Maldonboy38

If I didn't hate Essendon so much, I would hardly bother with tonight's game - worst Friday night fixture in a long time. For me, I want to finish 1st or 2nd, 5th or 6th to ensure home finals. But it is too b****y cold and I am too stuffed of a Friday night to work out which teams winning or losing will get us there. So, Bummers to lose, Dees to win, watch Hawks and Pies bruise the living suitcase out of each other, and Carlton to continue their slow leaking of form as they ever so gradually deflate and exit the finals in straight sets. A good night for some Shapes, a Shiraz, and maybe a late Monkey Shoulder (one of the best budget scotch's available) as the Bummers and Crows bore me to death.

For such a brief time he was a freak ,a superstar, and a very very powerful footballer. You couldn't look away when he was playing. And he was a real old fashioned player who liked a cig and a beer, it made us fans love him even more. It still irritates me that in 1994, we had Lyon, Shwartz, Neitz and Jakovich on our list and we couldn't win a flag. We played the final series without most of them due to injury (if my memory is correct).

Great to hear it might be reverting to its original structure and purpose. Clubs who put in the time, money and effort for specific junior development get priority access. But I remain livid hat they changed it in the first place without any real thought or accountability, and now, with equal incoherent caprice, are going to change it back. Once again it feels like a reaction to something else, rather than something they have planned on its own merits. I like Laura Kane's public persona as an AFL representative, but boy, I reckon she needs to 'read the room' and have a broader understanding of the impact of these decisions.

This kid is a gem - natural footballer with vision, poise and skill. His understanding of positioning and game play is perfectly suited to defense at the moment and it would be wrong to remove that for 'possible' midfield time. It feels like we would be robbing Peter but Paul wouldn't get the same value. At least not yet. Having said that, his kicking is ridiculously precise and effective and I drool at the thought of him delivering it inside F50, so I think the move to the midfield in 2 years or so will be irresistible.

If it is not wet and slippery there is a higher chance of Fullerton playing against Freo than there was any chance he played against the Bummers. Darcy & Jackson are both quality ruckmen with different strengths, both much better than Draper, and I am not sure we can cope with no ruck versus these 2. With no inside knowledge this is total an opinion based on observation but it makes sense to me. I have watched a number of Casey games, and Fullerton is is no spud. I didn't think Moniz-Wakefield's game would transfer up to the AFL and I was totally wrong so Fullerton might surprise a few as well.

I thought our ball-up and boundary throw-in gameplan was intentionally different and brilliant. It looked to me that we did NOT spread quickly from these scenarios, but kept it tight moving it forward in the Richmond chaos style. And this might be because the Bummers are genuine pretenders and get flogged by teams who are strong in the contest and thrive in the battle. The work of Viney, Oliver, ANB and the much-maligned Sparrow was central to this. Also, it was like 2021, when we almost allowed teams to bring it through the wings only to stifle it at half back, turn it over and spread on the counter attack. May and MacDonald were pillars tonight. Great gameplan and coaching.

6. Langdon 5. McVee 4. May 3. Rivers 2. Windsor 1. Kozzie So many other players could have taken the 1 or 2 votes. JVR in the ruck, ANB on Merrett, Melksham very influential, Oliver great 2nd half.

I feel all warm & fuzzy after that. A really young team who physically dominated a soft, poor Bummers. Too many things that I liked to type them all out, so 5 game points: The love between the players and coaches after the siren. Our gameplan with Max out. All hail the Lord Goodwin! All our young boys. Wow. Our back 6. Langdon & Windsor. Elite wing positional play and they annihilated much bigger opponents.

We deserve the last 5 minutes. Effort down to 30%. Leaders need to stand up,

O, this is so, so sweet. A complete team effort, lots of goals, great coaching and it is against the Bummers.

Essendon got a few run and carries through the middle, but our defensive stifled almost all of them. Great effort all over the park. Viney and Clarry working so so hard. Windsor and Langdon playing well, and have clamped down on Duursma. Rivers and McVee - brilliant. And a BIG tick to JVR who negated the curtain maker.

I'm not sure what is worse for being Bombers-centric, channel 7 or Demonland. We are 1 point up (7 points up npw) not 5 goals down. Draper is playing ok but our pressure and system is really good so far.

Hahaha, I will take 10 goals Mono, but my tip is 10 points.

