binman

Agree it is nothing to die in a ditch over. But for me i have started having some doubts about the judgement of both Pert and Bartlett. The members forum, the agm bartletts comments after the port game and some other eyebrow raisers. And a lapse in judgement in this case just adds to my concerns

Which reminds me of the irony of trump jnr 'writing' a book called triggered about triggering the snowflake left. Ironic because he and his dad and most of his acolytes gets so beserkley triggered at the drop of a hate (eg donnies response to karl rove and the wall Street journal). And the irony of the Republicans, the party of freedom of the individual, bleating about the evils of cancel culture when anyone who doesn't toe the trump line or has the temerity to vote on conscience get torn to shreds and in some cases censured by their party.

Exactly. Leaving aside any discussion about the choice the venue by the coterie and whether criticism of the club is valid and/or fair, it is a stupid decision by pert and Bartlett to be involved. Without their involvement its just a fund-raiser by some dees fans. At worst it is highlighted and some comments and jokes are made about typical establishment, rich mfc supporters and reinforcement of stereotypes. Maybe a codabeens song. Basically no blow back on the club at all. But having the CEO AND President means quite rightly the club are seen to endorse the event and venue. Now the club is exposed So again, leaving aside how fair this is, you have to question their thinking - particularly pert who is probably on 200k a year. And particularly in the current environment. Where is the assessment of the reputation risk? They made some noise about 'listening to their female members', so they are seemingly at least alert to the issue (though to be honest those comments were cringe worthy - one they didn't need to say anything, two they ended up sounding paternalistic- l mean you change because you think it's the right thing to do, not coz you are listening to the little ladies). And then they provide the media the opportunity to bring that change up in a negative context (by the by the critics of the abc here is ridiculous. They're not allowed to do what every other news outlet does - write something that gets clicks retweets, attention etc etc?). There is every chance they had no idea of the venue. If so that is simply unprofessional. Again particularly by pert. And if they did know and the reputational risk didn't register then, Houston, we have a problem. A stupid own, goal.

Excellent post. Agree with all of it. You are spot on about goodwin having no more excuses. There were certainly mitigating factors in 2019 and 2020 (injury and a pandemic respectively) but they have basically used up his get out of jail cards. If we don't make finals, i'm convinced that no matter what extenuating circumstances there might be, he wont be there next year. Because, as you say where we are at in terms of the list, development etc anything less would be fail. Agree about our list profile and the importance of having a core of key players in their prime age range. Added to the invaluable AFL experience that brings, that group is also at their peak fitness and strength wise. Which will be critical this year with 30 minute quarters and 75 rotations. And credit where it is due, they have finally brought in some players in Rivers, Bowey and Laurie to help address our kicking problems. And in Kozzie and Jackson they have added the x factor every contender need. I watched much more football last season than I ever have. Prior to last season i barely watched non Melbourne games, save for finals, the occasional big game and may be one or two quarters of random games. Watching so many games really reinforced your point about over rating the lists of other teams. There are lot of average players and a lot of players with rubbish kicking skills. We have top 4 list. And i think we are good chance of making top 4. Of course i wont be surprised if we don't. I will be surprised if we don't make the 8.

How many days does vic have to be covid free for no restrictions on entering WA?

1.30? I assume it is a pretty small pool at this stage, but that is ridiculous.

I feel for the young fella.

Actually it is. Presumably Rowell is some crazy odds (i'd be guessing even money?), but leaving that block head aside, Jackson is exactly the sort of player who is a good chance in the Rising Star. Unlike the stupid Brownlow its not purely a midfield award (though LJ will play some mid time, no doubt). And umpies are not the people voting. And like nik nat, LJ has the mix of attributes that stand out even in low possessions game the judges (a mix of footy journos and ex players IIRC) love. Plus i am convinced he is going to be an absolute star. I've convinced myself. A pineapple on LJ it is.

A As per above, yes. But also all the AFLW games

Fair point about the impact of missing a chunk of preseason but the fact the club is talking about him playing round one points to how critical he is to our fortunes. Of course it would great if he snagged more goals. The goals will come but ATM they are a bonus. His two key performance indicators are inside 50 tackles and pressure acts. No other player in our team comes close to the pressure he applies in our forward half. Which is an indictment really, but there it is. Forward half pressure is one of the most important elements of modern footy. Obviously if you can't trap the ball inside 50 you miss opportunities to score, but really the big issue is allowing the ball to be moved out of the forward 50 under little pressure. Lack of pressure not only creates an opportunity for the for the switch and/or easy transition, lack of pressure on the ball carrier means that the clearing kick, the chip kick to a free defender and even a handball, is more likely to hit a target. And it is an area we have been very poor in since 2018. Think of how often the ball has just bounced out of our 50 and pinged down the other end of the ground. This as feature in all of our really bad losses last season. And think of Richmond. Forward half pressure is key to their success.

Rubbish. If we go though the season unbeaten the dees would almost certainly lose the Granny. Coz that would inflict the most pain

I might have to put this into google translate.

Higgins and Smith bring their average age up! Both are 32, and surely are past peak fitness. Cameron will help a bit I guess, but given he is a key forward he's not going to be giving their dad's army midfield mids a chop out.

