Little Goffy

James McDonald also spent his first nine seasons as a respectable and steadily improving part of the best 22, never a star before his triumphant flourishing when given responsibility in the midfield and as a leader, from 2006 on. Jordon now is the age McDonald was in 1999. I love James McDonald and the story of perseverance and growth which he adds to our club's history. He contributed well for almost a decade before finally becoming a truly outstanding player at his peak. I'd argue there is no better analogy to refer to when we talk about losing James Jordon.

I've likened Jordon to James McDonald in the past - I think he'll be a genuinely excellent midfielder without every being flashy or dominating. Trouble is, we've got Petracca, Oliver and Viney, all three of whom are in the very top rank of AFL midfielders. Brayshaw, when playing in the midfield, is also very similar to Jordon in the sense that he is a good contributor without ever really seeming dominant or imposing. Complicating things, our wings and half-back positions are now so loaded with quality options Brayshaw almost has too play midfield now. Then of course there's the direct competition with Sparrow, who has a noticeably better haircut. You could have a long debate about whether Sparrow's better form than Jordon's is driven by the fact that he's been given a sustained run at AFL level and in a stable position, while Jordon has been subbed in and out and moved around at both AFL and VFL level. Pygmalion effect in action. Part of a bigger issue - what do we do with the whole set of Harmes, Dunstan and Jordon, who could all be getting midfield games somewhere else?

I think Geelong are masking their true situation a bit thanks to their potent home ground advantage. Geelong when not playing at Goomba Stadium; 4 wins, 1 Draw, 6 losses. The wins include the early season Hawks and West Coast at, um, Adelaide Oval because [reasons]. I'm not especially afraid of them and the beat-up is, of course a beat-up.

Grundy being available made it easy to resist the temptation to rush Gawn back in from injury, and also eased the load on him when he did return, allowing Gawn to train fully and rebuild his fitness base. Very little chance Gawn could have had the game he just had against Brisbane without that. Getting Grundy has definitely helped the club and if he can just improve a few basics and we can learn to zone the two rucks so they aren't interfering with each other's games too much, the pay-off can still be huge. I mean, it is quite realistic that we are freshening Grundy now to make sure he's good for finals. Flashback to Ben Brown 2021!

Is there an option for '[Censored] No'?

The only advantage of Geelong playing finals is the prospect of Essendon going into an elimination final already knowing they're doomed. The 'Essendon to be immediately knocked out of finals for a seventh time' death ride is almost as tantalising as the Freo death ride, but more pure because it is a strictly spiritual calling.

I'm still on the Curtin wagon for our first pick but it seems a near certainty that multiple very suitable very capable players will be available in the first half of the first round. Duursma particularly suits my craving for a player capable of doing some attacking damage, mixing into our midfield and half-forward groups and being different and difficult everywhere he goes. Seems like there is not even a hint of consensus about where he'll get picked; I've seen anywhere from top 3 to barely inside the top 10. That seems true for a lot of players, and driven by a glut of competing quality. What a great draft to have a big say in! I'm trying to avoid facing the awkward fact that there's going to be some players just inside or on the edge of the 22 who will be moving on at season's end, but that's also clearly in our favour.

Wet grass and copious duck droppings produced the slipperiest surface I've ever played any sport on. Made particularly hilarious by it being lunch time inter-departmental competitions between public servants within sight of OPH. The surfaces all looked absolutely flawless; lush, neatly trimmed and tree-lined. But they were definitely maintained as ornamental lawns, not playing fields. Duckcrap smears all ranks alike.

Okay, so, out of curiosity, when was the last time Melbourne played Collingwood in a final? I'm thinking maybe a couple of times at the end of the 80s, yes?

Sam Weideman was a strong contributer to winning finals. No Essendon player has done that since before this year's draft crop was born.

I noticed that, too. Very strange in those last few minutes how he kept announcing that Brisbane were cooked. Best reason I can think of is that he had the thought bubble that he thought was clever and then, in the BT way, just kept on repeating it loudly. The vanity of an Australian sports commentator is one of the most powerful human forces in the world! Tell you what, if anyone sitting near me said 'Melbourne have won this' with 30 seconds left as Brisbane got a clearance from their defensive fifty, I'd select my share and sharpest couple of [censored] for them. It was a 50/50 contest from being a Brisbane shot after the siren to decide the game!

