Little Goffy

Surely we'll be able to take it to another level before next wednesday, no?

If Geelong had an extra player on the field the penalty would be forcing them to wear an extra headband.

Multiple captains, club champions and a 2-time recent Coleman medallist on the move and everything is up in the air; The media [censored] circus; "We need more content! ChatGpt please create a rumour that connects the highest clickbait name with the most possible readers without actually saying anything." ... "Nick Daicos is of interest to multiple unnamed clubs."

I'll suggest that both justice and poetry demand that Oliver and Bontempelli share the 2021 Brownlow. Wines' win is not quite as egregious as Tom Mitchell's, but geebus, that was a season that favoured either-or between the dour and the loose. Anyway, just to confirm how much that little imperfection in Petracca's game cost him (and us) Petracca 2023 Rnd 10 v Port. 1 goal 2 behinds. If that is 2.1 we win the game and presumably instead of one vote Trac goes ahead of at least one of Butters and Rozee. Rnd 16 v Giants. Kicked 0.4. Still got two votes, but if one of those shots goes through we win the game, he gets three votes. Rnd 22 v Carlton. Kicked 2.2. If one of his gettable misses goes through we win the game, he gets votes and our late season momentum changes. (Side note, does the touched shot count as his behind or as rushed?) Three strait kicks and that's a Brownlow.

Voss, Black and Akermanis would like a quiet word. Judd and Cousins. Now there's a brutal analogy for Petracca and Oliver. Bartel and Ablett Jr. Anyway, in any given season there's at least half a dozen players clearly on par with the Brownlow winner who don't win it. It's nice to have but not a big deal to not have. See also Bontempelli.

I felt his comments were trivial and nothing to get worked up about, but can see how it rubs people the wrong way. His little bit of sulkiness does remind me of a traditional lament among child care workers; "You're mean." "I'm not mean, you just aren't used to being accountable."

Now fixated on Jed Walter being our Josh Kennedy. And surely with the McVee (now ooficially pick 23) and Oliver trades we'll have something useful (e.g. picks with high points value that clubs are happy to trade because of low confidence in the draft pool) to give back to Gold Coast. A deal involving Walter and a top quality pick coming to us while Gold Coast get a finals-tested star and an efficient stock of burner picks seems like a win for everyone.

Okay, so, will McVee be at this game? Supporting his girlfriend or his club? Hard times.

Pick 23 is a very good burner pick which might hypothetically sweeten a deal for a hypothetical club which might hypothetically be in need of points for academy players.

I don't know how Sam Edmund found a paddle big enough to stir [censored] that hard.

Good that he is an actually good prospect, because that name MUST be drafted. Behind only Yze for efficiency of scrabble hand. I would've thought his nickname would be 'Bjr'. Bjr Grlj, Cylbrty Srvyvljst.

I guess the question is; how many of our players underperformed in 2025, and how much of that was a factor of issues related to Oliver, Petracca and May? Was Petty forward persisted with because of some issue with May? Was the plateauing of Sparrow and Rivers even partly due to midfield 'politics'? How about our movement inside 50? How much of that is Petracca insisting on being the main man, nevermind Oliver being our number 3 ranked for inside 50s but not even top ten for goal assists - oh look, I found the stat Stephen King brought up in 12 minutes! How much of Simon Goodwin's stagnation as a coach was a product of distractions caused by managing these three and the layers of club politics that swirled around them? I'm playing devil's advocate here a bit, but there is an upside to them going, even if we get 'unders' in trades, and setting aside the 20% or so of our salary cap it frees up.

Clearly St Kilda's salary cap squeeze is having an effect, with Marshall wanting out to Geelong, a club which does not have that problem. Not sure it makes too much difference to Heath's preferences, though. He'd just be behind De Konig instead of Marshall. Plus... it is St Kilda. At Melbourne Heath would be behind only The Gawn and competing only with Tom Campbell for opportunities, and would have a clean run at the succession given Campbell's age. I'd argue we would also love to reduce the amount of time Gawn has to spend jogging around the ground, so the role of a genuine full time forward-ruck is very much there. IF the trade actually happens and IF Heath develops into a solid ruck, then it is an optimal scenario for everyone involved.

