Macca

It's quite literally one week at a time with our rucking situation ... what we might see today may bear little resemblance to how we attack things in the coming weeks. If we do well today we may change things up the next week (McEvoy/Hawks) because of match-ups. Then we've got the twin-towers @ Adelaide and then North presents the same sort of problem. The last quarter in all of these upcoming games are vital ... the players from both sides start getting tired so those taps to advantage can result in more clean clearances. The MC would know that so we might keep someone fresh for that stanza.

Hardeman was a great player ... we never played finals back then so therefore we were rarely on the 'replay' ... a lot of neutral supporters didn't get to see how good he was. Back in the day I had a lot of Richmond mates and they all admired Hardeman. As you said, he played consistently well on Royce Hart (who was a star) Backmen often go unnoticed in B & F's and Gary was no exception. 2 thirds were his best finishes but I'm fairly sure he came runners-up in a Brownlow as well. He was an absolute gun with a great set of hands.

Their best year together was 1976 when we just missed the finals ... Alves went to North at the end of '76 and then another top player in Hardeman left for SA at the end of 1977. That period between '77 & '81 tested the supporters no end. But the aforementioned players all gave great service to the club (along with Robbie) and they were about our only really good players back then (Fowler was also terrific and Biffin always gave his all) That's how I remember it Akum.

As I recall we were completely gobsmacked by the move ... there was no lead-up talk, nothing. The first time we heard about it was when the deal had been done. But it's a long time ago and the memory can sometimes play tricks. There were rumours that we needed the money to pay the other players but I've since read that the amount of money was significantly less than 200k. Who knows? Vinnie Cattoggio & Michael Young came as part of the deal (but they came to the club in the following season) Wells was a favourite of mine and still is - he was a dynamic centreman who could take a strong overhead mark, could kick the ball well and racked up the possessions. 8 or 9 top five finishes in the B & F and a 2nd place in the Brownlow. He could really play.

That was Wells' last game for the club before he was sold off to Carlton (200k was the rumoured figure) Matched by Fred Fanning's last game - 18 goals. That's what you call going out on a great note! Edit: Wells also took 16 marks out of a team total of 60 marks in that 48 possession game .... an enormous number for a centreman back in those days.

Yeah, I would have been quite concerned if Leuenberger was playing but I'm not sure that Bellchambers even directs the ball that well. Watts will almost certainly do some rucking but it's his value as a follower/utility that helps us the most. Pedersen needs to bring his best game and if he does that, we might even end up shading them with the clearance numbers. Bellchambers will probably get a greater number of hit-outs just because of his height and experience but the thing we absolutely need to curtail are the clean clearances that they might get. We've got a midfield that we should be able to rely on now so it's time for the lads to step up.

I cannot remember the last time a team went into a game without a recognised ruckman ... however, Bellchambers is not great by any means and he's the best case scenario for us, all things considered. We can still win and win well but it's still a very unusual situation that we find ourselves in. Good luck to whatever ruck combo the MC can come up with. Oliver, Viney, Jones, Tyson & Vince will all need to be on their games though. Vince can be a good extractor and with Lewis back, we might see more of Bernie at the stoppages.

But not the 'popular' view H ... it would be far easier to just have a moan sometimes. How about - "We haven't got a ruckman, we are doomed .. doomed I tell ya"

In sport, there are outliers and then there are clubs that just always seem to find a way. The Crows have rarely been a poor team so they fall into the 2nd category. The dogs on the other hand have landed themselves a great coach. Their list was reasonable before he got there but Beveridge gets the best out of his best players and the most out of the rest. Both clubs bring high motivation and that can be attributed to Pyke & Beveridge. The Bulldogs do actually have authentic ruckmen too - just not very good ones. They'd be super hard to beat if they had a ruckman like Gawn. The Crows go about their business quietly but they continually make excellent decisions. GWS are just chock full of talent and will, by default, win many games. As to where we sit, Goodwin needs a clean run at it ... he needs his best players available and ready to go. For various reasons, we haven't seen that this season (availability of our best players) But in a number of other areas, we're starting to tick the boxes.

We made a decision to draft Toumpas based on his absolutely outstanding junior form ... and his form was outstanding. The excitement levels were through the roof when we drafted him. O'Rourke & Plowman went at picks 2 & 3 in that same draft and both aren't much chop as it's turned out. And the no.1 pick from that draft has issues that could curtail his career. Drafting is fraught with danger and no club is more aware of that than GWS ... they got a crash-course in how it all works and are none the poorer because of it. Because they had so many high end picks they had the sample size to figure out what the results can be. Most other clubs often only get one go at it per year (a first round draft pick) GWS had numerous first round draft picks over 3 - 4 year stretch (if we include the mini-drafts and academy picks) They then quickly off-load those who probably won't make it and then re-load again. Rinse & repeat

Anything is possible bub ... but it's a ruthless footy world. The Pies biggest issue is their coach & their list management. And I'm not sure they realise that either. Off the field, they've done very very well. But if we want to make a big splash we need to start making finals and then we have to capitalise. All things considered, we've done reasonably well off-field given the on-field results of the last 10 years.

