Little Goffy

Brown and McDonald were recruited/retained to give us mature talls in our forward line, which without doubt won us a premiership. Similarly, they were held on to through 2022/23 because we needed mature talls up forward to provide steady targets and experience while our investment in tall kids through the draft took time to progress. On both counts, it was the right decision to make. Having both of them on the list ought to have provided us depth, but in the end they produced simultaneous terrible seasons for various reasons, and then of course every player sent into the cursed zone was also hit by the FUstick. There's a case for paying them out into retirement, and there's also a reasonable case that if our list is turning over enough anyway then there's no point kicking them to the curb for the same eventual contract cost, just to gain pick 64 and 82 in a draft described as strong but not deep. Currently already four senior list players on the way out (Dunstan, Hibberd, Grundy, Jordon) while Brown and McDonald are two more possible among multiple other veteran exits.

And then you found out you were direct descendants of Lord Mountbatten and had inherited a series of Loire Valley Chateaux, which is awful because you just know how dusty those things get.

Careful with the payout promises. At this stage all Nudge has claimed is; "A thing might happen" Clearly took on the learnings from the punishment handed out for his previous seasons' more itemized speculations.

I think Caddy did his reputation a service in his interview on Gettable today. https://www.afl.com.au/video/1036516/gettable-caddy-rises-dons-look-to-sign-star-blue-to-move-another-crow-to-go?videoId=1036516&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1695176147001 Started off a little nervous and fumbly (or maybe that was just the impression because I always run these things at 1.25 speed), but he settled in and gave the impression of being a humble and wise young man aware of what he needs to work on and keen to do so. He might be too high for our current second pick, and too low for our current first pick. Of course, with the sheer volume of trade pick shenanigans coming up it would be no surprise if we finished with a selection around 7 or 8. Unless we can get ourselves a crucial player type in the trade period, I suspect we will even put our 2024 first round pick on the table to get into this draft as much as possible.

If a review is a systematic evaluation of what is working and what is deficient, with input from all sources and 'ranks', then, yeah. Ideally that should be a near-continuous process but it is difficult to maintain under sustained operational pressure. It is certainly something which should always be given a solid chunk of resources. Consultation and continuous reform is something that has to be kept ahead of the need. If your efforts to invite and seek out opinions get too far behind the pace of people forming opinions, they're going to feel a need to start expressing them in less constructive ways.

You're not in Sydney, yeah?

Literally turn two behinds into two goals each game, and we've only lost two games in the whole of 2023. Our problems are obvious and therefore targetable. We have players leaving who have moderate trade value but aren't established in our best 22, and retirements of similar type which enable significant list renewal. We go into the draft with roughly one pick every 7 selections in the first two rounds. I think with just a little bit of column A (the premiership-winning draft pick-ups of Selwood and Rioli at 7 and 14) and a little bit of column B (Richmond trading aggressively to fill their list holes in 2016, getting Caddy, Nankervis and Prestia) and a little from column C (meaningful assessment and reorganisation of the coaching panel) we would be going into 2024 on a huge boost. I think we're more likely to have a rebound on the scale of Essendon 1999-into-2000 than any kind of flop.

Also noted Joel Smith's sincere concern for Weitering after the throat knock. Lingered with him, patiently helped him up. The body language was eloquent. We're definitely the good guys. Will make climbing to being great again all the sweeter.

Let's be honest, Campbell Brown has skin in the game when it comes to insisting head injuries are no big deal. Both on and off the field, if I recall correctly. With thanks to Reddit; THE CAMPBELL BROWN RAP SHEET Charges: 14 Guilty: 13 Matches suspended: 29 Fines: $6,400 Suspensions One week for striking Brett Montgomery (Port), R3, 2004 Four weeks for striking Jason Winderlich (Ess), R11, 2004 Four weeks for striking Matthew Lloyd (Ess), R20, 2005 Two weeks for striking Lynden Dunn (Melb), NAB Cup 2007 Two weeks for charging Matthew Kreuzer (Carl), NAB Cup 2008 Two weeks for striking Nick Dal Santo (StK), R17, 2010 Two weeks for forceful front-on contact on Barry Hall (WB), R3, 2011 Two weeks for striking Callan Ward (WB), R3, 2011 Six weeks for forceful front-on contact on Aidan Riley (Adel), R23, 2012 Four weeks for unnecessary contact to the face of James Strauss (Melb), R20, 2013 Off-field issues 2005: Dropped for one week by Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson as punishment for breaking a convenience store window after Luke Hodge's 21st birthday party. 2007: Fined $15,000 for giving misleading evidence to the AFL Tribunal in a bid to help Chris Judd escape a misconduct charge. 2011: Stripped of leadership position at the Suns after being detained by police in Thailand following an altercation during an end-of-season trip. He was released without charge. 2013: Sacked after fracturing the jaw of teammate Steven May in an altercation in Los Angeles. Oh, yes, here we go. Small world. https://www.afl.com.au/news/58998/gold-coast-sacks-campbell-brown-after-assault-on-teammate-steven-may

