Little Goffy

This is gonna be tough. I live in Sydney and haven't been able to get to a Demons game since the couple of games we played at Homebush during Covid. If Sydney finishes second, I'll be going to my first game for the season and my first Demons final ever.

Jake Lever, two disposals to 1/4 time - a goal and a clearance. Has clearly forgotten he's a defender.

Melksham halfway through the first and already the direct set-up for two goals and one other shot. Quite seriously, if we are getting Premium Grade Melksham for September it changes our premiership prospects.

Eyeballing it; looks like we'd need to win by just two or three goals more than Sydney does, assuming Sydney win. Hmm, just making a mental note of everything to check on the weekend. If Melbourne win, our final position is either 2nd or 3rd, depending on percentage with Sydney (or Sydney losing) If Melbourne lose, we stay in the top 4 provided one of these two things happen: Collingwood lose to Carlton. Sydney lose to St Kilda by a margin that drops their percentage below ours. (Our losing margin, plus two or three goals)

Strangely enough, Hawthorn made a real mess of a few drafts, including some high draft picks (Brennan, Ellis, Dowler & Thorp) But when they hit big, they really hit big; 2001; Hodge, Mitchell 2004; Roughead, Franklin, Lewis, And then with that level of potency and leadership in place they set about filling roles with trades. Meanwhile, how do we feel about Rutten as an assistant coach?

He would've been pretty annoyed at himself for a few mistakes over the course of that game, so I'm glad there was a clear moment of excellent to finish off. (Actually, I feel like he would be a little annoyed at himself every game, until one day he will play the perfect game) Overall he's been a bit down this season compared to last, mostly because of just a few quite poor games by his standards, but that is partly happening because he is such a danger when allowed to play the way he likes that our opponents are actively working out strategies to avoid him. He's basically Achilles yelling "Is there no-one else?"

Side note: Despite playing possibly his worst game for the season, Bailey Fritsch is now the only player left standing with a goal from every game of the season. He better not fluff it next week!

Lol, my wife is currently in the other room and I can hear he playing highlights on her phone. Again. Last night she started to struggle emotionally and did the old 'Oh, we're not going to win now' routine after the Curnow goal. I've asked her to say that right at the start of the game next week so we can score a steady 60 goals.

For shame. I have family who support Carlton and now I don't have any sympathy with their worry that they'll slide out of finals. Carlton just 'lawyer-attritioned' their captain and most important player out of an obvious, unambiguous penalty for an obvious, unambiguous breach. Late, deliberate, head high, bump, caused injury.

AFL needs to introduce present-pick trading for future players. 🤪

Personally I think he's more good to us as a block on Collingwood's salary cap than as a ruckman on our own team. Surely any tall player we look at right now has to be able to contribute up forward when not rucking, and provide a marking target around the ground as well. Grundy isn't a match for the needs and there are much, much cheaper and younger players who are.

Collingwood have done what it took in each game and that is priceless. They are a mile above where they 'ought' to be based on total scoring. Think of it this way; Last year the Demons were a top-4 side that then found their spirit late in the season and became a devastatingly potent premiership side. This year Collingwood are a top-8 side that found their spirit mid-way through the season and have willed themselves right into premiership conversation. Immense credit to their new coach and it will be very interesting to see if it can be sustained with the pre-finals bye, the finals context, and the shifting expectations. I'd be watching for a 'Demons 2018' style dead stop when the luck and momentum turns against them and they finally embrace the reality that they aren't actually as good as they seem. And without being sour about it, they have had a lot of luck. Personally, my mind is mostly fixed on the very simple fact that if the Demons allow themselves to be rush-scored against, they lose. If they don't, they win. That's it.

Shopping list to complete the perfect Demon 22: 1x peak Jesse Hogan 1x peak Paddy Ryder 1x peak Neville Jetta If Jackson stays, obviously remove the Paddy Ryder requirement. Actually, you could take the best available discount brand version of those three and our list would be all set.

There's still a week off between the end of the home and away season and finals. I feel like that could be a hugely important week for us because right now there's a feeling like we are straining mentally, resulting in overthinking and underthinking and lapses of concentration. For all the frustration with the flaws and the bitterness of throwing away what would have been a guaranteed top-4 spot had we beaten the Magpies, really we're not playing bad football. We now must win against the Lions and Blues to secure a top-4 spot, and we 'should', and then when that 'if' goes our way the mood is a little better going into the pre-finals break, and we can go back to anything is possible.

