DeeSpencer

Not sure about those numbers Macca. https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-wild-card-round-ratings-12-percent-over-230609914--nfl.html https://deadline.com/2019/01/nfl-playoffs-ratings-viewership-skyrockets-for-espn- Looks more like 20-30 mil for the wild card games, and 44/50+ for the championship games.

To be in year 3 and not have any recognisable quality defenders is a concern. The side started out with good mids and they found some very handy forwards last year in Hore and Cunningham. Even with Daisy out for the year and losing Rocky they still have mid/forward talent. But you don't win premierships without strong defenders and this side is struggling. Feel for Shae Sloane as well. Looked to be a bit of a player and her injury had a lot of ACL about it.

Wow that was disappointing. A lot of the same errors that have hurt this side continue and they drop a very winnable round 1 game. Started like a house on fire and then as soon as they lost a couple from the midfield the backline was all at sea. Conceding the goals at the end of the first quarter really cost them the match. Fixed it up in the 3rd quarter by putting Scott to CHF - her natural position. And Smith to half back - her natural spot. Reminiscent of all the games they played Mel Hickey on ball when she's a gun at CHB. The forward line looked dangerous and with some better movement for each other Cunningham, Zanker, Scott, Hore, Newman, Gay should be able to kick a score against most sides. Midfield clearly misses Daisy but there's still enough talent there. Hanks looked a nice pick up. Still not impressed by O'Dea and Paxman's defensive efforts for big name players. Backline was a shambles. Cordner offers some resistance but she struggled in the wind. A lot of the other defenders may as well not have been playing. Absolute witches hats. Couldn't read the win, couldn't read the play, didn't attack the ball or the opponent. The mids started the last quarter well but the forwards couldn't quite finish it off in to the breeze and then the inevitable happened as the quarter dragged on.

Sugar and menthol. The lack of swimming should’ve been a give away

You can watch and see for yourself. It's hard to imagine anything more vain and meaningless to contribute to society. No idea why you'd want to help people like this make money, yet alone date one of them.

I hope some rich idiots buy in to the business and make him a stack of cash and then the whole thing goes broke. Instagram models selling trash and a fake lifestyle to mostly a younger audience. Rubbish stuff. The girl is all fake [censored] and filters. He could do better.

As there was for the Grand Prix and as there invariably is for just about anything these days. It's the genius of the Tigers Indigenous centre. The people of East Melbourne/Richmond/wherever can't complain that they were widening their footprint on Yarra Park's anglo saxon so called sacred ground if the traditional owners have approved it on what they consider their own actual sacred ground. Checkmate greenies.

The State Government usually seems ready to tip in money for AFL club training bases given the relationship they have with the AFL. It might not be all that prudent but the Grand Final is massive for the state and big blockbuster games and other finals in September certainly don't hurt. Our crowds for the Cats and Hawks finals would look good on any proposal about why we should be invested in. What we need to secure a nice grant is a story to tell to make it politically safer, particularly if it's in East Melbourne. The Tigers built an Indigenous centre. Essendon apparently have Paralympian training facilities. The Dogs just got granted a stack of cash and land and are redeveloping the Whitten Oval as an AFLW hub. Brisbane are also talking up the importance of a home for their AFLW side as part of their funding. That might be an angle for us to work in, but whatever it is we need to find community benefits.

High risk extreme sports - climbing Mt Everest, heliskiing, base jumping, cave diving. It's pretty clear to me that AFL players should avoid that stuff for their entire careers and I'd be putting in a contract. Break a bunch of bones doing something that risky and we aren't paying you for it. Moderate risk sports - well you can probably do them in your holiday period and early in preseason. That's stuff like jumping off a cliff at a tourist spot, going to surf a big break, getting the dirt bike out. If the risks aren't too bad and you're careful then I'd allow it. Lower risk stuff like a casual surf should be encouraged all year round with the understanding that players factor in the activity level as part of their rehab/conditioning. The difficulty with the Wines scenario is 8 weeks out from the season is right in the zone where before hand it's probably not a big deal but any closer and it's right in season mode where you can't afford injuries or distractions. Apart from the byes this is the last weekend where the players got a break before the end of their season so it makes sense for them to enjoy themselves a bit. Then from an activity point of view waterskiing for him isn't what it is for other people, he's experienced enough it's probably no different than an experienced surfer (like Nath Jones) catching some decent waves. But if the video of him that's surfaced from a few years ago is accurate then it's not like he was just cruising along. The combination of slightly riskier than standard activity with a time that's closer to the season isn't a good combination.

He's not a bad pick for a smokie selection to come in and give us something fresh. He was building nicely in the VFL and it was probably only concerns he didn't have the tank to run out games that stopped him getting a debut. Unfortunately instead of building his fitness and getting a chance he tore his hammy a couple of times and has been in the rehab group ever since. Not easy to compare players from different positions but I'm not against the idea that we need at least one of either Hunt, Garlett or Baker to give us some genuine line breaking pace. It's really hard to score against good teams and 12 goals wins most finals. Having a player who can create something is important.

