Jaded No More

I thought Langford made some uncharacteristic mistakes early on. Looked a bit overawed by the occasion. But he worked his way into the game. It’s an enormous responsibility that we have given both him and Lindsay in playing the wings. It’s a big ask, especially in big games. And it’s going to reap the rewards down the line, but it does come with risks. Sidebottom had a monster game, because he’s got 5000 more years on those two. But imagine what Langford learnt today playing on one of the best wingers in the game. The sooner we get more of the footy in the hands of these two, along with Bowey, Howes, Turner, Chin and Windsor, the better. They are all very good ball users with a lot of composure, and unfortunately that’s something we lack in our very best players right now. Gawn, Trac and Oliver are some of the best players in the league at winning the footy. In fact, we smashed them in clearances and contested possessions, and that’s why we were able to stay in the contest. But unfortunately these guys are also not great ball users, and their lack of skills can really hurt you in a really tight game where every mistake matters. Couple that with Pies missing like one set shot to our 10 or so, and that’s the game.

Diabolical fixturing not to give us a bye now, but instead a road trip off a 6 day break, followed by two more road trips.

Brown should shut his mouth. McCreery is very very fast and Kosi was chasing him for 40 goddamn meters! Kosi was completely correct to expect a free for him running too far. Just as in the last Pies were paid marks that travelled at best 10m. In a game decided by a bloody point, a side having nearly 30% more free kicks is diabolical.

Nothing to see here

I think that like all of us, he wasn’t thinking he was just upset! He played his guts out and watched us lose by a stinking point. If we are full of adrenaline post game, and I’m telling Pies fans that they forgot their brain cells at Centrelink, then I can only imagine what is going thru the mind of players who just killed themselves for 2 hours and watched their season end.

Two bloody senior players who give as good as they get. It’s not like May was having a go at Lindsay or Langford for gods sake. Grown competitive men. A non issue.

Melky hitting the post too 😭

I know exactly what Max wanted to do. I just wish that he knew what we all know, which is that he can’t make that kick happen. Max is a champion, but he has to know his limitations. Kicking is his. As for May, I don’t know what he said so I won’t judge him. He was BOG for us and he is a passionate guy. I watched Clarry punched the ground when Max kicked it. They all felt it. I really don’t think Max would take it to heart. They’re big boys who care deeply. And thank god for that. If they didn’t care I’d be worried.

[censored] this corrupt joke of a [censored] competition. And Daicos you are a soft [censored]. Should be ashamed of your carry on like you’re a ballerina. FUUUUUUUUCK

These umpires need to GO AND GET [censored]

Lever is out here warming up. Yet to spot Clarry but it’s very hard to tell as not everyone is training on the ground.

Petty has proven himself at this level 100 times over Jefferson, and gives us the flexibility to send him down back if one of their talls gets off the leash, or we want to swap him and Turner around. Unfortunately Jefferson has no versatility. He can’t ruck or defend, which is unfortunate, because on form the last two weeks he deserves a game.

JVR is in ahead of Jefferson because he can ruck. End of story. It’s not that deep.

Howes was earmarked a while ago as someone who can play wing. So possibly wing or perhaps half back and Windsor goes back to wing. I think Howes was sort of pushed into a backline role out of necessity, but it’s not necessarily where the club wants him to play long term. He is a beautiful user of the footy, and good overhead. So actually wing is a role he would be well suited to. Of course the other option is he replaces Turner down back and we play Turner Roo and Petty up forward, which has been my dream all year!

Turned this game on and then immediately off No thank you

The goal kicking

Trac filming this riveting game. Hot tip Trac: this won’t get many likes on TikTok.

Laurie really enjoying the conditions

Sestan a late out… debut for Monday??

Watching Brisbane kick 900 behinds to lose the game

Ross Lyon coached one of the most talented teams in recent decades and got them 0 flags. He’s also coached the joke that is Fremantle. He has a lot to say for someone who has won no flags with two clubs, that he ran out on.

It was not worst than the Mills hit. It was the exact same thing. Same action, of leaving the ground and turning your body to hit an opponent. Both actions were poor and unnecessary, and just as everyone here condemned Mills for his actions (myself included!), we should be doing the same for AJ. Mills made a split second poor decision and so did AJ. I don’t think either players were like “I’m gonna try and concuss this guy”, but both went too hard and too high. They both deserve 2 weeks, and are lucky their opponents weren’t concussed or they’d face 3+ weeks on the sidelines. I love the aggression and fearlessness that AJ brings to the contest, but this particular action is exactly what we want to stamp out of the game. He was always getting suspended for that, and if a Saints player did the same thing to one of our players, we would expect they got punished. We can’t sugarcoat a poor action because a Melbourne player did it.

I agree, but also why waste the money on a challenge? AJ isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. What he did was stupid, and could have easily concussed someone. Given what Viney is facing and what we went thru with Gus, I have no issues letting him cop a 2 week ban.

Which we would never ever get against the Saints outside of a final. And given we only ever play smaller or interstate clubs at Alice, this remains to be true in every scenario. So you can only blame the club for so much. If we could get a consistently good turnout to games and strong membership numbers, regardless of ladder position, we wouldn’t need to sell games.