DemonWA

Interesting hypothetical. Can't see it happening. If he leaves the swans it will be for cash. Perhaps AFL will bankroll a move to Norf haha

The AFL would have had their say on our way forward, and they will review and guide north too. There will always be a bottom side that is essentially on their knees. It's the Roos turn. I don't see a huge issue. Without promotion and relegation, and having a draft system that incentivises clubs being dead last I just see this as part of the cycle of the system.

I think the system rewards struggling clubs- ie. priority picks, parachuting in CEOs and Coaches etc. I can see them turning it around sooner rather than later

Not alot different to when we retired Jr Mac and Cam Bruce went to the Hawks etc.

I'd be completely shocked if were not wearing the indigenous design this week. Playing in Alice seems like a very appropriate move. The jumper has no effect on the result. Continuing to wear the indigenous design as/when appropriate shows that our clubs commitment to reconciliation is league leading - the majority make a token gesture for 1 round only.

Yeah, Nah. Footy departments would consider the remaining fixture in the decision-making. No way it's based on W/L at a stage only. Some of the teams on lower W/L at 10 rounds would have gone just as hard if they believe their run home allowed them to do so

I believe we were 10-0 because of form/confidence/trust. Injuries, infighting, and some form issues are costing us. I don't think teams that are loading would vary their approaches to such a great extent, as you seem to suggest.

All top 4-6 sides would be loading. So in these matches I assume both teams are impacted to a similar extent. Therefore our losses are telling in terms of our form at that time imo. I get that during the loading phase we might come up short against a 6-10th placed team that are just trying to to make the finals and are not loading, but I don't accept that we are loading to a greater extent than any of the other top teams, which is why I'm not supporitng the loading logic all the way through - we can't blame loading for the loss against the cats who have publicly indicated they're also loading. Your points around injury are very valid though

Indeed and I've never suggested they are the same thing.

Is it though? I think it's quite factual to say the team that wins the game is the better team on the day.

Never said I know anything more than the coaches. My point is that people are assuming we 'didn't show our cards' as if it was some sort of tactical master stroke. Ie. Assuming it was a coaching tactic. Perhaps it was, but perhaps the coaches just wanted to stick with the method - we got quite close to hitting the lead in Q4. Making the assumption it was a deliberate tactic makes the loss easier to take, because the alternative is that were sticking to our proven method but unable to match it with the cats (due to form, fitness, ground size or whatever).

This is it for me too. At the moment the people with steadfast belief that season '21 and '22 are panning out in the same way are creating a narrative that explains our losses in the context of last year - pick between Loading and not showing our hand until finals etc. As you stated on the podcast, a key difference between our seasons is our W/L record against top 8 and top 4 sides. That's such a key stat that I think the majority of the other parallels are potentially coincidental. Our draw is much tougher this year. The fear is that unless we show up at our best in the remaining matches we run a huge risk of trying to defend the flag form outside the 4. You'd think a top 4 finish has to be the short term priority. Our performance against the Lions gives me hope that we're not far away from capturing some good form again consistently. Hoping that we start the run into finals sooner rather than later, because in addition to getting the sports science piece right last year, I think the players were riding high on confidence. I'd like to see a few wins against contenders in the run home to ensure the players have the same level of belief again too.

Good listen gents My thinking is much more aligned with Andy, but impressed that Binman is able to be so steadfast in his commitment to the faith in the issues being attributed to the loading curse!

100% chad haircut. Tan. [censored] personality. Total Chad haha

Yeah I find this to be a really interesting consideration/decision. In my mind, and having played sport at a reasonably high level, there's no doubt that fitness can be a deciding factor in matches where teams are equally skilled. However when all AFL sides are fit to such a high degree I find it difficult to grasp how significant the idea of loading/Tapering is especially when we're looking at teams who are in and around the top 4 - crazy to think sides would prefer to be at their fittest/freshest on GF day but finish outside the 4, rather than finish in the 4 and without the ideal loading/tapering preparation. Surely minimising the number of games in a finals series is a better idea - all it takes is an injury to a key player or a mason cox cameo (ala Tigers) and the fitness aspect will mean very little. Chad Scott's comments were much easier to say after they still banked 4 points imo.

I respect your detailed analysis and passion, but the whole concept of looking for patterns in seasons stats (W/L etc) is almost exactly my issue with discussion about loading. As a mug footy watcher and just reviewing the way the games look and feel, I don't feel like our season feels much at all like last year, regardless of the coincidental parallels in the mid season stats. Last year I felt like we won the tight matches against the good sides when challenged, and importantly our 'bottom 4- 6' played out of their skins almost all year - almost coming of age from fringe players to best 22. This year the bottom 6 are a clear bottom 4-6 again IMO, and we've lost to all of the real contenders (Sydney, Freo and Cats). We have a player or 2 on every line who you'd argue about whether they are best 22. No doubt injury and suspension hasn't helped this. I'm also convinced there is an element of complacency at play too, coupled with other teams approaching our matches as mini finals / acid tests. Regardless of the debate about the magnitude of impact that training loads has on performance, I think finishing Top 4 is vital to making the GF. The elephant in the room is that our run home is much tougher this year and the season is far more even generally. Does finishing top 4 get priority over being absolutely cherry ripe on GF day (but having to play off from outside the 4)?

This thread is hilarious. Never seen so many people trying to wish away poor form in one place.

Anyone know the blonde bloke in the 'knock off RMs' meme that's been doing the rounds? Seen him at plenty of WA games over the years despite clearly not being from WA. The most loyal supporter imaginable.

Perhaps it's as simple as that the coaches back our method to win. Until half way through the last quarter the approach had some merit too.

If you take the time to see my posts after the game I say we were beaten by the better team on the night. Hardly hand wringing. I'll cut you some slack for the Electric Wizard avatar

Not at all, and I don't truly 'care' about the narrative but I worry that it fuels the group think that we'll win the flag again, almost as a formality. Clearly this isn't the case.

My issue is that discussion about loading (which happens) trivialises far more obvious issues with our game this year. Additionally I believe people are taking the results and using loading as a convenient way to build the narrative that our losses are all part of the grand plan. As I say, if that helps people sleep at night, all power to you. No doubt it has some effect, but we've lost to other top 4 contenders who would also be loading, so at what point do you just conceed the lads aren't playing the best footy and are perhaps a touch complacent?

Not at all. I was responding to a post that wanted to make the proposition that we deliberately didn't change any of our method during the match, as if it's some master plan to save our tricks for the finals. Ie. We lost last night almost by choice. I disagree and I made a general comment that that sort of 'make the facts suit the logic' reverse engineered theory is similar to talking about training loads when we loose. I wasn't asking to debate loading theory. You tell me to put up or shut up. I think it's more than reasonable to say you're triggered - judging by your essays on the loading thread and the discussion on the podcast I get the impression that hanging onto the loading theory helps you to sleep at night. all power to you

I don't see a substantial difference between using it as a sole excuse and using it as the predominant excuse. It's semantics. Try not to get so triggered.

Lol. This is up there with the people who use loading as an excuse for every loss and every game that we're not at our best. Just accept that the Cats will be in the mix again this year and that were not a sure thing to go back to back. The end