Little Goffy

I think the lack of awareness was particularly visible at times. Very clearly several players having to re-learn their habits when it comes to propping up and taking their time on the mark vs getting things moving right away. Fast movement in dangerous areas might be the new priority, but it is a high risk act even for the best and different players will adapt at different speeds to learning when to go and when to hold for a moment. For a lot of the game against North it looked like their whole squad had been practicing side-steps and evasive turns all pre-season. We were clearly wrong-footed many, many times, which turned what should have been coralling or pressure acts by us into breakaways by them. The dashing mistakes I can live with as part of a transitioning game style, and I certainly want the likes of Windsor, Lindsay and Tholstrup 'growing up' in an environment where having to make that judgement call is an expectation. The missteps defensively trouble me a lot more because that isn't a new skill or behaviour. It also effectively invalidates a forward press effort in much the same way that poor spacing would invalidate the 'cluster' or zone strategies, and it results in an absolute ton of unrewarded running for the whole team.

Oh, bugger, I responded to your post. I guess that means you're still being oppressed. Oh well. Funnily enough, that's the only thing I can be bothered responding to, just for the laugh.

Fighting for finals? You're talking about the two games immediately after first losing to Freo by 50, and then to the Dogs by 50, and we hadn't beaten anyone outside the bottom 4 since round 8, and the club was in open turmoil on multiple fronts. Now, I'm an insane optimist when it comes to football - or at the very least a person who rationally chooses to not submit to doomgroaning - and while I would have been there if I lived in Melbourne, but for sensible people it was quite clear by round 20 that mid-winter night games against top-4 sides was a low percentage play for a family outing. Our season was thoroughly cooked, and the game was on TV anyway. Same as happens with other clubs, except Demons actually turn up more. Anyway. Richmond. 2022. 13 win season, made finals. Round 13, Thursday night, MCG, Port Adelaide, 21,700 Round 19, Friday night, Marvel, Fremantle, 23,500 I mean, are you just trying to wear me out?

As a general rule, if people are puffing their chest out and announcing how great their uninformed opinion is, I'm going to belittle them. I've got very little time for people who think they're too good to do the work.

Okay, so the vibe I'm getting is that Tom Campbell (verified cousin of Bruce Campbell vs the evil dead) is someone a lot of people want to see out there, and all I want to know is; Can we get Cam Pederson to present the jumper? Because the spirit must be passed on!

I stand by my statement. Let me persuade you and you will be set free! Richmond got 19k vs the Giants late last year and their game against the Saints at Marvel barely cracked 21k. That is not propping up anything. The reality is we're awesome supporters and Collingwood in particular can go sit neatly on a star picket. When Collingwood has a poor season; 2016. Round 11, Sunday afternoon, Port at the G, 28,500 Round 14, friday night, Dockers at the 'g, 20,300 Round 19, saturday afternoon, Eagles at the 'G, 34,900 Rnd 22, saturday night, Suns at Marvel, 17, 600 2017. Round 10, sunday arvo, Lions at the 'G, 32,700 Round 14, saturday arvo, port at the G, 35,900 Round 18, sunday arvo, Eagles at Marvel, 22,900 Round 19, sunday arvo, Crows at the 'G, 33,300 Round 20, saturday night, Kangaroos at Marvel, 33,400 Those numbers are barely 5,000 a game better than ours and some are true shockers. From allegedly four times the total support? The AFL cares about keeping Collingwood happy and successful because they know that Collingwood's support base is cottage cheese soufflé soft and if it isn't fluffed up constantly, it'll collapse. Same principle as 'needing' to keep the teams above the Barassi line 'competitive' at all times, and for that matter also why the United States became trapped into playing along with the utterly dysfunctional South Vietnamese regime. The AFL can safely treat us with contempt precisely because we do turn up, we do buy memberships, and we are, collectively, hard-core steely-eyed [censoreds]. WE ARE THE HARDEST SUPPORTER BASE IN THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE. Their boos mean nothing to us. We've seen what makes them cheer.

Starting to think Werridee is a parody account. Or maybe an agent provocateur sent to entrap dissidents. Engage sarcasm mode; IF ONLY WE COULD FIND AND RE-ENGAGE THE LINE COACH WHO LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR OUR POWERFUL OFFENSIVE GAME BACK BEFORE WE LOST HOGAN AND SHIFTED OUR FOCUS TO DEFENCE. ffs people. I'm ready to start rants that would get bleeped out on Shoresy, nevermind [censored] on Demonland.

Scrolling casually down I had mistaken your predominantly white profile image for Ghostwriter's predominantly white image and then when I saw this I almost [censored] on my couch. Okay. Okay. The world hasn't gone that far inside-out. Anyway, I think our current list management is aiming to have the swell of young players rise as quickly as possible while looking to get the most of the late career of a few serious champions. 2025 would be a pretty optimistic hope for anything magnificent, I fear, but we can get ourselves back in the conversation and then 2026-28 becomes a potential window for the veterans and youngsters to overlap for a big push. That's my understanding of the list management as well as the game plan transition. The kids are the heart of the attacking style and will be 'raised' with that even if it hurts like being dragged over barbed wire a few times in 2025. And yet, I still think we'll make finals in 2025, strangely enough. After all, it was round 2 last year Hawthorn got spanked by about 10 goals on the way to a 0-5 start, before they found the joy and the kids started to click.

