bing181

Perhaps. But not in public. Which the club and other members of the Board understood ... was the beginning of the end for Glenn.

Really important to acknowledge just how %^&*)!!! good ALL the role-players were. Tom Mac had a quiet day, but still popped up for 2 goals and his determined push on Cordy to make sure the Sparrow goal went through was but one of any number of acts that don't even register on the stats but contributed to the victory. But agree on Sparrow, a real coming of age, especially when he was in/out of the team throughout the year.

The dreaded exit interview.

Perhaps in terms of on-field play (though what other kind is there), but it was more along the lines that McCartney got him thinking about taking his football and his career seriously.

All you need is here.

Yes, what a week indeed. But house prices in rural France have jumped post Covid, everyone wants out of their 45 m2 in the bigger cities.

Absolutely, but in the Clarry interview, he gives credit to Brendan McCartney. Can't forget the contribution of players like Bernie Vince, Daniel Cross or of course, Jordan Lewis. It's a long list. All goes back to Roos and Jackson, and what has been built over years, plus the increasing maturity of the players.

Jungle drums are beating ever louder:

When the dust settles, this season and premiership will be seen as the really remarkable achievement it is. To get this team here after the middle-of-the-road mediocrity of the last few years is something that will be talked about for a long time.

Didn't see that coming. This group has more fight and maturity than what I'd expected. One quarter to go, rather be in our position than their's.

May carrying his injury? Whatever it is, he isn't himself.

Nothing to do with Goodwin, all on the forwards who are actually out on the field. Forward pressure is supposed to be one of our strengths.

Neale-Bullen's job from what I can see. (could be wrong).

Bont for the Norm Smith at this rate.

Dogs didn't make it to the grand final by accident. Was always going to be a battle. May not right it seems, and that in itself is enough to swing it their way. But a few unsighted: Langdon not being Langdon is surprising, but Tom Mac might as well not be out there (except he takes their second defender, which isn't saying much.) Not sure here - they have not just the talent, but the experience.

I'm in Paris (south), and I know there are a few others around. Not sure I can face Belushi's or Café Oz, will just watch at home, though I think there's a bar/café somewhere that's doing something as well.

Belushi's also showing it in Paris (near Gare du Nord if anyone's around). Need to book apparently.

Know it well. And no, not getting any work done here either!

Would have preferred Port myself. Dogs' on-ball/midfield bats very deep.

Losing by a rushed behind - rough way to end the season.

Feel that people are underestimating this at their peril (though presumably not the players/club). Geelong have more to lose than us, it must be about their last crack at it with this Selwood-led group. They also have a lot more finals experience than us, and that's something that really counts. For me, this is a bigger danger game than Port in a GF - though there's a similar discourse around Port, but to a lesser extent.

Think people are underestimating the difference between finals and home and away. Whole new ball game, and is only going to get tougher from here on in.

Don't agree. There's not much between the top 4 or so teams, anything can happen on the day. Not to mention, some will cope better with finals than others. I don't think we'll choke, but at the end of the day, experience counts for a LOT at this end of the season, and we're still a comparatively young side, with comparatively young players in key positions.

Absolutely, has been a fantastic season. We're no longer the league whipping boys. Making the 8 and hopefully winning one final was about the mark for me, and we're way in front of that. Feel like this year we've learnt how to win home and away matches, learning to win finals and go all the way might take another season or two.

Absolutely. And you only have to look at many European countries where a mid-July increase plateaued and has now started to fall as it runs up against 80+% vaccination rates (amongst adults). Vaccines work. Here in France we have full crowds at the football again ... but they've all been vaccinated (or can show a negative test result for the few laggards). Next hurdle to get over is that schools return across Europe around now, and not all of those kids are fully vaxxed as 12 - 17 year olds have been last cab off the rank. Fingers crossed.