Dr. Gonzo

Interesting you mention the Anzac day 1986 game - this game was actually a rare MCG "double header" with the Melb/Sydney 2pm game followed by the North/Geelong 5pm game. Both crowds were listed as 40,117 so you can assume about a 20k split for both games. I've been looking at some old 80s games recently and the crowds in that era were terrible for the competition as a whole. It wasn't solely due to the suburban grounds though that would have definitely played a part. Some games reached the 60-70k mark but even a lot of "big 4" games only hit about 40-50k (at either MCG or Waverley) which would have been considered a great crowd in those days. Many games got the standard 10k-25k which are dwarfed by today's crowds (look at round 1 with back to back high 80k crowds and ours almost 50k with an average of 43.5k across the round including a paltry 8k for the gws game. Compared to the corresponding round in 1986 which drew an average crowd of 27.4k across the 6 games 5 played in Melbourne and 1 Geelong all at 2pm).

10% seems slightly high for a Melb/Syd crowd - surely most F1 followers are Richmond, Collingwood or Footscray supporters 🤣

I agree with this other than your comment we're not winning the flag if we don't win Sunday. I think we still can and not just because Gawn and Pickett are out but it is a long season and I'd rather we hit our straps in Aug/Sept than round 3. Swans are the bogiest of all bogey sides for us! I still remember losing to them in 92 or 93 after they'd lost 26 on the trot, and losing to them at the G with Dermie leading the way in 94. They've had our measure for too long, I would love to see a win on Sunday but I don't think it will happen. They are a smart team and a smartly coached team, they love crowding and harassing us then getting us on the rebound. I would be more confident playing them at the SCG rather than the MCG, I have a feeling their small mid/forwards like Papley, Gulden and Mills will get us but if we bring the heat we have more than enough firepower in the middle to do the job. I still think we can win the flag this year regardless of Sunday's result though.

Death, taxes and losing to the Swans Prove me wrong Demons 🤞

AFL "journalism" is a cesspool of drama queens and ne'er do wells. Best to avoid it and just watch the games, makes the experience of the footy so much better. Some analysis shows like On the Couch, First Crack and Demonland podcast () are notable exceptions.

Yep and Petracca was caught jaywalking! Will we be able to field a team this week??

If Tomlinson has been playing well in defense and we have to fit May in while our forward line has struggled for connection and to take a contested mark why would they not trial Petty up forward? It just seems obstinate to not consider it. Move Grundy to the Gawn role, TMac to the Grundy role and Petty to the TMac role. In May Jordon Hibberd Out Gawn Harmes Melksham

Or move Petty forward and drop TMac? Just a thought hey

No rising stars but we have actual stars

Who goes to the Grand Prix? Couldn't think of anything worse 😴

Nothing is confirmed yet

Dogs won the flag after Murphy went down, Tigers won the flag after Rance went down. I'm sure there's other examples, it would make it harder but not impossible. Anyway, I'm assuming he misses half the season at absolute worst, didn't really look like an ACL but until scans confirm otherwise I'll assume it's a 6-8 week injury.

I don't care about the result I just want Max to be ok. I seriously don't think we could've played worse, nothing went right, we just bombed away, players were fumbling and second to the footy, giving away stupid free kicks. And for all that Brisbane didn't really put us away, even before the power failure. We won't play that bad again but we need Maxy he is so integral to our structure and heart.

It's a mulligan. Gawn going down in the opening minutes clearly rattled the team. When you're running on top of the ground everything goes your way. When you hesitate a fraction you look fumbly, slow and second-rate. This team will bounce back just hoping Max isn't sidelined for too long.

I mean it's usually bad but this is next level

That's what happens when you play from behind

Forwards also not playing in front though.

Poor Maxy 😭😭😭 The team look so flat since he went off just not running, not getting our hands on the footy. They just want to go home I reckon. Still, it's only 20 points if our mids pull their fingers out and get hands on the ball we could pinch it but looking extremely unlikely.

Anzac Eve because it's the first one I'll get to this year. Kings Birthday because we owe those [censored] after last year. The one where we sew up the minor premiership, hopefully round 23 against the Hawks, that would be sweet.

He did love swimming 🏊‍♂️

He also wouldn't have been rushed in and marketed as the saviour while still finishing VCE. He would've been brought through Casey and given the proper preparation before throwing him to the wolves. I think all that contributed to his attitude.

As long as we win in September I don't care. How sweet would it would be to be able to have 7-1 bragging rights after beating them in a GF? I can dream right 😈

That was Queen's Bday 2016 I think? We beat them again later that season and then beat them Queen's Bday 2017. We also beat them at the Gabba in 2020 but yes, we definitely owe them a few.

Kozzie has gone to Rich in the past to shutdown his play on from a behind to get the ball to centre wing. Without Kozzie I wonder how we approach this tonight, probably Chandler playing that role?