Pates

Not meaning to turn this thread into a state of the game thread but another point I’d make is that crowds are certainly dwindling. There was naturally a huge peak of interest when it first came in and they made tickets free, not to mention there were only a handful of teams so there was this vision of it being an elite version of the game. Now that the standard of play is really scrappy and almost every club has a female team getting fans to the grounds is getting more and more challenging. The A-league had a similar peak of interest and has gone quiet now both in interest in the media and crowds at games. There has to be an acceptance that the AFLW is going to have to go through some times of genuine struggle, and the question has to be asked of where it it’s going to be in 5/10/15/20 years time. I haven’t got kids but when I do, if I have a girl I’ll be trying my hardest to encourage her into footy!

I work on the broadcast for the AFLW and I can tell you that there are things that are improving but also things that have got worse and I do think the general standard of skills isn’t great. I have even quietly wondered if it might be worth them using a softer version of the footy and whether that would improve things a little. Handballs and kicks often seem to fall short, and even though they haven’t written it in their rules of the game they are certainly allowing 10m kicks to be paid as marks (I don’t have an issue with that). I haven’t been a fan of the expansion of teams, better to have a small group of teams to build the standard and give an elite look about the game than to have it overflowing with teams and having to top it up with players who are athletic but have been kicking the ball for 6 months. I reckon in 5 years time we will see a big lift in standard when girls that are currently playing in the junior divisions and learning (and mastering) the skills enter into the competition. The frustrations that come from the skills often reach the highest point when they string together a great piece of play but then butcher the final part. Toughness, pressure, and athleticism wise the standard has got better, which may in turn be having an impact of skills.

Am I the only one the think the creation of the A-league may have actually hurt our ability to produce top line players? Days gone by players would identified as having something special and go overseas in their early-mid teens to train under the best academies. Now there’s a pathway through the system here but let’s be honest the competition isn’t as hot and certainly not as brutal. Perhaps that’s unfair to the A-league but the standard of Oz football has been on the steady decline since it’s inception. Is it possible for each academy that is connected to the A-league clubs to have a system that sends two of their best to one of the major academies overseas for a brief stint/trial? Either way something needs to change otherwise we will be left behind as the other Asian nations continue to improve. I mean we have no players in the premier league, that’s incredibly disappointing.

Lol happily retract my comment then! Their team out on the park might not be great but looks like management is doing pretty well.

It’s definitely before my time but it seemed like a lot, if not most clubs, we really struggling between the 80s-90s (90s I remember as a kid with Fitzroy, the early years of Sydney, and of course the Dees/Hawks merger proposal). Also probably worth pointing out that the “successful clubs” were doing a lot of things on the sly. Much as I vomit at the idea, a merger between Melbourne and the Roos (becoming the Melbourne Roos or North Melbourne Demons) seemed like a logical idea to put forward when both clubs were struggling. That time has now well and truly passed as we have managed to crawl mostly out of the hole we created for ourselves, I feel like the final piece of the puzzle to all but ensure our future is to get our home base over the line. As for North, they’re still in their own hole which I can’t see them getting out of any time soon. Don’t really see a merger being possible but I don’t see how they get out of being where they are.

This isn’t a record that needs breaking but something I’d love to see us set is largest winning margins on QB vs Pies. Also what’s the record for largest losing margin for the Cats at KP, would love for us to take hold of that one.

WA will be very interesting to see how they go leading into the footy season. For once I’d like to see the AFL take a tough stance with this, either WA opens the borders with zero restrictions to players and teams (none of this fly in fly out BS) or the WA teams relocated to another state. If neither gets agreed to then Freo and WC forfeit all home games. No more of this “we’re working with the governments to come to an agreement” set the rules of the league and if they can’t abide by them then so be it.

Greene could be one of the greatest players in the AFL if he pulled his head out of his a$$. One year of him not getting suspended would make GWS a significantly scarier proposition. Funniest thing is that Leon Cameron even got asked about his constant suspensions and he cleared it saying he plays well when he’s got white line fever. But that’s incredibly poor coaching and leadership, it basically tells the other players that he’s ok with people going out and being a thug as long as they play well at the same time. The leaders SHOULD be pulling him in and saying it’s unacceptable for him to be missing as many games as he does. I’m proud of our club that I can confidently say our leaders would do that. Brisbane and the Dogs feel like the contenders next to us, Saints (I’m not saying that they’ll do this) should be taking a lot from our rise last season and I could see them jumping up into the finals but I don’t think they have the team across the board to properly contend. Port could as well but I suspect there could be lingering scars from that insipid performance against the Cats. I keep praying for the cliff to come for the cats but they’re clinging on by their fingernails. Unless the league shifts the length of quarters again I can’t see them lasting the season.

In relation to the delaying tactics, I want that stupid school-boy looking act of standing on top of the player where the mark would be meaning the player who’s earned the free-kick/mark had to either crawl out or be ridden like a horse be penalised immediately. Firstly it looks pathetic, the player doing it looks like a 5 year old doing play fighting with his 7 year old brother. Secondly it is easily the most deliberate act of time wasting that every team does. It looks childish and it’s a blight on the game. The umpire should communicate immediately “step back, let the player up” as soon as their up “there’s your mark, stand”. If the player doesn’t move, 50m penalty. It won’t happen but I would’ve also like to see the protected area/stand your mark rule reduced to 25m instead of 50m. Seems like such a harsh penalty for a relative innocuous rule breach. Comparatively it’s the same penalty as doing something deliberately dangerous and late. Doesn’t feel right to me.

