spalding

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the content with the topic of this thread. As goody said, we are so close. once upon a time there was a team who kept finishing 9th. Then they would make the elimination finals, but find ways to lose. They were ridiculed by the football community after 30 add years of non-performance, the board was being challenged and the coach was going to be sacked. a sulking full forward, a full back with questionable disposal, a captain who would kick backwards and sideways were their best players. Suddenly a tubby early draft pick became the best player in the league, the rest matured and became greats, some good trades and complete buy-in from the list around a game plan that suited them and they look world beaters surrounded by a sea of mediocrity. our young players are going to grow up playing finals. Once they are 25+ year olds we have our chance. Hang in there

Or win the next 5 and play the Tigers in the GF

It seems to me that Tyson is making quicker and better decisions in close - and whilst he still missed a kick or two today he is not taking as many quick scrub kicks from packs. not sold on jfk but he is working like Anb without the ball and much stronger defensively. Was better vs crows than this week - but still serviceable. Kudos to our development. Guys going back to Casey are clearly briefed on what they need to improve and seem to be better players when they get their next chance in seniors. pity about Smith. Thought he was really showing his potential offensively today before he got injured. i still have high hopes for Weideman based on the improvements that we are seeing in other players after stints with Casey

I hope you guys are right and I’m wrong. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out on the next 48 hours

I bet he will get 3-4 weeks. Probably 3 so he is available for finals. The justification will be that Brayshaw lowered himself slightly as gaff swung his arm and I think he hit him with the base of his thumb - not the knuckle part of the fist. Therefore he will argue that he was seeking to shove him forcefully in the chest. Not saying I agree with this, but this will be the justification as to why it’s different from Bugg (as opposed to the real reason which is that Gaff plays for a marquee club, has no history of being a pest, and the AFL wants the best players in its finals).

Yep it was a free - exactly the same as the airy josh Jenkins had in the middle of the ground earlier in the game (which was ruled okay on)

Been handy in the last 2 weeks with vineys absence. I haven’t noticed him being caught with the ball as much or turning it over by foot. Perhaps his brief at Casey was to give the first option by hand and avoid the dump kick out of the packs. It seems to me our individual development is working really well. Stretch (run and take the game on) JKH (tackling and defensive running) and Tyson (disposal) have all looked more like AFL standard after a period at Casey.

Make that the last 4 goals. Gws have gone from being in control to in the headlights. Seems like it’s not just us.

Last 2 goals for port caused by umpires - crowd now up, intensity up. Where have I seen this before?

Not sure how it will end up after the roller coaster that the next 5 weeks will be, but I think that it is becoming clearer that richmond and eagles are the likely gf if they finish 1-2, but collingwood and gws are the danger. I think we are the next best, and the clearest risk to the above 4 - if we can make the 8. Port have seriously loaded up to have a go this year, but are kidding themselves and will fall short, and Geelong are squeezing the last drops out of their top end talent before the inevitable slide that hawthorn have undertaken. Sydney are beaten up, and can’t be carried by their kids (like we can). Let’s hope the hawks get Tom Lynch so they have more years of mediocrity until they bottom out - the pies and Richmond are going to be hard enough for us to beat in the next few years

No-one below the age of 28 did much for Geelong. We will own them in the years to come. whilst they weren’t our best players Spargo, Fritsch and Smith all showed they weren’t overawed. Whilst there were a few mistakes, all had some pretty good moments. Harmes has improved a heap this year, and his development as a run with player could be crucial. i will get abuse for this, but with the exception of umpire no13, I didn’t think we suffered at the hands of the umpires as badly as I was expecting. At least it wasn’t as bad as the port game. Maybe we will start to get a better run as we get recognised as one of the better teams.

In 2019 I will do something I haven’t done before. put on some decent size bets on demons for the premiership, top4 and top8 and no13 to win the Brownlow.

This omac witch hunt is just crap. the game plan was working at 3 quarter time. We were beating the cats with their preferred system of play - and although Hawkins was dangerous, he was their only forward. Remember Rd 1 - where he was quiet but Menzel and others got off the chain. tne cats rolled the dice at 3 quarter time and went to all out attack at the stoppages - which worked. Omac was isolated versus Hawkins and got smashed, but just about every full back would have been. He needed more support from either some midfield defence or a spare in the hole. We were too slow to adapt. Hibberd probably would have make a difference here, and been a fair chance to spoil Tuohy. i think his first 50 games have at least been the equal of his brother - and his decision making and disposal is much, much better. I wish some of his teammates showed his composure with his mark and kick in the last couple of minutes. A couple more years and 5-10 kg and he will be our version of Daniel Talia - who is the cornerstone of the crows defence and an all Australian.

