John Crow Batty

Got an email today from the club that tickets for round one in Perth will be available from Monday 24th of February.

According to the Optus Oval website, general admission tickets are on sale from 28th of February. Even though this is round one I doubt it will be a complete sell out. Our last game there in May 2019 was only about 70% full. Capacity is over 60,000 I believe. I’ll buy one if I can’t get a ticket through my membership. https://optusstadium.com.au/whats-on/afl-round-1-west-coast-v-melbourne

Despite kicking 4 goals that was one of his worst ever games for us. He gave away a free kick before the first bounce that resulted in a goal to I believe to Chris Waterman who ended up kicking 6 goals. That set the tone for a horrendous first half. Loose and undisciplined and over reacted to WC’s hostile tactics. He atoned somewhat in the second half when shifted forward but as you say too late. In the last minute of the 87 prelim he gave away that free to Buckenara but it was desperate lunge on the fast leading Buckenara on the end of a perfect pass who was always was going to take the mark anyway. It was professional foul and could have easily not been called in the high heat and intensity of the last few minutes.

Arguably the most underpaid 4 time premiership player in the modern game. When he played for us he used to work at Swan Auctions in Richmond manhandling furniture. Struggles with the demon drink cursed him. In today’s games with the right attitude he would be worth close to a million a season.

Yep, something like the old Fitz-Patrick rhyme that used to go around in the old days.

He needed a strong alpha male coach to guide him. He was lucky he ended up with Leigh Mathews. I have met him and he seemed decent enough though a little rough around the edges. I heard a story that he witnessed something not involving him quite shocking and unprintable whilst at Fitzroy.

Yes, he was a bad boy.

If Viney was demoted and it causes the issues you mention it just confirms this club is a bunch of [censored] losers and a lost cause.

Why the hell is this captaincy issue taking so long to sort out? Name Gawn and be done with it. What’s the point for speculation to drag on for 6 months? Not impressed.

If we also had 88,000 plus members I guess we could afford to lower the price as well. It’s like Made in China but with quality over there. Our low numbers have absolutely nothing to do with price.

At least he will be fresh for the second half of the season when a spare ruckman is of most value assuming Gawn is fit for the start. Gives Jackson an opportunity to have a game if we need to play two ruckman.

Having co-captains is a poor compromise because the club is too weak to impose a strong leadership. It filters down. Name the captain and that’s it. No ifs or buts. It’s not a novel experiment anymore as when Roos first did it.

CHAMPION DATA’S 2019 AFL LIST RANKINGS Melbourne Adelaide Richmond Essendon Collingwood Geelong GWS Giants North Melbourne Hawthorn Brisbane West Coast Port Adelaide Sydney St Kilda Western Bulldogs Carlton Fremantle Gold Coast

Decent mark? Contested marks 2019 - Nil. For career, 27 at an average of 0.09 per game. He is a good kick for goal but he tends to hang off the contests just outside 50 waiting and calling for a teammate to win the ball and get it to him. Never mind looking after an opponent or winning the ball himself. Seriously if his teammates were deaf, he would never get the ball.

Our problems then were far deeper than a few ageing players. That has been well documented.

The lack of ruthlessness keep the likes of Jones playing for us well past his time. Many better players have been tapped on the shoulder at successful clubs. That’s the law of nature that our club seems to have forgotten.

If other clubs supporters had true respect for Jones they would be trashing and cursing him like we and others do to the likes of Selwood, Martin, Rance, Hodge, Franklin and other players who know how to win. They would never speak of Jones like that. Jones gets soft respect because he is ineffectual and benign and they are happy to have him keep on playing forever for us.

Reading that the contract negotiations for 2020 were protracted after a mediocre 2019 gives me the impression he wasn’t inclined to give up anything and his personal interests came first.

A changing of the guard like in 1987. Flower, Moore and a few others who were fixtures through years of inertia moved on. Flower could have easily gone another season or two but knew his time was up even though he was finally tasting finals success with more on offer. Was our leading goal kicker with 47 goals that season and was still contributing unlike Jones who had a very ordinary season in 2019 at same age and similar games tally and should have made the hard decision.

I thought this kind of propaganda disappeared with Schwab and Whiteboard Wednesday. Nothings changed. We are talking as well as walking the crap. Should have shut up until we actually achieve something positive.

Jesse is not missed. Alive and well on Demonland, like he never left.

The only sport where a play starts with the quarterback fiddling around with a bent over teammates bum and ends up with the ball. Weirder than those bum cheese sniffers from that other code.

Keating was a bog standard average ruckman in regular season games but played like a dominant superstar during finals. In the seasons they won their second and third flags he played almost as many seconds games as senior appearances. They alway trotted him out finals time because they knew he would rise to the occasion. In 10 season he averaged only 14 games a seasons and only three season with 20 or more games. There was talk at the time suggesting that he was held back to keep him fresh for playing finals.

He’s ready to sign a new contract. We have seen this all before with richly talented but lazy types who realise their potential in contract signing years but then revert to type straight afterwards. Just leave the signing off till the end of the season and that way we can be sure he works his butt off for the duration. I want to see two, three, not one breakout seasons in a row from him before I am convinced he has matured for the better.

I really don’t like these self serving and self congratulating gestures by big organisations. It’s likes sharks promising to eat more people to help combat global warming. Everyone and their dog are jumping on the bandwagon. People can feel good by pretending they are doing something worthwhile when actually they are only getting entertained. Whilst the state is burning we go to cheer at the footy. Plenty of money has been raised and the AFL would be better off just donating their share. Victims will be well compensated already. What is needed is real action against climate change and preserving the environment. I would only approve of the game if the intent is foster awareness and action on climate change. That’s not going to happen.