DeeSpencer

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

I can see the benefits of trying Salem on ball again as we did to start last year. Sure would be nice to have Viney and Oliver handballing to Salem rather than more crash and bash types. It's the role Higgins plays beautifully for North just getting it fed to him by Cunnington. But particularly if we decide to move on from Lewis as a permanent fixture I think Salem has to inherit the leadership of the backline. Roos compared him to McVeigh last year and I want him in that role. Yeah to mix things up he could swap with the wingers to change match ups or get others in to the game but I wouldn't want a more consistent rotation if he's going to be the guy. Preuss' best chance involves only playing around 60% game time in a tight game I think. Pretty much covering Gawn, T Mc and Weid when they're on the bench and otherwise spending some solid time on the pine himself. Harmes, Fritsch and Oliver probably play a little forward and Vanders and Petracca have to cover some midfield minutes and you go in with one less mid/forward rotation player. I doubt we'll see it in round 1 because fitness and run is vital in round 1. Joel Smith - I thought he was building nicely as a backman even with the disposal/decision making faults. It seems for now anyway they've scrapped that idea. Maybe the Hawks influence that there's just no point having bad kicks in your backline, they cost you too much. Maybe a couple more years training as a forward and he could still end up down back to replace guys like Hibberd and Jetta in time. No one knows what he can do as a forward, but he might get an early chance due to his fitness. Athletic defenders as pressure words are popular across the comp, the Tigers do it very well with Castagna. Very different player but if Melksham isn't right I could see them using Smith as the extra height even as a pressure player and maybe freeing Spargo up to give a bit of skill. Keen to see if Spargo escapes the 2nd year blues.

You go 110% just like a game. It's better to do this than to play intraclubs that do actually raise the question of how hard to go and don't really test your structures because everyone knows what their opponents are meant to do. We've only go the two practice games on the 3rd and 9th and the quick back up there probably means you don't play your best 22 in both for full games. A preliminary hit out against the Pies lets you have a better look at the guys who are 23-32 on the list as well to try and see who surprises.

Looks like only 2 or 3 in the first half and 1 in the second half were on May. I'm more interested in seeing a fitter more motivated and in a better side version of May than any personal revenge. That said, Jack does a pretty good job disguising the high opinion he holds of himself but every now and then he lets it slip.

To be honest the game was so boring I was barely watching and couldn't work out exactly what the Rams were or weren't doing, but they did well enough on defense to win it. Did the Pats stack Edelman in a bunch so he couldn't be pressured? They did that against KC. It was clear to me what the Pats were doing. Lining 6 defenders on the D Line and saying to the Rams you can't run outside zone runs and good luck running play action because we'll just bring the 6 defenders no matter what. So you better have it blocked perfectly and be super fast to get it out or we'll pressure Goff. As Warren Sharp documents in that thread the logical change was to bring in a second tight end so you've got 7 blockers if need be. I know the Rams don't have great tight ends, which is a lesson for teams around the league - invest in valuable players in the positions that have versatility like tight end = a more versatile offense. But either way the Rams had to get that 7th blocker in and force the Pats to change from just lining up 6 defenders on the line and getting pressure on Goff. Goff certainly choked, the delayed throw to Cooks cost a touchdown and the lead. And yeah I think McVay wasn't as confident in Goff from the Chicago game on. He had to find some plays that gave him and Goff confidence. A series of short completions or a designed run or something. Maybe it was the play to Cooks that would've been the one that got them going.

The good news: only 2 demons picked The bad news: 2 very important ones! Maybe our most important defender and our most important forward.

This is the biggest one I think. Forwards will have to be trained not to take rushed shots on goal. If you get the ball forward somewhat quickly then snap a behind you're going to get ripped apart on the counter. Similarly no bombed entries to the goal line, any long kicks in have to land outside the goal square so you've at least got a margin to work with. Kick out zones will have to be pulled back at least 5-10m. If Hunt gets back in form he could be a weapon. 11m goal square + 20m run (you usually get 5 extra) plus 60m kick. That's getting the ball close to the 50m arc on some grounds if he goes right down the middle. Similarly the rest of the defenders now have a chance to either go long or to hit up holes a spread out zone. We might send Gawn deep for a bomb as a decoy but have Salem hit up a short accurate kick up the middle 40m from goal who can then attack both sides of the ground. Fritsch, KK and Vanders on the wings now become vital defensive and attacking players I think. If the ball goes up and down quickly then position play becomes important and the wingers will be the guys getting the bombed kick out to their direction. I'm glad we've got 188cm+ wingmen with strength overhead. Same with big mids. The only concern is we might need some even bigger ones to deal with the 195cm mids a few teams have!

Follow this tweet and it’s thread for a brutal breakdown of the Rams Offense and their failure to adapt to beat Belichick. Note to all NFL coaches. Coach your players to play multiple styles. Without them you have no chance if you come up against a coach who can.

In 1 more season and despite being nearly 2 years older Kruezer has managed 1 more AFL game. 173 v 172. He averages 12 disposals and 20 hitouts. So he's not winning in the air or on the ground. Yeah he's better because he's more likely to compete and do his job, but really there's more similarities than differences. 24 career brownlow votes to 15 show that neither have really done anything. Kreuzer's 2017 was the one year he put it together and had a good season. Watts' 2016 was the one year he did as well. If you were drafting them again you'd stay well clear of both but I'd almost take Watts because in 2016 he showed what he could do. Give me a guy who can kick 38 goals and set up plenty more with accurate inside 50 kicking, with the right culture and development (at the age that it matters) you'd probably have a player that's hard to find. The list of ruckmen who have made the AA team (yet alone the squad) is plentiful and not overly impressive. Guys like Minson and Jamar who were mostly serviceable managed to have standout years at some stage of their careers.

Yeah I miss Burgo’s camp diaries, they were a highlight off the offseason. Interestingly Pert was behind the Pies ramping up their media department. I thought he’d be quick to do the same here, but it might show how the focus is still on investing cash elsewhere. Maybe we need to consult with Tommy Bugg on how to up our influence!

Pats 30 - Rams 27 MVP Trey Flowers

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.