Macca

Thanks for posting up the schedule @MadAsHell... much appreciated! I'm recording it all daily and then watching later on but very busy at work so finding the time is tricky Watched the cycling & swimming finals held through the night and we had a big day ... the highlight might have been the Women's 200m Freestyle Final. Terrific finish Ariarne & Elijah are just world class but nice to see Mack Horton get a medal. Stubblety-Cook as well was just too good in the 200m Breaststroke final Kyle Chalmers & Emma McKeon were fabulous in the relay The Women's pursuit team in the cycling were dominant as well Great to see the paralympians performing in these games as well. True recognition

So we had all the above see time in the backline (Langdon quite often drifts back as a link player around half back - to good effect) Brayshaw also helped out down back when needed. In soccer terms he'd be described as a defensive midfielder tonight but he did gain a lot of metres for the team (with well placed kicks) Hunt got amongst it even though his disposal was a bit iffy ... did enough to stay in the side (Harmes will come back though) Still reckon Hunt is at his best when he gets the chance to work in conjunction with Langdon - happened a few times tonight. That duel pace attack would worry the opposition Freo scored 5.9 so the backmen should be given a lot of credit (which is what you've done) My 3 word analysis 'Defence Wins Championships'

Neeld was out of his depth as a coach but we had a very ordinary list and the club itself had any number of issues So I'm loath to just blame one person. CS was seen as a below average CEO and of course was replaced before Neeld (by PJ) But if Neeld was chiefly responsible for the acquisition of Jason Taylor then kudos to him We've got a lot to thank Taylor for and one could argue that he is our most important appointment from 2012 onwards. MVP? He'd go close He's a gun recruiter who is arguably the best in the business. Got the Midas touch

What are you talking about? Brayshaw was great tonight ... on his left a lot as that's where the space was Opposition players are drawn to his right side kicking and are then caught out Time and time again And then Brayshaw kicked deep to advantage or safety. He was a driving force all night How about giving credit where credit is due

I agree The McClelland Trophy is up for grabs! In all seriousness, after tonight, why can't we finish on top? We can certainly win our last 3 but we need the Cats to slip up

I suppose we could say we unloaded on Freo I'll see myself out

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!