Little Goffy

I rate each of them about a 50% chance. But seriously, Petracca after two games in 2022 is AVERAGING the numbers that were his very best games of 2021. It is horrifying. He is the god of war come to destroy us all.

Absolutely. He gave us two years of being solidly in our best 22 and one further year of being a kind of 'playing assistant coach.' Standard setter and a substantial part of the sheer weight of effort that it took to turn the culture towards professionalism. One of the best veteran trades made. Nods to Daniel Cross, also, who gave an uncannily similar contribution. Unlikely we would have a premiership without what those two added to our club.

I'm not sure out salary cap position is as bad as it might seem at first glance. Yes, we have a number of **SUPERSTARSZZZ** who add a lot within the first few names you call out, but then consider just how many value-for-money role players we have out there. I'd also suggest that a few of our older very important players were brought in on front-ended contracts and would not be expecting their peak salaries for their next extension. But let's focus on the swarm of role-players currently giving excellent service in the best 22; Nibbler, Harmes, Ben Brown, and Tomlinson are each examples of players who put longer-term deals ahead of getting maximum coin year-by-year. Harmes was the only one of these who signed their new contract while at their best form. As essential mature players contributing their role to a high standard, they have all delivered great value for money. Fritsch it is hard to know exactly but even though he is terrific, there's still the fact that he is not a 'structural' key forward and he can be inconsistent. Very hard to assess what money he would be considered 'worth' and what his attitude to cash would be. Also worth noting that we actually have a very long 'tail' of kids and top-up types who would be on very little money, from Daw and Mitch Brown at the older end, to 16 players aged 21 or under. Setting aside Jackson, whose performance plus hype is a bit wild at the moment, there's Spargo, Sparrow, Jordon, Pickett, Rivers, Petty and Bowey. Seven players in our best 22 who are still kids. Contributors, with great futures, but none of these are going to be earning mega-dollars within the next couple of years. We have a little bit of a shallow list and we were a little lucky that injuries didn't expose our depth too badly in 2021. Also, we just happened to have a whole collection of really solid, respectable young players! Quick comparison; at present our players 22 years old or less have accumulated 250 games between them. Those up-and-coming Bombers we play on Friday have just over 100 games total from the same age range. That also takes a different shape to, say, the Bulldogs, who have almost as many games played by kids, but that number is almost entirely in Naughton and Bailey Smith who will, like Jackson, come at a premium. In contrast, we have all those kids who have been picking up games and making steady progress in the normal way that good young players do. Long story short; our salary cap isn't as tight as it might look, and we don't need to be throwing wads of cash to desperately recruit stars, so we should be able to manage it.

Playing a team role beautifully. He's two good possessions off his 2021 and that's all, while clearly taking an accountable role to neutralise opposition rucks. He may have another comparatively quiet game against Essendon on Friday, looking to physically evaporate Sam Draper, which will again give Jackson a chance to play free and wild. Gawn is giving Jackson the kind of support and protection that few young rucks would dare dream about and it is also giving the Demons the very best attacking output from the young gun. This is dynasty-building stuff we're watching.

We have 4 players over 30 who are realistically likely to retire at the end of the year. Probably the only players who wouldn't be 100% secure on the list would be Hunt and Smith. Weideman seems forever stuck on the edge of being a good forward, but I'd expect we would persevere with him given that Brown & McDonald are both 29, and our other back-up forwards are actually older!

His next contract may well resemble a 'football ATM'!

I think it is all a bit of hype, just because of how much he looks like the perfect modern prototype footballer.

I simply cannot cope with the thought that Max Gawn, who can be talked about among our greatest all-time players, might end up not even being our best current ruckman. But, seriously, can we give a nod to the big man here - he was working incredibly hard to wear down Witts in particular as well as Chol, both in ruck-wrestling and covering them around the ground. This was letting Jackson spend a surprising amount of time on ground being comparatively fresh and lurking menacingly (if someone that affable can be menacing) in dangerous places. Pretty phenonemal little stat - we had two ruck players who played 84% and 83% time on ground. Last week it was Jackson on field for 86% of the game and Gawn was out there for a mind-boggling 97% time on ground. I don't think there's any ruck combination out there who could go with them for sheer time and endurance, and then there's the talent package as well.

