Slartibartfast

Picket nobody is happy about Clarrie's demise and we'd all love to have a 2021 version of him playing but since his hammy he really hasn't been the player he was and I doubt if he'd stayed at MFC he could have got back there. I was very happy when both he and Trac returned to full preseasons last year and thought we were a genuine chance to make an impact in finals but I was very wrong and while Trac was good (but not by his highest standards) Clarrie was ordinary. It's also true that many of my friends warned me that Clarrie and Trac were very poor for the change room but I dismissed their concerns thinking that was not really important. I was wrong. Last year when I watched Captain's runs it was very apparent how Clarrie particularly and Trac were not "part of the group". Clarrie would engage with nobody but Fritta and Trac just went about his business with little or no interaction with other players. You can kid yourself that this sort of thing doesn't matter. You can convince yourself that "if we'd won the close ones" we'd be much better than we appear but the reality is that over two years we were bog ordinary. Clarrie and Trac were no good for the change room and no good for the club. Goody, who I still love, was well past his used by date, another judgement I got very wrong. Getting rid of these three and refreshing the list and the coaching staff give us a really good chance to reset. Like you, Clarrie was an absolute favourite of mine and I'll be forever grateful for his enormous contribution to the club but I also recognise we gave him many chances which he declined to take. If he "shoves it down our throats" this season then it will be just more evidence of how he really failed to apply himself over the last couple of years and will justify his trade. As a side observation I've never seen Fritta train the way he is this PS. He's in everything and training like his future depends on it. Joining the dots I think not having his best buddy Clarrie there has removed a bit of a screen for him to go at less than 100%. I'm picking Fritta (along with Windsor) to be most improved this year based on training form and that's a big prediction given his very high standard.

He didn't make much of an effort Picket, he had a contract could have stayed if he'd wanted to.

Well for what it’s worth Pickett rarely if ever abuses another poster which some do and will never go on my ignore list because I like opposing views even if I disagree strongly and on the Oliver situation I do. My first reason is Clarrie didn’t seem to put any effort into staying but I accept that could be because he was summarily dismissed. But I doubt that. I doubt someone with Clarrie’s skill and age would have been sacked without an attempt by King to get to know him. I’m thinking Clarrie didn’t like the change from the safety of Goodwin and wasn’t much interested in staying and found it easier to run than fight. Secondly I think Clarrie lost the playing group and as FandT said, they were happy to have him out. Thirdly, and most instructively, there was no bidding war by other clubs for Clarrie. A future third rounder for someone of his pedigree? You don’t have to be Einstein to spot an issue particularly when you add the salary subsidy going to GWS. Whatever the reason for the outcome it is team first and I think we forgot this when Clarrie was allowed to stay as long as he did and sadly for no real return.

I sense I shouldn’t get involved but he wasn’t loyal to the end. He was loyal to the extent he didn’t want to leave but he certainly wasn’t loyal to his team, his teammates or his contract. It’s sad that an absolute hero has left us under these circumstances but King did exactly the right thing to restore locker room harmony and a team first philosophy. And I’m the first to admit I wouldn’t have done it, but it was 100% right.

I had a busy day yesterday and so I’m late with this post. The match sims are the things that get track watchers excited and we had our first real hit out yesterday. Others have covered them very well and it’s interesting to get different perspectives. There is no doubt there is a different intensity this year. Last year at this time it was ball movement with minimal contact progressing to dancing with your sister stuff as the PS went on. This year there is pretty serious stuff going on, hence concussions and I’d think more injury and soreness. I’m surprised Leb hasn’t been mentioned because to me he was the clear standout in the sims. Played midfield, won the ball at clearance, was used as an outlet player and got heaps of the ball. Kossie was the other one who got it a lot and while some of his delivery was very good some needs to be tidied up. Jai Culley continued to impress and Moose was good although Gawny wasn’t there but I thought he had the better of Tom Campbell. Kolt, Trelley and XT also showed their stuff as did Sharpie who seems to have progressed significantly from last year. Blake Howes also did some really good stuff particularly in the half field drills. Just for the record I haven’t given up hope on Jeffo, to me he is still an interesting watch.

