binman

I doubt it. But if true, good on him.

And he doesn't get the whole 35mm thing.

Adam the Jesus?

The data is anecdotal? So, to clarify when you say 'statistically very few ruckmen are any good after 33' you actually mean your vibes are that there aren't many examples of rucks playing good footy at 35. Glad we cleared that up. Interestingly you list some terrific examples of rucks playing good footy in their mid 30s. Ta. No reason then maxy couldn't follow in their footsteps. By the by, why should I list other examples? You are the one making the argument nor me.

This is such an important point. One of the (many) things that really frustrates me about how footy is covered by the media is the thread of blatant hyprocicy that runs through it. Take the way clarry's situation has been covered Media people love to bang on how great footy clubs are in terms of 'wrapping their arms around' players who are experiencing personal issues. But then all season they get stuck into clarry and the club because it's great for clicks. And give the club very little, if any, kudos for how they have wrapped their arms around claz and support him through what is probably the most difficult period of his young life. And, similarly don't give claz kudos for his commitment and the work he is doing. It's particularly galling when it's ex players who are being hypocritical given every one of them would understand how challenging the whole thing us. Even more galling is the completely disingenuous coverage about all things players struggling with mental health issues. Actually, disingenuous is being kind. The media is a huge part of the problem and rarely a meaningful part of the solution.

This post smacks of a desperate troll trying to earn some some troll clout. Don't get me wrong, you gets points for trying. But between you and me, you really need to work on your craft. I mean, fuchsias forever? C'mon, surely you can do better than that. And a Sam Weideman reference? So 2019! Read some of Cranky Franky"s work for some inspiration. I have faith in you ff - if you work hard in the off season you just might make the senior.

Me too DS. I think we should all take a chill pill and stop letting Tom Morris, of all people, yank our chains. [Insert gif of Morris as an organ grinder and DL as monkeys here].

That's true. But with the exception of the tigers, (who could offer us their number one pick this year, and probably a high draft pick in 2025 and 2026) the bombers, pies and blues can only offer mid first rounders this year. And I'm sure all three clubs are hoping for late first rounders in 2026 and 2027. That ain't gonna get it done.

For the sake of argument, let's say tracc really does want to get to a 'big' club. And for this exercise, let's say he means a Victorian club And let's say a driver for that is not being happy with the club's 'direction', which I assume includes our chances of winning a flag. The big clubs in Victoria are the pies, bombers tigers and blues. The pies missed the 8 after winning their flag and have multiple best 22 players above 30 and a dearth of talented players in the key 50 to 100 game bracket. I'm not going to write them off but i honestly believe we are much better placed in the next few years to win a flag. The blues are still in the hunt for finals this year, just, and have good upside. But they have cripps and walsh - do they really want another bull inside mid? And sure, tracc can go forward- but they have McKay and Curnow The tigers are in full rebuild mode. And so years away from a flag. And the bombers are, well, the bombers. They would love to have tracc, and he actually would be a great fit list wise. But are the bombers realistically closer to a flag than us? And the bombers have more dramas than even us. And leaving aside flag chances, it's hard to see how any of those four clubs get a deal done. The problem for tracc is at this stage of his career, with the salary he would command (not to mention what a club would have to trade and/or give up in terms of draft picks), even if we were willing to trade, there are very few clubs for whom it would make sense to trade him in. For example, for starters the tigers would have to give up their number one pick, which makes no sense for a club in rebuild mode. The pies might be able to get it done, but it would be at the expense of adding yet another best 22 player in the back half of his career. And given he would instantly become their highest paid player, trading in tracc would create chaos in terms of their player payments. The blues, as a starting point, would have to give us Curnow or Mackay and basically all their draft picks. It all feels like a shot accross the bow by tracc and his management. That's to say it is an ambit claim, a flex. As ive noted, they've over played their hand. So I predict they are left with one play - lean into the redemption, reconciliation narrative.