I’d say it’s a chapter that’s over and done with. Jones and Nev I think we’re the last players on the list to have played that day (I think Gawn was injured that day). It will always be in our history, can’t do anything about it except for create better recent history so it just get further forgotten. Beating the Cats 3 times in a year, once after the siren to finish top of the ladder, and another time humiliating them to get into the Grand Final, is certainly a great starting point.

He’s pretty much the only player you would say is “under the pump” to perform, he will also need a little bit of luck to fall his way but this has to be his time to wrestle the second forward position away from TMac (can’t see Brown losing his spot). Him, Hunt, Tomlinson, and Melksham should be coming with the most motivation I would have thought.

Well I mean the older age are more prone to getting sick, and their all due for their superannuation in the next couple of years!

Dang NOW they do this!? I've just returned to Australia and would've loved this deal!

Given the rate of infection now and that they are asking people to get tested so late in the days they need to allocated days where certain sites are either open 24hrs on certain days, or simply after hours (open until say 11pm). My mum had her booster shot booked for Monday, got told Sunday at 6pm to get tested because she was classified as a close contact to someone at a cafe 2 days prior. Ran around like a headless chook trying to get to a testing centre only to be 3 cars from the end of the line before they called it quits. She went first thing Monday, rescheduled her booster for the following afternoon, but didn't receive a negative result until Tuesday evening. She had to re-reschedule her booster for Wednesday morning and drove on to Canberra so they can get to Sydney to be with my brother and his wife for Christmas. I'm sick of our governments making these rules and regulations, without the infrastructure to assist people in completing them, not to mention making the rules up with little to no warning. That stress (all for a negative test which we expected because we also bought a home kit to try to calm her that told her she was negative) was totally unreasonable and avoidable if they provide the opportunities for people to get tested out of normal hours. She was in tears at stages because she was worried she'd miss Christmas. She's 73 and doesn't need this **** (not to mention the added stress it gives to everyone else). As for everyone at the B&F, hope you all get the good news of negative results. EDIT: (Apologies for the rant!)

There really needs to be compensation provided for clubs that don’t get their NGA prospects. Otherwise what’s the point of doing it?

4 year extension feels right for me, that gives him 5 more years and that will take him to the latter stages of Trac and Oliver’s careers. It will see Max hand over the reins to Jacko and the next round of young boys reach their peak.

Whatever he’s dealing with I hope he gets through it ok. As many have said we don’t know full details but social media can be such a strain on people’s mental health, I hope this time away from footy is good for him.

Does anyone have what they scored for JUST the Grand Final. Curious to know how they rated it, and whether Trac was the coaches pick for BOG.

Clarry will go down as an all time great not just of the club but of the competition. Congratulations to him and all winners of various awards. Interesting (and really good) to see that ANB won the coaches award. I remember when he got unfairly screwed by the MRO for his dangerous tackle against Adelaide last year (deserved suspension but not the length), I genuinely thought that could be the end of him. But the club stuck fat with his, he came into the pre-season same as TMac with a clean slate and rejuvenated attitude, and became the true definition of a clubman and a role player. He clearly loves the club, and is loved by his teammates. I’m more than happy to eat humble pie with my previous beliefs on what he would be as a player. The other thing to note, as you’d expect from such a great year, is the players that ended up outside the top 10. Fritta had an incredible year, Brayshaw sacrificed to play a team oriented position, Spargo always cracked in, and Jackson won the Rising star. I don’t think any of them would begrudge their positions, they ultimately got to taste the greatest victory of all!

Hard to look past any Geelong win this year as they were all critical at the time. First win declared us as a strong player, second win got us the minor premiership (after the siren), final win dismantled them on prime time telly and got us into our first granny in 20 years. I can’t stand Geelong, their arrogance from players to supporters is only bettered by Essendon.

I feel like there will be a few oppo fans with sour grapes that try to taint the achievement of last year. I think the funny thing is the quirk of the AFL is that it’s not unusual for the best team of the year to not win the Premiership. We defied that trend by being the best across the board the whole season, how Geelong almost snatched the minor premiership is beyond me because they were very ordinary early on. Port were pretenders. The Lion’s best was very strong but they couldn’t sustain it. Dogs were the only true challengers but [censored] the bed at the end of the season making it hard for them. There can be no doubt: we were absolutely the deserved premiers. Now comes the next challenge, backing it up as the hunted!

How nice must it be for draftees coming to Melbourne thinking, “these guys have been good at nurturing and developing players”. It’s such a removal from what we were pre-Roos. Allowing young players to come into their own at a steady pace is such a beautiful thing. Hopefully this coming season they have a full VFL to get match practice and game time.

In the same year and two presentations we had the first MOC not be told the ANZAC Eve medal before she went up to present it, and the second (far more important) have the MOC forget to let our coach have his extremely deserved time in the sun to have his speech. Bring back Craig Willis!

Definitely wouldn’t disagree with you, I think each of them bring something different and equally important to the table. That moment in the GF that Oliver was being tackled by three doggies players and still managed to get a kick out of the congestion was absolute insanity and next level beast mode from him.

I’m just watching the ANZAC eve match vs Richmond, holy cow he is just such a ridiculously cool customer. I know he was the same (if not better) in the Grand Final but he was so damn good, could’ve been as good a choice for the BOG medal as Petracca. The thing that makes him stand out above just about everybody is that he sums things up so quickly, he does these deft little taps and handballs that he knows he’s likely to cop a hit at the same time. His footy intelligence is just about the highest I’ve ever seen at the club.