Macca

All I can think about is Belichick and what new game-winning idea he comes through with. Andy Reid's teams are nearly always in the contest though so it could be a close one. A big night of sport tomorrow night ... Footy, NRL & NFL.

Anyone give KC a chance tomorrow? I'd like nothing better than to see the Pats get beaten but I can't see it. Hope it's close at least.

I have the same issue GTB so I generally put the tips in early. I post up the lines (see below) as a reminder to myself! Here they are again seeing we're on a new page ...

We played well enough tonight to win by 4 or 5 goals but such is the nature of the sport, we only just managed to achieve victory. We now need Japan to get at least a point against the Saudi's if we're to qualify automatically.

I'm at a stage with the pre-season games where I just have a quick look at the results and how many snaps Rodgers has had! The clubs get a bit out of them with regards schemes, formations and the like but the scoring and the winning & losing seems secondary.

Atlanta Pittsburgh Carolina

There's a couple of standout road chances in week 1 but finding a definite 3rd road winner is tricky ...

Sad news ... Walter Becker was a gifted songwriter and musician. Steely Dan's best work was after their early commercial work - it often happens the other way around. I suppose after they'd made it in the music industry (early doors) Becker & Fagen decided to be true to the music that they really wanted to produce. Full albums - The Royal Scam & Aja And here's one of my favourites from their acclaimed album 'Aja' ...

We'll do well to not lose this series to Bangladesh 2-0 This time last year we lost to Sri Lanka 3-0, then lost at home to South Africa, saved a bit of face at home against Pakistan but then, we lost another series in India. We haven't won in England since 2001 and have won just 1 series in India since the late 1960's. Gone are the days when we were an all-powerful outfit.

Well, whilst we're being superstitious, can we go the other way? Patrick Dangerfield (pick 10 ... 2007 draft)

Meanwhile, the once 'mighty' Blues lose 16 games and no one bats an eyelid. Like the Pies, they'll probably remain mediocre too. Here's hoping. And how about those 2 ridiculously subsidised Queensland teams? Money for jam.

Canterbury Bulldogs = Collingwood But are these teams outside of the 8 much worse than those just inside the 8 (in both codes)? So many of the games this season have been decided 'on the day' The form lines were difficult to read all season.

And now St George miss the finals in almost identical fashion to how we missed out.

History tells us that our previous list's contained any number of C grade or worse players ... we've got less of those types now but we've still got quite a few. Most of those types won't get any better either. We're not at a situation where we don't need a cull of some description - we've got too many 'ok's & 'alrights' who are clogging up the list and taking us nowhere. Go through the list yourselves and note the amount of 'must-keeps' ... you won't reach a figure of 30 unless you're being ultra-generous. The number is more like 20-25. But I get it, many are sick to death of not playing finals and they want success and they want it now. Footy doesn't work that way though. A club needs to continually tick all the boxes over a long period of time in order to achieve success. 7-9 changes are required this off-season but that won't be the end of it. We'll need another off-season and we'll also need to replace those offloaded players with much better players. Ultimately, we'll need a squad of 30+ players who are best 22. At the moment, we're probably sitting at best 16 or thereabouts. That squad of 30 players would ideally contain 6-7 A grade players. Do all that and we can win multiple premierships.

The other real worry is if one or more of these missiles launched by North Korea hits a target by accident ... given the recent history of these missiles, would anyone be surprised if that happens? And then what happens? Retaliatory action based on a mistake? ... and then there's the very real possibility of a genuine attack from North Korea or a pre-emptive strike by the Americans. Meanwhile, Putin & the Russians are stirring the pot and the Chinese seem to be sitting on their hands. I'd offer up a solution if I had one but we're dealing with a number of volatile variables and more than a couple of leaders who I have zero trust in. I don't envy your situation CBF.

Even when we defeated Adelaide I was circumspect. I thought that after that game we were a genuine chance at finals but more so based on the competition not having a number of excellent teams. In that scenario, any number of teams can 'make it' Therefore, the finals are wide open ... however, we along with Essendon, the Eagles & Port were always going to be long shots at winning the whole thing. I'd expect 2 of those teams to exit in week 1 and whichever team gets through to week 2 will almost certainly exit in that week as well. The finals experience would have been good for the group but missing out might act as a greater spur. My concern is with the list though - we probably need another 2 decent off-seasons before I'd be satisfied. We need pace, speed of ball movement, height & talent. So do most, if not all of the clubs. The coaching of the team isn't perfect either. Our starts are often abysmal.

