John Crow Batty

Neil Sachse who passed away recently became a quadriplegic when charging low into an oncoming player. Though his injury was accidental as he appeared to stumble, a player deliberately dropping to his knees to milk a high tackle or going in head first to a tackle is at risk of the same sort of devastating neck or head injury. Slow motion replay showed that his head hit the oncoming Fitzroy players knee.

“Stager” that’s a word that gone out of fashion.

Same as Cody Weightman. His once bountiful free kick harvesting has mostly dried up since he blabbed to the media about his “skills”. What this shows is that the AFL’s policies are driven by media influence rather than the opinions of medical professionals, fans or generally for what’s the greater good of the game. We see the same with suspensions with the severity of penalties or lack of administered according to how the media presents incidents.

I bought so much stuff from New Balance during the offers that I still have 3 pairs of brand new runners that I bought years ago in my wardrobe.

That was an iffy one IMO, the tackle looked to go high even before he raised his arm. There will always be 50/50 decisions.

Port fans have plenty to beef about their club and a lot justified after their missteps in the past few seasons. I cant see much justification for some of the vituperative comments of our players here given our lofty position on the ladder and no different to where we were last season at same time. Some criticism is always fair but “cancel culture” logic is starting to appear demanding severe retribution to players for issues that are routine manageable in every club.

We have to sort out clearances. Last two weeks we have been smashed. Despite our highly rated midfield we have only had 5 more than the opposition this season. 612 to 607. Basically we are just average for the season. We improve this aspect and we are back to our best.

All this selflessness and selfish talk is getting a little tiring. Its not just Fritsch but any player that takes a pot shot at goal and misses seems to be fair game for being labeled selfish if there is another option to take. If Pickett missed a couple of his snaps he would have copped the flak for sure. Tmac cops it, Petracca cops it, BBB cops it. I have heard it all too often this season and it mostly seems applicable to us. I blame the media for beating this selflessness issue up and too many fans have fallen for it. It will get to the stage when players won’t trust their instincts and invariably stuff up.

Fritsch’s lot is always one bad decision away from being a whipping boy. Tmac being absent doesn’t help.

21-14 hit outs but only 19-31 clearances. Nothing changed from last round. Still a big problem.

Been concerned with our lack of hunger. It seems oppo sides just want the ball more than us. Port are desperate to keep their finals hopes alive and in good form. We are still in a top four comfort zone, key outs and average form. Not confident at all this round.

If Jackson goes to Freo we have take him as part of any deal. We will need a ruck back up if we can’t snag Darcy from them. From what I have seen of him he is quite good given his lack of experience.

Dysfunctional enough to win a premiership it seems. The forward line was a lot worse before he took over. The problem with our current forward line is not having stability with key forwards. Tmac in and out of form now injured. BBB in interrupted average form. Weid can’t step up. Relying on Fritsch to be the leading goal kicker when he should be icing on cake. I believe he’s doing a good job.

We don’t need another key forward who’s only going to play for a season or two. We need one to play for the next decade. We are not Geelong which can top up in perpetuity due to their insane home ground advantage.

Its an easy fix, penalise the players that do it. Free kick against for holding the ball/prior opportunity of disposal. Why is is so hard?

Waiting for when a player gets his neck broken when milking a high tackle free and then suing the AFL for encouraging dangerous play that could cause injury.

Adelaide looked more hungrier than us. That was a worry even though we got over them.

Great result for US. Let’s hope now WC continue their improvement.

It’s not a matter of pessimism or optimism. Its more about the reality of the current situation. Freo are white hot and unrealistic to expect them to stumble. Currently we are equal to the Saints as the worst performed top 9 teams for the last 6 rounds and we have two games against sides that are still desperate to make finals and the rest are top 8. If we don’t improve we will slide rapidly down the ladder. If we improve and make top 4 then it’s a moot point. But as yet there no clear signs we can recapture our winning form and hunger so having a top 8 buffer is better for finals appearance chances. We are at the crossroads now and can’t afford a lame performance next week against Port which will be pumped up. We need all the helpful variables available to get out game back in order for a strong finals campaign.

We can’t hog all the top 4 spots. We have a very tough run home and our form is shaky. I don’t want to see us battling for 8th spot if we lose a couple more.

Now dockers to beat saints please to increase our final 8 buffer.

Shouldn’t Selwood be cited for this? It was reckless, dangerous and caused injury that could force Clarry out to recover. He should get a couple of weeks for what he did.

There is a pattern with May in first quarters. Is fumbly, uncertain and poor disposal early in many games. Happened in GF as well. Improves as game goes on. Last night he was worse than usual and cost us goals and momentum though he did well one on one against Hawkins.

Geelong were more hungry than us. We have been playing a passive/aggressive game all season relying on bursts of rapid scoring to defeat teams that we allow to throw everything at us. The only games where we have appeared more hungry than the opposition was against Brisbane and Port. Last week though be beat Adelaide we let them dictate the play all game. If they were a marginally better side they would have won. Next week we come up against Port again in Alice. This game is their last chance to have a hope of securing a finals spot. They will throw everything at us.

In our last 6 games we have lost clearances in all four losses and won them in our two wins. Our powerhouse midfield is slipping.