Little Goffy

One core player 'almost leaves' - also known as... 'stays'. One fringe player dumb enough to be caught allegedly powdering during the season. One superstar player with personal issues related to ADHD and side effects of the related medications. I mean, throw in 'one of the shortest and mildest injury lists in the competition' and it doesn't seem so bad. Certainly better than any of Richmond's premiership year pre-seasons. This train of thought made me look back. I know we don't comment at all about Oliver's personal situation but my memory has been jogged; Lance Franklin, a player almost as good as Oliver, took indefinite leave from playing right at the start of the 2015 finals series citing mental health issues overwhelming him. Always worth remembering that these things happen and that players do recover and return to their absolute best. Franklin played every game and kicked 81 goals in 2016. Oliver, still just 26, remains on target for the ultimate records of most disposals, most tackles and most clearances in the history of the game. I plan to celebrate every Oliver milestone a little more knowing that he has had to get past some obstacles on the way.

Very exciting young player. Does the things expected of a key forward as far as kicking goals with good accuracy, taking marks in contests and on leads, and turning up to contest after contest. For all that, my favourite feature is his pressure efforts and pursuit of the ball and opponent even when it is going in the wrong direction. That's what made tom McDonald particularly valuable at his peak as a forward and it is great to now see a 20 year old embrace that part of the game so completely.

Of course, the whole thing of 'player x needs to put on a few kegs' is actually a bit of a red herring. With the caveat that clearly you don't want unseasoned light bodies being thrown into the constant impacts and wrestling of clearance work or rucking. Tom Hawkins was a huge beast at 18, but took just as long to develop into an effective forward as any other. Aaron Naughton was 194cm and 84kg and was taking contested marks from day dot. Jye Amiss is outright skinny but kicked 40 goals as Fremantle's only full-time forward in 2023, and clunked more contested marks than Steven May in that time. Looking at recent rising stars; Nick Daicos won it at 184cm and about 75kg weght, which was 5cm taller but 10kg lighter than Serong, while Harry Sheezel basically split the difference between the two. So, yep, unless we're talking about a kid who nobody has seen play and who is so lightly built it is immediately obvious anyway, I'm not sure there's a lot of value to having weight in the big ol' spreadsheet. Anyway, while it seems like a pretty trivial thing to feel a need to do away with at the professional level, I can see the argument for not publishing weights at the non-professional and junior levels because weight is a leverage point for all kinds of social [censored][censored]-ery that has nothing to do with the game and we can't expect every person participating in Australian football to set aside all other social considerations!

Not once! I was going to make a joke about 'and these days they don't even have to deal with polio' but then I realised that the sulky tantrum crowd of modern day punters would have kept both polio and smallpox nicely incubated for a fresh appearance generation after generation, so... Here's the to 'That'll do, let's get on with it' attitude of the low-resolution era. 🥂 Personally I'd rather pay for a schnitzel at the pub than hand money over to Murdoch anyway! Once you remove free-to-air games, games attended in person, and games I couldn't watch anyway because things are going on, it works out about the same.

Any FIFO business that might be affecting it or if it just plain old 'to get here everything has to cross the Wastelands of AwfulDoom and battle the three wardens of Shmargenrock' cost problem?

Don't forget the 1.3 for Tim English.

So, how much would it cost to arrange a return charter flight in a light aircraft every second week during the season and a few extras during pre-season? Call it 20 return flights a year, at $10k per round trip. Probably get a discount for regular business. Bonus points we can collect the Tholstrups first and refuel at Wudinna on the way. Actually, it would probably work out cheaper for the club to just fork out $2m and buy ourselves a Cessna Grand Caravan and have a contracted pilot. Throw in a bit of fun with taking people on tours for the NT games, and we can even offer pilot's licence courses as a bonus for players and staff, we're golden. Would we be able to recoup the half million a year financing and operating costs? Um... maybe? I suggest we should name it the Petty Wagon.

The only solution is a series of 'hot or not' fan votes on the AFL website.

How would you feel if your scales just said [inappropriate]?

What's the bet Richmond will bid on him just for a laugh?

There's a man who has successfully graduated from the Nathan Jones Academy of Gradually Being Better Looking As You Age. If he is able to give Collegians' a transfusion of his attitude, they'll be in a very good position. I suspect I'm not the only one on here with enormous respect for Jordie.