Mitchell 180cm Spargo 172cm That's a fairly large difference. He could rotate on ball, but he's always going to giving away 5-10kg when it comes to crashing and bashing as well as substantial reach.

Just a note that 2036 is not overly impressed that this thread will be automatically locked in 2035, but what can you do? Mitch Hannan vs Jay Kennedy-Harris Corey Wagner vs Austin Bradtke James Jordon vs Kade Chandler Toby Bedford vs Aaron Nietschke Charlie Spargo vs Declan Keilty Jordon and Coach Chandler are my two favourites of the youngsters. That was surprisingly difficult.

I think it's because the Coach sets the direction and the players then go out and act on it. If a team - such as Sydney under Roos - are so well drilled, organised and disciplined then why elevate one player above the rest? To butcher an Army based metaphor if the Coach is the Field Marshall with the right plan then multiple Captains can lead the men. Some players stand out - like Luke Hodge - as the individual General capable of leading all the players but it's not like they are controlling games by themselves. On field leadership requires multiple players all giving the same direction and ideally at least one from each area of the ground - forward/mid/back. If the easiest way to disseminate the coaches message (on and off field) and drive the culture is with multiple players then I'm fine with that. From a practical point of view it also spreads the burden of media commitments, sponsors/members duties, pressures of team vs individual performances and so on.

Yeah he played back for South Australia in the national champs but I don't think they'll use him there early days. His kicking and decision making could be trouble down back. He should get his chance at Casey to play a fair amount of midfield.

So you're assuming Sparrow doesn't come in and just star and make us better which is probably fair, if that's not the case then it's a matter of where he can play and how he gets a game. Depending on his tank and ability he could play a role in 3 positions. 4 inside mids: Oliver, Viney, Gus, Harmes 3 outside mids: Fritsch, KK, Vanders 3 half forward flankers: Melksham/Petracca, ANB, Spargo Depth: Jones, Maynard, JKH, C. Wagner, Stretch, Baker There's some other forward options in J. Smith, Hannan and Garlett, plus the option of going tall, but by and large I think the 6 I've named are the primary depth options to cover 10 spots in the team. If Sparrow is the 7th best depth option then we might be in trouble turning to him, but if we have a couple of injuries to similar guys and they want a bit of pace and crash and bash then he can come in without the side being massively weaker. From what I've seen of him his best chance of playing is probably in a forward/on ball rotation where he can be a bit of depth and energy. If maybe Harmes and Vanders were out and they wanted to rotate Petracca on ball a bit without taking him from the forward line too much then Sparrow could be handy in a similar forward/mid role. It's a long season, if he plays well in the VFL he'll get his chance at some stage. Yeah it means the team isn't full strength but no team is for the full year.

I think a lot of the issues last year were on repeat entries where you really struggle to score. We pushed up high to keep the ball forward as well when dropping deeper and then switching the point of attack would've been better. Either way, teams are just too good defensively once they've packed the backline. Getting it in quickly is still the best way to score. I had a Hawthorn mate tell me how much the Hawks hated their bombing in to the forward line last year. Even the best side in the comp in Richmond could carve teams up on the counter usually in second halves but struggle on straight forward entries. Personally I think they'll hope May, Hibberd, Salem and maybe Hore or some Hunt run will provide the defensive rebounds. KK and Fritsch should be the class kickers who start on the wings and whether they are folding back and hitting up the corridor (as both did today) or pushing forward and kicking inside 50 (as Fritsch did today) will depend on where they get the ball. There was a bit more space than a full game today but all of the defenders I mentioned had some nice kicks from half back. As did Oscar.

I've only seen him train with the midfield and get the ball across half back in open space as wingers often do. I don't think he's part of the back 6 plans.

