Jaded No More

The only thing GWS need is some culture and a will to win. They have a good enough list, maybe lacking a couple of good solid defenders, but their issue is they stand for nothing and they don't play for one another. They are selfish individuals who have no drive to play for a jumper that literally means nothing to nobody. It will be a hard task to make them a consistently selfless outfit with a common goal to succeed while they continue to play in front of 3000 supporters in a state that could not give a stuff about AFL.

I reckon Clarkson will be at Essendon.

My thoughts are that I would be thrilled to watch Melbourne win a premiership at 11:32am on a Tuesday.

I still don't think Gus has any lure to WA beyond Andrew. His parents and long term partner are both here. I doubt Danielle Frawley, his partner, will want to move to WA either. I do however think that Gus is in the sweet spot of his career, he is playing wonderful footy, is extremely versatile and there would be many Victorian clubs happy to gain his services for a lot of money, and a lot more midfield time, if this is what he wants. So the decision comes down to what he wants out of the rest of his career, because midfield time and top dollar is probably not something he will get at Melbourne, and that is just the reality of being a top football club filled with midfield stars and a tight salary cap to juggle. I don't want to lose anyone, but of the 3 big guns who need to be re-signed, Oliver and Jackson take priority over Gus and I suspect the club feels the same way.

Definitely doesn’t sound like someone who isn’t thinking about other options.

I doubt our players are going to Perth to bump into people and go nightclubbing.

Their numbers are no worse than Victoria’s, and our players are no more at risk there, given they are going to play. In Victoria they will be playing as well as going out and about living life. The only reason the WA sides are copping it big time is because Covid has only just started spreading. We have had it here for a long time and most of our players have already been exposed to it.

Completely agreed regarding the Dogs The worst possible outcome for them this season was playing us round 1, getting out to a lead and then losing comfortably. Psychology I think it ruined them as they realized this season is not going to be one of redemption but again being second best (or worse as it turned out).

Yeah they probably got mail that Gawn and Lever will be rested, making us only 17 times more likely to win the game.

Great. I would love another easy prelim kill.

Yeah I’m not sure why you need a rest after 8 straight demolition jobs.

These grand final clips on replay all day forever and ever. Yes please.

I believe I’m also taken but perhaps for May things can change 😂

Also a completely different club at a completely different lifecycle stage. Brisbane had a decent list with some good players already hitting their prime. North need a culture builder and someone who can nurture and nourish a young club and get that buy in. I think McRae at Collingwood is doing just that and he would have been a better option for them. Hell even Sam Mitchell who I thought would be terrible seems to have his team up and about. I guess the difference is that both Collingwood and Hawthorn still have some really good solid older leaders who can help the coach drive new strategies. North just have no leadership. Cunnington is a massive loss for them.

I still don't understand why they traded Brown for peanuts. They either should have kept him to help their young forwards, take the best defender away and be a great role model on and off the field, or they should have traded him a year earlier when he was in great form/fitness for a premium. I understand Brown was not treated very well by them in the hub, which meant he could have walked anyway as he was OOC, but the whole thing was handled poorly, and knowing the character of Ben Brown I doubt he would have left them high and dry anyway. Either way, thank you North.

Yeah he is definitely handsome, and at 29 it's not even creepy for me to comment on because he's not that much younger than me 😁

One of my favourite players. Honest, brutal, perfectionist, heart on sleeve, will die for his teammates. Absolute star and a massive reason why we are where we are as a footy club.

Yep, we also had lots of great draft picks that we wasted, which didn't help. At least they have some decent kids they have picked up recently. Their issue will be keeping them together if they continue to get thrashed.

Apparently losing to Melbourne is a win now.

I've seen the Cats in finals over the past 5 years. The only thing that will improve their chance of wining a flag is a day out where Cameron and Hawkins combine for 10 goals or more. Their midfield and backline is not winning grand finals.

North Melbourne did this to themselves. They finished mid table for a decade, and hence were never in a position to acquire top end talent, both in the draft or trade period. They then decided it was time to rebuild and bottom out hard, and dumped literally every mature player. That left them with a list of inexperienced kids and a massive reliance on 2 older heads one who is sadly battling cancer and one who is quickly coming to the end. It was their choice to do this and so it is no wonder they are uncompetitive. You can't expect a bunch of kids to win games or even play consistent footy. I feel for Noble, because just like with Bailey and Neeld, a lot of the blame has to come on the board, footy department and recruiters. If North signed off on this type of list burning, then I don't know what other outcome they could have expected in the short term. They traded a 60 goal a year forward for a second round draft pick for goodness sake. That is not how you bottom out!

There is no point playing easy teams and making finals. If you can't beat top sides, you won't go far in September. Last year we beat everyone in the top 8. I rather play hard games and test ourselves and our game plan against the best sides heading into finals. What do Geelong get from playing North and West Coast other than a false sense of achievement?

Would be great if Fritta and Brown can repeat their goal tally from the last game we played in Perth.

Jones hit Oliver high. Regardless of how hard he hit him, Clarry made sure we got a 50m and that is a professional thing to do. He didn't duck, he didn't drop his knees, he took a hit and the only [censored] in this scenario is Jones.

Trust West Coast to get a heap of players back this week… and still lose