I always hated that there was a Collingwood player I respected so much. Good job on the club for solving that problem. Upsides; Can support and guide the young forward line while not directly competing for the spot for our 'true' tall forwards. Brings character and intelligence into the culture and provides support to the new coaching group. Is one of those players who continue to work at it, support the team structure, and require opposition attention even when having a quiet day. Presumably, not a huge salary. Downsides; Might play limited total number of games [because old]. Although the only time he has missed any substantial number of games was 2024, with a ruptured pectoral tendon. No history of chronic problems or recurring hamstring twangs. Touch wood.

This is Australia, so half the league are half Irish. Which means if a quarter of the league is all Irish, and quarter of the league is not Irish then once you mush it all together the remaining stew would be half Irish. Right now a significant portion of the League is just Maeve Chaplin.

hrmmf. Got a little sloppy to let our play break down a few times under pressure and eventually paid the price. Has to be our top priority.

Good fun seeing Hore literally sit an opponent on their r's and winning the free kick for it too. Also enjoy the 'F-F-S Tayla' lip reading after the weird collision in defence. Main downside to this game is the Essendon uniform. Basically a trussed hernia.

I absolutely love that the next sub-heading on the AFL.com.au article is 'Rivals monitoring sun'. I had just thought 'Geez, I hope he used properly tested SPF'.

Jack Steele sees out his two years as a 'Daniel Cross' culture setter and midfield depth. The poor guy is basically St Kilda's Nathan Jones, except they are well out of love and in need of a new start. He's not fast and would be only a midfield grinder - certainly not the magic beans - but if the Trac and Claz show happens and the Flanny & Humpy show doesn't happen we'll need good, uh, soil, for our existing home grown beans to grow in. I wonder how he feels about Alan Richardson? Note that personally I am ambivalent about this and merely raising it as a thing lurking in the background, not actually spruiking.

Ugh. Ye of little faith. Once you embrace what the old gypsy lady told me in a dream, you can very easily see the many paths back to potency. We are already locked in as 2028 premiers, so the key is to watch events unfold with an awareness of how they can be a part of that path.

Keeping his cards close to his vest.

Poor Goodwin, like being dumped by your partner and moving to a new home for a fresh start, only to find your teenage brat already has a key. Whoa, Petracca is a great player and his 2021-2023 rivals Martin, but Martin 'does it himself' in ways that Petracca lacks the mobility and skills to do. Trac is a powerful component of a unit, while Martin actively changes the scenario and allows multiple other players to be 'good ordinary' role players. Martin is more like a 200% Melksham. That said, at his best 2021-2023, Trac's contribution was as effective for the team as Martin's was for Richmond, and plugging even post-spleen Petracca into a midifeld with Anderson, Rowell and Touk Miller is an awful prospect for all opponents. It is just as well Gold Coast will have their depth thinned a little since both Flanders and Humphrey are obviously coming to us. (wink wink oink oink)

Just going to add a bit of a pre-season and rookie draft supplement because a few solid names have been left out. 2010 Bachaer Houli, Michael Hibberd, Luke Dalhouse, Jasson Johhannnissen, Jeremy McGovern 2011 Sam Frost, Rory Laird, Jack Crisp, Mark Blicavs, Harry Cunningham, Jaeger O'meara (mini) 2012 Dane Rampe, Jack Martin (mini), Jesse Hogan (mini) 2013 James Harmes, Charlie Cameron, 2014 Jack Sinclair, Jayden Short, Adam Saad, Jason Castagna, Nic Newman, 2015 Tom Papley, Dan Houston

Yeah, but how important can they really be if you can't even spell three of them?

Adding all the mooted trades to the existing delistings, we would actually be going into 2026 as an exceptionally young team. May 33, Trac 29, Oliver 28, Billings 30, Spargo 25, Fullerton 26, Hore 29, and then fragments from the younger delistings. Realistically that's an entire year taken off our average age, even if a few we bring in are a bit over-age.