binman

Agree. With one exception. Last year's finals

Yes. Can you please post that link in this thread. Thanks in advance.

No biggie.

I'm not excusing the bullying. But you did have red hair.

Can you put the link here (ie in this thread) please. I'll use it to buy myself a ticket

Bloody paywall

I can't stand the gossip columnists like Tom Browne and his ilk. But I don't count them as journalists (I have never been a Sam McClure fan, but at least he is a journalist) But I don't get the angst towards proper journalists. It is their job to report news and if they can create noise all the better. Why? Because in the old speak, it sell papers. This has been the case since the first newspaper rolled of the press in the 1800s. Don't shoot the messenger. Shoot the editor if you must shoot someone, but the blame for rubbish like the sun's Bartlett crusade should be sheeted home to the owner and ultimately consumers. If we stopped clicking they would stop reporting.

I know you are (half) joking, but you are right. Only the teams that view themselves as legitimate contenders for the flag would have loaded during this period to the extent that it could be a big factor in a loss in these few weeks. That's because their goal is to win the flag. Id put the dees, freo, cats, lions, blues and the saints in this category. The swans might include themselves too I guess, though I don't. All the teams who view just making finals as the goal, are desperate for every win and would see this period as a brilliant chance to take some top 4 scalps. As would clubs like the bombers, who are not a finals team, but still desperate for any win. All the teams I mentioned as top 4 teams have struggled in the last few weeks in terms of rhe win loss ratio, with exception of the cats who are the outlier in that they have won their last 5 (albeit until last week, most games were pretty scrappy). It is worth noting about the cats that their game plan is not as dependent on aerobic fitness as that of the dees, swans and saints, so therefore they are not as impacted by loading in terms of their 'method' being disrupted too badly (unlike us) I think the lions are much the same, but they have had a much tougher last 5 games than the cats, who didn't play any of the other top 4 contenders, unlike the lions who played the dees, dockers and saints. In the last 5 games the dees have gone 2 wins - 3 losses, the lions 2w - 3l, the dockers 3w - 2l, the saints 2w - 3l and the swans 3w - 2l. You dont win a flag in June. Are the lions as poor as we made them look? I don't think so. Same goes for the saints. And I still think freo are our main danger.

She's not even mentioned in that article.

There is fair argument to be made that Carltons twenty plus years in the wilderness is a direct result of thst cheating and the penalties they copped - in particular the draft related ones

I wouldn't take it to heart.

Why?

The quote from the linked AFL article is from the journo (Troy Daniel). As far i as know Scott has NEVER said they upped the 'player’s training loads in between the Bulldogs and Eagles fixtures". And certainly didn't in the presser Daniels references. Nor does Scott mention a 'heavy training block over the break'. That is a complete fabrication from Daniels, at least based on the comments that Scott made in the presser, which is what the article is about. The best that could be said is that Daniels innocently interpreted Scotts comments as meaning that the cats upped the 'player’s training loads in between the Bulldogs and Eagles fixtures' and that they had a 'heavy training block over the break' . But that is being generous, because whilst the interpretation MIGHT be true, Scott did not make EITHER comment. At worst Daniels is making stuff up to suit an AFL narrative - nothing to see here, loading isn't a thing, every game is a cracker with poor performances being part of the rhythm of a season etc, etc. It is not Daniels job to interpret meaning, it is his job to report accurately what was ACTUALLY said. Did you listen to what Scott said in the post march presser, or read the direct quotes from him in the article? This is exactly what he said (spoiler alter - there is NO mention of upping the loads between the Bulldogs and Eagles fixtures or a 'heavy training block over the break' - the closest thing he mentions is 'the middle period of the year' - and it more tban a bit a stretchto intetptet thst as meaning a two week period): “It’s what we do through the middle period of the year, but we’re doubling down even more than we have done in previous years,” he said post match on Saturday. “We might cost ourselves a little short term but we’re going to try and set up our program to be at our best when it counts “If we finish ninth because we try to prime ourselves to be at our best later in the year, then we’ll live with that. “We haven’t been able to execute that over the last few years anyway. I don’t think that’s a reason to change that philosophy, it’s a reason to do it better.

Great song, great album, all time great muso. That song is actually not on this playlist, but is in spirit (designed to be played in order). https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0jVFrv1QofHppZWV7CWxwv?si=a6808121ffec4345

I thought the original version was by the Everly brothers?

Stewart will get a minimum of 3 weeks, likely 4 if it is assessed as severe impact, which it should be because Prestia was in a world of trouble. It was slickening watching him try to lft his chest and head off the ground. Hard not to fear the impact that concussion might have on Dion down the track (ie post playing career).

