Macca

Locking the game down in the last quarter ... that's what we do. And it doesn't hurt our percentage. In fact we're up to close on 132 from about 129 (percentage) Freo have scored 38 points ... we're 84 Our all over defence is back We've played like winners all night

Petracca, Viney & Brayshaw - 70 touches all up That Brayshaw left foot hooked kick towards the boundary gaining 40 or 50 is an interesting ploy ... and it's worked well

Jake!! We are on tonight ... different team right from the word go

As was the Kossie free kick But you take the good with the bad Clark doesn't get one but that wasn't a free anyway. He ducked I wouldn't pay any of them ... they are all soft but look worse

Hungry!!

Your good self, Andy, P-man, chook and a few others keep us well informed, layz Need more footy actual input though ... lots more! Scores would be handy sometimes

You are right and I agree with what you've said there Anyway, it's going to be very interesting to see how they go about policing the new high tackle rule In my view they (the umps) are going to make some errors (forced mistakes) but we need to look at the overall ... i.e. take the good with the sometimes bad Good reply LaDee

Without people like you there I wouldn't bother with it (game day thread) Keep up the good info as I can often only listen in to our games (replay watching later) But even I'm not game enough to take on the umpire lambasters on the game day thread ... I just scroll past or put them on ignore And they never make any comments about the actual game. Which is quite odd

What do you reckon @layzie Are the umpires cheating? If not, can you do us all a favour and go on to the game day thread (as you've done here) and point out that the umpires do not cheat You and @La Dee-vina Comedia I look forward to seeing your comments and thanks in advance!! haha So the players aren't cheating but the umpires are? Is that right?

What about the umpires? Cheats? Had a read of the game day thread lately, LDvC? haha

Some good points being made by @DeeSpencer& @JimmyGadson about replenishing the list with quality youth whilst we are in the window ... and because Taylor has the midas touch we shouldn't be too concerned about drafting 18yo's when applicable (and draftees don't impact the salary cap in the first 2 years) But Taylor's history here is that he will use draft picks on established talent as well ... so we've had a good mix of recruits in the last 10 years (talented youth & talented experience) The question is what are we going to get in return if LJ departs? (and I hope he stays) If we drive a hard bargain we could end up with a decent hand at the draft table ... or, if it came to it, a decent established player or 2 might come our way I value LJ based on my evaluation on his future as well as the salary it looks like he might command elsewhere He's a valuable commodity and we need proper compensation in a trade if it goes that way But again, I'm hoping for a stalemate with LJ staying on for at least 2 more years with us (I'm assuming a decent offer has been put forward for his services)

More like 3 hours, layz Every now and again an old thread is resurrected and I reckon everyone here has the same reaction ... 'What the hell did I say back then?' Cold sweats as we scroll! Bring on Fremantle! It's a must win!

No worries I'm not so generous re the description of good players though! B+ or better is a good player in my view and we'd have about 12-15 players in that category (and I rate LJ as a player who could get to at least B+ level) Anyway, it looks like the rest of the good players are contracted up so now the only real issue (for me, anyway) is whether LJ stays or whether we get adequate value in a trade And if the destination club in question is Freo I still don't believe they can compensate us properly unless there is some sort of elaborate swapping of players & picks But this discussion belongs on the other thread

Was looking for an quick opinion re 'good players' B+ or better In transit and can't stop to read your thread

Fabulous news and never in doubt!! Having a tremendous season too ... probably running 3rd in our B & F award in a team sitting 2nd on the ladder. That's All- Australian quality and if is form keeps up, he might get AA recognition Are all our good players signed up for the foreseeable future? (Apart from LJ)

Putting aside the act, I reckon the punishment handed out is a great example of how zero tolerance can work So, if they clamp down on players playing for free kicks, so be it I really like the new rule (in principle) but policing it will be difficult ... that's why I'm allowing for a 15% error rate They can't hope to get all the decisions right with such a large grey area unvolved. Common sense & logic tells us that

I'm of the belief that players breaking the rules of the competition supercedes any advantage that a club can get Pushing the envelope has boundaries but there's a ton of nuance involved ... thus the disagreements But you what LDvC? It's ok to disagree ... it's like we're just chewing the fat in the pub (whilst trying to avoid covid!)

Getting back to the theme of the thread, layz I'm ecstatic that soft, high contact, frivolous free kicks will no be paid ... and I'm allowing for a 15% error rate

Once you handpass the ball a tackler is allowed to linger in the tackle (as long as they don't go overboard) But if you 'don't' handpass to a teammate then that should be regarded as in possession (in my view) We don't see it much anymore anyway. The rule could be that it's not allowed and that's maybe why we rarely see such instances Also, if a player handpasses out in front of himself then it's also his intention to regain the ball again ... so he's in possession Again, I want to see clean sport, no cheating The umpires' job is hard enough as it is!

Question for you Do you reckon that Heath Shaw was dealt with harshly when he copped a 10 match ban for having a $10 bet?

As LH pointed out, Viney didn't re-sign until very late (after the season?) so we could assume that he was also exploring free agency It's pro sports and in other countries all this waiting around is quite normal

Length of contract might be an issue too There's a big difference between $4Million over 5 years as opposed to $1.8Million over 3 years Secured & guaranteed income extending to five years is very appealing

1 - Cheating - free kick against. If not seen on the spot, fine the player later ($5k) 2 - Still in possession - holding the ball. Isn't that the ruling anyway? 3 - Cheating ... if not seen, fine the player who pushed the player into the square ($5k) I'd have much bigger fines as a deterrent to transgress but the CBA agreement doesn't allow that (generally) By the way, Essendon should have been thrown out of the comp for 5 years for their PED drug taking program They got off lightly ... as for the innocent victims bs. Cry me a river Sport should be played in a fair manner as much as possible. Players & coaches will always push the envelope so that's why the sport needs excellent governance Most of the cheating that can go on can be knocked on the head immediately. Let it fester and you end up with much bigger problems The sandpaper taken on to the field in that cricket test? The 3 players got their just desserts but I'm not convinced that all the players didn't know what was going on (including the most likely to know - the keeper) Russia got thrown out of the Olympics because of their PED use but were let in the back door competing under a different name ... poor governance The American athletes have been caught out numerous times yet no ban of their country? Inconsistent outcomes makes things even worse

Not if the money we are offering is in the lowball area, Gonzo. I'm not saying we are lowballing Brayshaw by the way, but it's a possibility The offer on the table from our club might be seen by Gus and/or his management as unders Exploring what the market is for a free agent like Gus is due diligence and has to be an expectation. The club would be expecting that to happen as well. It's pro sports And then an offer (or 2) elsewhere could be quite substantial. Money talks and loyalty has an end point It must be remembered that a lot of the other teams haven't got all that many good players and they all want to get into contention and they all want to win So they need talent and are prepared to pay overs for that talent. Stands to reason We've done it ourselves (over the years) in order to be a better team

Big ask Mono. Tough sport to umpire correctly We can only expect the umpires to get it right maybe 80% - 85% of the time Any more than that is a bit of a pipe dream All the teams (over time) will get their fair share of lucky decisions going their way Where I reckon we'll see greater consistency is in the forward 50's ... forwards won't get soft high contact frees (but the backmen might get a few) In a general sense, if we see a lot less whistle blowing, that's a great result Just let the game go and only pay really obvious frees works better in footy Just my thoughts as I'm not necessarily right