spalding

Really impressed with the change in the centre bounce/throw in approach to spread the ball away from inside contest (with the knock outs and tap ons) as quickly as possible after quarter time. Wonder if Chunk was responsible for that?

Good correction joeboy

Looking forward to reading the gameday thread.

X 2

As much as many seem to like to bag our admin and footy department or being inept, maybe they wanted to name Paddy Cross to the list all along, but were either going to put Luker on the LTI list depending on the injury prognosis from Friday, or were going to push Steven May out if that place didnt open up. If so, a well managed strategy by waiting to the last minute. Or, they are just inept and making it up as they go and got lucky with Luker's injury not being as severve as feared. As per usual, the Demonland community will split into their usual camps as ro what they want to believe.

Brilliant - lets push the stereotypes. Its the one thing that makes us different. That, and our own teeth.

Quoting from an inside source who I really want to have a breakout year this year, he thinks that JVR and Culley will have great years based on their improvement this pre-season. Was also interesting that he said the vibe between the players is so much better this year after the changes that have taken place in the off-season.

Absolutely - up until last week I had enjoyed that atmosphere. I was shocked, and my son was so angry about some of the stuff being said about his sister (particularly when she was being assisted from the ground with an injury), that he decided it would be better that he remove himself from the ground, so he left at 3/4 time and waited for us in the park next door until the game finished.

And the other thing i forgot to mention is that the North AFLW supporters are feral - like worse than any other club Feral. Ive survived all the "great" suburban venues, but i was shocked how bad they were last week at Ikon. I think there is a lot of frustration about their men's programme being let out by the hard core supporters at AFLW. So be ready for it next Saturday!

A few observations. I have been to every Hawks aflw game this year and last night was the first time anyone from their cheer squad has even turned up. Obviously shamed into the banner and having a presence this week by club authorities. I have also seen North live twice in the last 3 weeks and I am convinced they are beatable. The key is preventing them starting scoring chains from the back line via intercept marks (mainly via Ghostys favourite player). Also sit on the outside of Ash Riddell as she gets first receives after pretty much every one of the contested possessions North wins then takes off and distributes expertly. Randall is the key forward you need to lock down, and is good with the ground ball gets and dishing off to midfielders ans small forwards if she doesnt mark. Sherlaw can be put off pretty easily I reckon Melbourne can match up well on all of these, and more than any other team has the forward line to trouble them. Beside the above, the other area which I think might trouble us is a couple of their pacy smaller players - not sure if we can stop them. Their depth is better than ours, so talented, but perhaps lesser light players like Bannon and Witherspoon etc have to play at the peak of their powers. And keep up the great work ghosty both re aflw and the training reports.

Ive stayed quiet on this topic for a year, and if a close family member was aware I've posted this she would be very unhappy, but 2025 really was a tough year for him. I hope that the issues he had with significant injuries in pre-season, as well as his family life and personal life are behind him and he has the best opportunity to show what he is capable of. As ghosty says, IMO his brashness is a bit of a front for a pretty vulnerable kid who is a long way from home. If nothing else, I have learnt from spending a bit of time with him, to think more about the human aspects of a footballers life, rather than just criticise them when they not playing as we (and they!) would like.

Didn't King say im the coach you need? Its an obviously a culture reset, and that had to be addressed before we could move forward. They have replaced better players (trac and oliver) with better leaders (mihochek and Steele), to nurture and lead the young talent we have already drafted, and the hope that we can get a couple more. Despite the draft concessions, Tassie won't be a powerhouse for quite a while if gws and go were anything to go by. I think we have changed our view (under Goody) that we were still a chance to win, and the new regime is targeting 5 years from now. Its probably the new coach and ceo that have driven the change in planning. As hard as it is to accept, and i wish we did it a year ago, what has happened is the right decision for the club imo. I have a little inside Intel, and I think the younger players will be the main beneficiaries and excited by the additional opportunities and responsibility

Hopefully a window just closed. Especially with the new machete laws

Do not touch

I know many of us think Caro has it in for us, but her latest work on the bombers! Just wow. She really is a piece of work