Macca

Ha ha! It was 10-6 when I made that initial post ... a free scoring affair thereafter. Like an underdog so barracking for the Flippers Much rather be watching AFL though ... over the 5 days the AFL manage to have 2 games clashing with each other on Saturday night Bulldogs/Tigers moved from the Saturday twilight slot to tonight with 1 of the Sat evening games played Sat twilight?

I remember the days when we played very little sport on Sunday's. Cricket Test matches had a rest day on Sunday's back in the day. Pubs were closed and supermarkets couldn't open either Times have changed and integration for worthy causes and sport is the new way. As you said, tie the evening game in with the appeal. It's a no-brainer

It is and they are giving Rugby League free air tonight And it's a good match too ... Cowboys/Dolphins Reckon we should dispense with pre-season games and start when RL starts ... 25 game season Straight into it And play a game Good Friday evening ... maybe a 6pm start so that the Royal Children's appeal gets the last 3 hours of the day

Jordon probably the sub and might end up on the ground before half time anyway (for any sort of reason including resting a player who might have a niggle) I'd be surprised if Melksham is the sub before Jordon

You only realise the value of a good ruckman when you haven't got one There are many ways to create scoring opportunities but taking one aspect out (taps to advantage with clean possession forward) is not one that clubs can do without ongoing. Certainly not if a club is a true contender So it's not so much being prepared to try and shark the opposition taps (that's quite do-able) it's the advantage that a good ruckman can bring with taps to advantage But the main reason the Pies lost last night was the Lions all over the ground pressure. The Pies couldn't deal with it Under pressure the Pies turned the ball over. The Lions had the game won early in the 3rd quarter and played very well in the process

Big meeting on at Geelong today including a sprint race worth $500k ... a crack field assembled for the race too (R7) The race prior (R6) is also a good betting event (Country Oaks)

There's probably 4-5 players with some sort of niggle where a game off helps to overcome So Kozzie in for a player in that position. T-Mac & Tomlinson will continue to keep their names in the hat and Howes & Harmes are 2 others that can press for selection It's a good problem to have genuine depth and that allows the MC to make non-risky decisions over those who might have a slight doubt about their ability to play out a game Nearly every time this sort of dilemma pops up some player (or players) end up being out injured

Yes Liverpool started well but Man City then just took over completely. They are very very good and if they don't win the EPL title then they will see it as a failed season. Can they catch Arsenal? Or will Arsenal slip up? But they are in the last 8 of the Champions league so they could break through and win that trophy Liverpool's year under Klomp is an absolute head-scratcher! Self satisfied? They haven't looked hungry all season

We will get some extras but sustained finals works much better. Even last year helps a lot despite going out in straight sets. 16 wins in the season proper will bring in new supporters Everyone loves a winner but it's not all about premierships Look at the Pies for instance ... 2 flags in 65 years but they play finals a lot. Their supporter base is huge but we can catch them Might take a while though!

True but because we are not a big enough club yet, these things will continue to happen Change will occur with sustained finals appearances and 2-3 more flags over the next 10 years* Years and years of contending and we'll become a big club. Do that and we won't be fixtured down there as much (or, at all) In the meantime, the club has to take the attitude of anywhere, any opposition and anytime. It's not like the team can't win anywhere. The list is a good one But we need a generation of new Demon supporters to get on board and gradually replace our aging supporter base - and then lookout! *Teams like the Cats, Pies and Sydney have proved that the window of opportunity can remain open indefinitely Recruiting & list management is key

And tomorrow is a free-to-air game so the sponsors and the team get lots of exposure. The Sunday arvo game often attracts a big TV audience. However, it will be interesting to see how our game rates up against the F1GP It wasn't all that long ago where we were rarely on FTA at all. And that went on for years But we have to turn up like we did in round one (last week was a no-show and a head-scratcher)

The Sunday Multi beckons GC vs Cats (Cats 1-39?) Demons vs South (Demons 1-39?) Freo / Eagles (who knows!) Sharks / Warriors (Sharks, probably) Bulldogs / Cowboys (a toss-up)

@Dee Zephyr@layzie @roy11 @Grapeviney Big match (Man City vs Liverpool) on at the user-friendly time of 10.30pm tonight. Straight after the footy - ideal 😃 Next Saturday at 9.30pm sees Man Utd vs Everton

