DeeSpencer

Anyway, fantastic performance by the girls today. Loved the way they played the wind again with smart defensive footy against it and then attacking footy with it. Pearce led the mids really well and they were great around the contest against a strong Brisbane side. Used the ball by hand and foot in the right balance. Forwards did the job. Newman a weapon in space and crumbing. Hanks an absolute beauty, sets up so much with her clean hands, a natural. Hore was quite. Zanker stuffed up 1 goal terribly and another where she should've snapped but went a drop punt but he she keeps competing. Backs were dominant. Guest has made a difference after missing round 1. Downie is probably still building in to her game. So is Lampard. Edmonson a few iffy decisions but a lot of good. Cordner was probably best on ground. She monstered big Sabrina. Never let her get in to the game at all. Fantastic performance. BOG for mine.

The conference system wasn't a terrible way of deciding who plays who. They needed a way to do 7 rounds in to 10 teams. What they should do now is simply realise the error of their ways and just announce the top 4 will make the finals regardless of conference. Every team will have played 7 games, the who plays who stuff is always overvalued, you either win games and make finals or you don't.

7 round season. A team in Con A will play the other 4 teams in Con A and 3 of the 5 teams in Conference B A team in Con B will play the other 4 teams in Con B and 3 of the 5 teams in Con A Then winner of Con A plays runner up Con B in the semi finals, and vice versa with winner Con B and runner up Con A.

Doubt it's diet, I'm not sure there's anything new happening there after the wave of paleo that's become more common lately. Same goes for supplements, teams are surely pretty restricted there since the Essendon business. They've had a heap of hammies, my complete guess is they're doing more weights and training for power with sprints instead of longer running. But they aren't getting bulky, it's very lean and powerful.That's what they look like to me.

Yeah a heap of injuries but if you look at their players they are (to use a non technical term) jacked! Experinced players like Sidebottom suddenly look like this, which is also how Hawks and Tigers look recently.

Not sure that's entirely true but I don't have any inside mail. Wasn't Todd Viney moved in to a role that included overseeing the medical department at the start of last year when he moved away from list management? The AFL hired Misso's 2IC in Rob Jackson to oversee the umpires when they had an umpire fitness crises, the AFL are usually pretty clever at who they pick from club land. The foot injuries have been a struggle but not massively out of line from where the rest of the comp has been, hopefully we're improving that regard. If our players are healthy, strong, fit, running out games and not suffering from the more preventable injuries like soft tissues then I don't think you'd move a guy on for a slightly higher than average foot injury list. And if you did why not do it last year? Carlton poached Andrew Russell from the Hawks, if you wanted to make a change that would've been the one to make.

As for Jake his inside 50 kicks and aerial contests as a forward have been a revelation. Not bad for a midfielder we recruited as a defender. Not the ideal preseason but I wonder how much his ankle injury restricted him last year, still think he has a level more to go to with defensive work, crumbing and getting even more of the ball around the ground.

A sweet finish from Jake but the thing I love about that goal is Tommy flies and Melk and Hannan both put themselves in a great position to crumb, as does Spargo who outworks his opponent from the middle of the ground to get there as well. Smart team footy and a lovely piece of skill.

Seeing all the injuries around the league id actually be happy if this was kept to a bare minimum. Maybe 2 x 20 minute halves. Especially if the Pies ground is still rock hard. Teams that are super keen on match simulation just sound like coaches who can’t create drills that replicate in game scenarios.

Wasn’t a fan when he started. Players did lap after lap and had no power. Also the experienced doctors left in less than ideal circumstances and the current doctor was under qualified/inexperienced for the role. We had the flirtation with Dank as well, was that when Misson had arrived? Plenty has changed since though and you only have to look at the GC boys comments about Melbourne’s preseason to see standards have risen. So a credit to Misso and the club for getting things going in the right direction. Now we have an opportunity to improve things yet again. I’d be looking at Hawthorn, Coll and Richmond where players are very well defined and explosive athletes. Tigers have had a great run with injury and the Hawks are the masters of rejuvenating players.

1. I don't think Viney is ready to take it on solo just yet but I do think he'll be ready to do that in the next future, probably next year. 2. I don't think Jones really should keep it. Relieving the pressure of extra duties/responsibilities should prolong his career. 3.. I'm not sure Tommy Mc or Gawn should be elevated to co-captain if it's only going to be for a year. Pretty much if you put that all together it might be Jones and Viney again this year. Or it might be Gawn/T Mc and Viney. Or it might be Viney with Gawn and T Mc as vice captains. Also shouldn't be Tom McDonald if he's off to Jordan Peterson. That's a worry.

