Jaded No More

These journalists are an embarrassment to themselves. With apologies to Cal who’s pretty good. Didn’t little Ralph tell me last week Kosi still wants out?

It gives us 7 more years to refuse to trade him. It's very simple. Kosi has also seen that in the last 5 years, we have always gone out of our way to accommodate his desire to spend extra time at home. I am sure there are clauses in this new contract that allow for that to continue to happen (eg- spend extra time in WA doing his own program in the off season etc) Besides, these types of players demand these types of deals. You think Freo isn't luring him with a 7 year deal? He isn't going to walk out and go to Freo for a hug and some slippers. He might be homesick, but he's not silly.

The way he plays also means he is more likely to not hit targets. He's very often disposing of the ball in tight spaces. Yes that last kick of his inside 50 was bad. He was trying to hit Fritta and he overcooked it. But he's hardly alone. This season his DI is sitting at 70%. Compare that to other elite inside mids: Tom Green 69%, Serong 66%, Taranto 68%, Cripps 64%, Neale 71%, Liberatore 72% (which is above average), Anderson 69% and Trac who is only at 66%. It is a total myth that his ball use is bad for his role, in fact, he's better than nearly all those elite level inside mids. Edit: his career average DI is actually 70.4%

So suddenly people are having at go at Clarry's kicking? They didn't seem to mind his kicking when he was winning B&Fs and AAs and back to back coaches awards. Clarry is a pure ball winner, and when he's on there is nobody better than him. 9 clearances yesterday and 30 touches. The only reason we nearly won yesterday is because we smacked Collingwood in the contest. And Clarry was a big part of that. To expect him to be an elite kick is like asking Chin to be an elite ruckman. You can't move the goal posts to suit your agenda, because you want to be proven right that Clarry is past it. He is getting back to doing exactly what we want, need and know him to do best. 30 touches, game high 9 clearances, equal game high 7 tackles, 6 score involvements, and 23 pressure acts. An elite game by most inside mid standards, and a good game by Clarry's standards.

I guess we will see if money can make up for home sickness. Kosi can set himself, his partner, and his daughter (and future children) up for life. He won't get that money at Freo, as they simply don't have the cap space with Young, Jackson, Brayshaw, Serong, and Bolton all taking up significant cap for a very long time. Even an extra $200k a year, over 7 years, so a ludicrous amount of money to walk away from. Careers are short, and life is long. He'd be silly to turn this down.

I think he was blasting Kosi for that 50m penalty, which he also was penalised for the week before. Fair play if true, because that was a stupid 50 to give away two weeks in a row!

Absolute nonsense. He is filthy at himself when he stuffs up, and he always puts his hand up when he does it. In fact not that long ago, there was a behind the scenes video from a game the club posted, and the defenders were chatting in the rooms at half time, and May said to the group we did really well to stop them scoring, except my stuff up that handed them a goal. If you think May doesn't hold himself accountable for his performances on the field, you haven't been watching him. If he loses a contest, he's winning the next one almost without doubt. He got shown up in the first quarter versus the Saints, and then went on to be BOG for us in the next 3 quarters. You can say a lot of stuff about May, but to say that he doesn't hold himself to very high performance standards, is absolutely false! He holds everyone to high standards, and that makes him someone you want to play with. People defended Trac when he put the club thru hell last year, because he wanted to raise standards. But a conversation between two senior players is suddenly bad?

They are obsessed with our culture. May didn't need to do that in front of the cameras, but likewise he's a very emotional guy and he was upset. I doubt he thought it would even be shown on camera. Oliver was right in front of us, and he got down on his hands and knees and punched the ground when Max miskicked. He was that upset. Give me this level of passion and anger at losing, over Fritsch giggling every time he misses a shot on goal! May is a hot head, always has been, and it's why he's one of the best defenders in the league. He gave Elliot, who is in superb form, a total bath yesterday. If May was having a go at a first year player, I would be getting stuck into him. But Gawn gives as good as he gets, and those two are senior players who should absolutely demand more from each other. And the most laughable thing is those who think that the coaches are giving these guys hugs and kisses everytime they make a mistake. Like they don't hear hard truths and negative feedback all the damn time! I reckon Jones yelled at Gawn plenty when he was a young player stuffing around. If May was giving that feedback to Lever, nobody would bat an eyelid. But because Gawn is Gawn, it's a story. How dare anyone give the great Gawn feedback?!

Every AFL umpire as far as I know, works a full time/part time job in a different profession, and then umpires on weekends, with some training thrown in during the week. They are essentially the same as VFL players who are not on an AFL list. They all have jobs and play part time on the side. Like AJ who worked full time in construction, while also playing for Werribee, until he was drafted by an AFL club. There is not enough money to just be an umpire, or just play VFL.

If this is what you're focusing on today, you are focusing on all the wrong things. Find me 2 more competitive guys, who are in the twilight of their careers, and who care passionately about winning. If May gave Gawn negative feedback, then he did it in the heat of the moment. Remember how YOU, as a supporter who exerted 0 effort yesterday, felt watching that kick, and then think about players feeling that time 100 + adrenaline. Do you really think Max is going to give a single [censored] about receiving feedback? He is a big boy and nothing anyone could say to him would be worse than what he would be feeling in that moment. Which is probably why he reacted the way he did. As much of a non story as Trac losing it post game versus Geelong.

Forgive my ignorance, but is there any other professional sporting league in the world that has part time umpires who umpire as a side hustle?

I’ve made plenty of commentary around our lack of composure and the lack of skills of our best players versus theirs. And at no point did I say the club should focus on the umpiring in their review. However that passage of play should have resulted in a free to us. Whether Kosi is asking for it or not. He ran way too far in a critical moment in the game. It was obvious to everyone who watched it except the umpires. But sure, let’s highlight the Melbourne player for yet another umpiring mistake. Because only Daicos is apparently allowed to ask the umpires for frees and then get them. Melksham also totally at fault for letting Moore push him into a contest. If only he stood his ground instead of being sandwiched between two guys!

Viney?

Ed was having an easy day with only 87% TOG tagging sooky lala. He is probably cycling all over Melbourne to burn off all that extra energy.

I’ve seen toddlers take bigger hits at the playground and cry less than Nicky. Goes down as easily as an OF star.

But so is footy. If you paid umpires well and made them full time Professionals you would get more kids getting involved in umpiring at the lower levels, and hence more opportunities to get good umpires at the top level. Right now being an umpire is not a viable career path. It’s a part time hobby. Make it a career that people can easily get 15+ years out of and make good money, and you’ll see how the standard rises. If we can grow umpires at lower levels, exactly in the same way we do players, the standard will lift. We train them from under 13s or whatever, and they work on their craft 5 days a week once they get to the big leagues. Umpires can’t even bounce the [censored] ball these days! Most people don’t stay in one career forever. Umpiring is something you can do for many many years at the top level if you keep fit, which if you’re a full time professional you can absolutely achieve.

1000% this. I watch maybe one game a week outside of our game now. Between the shocking umpiring and the shocking standard of some games, I find footy hard to watch.

May probably told him “it’s ok big fella, I can’t hit that kick either” 😂

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 😭