Cranky, can you please show me the data on your last paragraph. It's not that i think that you just made that 'statistic' up, I'm just thinking i might want to to trot that fact out at some stage and I want to have the stats to back it is. Love your work by the way.

Can we talk about maxy's goal kicking please. We can start with how maxy is one of the most accurate players for shots from outside 50 in the history of the game. Deeluded? Rings a bell. Any relation?

Some of your best work there DS - maybe your best. Question- have you and Cranky Franky ever been in the same room together?

Not for the first time, the club's comms was completely hopeless, just as it was last year with the clarry circus and the Grundy situation. I totally understand why he was furious. Pert had done a lot right, but our. comms is appalling and at the end if the day, that's on him.

So, the pies win a flag - and fail to make the finals the following year. Culture issues?

I don't like that. Or should I say, Na, na, na, nanana, nanana hey tracc.

Because it would look ridiculous if we lost. Imagine the reaction from cornes et al if we all lined up for a premiership photo after a loss to the pies.

No way they select hunter. At least i hope not - i would be livid if they did. He doesn't deserve any favours. All the talk about clarry this season has helped hunter escape scrutiny. He was good in the first half of the 2023 season, but has been a joke since - particularly this year. This season we lost 2 senior players for the season before a ball was bounced (gus, smith), had other senior that basically alao missed the whole season through injury (spargo, bbb and mcadam) and had yet another unavailable for two thirds of the season (melk). And to that list we can add Hunter. So, from a list of 44 players, we were down seven senior players, forcing us to play kids. And in addition, multiple senior players missed blocks of games (May, tracc, maxy, salo, bowey, lever). I understand Hunter battled injury, but to he blunt I question his commitment to his rehabilitation - not to mention the club. We desperately needed hardened, senior players on deck and he looked a million miles from a dedicated, elite footballer desperate to get back into the ones. And forget leadership - he's offered us nothing. Hunter is the anti nibbla and I expect we've seen the last of him, both at the dees and as an AFL footballer.

He'll get six minimum. Deserves eight.

They won't know that next Friday night. We can eliminate them.

We want the pies to win do we not? So we can break their hearts next week.

Your first post, and you suggest we don't prioritise beating the pies? And you choose to post under the name of an untouchable legend of the MFC. I'm not being facetious, or funny here, but your post is an insult to the memory of Norm Smith, both for suggesting we tank and that we not play the sort of true heart and soul warrior that the red fox built a dynasty around.

Indeed. Scoring from centre clearances is the key stat, not how many centre clearances you win. They set up very aggressively today, and as dwayne noted Viney looked to get forward of the contest at every opportunity. When that doesn't work it is called cheating, when it works its called confidence.

Go redleggers!

Yes, but only in the sense that we lost losing one of best four mids in gus before a ball was bounced, lost another best four mid (and arguably the best mid in the AFL - and def top 5) in tracc and had viney, who rounds out our best 4 mids, clearly struggling with his shoulder for big chunks of the season. So, two of our best four mids not available and the other two carrying injuries. In terms of our midfield strength, I had expected sparrow to go up a level, but he appears to have plataued. I think kolt will go into the middle sooner rather than later as he looks a natural inside mid. And I haven't given up on laurie. We need to replace gus, but otherwise, IMO, we have other drafting and trading priorities, namely elite kicks who can run and carry (eg players we have been linked with like cummings and houston) and a legitimate forward ruck to give maxy a chop out.

I agree Gator. I think the evidence this season is he has been been fully committed. Tried his guts out every week. But he was never going to get anwhere near his optimal condition given his off season. Get his surgery done and he can attack the preseason. I'm working on the assumption that if the club doesn't trade him the club believes that is what will happen. But we have a big chunk of our salary cap tied up in clarry, which apart from getting value from that investment, it makes it more difficult to bring in a gun on a big contract (it doesn't seem to have impacted our ability to resign a bunch of key players). So, he needs to get back to his best next season.