Plenty of draft camp times available. 2km time trial Dylan Moore 6:09 minutes Lochie O'Brien 6:12 Gryan Miers 6:13 Andrew Brayshaw 6:14 Trent Mynott 6:14 Aiden Domic 6:15 Angus Styles 6:17 Changkuoth Jiath 6:17 Nathan Murphy 6:21 Jaidyn Stephenson 6:21 Ethan Floyd 6:25 I'd imagine guys aren't improving too much on those times because a lot of the time they have to bulk up and work on their speed. Probably only a few at each club under 6 minutes and not many if any getting down towards 5:30

Yep this is what I came here to say. The logical compromise. Those invested in AFLW enough can go to the AFLW board. But we sure all either be interested or at least not threatened by seeing the game day threads. Would be a good way to get more people involved in the conversation. A strong vote for the game day thread to be on the main board please mods.

Pretty good indication on why I think intraclubs are a waste of time and why I like that we're playing against the Pies instead. Ball movement is usually hopeless, everyone knows where it's going so there's no test or creativity. New players with a point to prove often stand out. Ring ins (in our case mostly from Casey) play and get in the way or get beat up on. I remember Shannon Byrnes kicking a bag on a Casey kid that meant nothing for the season starting.

Just wear this bad boy. I love this jumper so much

1 co-principal partner out - iSelect. 1 co-principal partner in - Jaguar. They are the jumper sponsors and the big ones to get signed and hopefully on multi year deals. I think the AFL brand protection rules would only be for that level of sponsor. Toyota can't be cheaply undercut by Mazda buying Gold Coast's jumper sponsorship for $200,000 is surely the idea there. For the lower level of sponsors I doubt the rule would apply. There's almost no way Infiniti would've paid us 1M+ to not even be a jumper sponsor last year. In terms of Major Sponsors - which infinity was last year, they are the ones that get worn on the shorts and club polos and have match day activities. The website currently lists 8. Johnnie Walker, IG, China Southern, Haynes Paint, Chisholm, NT, New Balance, CSG. Plenty of time to add more at that level. We've had multi year deals with those companies.

I can see the appeal. We have a down year this year and you get the 'why did he get a 3 year extension', and then when the next deadline is closing in you get more speculation. Or we are very successful over this next contract and then we're looking at paying him megabucks. Locking him in to a regular staff contract might achieve more certainty for both parties. The concern is every year becomes a contract year if you get to the stage where there's no pay outs (assuming there's some protections over the early years for Goody). I've seen enough from Goodwin to think he's a very good coach who can adapt and grow with the job. Things will only go badly wrong if he's surrounded by the wrong people or the wrong players. That's not to say Goody alone can bring sustained success but if you abandon the idea of the messiah coach you can treat Goodwin as a vital foundation to build upon.

My guess: They had a look at what we could provide with the sponsorship last year and then fed that data to their boss company in Nissan who took a deal with the Hawks. It wouldn't have made sense for Nissan and Infiniti to sponsor competing clubs, and they don't see enough cars here to justify a large sponsorship either.

I didn't read the article, still haven't. I assumed he would've spun a few more numbers in, my mistake. I'd read an article on the how's and why's of David King becoming the PR guy for Champion Data. That would interest me.

I’m not sure why anyone would take notice of King’s ability to crunch stats when he can’t count to 3 drinks. Oliver had an amazing year last year but according to that graph Bont had an equal or better year at 20. the hope is Clarry has more improvement to come but you can’t know for certain. Judging players is far more useful when they’re 31 not 21.

Wilson Asset Management?

Far better performance from the mids taking away the Pies style of play (they love to keep it in tight and march it forward). Pearce and O'Dea were excellent but the midfield group in general got the pressure and effort right. Backline did very well although the Pies forwards aren't a big threat. Edmonson looks a player. Lampard took a step up. Liked Kemp at half back. Forward line still not perfect but really good pressure and created chances. Hanks is a little beauty. And more than anything it was a disciplined team effort keeping the ball to the dead side for 2 quarters in to the wind and then using the open side with the breeze. Footy doesn't have to be pretty and playing the percentages is often what's needed. The Pies couldn't get it to the fat side or get anything going when they had the wind, they couldn't stop our girls hitting the open space when we had the scoring end. If it wasn't for Brazill the margin would've been 4 goals more.

The only thing to come out of last years game was many fans (myself included) staggered that Tom McDonald played when he was managing a toe injury. Everyone else got through fine. The small field, minimal contact and quick game time is pretty safe. If fully healthy then May could play that instead of a heavy contact practice game. My view on Tommy Mc depends on how his toe is. If there's any underlying concern that a firm Marvel stadium wouldn't be good for it then he should pull out.

Smart call. He might even need some local Footy in between the tac and VFL as well. Not an easy pathway for a raw 18 year old

Both GC recruits getting soft tissues at around the same time. Just hope he comes good quickly and plays JLT2. the Indigenous team is the one AFLX team with some form of purpose so it’s disappointing he didn’t get to play. He’s more of a match fitness guy than a training guy so I didn’t mind him playing in that, less risk than the Pies scratch match anyway