Macca

Yes I'll be tuning in TD ... depending on what time the events are held, I'll watch live or record and watch after work. Not as full on as the Olympics but a keen observer, nonetheless! Am watching the World Athletics Championships right now (in condensed form) as a prelude to the Comm Games ... got the schedule from the official site (the Worlds are being held in Oregon, USA) and then watching the events on youtube once they're posted Competition started on Friday and the Championships are in full mode now But can we beat England (in the Comm Games) from an overall perspective? The Swimming events will be keenly contested and of course, the Track & Field events holds centre stage These Games are ultra important in terms of the athletes having continuous competition for their overall careers. Just like the various World Championships are important ... with the pinnacle being the Olympics of course

Well worth watching a replay, layz As a general rule I'm not a replay person (there's too much live sport around!) but I'd watch the Origin replay

It was a great match both in terms of immense skill and physicality And I don't believe anyone watching needed to be a fan of rugby league to enjoy the match. Just an epic contest

Epic battle tonight! Nearly all of the players played the full 80 minutes too ... they must be exhausted Credit to QLD. Well deserved victory

The last 6 episodes of Better Call Saul kicked off last night ... a brilliant episode to begin the countdown to the finale

Ping the stagers retrospectively - 3 weeks on the sidelines (minimum) There is no other way to fix the problem And it's only going to get worse. rjay summed it up perfectly, it's a blight on the game The umpires are unable to differentiate a genuine high tackle vs a staged high tackle. It all happens so quickly that none of us know for sure until we see a replay but by then it's too late Personally, I wouldn't pay high contact frees unless the head & neck area are deliberately targeted. Most of the high contact frees are frivolous anyway So don't pay the frivolous high contact free kicks and retrospectively ban the stagers as well 3 weeks minimum on the sidelines and the players will stop staging Or do nothing and the issue gets worse

The funds available to spend (with the soft cap reduced down from $9.7Million to $6.5Million) hurts a club which needs to spend big on an established experienced coach So if North go that way there may not be much left over to spend on big name assistants There was a rumour that Goodwin signed on for less dollars to help the equilibrium Buckley and Ross Lyon could be approached. Blokes like that love the cut & thrust of coaching. It's in their blood (and it's a well paid position) Money talks

If nearly everything went right recruiting-wise they could be on the cusp of playing finals (or just make the 8) within 2 or 3 years ... but realistically, finals are probably 4-5 years away for North But again, they can't afford to miss with regards to their recruiting. They need a good plan and then they need to enact that plan The league probably wouldn't give them a priority pick but they probably deserve one (as we did when we were rubbish) But their needs are immediate anyway. A way to help might be salary cap relief so that they can get some established talent in We ourselves received a $1.4Million grant in 2013 (as well as PJ and as a consequence, Roos) I was never that confident ... in those years we were still receiving a lot of terrible hidings Plus, we weren't hard at the ball and the league style had swing over to a contested style where hard-ball-gets and contested possessions were paramount We weren't that type of team At times we looked good but it was 'usually' against mediocre opposition. We lost 27 games in those 2 years as well and a lot of those losses were thumpings Forward line had real issues as well A lot fell for all the top end draft picks as if they were written-in-stone to be good performers. Those outcomes went pear shaped as well By the way, I go back a ways ... in my more optimistic days I believed that we were on the cusp of success after making a run at the finals in 1976. In the 5 years that followed we lost a total of 88 games!! (not happy days)

Agreed but in both cases, the respective clubs both had/have way bigger issues than just the coach The heat now goes on the players at North (immediately) ... and every player is capable of playing above their average (from time to time) If that can happen all on the same day, a good performance beckons That largely explains (in my view) as to why teams often bounce-back with a win or much improved performance the game after a coach is removed ... so look out Richmond! But it is fools gold as North's average output from their current list is quite poor They need a big rebuild and they need to nail their recruiting like we did once Roos/Jackson/Taylor arrived. Easier said than done

Yes, they need an experienced coach but they also need to surround that experienced coach with more experience both in the coaching area and in the Admin area. So it's not just the coaching The eye-opener for me with the Demons was Roos' first year. To lose 18 games told us that the players we had simply weren't up to it. And my opinion of Neeld changed as well because of all those losses that followed And because it was Roos/Jackson that tenure was given the grace to 'limit the damage' because that's what we witnessed But none of that is ground-breaking news North have to be prepared to go through what we went through. And to be fair, there was never any heat on Roos at our club by the media or our supporters (or opposition supporters for that matter) Very early on it was obvious that Roos needed to rebuild the list from ground zero (after the other, failed rebuild)

Before Neeld arrived we played a very soft style (bruise free), were low on real talent and had cleared out a lot of experience (which Roos addressed later on by bringing in experienced players) And the Neeld tenure cannot be talked about without referencing the Roos tenure and the Schwab/Bailey years ... there is a real, undeniable connection With regards to Noble, he also inherited a poor list and North did what we did, turfed out the experience beforehand. A fatal error Carlton did something similar before they finally started building their list in a much smarter way But I'm not trying to change your mind, Dubdee, I'm just offering a different view