I have the ying and yang experience this morning. YING - Delight and expectation that my Dees are playing, are on TV, and a heap of new young players showing some skill and grunt. YANG - we are playing the [censored] whom I loathe with a passion equal to those drivers who refuse to indicate before they hit the brake pedal. If the game is played in a similar manner to last night Pies v Cats, we are in for a good night. If it becomes an aerial game it could become difficult for us. Kozzie's milestone, Clarry finding the ball, Fritsch & Melksham in tandem, May & Lever in tandem, Langdon & Windsor in tandem. Dees by 10

2 of the greatest stuff ups I have seen in ages. Blixavs playing on then throwing it, Collingwood slipping over 10m out. Ordinary game all round this one.

That advantage goal to the Pies was a howler. Both teams had totally stopped and even BT had shut up!

I really hate the way coaches are usually shown the door, but apart from some uncomfortable moments in the press conference, it looks like this one was done with respect and class. I love the public face of the way Simpson coached. And for the longest period, the players were absolutely in sync with him. I liked the measured and intelligent way he spoke in public, the way he supported his players, and the stoic way he stuck to his gameplan and footy philosophy. And until 2020 the WCE game style was powerful and attractive. So, well done Simmo! WCE could be in a worse mess after this (if that is possible), with sponsors questioning their association, players disgruntled, entitled or wanting to leave, supporters wanting instant success, and a new season of compromised drafting etc... due to the Tassie franchise. Cue the coaching merry-go-round. Hinkley and Nicks on very shaky ground, and Bevo not far behind (which I reckon is a misjudgment).

When everything began to change with Peter Jackson, Paul Roos and Jason Taylor as our Head of Recrruiting was the next best thing, quickly followed by making Nathan Jones skipper. Yes, there have been some recruiting misses but only because of the rose coloured glasses called hindsight. What I rate highly is his ability to trade picks to constantly get us multiple picks inside the top 20, even during years when we have finished high on the ladder and had little drafting positional power.

I agree in part Oxdee. The players you list have a good marking record, but as for contested marking, only JVR and May are showing their best at the moment. Petty strong in patches. But I think Draper, Wright, Laverde, Langford, Jones, McKay, Duursma and even young Caddy are all in better form for contested marking. They do get a lot of marking stats from chipping it around, uncontested footy, but when the contest is in the air I reckon they cover us at the moment. If Max played, he covers Draper easily, but I don't reckon either of Fullarton or Verrall will be as strong against him.

I like the way Verrall is tracking, showing intent and effort in his follow up efforts. However, he will get physically dominated by Draper & Goldstein. So I reckon it will be Fullarton. The main problem is Essendon appear to be a good marking team which will stretch us all over the ground. The actual ruck/stoppage work is not my major concern.

I prefer Spargo at his best as our 2nd small forward, but his form is a long way in the past at the moment. Goodwin and Co love effort-based players and Chandler is definitely that. He has periods of improvement followed by periods of stagnation but all things considered it has been a constant increase in output, form and effectiveness. I would like to see him kick more goals, especially those he shouldn't be missing, but love what he brings to our team. Glad to see him re-sign.

Loved our defensive intent and much of our intent around the ball. I felt the eagles ran it through the middle too easily at times, and I noticed that some of the new younger boys like AMW, Kolt, and Turner were sometimes slow to respond from a turnover. Love these new younger players being given a run. Windsor and Kolt earning their place and repeatedly looking AFL ready. Kozzie finally holds a speccy, the Roo dominating the air, The Milkshake is back and his class immediately evident. More than happy with that win.

1. Essendon. Like WCW above, my loathing of them is all consuming and multi-faceted. 2. Collingwood. Genetic. I am a 4th generation Dees man, and this hatred was part of my family conversation from my earliest memories. 3. Carlton. I grew up in the Carlton zone when the Dees were really poor. Cripps throwing the ball 10 time s a game totally does my head in. 4. Hawthorn. Brutally brilliant across many decades but arrogant with it. 5. Richmond. Their supporters are feral and disgusting.

I have only seen the last half, but am loving our effort and intensity from a bunch of very young footballers. Definitely room for improvement especially entering F50, but some of the sweeping comments on this thread for a single player error are astonishing. We are definitely developing a great next tier of young talent.

Each year just before round 1 I choose my Grand Finalists, Brownlow medalist and Coleman medalist. This year I chose a GWS v Blues GF. I felt smug after 7 rounds, but not now. GWS are a mile away from premiership contention. Swans v Blues looks the most likely now, although I reckon it might a year for a GF bolter like Dogs 2016, or Dees in 2021.