Macca

Interesting that Klopp told the ownership in November and apparently Xabi Alonzo is odds on to get the position (according to the bookies)

Travis Head with a king pair (out first ball in both innings of a test match) That would haunt you! It's happened 23 times now which includes 2 Aussies (Adam Gilchrist & Ryan Harris)

With Fullarton & Brown not being available for the first month of the season (that's a guess) here's the make-up of our Rucking & Forward line as I see it R Gawn (80%-85% game time) HF Kozzie/Trac JVR ANB/T-Mac F Fritsch Petty Chandler/McAdam T-Mac is the relief ruckman as it's either him or Schache as I see it (or JVR at a stretch) I understand that T-Mac is training with the backs but with Brown & Fullarton being injured, that thinking will possibly change Unless, we use JVR only as the back up ruckman but if that happens and T-Mac doesn't play, we'd only have one tall forward as a target in JVR's absence (Petty) ... Fritsch as a forward works best when he's the 3rd forward Gawn could go forward occasionally (as he once did) but it's his time on the bench as he gets older that creates the issue We need to at least neutralise the ruck contests in Gawn's absence as we can't lose them pointblank

I agree but we might have to use JVR as a bit of a forward ruck if Gawn needs time off the ground. As Max gets older, we will need to manage him through a long season. Max has taken a lot of punishment over the years As it stands, Gawn might only be on the ground for 80%-85% of the games So, maybe a total of 8-10 ruck contests in the forward line for a player like JVR ... not a great workload for a forward ruck But the question might be is who rucks around the ground with Gawn on the bench? With Fullarton & Brown not being options to start the season, who else is there? Schache? T-Mac? And if Schache or T-Mac are preferred as the relief ruck, where do they play on the ground when they are not rucking? The can't really play as the sub as either might be called upon to ruck early in the game n.b. T-Mac was the relief ruck in both finals last year and JVR was called upon occasionally in the QF Gawn shouldered the large majority of the rucking role in both finals but can he now do that for an entire season without risking breaking down?

Many would be thinking that our best 22 doesn't include either Brown or T-Mac ... they are both more so back-up players and you might rather have decent back-up than zero-experience back-up (as key forwards) We are in contention, after all But as others have mentioned, we don't have real cover for Gawn with Fullarton going down but it's hard to justify paying reasonable coin to more than one back up ruckman ( neither of whom may not play much at all) Although Schache had his contract extended so maybe the MC felt a need to have another back up ruckman anyway Many of us were wondering why Schache's contract was extended (if he was surplus to needs) but he now comes into play if Gawn needs proper help around the ground (forward line rucking can be the domain of JVR) Schache as the sub? Well, he's played that role before!

Interesting to note that in our run to the finals and indeed, our finals campaign in 1987, 3 listed veteran players were no longer part of the team But in real terms, all 3 were contracted and getting paid but were deemed surplus to needs. Injuries played a part as well And that was 37 years ago The players in question were Stephen Icke, Peter Giles & Peter Moore. All good players too And there were a few others that were coming to the end at the time as well As previously stated, these types of curcumstances are just a part of sport So Brown, T-Mac and 1 or 2 others fall into the same category. That's just the way it goes

KC 7-12 Detroit 1-6

Big news out of the UK Jurgen Klopp to step down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season

We need Petty available & firing. We also need JVR to improve on last year. If that happens along with Fritsch as the 3rd target forward, we'll be fine With Brown out for the time being, T-Mac could come back into calculations as the back-up key forward. Schache, Fullarton & maybe Jefferson as possibles The rest of the forward line to be made up of Petracca (part time) Kozzie (most of the time) ANB, Chandler, McAdam, Billings and maybe Tholstrup There's some depth there with the bolstering of numbers in the off-season

In a sport like soccer especially, the issue of players being contracted but not being very productive is an old, old story On a much bigger scale to the AFL, soccer has learned to live with contracted players that are past their prime. All the USA sports as well. There are countless individual stories, not just a few It's just a part of pro sports that we're not used to in Australia. Once the money became much bigger and the contracts water-tight, the timing of the contracts became more difficult In terms of value, both Brown & T-Mac have been productive from an overall perspective Both were integral in 2021 when we won the flag. And without that flag, it would be 60 years and counting instead of 57 years So if someone had have said (before the flag) that Brown & T-Mac would become unproductive post 2021 but you'll win the flag in 2021, who amongst us wouldn't have taken that?