Not forgetting that they make hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the QB clash anyway - based on the numerous sales of their high-end 18 game memberships (where they derive income of approx 15 million plus) Plus, they've got that whole Western stand to make money from advanced reserved seating, membership sales, merchandise sales etc etc etc. It's our home game but the Pies do not miss out by a long shot. The Pies make zero dollars when they travel interstate so it suits them nicely to play as many away games at the MCG as possible. Good luck to them by the way as their club is well managed but they're not gifting the MFC anything.

Can't say I care 2 hoots for GWS - plenty of talent though and the only way they won't remain strong is if they are mismanaged. They'll continue to be aided in recruiting prized youth even when factoring in a 50% strike rate (which is how it generally works) Their academy and trading out overvalued draft picks will do the trick.

There's a fair bit of talent on show ... dogs just swarm at the contest and are relentless. GWS like to get the ball out and move the ball on their terms and against most other teams, it works. Where we sit against these 2 teams is important. We've got the effort, energy, application, attack on the ball & endeavour. The difference is the poise & finishing skills. I'd expect these 2 teams to get to the penultimate week of the season (along with the Crows & one other)

The 2.508 billion TV rights could never be shunted away - it was like a beacon in terms of what the players could go after. The money that has come into the game is astonishing ... not by world standards but the growth has been huge. It was only about 20 years ago that a lot of the players had jobs outside of football. The game is in great shape in terms of the financial returns ... the game itself needs more fine-tuning (IMO) but those discussions have been seen here previously.

It's full of lefties they tell me .. prone to exaggeration & political correctness But I digress .. In the end, it was all shadow-boxing and the players were never going to strike. The AFL could always afford to splash some more coin about and the players knew it.

Who told you? Some bloke in a pub? It's all fake news anyway Wyl .. and no one loses here anyway. There's a whole bunch of people associated with the sport making a nice dollar. And good luck to 'em I say. We said it earlier in the thread ... they all walk away happy.

Things like the TV money, membership, sponsorship etc but not sure about poker machine revenue and the like. That's what they'd mean ... the figure was about 22% so I highly doubt it would jump up all the way to 28%. Not when they were only pushing for about 25% anyway. AFL, players believe resolution to pay dispute in sight

Worsfold might have thought of strengthening his advantage in the ruck but he's decided to rest Leuenberger & bring in Bellchambers ... interesting move. Bellchambers is not one of the premier ruckman obviously but nevertheless, we can't afford to let him get super high numbers in terms of tap-outs. When he has been the main-man his hit-out totals have hovered between low to high 20's. You'd take that number right now (mid 20's) and if we can limit the damage, we can no doubt win. The combo we come up with to do the rucking and how we use that combo is anyone's guess. I reckon it's less of an advantage for them with Leuenberger not playing.

*28% of the revenues that the players directly contribute to. What that converts to in terms of the percentage of the total revenue is unknown at this stage. I'd say it would be less than 25% though. Somewhere between 22% - 25% probably. In dollar terms the 6 year wages deal would be worth more than 1.5 billion (the 6 year broadcast rights amounts to 2.508 billion) There's not too many losers whichever way it's spun.

AP to the Saints ... low salary as well (3.5 mil per year for 2 years) He might give them 1 good year, maybe 2. At 33, he's nearing the end but because he's been great previously, he might have a bit left. A new team could be just the tonic. Beast-mode should end up at the Raiders and the same scenario applies - however, Lynch is only 31. Again, 3.5mil per year is not a lot of money by NFL standards.

Well I'm just a terrible tipster ... all the info in the world won't change that! St Louis v Nashville Anaheim v Edmonton Washington v Pittsburgh Ottawa v New York Rangers

Le Pen disassociates herself (somewhat) from the National Front party but will that make much difference to the result? As it stands, Le Pen is miles behind Macron and there's too much ground to make up ... 37% to 63% is way too big a gap. But who am I to judge? ha ha French election: Le Pen says, 'I am not the candidate of the National Front'

We may be reaching a tipping point ... there was a reason why teams used to play 3 ruckman back in the days before we had interchange. And the lone ruckmen these days quite often don't go the bench anyway. Also, big blokes who lug around 100 -110kgs are not really built to run 10-12 kilometres every week. We're asking too much and that's not a hindsight observation on my part either.

I think I get the picture ... worse?