Depends how carefully you crush them. Oooh, a reduction sauce might work; "Different components of the liquid will evaporate at slightly different temperatures, and the goal of reduction is to drive away those with lowest points of evaporation... simmering allows impurities to collect at the top and be skimmed off periodically..." Could try a consomme but there aren't enough egg whites on this earth.

It's a tough game and Dunstan has not been lucky. Never once played an uninterrupted season. Congratulations on 121 games, and all the best for the future.

Always liked him. He will play a lot more AFL level football and I wish him the best, up to the traditional limit! I appreciate the courtesy of Twomey referring to him as Melbourne Premiership Player.

I bet Collingwood wishes they'd understood this in last year's preliminary final. Oooooh, that felt gooooooooood.

There's another thread about Jack Riewoldt and Tom Hawkins up at the moment. Coincidentally, both of them have been given more dodgy get-out-of-jail-free cards than Van Rooyen has had total incidents of any kind. Meanwhile, Pickett's bump which slipped up and (rightly, yes) earned him a week suspension was on a guy who delivered a jumping face-high unnecessary and forceful elbow to the face of an unexpecting opponent, and then went on to be awarded the Brownlow medal. Come to think of it... more than half of the last ten Brownlow medallists have specific records of throwing elbows in faces, among other things. Chicken wings and bowling-ball grips come to mind, too. So, no, we aren't playing too rough. No.

I tried to take my own look at the publicly available efficiency and turnover stats. Very incomplete data particularly because 'disposal efficiency' counts the long bomb to a contest (I think anything over 40m?) as an effective disposal. That's why all of the lowest-rated players are forwards. So, after acknowledging the great Oscar McInernery as Mr 50%, I turned over to turnovers. Sure enough, there's Viney in 2nd, Oliver in 4th and Petracca at 15th. And Gulden in 3rd, and Taranto, Worpel, Rozee, Green, Serong, Parish, Acres, Bontempelli, Warner, Rich, Sheezel and Anderson. Certain players have a job to do and their success is measured in the difference between 40% and 60%, not 60% to 80%. That said... certain other players also have jobs to do and one of those is to make sure that Viney has better options than having to try to do too much with his limited kick. I think this season Hunter and Langdon have both been 'AFL standard' but only to an adequate level, not the champion level that our style needs in order to get good clean movement in the counter-attacks we rely on. Far too often what should be a swift run and clear-eyed kick along the wing becomes a tussle close to the boundary. It's the perfect recipe for a turnover; Inside mid... runs a long way to reach a contest... gets the ball under pressure... disposes in a hurry... close to the boundary... with the opposition set up in place... and a shortage of key forwards... [X]

Yep, this one was touched and seemed clear enough on the second viewing. But what fascinated me was the high resolution and high frames-per-second footage available in general play in the middle of the ground compared to the 1980s censorship blur that is available for goal-line decisions. Every department at AFLHQ is amateurish except the marketing department which is obnoxious.

I like Tomlinson and am 100% convinced that both May and Lever do better when there's a third dedicated tall defender available. Hibberd's retirement and Petty's apparent progress as a forward both suggest there will be more space available for a rugged defender. 10 1%ers, just one turnover, a solid contributor in the semi-final, and actually a remarkably consistent solid citizen when you consider how sporadic his inclusion has been. Would be very happy to see him on the field for us in 2024 building some continuity and unity of mind with the defensive group, and see the results.

*Chances are, you're about to lose.

I think a quiet conversation with Goodwin over a soothing cup of tea to just reflect on the way that as accumulating injuries and bad form wrecked our forward line he turned more and more to the emotionally comforting option rather than the ruthless call. He turned to his personally loved and trusted players and while it worked a treat with Melksham, once that option was cruelly taken away he never should have even looked in McDonald's direction. It was decision-making under really terrible stress and very few could have done better. Just this season one champion coach 'retired' under stress and another took three months off due to basically a stress-related breakdown. It's easy to see how that can happen when our own coach has watched things get worse and worse on a near weekly basis. So, I'd schedule a lot of calm reflection and care for Goodwin and coax a reset on the old mantra of controlling the things we can control.