There are only two leaps in our demographics which we need to overcome; Gawn and May. It is unfortunate that Jackson left (booooo) and that our veteran forwards stumbled enough to make Petty to forward a near-compulsory move in 2023. Otherwise I'd say succession for both positions is well covered. Ont he bright side, we have a wave of drafted talent coming through which would normally be associated with a bottom-4 team and I suspect an equally surprising salary cap position by the end of 2024. Given our recruiting record over the last 5 years I'm confident that we can rise to the challenge of targeting two very specific roles with perhaps a 3-year delay before any other positional needs become urgent.

"Good article could have been great but let down by lack of rhetorical questions. What could be the fallout between author and editor? This AFL Champion has the inside word."

I'm glad BBO went first (it was inevitable anyway), but now in honor of Moonshadow, oh Google, do your thing; How was Uranus discovered? Top 10 FUN Facts about Uranus. Why is Uranus tilted towards the sun? Why Is Uranus The Only Planet Without Interesting Features On It?

It was Biffen Lakes 5 posts ago. By the end of the day it'll be Biffen Puddles. That sounds like a delightful place, actually. 'I'm off to Biffen Puddles for the weekend'.

Lee Halfey Oswald?

Bob. Wormy. Eve. Newton. Steve Jobs &/or Mac. Toucan.

The upcoming free agent tall defenders seems a bit limited for the next couple of seasons. Wait... no... I stand corrected. 2025 is like a big fish special for tall defenders. Harris Andrews, Jacob Weitering, Sam Taylor as the headlines with a few credible mid-tier options and even Oscar McDonald. There's a bunch of other exciting Free agent possibilities to come in the next couple of years, too. I think we might even be doing a little bit of salary cap stacking to prepare, given how many relatively low-cost players we've got providing depth. End 2024: Himmelberg, McCluggage, McGrath, English. End 2025: Fogarty, H. Andrews, Weitering, Charlie Ballard, T De Koning, S Draper, Worpel, Davies-Uniacke, Tristan Xerri, Noah Balta, Oscar Allen, Andrew Brayshaw :) , O McDonald :D

I think the club must have real faith in the progress of Jed Adams given that they skipped the chance at Dan Curtin in the draft. I'd expect to see him sliding into the tall defender mix as the kid surrounded by the old men Lever, May and Tomlinson! Oddly enough, if Petty remains forward then Adams is actually our tallest defender. There's going to be huge competition for spots in our midfield and medium forward roles this season. Woewodin seems like the most versatile of the group who will keep getting games each week, and thus most likely to get a good block of form going and develop consistency throughout games and over the season. Also, Jefferson will come in at some point during the season, and kick a goal a game and take a few useful marks on the lead and without being a spectacle in himself will make a disproportionate difference to our game. Think of it as what you get if you add 20cm to Charlie Spargo.

Only because society won't allow the kind of savagery that I would prefer to unleash upon people who don't respect basic boundaries. Curses upon the inventors of things like CCTV and forensics. I could have been such a great serial killer.

Your best bet is to make yourself known to them socially and then work on the actual issue. Vietnamese culture generally shows very little consideration for people unless there is a personal connection. You don't have to marry their eldest son, though. The very next step down from that is to grab a box of in-season cherries from a proper grocer and knock on the door. This time of year cherries even overtake vitamins as the preferred checked baggage for Australia to Vietnam flights. 100% not kidding. Premium fruit is a Vietnamese social activity and they'll even be sharing on social media how great their neighbour is. You will be officially inducted into the circle of people to be considerate of. From there eventually you'll be able to set some boundaries. As long as you don't marry their eldest son. Then you'll be expected to bring more cherries every time they karaoke.

1. That guy who was a bully in primary school. 2. The kid he bullied. 5. Detective 'Clean' Harold. 8. Dexter Holland. 9. Steve Martin, photo taken in the exact moment he realised maybe comedy acting would be a better career for him.

Interesting points. And I'm willing to go along with that analysis provided the highlighted parts also apply to Melbourne! I mean, let's be honest, if those three things go right for Adelaide they become serious contenders, but if they happen for us we go from top-4 to unbeatable.

Rinse repeat. BLWNBA replied to Gawndy the Great's topic in Melbourne Demons Dees will miss the top 8. September 24, 2022

I have consulted all manner of oracles, crow entrails, talking fish and even tried a little bit of alphitomancy (the tastiest form of soothsaying) and can confirm that we will be winning the 2028 premiership as a profound changing of the guard moment after which a collection of heroes of the club will retire and the new generation we are just glimpsing now will mature to their full and carry the flame forward. This does not exclude premierships between now and then, but 2028 is the confirmed glorious sunset for our current mature wave. Knowing this fact is why I am always in a good mood.