Dr. Gonzo

The funniest thing I've experienced recently is Carlton and Essendon supporters having a go at Melbourne supporters on BigFooty for being arrogant! Obviously born this century, I had to let them know about the reputation of Blues and Bombers in the 80s and 90s and even into the 2000s which really only got wiped away after salary breach penalties/two decades of being crap and drug cheating penalties/a decade plus of being crap.

13-5-1

At least!

If not us GWS I'd like Saints to win so they can experience the joy after years of heartbreak but mainly so Carlton have the longest premiership drought 🤣

Every club was worded up about it just like they are every preseason with new rule changes/interpretations

Same as when they brought in the "protected zone" that first Carlton/Richmond game had about 6 50s resulting in goals. My worry is we are the first game and also playing the umpires pets so it's a recipe for disaster.

Abusing umpires is part of the theatre of the game. They should understand they are there to play the heel like Macho Man against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania V and just embrace it.

My kids ask about the family day as well as they still remember the last one we got to go to but I get it - imagine we had one and covid knocked out a couple of key players from round 1? I understand the cautious approach

Not really, they typically show it a week or so before the season and only start hyping it during the preseason games. It's a fox footy production not an MFC production.

You can have depth and look at opportunities to upgrade at the same time. Any club in the comp would take Merrett or Cerra if they were available.

Plus multiple pressure acts particularly early in the game.

That's true but our backline wasn't so much the issue, our mids and forwards were sloppy and didn't want to dig in when Carlton stepped the tempo up halfway through the 1st. That's fine, it's a practice game so I get not killing yourselves for nothing but hopefully they get their heads right for round 1. Similarly it wasn't Smith, Baker, Hunt etc that was why we lost/played poorly - it was Petracca, TMac, Kozzie, Oliver etc missing targets, bombing away and failing to apply pressure.

2012 Neelds first game as coach

I still hold out hope the one day we'll see games played at Princes Park and Western Oval if not any of the other suburban grounds. If they can play in Ballarat and the Tassie grounds no reason why those two couldn't be brought up to standard pretty quickly.

I don't mind Docklands, as an "away" ground it's far preferable to the trek out to Waverley in the 90s. Far more comfortable and doesn't take 2 hours to get home. It has nothing on the G of course but it is central, the facilities are ok and you feel like you're right on top of the action. I'd prefer the suburban grounds any day but in this day and age it does the job ok. Glad we only play there once or twice a year though, I feel sorry for the teams who have it as their home ground, that would suck.

Why would they put it on a night when there are games on? They won't have time between games as they usually have the twilight game into the night so I assume it's after the night game which is crap, after the game I either want to revel in a victory by listening to post game dissection or switch the footy off altogether.

It was part of the deal when the Docklands stadium was bought out early by the AFL. It's irrelevant to any funding for our new home base.

You forgot Essendon 2000. 4 to go.

Personal glory over team success? If he was my son I'd be telling him to stay.

And their supporters are insufferable. And 1990, 1991, 1994 & 2018 - that's why they're one of my most hated club's.

For anyone who likes this kind of stuff, I'm always interested seeing people from overseas react to our game, especially when they're watching us win the flag 😁 Two of my favourite parts "number 5 is a baller" and at the end "they just suplexed them and stomped on them"

Ultimately it will depend on what he wants out of his career? Team success or personal accolades? If he ends up a multiple premiership player playing on a wing is that preferable to playing midfield in another unsuccessful side? There's role players in successful sides like the Lions & Cats dynasties who could've moved to play greater midfield minutes at other clubs but I think they'd be satisfied with the choice to stay at those club's. Even a guy like Ablett, moved for money but I wonder if he regrets the decision had he stayed at the Cats he could've been a 4 time premiership player (they would likely have won 2013 had he stayed) and be seen as undoubtedly the greatest player of the modern era. Yeah you need to think about money and your own development but ultimately down the road I think players appreciate their legacy more if they play in successful sides. Seeing the way he spoke about the club after the GF with Garry I just can't imagine him leaving but stranger things have happened I guess.

Walsh is going to be a star, will be on of the best mids in the comp in a couple of years if he doesn't get Carltoned (so good to write that about another side haha)

De Goey had a great 2018 and hasn't done a lot since (kind of like the Pies)

Sacrilege! Look at this and tell me it doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy in the nether regions 😂