Curry & Beer

I would say a win or loss in the NAB is the small picture and meeting the needs of the endangered supporter base is the big one

Couldn't agree more. I would not expect this of C.Schwab, a rare misfire. We of all clubs need to be gathering as much enthusiasm amongst the supporter base as possible, what's the club do? Get your jumper signed by Tom Scully, but only if your Dad can ditch work for the afternoon. Pft! Keyser will of course ignore both our posts in lieu of a valid response

actually I can go, although it will be a PITA many, many others can't or won't though

You're right, 6.5 days is simply not enough time for a professional athlete to recover for a practice match and the outcome of the match is so very important

yes your personal opinion is always 'the answer' isn't it? has it occurred to you that some people might be of the opinion that one day of extra prep - in fact 3 quarters of a day if you compare 6pm to say midday the next day - for a NAB CUP match is not exactly a hugely important consideration compared to having a proper supporters day, generating both financial revenue and morale amongst the supporter base? Attendance would be triple on a Saturday, poor decision from the club IMO.

not to mention his body completely letting him down was supposed to be an elite player right about now having said that, his colleague Mr.Sylvia is nearly just that let's hope the next batch of 'sure things' turn out like CS and not BM

Yeah I love Casey too, the ground and facilities always look a million bucks, you are surrounded by demons only, and it retains that intimate suburban feel where you just stand there with a can haveing a look, its a great atmosphere. Why on Earth the club would decide to NOT provide this again this year is beyond me, they would have made a bit of coin last year on those matches too The only thing I can think of is that they don't want to interrupt their regular regime by having a session on Sat instead of Fri.. but that's not a good enough reason for mine

I find it very annoying that they are having it on a Friday. If you are retired, unemployed or someone who has felxibility with their hours then it is fine, but the vast majority of us just have to miss out. Why not Saturday?

Gawn with the wind

wouldn't be upset to see Flash but if i was betting i'd be backing Green I reckon (as weve all discussed ad nauseum) the club would be thinking the best long-term plan is to give it to someone who will only have it for a couple, so one of the many younger candidates can take it for a long stint That's the factor that demands it is Green IMHO

as I mentioned many posts ago, 600,000+ members, something like 7 million through the gates each year, TV rights deals that rival the GNP of some countries, players make several million a year, there must be literally half a million kids playing it every weekend.. fair dinkum it is an incredibly dominant sport no two ways about it, why do people act like we are in some sort of struggle for survival when it's obviously not the case? what is the AFL's annual profit and how greedy can you get? They've already taken out 90% of the contact, against the wishes of the vast majority, to appease all the mothers who are worried about their little boys playing the game, they've created a ridiculously unfair fixture based purely on how much money it can make them.. symptomatic of our capitilist, greed-based society where somebody making as much money as possible trumps every other consideration STOP STUFFING WITH THE GAME IT IS FINE /rant

Green

and damn near won them both

614,251 that's how many people were members of an AFL club last year double it for the amount that are generally interested/attend games occasionally not exactly struggling for support

agreed, 2.25 is exactly what I would have suggested was a reasonable number

awful, awful idea to think we could have ended up with this clueless [censored] instead of Bails, it may have been the end of the club phew

Yeah but reading threads and posting something is the one and only purpose of the site You don't come here to download mp3s

yep any wins against the top 6 on my list will be pure gold

I had a dream I went back to the off-season and had to read shizen threads

Here's the awful, awful truth: North: lost last 8 times Geelong: lost last 6, then a draw Hawks: lost last 6 Saints: lost last 5 Dogs: lost the last 4 Collingwood: draw, lost 5 in a row before that Adelaide: lost 9 of the last 12 Port: lost 5 of the last 7 Sydney: lost 5 of the last 6 WCE: lost 6 of the last 8 Carlton: lost last 3 Essendon: lost 3 of the last 4 Freo: lost 6 of the last 8 Brisbane: won 3 of the last 4 Richmond: won 3 of the last 4 record last 4 years: 20 wins 1 draw 67 losses

They've beaten us the last 8 times on the trot

yes sylv I agree totally. The Saints were what about 2.5 goals away from back to back flags. Now people would be saying 'look at St.Kildas perfect development model!' and they are up for a few more. The Hawks had a nice little hand from the draft and even Collingwood did. The Dogs did too. It's about having good players from lower selections too and we have McKenzie, Garland, Jurrah, Petterd , Bennell and heaps of others. We have 5 players who were taken in the top4 of the draft and I reckon they will all end up guns

You obviously mean flag hopes (beyond this year). This is the point we discussed in some other thread on whether winning is more important than developing players for future years. I would absolutely pick Campbell over Spencer on a Thursday night provided Campbell is 100% fit and at least in some sort of form. It is just too important to have a tangible impact on the competition/ladder this year for several reasons. Spence can continue to develop at Casey and come in if either of the big boys are hurt, which will likely be a handful of games.

yes, thanks for the explanation, of course you make a fine point. You've acknowledged though that you always (at least to some extent) rob Peter to pay Paul. In your example if they stop playing zones and running off but play tight on their men then they lose a heap of that brilliant, fast entry into the 50 for their forwards to hurt us with, and so if Watts' job has become harder then Frawley's has become easier. Same goes for a midfielder that last year would do as he pleased but this year he has to lockdown Scully. Scully will probably play worse but there won't be a bloke in the opposition touches list with 30 easy possies. I know what you mean though, it will be factor, I just think it is a factor that is a bit overrated. BTW I certainly don't think we'll play prelims. About 7th is my guess.

I don't understand this line (it is trotted out with regard to our midfield also) .. the idea that any sides last year were taking it easy against is preposterous, every player tries his nuts off when he steps out onto an AFL field, and every coaching panel does their homework and understands that nearly every match is a two horse race. They would also rather smash a weaker side by as much as possible. You think any defender last year wanted to get beaten by a young Jack Watts?