binman

I am assuming you know that because you asked him?

I didn't realise may was aboriginal. there you go.

Some interesting and valid points. I am actively reconsidering my position(s). The scoring chains from kick out stat is interesting. It will be fascinating to see if that average across the board increases (one assumes it will) and if so how dramatically. Good to know we were the best at it last year. Might mean we have an advantage this year in that area. Will be fascinating to see what strategies Goody (and other coaches) employ from the kick out and which players are chosen to kick (potentially different players for different strategies).

Sounds like you could be do well be to be a rehabber. What with pints for breakfast and all.

I'm persuaded by George on the outer's argument that the 6 6 6 set up won't make the sort of impact some are suggesting. Yes having six forwards behind the arc will give players coming out of the centre more time to dispose of the ball (meaning cleaner entries). But in reality there are not that many direct centre clearances. Also teams wanting to negate the impact of a dominant ruckman can use their wingers defensively. They can also go man on man and work to create an immediate stoppage and create a secondary ball up. And there will be no restrictions in that scenario. As I noted in the impact of rule changes I reckon the change to the kick out rules will have the greatest impact and may result in higher scores and therefore blowouts.

Yes. But you swap each year. Same as nfl

In the AFL the real solution is each team play's each other only once. it is the only fair system. Sure it means much fewer games but there you go. They could expand the finals system potentially to offset (a bit) the issue of reduced games. Perhaps have a wildcard. But that's not going to happen with the AFL's thirst or TV revenue

No, it must be me who is confused.You're right the system i proposed is what will happen. I'll try and find the audio and see what Plough's fix was

Plough Wallace was onto this a couple of weeks back on SEN. Gave the AFL a right spray. His solution was for the AFL to admit their mistake and have cross over semis - ie the team that finishes top on each conference plays the team that finished second in the other. Seems logical, easy to do, fair and would require no logistical changes. As he pointed out the conference B teams would still get their chance to make the GF - and would do if good enough. But in all likelihood neither would win, leaving the A sides to play off. Either way the GF has the two top sides. Simples.

Maybe they could give them a dees thow rug (with both logos) instead of a scarf

I grew up loving boxing, in large part because of Ali. But by the time I was an adult I could no longer get passed the barbarity of two people trying to knock each other senseless. Primitive. UFC appals me. Its popularity even more so (it is huge - i had a beer in a suburban beer barn recently and was told by a bar tender by far their biggest events was UFC fights. A lock out). But despite its brutality iufc s significantly less damaging to participants than boxing as bouts are short and there are far less blows to the head - which is the cause of the real damage in boxing

And or perhaps one pre or post game event in the member's area per year. Or passes to one of the post game thingies rhe past players put on (eg in the Harrison room)

Give the mcc mfc members some extra swag - maybe a cap. And a pin they can wear to indicate they are a duel member. The pin would have the dual effect of playing into rhe elite vibe MCC members like as well as subtlety shaming those without the pin.

Some of the kicking and handball were first class from us. Some nice Mark's too. Jeez Newman has some toe and is a complete footy natural and crumber. Great combination of attributes.

Going into comedy apparently

That makes zero sense. We were cooked against wc because our last three home and easy game were like finals , we didn't make top 4, played our third final across the other side of country, in the heat against a side coming off a weeks rest. Surprise, surprise the team that finished top 4 and had a weeks break won the gf. We needed to finish top 4. A very large part of why we didn't was the interrupted pre seasons of key players in tmac and viney. And the hawks, swans and cats all hit the wall last year. The swans"s season never got going in large part due to having lots of players coming into the season under done.

I don't understand this post (and similar ones)? Who is complaining? Of course we would all love there to be no injuries. Of course the club will 'get on with it the best they can'. Of course the fitness team will do a good job, just as they have done in the last few years. And the less than ideal rehab and injury list won't necessarily derail our season. We remain one of the premiership favorites for a reason. We bat deep now and as has been pointed out most players in rehab are still maintaining their fitness and we only have one key serious injury (lever). But our rehab and injury list is a factor that should be considered when assessing our season and how we might go this season. Why is there a problem acknowledging or discussing this issue? Its not being negative or all doom and wish. It is just dealing in reality.

True nuff. But as Buttifant notes the impact of interrupted preseasons is not just related to recovery and fitness, but also to understanding game plan and implementing new strategies (eg because players can't participate in drills and simulations). On measuring or assessing the impact during the season it is very hard to do - certainly from where we sit. Every year we find out post season that players who appeared to be out of form were in fact carrying niggles they had all season(Jones wit his neck being a good example) or never got to 'full fitness'.

All well and good. Except for the fact that accepted wisdom of experts is that individual players who have interrupted pre season rarely ever get to optimal fitness and teams that have a high number of players in rehab during the off season invariably feel that impact though the season, including the back half. Sam McClure interviews 'sports science guru' David Buttifant about this vert topic. Interesting stuff: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=331320

As you say many players have have had interrupted preseasons because of a range of issues, notably in a high number of cases surgery. The whole team has had shorter pre seasons because of where we finished - which certainly would have an impact on how much conditioning they can put into players. Whilst in of itself this is not huge - and is an issue all successful clubs have to deal with - it absolutely compounds the first issue (interrupted preseasons). Further compounding the problem is because of how far we got into finals any required surgeries were later than say the previous year. So less time to recover and get ready for the 2019 season. There is zero doubt that the number of players who have had interrupted preseasons will have a negative impact on our season. Zero. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous (to be clear i know you are not making that suggestion PD). How big an impact is obviously the question but it will be significant. I heard the fitness guy (ex Magpies i think) David Buttifant being interviewed by Sam McClure on SEN making this exact point ie having multiple players with interrupted preseason has a very big impact: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=331320 He made the point that the impact was not just related to recovery and fitness, but also to understanding game plan and implementing new strategies (eg because players can't participate in drills and simulations). They compared us and Collingwood, with the pies basically having no players having had any interruptions (with the exception of 2 long term injuries, Dunn and another and rookie) and us with our truckload of rehabbing players. The comparison was not favorable.

The tribe has spoken. Big ups to the big kohuna for listening.

Yep, good idea. My vote is firmly on having the AFLW on the main board - or at least the game thread.

Nope, sorry Sue they're useless. Besides they have made a formal announcement with a media release.

The club is preparing their advertisement for tomorrow's daily broadsheet (perhaps in the announcements pages - they are still deciding), considering an advertisement in the Truth and is working up a post for MySpace.

Yes, well, no surprise really. Unfortunately. I'd be none too impressed if i was the jaguar exec in charge of the sponsorship deal or their comms department. Ask yourself. Did i use Demonland to keep updated about this announcement or the MFC website? If the answer is the former then that tells you all you need to know about where our comms is at as a club. If you answered the latter you probably don't know we have new BOJ sponsor.