Carlton equivalent of MFCSS is the eternal lament 'Great too late, where was this in April to June?'. They'll be having very mixed feelings at the moment, especially with the Harry McKay injury. Personally I hope they make finals by percentage over Geelong and then knock Essendon out in the elimination final, just because that would be the most possible pain for Cats and Bombers.

I'm just going to whisper this quietly, but we are halfway through the round and so far every single result has fallen in our favour to absolute perfection. We are now at minimum a game and good percentage clear of 5th, which can be only one team, with the rest of the top-8 chasing from at least two games behind. At the other end, Gold Coast and the Swans have both pulled ahead of the Dockers. Carlton as I type this are going into the final quarter 5 goals up against Port, which would put them a win and a draw ahead of Freo while also... just maybe... cracking the dome at Port.

So you're saying that 'under the academy process' Gold Coast 'can bid'... with exactly no additional priority or access at all compared to any other club, and you thought this was an important point to share. One of my pet peeves is people who make a nonsensical claim, get pulled up on it and then change their story and act like other people are foolish for not understanding what they didn't say to begin with. You claimed Gold Coast had a right to bid on F/S nominees through the academy process. This is an entirely incorrect claim which you presented as fact. The claim could both confuse and anger people who believed it. Own your mistake, move on, and perhaps 'embrace the learnings' of the experience.

Is it too early to crack open the old threads from July 2021?

The strategy of replacing Grundy with an additional Max Gawn worked wonders. Another two Brownlow votes for Petracca. We saw a Full Melksham tonight. The ultimate football compliment is when you out-body your opponent so well the umpire just assumes you've pushed illegally and pays a free. Also, a full evening of Joe Daniher doing Joe Daniher things is always entertaining in a 'never again, please' way. And I swear, if they ever put Jake Lever into one of those kids football ads, they won't need to get a kid in, they can just use tonight's footage of him bouncing around yelling 'Did you see me, Mum?' after the siren. 😁 It is not a small coincidence that when Rivers was up we were up and when Rivers was stagnant we were stagnant.

Ah, yes, the nosey vicar. How does he hold he position when he doesn't even understand how an 'If/then' statement is supposed to work? Sometimes he is annoying for a particular reason, but mostly he is annoying just because his seat on panels, his column space and his media bandwidth in general could all be occupied by something more interesting than the slowly deflating camp mattress that he offers.

"Bairstow's Eshay Removal Service". Good that he has a post-cricket career ready, and one that really gives back to the community.

Good opportunity for him to work on his forward craft. Actually, a solid weekend of proper handball drills so that he can punch them out a bit harder than I can would be good. Got to stop doing them while sitting on a wheeled swivel chair on a lino floor.

Strange, I'd never thought about our premiership as being some kind of rare level of dominance, just as 'our premiership'. But margins of 33, 83 and 74 are pretty phenomenal when you reflect on it. Having said that, my search for comparisons was pretty quick, with the Geelong berserker rage event in 2022! They also provided another case way back in 2007 when they obliterated North and Port either side of scraping home over Collingwood. Magpies had a very good run in 2010 except for the draw. Brisbane dominated the qualifying and preliminary finals in 2002, but only got through the grand final by a kick. So the list of really powerhouse finals campaigns is basically the 2021 Demons, the absurd Bombers of 2000, and Geelong's golden era bookends in 2007 and 2022. Amazing to think that is the historical company we belong in.

Urgh... can't even cook a good takeaway!

Maybe the are hoping for a 'Roos after Eade' scenario.

Nah mate, the other one. The one that gets a kick without umpire assistance!

100%. Dew was in a very tough spot, trying to turn around a catastrophically poor club culture when any player who wanted to be professional had the ready option to move out of there without guilt because everyone knew the 'why' was legit. I wonder if even a coach the quality of Paul Roos would be able to turn that around without already having the authority of a premiership to contain the gripers.

If only they had a young tall forward who could offer connection leads up the ground, is competent delivering inside 50, and a reasonable shot on goal with a bonus ability to roost it from outside 50.