I rarely get to go to games, being stuck up here in Sydney, and whenever I do, part of me imagines that the other Demons around are also somewhere on this site. Sitting way up in the back for the game against Sydney a few weeks ago, my wife and I were set up behind a row of people who had a real atmosphere of sophisticated knowledge of the game combined with maximum commitment to being smart-[bleep]s. A real country football vibe that was so refreshing compared to having to listen to channel 7. Also, seen that day; a HUGE DUDE who could probably crush a cat's skull with one hand - looked a bit like if Liev Schreiber got real and hardened up. But then, he was being a proper gentleman all game, and as the crowd was filing out my wife was getting into a full adorable asian-girl dance mode for the second (third?) playing of the club song and this giant dude just started joining as he went past. I love my club, I love its community, and Demonland punches well above it's weight for building that community. As I said, thanks to Demonland, even from a distance every Demon in the crowd feels like they might be in on the same jokes.

Toby Greene the player most likely to punch/kick/bite Maynard in the throat, so that's a good match-up for next week. I could live with a Brisbane/GWS grand final. Whatever is further from a Carlton/Collingwood match up. Jusy mopping up the media [censored] would cost the Victorian government more than the Commonwealth Games. Edit: I'm surprised that was censored, but concede it was grotty. I leave it to everyone's imagination.

A long time ago and still relatively new to football, I attended a club function and got to shake hands and make a little small talk with Mr Barassi, who seemed like a man pre-set to be mildly amused by everything. It was only a week later when I told a Carlton-supporting friend and she absolutely lost her basket in shock that I quite grasped the significance of this pleasant granddad! Ron Barassi is surely the ultimate example of the truly great not needing to tell anyone they are great. Always will be.

Trade ideal - a solid-bodied, competitive forward who can contribute some ruck support and allow our younger and/or smaller talls to develop with a bit of protection. Draft ideal - a couple of smart and capable tall defenders and a couple of energetic playmakers. (E.g. Curtin, O'Sullivan, Moir, Brown) New forward line coach. Also, better lawyers. Seriously, the way the tribunal is going, the legal teams should be included in the footy dept soft cap.

Hmm, if we hadn't finished top 4, and only lost one game to be knocked out, would that still count? West Coast - knocked out of elimination finals by 6, 8 and 7 goals in 2002-2004 before then playing in consecutive grand finals and winning a premiership. Port Adelaide - 2001 knocked out winless, then 2002 and 2003 won only semi-finals for a 4L 2w record. Then won the premiership in 2004. Richmond - 2013/14/15 knocked out in elimination final each time, including once against a team that didn't even finish top 8! Were a definite laughing stock with an old stale list. Reset in 2016, recruited aggressively to supplement their mature list, and played in the next 4 grand finals for three premierships. Essendon - Top of the ladder on a seven game winning streak, coincidentally, massively choked and lost by a point against Carlton in 1999, then came back and had the best single season in the AFL era in 2000. Also, just for fun, please remember that Essendon have now lost six consecutive elimination finals with an average losing margin over ten goals. Not sure if that is relevent but it always cheers me up. Geelong - in a four-year run from 2016-2019 they finished 2nd, 2nd, 8th and 1st on the ladder, yet never won more than one final in a season and clearly were far too old to go on. Hawthorn - Unexpectedly won a premiership in 2008 then slumped horribly, missing finals, then knocked out in an elimination final in 2010 before 2011 coming into the 2011 prelim final the long way via a semi-final. Led at every change before choking out by giving up the lead in a five goal to 2 final quarter when the opponent had only kicked five goals in the entire game to that point. Hawthorn then played the next four grand finals for three premierships. Brisbane - 2019/20/21 Brisbane entered finals in the top 4, including twice earning home finals, and played six finals for a total of one win. Now, Brisbane are the only example from this set who has not gone on (yet) to win either one or three premierships in the following years, and it includes a full range of age profiles. We finished this season in a miserable way, with injuries and poor form stacked in the particular area of the ground where we were weakest to begin. Along the way, these last 8 days have done real damage to my entire 'relationship' with Australian football. But there's no reason to believe Melbourne won't be up in the contenders again in 2024 and with just as much a shot as any other top-4 side. Meanwhile, I'm glad our women's team is stomping everything in sight because I don't know if I'll even be bothering to watch the rest of the men's finals. It's all just damp ash.

Okay. So, I know we made a lot of mistakes but the fact is we were robbed. I'm not going to itemize it but geebus there were a lot of obviously slanted calls. That said, Tom McDonald has to retire.