Bump, just in case, to save us starting a new thread! 34 disposals, 16 contested possessions, 10 intercepts, 81% disposal efficiency. As good as any medium or small defender's game can possibly be. 152 Supercoach, for those who monitor that as a loose indicator. Nobody even close on the numbers this week, so he should now become only the second player to be nominated for Rising Star after already having a premiership medal. (I asked SwampThing on Twitter and he confirmed Richard Hadley, who, incredibly, not only was in his third season, but had ONLY played finals in his second season.)

And you can tell they did not enjoy any of the losses in 2007. Three of the four teams they lost to that year, they played a second time after the loss; Lost to the Dogs in Round 1, then beat them by 75 in round 16. Lost to the Kangaroos in Round 5, then beat then by 27 in round 20 and 106 in the qualifying final. Lost to Port (breaking the streak) in round 21, and then posted 163 to 44 in the Grand Final. By the way, when that streak was broken, they then started another 12 game winning streak, followed by a 15 game winning streak, followed by a 13 game winning streak. Works out to, um, 15+12+15+13= 55 wins, 4 losses from the start of the multi-streak to the next time they lost two games in a row. But we've got Bowey now, so all is well.

In hindsight that Cairns disaster could be marked as a turning point as significant as the Geelong loss to North way back, which promoted a collected removal of heads from 4rses and launched a incredible run of team and individual brilliance. But I think we all know that things only really turned when Jake Bowey joined the club.

For selfish reasons, I only hope it doesn't have to be consecutive years! I've clocked about 15 years overall, including some of the very worst years, but have a gap because a bunch of those things that happen, happened. Personally, I think being a continuous member from 2007-2017 should also count for additional rewards. Like, a sympathetic hug from a player or a free 20-minute session in a sound proof padded room. But, seriously, I think anything that recognises the deep durability of some members is a good idea.

Following up on Poita's thought; every club which has their biggest top-of-the-ladder streak in the time since 2005 - Port (2020), Freo (2015), St Kilda (2009), Adelaide (2006), Western Sydney (2017) Gold Coast (N/A) has NOT won a premiership in the same period. It's a curse! Also, despite all the time that Geelong spent on top of the ladder in recent decades, their longest streak in first place was way back in 1952-54. So at least the current Geelong players were around for it.

I understand your point and share it in many ways, but it is important to remember the question; how was it decided who got to be in District 1?

I quite enjoy watching football. I find it very calm. Our game was great. Our depth got a little try-out and they did just fine. I feel good. I enjoyed Richmond losing and I even enjoyed Carlton winning, because of the way you could feel the Blues supporters not quite believing it, not quite accepting that they were in control, and needing every last second to tick down. I feel good in the presence of football. It's like having a noisy and slightly crazy pet.

If his grand final effort has given him the confidence that he could deliver that on a regular basis for a full season, he'd be mad to sign a deal until that had played out. There would also be a lot to play out with the arrival of Dunstan as well as what happens with Harmes and Hunt who are similar age to Brayshaw and while not like-for-like players they do share some 'turf'. Brayshaw, having sacrificed his own stats and glamour for the team, would be well within fair play to be asking for a long contract that provides the security to let him not be anxious about what he is costing himself by not being a star midfielder.

Fair point, but I would argue we turned it right on after half time in both. I mean, choose your favourite; 9 goals to 2 in a half to come back from behind to win the Minor Premiership. 10 goals to 1 in a half to enter a Grand Final. This also highlights just how daft Scott's sickness excuse is. In Round 23 they had a second-half implosion in what was their third consecutive home game with full beaks between (Fri to Sat to Sat) against a team which had had consecutive 6-day breaks (Mon to Sun to Sat) with the first of those being in Perth. They were also nowhere near it against Port in the Qualifying Final. Presumably they had gout or lupus or something that day.

The HoBros?

Postponed?! We only started playing after half time, isn't that enough? But seriously, I agree with Scott here. To be truly fair the game should have been postponed at least until the Geelong players had a chance to get younger.