This is the headline etc on the AGE at the moment: No change: Bombers clash with Hawthorn to remain at Marvel The AFL have rejected Essendon’s request to move their round one fixture with Hawthorn from Marvel Stadium to the MCG, meaning less fans will be able to attend the match. Shows where where are in the pecking order i reckon. As it should read: The AFL have rejected Essendon’s request to move their round one fixture with Hawthorn from Marvel Stadium to the MCG, meaning less fans will be able to attend the match BUT DEMON FANS CAN WATCH THEIR TEAM AT THEIR HOME GROUND NOT TH E OLD SOULESS JOKE OF AN AFL GROUND - JOKELANDS

I think a huge factor this season will be aerobic fitness. And it is a factor that works in our favor. We were super fit coming into last season. Unfortunately the 20 min quarters took away our comparative advantage. I think it is a reasonable assumption that we have at least maintained, and hopefully improved our fitness. If this is the case we will be well prepared for the change back to 30 minute quarters. 20% more game time, 10 minutes a quarter of 'red time' and a reduction in interchange rotations will make a huge impact. You could see it in the tigers practice game how the game opened up at the end of each quarter. And just as was often the case last year, even with the shorter quarters, we were at our best late. I thought the Cats would do ok last year, in large part because the shorter quarters would mitigate against having such an old team. I predict the converse will be true this year and they will be found out big time. I don't think they will make the eight.

I guess not. But given we were so close to making the finals last year i would have thought more would have us in the 8. For context the bookies currently have us at 2.50 to make the eight. That's not far off even money.

Fantastic

Wow. Rock bottom confidence about the dees.

Correct. With one exception. MFC is not on the list at all

But this isn't politics. This is football. Football is passion.

I could have saved myself 20 minutes of writing .....

I respect your opinion on this, and I consider myself someone who is pretty civic minded and supports fairness, but in this instance i couldn't disagree more about moving. In addition to the points I have made previously I'd at the following ones: Its our home game at our home ground. The bombers are talking about moving their home game from their home ground. Makes no sense at all. The bombers made a decision to make Docklands their home ground. IIRC they had the option of making the G their home ground but chose the Docklands because with the deal they brokered they thought they would make more money there. Erroneously as it turns out They chose the Docklands over the g knowing that full well that with a capacity of 50k there would be occasions where their fans would be disenfranchised and no be vale to secure tickets. IIRC this was the cause of a fair bit of angst from bomber's fans and comes up as an issue whenever the ground is likely to sell out - and has come up again for much the same reason The docklands is the bomber's bed. A bed they sought out for profit. They can lie in it. How would people go with the idea of the Cats asking for a similar swap away from Kardinia park? We are the oldest football club in the word and have played at the G for 140 odd years. History is important. In reality how many extra fans would actually be able to attend? We might get say 35k people to the game if it is played at the G. In that scenario only 15k extra people would be able to attend. The MCC members should be factored into the equation. It is their ground. And the majority of members are dees fans. Why should those members be disenfranchised? (note: i'm not a a member) Grand finals are played at the G. not docklands. Our record has not been great at the G in the last few years and we need to take every single opportunity to play games there The Docklands is a soulless, rubbish venue that most fans hate going to. I certainly do. Why should i and other fans have to have a lesser experience because the bombers want to play their game at our home ground The AFL should recognize the fixturing rubbish we put up with last year and shut down the talk about a move Why is this only coming out now - two weeks before the game? Surely the time for the bombers to address this was prior to the fixture being announced, or if not then soon after (ie last December). People, businesses, the MFC, the MCC etc etc have made plans based on the fixture. It is just not on to make any changes this late in the day. On the above point, like many fans, the thing I missed the most is watching the dees play at the G. And have been waiting a long time for this day. I have made plans. I have been waiting with keen anticipation. Now two weeks out the bombers want to mess with this because they couldn't get their act together to advocate for the change three months ago? I will be furious if there is a change and we have to play docklands. Furious. And I suspect I wont be the only MFC fan to feel that way. If the club does a deal that fury would directed at the MFC and in addition to causing reputational damage would very likely impact on membership sales, offsetting any financial benefit a 'deal' might bring us. No likely financial deal or any compensation would offset the impact of a move Who knows what might happen this year. What if there is another wave and the clubs have to go into another bubble? Say the wave comes after round one. And we don't get another chance to play at the G all season. Bird in the hand. Fury magnified. Football is tribal. And if there is one club i have no desire to 'help out, it is the bombers who were guilty of the most comprehensive, systemic program of cheating in the history of our sport.

Sorry buck, but the MFC should not even entertain any discussion at all. In fact pert should take the opportunity to publically shoot this down today. Go on the radio or whatever and make it crystal clear there is no way we will move. Doing so would sene a message to members that club understands the importance of this game, the first live proper game we can go to since 2019, being played at our spiritual home. The message should there is more important things than money. As all the members who didn't ask for a refund last year know.

Donald Mac gel?

I'm with you kev. He's got something i reckon. Personally i'd play him as a forward.