Dr. Gonzo

We also kick it to the hotspot 20m out when we have loose players around 40-45m out. Does my head in. I think Weid will be fine. Might not be number 1 forward but a number 2? I think he needs a bit more strength through the hips and shoulders so he doesn't get pushed off the contest so easily. But that should come with maturity. Had he nailed the sitters today (something that is psychological and also afflicts Petracca) he would've kicked 3 goals and we'd be saying that it was a good day out for him.

1st half was deplorable. 2nd half was fine.

I agree they do have a better list than given credit for. But they will not win a flag with this list you can take that to the bank. Carlton are two decades into 5 decades of misery. Well that's my hope anyway.

Haha love it! We need a thread dedicated to these non-sequiters

38k Blues 17k Demons

They beat freo last week with those players out. I guess that's something.

If Weideman, Petracca and TMac convert their simple set shots we are up by 10 goals at 3/4 time. And that's without even taking into account all the other rubbish we see every week (terrible forward 50 entries, terrible forward play etc)

Thank god we don't support a team that dines out on past glories hey?

Was off the ground for a large stint of the last quarter with only one on the bench.

Because we are members and supporters and therefore the most important stakeholders in the club.

Is it the reason we have performed so poorly though? A preseason may excuse not finishing top 4 but does it account for finishing bottom 4? I think it's a factor but there are other factors as well which, if not addressed, will impact our chances at success in the future. As they say the proof of the pudding will be in the eating and that will be our 2020 season. The main thing now, of course, is for the club and FD to focus on making sure our list is cherry ripe for day 1 of preseason in a few months. Don't play players in nothing games and send them off for surgery again in September because this excuse won't wash in 12 months time.

I still haven't got this, obviously not on the list this year or they didn't like the feedback I've given previously

I would generally agree, but with no Cripps, McKay or Charlie Curnow we really should wipe the floor with this mob, despite our current malaise. Momentum and confidence are funny things in sport though.

I haven't received this yet. In the past the 5 words I've used have been along the lines of history, soft, irrelevant, pushovers, homeless, unprofessional etc

The mandatory use of a first round pick is only as mandatory as the AFL feels it needs to be. The club can put a submission to the AFL for them to consider and if they feel it's ok they'll approve it. Haven't they already done this for Geelong and Hawthorn (or been somewhat slippery with the interpretation of the rule)?

The answer would be because he doesn't do it in the seniors - but then again we've named 2x Wagner so can't really run that argument

Regardless of everything else, from where we were coming from 5 and 10 years ago this is a fantastic result from everyone at the club over multiple administrations.

We might have won a couple of extra games but I don't think things would be markedly different. I still think we would've lost to Port, Geelong, Essendon, Richmond, St. Kilda, GWS, Collingwood & Brisbane. We may have pinched one or two of those but it's still a far cry from what many here were expecting and what the club had set itself up for. Most of those games were lost due to our gameplan being exposed by the opposition first and foremost.

On "On The Couch" they said we had 2 tackles for the 3rd quarter. TWO TACKLES FOR AN ENTIRE QUARTER!!!

I think that's what the coaches were banking on too. Had we won the game in Darwin and won another couple against any two of Port, Bombers, Saints or Lions we would have set ourselves up for a strong run home into September. Unfortunately we didn't bank some of those early games we might've expected to and now the season is done.

The problems with the game plan were evident last year vs Hawthorn, Richmond, Collingwood, Port, St. Kilda and Sydney during H&A. Some would even argue the 2x Cats games. Teams lose games, not saying that losing in itself is cause for alarm. But the way we lost those games (and the Prelim) showed we experienced the same problems last year that have been evident more frequently this year (or more teams seem to have worked us out). Combine this with our structure being messed with due to 6-6-6 (no longer able to run 2 off the back of the square) and the loss of Hogan up forward and there is legitimate cause for concern from the supporters. I'm not saying woe is me, we're doomed but I'm not sitting here supremely confident things will be different next year. Of course if TMac gets back to his best, Weid comes on like we hope, May and Lever can actually stay on the park and our mids start playing with greater composure and actually hit up leading targets I think we'll be pushing for top 4. That's the optimistic view.

Yep, against Port and the Swans last year we lost in exactly the same fashion as pretty much all our games this year. More F50 entries and terrible conversion. Hawks, Pies and Tigers dismantled us last year but the games against the Swans and Port were more concerning because they were the ones we should have one but didn't finish off the work upfield.

For this reason I've been keeping my powder dry this year. I thought we'd have a down year but didn't think it would be this down. If we can get to 9 or 10 wins I think we'll have done ok but the main thing is the FD need to ensure our squad (and best 22 in particular) is ready to go day 1 of preseason. No excuses, if anyone needs surgery, send them off now don't wait til August/September. If Viney or Tmac goes for post season surgery (or even Gawn following his ankle roll on Sunday) and we find out theyve been grinding it out in a nothing season not only will I be [censored] off but the coaches will not be able to throw that excuse out again in 2020.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. They may have been inefficient scoring wise but we were inefficient I50 conversion wise. We had enough opportunities to win. Eg TMacs dropped chest mark doesn't count on the scoreboard but was definitely a scoring opportunity gone begging. I think the I50s were 63-59 their way.

I hate this "no surprise we lost saying". Not necessarily having a go at you, just that you've given me the opportunity to vent on this. This was not a game that I am furious we lost because we were clearly the better team etc. But it is a game we had the OPPORTUNITY to win. Regardless of personnel, we had enough chances to kick a score but due to our poor decision making, lack of composure, skill errors etc we stuffed it. Similar to the Crows game. We had the chance to win and didn't. You can look at ave age, ave games played, players from best 22 out injured etc but once the siren blows it's 22 v 22 and you have to play and judge the game on its merits. We were in it up to our ears but missed some key chances in the 3rd quarter to keep pace or put a gap between us and the Lions and we didn't. It's not like those errors were solely made by the guys replacing our best 22 "outs". Tmac, Petracca, Brayshaw, Barnes, Weideman all made errors at crucial times in the 3rd quarter (in particular). So yeah we may have had players out due to injury. But to say it's no surprise we lost does my head in because we should be in every game we play, it was a 50/50 game in my eyes regardless of personnel.