Yes, but injuries intervened and none of us could have foretold that. No one And it can work the other way too What if Dunstan & Melksham were contracted this year on reasonable money?

Having contracted players who are past their prime is part of professional sports. Numerous examples are now being seen where a player (or players) are given an extra year or 2 in order to keep those players Or if a club wants to secure players in trades where offering an extra year or 2 is needed in order to acquire those players We're seeing more and more top players signing long term deals and even average players getting longer contracts And that type of list management is going to continue especially if we see more player movement between clubs So what that means is that in any given year, a club might have 3+ players who end up being depth only. Getting the timing perfect is wishful thinking The AFL is catching up with the rest of the world with regards to list management But if it's right across the board, across all the clubs, then no club is at a real disadvantage So gone are the days where every single list position is a productive one. It stands to reason that type of position just can't happen And players are not going to walk away from large amounts of money. You're a long time retired A way to alleviate the issue is to front end contracts but that's not always possible due to salary cap constraints (in any given year) In a nutshell, having players such as Brown & T-Mac as depth players was always a possible likelyhood. The upside is that we have a couple of experienced wise-heads around to help the young blokes coming through

With only 2 head coaching jobs yet to be filled (Washington & Seattle) it seems that Bill Belichick may end up getting squeezed out

All things being equal the 49ers should win by 2 scores. But this is the NFL where odd things often happen! So keep your fingers crossed, layz

Apparently the cheapest ticket to the Australian Open Mens final is $2000 ranging up to $6000! That's for one seat and it's in the bleachers A glass of bubbly is $30, a beer $15 and a hot dog $18. Chocolate bar $6

@Go the Biff @titan_uranus @BDA @Dr. Gonzo @Clintosaurus @Dee Zephyr @Dappa Dan @Gorgoroth @layzie @DeeSpencer Leaderboard Post Season Tipping Comp 16 - BDA 15 - Go the Biff, DemonDave 13 - Gorgoroth 11 - JV7, Clintosaurus 9 - Dee Zephyr 8 - Macca, titan_uranus 6 - layzie 3 - Dr.Gonzo 2 - DeeSpencer This week each win is worth 3 points plus 3 bonus points per game for the correct margin bracket (1-6, 7-13 or 13+) The Super Bowl is worth 5 points along with 5 bonus points on offer as well Good luck! Next week's games Mon 7.00am Kansas City @ Baltimore (-3.5) Mon 10.30am Detroit @ San Francisco (-7.0)

Aussies not impressive but Uzbekistan did play well and they are not a bad team. But both teams didn't test out the opposition goalkeepers. Oz lucky to receive a penalty So next up is a round of 16 match against the best 3rd place getter from group A, C or D. So either Palestine or Indonesia at this stage

Aussies final group match vs Uzbekistan (Ch10 from 9.50pm) A draw means we top the group but a win means a probable match-up against a 3rd placegetter from another group (in a round of 16 match)

49ers should win, by rights, but if luck plays a decent part, the Lions can win. As you mentioned, if the Lions aggressive play calling works, Detroit are a real show And if the best version of KC turns up, they can beat the Ravens. Then there's the Taylor Swift factor (whatever that is)

We play 4 Thursday evening games and 1 Wednesday evening game within the first 15 rounds (2 away games @ Sydney and @Adelaide) If it was possible to start the games at 6.30pm the timeslot might fit better. As previously stated, I'm neither here or there on Thursday night games but we'll no doubt get used to it Most of the oldies here were brought up on 6 Saturday* arvo games where the only deviation were the 'split rounds!!' And if you played footy you could only go to a few games per year The timeslot that hasn't been exploited is Sunday evening. What's the bet that's next? *Standing in the outer you'd often here a question along the lines of ... "Who's E & F?" Great days all the same

Thursday evening footy has effectively replaced the Saturday afternoon fixture (albeit on delay) which was covered by Ch7 for years So we're getting about the same amount of FTA footy

Hundreds of thousands of TV viewers and those that attend the games is what really matters, DZ There's a high demand but it's not everyone's cup of tea

I can take it or leave it but it's here to stay Ch7, cable & streaming are forking out $Billions to the AFL so like it or not, they get to call the shots (at least in part) And if it wasn't for all the 5 day breaks that would be created, I reckon we'd have Monday night footy as well But that might happen in the future anyway. I wouldn't rule anything out especially with so much invested money

Next week's games Mon 7.00am Kansas City @ Baltimore (-3.5) Mon 10.30am Detroit @ San Francisco (-7.0)

How about everyone else?