Rogue

Fwiw, I think it's quite plausible that one or even two teams will make finals with just nine wins. EDIT: I see in your update last night you said you now think nine is enough.

...hard to resist the urge to make a crack about buying a membership.

It's not from the internets and I don't have a source I can point you to. What's your source that 20,000 is only the break even point if they are all paying attendees?

They are indeed variable, and I know for a fact that we've broken even at well under 20K before* *and obviously without them all being paying attendees.

Yeah, gets used in other sports all the time and is definitely not meaningless.

I think it's fairly likely they'd be able to enter the country. Even in the past few months there have been thousands of 'overseas visitors' granted exemptions to enter the country (in addition to residents returning). For example, there were 3,400 in May (haven't seen any stats since then).

That's actually around the break-even point, depending on staffing and whether you close some parts of the stadium (eg. some of the bays on level 4, some of the food outlets, etc)....and that's based on the old 'business as usual' business model at the 'G. I'm not sure there was much incentive to change the financial model previously, given only a handful of the 40+ games scheduled at the 'G every year were getting crowds of under 20K. However, I'm sure with a long summer to think about how to reduce costs/increase revenue, they'd be able to do better next year if faced with a 2020 with restricted crowd numbers. For every $1 increase on the old model's profit margin it's an increase of $20K per 20,000 attendees, and $200K over 10 home games. (A $5 increase p/p equates to $1M).

If we intend to be a strong team, and the number of Clubs is expanding, it's going to be hard to get in a large number of quality young players. As others have said, it also stands to reason that as you get to draft 17/18 year olds who have had footy coaching for a number of years, it's easier to pick the promising young players - and they're going to have an impact quicker than they would otherwise. I was a bit surprised we were trading so many out, and a big turnover has an impact on culture, but I can see the logic.

Understand there's already a line ruled through Nietschke for 2020, but it'd be nice to hear an occasional update on Petty, Hore and KK (although I've assumed for a long while that KK's career is over).

What do you think Aus should be doing? There's now no stopping coronavirus spreading, and every expert knows it. What's left now is to attempt to slow the spread (eg. isolation/self-quarantine) so that the healthcare system isn't inundated with all the cases at once. This needs to be balanced against still having people going about their daily activities, so society doesn't fall apart (which includes health professionals rocking up to work, drivers delivering food and other products, emergency services available when called upon, etc).

I'm not sure Weid or Jackson warrant a spot for round 1. If we think TMac can pinch-hit and our forward line will cope with smaller types, then I'd just go with a more mobile setup. Fritsch released to the forward line and Melksham fit and firing makes it a palatable option.

This is why the AFLW is such a shrewd business idea. Getting more females interested in AFL, which the AFLW is undoubtedly doing, is the easiest market for AFL to expand into - much easier to get Aussie girls and women on board, rather than trying to woo Chinese followers. AFLW is probably the best marketing money the AFL's ever spent. (As an aside, I love that Aussie Rules is exploding in popularity amongst female friends of mine who are playing footy for the first time, and some of the stories are great. I also think that the competition has expanded too much too quickly).

*IF* Frankie's story is true, and there's no other context bar that one line, I'm pretty unhappy. However, sounds like Frankie did not reveal the whole story.

Laughable that seriously injured players are kept on because of 'rotations'. They're virtually useless on one leg - better to send someone to rest as the deepest forward.

Ruckman often get to carve out relatively long careers with relatively little games, but a midfielder/flanker? Almost unprecedented.

Just came on here to post this. So much for a 'new injury'. Hardly shocking given he was limping around!

Hannan's better than half of that list and given our current woes with lack of speed and 'lack of connection in the forward half', he's more important than ever. However, last year I heard from a mate of Hannan's that his knee is totally stuffed, so who knows how much of a fix the recent surgery is. Would love to see him fit and firing.

Not sure he has much goal nous at all, which is one of the major problems. In 2017 he averaged 0.8 goals per game and 0.7 goal assists per game. Fwiw, I thought Garlett was pretty horrible last year but he not only averaged double the goals (1.6) than Spargo, he also averaged more goal assists (just - 0.8).

I agree. Definitely not as effective in the backline. Looking forward to seeing him play on the wing or up forward.

Good call.

Congrats, Jaded - I had a funny feeling about this when I saw you were the last person who'd posted! Really pleased to hear. All the best!

I reckon we've just about written him off, and who's the next cab off the rank? Similar problem with lack of depth up the other end, I think - who replaces Jetta?

I think Mitch is criminally underrated. However, I'm concerned his knee injury is one he'll constantly need to manage.

Almost.

I think Tyson's a fringe player these days, and I'm not sure there's a massive need for fringe mids because midfield depth is relativelyeasy to find. I wouldn't be tossing him away for nothing, but if we can find value in a trade that gets Tyson more midfield minutes then it's a win/win.