Little Goffy

As reliable as the Sun going down / coming up / neither / both.

Funny that you say Lovett while I'm getting a bit of a James McDonald vibe. Could be another 50 games before he peaks and he won't ever seem flashy or be a game breaker, but he could deliver a long period of humble excellence. Would be very sad to lose him, and also I think it would be unfortunate from a list management perspective as it is these good citizen players that keep a team at a high level without burning up the salary cap.

Unflappable is how I like my stoppers. What a strange language we have assembled.

Let's be blunt. His shoulders and back are wrecked from carrying Freo's hopes and dreams for a decade. I hope he can make the hard choice to let go of 2023 and get his body right, then come back and play out a couple more years of good football. But it is hard to see how the risk could be worth it for a new club taking him at this point.

I just love the mental reversal in our current period of drafting. Instead of 'that player is rated No.1 /No 4, etc, therefore they are what we want', the attitude is 'we highly rate the following players and will do what it takes to get them even if that seems excessive'. It's Oliver, Lever, May, Bowey, and a whole lot of little draft point trades to get us to positions where we can make our own choices. Plus, we aren't trying to do everything in one draft. If we think the available value in a draft is used up as best it can, we're very happy to push things back to future picks so we can play our way in the next draft.

Fremantle will be fine soon enough, as will Jackson, provided the fans, coteries and board give them and him time. I fear that they will end up in the old Richmond situation of impatience killing all growth every time things don't immediately show progress. Consider how much difference it would make if they had Hogan running around their forward 50 now, instead of burning him off?

The old saying of a completely not famous physics teacher of yesteryear; "The trouble with a brick is it happens all at once". If someone threw a ping pong ball at you every couple of seconds for 120 minutes, you'd be annoyed. If someone threw the same weight of a single solid object at you in one go, you'd possibly be dead. Same principle applies to physical effort. Going at double the speed for half as long is a LOT more effort than a good walk. That's why the stats are often broken down into 'sprint efforts' and particularly things like repeat sprint efforts within a short space of time.

Maybe a while back there was a Gogh resemblance, but right now Clayton Oliver looks more likely to pillage Lindisfarne than any other person I've seen in real life.

No rush. It'll happen eventually and there's no need to pay his salary until he peaks and when we really need him. Out of contract in 2025 sounds about right. Nibbler, Harmes, Salem, Dunstan and Viney will all be around 30 by the end of 2025 so a bit of midfield time will open up. Petracca will have begun the shift to his 5-year career tail as primarily a terrifying forward, too. Pencil him in for our 2026 centre bounce combo alongside peak Oliver and Pickett. Fremantle will never forgive us.

I know it can happen to anyone but seeing Dustin Martin outbodied by Caleb Daniel it just great.

Okay, I'm being purely sadistic here but how about we aim to use our 2023 draft picks to take the best tall defender (Curtin, from Claremont) and best ruck (Edwards, Peel, and Freo Academy) just so we can watch Freo supporters implode? Handily, they're probably the two most suitable first round picks for us, anyway. I mean, recruiters always debate 'best available' vs 'needs', but I don't think there's enough consideration of merciless trolling as a draft strategy.

Is anyone else kind of uncomfortable with the thought that the Crows might soon be good again? It just doesn't sit right with me, like having someone standing outside your window. They seem to be okay for 'regular players' and with a bit of star power as Izakermanis and co mature, they might become a genuine problem.

If you're feeling a bit Browned off about all that, think of the future and it'll be Yze to feel all White again.

Closest I can think of would be a couple of Sydney academy picks when they were top of the ladder. Heeney (defaulted to 18) Mills (taken at 3, before Oliver). It sure worked our well for the Swans so here's hoping it keeps us growling along nicely.

Ninth, or equal second last! Adelaide gets the job done and Cats do as they ought to against Hawthorn, Freo will have 1 very dubious win after 4 rounds, and be equal last after what is probably their softest part of their fixture for the season.

Melbourne scarves are the only football scarves you can wear to the National Gallery of Victoria without anyone raising an eyebrow.

I'm anticipating a game that is basically a three-hour interpretive dance performance of this moment. In this world there are few purer joys than obnoxious full of themselves gits making a trip to the emergency cotton toilet when they come face to face with the real thing.

Tell you what,I'm just hugely comforted by the fact that spot betting and sports betting in general is so carefully restrained in the AFL space, otherwise the volume of kompromat floating around about players would be extremely troubling and a smouldering threat to the integrity of the game. Imagine the great same-game-multi you could get going, each part on a seemingly plausible event, if it wasn't for the super-careful way gambling is being handled.

I thought this would be a Charlie Spargo special negotiation for Gus & Gawny discounts. Alas, no 'buy 100 wings, get an extra sauce packet free' for us.

It could be a moment to check your pulse and maybe consider doing a bit of deliberate work on how you regulate your emotions. Coincidentally it was Round for Reach and the Reach organisation does a lot of that kind of thing. They'd have a bunch of resources online and links to other sources, too. If deliberately taking control of your emotions is good enough for Trish Broadbridge, Jim Stynes, Max Gawn and a host of other legends, why not any of us?

So, is now not a good time for me to suggest merging the 'game day vs Eagles' thread with the 'training ground' thread?

Imagine the horror of being a midfielder in the last quarter of a game and realising that you're squaring off against Petracca and he is 20% fresher than you are and has been given instructions to go all-out attack.

Sometimes you only realise how much you loved, after you leave. And we are a lovable bunch.

I'd also like to preemptively thank Claremont, as well as Fremantle for their first pick in the 2023 draft... Daniel Curtin Winning the NAB Medal for best afield in the annual NAB AFL Futures Grand Final curtain raiser match, Curtin is a prolific intercept marking key defender. A wonderful reader of the ball in flight, Curtin regularly gets into position for intercept marks and is a strong contested mark. He also regularly turns one-on-one situations in marks. For a key defender, Curtin displays rare agility and evasion to avoid tackles and a real dare and want to take on the game with his run. He is also a strong kick and hits up targets reliably with precision from defence. Daniel Curtin 08/03/2005 | 195cm | Key Defender Claremont / Western Australia Curtin has been a top performer at representative level over the last two years, shining for Western Australia’s Under 17 side and in the recent Futures showcase. He was best afield in the latter game, displaying his poise in possession and sound intercept marking down back. With the potential to swing forward, there’s plenty to like.

In just a few years we've gone from having a desperate need of every kind of forwards to having the best medium sized forward, the best small forward, multiple really effective team-oriented small/medium forwards, a key defender who is showing to be a credible swingman, and a big kid throwing himself into contests on debut. And Fritsch is the only one over 24. Two key forwards who were absolutely crucial in a premiership team are now honestly debatable inclusions even though our big ruck captain isn't available to sit forward. And we're the No 1 scoring team. Whaaaaaat is goooiiing oooooon?