Roos lost 18 games in his 1st season and then incurred another 15 losses in his 2nd season We got sold a lemon in believing we were building a top list through the Schwab/Bailey tenure (inherited by Neeld) I am by no means stating that Neeld was anything more than a below average coach but there wasn't much he could do with that list ... as Paul Roos found out But Roos would have known the talent levels anyway. His was a rescue job There was good reasoning behind the recruitment of Cross, Vince, Lewis and others who offered onfield experience (with talent)

Fair enough No need to apologise then, LDvC Pres-speak, CEO-speak, Coach-speak, Player-speak, and the biggie ... Supporter-speak!! Noble will be paid 6 months extra you'd imagine (that's the new agreement apparently) and will have no problem getting another position in the footy industry He's was a good man in the wrong place at the wrong time (at North)

I disagree Neeld inherited a rubbish list ... history tells us that as Roos ended up clearing out over 30 players in 3 off-seasons That's not to say that Neeld was a good coach but the club had any number of issues that weren't related to the coach To blame Neeld alone was/is pure scapegoating

Yeah, that's what I said (pres-speak) Did you read my post?

What North need most of all is onfield talent ... and their President reckons they've got a great list! Truly delusional stuff but it's probably just Pres-speak They've got some young talent but they need some talented experience to bolster their list The good news is that they are financially secure and have been for quite some time (despite what the naysayers would have you believe) so they do not have to entertain the thought of relocating to the Gold Coast or Tassie

I watched the first 2 sets and then listened in for the rest of the match and on radio all the talk was about Nick yapping away constantly to himself or his entourage (in a weird, demanding way) His outbursts are compulsive and all those outbursts do is distract from the task at hand ... I don't believe he is a bad person. He needs help But Novak was just too good anyway ... his return of serve and groundcourt volleys etc were overpowering (and Nick knew it) It's probably not important to Nick but if he got himself a mind coach or mentor, he'd be way better off. And he needs a tennis coach regardless He won't win big until he gets his mind right, he's certainly got the talent and we saw that on display in the first set

Pure evil or anti-vax evil !?! 😁

Nick is complaining about a drunk woman in the crowd heckling him haha You couldn't make this stuff up "Looks like she's had 700 drinks"

Federer not being a feature leaves a large void. A true gentleman but a great player and a tremendous talent to watch Nadal & Novak are both great to watch as well but after that, there's not that many drawcards in men's tennis. And in Australia at least, Ash Barty retiring takes a lot of interest out of women's tennis So in steps Nick to spark up interest (in his own inevitable way) He alienates many but at the same time, he's a drawcard for many (esp those who aren't super fans of tennis) Tennis needs personalities much like golf does and in both sports, the personality factor is nowhere near as high as it used to be I remember a time when Lendl & Borg were regarded as a tad boring but both players were still huge drawcards. Lendl was the villian whilst Borg was just a freak who never seemed to break out in a sweat. Apparently Borg had a resting pulse rate of 35!! And of course, McEnroe & Connors were the brash yanks who brought the fans in as well

That's another new addition upon becoming a proper contender We have a need to barrack for Essendon!! Ugh!

Yes, we'll be there when the whips are cracking but we have lost 4 from our last 6 The opposition know full well how good our defence is so by crowding our forward line and disabling our potency up forward, that can effect our all over defence. Retaining the ball inside the forward line is problematical as well And Brown has been double teamed or triple teamed all season. We covered for him for a time but with T-Mac going down, we've now got some issues up forward Play Gawn forward and bring in Van Rooyen or Weideman as the 3rd marking option (Fritsch can play the John Northey role on the flank)

If Nick wasn't so abrasive I'd be a huge fan because his actual tennis is fantastic to watch One of the past greats was talking about how he can change the speed of his forehand from 100k's to 160's without any discernible difference in hitting style ... similar on the backhand. He's got game alright With trepidation, I'll be supporting Nick tonight because I reckon (oddly enough) that winning might be a wake up call But to be honest, Novak is a better player and should win (but it should be a real contest) Against that, Nick's record against the better players is very good. Often, players who are ranked outside of the top 20 or 30 can't seem to trouble the best. But Nick can trouble the best. And he'll be well rested Looking forward to the match, LH

Could be a day for the tall forwards at Alice Springs next Sunday afternoon as well ... 22° predicted (and dry conditions) If we play Van Rooyen do we throw him in as the no.2 or in an easier role as the no.3? As it stands, Max plays forward a fair bit when it suits anyway I also believe we need to get Fritsch up into the play more as well. Play him on the HFF rather than predominantly as a FP

That's a good point We look great when we win the clearance from a centre square bounce down ... 666 is in operation so our forward line is full of 1 on 1's and/or there is space in the forward line (think PF & GF last year) But you are right when it comes to other times of the game ... I made mention of our boundary line play and slow movement of the ball (too much handballing) in the post game thread against the Cats But the conditions were slippery and we didn't have a workable structure up forward anyway With Van Rooyen, it's early doors but I don't see a player with a manic desire to play in front. He's ok (but not great) with that vital component required by a KPF That might come later but he's worth a shot anyway (either him or Weideman with Gawn playing the no.2 role)