binman

Spot on GNF, was going to post the same thing. I'm spewing i didn't take the $8 at the start of the season. He'll win and $3.25 is still overs. Its only that rprice becasue he is yet to be nominated but barring injury (heaven forbid) there's no way they won't nominate him, no way. Get on this week peeps.

'I'm jealous of Hogan. If i was playing against him i'd king hit him behind play when he wasn't watching. Like that good looking Smith fella. See how pretty he is after a broken nose. I could mark and crumb. Hogan will never reach my level. Did i say i'd king hit him?' At least i think he said that. I could be wrong.

I largely agree with the above, though i'm not sure if you are implying if the Toump is not consistent with his effort. I reckon he rarely shirks it and on Sunday was was hard at it all day. Lyon was right to point out the two Watts example and right to say the first could have cost us the game as it allowed them to maintain their momentum they had going (which bails should have also impacted on by slotting that shot after the 3 q siren). From my usal spot at the far end of the ground i could see he didn't go hard enough at ball and let out an audible "Wattsy!". But unluike other days there were a number of examples of him going hard at the ball. Interesting stat for Watts was that he had 14 pressure acts. Only 4 other players had more (Vanders had a whopping 26, but he was the outlier, the other 3 were around the 17 mark). He is usually good with this stat and i think it often goes unnoticed.

Head high hit. Concussed him - he was brought from the ground, obviously hurt. Subbed off and at risk of missing next game. Can't believe people don't think there is a very big chance he'll go. He should go. The rule is clear - hit them in the head when there is an alternative and you are in trouble. Ask Sam Day.

Smart really replay sucks. If you haven't used it before you'll find out why in a few minutes. The best bet for a free replay is big pond video . Go to AFL tab and scroll across and you will see each quarter. It only ever has the two games up (usually the last 2) so there is a window when you can watch it. The AFL now restricts their normal replay to AFL live pass subscribers, which bulltish. Also bulltish that they wait 12 hours before putting it up given they are charging people

THta's an unsettling photo of Grimes Barra

On the AFL highlights i just watched Leigh Matthews, honest to god, called it good clean play. Well perhaps that was his problem as a player - he thought ironing out unsuspecting players was good clean play. Crazy actually coz he says that it is fine when a player knows he is going to get hit from a sheppard, implying Jones is. He was saying this whilst the slow mo clearly showed Jones had stopped chasing and clearly was not expecting to get hit as evidenced by the fact he didn't brace for conatct at all (which obviously he would have had he expected contacted). Strange.

Bob that is so funny you should say that. I was thinking whilst at the game (after his brilliant effort to get around a player on the outer wing - no ground game Leigh, really?) that i can't wait for his 'break out game'. He just looks so rock solid. 3 lazy goals and 20 touches. His break out game will be a monster. By the by i loved after we got a goal in the second (i think Newtons free kick goal) that came after jessie either dropped a Lumumba drilled pass or didn't quite get to it he went to HL and apologized. Also dirty on himself for dropping a couple. Love it.

His one chance? His effort to nearly take a great grab in the third but not quite drag it down but fight on like a tiger , handball to Jones who kicked to Hogan for a goal was critical.

They looked pretty fresh. Ran away with it in the end. Good work Misso

Give the guy a break. It wasn't his job to keep records, it was danks. Good on him for reinventing himself and having the wherewithal to change careers, not to mention the discipline to get an MBA - difficult at the best of times let alone under the sort of pressure he has been under. EFC threw him under the bus at the first opportunity. He's not a villain.

Yes i agree, they train until stuffed then freshen up. Good point, well made.

Playing the long game

But that isn't considered tapering? I assume then tapering has a very narrow, specific meaning in sport. That said the Adelaide example noted above (with Craig as the fitness advisor) was widely reported as tapering.

An enjoyable thread. Differences of opinions without a single rude word or dismissive post. Long may it reign.

Agree 100%. Lack of leg speed is a huge issue for us.

