Macca

I wouldn't take the 'so close' remark too seriously. Remembering that Goodwin had just been sacked Upon his dismissal, the late Dean Bailey (RIP) remarked that we had a premiership list. The comments are almost like a fail-safe move But the reality is that we need to overhaul the list and overhaul the FD In my view, unless we act in these 2 areas we can or could get even worse no matter who the new coach might be The ladder doesn't lie nor does the W/L record We look good on paper only We're slow, we lack basic skills and we aren't going hard enough at the ball or the contest We have no marking presence up forward and our mids just blaze away indiscriminately Issues everywhere but if we take affirmative action, we can march up the ladder But if the club actually believes we're not far away, we're in trouble

Norm Smith started out as the coach of Fitzroy

Dexter is back! (Dexter Resurrection) And getting rave reviews New season 6 episodes in

Partnership with Stan. Nine Entertainment owns Stan Earlier this year we got the CL Final and the Europa Final on Ch9 as well Good games too ... starts off with Villa vs Newcastle then Man City vs Spurs

EPL live on Ch9 next Saturday 9.30pm Also, another 2 live games on 23rd Aug & 30th Aug (both 9.30pm)

Stan acquiring the rights to the EPL means a number of games will be shown live on Ch9 (Stan & the 9 Network are broadcasting partners with Stan being owned by Nine Entertainment) So beginning next Sat (16th) the 9.30pm game between Aston Villa & Newcastle will be shown live on Ch9 I believe that we'll get at least 2 more Saturday 9.30pm fixtures to follow 23rd August 9.30pm Man City vs Spurs 30th August 9.30pm Chelsea vs Fulham

Storm up 12-2 and they rarely lose from that sort of position Need to keep winning to gain a home QF

The Pies 2nd to the ball all night Hawks have been very good but Collingwood putrid

Money? If he can get an extra $100k+ per year elsewhere on a longer contract, why not hold out? He's seen plenty of others at the club get nice, big fat contracts so why not get in for his chop

They'll hold the trophy at Lords, you'd imagine (the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy) But India denying England the trophy was an achievement in itself Decades ago we would sometimes get a 6th Test and when the Ashes were up for grabs, the 6th Test might have been played at The Oval ... sometimes even with a 6th day added (stand corrected on that one) But a 2-2 result seems a very fair result, all things considered A nice lead in to the Ashes which is just over 3 months away Soon enough, I reckon the big 3 Nations might play home and away over a 3 year cycle (instead of 4 years) A 2 and a half year gap seems a tad long especially when it involves the Ashes

That's how I framed the appraisal In terms of available talent, to be in the position we are in, is putrid Previously, in seasons where we barely won any games, we had very few, if any, top players This season a number of our players have underperformed, for whatever reason But Gawn, Bowey, Chin, Rivers, Turner, Pickett, T-Mac & Melk have been decent to very good. Lindsay & Langford nice debut seasons But May, Lever, Petty, Salem, Langdon, Fritsch, Viney, Petracca, Oliver, Sparrow, JVR & McVee have had forgettable seasons by their own standards Windsor & Kolt 2nd year blues? Of course, if we can bounce back next year, 2025 might be forgotten much like 2019 has been largely forgotten because of the flag in 2021 That's my view, at least

It certainly was I've never watched a series not involving Australia, so intensely Quality cricket all round although the pitches were a bit too batsmen friendly (but just a slight knock as overall, the cricket was great) Having said all that, the Oval pitch was a sporting one

Siraj finishes them off so India tie the series and therefore retain the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Great series with a fantastic finalè Apparently the smallest margin for an India test victory (6 runs)

As for next season and beyond, you make some good points but we've got a stack of things to get right in the off season The whole FD needs to be looked at thoroughly and the playing list needs a refresh (at least) And if we can turn Clarrie & Trac around, all the better As it stands, if we stand firm, both will either get us good value in trades or they stay and play at their best with us

England need 20 runs and India need 2 wickets! What a finish and Woakes will bat with a busted shoulder!!

Is this season our worst on record? All things considered, with 15 Premiership players available most weeks? And with the improvement of Chin, Melk along with the introduction of Lindsay, Langford & Culley We've had far worse actual results (W/L) but in all those poorly performed seasons we were bereft of talent (especially throughout the 70's, most of the 80's and from 2007 until 2016) What a waste of a year but we can still finish off well and play spoiler (if we're switched on) Get something out of the season

I could relate numerous other stories

Re Petracca's comments re our crowd numbers ... In terms of support, we are a not a big club but we often go close to maximising our crowd numbers It would take decades for us to catch up with the big clubs and we'd also need lots of sustained on field success We just don't have the supporter numbers and that period from 1965 to 1986 killed off any chance of being a big club Same sort of thing happened to South, North, Fitzroy, St Kilda & Bulldogs. All the small clubs are competing in the one City up against the big boys You've got to win and contend consistently through the decades and that's what the big clubs have done We've had too many wilderness years as support is often passed on through the generations So in other words, what did Petracca expect? Collingwood type numbers?

So it's no surprise that once a team loses quality midfielders for whatever reason (Gus, Trac, Clarrie) then being able to compete well becomes problematic It's impossible to replace in a like-for-like manner. Not even close We need to find a way to become a contender again with or without Petracca & Oliver In an ideal world both return to their best and we get on with the business If both go, it's going to take a bit of time to compete properly again (factoring in the loss of Gus as well) How would Gold Coast go without Rowell, Miller & Anderson all down on their best (or unavailable) I used to hate blaming injuries but not when A Grade talent is at play

I vehemently disagree In 2023 our forward line was bereft of talent ... Brown, JVR, Melk & Petty all unavailable. Fritsch was injured and proppy and T-Mac played like an old man (back then) Petracca unavailable to play forward as he had to play on the ball in the absence of Gus Smith was ok but hardly first choice We had Buckley's chance The fact that we got so close irks many, but not to pragmatic thinkers We had 7 starters either not available or incapacitated once the finals got under way in 2023

2022 was the one that got away as we looked very tired and should have been rotating players (as Geelong did in 2022 and as Collingwood have done this season) But in 2023 we ended up with a D Grade forward line in the finals series. How does a team win 3 finals with a makeshift, low-on-talent forward line? Petty, Melksham & Brown out, JVR suspended and Fritsch & T-Mac (who both played in the finals) were both handicapped with chronic injuries And then Brayshaw was thugged out of the game which meant we couldn't use Petracca forward as planned We did remarkably well to get so close So fair enough with regards to 2022 but we were never going to win it all in 2023

Ha ha ha! Bring it!!!

If the players don't give effort, then support will drop off. Reflected in the membership as well as crowd numbers And against the Saints in the last quarter last week, the players didn't give a yelp and didn't care. We gave up I'm mildly surprised that more than 10k turned up yesterday, to be honest. All things considered, 16k is a decent result Especially against a VFL standard team with the match being played at Docklands. It was a nothing match unless we lost the game

It wasn't that long ago where we occupied the same position on the ladder as the Lions & Pies And of course we beat the Lions this season and very nearly beat the Pies But I'm not sure we could have matched the Lions tonight. The Pies? They are quite beatable The way the Lions collectively corralled NIck Daicos and denied him space was great coaching. And great discipline by the Lions players

That was a high pressure, high standard game Lions can win it all if they keep up that sort of form Pies had no answers Wouldn't it be great if we can beat them in the final round and knock them out of the top 4!! They are no guarantee to beat the Hawks or Crows Well played Lions!