It's The Age. You can open it in incognito mode and it resets the 'monthly free article' counter. Because they are super tech savvy at Fairfax. 😁

It is a tough ask no matter how good or durable a player is. It basically takes 14 years of full seasons to reach 300 games. Even getting games from your first year you are still talking about playing to 32+ without missing a season. Testament to the sheer determination and resilience of Nathan Jones to get there while spending most of that time being used as both battering ram and castle gate. Of current (one-club) players with at least slightly realistic hopes; McDonald; 29 years, 193 games. Would need 4 1/2 years worth of games, but is durable and smart, and a key position player. Viney; 27 years, 150 games. Would need to keep plugging along to 33+ but isn't as far behind in the games vs age balance at you might expect as a lot of the time it has been more a case of being limited by injury than not playing. Salem; 26 years, 130 games. Limited games in his first few seasons, but I can't see any reason why he wouldn't be able to keep playing until at least 40. Harmes; 26 years, 122 games. Similar numbers to Salem but is not as certain of a continuous place in the 22, and doesn't have the wise head and kicking value that adds to longevity. Petracca; 26 years, 127 games. The idea that this guy is less than halfway through his career... Brayshaw; 26 years, 119 games. The coach loves him for a reason and it isn't because he's super quick or a mega-athlete. Outside chance for an unusually long career. Neal-Bullen; 26 years, 105 games. In a tough position to be stable in the best 22 and behind the count a bit already. Unlikely but I hardly think he'd be embarrassed if he 'only' managed 200! Fritsch; 25 years, 85 games. Mature-age recruit the only thing against him, but it makes it very hard. Oliver; 24 years, 124 games. Piece of trivia; Simon Goodwin has only coached one game without Clayton Oliver playing, and that game was as stand-in coach for Essendon. Clayton Oliver is 24 years old. *Snort-smirk.* Rivers, Pickett & Jackson; Sure, why not?

In a good side he could win a Brownlow. But, seriously, if he maintains anything like what he's done in the last couple of seasons, he's a walk-up-start. Consider the likes of Richardson, Hayes, Koutafides, Anthony Stevens - they are outstanding players but Petracca has them covered for sheer footballing effect. The only consideration is whether Petracca will have the same 'gravitas' and perceived team impact as some of the characters that have received the modern-era entries in the Hall of Fame. That includes a lot of different kinds of people but the shared feature is that they were visibly outstanding for long periods. By now, everyone knows who Petracca is and he is part of conversations about football. If he holds a consistent picture in people's mind (the laughing beast?) and becomes part of the 'personality' of the era, then obviously he'll be a hall of famer. I'm more interested in Goodwin being promoted to Legend status, because that would only happen if Melbourne as a whole goes stomp-stomp-stomp for another few years. :D

WA officially stating that Covid/Omicron has leaked into the community such that they cannot realistically eliminate it now. Best of luck to them at suppressing the curve and learning from the errors of other states (which is not a political statement because different states have made different errors and if WA can learn from all of them they'll be operating like profound warrior monks. Also best of luck getting their vaccination/booster coverage up, which as I understand it has been a bit behind. On the football side of things, it probably means that at the very least there will be interstate travel allowed under tight regulations. Unfortunately for Freo and Weagle fans, such 'bulk' travel probably won't be on the cards for a bit longer. It might actually be a good opportunity for us Demons to return the favour of their excellent welcome to Perth. I'd struggle to cheer on the Eagles but I might be able to get as far as giving a few yells for a FReo game or two on the east coast!

Both Petracca and Oliver have sporadic games where they really butcher it - talking low 40s disposal efficiency and clangers all over the place. Our mid-season semi-slump precisely coincided with a patch of games where both had off days at the same time. They got the problem under control though. 😁

Forgive me if I've already mentioned - one little slice of hope for a genuine end to the variant cycle is a US Army medical research project that has actually been smouldering along for a very long time but suddenly found itself fully funded. Basically, they had previously been working on a very long term project for a comprehensive coronavirus-type vaccine, covering flu, various SARS, etc.. If anyone remembers the cheesy sci-fi movie The Core, there's a scene where a Dr Brasseldon(?) has been stuck out in the desert for 30 years or so, going a bit crazy working on his bizarre invention for tunneling into the earth. Suddenly it becomes crucial to saving the world from total disaster, so 'our heroes' turn up for a demonstration and ask him, "How much would it cost to have this thing operation in, say, three months?" "Uh... fifty... fifty billion dollars?" "Can we put it on card, we'll get flyer miles?" That's more or less what has happened to this obscure Army medical research team. Something that was an ongoing project that could have taken decades is now front and center and has just begun human clinical trials. IF it works, Covid can go in the bin and so can swine flu, bird flu and most of your damn sniffles too. Except for anti-vaxxers, of course. Glad they weren't around when we were killing smallpox.