John Crow Batty

I was generally happy with our game but we lucked out. Carlton have been red hot for a while and brought out their A+ game and we matched them. Conditions did not suit us at all. Being switched off at start of games has to be addressed. Just makes it harder for us with our unsettled forward line to regain control. Hope we make a big statement early against the Hawks. Win next week and we can manage the last round depending on other results. If second spot looks unobtainable then fourth and a likely home final is ideal.

Cripps after the game was asked about the touched ball incident and he said they got lucky.

I couldn’t tell if the Petracca kick was touched or not but when Cripps was asked after the game he said with a half sheepish smile they got lucky

Win this and we can chill out the last two games and have a home first final against Collingwood

Think you are confusing blue with red states. Anyway almost a moot point as both political parties only govern for the elites. Nothing really changes. They are both warmongers who don’t give a [censored] about their people and happy to keep the con going with politics of division like they export to here.

I wouldn’t write Collingwood off yet. They have been perched up the top of the ladder with little incentive to go hard in the past month or so. Recent form has declined but could easily pick up again.

Blues are pumped up to the gills. Super tough challenge for us.

AI still has long way to go. Right now given this article about the level of intelligence of your average Collingwood supporter.

We did very well with the late Jim Stynes and Sean Wight but since then most Irish recruits over the past 4 decades have just been average footballers with a couple rated very good like Zac Toohey. There is far more easily developed talent over here. No gold mine over there.

An awful lot of softies there.

I respect your medical expertise but I have worked as a nurse and many years as a manager in the Public Service heath industry. One observation I have made is that with vexing medical issues there is always a yay or nay opinion amongst professionals. But when well financed vested interests are stakeholders their preferred opinions usually wins. Manufacturers hate supportive boots because they are ugly and expensive to make, require custom fitting in many cases and players don’t like them because they slow them down, are uncomfortable and lack sex appeal. The AFL well known for shunning protective gear don’t like protective boots because they slow down the game down and as well as the other negative image perceptions they hold. Further there is no evidence that supportive boots are detrimental. They haven’t been used for decades and there is negligible current real world experience to test. There was a lot of controversy in the 1970’s when lightweight low cut soccer boots first appeared in football. They were blamed for an increase in foot and ankle injuries in days when ground conditions were primitive as well. Supportive boots are for support only. Twist my ankle slowly it won’t hurt much. Twist it fast then ouch. As for skiing the only times I have had knee injuries is when skiing overseas and hired boots that turned out to be too soft and unsupportive. There were limited choices. s.

It is well documented that many old time footballers in the past had career ending knee injuries but I don’t recall many with career ending foot/ankle injuries. I know it’s a different sport but try skiing with overly flexible light unsupportive boots. One would end up with sore ankles, knees and well as shins and thighs. Rigid supportive boots limit the risk most of these issues especially skiing fast or difficult terrain. I know well as I am an experienced skier. Maverick Don Scott used to be plagued with foot injuries until he started wearing custom supportive high ankle boots which helped him through a long career. Granted it slowed him down but speed wasn’t the be all and end all of the game then.

Implementing protective footwear and slowing the game down to help minimise injuries. That’s outrageous.

I guess the trade off is to reduce player safety to keep the game faster.

And high ankle support. Modern boots sacrifice support for flexibility and mobility.

We have been playing all of the season with an unsettled forward line mostly without Petty there but currently sit second on the ladder. Brown or Grundy can still do the second tall job. Fritsch will be back soon as well. Smith is also a handy replacement forward or back for Petty. Not to forget about Clarry.

Like De Goey but without the scandals yet.

Good to see Hawks showing their wares. We won’t be taking them lightly in a couple of weeks.

The AFL had the perfect opportunity to make a strong statement here and put the fear of god into cheating clubs but they didn’t. Basically saying if the match is important enough, go ahead and ignore the rules and face a flogging with with a feather.

The football media it seems are pushing the narrative that it was an honest mistake and not a deliberate cynical action to flout the rules as it appeared to anyone with average vision. Shifting the goal posts to turn the discussion into something else. How can a club doctor not see what everyone else saw? The vision of the collision and aftermath was damning.

Sounds like a an attempt to whitewash the situation. It was an honest mistake, nothing deliberate and tactical is the narrative. Players get hefty suspensions for mistakes. But the language is always different, rather than a mistake it’s labeled as reckless, careless or deliberate.

The penalty has to be severe to kill this kind of egregious flouting of the rules once and for all.

Issue is Port have been getting away with flaunting the injury rules for years. The AFL needs to cop most of the blame for letting them get away with it for too long.

I worked with a highly respected neurologist for several decades who was regarded by many in the medical profession including myself to be a genius. His management of brain injury and epilepsy was second to none. He saved and improved many lives. He turned out to be a pedophile.

Not all doctors belong on a pedestal. They are human like the rest of us and the profession has its fair share of dodgy types. I worked in the medical and health care industry for 3 decades and know doctors spanning all ranges from criminals, junkies, [censored], incompetents, nut cases to well balanced and even saints. Any profession that always craps on about its integrity means there’s always something to hide.