Fair point, particularly on Tyson. He does look proppy doesn't he. Perhaps training is flattening him and playing doesn't cause too much extra drama and they hope he'll come good through a freshen up, which if my (uneducated) theory is correct has commenced and will continue for a few weeks (taking in the bye). Not having a shot at track watchers like Saty (honestly) but i thought it interesting that a commentator (not sure which one, or even radio or TV) raised in their call the 14km run. It is likely they got mail from an opposition track watcher (all clubs training is monitored to some extent by opposition clubs). It was this comment that Roos was asked about in his post game presser. Roos was evasive on the 14km run (mentioned maybe it was 7) but acknowledged it had been a big week(s?) on the track and said they were learning and perhaps had gone too hard. He also said they would have a light week this week, which is apparently what has happened. Now as posters have noted training is calibrated to the nth degree, a clear plan would be followed and little would be left to chance in terms of loads, intensity etc. Given that, it is very unlikely that they had accidentally trained them too hard or that they would suddenly change plans mid stream and have a light week. No it is much more likely the hard training followed by a freshen up was part of a clear plan to i suspect maximise the chance of winning the next 3 games. Perhaps they did something similar at the beginning of the year, which if so was successful with the team looking fitter and faster (injuries notwithstanding) and snagging a couple of crucial wins (we could easily be win less now). They would be be aware of the importance of wins and also of how badly they tired in the second half of last year. I'm assuming this all goes into their planning for training loads.

Yep, pretty much. I mean with our injuries we weren't a realistic chance anyway. I reckon they looked at and figured they'd make the best of it. To me the logical game to peak for is the Queens birthday game. Eddy's annoying but he's right about it being our grand final

I posted early in the week that I thought it possible we are training super hard now (during a run of games against the top 3 teams in the league) and will taper to best prepare for a run of more winnable games. No coincedence they had a very light week. I suspect in footy they have two taper periods if finals ate realistic. Port are an interesting case study. They are now running out of gas in last quarters where last year that was their strength

So sendoff2014 lets ignore the fact that joining a fan forum and immediately posting something contentious is classic troll behavior (and extremely lazy troll behavior i might add - i mean please if i was going to troll a football fan site i'd go deep undercover hard core Donnie Brascoe style - 2-3 years obsessive posting about all things , lets say Hawks, revel in the minutiae, before dropping my 'bombshell' - but hey that's me, the younger generation just want immediate gratification. And. Just. Can't . Wait). And Lets ignore the reality DL has had its fair share of such dimwitted trolls Instead lets take you on face value that you are a genuine demon fan and what you say about the reasons Watts being dropped and him not playing for the dees again are true (or to be kind you believe them to be true because someone has given you the good oil and you couldn't wait to join DL to share the news). Why do you think Roos would say he asked to be dropped as opposed to just saying he was dropped because he was in wretched form? If indeed his plan was to never pick him again what do you think his motivation was to say Watts asked to be dropped? I mean it doesn't make any sense. You'd just drop him and never pick him again. And if you had read DL for any length of time a big chunk of dees fans would say good riddance and see as it further proof of Roosy's genius. But if you did want to trade him you probably would't want him running around in the VFL. Hard to impress potential suitors running around out the back of Cranbourne i would have thought, but there you go. Oh and by the by out of curiosity who is your favorite MFC half back flanker from the 80's or 90's?

Spot on boss dog. I suspect rumours of hard training sessions (which by the by curiously haven't been mentioned on DL) suggest they are going gsrd now before tapering to be in the best shape when we hit a block of winnable games (using the bye as an opportunity to refresh). Resting jamar and hogan fit with this

More bollocks Bb. Hair testing is about illicit drugs not PEDs. The players should flat out refuse hair testing and should refuse to be part of any testing regime outside of their wada obligations

BB does you post count refer to the number of posts you've made in this thread?

That's bollocks BB. WADA's decision to appeal does not negate the accuracy of reds comments about the standing of the tribunal members and the fact that is offensive to suggest they were somehow complicit in a corrupt, rigged outcome I think you're getting ahead of yourself

Great clip LDC. Neil at his peak, though i have to say he's maintained his brilliance for an amazingly long time - in fact has anyone ever been so good for so long? Perhaps Bob Dylan but he had a big period where he released nothing or rubbish until Modern Times. Robert Plants stuff in the last decade has been as good as anything he did with zep (Raising Sand with Alison Krauss is a stone cold classic) but there as along hiatus. But Neil keeps knocking them out of the park