Very Jaded

They looked amazing against witches hats. As did we against North. As did Swans against West Coast. Gold Coast had a do not enter policy in the corridor today. It was one of the most putrid coaching display I’ve seen in a long time. Pies just waltzed the ball from end to end uncontested. It was a goddamn training run.

I was feeling jealous of everyone making the trip, as it’s definitely on my list of must attend games, but definitely not in the budget right now. But seeing the weather, has eased that jealousy quite a bit.

I mean we barely got out of Metricon alive. But the Suns don’t play second halves of seasons. The bye is their end of season trip.

Goodwin said he can train but can’t do any contact work due to risk of further damage. So essentially he won’t lose fitness but he gets a month off to freshen up before finals. Not the worst.

I am unsurprised by this. A good time to try and get him on the cheap. We were very keen to draft him and just missed out.

Suns allergic to manning the corridor

He’s OOC so not really. If he wants to go Freo can’t do much.

You cannot compare the intensity of VFL to AFL.

I disagree. I am not against resting him, but competitively he’s been very good and I think he is part of our best 22.

Has been ruled out already. Might be back next week. Might not be.

I honestly can't see how he gets back to full fitness this year. The only thing that would get him a game right now is his incredible aerobic ability to cover the ground, and it would be a minor miracle for him to regain that having missed half a pre season and half a season. He was in poor form earlier in the year even before this latest setback, and we are already carrying an underdone Gawn. Two big men who can't get out of first gear is hardly ideal. Add to that BBB, and you are left with a very immobile and slow forwardline. As for JVR, I would rest him for rounds 21-23 and bring him back ahead of finals. He is giving us a good contest, and of all the forward this year, he has been the one to nail crucial shots on goal at critical times. I reckon he would thrive in finals, and it would be a mistake to drop him. If he has a stinker in week 1, then you can review it. But he deserves to play. I also want to see him play alongside BBB. I think the protection another really big body will afford him, will totally change his game.

100% agree Only injuries should prevent us from making a grand final. Anything less than that is a failure and should be reviewed as such by the club. It's why we have to get Oliver right. We won't win a flag without him and Trac fit and firing in September. We have a list right now that is capable of winning 1-2 more flags. I hope we go hard for another developed tall (doesn't matter if they are a defender or forward) in the off season to extend that window even further.

I’ll believe it when I see it. He’s been a chance every week for 3 weeks.

Because we learnt from last year that flags aren't won in round 10

Yeah nah. I’ve seen enough of him this year to know he is cooked. Can’t bend down. Can’t chase. He is basically a more expensive TMac.

There have been far far dirtier players than him. What he did was totally unacceptable, but I truly believe it was a brain fade. He has never been a dirty player.

That incident ruined his career

People look at the prelim and grand final in 2021 and somehow think this level of perfection is sustainable or even repeatable. It is not. We were never this good during the H&A season and we will probably never be this good again. It was a freak performance that was up there with one of the greatest finals performances of all time. The more we expect to see it again, the more disappointed we will be.

I’ll give him my hamstrings. They’ve barely been used.

Imagine letting Rohan score a perfect 10 against you.

For gods sake. Trust our most important player to miss 2 months with a low grade hamstring 😭 Edit: and no Hibbo to take on Green. Very good 🙄

I can see Oliver training with the main group on the story Melbourne posted on Instagram this morning

The only team to win after the bye were teams to play other teams coming off a bye. And neither win was convincing (see today’s Pies Adelaide game).

Why can’t we have issues AND loading be ONE of those issues? Will we improve once we taper off? Probably. Will we become a flawless team? Absolutely not. There are many issues going on with the side at the moment. Some easier to solve than others. Some that can be explained by a heavier block of loading, and some that cannot. Our limp performance against Freo and the last quarter against Geelong/Pies are maybe a loading issue. Our lack of reliable contested marking forward target, is not. Poor skill execution is maybe a loading fatigue issue. Overusing the footy by hand in heavy rain is not, it’s just dumb football. Can we still win the flag this year? Absolutely. This is a season of ordinary top sides and equally competitive middle of the road sides. If you make the 8 you can probably win it if you get some good luck. Do we need to improve our ball use/goal kicking/forward connection and settle on a winning structure in order to win it? Absolutely.

No, because Adelaide are a decent side who love to move the ball quickly, which is something that we have trouble with. They also have excellent ground ball players in their forward half, which is another weakness of ours. They also have Burgess who would know the ins and outs of our side and has them running hot in second halves. It is hardly a guaranteed win.