The numbers alone can confuse ... my eyes told me that we turned the ball over a lot more than they did and in vital areas of the ground And the midfelders often don't have much choice but to kick long to position/contests so if the forwards don't compete well enough, turnovers occur You put a gun forward in our team last night (one who competes and is hungry for every like contest like a Nick Rievoldt type) and then there are a lot less uncontested marks to the opposition The hang-time alone on a lot of those long kicks in should have meant that our forwards could have at least effected some spoils ... but that didn't happen Did the Lions have at least 20 uncontested marks in our forward line? Because each time that happens it's a lost scoring opportunity We had a poor game but we if you don't adhere to the fundamentals, you'll lose

I agree ... rather than have to swing things around too much Schache for Gawn makes more sense. Ruck forward with some time in the middle with Grundy in the middle (and back) to help out But I can't say I know a lot about Schache as a ruck/forward but others here could enlighten We don't want to burden Grundy with too much to do week in week out. Anyway, if Schache plays that allows us to use T-Mac in a fashion where he can work up the ground leaving space for a non double-teamed Brown to lead into. Worked in round 1 But again, I'm not sure that Schache can do well enough to play the role we might need him for. Worth a try though as Grundy can't do it all on his own and T-Mac's rucking is questionable (not effective)

The DE stat is often overrated and sometimes underrated. And often a poor guide. To be honest, it's a confusing stat especially when looking at the output of Petracca last week. He was dominant yet his DE percentage indicated otherwise The eye test is more pertinent and even that's subjective Brayshaw went at 63% last night and had 27 possessions. Sure, he was a bit wasteful as Oliver was but many of our players just didn't get enough of the ball and were largely invisible. That's a much bigger concern We had at least 12 players who underperformed in terms of actual possessions. Didn't get near it

And losing Gawn effects our structure in the forward line and elsewhere. We're now down one very tall target in the forward line which means we'll need Brown, McDonald & Fritsch to work a lot harder ... and there will be no real relief for Grundy as a consequence of losing Gawn Grundy did an admirable job solo last night but can he do that for an indefinite period on his own? The original plan was for the rucking, forward play and the following around the ground to be shared. Helping out by occasionally playing as a loose man in defence might be a stretch for Grundy if he has to ruck all night. So our structural defence is effected as well. A few headaches for the MC until Gawn returns (which is hopefully sooner rather than later) Losing Gawn is a big loss as he's arguably our most influential player. Many would say unarguably. He's certainly our most versatile player in terms of being able to play anywhere on the ground

Much has been noted about our midfielders delivery forward and losing the clearances (and rightly so) but most of our forwards failed to create a contest for most of the night so the Lions won the ball in our forward line all night in an uncontested way Our forwards played from behind and failed to create separation and offer themselves up as suitable targets And lace out passes forward can only happen if the forwards are creating multiple options ... and that didn't happen either. We failed on all fronts with our forward 50 entries We just about matched them on the amount of inside 50 entries (54 to 59) but that's where it all started & finished By contrast, the Lions forwards worked so much harder and their delivery forward was so much better The scoreboard flattered us and we'll need to play a hell of a lot better to challenge Sydney

Agree with a lot you've said there but GWS lack soul and real passion from an overall perspective. They are like Leipzig in the German league although because of the RedBull $Billions they play Champions league I also made mention of FD, Board, Coaching, Finances & Recruiting but did it in reverse. So it's not just about having a top list ... that's the end result And the top clubs for years have been retaining top players for less money* thus off-setting the salary cap restrictions. Can we do the same? My thinking is that if we lose good players who might be fringe (top list related) we can replace those types with draftees that cost a lot less money *Numerous mentions have been made in that area (less money for top players)

As a supporter I like to speculate in a positive way whenever possible as I don't feel that I actually influence anything anyway In other words, the club isn't taking any notice of me!! I'm just a number I'm a great believer in pure talent and having plenty of that type of player ... get that done and it's a sure sign that everything else is working well (Board, FD, Coaching, Recruiting, Finances etc etc)

I'm not hanging on to the past Ernest, I just made a reference to it Besides which, that beacon light is always there in terms of what not to do

In the current climate the club might have got advice that they had little chance on appeal

The Doggies are a definite top 8 contender maybe even top 6. I wouldn't be writing them off

Well we've now got about 30 bona-fide AFL standard players* and we've just dispatched a rival contender (Doggies) with 4 gun players out ... so we should be ok! 🙂 Competition for spots is at a premium and there's nothing wrong with competition within the ranks Good players are playing for their spot It's getting to a point where motivation is key ... and we look nice and hungry, Steve *A far cry from the dark days

If it's about the money (as it was with Jackson) then the club will come to the party this time You can upgrade from Jackson to Grundy but I'm not sure you can even replace a unique talent such as Kozzie And why shouldn't any player angle for the cash? It's often a once in a lifetime opportunity and if we're all honest, we'd do the same