Macca

Just watched the PI on Cinci in the last minute. Different rules in American football but there didn't seem to be a lot in it I've seen a lot worse not paid (and vice-versa)

Leaderboard Tipping Comp (this week's points in brackets) 7 - DemonDave (3+1) 4 - Go the BIff (1), DeeSpencer (1), layzie (1), Macca (1) 2 - JV7 (1), Gorgoroth (1), titan_uranus (1), Clintosaurus (1), Dee Zephyr (1), BDA (1), Dr. Gonzo (1) 1 - ElDiablo14 (0) n.b. Newcomers are welcome as you can join in on the tipping comp anytime

And your Bears might land you the 3 points otherwise it's DemonDave on his own with the 3 (plus a bonus point) 49ers was the trap game but upsets aplenty. And a rookie mistake cost the Bengals a win against KC (haven't seen the pass interference penalty but apparently it was quite obvious)

The Brady 6: Journey of the Legend NO ONE Wanted (47 Minute Doco)

Does anyone actually know of a proper Giants supporter? The psych wards might be full of Dons supporters muttering 7307 over and over again (whilst rocking back & forth)

More on Hogan ... He works really hard in the forward line and is a commanding presence in the corridor/hot spot And it's no accident either, he's a proper forward and a natural Doesn't lead to the boundary line to get the easy mark but puts his body on the line in the crunch area. But he is big and brave and it's hard to hurt him as a consequence And as a general rule, he finds the front position without much fuss So the question is, how do you find these types of forwards as the draft more often than not doesn't deliver (for midfielders in the draft, the strike rate is a lot better)

The change doesn't have to be that dramatic but right now, we are easy to read and the opposition backmen would know how we go about our forward forays We're often looking for a forward line stoppage (boundary side) but so too is the opposition. We're just playing into their hands often into a crowded forward line as well We just need the opposition and the opposition backmen to not know how we're going about it. Variety creates confusion It would help a lot if we had genuine marking power up forward but that is a work in progress We need JVR and company to get better at taking grabs. Along with decent delivery It all stems back to fast ball movement and decent disposal efficiency. Leg speed and schemes to escape the midfield pressure Watching the good teams going about it during the finals is a learning exercise. For the FD. At least, it should be

The Cats/Lions game is of significant interest in terms of how competitive the game could be. Interesting that the bookies have the Lions at 2.10 (which seems too short) Port on the other hand are showing 3.45 which seems like unders to me. They're not getting my money!

Chargers 49ers Pittsburgh

The real debate is how good is Goodwin's coaching now? I've advocated surrounding Goodwin with a new FD (or ar least, in part) As you know, footy changes and evolves and sometimes we need to be the innovator, not adapt to an evolved or evolving game Right now, it feels like we need to play catch-up just to get back to being a contender again But players do make coaches and that is often true In 2021 we had 5 AA's (May, Lever, Gawn, Petracca & Oliver) As well as another 5 pushing for selection (Salem, Fritsch, Langdon, Viney & maybe Brayshaw) This season it was Gawn with no one else even going close

Yes, 1 year or maybe even 2 years of bring in NQR's is bad enough, but 3 years? That's a massive fail and we would have been better off backing in Jason Taylor with late picks in the 3 drafts He has such an eye for talent that he might have found 2 or 3 gems. Instead of that, we've actually gone backwards in terms of real talent levels (across the board)

I'm happy to see Goodwin continue but with a revamped FD (the review could lead to such a situation) But Simon needs to re-jig our game style. Nothing too dramatic but what is noticeable watching the finals, is how different the other teams game plans are The use of the corridor in particular and the play-on in an immediate sense from marks, frees & stoppages Leg speed and fast ball movement leads to players further afield finding space to receive. Or backing in a teammate in a one-on-one There are times to slow the game down a la what the Giants didn't do, but our game plan often centres around slowing the game down (too much)

