Curry & Beer

he's probably wondering why everyone else is so knackered

poaching somebody's kid into following another club is punishable by death in some regional country towns

wouldn't have thought so since he has actually struggled a bit to eran spot in the 22 at times, is not particularly high profile. I think he is a gem but public perception is important. Macca wasn't high profile but he was AA, Bluey winner and auto-selected every week

not surprised on Jones, seems to have an excellent attitude about the whole thing

see your point, but I really don't know how we judge that for example I'm not sure the midfield is where Grimes will or should end up, we have so many genuine midfielders vying for the spots already and JG seems right at home at HBF, who's to say that moving him into the midfield is better for the long-term development of the side, why isn't it better to keep him on HBF honing his craft? besides, I don't know how any of us can sit back and comment on where Bailey positions players, we just can't know the details of the masterplan, and all the things that happen behind the scenes for the coaching staff to make decisions like that. Cale Morton is another, only those at the club can really comment with authority on what position (out of almost any) is best for the side in general, and in reality it is only through trying things we will ever know. Interesting.

It is terrible isn't it. Even Schwab commented on it at a particularly dreary members info night, i think it was before season 09 when he told us all how much poo we were in at the time

but what exactly are you worried about? I can only imagine that you mean older players (old enough to not be part of our premiership tilt) taking a spot in the 22 over a kid... but there aren't any players like that! Green is our oldest now and he's obviously not getting dropped!

Obviously the exact same comment can be made for games you expect to lose but sneak an upset

We are not the Essendon Football Club. We are not the Essendon Football Club. Firstly, they are one of the biggest clubs in the game, are financially sound and have historical and recent success that is respected. They do not need to be anywhere as concerned with those other factors as we do. Besides, what exactly did they do in 2009 that caused their development to go backwards in 2010, I would like someone to specify it for me since people keep saying it They went backwards because their coach was rubbish and their list simply not very good I don't know why you seem to think 'oh whatever happens at the EFC must repeat at the MFC' it's a nonsenical concept What in your mind are the potential mistakes we can make by trying to finish higher on the ladder, what are you actually saying, do you want us to drop Jamar so we can get some games into Max Gawn or something? Again, specify please.

What has Essendon got to do with it? Absolutely nothing, that's what

think you are pretty close, maybe a couple of your 50/50s are more like 67/33s against us but you have us down for 2 losses against the Hawks and i reckon based on our last encounter we are a good chance at one or both of those, also Freo at G is surely a 50/50 we should have done them over in WA last time we met. Fair enough for 2 losses against the pies but of course they were only one point better than us over 8 quarters last year. Our draw is brilliant and extremely cushy in the last 4 rounds heading into September, we could be scraping into the finals with a head full of steam

hey let's not get nasty

yep

well gee guess i'm on a different wavelength!

yes good call we can't be a top4 side until we start winning on the road, we are getting closer to securing the MCG as our house of pain as it was there for a bit around 04-06, but we need to win elsewhere. Etihad stadium is as bad a hoodoo as anywhere and let's not even mention the Cattery, I can't wait til we win one down there

why you little mentioned the media. Extend that to memberships/supporters (existing and potential), general attendances, sponsorship, fixture/broadcast rewards next year with more exposure etc and just keeping the momentum up, gaining some respect and relevance in the comp.. all these are benefits of winning more games/finishing higher on the ladder. I'm inclined to think it takes priority over the development type stuff you mention, but both sides are important and it's a close call. Hopefully it's not one or the other and we get all of it.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/106258/default.aspx

I don't buy it The other side of the coin (there is always one) is that it allows a younger kid (Grimes) to assume an official leadership role, hopefully fasttracking his development as a leader in the same way we have fasttracked them in their on-field positions

good post, totally agree. Davey is actually underrated, some of the things he does when he works in heavy traffic you almost think 'don't do that, it's impossible, you'll get caught' and he pulls it off in a way nobody else in the side can. I'm sure a lot of ppl have been in his ear about giving away 50s etc saw a replay of Watts (freo game I think) when he sharked a looose ball with one hand, over his head, in heavy traffic, basketball style. Unfortunately he then got caught in 2 minds and ended up dropping the footy!

well clearly we disagree about what the relationship between overall general improvement and actual scoreboard/ladder results. Personally i feel that there is an indisputable correlation. How is it possible to see a collective improvement but not be getting extra wins on the board, especially if you accept there were several games where we just needed a tiny bit more of something, to win. I still can't believe you disagree with my general premise - that 8.5 wins/12th spot does not do our season justice - i would have thought that's how everyone felt, i mean the simple fact we played the premiers twice and ended up a point down surely indicates that. We showed we can match it with just about everyone and were often just let down by a quarter or so of a match where we were overwhelmed. Had we won those Freo and Hawk matches (which, again, i can't bel;ieve anyone would disagree that we should/could have) it would have been six wins straight and we would have played finals. Even in R22 we could have easily have beaten North, we went down by 10 points, Jurrah was on fire and could have had 10 instead of his 5. I only count 8 games where we were dead set beaten the rest we were in it all I'm saying is that IMHO if we ended up around the same mark again we'd be getting 'short-changed' on the quality we have. I just see a list where nearly everyone has some improvement in them, and a group of obviously gifted players that are nowhere near their ceiling yet. When you think about Frawley and Grimes gaurding, and Sculgovenzie sending it to Watts and Jurrah it's hard to imagine the collective improvement won't translate on the scoreboard

certainly does baffle the mind 2 yes or no questions for you 1. Is a) 8.5 wins and all your losses over 6 goals, the same as B) 8.5 wins with 5 close losses/draws? 2. is option a) a par score for 2011? you've answered no twice because you know exactly what my point is and you are just nitpicking for no reason

you don't think being in contention for it is a sign you are an a-grade player not too many b-graders are at short odds in the week leading up

didn't say that ever, but apart from that good post but the obvious other side of the coin to what you are saying is this - by your rationale we could finish on zero wins but you'd still be happy if we fulfilled a range of other KPIs. All I've said is that 8.5 wins/finishing 12th in '10 was a misrepresentation. To repeat the same would be a step back. It can't be made any clearer, and i'm bored with people arguing semantics when they know damn well the point i am actually making so i'm done discussing it.

yep me and the author of the post and everyone else aren't getting it. Just you. Go on then explain what was so crazy about his post

look, the other day you couldnt understand what i meant when mentioned 3 players get votes out of 44 in game of football. So perhaps comprehension isn't your strong point. The man asked a question, i gave him an answer, 13 wins. Because of simpletons like you, that get off on nitpicking other people's posts for no apparent reason, or maybe they just cant understand them, i included the comment that you don't just judge it on wins but how close you came to winning. If you don't understand that, i can draw you a picture. In crayon.