Macca

6 experienced starting 18 players that are missing doesn't help Add Rivers, Bowey, Salem, Melk, Viney & CJ and we'd probably still struggle against a switched on Lions outfit But without them? Good luck, fellas

Hope he gets played as the 7th defender (loose man) A soft intro much like when a new test batsman used to start off as the no.6 (Ponting, G Chappell et al) We know the Lions won't be playing a 7 man forward line so XT could just occupy an area in the backline

Different process for the end product apparently, layz (red vs yellow) But I do remember the furore when they were introduced, way back when Like most other things, they got used to it and got on with it But to me, the same issue remains ... the yellow footy's are too slippery and too hard to mark

Ain't that the truth!

The wet weather games last weekend were painful to watch ... we went back to congested football and endless stoppages Make the footballs for wet weather football less slippery? (dimples?) It wasn't so long ago that we only used red footy's... when the yellow footy's appeared the complaint was that the yellow footy was too slippery (too much lacquer) I'm not sure the thinking has changed or the condition of the yellow footballs has changed

Re the games clash tomorrow evening The AFL fails at the obvious Meanwhile, the NRL doesn't. And I'm not trying to turn this into an AFL vs NRL debate about which is the better sport. Just comparing both leagues with each other The NRL has 2 matches scheduled for nearly every Friday evening and has done so for well over a decade now ... one match is cable/streaming (6pm) and the other is FTA (8pm) Obviously, there's no overlap The AFL could split 2 games on a Friday evening quite easily ... just needs some creative thinking With split rounds and byes etc, there wouldn't be a need for a double-header on a Friday, every single week And there's always Monday night footy if they were to revisit that concept (I'd look at that, but not every Monday) But Monday evenings would solve the issue of trying to fit 9 games into 8 slots. The 2 teams that meet on a Monday could get a bye the following weekend?

Of all the possible moves that could be made, I'd like to see XT get an easier time of it, first up Windsor to a wing and Langford more so as a mid, appeals The rest of it is just spitballing and talking points

With 7 experienced players out it's hard to see a game-style that can win us the game. But you never know This is the perfect game to experiment in terms of trying players in different positions Windsor back to a wing (HFF ➡️ Wing for the centre ball ups) XL as a loose man in defence (Wing ➡️ HBF for the centre ball ups JVR to the backline has merit (if T-Mac is out) Kentfield (or Jeffo) up forward Moose as a 2nd ruck Langford more midfield minutes Lindsay on the other wing Langdon maybe back

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Butters got off lightly ... incredibly so Because he was found guilty he should have copped a few weeks (at least) It's about time umpires were treated with a lot more respect Fact is they are trying to umpire an unumpirable sport and at best they might get 7 out of 10 decisions right So accept the umpires decision and get on with it Stop calling them cheats and stop talking as if they are on the take .... all that is a nonsense I could go through 20 different types of adjudications and find grey area in each of those rulings That's how difficult it is. An impossible task Nothing has changed since the 19th century. The issue is the sport, not the umpires

Sheila has certainly churned out a number of books ... especially re Russia & the Soviets Her latest book (The Death of Stalin) looks interesting

@hardtack Converting the book to a movie would be quite the task. I feel like they'd have to leave a fair portion of the book to the wayside I won't go into detail but if you do get a copy to read, you'll probably see what I mean Many of the reviews of the film describe it as a Dark Comedy but also as Epic Sci-fi, which I'm thinking will suit your taste! Anyway, how are holding up with your treatment?

As a collective (simplified) Our senior players well down on their best Their senior players had a good day Our youngsters had an off day Their youngsters had a good day Now, if we put up that sort of performance against a good team, heaven knows what the margin might have been Against Essendon, it's enough to give them a chance at victory and they duly took it Sure, we can move on, but there's a lot we can learn from the loss It's starts with turning up, ready to play (against any opposition) An eye-opener for King, but it's probably good that he's seen things early

The genre divides opinion. IMDB rating of 8.4 with close on 200,000 reviews (the movie) Book $14 at retail outlets ... a cheap purchase for the 2021 best selling sci-fi book

Butters coach would be the most annoyed There's a game to be won and Butters is tempting fate arguing with an upmire over a decision What a fool

Andy Weir's 'Project Hail Mary' is fabulous and could well go down as an all time classic (certainly in the sci-fi genre) A recently released movie, based on the book, has already grossed half a billion dollars! (Stars Ryan Gosling) For reviews, description and further info ... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401-project-hail-mary?from_search=true

Enough with the congregate round! Rory won the Masters again! Is he the most universally liked sportsperson going around? Great to watch with his attacking style

We had a bad day at the office yesterday. But we've also seen the other side of the ledger against the Saints, Blues & Suns Nonetheless, yesterday was very disappointing With the Demons it's maybe 'expect the unexpected' The Senior players have to bring it because if they don't, we can't expect the young and/or the inexperienced players to win us games. It's too big of an ask Our inexperienced players are learning how to play, at AFL level. Any player can be critiqued, but who's leading the way? We need Bowey, Rivers & Viney back, asap

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What about all the unforced errors (turnovers) 138 so far Edit (4 minutes later) 155 (turnovers)

The young players are not the issue.* All of them need a few pre-seasons & 60-80 games under their belts but more importantly, they need the senior players to lead the way Which was sadly lacking yesterday (senior players output) I counted up to at least 10 experienced players who were well below their best The danger pre-game was complacency and whether King could read what might get delivered Let's face it, we starting having these no-show-up games a few years ago with arguably, a much better team But even the best teams have off days (Bulldogs yesterday as well) Steep learning curve ahead with lots of ups & downs. We just need to stay ahead in the win column *Even the great Chris Judd could only average 18 possessions per game in his first 68 matches (3 years)

What an opportunity hey? 4 & 1 staring us in the face ... a win and we might be a contender (maybe) A loss and it's another re-start Seize the day!

Bang bang ... bang?

If they are dumb enough to think that a caretaker coach could work then yeah, they'll sack Voss early Caretaker coach - 2 or 3 wins. New game plan? Good luck! End of season (or near the end) is a far better scenario (for Carlton) And the caretaker coach might mirror Voss anyway. After all, their whole FD would be geared towards playing a certain way

Won't do them any good. They lack the talent to play today's new AFL standard. Caretaker coach won't help either. Too much is set in stone in footy clubs these days And the Blues are doing what we used to do ... Bomb it in long, time after time. Dumb football. Turnover- City A new coach needs a year to turn it around (or at least the whole off season) Our sport has become like the NFL in that regard (not like soccer) And the NFL teams generally wait until seasons end to sack their coaches. Black Monday they call it