I’ve been quite impressed with Harmes when he has played back as well. Did very well when he covered for lever the first time we played the Dogs. May be an option too. Like Brayshaw, his improvement from the start of the year to now has been significant. It’s why we shouldn’t be categoric about how good (or bad) a player is until they have played 50 games.

Not a bad winning percentage either. I think he is 8 wins from 9 games.

I really hope you’re right - but the way he puts his body on the line every week I worry about his longevity

only clarry possibly has him covered for clean hands, and he is arguably our best kick. He and Spargo have been great pick-ups and will be a key part of our growth and development (which is far from complete). whilst demonland has been its usual bipolar self in reactions to wins and losses, I still think we are continuing to build nicely. Unfortunately it will probably be too late for chunk and nev, but when the likes of Fritsch and Spargo have played 50 games I think we will be peaking. no doubt there will be lots of dummy spitting happening before we get there.

If we bring the same effort as last nights game to the rest of the year we can win any game anywhere. we need more science with our forward entries, but last nights game was finals intensity - around 100 tackles to 90, so it was never going to be clean entries. port primed themselves for this game, bought their maximum intensity for the full game, and still needed the rub of the (men in) green and crowd to win it. would love another crack at them in a final anytime anywhere. I think we have heaps more upside than they do.

I think the issue is more about the quality of the older experienced guys - who boost up the average. Jones, Jetta and Hibberd would probably get games with the better teams, but I doubt Vince, Lewis, Pedo, and maybe even Garlett would. Compare this to Sydney, Richmond, Geelong and their oldest players are champions. More clearly for us than perhaps anyone else besides Carlton and Brisbane, our best players (or potential champions) are less 23. having said all that I’m sick of bloody waiting like everyone else!

On my way to the dawn service I got a text from a Richmond tragic mate of mine (who is the most emotionally and financially invested supporter I know), who said “chin up mate, it can turnaround real quick, trust me, it does seem darkest before the dawn”. He’s really good mates with Peggy O’neil and also commented about how much pressure she, Brendan Gale and Dimmer were under 18 months ago. He says that their inner sanctum really rates the Demons in the mid to longer term and this is why. last night their experienced leaders, probably with the exception of Houli were not dominant - but still played at the minimum standard you expect each week. This includes the big 4 plus Grimes, Edwards, Grigg etc. Melbourne have no equivalent (yet), except for Jones and Hibberd They think melbourne players don’t trust their system (yet) - too many fly in the backline, too many sucked into the immediate contest. They implicitly trust each not to be beaten in the contest - so don’t all fly in the backline, don’t all get sucked to the ball or into a tackle but start to spread etc. its not such a leg speed issue but speed of ball movement - no fumbles, no hestitation to move (trust again) after telling him to go and gf, he said that with the complete confidence and trust they have a heap of guys that he thought were spuds (grigg, houli, mckintosh, lambert, Lloyd) who actually look good now their in a good team. As angry as i was last night I still think there is enough for us to work with. I’ve been a member for 35 years, and 6 weeks before the 1987 finals. Suddenly the young guys clicked and we played finals for 5 years (and missed a golden chance in 1990). I think this will happen again - hopefully starting this year. for all those who have said they are chucking it in, as I felt like last night, I hope you can hang in there

It’s all about midfield depth people!

Exactly - there has been a lot of things that need fixing in the first 3 games. From Goodys presser he and everyone at the club knows it. Yet we have won two games and lost one to a team that will play finals by a kick. A pass mark so far, but the next 3 games will tell us a lot. as we have seen in the last 2 years you need to win enough games to get in the finals and hope to hit peak form in September. It’s only April so it’s good to bank the wins without playing that well. we got a lot of improving to do - but let’s enjoy the ride!

Maybe we paid overs, but let’s revisit this in a year or two. i keep thinking of Alex Rance’s first 3-4 years. His disposal was average at best, and he struggled as a one on one defender. Now he is easily the best defender in the league and the Tigers would not have won a premiership without him.

They haven't given up much to have a shot at the title, so their strategy is perfectly understandable, but I think they will crash hard after the next year or two. Boak, Ryder, Gray and Westhoff are all 30+ next season, and Ebert, Broadbent, Hartlett. Dixon and Jonas are all around 28. So who is left to lead the club, besides Wines, after that/ Watts, Motlop and Rockliff? Probably not a good sample, but gee their backline looked poor to me when we played them at the MCG. Nothing has improved in regard to their defensive pressure from this year's recruits.

I vote for this as the best post of the 200 pages.