Can we change the thread title to Koz hurts. Then we can sing it to this tune:

Quote not edit

That's exactly right. Our game plan, our 'method' as Goody has been calling it, is completely dependent on players doing the sort of all team gut running and covering the sort of distances we saw on Thursday night. Our offence is completely dependent on that all team gut running. Take it away and our scoring falls off a cliff. The same is true of Freo. But not of Carlton or the Cats We saw the difference to our offence on Thursday night. Brown played better, but was no star. Same goes for weed. Our three genuine talls (Brown, weed, jacko) could only manage two goals between them (and ironically Jackson's goal was from a ground ball get, not a mark). Yet, we pulverised the lions, kicked 16 goals, our inside 50 to score ratio was off the charts and we took 14 marks inside 50 to their 8 (a function of of our all team, gut running creating free players inside 50 - a good example is the possession chain that ended with a pass from Jackson to spargo inside 50 - he had 2 or 3 free players he could have kicked to) Which shows how shallow much of the media analysis is, and how unhelpful it is in terms of helping fans understand what is happening. As an example, montagna diagnosis of what was going wrong was our forward line, and in particular our talls, was not functioning. But that was a symptom, not a cause. At least partly based on that analysis, he suggested there is a chance we could miss the 8. I know he probably said that to create clicks, but I mean c'mon - if you are a fan thinking the wheels have fallen off after 3 losses and trust his judgement you are perhaps going to believe his nonsense. Take our all team gut running away and our 'method' simply does not work. As many posters noted, we often seemed so stagnant and moved the ball so slowly in our 3 losses. I have no doubt that was both a direct function of the impact of loading (ie tired) and also a mitigation strategy (ie conserve energy and try to stay in games by taking the speed out of it, and try and limit getting exposed on the spread and/or with fast ball movement the way all 3 opposition teams ultimately did). Two other variables to consider in terms of the impact of loading are age profile of the list and athlete types. The performance of younger players like Jackson will likely be impacted more by heavy training blocks than seasoned players like gawn. Jackson struggled big time last year in this phase, and again this year. Gawn, not so much. As -coach- noted, there are power players like trac and runners like nibbler and langdon. Each type will have different programs and will be impacted differently by the loading they do. Anyone watching could see trac lacked his usual power and drive away from the contest in our three losses. Equally, they could see how much more dynamic, energised and powerful he was on Thursday. Same is true of viney, harmes, oliver and sparrow We allow opposition teams to bring an extra, sometimes two, to stoppages. We rarely match that extra (i don't think we have done so once this season), instead relying on our inside bulls to at least halve the contest or if we lose it, put pressure on the clearing disposal. Doing so means we can play our extra as a loose down back. Again, this is a key part of or method as when on we intercept down back and slingshot forward. The method breaks down if Trac, Oliver, viney, harmes and Sparrow are down on power and strength. We lose more clearances, but perhaps more significantly we can't put our normal pressure on and opposition teams get out the front of stoppages and/or cleaner, unpressured entries inside 50 as a result. Conversely, when fatigued, when we do win a clearance we lack our normal drive and power from the contest, meaning our clearing kicks and handballs are often under pressure, which causes the sort of turnovers and high number of opposition intercept marks we saw in the three losses. Again, if we look at the stats as symptoms not cause, we can see the impact in the numbers. We are the best team in the AFL for scores off turnovers - it is a critical element of our method. In our three losses our scores from turnovers fell off a cliff. On Thursday night we scored 77 points from turnovers. I thought it was a real insight into Goody's coaching philosophy that he not once looked to match the opposition's extra at stoppages in our three losses.

The most important distinction between caro and 90% of tbe other other nongs paid to discuss football is tbat she is a trained and super experienced journalist.

His mental health issues? What are they? Not ADHD obviously, because that is not a mental health issue, it is a neurodevelopmental disorder. And blaming it for his behaviour is pathetic, and insuting to people with ADHD and similar neuro diverse conditions.

Chris Scott never 'clarified that what Geelong were doing was for a 14 day period'. That is total bulltish It seems you have convinced yourself, literraly in spite of the mountain of evidence to tbe contrary, that loading is a myth. That what these elite, professional sporting organisations are doing is a couple of weeks of harder training and some maintenance. That when the coach of one of the teams says we have always done it, but not 'well enough' and that they have to go harder to have any chance of winning, he is talking about going harder for a two week block. From where I sit that is completely illogical. But it is logical for you, so I guess your mind is made up (unless of course a trusted expert like a current or retired footballer, comes out and categorically says it happens and goes into specific detail about the length intensity etc. Coz you know, why would they not) Each to their own.

Plenty of evidence in this thread of posters who can't see that. Surreal.

You may be right, at least in terms of why Selwood chose to raise it. But it seemed to me that Scott would have preferred he didn't do so.

Yep, good call. There was touch of Hollywood about hat effort as well