Pates

Picking Toumpas over Wines will always go down in history as one of the bigger drafting stuff ups by the club, but as many have said here it's a sliding doors moment for the club. If he comes to us maybe we're better in the short term but don't get the opportunity to have the mix we have now. Well done to him, he's had an excellent year.

I mean this was exactly what I was praying wouldn’t happen. All for a strong hit out but really there needed (I would’ve expected) a conversation at the start to say tackles at 50% and not to spin and dump like that. I know Bedford’s trying to put his name in the calculations but F-me May could see in the background it was too much. Fingers crossed for Spargypants, he’s been massive this year.

No injuries, Jack dial the tackles back, big question is will May be playing or is he taking all the rest he can get?

This is what the On The Couch lads were saying, there needs to be a shift in belief from the players to recognise that the club gets that that position because of almost every player on the list. TMac plays better this year because he know Weid is breathing down his back. Sparrow and Jordon take their chance knowing that Jones was ready to step up when required. Petty takes his chance after Tomlinson plays incredibly early in the year and does massive jobs in massive games. A squad medal would never feel the same as a premiership medal but in no way is it a participation award. The way I picture it the premiership medals would get presented on the day, the squad medals at the celebration event the next day. Get them up on the stage and hear the cheer from the fans.

When I was in Shepherds Bush Belushi’s in ‘18 there was a fair contingent of Dees fans watching the elimination and semi. The Prelim was on at a shocking time and I was away for work so not sure if they showed it. But anyone near W12 I can recommend them. Challenge laid down to Dees fans in London, get as many shots of iconic landmarks with red and blue on them? (Or near them, don’t want anyone getting arrested!)

The champions league football in Europe is an interesting one, players can play a certain amount of group matches, then ditch the club in the summer transfer window, and if the club they left wins champions league their entitled to a winning medal. Almost happened a few years back when Continho left in summer after the group stages (in which he was incredible) and had they beaten Real Madrid he would’ve got a medal sent to him! I do think there should be a distinction between who plays on the day and who played through the year. Premiership squad medal recognises the contribution the player makes through the year to get them to that point. Grand Final winning medal for those who played on the day recognises they were there at the end. I get people not seeing the staff should get something but as an example Yze and Williams in particular stand out as people that have had a strong influence on the list, should they not get extra plaudits?

I think a squad medal for those who have played a game through the year (sub but no game time shouldn’t count), and then a separate match day medal for all. Perhaps a ring for support staff. But I do think there should be recognition for all involved and not just for those there on Grand Final day.

So correct me if I’m wrong but the cats have stated that a number of their staff/players had gastro prior to a during the match last week. There can’t be a coincidence with this and this has just come at the worst possible time for us. I hope the club and medical staff have done everything they can to prevent it from spreading further. MFCSS definitely kicking in now!!!!

We've had some decent form this year with players re-signing and then putting in good performances, fingers crossed for Tommy!

Party supplies store in Bay Street:

North Point Cafe in Brighton, owned by the Salem family:

If this is coming out then he probably has already been told he’s not in the calculations for the GF spot. If he goes, thank for the service and good luck. If he stays, we could do much worse than him for depth. He’s been a good pick up and was super important in 2018, sadly injury has slowed him down like many others.

I don’t know how hard these filters are to make but I wonder if someone at the club could do a filter for Snapchat/Facebook that has the Dees logo and then Gawn-ifies the person who takes the photo (puts a long beard and bald head on the individual) could be a funny one for people to post to the club’s Facebook page.

I might go for a wander tomorrow and check out one of the two cafes. If I do I’ll post pics of them here.

I feel like Sparrow would be a good call to give the number 2, him or Rivers perhaps but I think the way Sparrow plays is in a similar no nonsense style to Jones.

Like so many that have come before him, he deserves so much better in terms of being able to play in a premiership/grand final/or even just finals. Sadly he got his chance early and he had to wait years before he got his chance again. I don't think there could be a single bad word said about the guy, he's been a warrior, a soldier, and a true clubman. Now he's the father of two beautiful twins to go with the two he already has. Congrats on a great career, thanks for the memories, and thank you for everything you have done. I'd made a video in tribute to his 300th purely for my own enjoyment earlier in the year, it's a bit corny but I reckon it'll tug some heartstrings. So here it is:

It was interesting seeing the doggies all down some pints after the game last week to get to the GF, I’m not sure if we did the same (someone can maybe she’d light on this) but it kind of looked like they were already celebrating as if they’d won it. I’m hoping they’re getting their heads nice and big, our boys sound focused and I’m happy with that. Just on a different topic, I’m not sure if people mentioned it in the game thread last week but it was really interesting to see the cats players lining up disconnected, while we linked arm in arm. I wasn’t sure if it was a choice by the cats leaders or whether it just happened but it definitely looked like our players were with each other while the cats looked like how they lost, as individuals.

If nobody offers anything for him worthwhile, and if there aren’t really many clubs interested I think we could do worse than offer him a 2 year deal at close to bottom dollar with performance based incentives. He has a bit of a Miller like feel about him, show plenty early and have a purple patch that makes him look like a future star but never seem to find that click into the next level on a consistent basis. Personally I say keep him, none of our current key forwards are spring chickens.

I was always a bit [censored] off with Melbourne for not taking him. He made a claim that he would refuse to play for anyone else other than Collingwood which I thought was super arrogant, I wanted us to call his bluff.

Anyone else find McLachlan to be a real moment killer with a lot of his calls? His call of Max’s after the siren goal was dour and now Max’s long range goal was a golf reference. Brayshaw is infuriating to listen to but at least he gets you pumped up.

It’s a bold strategy, I’m happy for them to continue with a practice match but would still really hope the players are told to take it easy on tackles, bumps, and spoils (looking at you Jack!). I would also hope that it isn’t going to be full length, give them enough of a run to feel fit and ready but don’t tire them out. Really wish we didn’t have this bye.

I’m in your camp on Hunt, if he was fully fit (which given he wasn’t named as an emergency I don’t think he was) then I was advocating this move for exactly the reasons you’ve mentioned. I also don’t feel like Jordon is an impact player, he’s more of a spare tyre for the midfield. I’m definitely voting for no change to the line up with Hunt becoming the sub.

Call me (Harrison) petty but I kinda would like to force them to wear the away strip, in fact I think it should be the choice of the highest placing team as to what strip their opponents wear.

I’ve got quite a few bulldogs friends, all pretty good supporters in that I don’t feel like they gloat a lot. They got a little lippy after their premiership win but never to the arrogance of the cats or hawks.

One thing that both preliminary finals showed is the importance of bringing the ball to ground from the tall forwards. There were actually quite a few moments where the ball was not in a favourable position for them but they just competed and continued to give our small forwards a chance. It was a stark contrast to Dixon at Port with his pathetic efforts, barely competed when he was out of position. Basically looked like he threw the toys out the pram.