Rivers hasn't rediscovered form and we really need some more dedicated small defenders. Not sure Bowey is the exact need but closer than what Rivers is giving. My feeling is that Hunt is not effectively limiting his opponent, at the same time as not delivering any counter-attack. So my gut says we have to push Brayshaw back to half-back and bring Harmes back to our midfield. Melksham has been given his tryout and not delivered. His consistency tells the story. Where does that leave it... Out: Rivers, Hunt, Melksham. In: Bowey, Harmes, and whoever has a solid body and wants to prove they can fight and scrap in contests up forward.

This is a hard one. Many players worked as hard as ever but the composure wasn't there and there were a lot of blots on their pages. 6. Petracca 5. Brayhaw 4. Viney 3. Oliver 2. Gawn 1. Jordon - think he deserves a mention because he made a lot of repeat efforts in really difficult situations with respectable results.

Yep, I'm nervous. I hate when there's enough of an pattern to bring superstition and hoodoos into the conversation. But the opportunity is there to guarantee our spot in the top 4. Rationale: Puts us out of reach of Freo & Carlton. Meaning all three of Sydney, Magpies and Brisbane would have to finish ahead of us with at least 15 wins and percentage. Collingwood's percentage is showing off the fact they've won their last five games by a combined total of less than 5 goals. They could only then pass us by winning both the remaining games (16w total) while we lost the lot. Sydney play Collingwood next week. Obviously only one of them can get a win which means only one of them could get past us. So I'll reaffirm; this specific win would guarantee our spot in the top 4, even if we botched the final two rounds.

They're a one trick pony. That's a pony with one trick. They're a good pony. It's a good trick. They're a good trick pony. They're a one trick good pony. They're a good one trick pony. Their trick pony is good. They have a pony and it does good tricks. They do tricks at the Pony Club. They're a tweaked peony. Their good pony twerked once. Only Grundy's tricked ponytail is good. Right, I think I've put as much serious thought into that as it needed.

I can see it happening, looking over the side of the roof of the 'G one day. Alas, our league has no filthy English k'ni'ghetts.

I'm coming to the end of a project that has involved reading 28 different major primary sources, basically a global collection of the greatest military-strategic thinkers ever to put pen to paper. From Musashi to Clausewitz to de Saxe and even Rommel, do you think a single one of them went in for this sort of boo-yaa posing?

Losing Ablett to Gold Coast for salary cap reasons may have been a turning point for the culture; those who remained had this clear imprint that for a team to be successful the money had to come second. Following that up with the third in the string of premierships in the very next season would have been a real 'learning'. Another perk of so many mature players is they take very little looking after. In the era of soft caps on footy department spending, every wise head not only doesn't require so much attention, but will also help the younger players find their habits and set standards. Just like what we recruited Cross and Lewis for, for example. They've got 15 of them! I also wonder how it affects a culture to have, year in year out, the majority of your weekly team looking at the season as if it could be their last roll of the dice. Anyway, they are looking very good right now, and they'd want to, because it is surely their last roll of the dice this time!

If he can't make up his mind he could just leave it to fate - advise the club that if Freo can find a suitable trade then he will go, but otherwise happy to add a one-year extension so we can hold on to him until we pick up both the McKay twins as free agents at the end of 2023.

I have a strange soft spot for Weideman because I think he has a chronic bad luck condition. Unfortunately that also means I watch him closely in constant hope that it will turn in his favour. The luck isn't turning and I'm finally losing faith that he is going to force it to turn, too. I really think he shouldn't be playing as a key target forward, but that is where he is so seriously needed.

@binman You must have been chuckling and feeling very, very correct during some parts of our third quarter. There was a stretch there which may actually be the best three or four minutes of continuous team and zone defence I've ever seen. Freo switched the ball three times, went backwards, tried anything, and it just kept getting snuffed out. It was an absolute masterclass.

Uur contract discussions are like a yum cha spinning table. I've had far too many rice paper Jacksons already, time to slide the sweet corn Brayshaw around... oh dear it is already all eaten. Well, those deep fried Pickett wings look good. Hmm, nobody wants any Harmes-to-Essendon dumplings?