monoccular

Our injury list blossomed just a week or so too late. Looking with the benefit of hindsight, should / could we have put Howes on the long term injury list and allowed him the full 2022 season to recover? It will be frustrating if he doesn't get at lest a handful of Casey games later in the year.

Some at half time take the short acting ones, others the delayed action variety.

We can only beat teams according to the scheduling - and how important was it banking those first 10 wins. It means we can afford not to panic at this stage. 2021 we had a dream run with injury: 2022 we are having a horror run not only between games but within games. I know we only have a mini bye off (can't see any of our guys partying in Bali) but lets see if we can reset, and by necessity play a slightly different game style.

Saints looking better, or is it Bombers looking worse third quarter?

McKay aint too bad as a marking forward - delivery also pretty good.

re Tommo - as a medi sub he would be far more versatile than a small crumbed. Can play KPP defender, wing releasing whoever is on the non Langdon wing as a small forward. Some have suggested him as a KPP forward - does he have any history there? It is a big ask just because he is big to play at CHF or FF without any experience / recency there. Very sad for Daw to be injured at this time - he was the backup should Max go down: he has and he is not available. How about Rivers and Bowey sharing the non Salem HBF and releasing Brayshaw to wing, or even midfield?

“Yes it is….for Weid 😎 ” Are you suggesting he does the full Mason Cox trick and wear sunnies 😎? Would that make all the difference? 🧐

Do you KNOW that or is it just what you want to think? Others who watch VFL have other opinions. The bye is a shambles and just to reinforce it Gil wants as his parting gesture to give us an odd number of teams, necessitating byes, just to make us appreciate how good it is now as compared to how it will be. 😡

Sounding like a cracked record I have been asking for a couple of weeks, why has Majak missed games recently? Injury? Illness? This should be his moment.

Cox should follow them 😎 Sadly Majak didn’t play VFL - and nobody has said why (unless it has appeared in the last few hours).

Both areas may well relate to fatigue - 4 fewer weeks of preseason compared with most other teams. (Bulldogs also struggling big time though we did them massive mental damage in the GF both as a team and to some well publicized individuals) - I believe at least 5 players have had Covid, and some of these haven’t bounced back. May have been more, though I cannot recall to list the 5. I found a link that I posted several months ago reporting on slow recovery in some endurance athletes. Could this be A factor?

Which leads me to ask again, any information regarding Majak's absence last weekend?

….. or on him? Certainly current form will not enhance his (Jackson) price.

OMG I hope your analysis is right. ❤️💙❤️💙

Does anyone here know why Daw missed the Casey game? If he was fit honestly he could be worth running in Mitch Browns place - he is a big bodied strong courageous tall and could only add some toughness and foil for BBB and Frittata. Could also pinch hit ruck if Max or Dogga spent much of the game forward. Options are limited especially if JVR isn’t thought ready for debut.

Do we know that Daw (if fit) is not an answer? I think we do know about Mitch Brown. The coaching teams will have their ideas about JVR - what little I have seen of him on TV he shows endeavor and attack, which we appear to be lacking. He would have to offer more than MB and SW in their current form. I believe he has played senior football in WA ??

I felt he showed composure and did not seem overwhelmed. I didn’t see the concussion …… what happened? Do we turn off or are we just underdone off a late preseason? Pity we couldn’t keep Burgess for one year post flag …. May have had a solution or at least a plan. See above

So you don't think that whatever a certain team were widely suspected of being on in the early / mid 2000s didn't enhance their performance on GF day?

“begs the question whether players are using mental health as a smokescreen to avoid the three strikes policy?” That is a theory that has been around for many years , and is quite likely correct.

Any thoughts where and for whom?

Just wait for Gill's spin after the "Integrity Commission" 😂 looks into it. "We have determined that the Melbourne FootballClub, under the direction of its bullying coach, unfairly traumatised the Western Bulldogs in the 2021 Grand Final and effected their players' mental health, so they will be stripped of the Premiership, and all points for season 2022 will be null and void. Further they will have no draft picks in 2022, and will have to donate 8 players, nominated by the AFL Commission, to the new Tasmanian team. All remaining home games will be at 5pm Sundays and not televised."

I have seen very little of him. Regulars, is he another “small crumbing forward” like Kozzie, Spargo, Bedford, Chandler or something very different? Thanks in anticipation. PS is Laurie also in this group?

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/afl-star-says-mental-meltdown-followed-grand-final/news-story/4ea52997fb363f696d0afd3467c1a4fe I had thought that our crushing GF would have broken the heart and spirit of the Footscray club, perhaps accounting for their big fall in the first half of this season, and I think it was discussed on Demonland several times in the off season, but here Bailey seems to be claiming that we are the cause of his "mental health issues". Deflection or fact?

"Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

“The league suffers when there are too many woefully uncompetitive teams “ yet Gillon in his infinite wisdom wants to add yet another. No consideration of further diluting the talent pool, a more unfair schedule with rolling byes. Just another licence fee. He will be the death of the competition.