Webber

For a moment there George, I thought you’d written ‘empathetic’ 55 point win. Sign of a great culture I reckon, the empathetic win.

As their anthem itself says …… Collingwood FOREVER.

Yep. ‘Handball of the season’ thus far, if there were such a thing.

I feel like Bailey Fritsch gets forgotten in pretty much all discussions about potential goal-kickers for our upcoming games. Just not sure why. He’s easily our best forward, in his prime, an absolute gun, and if stays fit, will win our goal-kicking again this year. #stopignoringfritta

C’mon binners. It’s Demonland. 😉

Nuh. Too many assumptions there.

He’s a proper journalist. Like Greg Baum. They’re on the margins of mainstream sports journalism now, but only because they refuse to be part of the click-bait garbage media that gives brainless ex-footballers prime air and print time. Needless to say the Herald-Sun won’t be knocking on Rohan Connolly’s door.

Not only is he ‘no worse than anyone else’, based on last year’s stats, I’m not sure there’s anyone ‘better’ at the club.

I’d be very surprised if (at his age) they aren’t aiming for a 9 month post-surgery return to play. That would make him available end of May/early June, if it’s been smooth rehab, which by all reports it has. Round 11-ish.

Sad news. Gus was an exceptional, old-fashioned, pure footballer. Loved watching him play, cos he was never anything but committed to getting the best out of himself, and solely for the team. His premiership game was exactly that. They’ll miss him in ways we just won’t know. That it places a shameful, dark context over the QF ‘hit’, and how the AFL behaved then and since goes without saying. Picks 1 and 3 of his draft year retired due to brain injury. This will change the game, and should. Go well, Gus, we of course know you’ll be a presence at MFC ongoing.

Outstanding. And the MFC don’t employ your services because ………… ?

Where we finish depends on injuries/players available through the season. As it does for all clubs. It’s the single greatest determinant of success, even if the least sexy.

Nibbler is still (inexplicably) the flag bearer for many on DL, I reckon.

Very confidently tipping Taj to be the break-out player of 2024. Underrated on here, but has all the tricks, along with an uber-professional attitude. Will exponentially improve with experience. (also tipping he’ll be a whipping boy until his value becomes undeniable).

I reckon the eye tells us, as you’ve just revealed. Knowing the numbers simply doesn’t matter, so shouldn’t be anyone’s business but the players and club. As for any effect on public or media ‘body shaming’, it won’t make an iota of difference of course.

Good. Couldn’t be less relevant to the public. (Cue objections)

On his 2023 form, top 10 selected every week. A pure joy to watch. Wrings every last skerrick of ability and effort from himself.

Brilliant. @Demonstone, your best work yet, methinks (sheepish self-identification notwithstanding).

Extraordinary. Closed shmosed!

Big boy. Wasn’t expecting that.

Having come across @binman in the wild, I can confirm that he looks just like Garry Baker ………………….or does he?!!!!

Just a simple thing. Lauren Pearce played a great quarter, but she can’t kick straight. This is known. Why has there not been at least one option running past her to take the handball ? Not one, not once.

A full return of confidence will win this, not the static reactivity and panicked disposal of the that half. Swap Zanker and Harris through the centre square, and play through them at all costs. They won’t lose a contest, and if we put muscle and run at the drop, with Kate Hore leading from the square, we’re away!

Honest, thoughtful, respectful, grateful and intelligent is Brody. I’m completely SHOCKED the sensationalist, mindless, muck-raking media even considered publishing those thoughts.

In fact it’s one of the defining virtues of Australian Rules Football. Compared to other football codes worldwide, female attendance at games (and via membership) has always been close to parity with males. Which is but one of the reasons it was so frustrating we didn’t have a comparable women’s game until the last few years. So many willing participants, so little opportunity! No wonder when their chance came, at a participant level, the game just exploded. Girls want to play footy, and they want to continue playing as women. Well, duhrrr!! At a personal level, it’s thrilling to be witnessing the evolution of the professional women’s game. I went to the first Dees vs Dogs game at the G - showcasing the best 40 players in the country - thinking, sadly, that the AFL probably wouldn’t commit to growing the game. It’s staggering now to think that a handful of years later, we have 18 teams, all of whom would thrash those first two teams. But I still worry about the AFL’s commitment. Never has there been a better reason to throw everything at a competition, with an excited participant market of half the population. You know, like the men’s game. Fixturing however, in every respect (venues, times, number of games), is still problematic. It almost feels like the AFL is putting obstacles in the AFLW’s path. The old ‘if it fails, it wasn’t because we didn’t give it every chance’ notion, only with the the second bit being rubbish. Given the potential for continued growth (based on the game’s exponential evolution alone), things like needing crowd KPIs to trigger more rounds is just short term, commercially obsessed nonsense. To steal from an arts-cultural touchstone - build it, and they will come - if only cos they’ve been banging at the door for years. We’ve seen how women’s soccer has built what I believe to be a non-fail place in world (and Aus) sports culture, commercially and otherwise. I have no doubt that women’s Australian footy will leap-frog it, it just needs true, unwavering commitment from the guardians. [On a professional note, it was enormously concerning in the early years how prevalent ACL ruptures were in the women’s game (the order of 3:1 compared to men), and I was worried parents would literally stop their girls playing. Even this is now on the slide]