Pates

Well done to the club off-field this year, for all the doom and gloom that happened early (and I was extremely worried) it has appeared we have actually managed things very well.

Well should Nev retire at the end of this year then the enduring image of him could be him putting his body on the line in a tight do or die match which we won. I really like what we've seen of Lockhart this year so I hope him not getting a game is due to a desired match up, I would have him ahead of Smith otherwise (although admittedly Smith has looked less like a headless chook lately). Hibbo back to face his old team, he was poor early in the year but he's come back into the form we know he capable of from about round 7 onwards. Get it done Dees!

I get what you mean by saying it's co-operative and I wouldn't be against that model going forward as I feel like that it was create a stronger, more stable competition across the board (every second year there's talk of a team being being "one their knees") which you would hope would bridge the gap between the rich and poor clubs. As I said though clubs that have managed their finances and clubs well would obviously feel as though they are "propping up" the lowly clubs and would have cause to feel it's unfairly diminishing their earnings.

Zero doubt that we should be getting our marquee fixtures next year. I could see a possibility of sharing the gate receipts equally for the blockbusters to even out the pie. I remember Nick Reiwoldt put forward an interesting idea a while back, obviously aimed at assisting the Saints and other clubs that don't draw big crowds. He basically said that the money generated by the competition is created by all the clubs existing and that they should therefor share the pot of gold that comes from it in a similar way to the way they share the TV rights. The Pros are that it would create a more equitable competition for the bottom line of ALL clubs, means each club would be able to spend more equally on operating costs and footy department costs. Also should mean it's less likely for clubs to be on their knees like we, and other clubs like North, Saints, Brisbane have been in the past. The Cons are that it creates a communistic style of running things, meaning clubs that have managed themselves well and got into strong positions to have larger crowds don't get to reap the benefits of it. I would also be willing to bet it'll happen just as we start to get big crowds regularly at the G! I wonder if there could be a middle ground for this idea where there could be a cap on what a club can earn from a single crowd and that the leftovers after the cap goes into a pot to be spread out evenly across the clubs. I'm not sure how they would manage it with Geelong given they own their stadium. As for what we get next year, looking at those double ups I'm not sure they would be the best/worst. Freo look like they might be on the up a bit, at the very least they have become hard to beat. Saints are always tough for us. Pies could be a contender should they get their list fit. And even GC are no longer easy beats.

I hate this new policy of releasing the teams the day before, at the very least I think they should be releasing a squad.

No excuses, but zero doubt that heavily disadvantaged us. We looked sluggish the whole game, question for me is why didn't we fly with Freo straight after their game so that we could at least have the day to prepare?

You’re London aren’t you? If so try 5:10am! ? This time slot we’re in is easily the worst for everything, low drawing and low interest, always on Fox Footy. Ironically I would’ve thought this match would have relatively high interest given it’s a final 8 determining match. As for my enthusiasm, I’m going to struggle to be up for the start of the game. Will probably watch the second half if the scores look good. And your prediction would be the most appropriate thing to happen this year. To add to it, we be in front and have the percentage with 2min so go and concede two late soft goals, one after the siren after a soft 50m penalty.

If he’s fit I guess it’s a good opportunity for his development to play in a do or die match. I just hope they are taking to long term approach with him as I’d hate for anything to muck up his preparation for 2021.

I really liked seeing him down there, it looked like a football (soccer) manager type thing where he was able to give directions to the players immediately when they came off/on. I’d like to see him stick with it this week and have Richo upstairs watching for patterns and structures.

Twice Lewis put his body on the line hard against the Hawks at crucial moments. He may not have been amazing, I would’ve called it a serviceable performance, but he did things that you expect of leaders at the right time Nobody front up against Eagles, if you can pick one player out of the 22 that day that did anything positive I’ll be impressed.

Interesting bump of my old thread, I really wanted to be wrong and have one of those “eat humble pie” moments but it’s sad to see he is now at stage where he’s behind Jackson and Brown as a picked tall forward. I wasn’t keen on a switch happening earlier this year because he’s been training g with the forwards, but if he’s still with us next year I think a switch back to defence might be the best option for him.

I know he has been quiet in recent weeks but I’m genuinely miffed at the suggestions of dropping Weid. This is our last chance dance, he’s clearly made a positive impact on the team this year and a key forward target, and people want to drop him to bring in TMac who has shown exactly sweet FA? I don’t get it at all.

I think a lot of people underestimate how important those three were to the side. Jones is still with us but has lost a lot of his ability to make contests and be effective around the ball. Lewis was huge for us in the two finals we won with moments of leadership and experience. His aggression and the way he stood up to pressure has never been properly replaced (May being the only one I could say has lifted the team like that).

Zero doubt the players went into the match against Essendon in their ASADA/WADA ban year thinking “how much are we going to win by today”. We’ve had big losses over our years, that has got to be one of the most embarrassing days I’ve experienced as a Dees fan.

Absolutely, and I made the point that their class players shon through when they needed to. But when you see the top teams win when their list has been hit hard by injury, while we continue to be inconsistent with a relatively fit list, attitude and instruction must play a big part.

A Port vs West Coast GF will be interesting at the Gabba, would both teams be given the opportunity to fly to the game? How much are tickets to the Grand Final going to be this year because if it’s made up of teams not including the Lions will the locals will out the Gabba?

It may be a boring opinion but I’m just wanting us to beat Essendon. Whatever plays out after that will be what it will be. I’d imagine that’s the mindset the team will be taking in as well. I listened to the DeeBrief podcast and they were talking about going in with the attitude of “we must smash Essendon by X amount” could end up as a distraction. Just go in wanting to play the way we did against GWS and the rest will sort itself out.

Yep it seems no matter how far we come we can't seem to get past this issue of turning good players into something more.

So much of it is down to attitude and instructions, also down to having those one or two players that can lift a team. Look at West Coast, they were decimated by injury but they had enough quality out on the park and those that came in just did their role. Jeez I'd love to see a Melbourne FC that could do that!

LJ is our future but I see no need to rush him back, I say we give Brown a run against his former side. A chance to prove his spot on the list for 2021.

He could've very easily ended up getting this one back, he worked extremely hard in that entire contest.

It's a good question, I'm sick of the commentators saying "he's a beautiful kick of the footy". It may come off the boot nice most of the time but he's inaccurate and has missed some absolute howlers. His mission over summer should be to become the most reliable set shot for goal in the team. Practice with crowd screaming in his ears, practice with one eye shut, with the ball having been dunked in water I don't care, but he needs to get better at it.

Bringing back AFLX's Rock, Paper, Scissors!

When you fail at something you are given an opportunity to learn from it. I've always found whatever I've done in life I have learned a hell of a lot more from "mistakes" and "fails" than I have from my successes. Yes this year is an opportunity to build and be better, if those in charge and with influence are able to do so then 2020 will be a fail but not a waste. Big IF though.

Hehe well if the totally ridiculous were to happen with BOTH Saints and Dogs losing and us making up ground I have us facing the Pies in the first week. ? 6th-8th this year are totally making up the numbers.