Tarax Club

Early days but... Who's in charge of putting our spine together for next season? Steven May is apparently out the door, Harrison Petty is in limbo (neither forward nor back) and Tmac transitioning to back up. Forward line is twix and inbetween good start early learning and Brody & Co at the Carringbush Retirement Home. List management Guru Lamb is rumoured to have this guy on the back burner as a surprise monster talls recruitment. Expecting King Steven to put his foot down soon.

I'll have bow to your more eclectic music awareness ht. I'm strictly old school. Kraftwerk or Neu! or Brian Eno Music for Spit Roast?

Rumored to be joining Goody for the next season of MKR in Sin City? Australian Lamb Council endorsed of course.

Fur balls…

Cry-O [censure] lickers

Fair assessment WJ. Will showed development in his strength and fitness plus he was honing his ruck craft. Unfortunately his around the ground game didn't match that.

Bub do we detect a whiff of sarcasm in your previous post? Spent my formative years there. Oakleigh Skyline Drive-In was nearby, as was the notorious South Side Six. Phillip Morris is still there but WD & HO Wills has moved on. 3/4 time at Linton St in the team huddle, some preferred to puff on a ciggy than suck on citrus. Saints’ war chest is it just smoke and mirrors?

On the twelfth day of trade radio my list manager gave to me. Twelve players’ melee Eleven Sherrin footballs Ten Kozzies a-leaping Nine umpires umpiring Eight coaches canoodling Seven swans suspended Six players delisted Five goals a-quarter Four-eyes calling “ball” Three Brownlow votes Two trades on-today And a Petracca in player/pick package

Happy Birthday DZ!

Can see that mob being run over by the mower.

Revelation

Yes I'm backing him in, a very determined young man. Perhaps the club should send him to the States to complete his rehabilitation. 'A la Petracca' prior to the main course.

Trust this blog will provide some illumination at the AFL Casino. Somewhere in the mosh pit amongst the media carpetbaggers, player agents, list managers and bank managers there's a barely flickering candle of reality. All those having sleepless nights ensure your PJ's are fire retardant. For the less observant folk this thread did start April 1.

X FACTOR The apprentice wizard in waiting? Shown some tantalising cameos at Casey this year. Needs to build up a tank and body strength. King Steven could decree the 'Cinderella Clause'. Fit the golden forward pocket boot on who is most worthy. AMW could also go back to the future on return.

The apprentice wizard in waiting? Shown some tantalising cameos at Casey this year. Needs to build up a tank and body strength. King Steven could decree the 'Cinderella Clause'. Fit the golden forward pocket boot on who is most worthy. AMW could also go back to the future on return.

The only bloke on the list for his size that goes harder would be Jack Viney.

Hence his four leaf clover rated performance. Dare I say it Spuds get potato water. I'd prefer a Beamish myself!

Beauty and the Beast On his return from a relatively lengthy injury or suspension spell on the sidelines. AJ played an absolute bottler of a game for Casey against Carlton’s VFL side. With five goals and multiple marks. Statistically it would have to be the high water mark of his season. Described in his MFC mini-bio as an ‘athletic brute’. When on song, his value to the team is exemplified by his bullocking efforts and 1%’s. To have an impact at AFL level, his involvement in the game would need to evolve from cameos, to more consistent full blooded efforts. Another preseason may allow him to build a bigger ‘tank’.

Others simply need to get a life…

Luker Kentfield plucked from obscurity ‘24 mid-season draft, tough start to the season just past. Has determination in spades and hint of mongrel about him too. Got better as his season progressed. Been duly rewarded for his efforts with a contract extension for next year. He has the presence of a true forward. Can take a big mark in a pack and reliably finishes by kicking powerfully and straight. Not wishing to put undue expectations on the young bloke. But he is well positioned to emerge next season IMHO.

Admittedly have been an admirer of how Brody Mihocek has gone about in the past. List management team must have been offered the elixir of youth or been dabbling in the dark arts. If this is the primary target of their trade/free agent acquisitions. Tim Lamb as the architect of this purported recruitment? He truly is cooked.

Queensland is no longer the Australian Rules backwater it once was. Neither is the whole state in the shadow of the Victorian and New South Wales hegemony. Brisbane/Gold Coast is now right up there with Melbourne and Sydney as a mega metropolis. Southern migration of families must have boosted under age participation in Aussie rules significantly. Yet the AFL’s colouring in book still myopically misidentifies Lions as Bears. On the Gold Coast the most recent begging bowl of draft concessions, surreptitiously joins the Sun’s other skeletons in the closet. Can visualise CEO Dillon feeding the chickens. Maybe Chris Masters services could again be in demand in the Sunblest State.

Titled ‘The AFL is in danger of becoming a ‘two-tier competition’ as multiple club captains search for the exit door.’ Well worth unpacking this analysis by Chris De Silva. Meritorious of a Walkley nomination or its equivalent for sports journalism. Echoes through a number of posts in this thread. Or is plainly influential. Paul Roos views on the topic get a good airing. He identifies free agency as being beneficial to the powerful clubs. Contradicting the original intention of allowing lower clubs to acquire quality experienced players to assist their return up the ladder to premiership contention. Quote: “It has completely backfired on the AFL and I think it was predictable.” According to Da Silva … ‘a growing number of prominent AFL voices’… which include Eddie McQuire are calling for a change of trade rules to give the clubs some power back. Roos further comments, “I think it’s time that players are contracted to the league and they can be traded anywhere, any time, any place because it has gone way too far in the players’ favour.” Further he said, “Players need to be mindful that if they are signing a contract this is a contract.” The article than continues to illuminate on the trend by clubs to offer very lengthy contracts. Of which Kysaiah Pickett’s is currently the longest. There are pitfalls with that too, serious injury, peak prowess, mental well-being and form decline with age all impinge on maintaining the star quality of a player. (Though modern sport medicine has supported the retention of older players who are still most capable performers). During the last post season trade and draft period, it appears a few strings were pulled by MFC list managers to retain players on existing contracts. Agree with the prevailing view here, that the cozy cartel of clubs and big media dominating the competition needs a shake up. But is the AFL too enmeshed in the facade to be capable of pulling the levers for the benefit of the whole competition? As George Orwell may have said, some clubs are more equal than other clubs.