Yes. Keep well.

Just back from training and I was really impressed by Trelly again. I think he is a different type of player to Kossie. Kossie is the burst type player with, as we know, exceptional X factor and is more a small forward with patches in the midfield. He's the Bobby Hill, Charlie Cameron style of player. I think Trelly is different, more in the mould of NWM. In the training drill he covers so much ground and is continually running. He will link up time and time again in them. He's very quick and evasive and at this point his skills are just good, not exceptional like Kossie. But he looks like he could play as a line breaker of HB, he could play through the midfield and he can clearly play forward. It will be a really interesting watch over the PS. The other to continually impress is Jai Culley. He's going to be a very difficult match up because he's a very strong overhead mark for the position he plays. Midfield or wing? Do those positions exist under King the way they did under Goodwin? There really haven't been any match sims in the last few weeks to know as the players for the main have been in about 3 different groups all doing different things. We will start to get a better idea of where players sit in January. It's also interesting we have guys in rehab with concussion protocols which adds weight to the observation that training is much more physical under King than it was under Goody.

Yes. Setting up now.

Puts you to shame Ghosty. Love CF.

A good summary by all the track watchers so I've only these observations to add: Trelly was leading his running group easily and looks very fit. He was cruising along while those behind him were clearly working hard. He also shows great footy IQ when in sims. Riley Onley is not slow. I had that fear when we drafted him but today watching him he covered the ground really well and is a fascinating watch. Hendo did little if anything. He's been doing lots of running but not today. Hope his groin hasn't flared. Tommy Matthews is a chunky young man with a terrific grin 😁. Not doing much at the moment but I'm predicting "fan favourite" status. I really like our trainers helping the rehab group. Players like Shane McAdam are doing heaps of running which I'd imagine is fairly difficult and boring but the trainers were often running with him (and others) offering encouragement. Same with Tommy Matthews who is doing all sorts of different hopping and jumping exercises. The trainers are really good with their advice and encouragement. They didn't run with Bowser because they couldn't keep up! Tmac looks in ripping shape and Jed Adams was back today having missed Monday. Oscar Berry, who has a very similar body shape to Sesto (but taller) looks very comfortable in all the drills with good skills. He is a project but he's well along the way, not like some of our other B rookies. We will know fairly quickly if we've "found one".

Sorry Hardtrack, that seemed a fairly steep criticism hence my response. Each to their own, as I said I'm not a fan but I do recognise the beauty of her voice of which, of course, there have been and are many.

Who misses out?

Wine snobs and music snobs, I can’t work out who is the more insufferable. Why are people so intolerant of other people’s tastes. Music is largely entertainment and I’d suggest Whitney is well up there in providing that and has one of the greatest female voices of all times. Having said that I’m not a big fan.

I've not much to add but: Trelly looked really really good with his running and skills. Those having issues with using pick 12 need not worry I reckon. Lindsay is starting to look really good, he was involved and skillful. The full ground drills were significantly different to last year. Last year the focus was on ball movement and little if any contact. This year is was match practice with the ball being fully contested. There is no luvy dovey stuff at training this year. There is good spirit but no whopping and hollering at the slightest opportunity. Very business like. Culley very good. Windsor and CJ the "go to" players out of the backline. Kentfield a good chance to be this years bolter, moves well, good endurance, strong hands and a beautiful kick. I'm excited. It might just be me but Vines looks like the weight of the world is off his shoulders looking so much more relaxed this year. Did I mention Trelly? Oscar Berry looks like the first B rookie from a BB background that looks like he could make it. Sparrow in everything. That is all......

I loved the girls effort but the reality against NM was we scored 10 points after quarter time. Brisbane scored 8 points to half time. NM’s defence was outstanding aided by a fantastic midfield of Garner, Riddell and Sheeran. Congrats to NM, easily the best team over the season and deserved to win.