Okay. I'm going to say it. I suspect that the only thing keeping this club from ripping itself apart at the seams is the unity of the players and Goodwin. I suspect it is Neal Daniher level stuff going on with the effort to keep the off-field silly buggers, white-anting and astroturfing as much as possible out of the heads of the players. Either way, I can only hope that the most active and ardent supporters of the club, many of whom are to be found on this site, can recognise that it is time to be the good teammate and not be spitting kerosene on the pockets of hot ash permanently embedded in our club.

An interesting claim given we averaged 7th highest for attendances in 2024, and our two designated 'blockbusters' were both in the top 20 largest crowds for the season. Getting tired of people with vendettas just making [censored] up to suit their bile.

The people claiming we're stuck on the old game plan are driving me nuts. Against North we had half a dozen goals directly against us due to errors made through overzealous or misjudged attempts to hurry the ball through the middle or play on aggressively from defence. Players caught from behind, running themselves into trouble, being too ambitious with a kick, handballs off to a run-past while still unsteady landing after a mark. It all happened. The errors at high speed up the middle exposed our defence and prevented us from getting the priceless fast inside 50s. Multiple scores missed out on, and multiple scores against us, and very high fatigue (physically and psychologically) from having to sprint both ways without reward or comfort. It's not rocket science. The effort to fundamentally change the gameplan was on full display and on Sunday the team struggled to complete it all day and then imploded in the final quarter. It's a tale as old as time, and often told by impending premiership teams, too.

Just replying to show appreciation for a calm opinion. I do wonder if there's some quiet, unappreciated genius out there somewhere where a club isn't performing. The Paul Roos scenario?

The white ant thread.

Easily our best on ground. I mean, seriously, he leads us for marks inside 50, goals, score involvement and metres gained, is behind only tall defenders for 1%ers, going at 75% disposal efficiency. Has been our only clear winner on the ground.

I can't shake the worry that playing so many games as a sub can have undesirable effects on a kid's progress and confidence. Fingers crossed that he gets to leave a memorable mark when he does come on.

West Coast's old guard a a few unknown kids really putting in a bold first half in what could have been a 186 contender. Y'know what, good for them. Now that Fagan's got a long-earned premiership I'm happy for Brisbane to wobble a little here and there. Interesting that Reid just having an okayish game and West Coast doing well anyway. Could be an important moment for the club.

Scores are officially nice. Meanwhile, these commentators are reminding me of when I discovered that Robbocoholic becomes bearable if you speed up the audio to 1.5x. I think 1.25 would do for this pair.

One of Spargo's quiet strengths is positioning himself in places where the opposition would like to go, so that they have to find a different, less direct path. It was something Angus Brayshaw was an absolute master at, too. Could have made a difference against GWS but I suspect it will be even more valuable against the less experienced Kangaroos. I'm glad there's a lot of love for Charlie because if he gets a good clean run at it again he is a really valuable contributor.

By round 12 we will have played 4 home games against interstate teams, one 'home' game against Essendon in ADELAIDE, and the Saints at Traeger Park for some reason, against a total of only two homes games against victorian clubs. North are almost as screwed over as we are, but not quite. St Kilda and Essendon won't be thrilled, but it certainly isn't as bad at ours. Even Richmond at least get to play an interstate team in the corprorate junket round to Barossa. And Carlton continues to stand firm as the undisputable evidence that for 20 years at least the fixture has been determined by politics, not 'entertainment value', 'competitiveness' or even 'commercial draw'. We need to stop hating ourselves. There's nothing wrong with just acknowledging the reality - The Australian Football League decides commercial and competitive arrangements based on informal back-room networks of favouritism.

Chances are they're about to lose. Also, Chaaaaaarrrlliiiieeeee. Chaaaaaaarliieeeeeeeee. Charlliiiiiieeeeeeeee It's a magical leopleurodon, Charlie!

No real joy in watching Richmond getting pummelled, but Joe Richards doing fine out there for Port is a nice reminder that Collingwood gave up Richards, Noble (who is also doing fine at Gold Coast), pick 36 and, best of all, their 2025 first round pick in order to acquire a player who is, sure, pretty good, but no Xavier Lindsay. I choose to add a celebration of Noble & Richards to the death ride of Collingwood's first pick. It is more wholesome that way.

Essendon down by ten goals at 3/4 time is always a joy. It is starting to look like Adelaide have got their act together and are getting real results out of a forward line which has been 'talent and potential' for a few years. Conescutive 20+ goal games is notable no matter who the opponents are, and I don't think either of St Kilda or Essendon should be assumed to be just pushovers. It'll be up to a hard-defending side like us to work out Adelaide, contain their scoring and hit back as they fatigue. Could be important because at this stage Adelaide are looking very much finals-bound.

Darcy is beginning to shape as a genuinely likeable genuine champion. Didn't realise he was 208cm now. Just 1cm off Gawn. Seems to be slightly longer limbed compared to Gawn of the neverending thorax. Like Dustin Fletcher with an extra 10cm! Looking forward to future Darcy-White match ups.😁

I was going to ask about that. I got the distinct impression that the frees for Collingwood started relatively even and then just accelerated in Collingwood's favour. Missing that blatant attack on the legs, basically killing the game, is just the perfect cherry-[censored] on top. At some point the Pies fans also need to be copping fines for not returning the ball to the field. It has clearly become a little side game for them, something to tell their cousin-wife about when they get home.

I think the move to Geelong is inevitable. Only the Cats can offer Lord a manor and estate. On the serf coast, too!