@Clintosaurus @DeeSpencer @ElDiablo14 @Dappa Dan @titan_uranus Don't forget your tips, gentlemen Week 2 Game Picks (1 hour)

And I agree about the big changes, FD In my view we need to go hard at the trade table as long as we can get real value back Load up on draft picks and rebuild We need speed, talent and vigour. The current midfield needs a big refresh. We're too slow and our ball movement and game plan needs to be fixed

2 Demon chokes that come to mind The 2018 Preliminary Final. Stage-fright paints a too kind picture. We choked The last quarter of the 1987 Preliminary final. Missed easy shots and ignored players in better positions (the Eishold miss and ignoring Flower in the goal square stand out)

Was the Giants choke the biggest in football history? (in terms of big games) They just disappeared en masse and there was nothing unlucky about how they lost But they are largely anonymous up in Sydney so the recriminations will be mild. Imagine if it was the Demons, Pies or Carlton? Or Essendon! The Pies meltdown in the 1970 GF stands out

What gets forgotten (or deliberately put aside) was that Petty, Melksham, JVR & Brown were unavailable. T-Mac was an almost total liability, yet played Fritsch was banged up and we couldn't use Petracca forward with the absence of Brayshaw We had no real structure, no KPF's doing what needs to be done etc etc So the replacement, D Grade forward line wasn't good enough. Stands to reason when the term D Grade is used to describe things in an accurate way Yes, we kicked inaccurately but that's what lesser players do (kick inaccurately) Petty, Melksham, JVR & Brown are all accurate kicks for goals, but they didn't play And yet, we very nearly won both finals ... we did well to get close

In terms of real talent and actual output, we would not have been able to compete against any of the teams who played this weekend You are what your record says you are Our midfield in particular was no better than C+ looked at from an overall perspective ... probably no better than bottom 6 for the whole season

The Bleacher Report Power Rankings Click the above link for all 32 teams and summaries 1 - KC 2 - Lions 3 - 49ers 4 - Houston 5 - Eagles 6 - Ravens 7 - Dallas 8 - Miami 9 - Bills 10 - Rams

@Gorgoroth @Go the Biff @DeeSpencer @titan_uranus @Clintosaurus @Dee Zephyr @Dr. Gonzo @DemonDave @BDA @layzie @Dappa Dan @ElDiablo14 @JV7 Leaderboard Tipping Comp 3 - Go the Biff, DeeSpencer, layzie, DemonDave, Macca 1 - ElDiablo14, JV7, Dr.Gonzo, BDA, titan_uranus, Gorgoroth, Dee Zephyr, Clintosaurus Looks an easier week but beware the trap game!

Jets @ 49ers Highlights The Bleacher Report - NFL Week 1 Top Takeaways for Every Game NFL Power Rankings for Every Team (n.b. Rankings as of 3rd September - Before the Week 1 Games) p.s ... The Bleacher Report comes out on Friday's so If I haven't posted up a link by late Friday, just go to Google and type in 'Bleacher Report' ... always an interesting read

Rodgers is certainly box office but he had McCarthy as his coach for nearly all his career at the Packers McCarthy failed to complement a stellar passing game with a strong running game and a strong defense. In particular, the Packers were weak at run defence under McCarthy Are there similarities at Dallas? Does McCarthy lean on Dak too much?

It would be great to see Rodgers turn it on and he will have at least a few big performances in him But Champion players just can't do it all the time when they get older (Brady being the outlier) Plus, if they hit him hard it will take it's toll His best chance, and the Jets best chance, is if he is used in a Brady-like way with protection being the main focus Long, deep, accurate throws? Maybe, but he's 40

The Falcons could win the NFC South, all the same, as 9 or 10 wins could get it done. A knockout hope Carolina have no chance and Tampa & the Saints are both flakey In fact, my top 4 overall in the NFC sits at Dallas, 49ers, Eagles & the Lions After that, it's hard to find a team that could legitimately challenge