first quarter won because the other side severely fluffed their goalkicking! And that was 2nd v 3rd on the ladder. Yeesh.

A raft of Bananas wrapped in cellophane probably would last longer than a regular banana boat. Would it help them preserved longer as emergency rations? With each crew member cannibalised, you would need slightly less raft space, so you could even get a reasonably balanced diet going.

Remarkably, I think this is a 'merge thread' case. @Go Lordie You'll be pleased to know that this ad has irked a wave of people already and you are not alone. BUT...

I find comments like the 'average workers don't have to work evenings or weekends' and 'it is so harsh to have to not drink while injured' really galling. I have alot of respect for the focus and dedication to excellence which is required to be a high performance athlete, but in my time I have also known a bunch of people who have done their 'average worker' jobs, including weekends and actual night shifts, and then been high performance athletes on the side for maybe a shoe sponsorship or if they are lucky expenses paid to travel to compete. A long distance cyclist trying to inhale enough nutrition to meet their loading targets during a 30 minute lunch break is a spectator sport in itself. And don't get me started on the way Australian football's funding distribution creates artificial shortages (and therefore price spikes) of AFL-grade players by neglecting junior development and second-tier competition salaries for both players and coaches. Anyway, it is a side argument to the goalkicking issue. There's a finite amount of time any athlete can commit to their craft without going insane and, for example, Max Gawn has focused on being the supreme around-the-ground ruckman and reached near-perfection on those duties. If he could also kick set shots like Matthew Lloyd he would not only step up to become the undisputed greatest AFL player ever, but he would still be playing well into his 40s by transitioning to a less physically exhausting marking forward role.

Kozzie has cleared heard about the Oracle confirming our 2028 Premiership destiny.

I like the structure of having to permanent key forwards, almost tag-teaming between offering the connecting leads up the ground and staying at home so there is always a target ready to take the mark inside 50, whether by precision or simply making the contest meaningful. Ideally you would also have them both be close to 100% time on ground, with the frequent 'rests' as the forward remaining inside the 50 allowing plenty of time to replenish. Around that, of course, the ideal would be to have multiple players who can rotate through the middle, half forward and wings and be used forward whenever the situation calls for it. And, of course, the joy of the swing tall defender-forward. Important to remember that in 21 we only had both McDonald and Brown available at the same time for the later part of the season, and that it was actually Fritsch who benefit the most from that. The evolution of the game since then kind of confirms that it is necessary to be flexible and be able to move away from or closer to goal as circumstances demand. So, yes, I agree with the heart of your post and just wanted to add a long-winded rant!

So glad you got in before me, because I'm not sure I had the courage.

With the soccer balls and sherrins in the same picture, I immediately pictured them combining to become pear-shaped, to reflect the Alice Springs game. Actually, pear-shaped balls might correct our goal kicking problems.

ok. The only possible objection to the suspension would be the inconsistency of the MRO/tribunal circus, but, if that were a cause you could get anyone off anything.