The area that everyone should always look at (first) is player talent and how much of that player talent we actually have. You'd reckon most would have learned a valuable lesson from the years 2007-2015. i.e. our list was bereft of talent and was the primary reason as to why we couldn't win games. That, coupled with poor coaching and abysmal recruiting. Roos spent most of his time at the club rebuilding from the ground up (Barassi had to do the same with his tenure here) Fast forward to right now and we're still short on talent. Except, we're better off than what we were previously. The coaching & recruiting is better too. The whole week has become a beat-up of epic proportions. The answer is quite simple - we're just not that good and we have a long way to go before we're a true contender. You should try living in Melbourne Steve - it's everywhere you go. Forget social media, even my local pharmacist reckons 'we' drink our own bathwater.' I tried to set him straight but to no avail. I could give you numerous other examples. Anyone would think that we threw away a chance at a premiership - we're miles off and people need to keep it real.

We're a work-in-progress. We've gone from having 2 or 3 decent players to now having up to 10-12 good footballers. And about half of those 10-12 good players had less than productive season's because of form/injury. It's true that we need footballers with leg speed but I'd be surprised if the club doesn't try and address that issue. But those types of players have to be able to play the game to a good level too. As previously stated, that's easier said than done when you're trying to evaluate high-school age talent. What stands out is that Hunt & Frost look so much quicker than most on our list. I hope we hang on to Frost for that reason and in turn, coach the lad into being a decent footballer. Watts can be a quick player too but he doesn't use his own pace to advantage. Trying to prise talented quick players from other clubs is difficult too - I mean, it's not as if we'd entertain the thought of letting Hunt go.

The eye test ... Compared to a lot of the other sides, we move the ball too slowly (from an overall perspective) However, we at times do move the ball quickly. And the leg speed of our players is slow too. When we're playing well we play a type of 'tempo' football which makes us look quick but our base game is at the contest and contested ball. Stoppages suits our style generally because of Gawn and our contested ball winners (Oliver, Jones, Viney & Tyson) But a number of teams worked out a way to break down our game style - more so in the 2nd half of the season. Those teams weren't necessarily the successful teams either. A number of teams found a way to pressure us into mistakes and then we often got crushed on the rebound or from the oppositions spread. The first quarter against the Pies was just more of the same as to what we'd seen previously. Again, mainly in the 2nd half of the season. I also believe our style of play tires the team out towards the end of the season. The 2-way running and our own pressure that we exert comes at a price. I'm not sure what the answer is entirely apart from the maturity that will naturally occur and the recruitment of some skilled players with genuine leg speed. The latter requirement is easier said than done though. All clubs want those types of players.

With no footy on this weekend I'll be tuning into the last round of league. Some vital games on show with finals spots at stake. Starts tonight on 'Gem' (or foxtel) ... Broncos @ Cowboys (7.30pm) Nth Queensland need to win to secure a finals spot.

Leaving aside those teams with little hope, I found myself still leaving out a number of decent or half decent teams (Giants, Eagles, Texans, Raiders, Bengals, Saints(?), Arizona(?). Rams(?) As always, a few teams will fall away and other, less fancied teams will bob up from nowhere. Every year we've done this I reckon we've all missed by a fair bit. Picking 5 from 8 division winners is about par. AFC: North: Steelers East: Pats South: Colts West: Denver WC: KC, Ravens NFC: North: Packers East: Dallas South: Falcons West: Seahawks WC: Vikings, Panthers NFC Championship - Falcons/Dallas AFC Championship - Patriots/Steelers SB: Patriots/Dallas

I reckon we'll make 7-9 changes to the primary list ... with specific needs in mind. Any more than that and you're just shuffling the deck chairs. However, the caveat is that we're going to have to be quite creative to get what we need (want?) I'm more looking at what type of players we need to bring in. And sometimes there's a need to give up something to get something. We need pace, skill & height.

Those players who we had expectations for and who underperformed will come under the microscope. That includes players who haven't come on as expected and those who haven't progressed much past C or C+ standard. Obviously, we won't and don't have a need to dispense with 12-14 players as we've done in the recent past, but it's my hope that the club do make a median amount of changes to the list. We may need to be quite creative as we've been more recently, but that's ok. I'm one to move on quickly - the playing of the games for this season is over. It's time to plan for next season.

Well, I'm old school Gonzo so I see the coach motivating the players as one of his main roles. Along with devising a game plan and various other tasks & needs. I get your frustration but I've a strong feeling that Goodwin will be spending the next weeks/month having a very close look at the list. I'd be surprised if there aren't at least a few casualties. We need to make changes in order to give ourselves a chance to get much better.

Forget the sports psychologist, the coach is there to suitably motivate the players. After all is said and done, that's his job. And if certain players don't respond, drop them. If they are repeat offenders, delist or trade. Footy basics 101.