Turned up at 10:20 so might've missed a bit but they were in to some decent match practice between two teams. Maybe 12 or so per side. (Keilty the latest in rehab doing a fair bit with Baker, Lever and Viney laps). Ball use across the backline and creating angles to work the ball in to the middle of the ground was slick. From there it was really going quick and aggressively in to the forward line which meant some errors but also some nice pieces of play. Standouts: T Mc - got on the end of a couple and marked well May - a couple of nice intercept marks Fritsch - finding a stack of ball on a wing with some sharp ball use Vanders - not always the best with the ball but high work rate, was constantly in play The draftees all showed a bit as well. Hore was composed across half back. Bedford stuck a tackle on Gawn and bought him down. Jordon linked up nicely received a handball and kicked perfectly to a fat side lead. Chandler was busy and has sure hands overhead. Corey Wagner another who gets involved quite a bit. Part of the forward group and working hard up and back. Lewis did a few nice things, took a strong mark and looked very sharp but then got the ball under pressure and did this thing twice where he holds the ball low over his boot and quickly squirts out a shanked kick that just puts team mates under more pressure. Concerning. They moved in to small 2/3rd ground match practice with 4 different teams rotating. Again, ball use, overlap, quick movement. After that they split talls and smalls, with the smalls working on quick hands and pressure. A bit of 3 on 3 kind of stuff. In two different groups they did some running, not flat out but up and back over about 40m at a good pace for a period of time. Jordon/Neita/Chandler/Bedford did some one on one tackle/evade drills, the two smalls look strong tacklers as you'd expect. Some of the main guys did an exercise that involved fast steps then receiving a ball whilst rolling to ground on either side of the cones, bouncing up for an attempted hanger, then a bump/tackle, out to get a high ball then on to a lead. It looked pretty brutal stuff but also like a really good drill to simulate in game movements and 2nd/3rd/4th efforts. It's the kind of stuff I like seeing because it's smart training rather than just flogging them laps. By that time it was well in to the 30's and I'd seen enough.

Tweets will embed in to posts if you copy and paste the link, far cleaner than a screenshot

The Pats almost always defer to the other team in order to start the 2nd half. So I think they were doing what the Pats didn't want. Clearly they hadn't factored in letting the Pats run all over them for an easy score. Poor Big Red, today I'm thinking he's the best bad coach in the league for his handling of the last 3 minutes. You just can't give Brady the ball back with 2 minutes and 3 time outs. It's suicide. They had to find a way to kill clock and score with under a minute left. And no time out in overtime to at least give your D a brief rest and try to come up with a goal line stand? Masterful play caller and great culture guy but in an ideal world he's the offensive coordinator to a great head coach. That ideal world is New England I guess.

It's a valid concern but the break down is: Gus - was healthy to start and is back in the main group Oliver - has been running pretty much all summer Harmes - as above plus back in the main group Viney - doing more than last year Vanders - doing more than last year Petracca - apparently fitter than ever Fritsch and KK both doing well as wing options Jones - not missing sessions just backed off Stretch/Baker - both progressing Maynard - a depth option Sparrow - potentially an option To start last season we had Tyson out of the side, Brayshaw out of the side, Viney and Vanders injured and Harmes playing wing/forward. The midfield had huge changes between round 1 and finals. Oliver is the only who's really behind where they entered last year and there's time for him to catch up. Otherwise we just have to make sure we use the long year to our advantage by resting and rotating guys and building them up through the season.

The face mask call was easy to miss and really it's the kind of call that the game is better to miss. QB's don't deserve extra protection when out running and copping incidental contact that is no risk of injury and doesn't impede them. If you can't even see it from the behind angle and he isn't hampered at all then it's probably not a big deal. The later non call is far worse because it was at least 2 penalties! Helmet to helmet as well as the interference. Plus it would've ended the game and that means the ref was probably afraid to make the call. Anyway, should be review-able as it would be an easy call.

Pats 35 Chiefs 30 Rams 20 Saints 30

Not sure about a lot of that. The Pies don't have 2 key forwards and a resting ruck. De Goey is a very undersized full forward, a throw back to when full forwards were a thing. Mihocek is a hard working competitor who's just key position sized. Cox is really a forward in a ruckmans body. He leaps at the ball and can lead like a forward. The 3 options work well together - a super tall, a medium and a small marking option. Plus Stephenson as a zippy leading player. The Eagles forward line works for a lot of reasons, a large part of which is that they left Vardy and Lycett on the bench for a lot of the grand final! That puts a toll on their mids and flankers to cover rotations but they can do that because they have a lot of experienced players. We're slowly getting older but we'd be mad to waste rotations when our midfield was mainly kids. The other big reason it works is because Josh Kennedy is a tackling/pressure machine as is Darling who is very mobile and short for a 2nd key forward. They also have great pressure medium/small players. The gains of covering Max with a proper ruck for 20-25% of the game (or 5-7 minutes in the middle of each quarter) have to weighed against the losses in our forward line. I don't think a forward line with 2 genuine tall marking options in T Mc and Weid as well as a number of medium sized players - Melksham, Petracca and Hannan/Vanders/Harmes/Oliver/Fritsch is going to work with a 200cm+ lump in the way. The final thing to consider is that Weid in the ruck seemed to rejuvenate him as a player. He might not win a lot of taps but he follows up and tackles well, links up in general play somewhat like a midfielder and gets involved in the game.

To play round 1 I think he has to play in the 2nd preseason game at Casey on Sat 9 March. I wouldn't be picking a guy on a long lay off without a proper practice match. In order to play in that game he probably has to in the main training group for at least 3 weeks if not a month. At this stage he just doing laps with the occasional bit of ball work. When guys are getting closer to going back to the main group they start doing more sprints, skills and dynamic movements. If Lever isn't doing that in the next 2-3 weeks he's starting to look unlikely for round 1.