Macca

Yes Taylor has definitely got the midas touch ... he's an absolutely beauty I can see the club staying in contention for years to come due to his recruiting skills alone

Nice mark and goal Fritta ... a confidence builder!!

There is no point (no pun intended) The tech is garbage and will never get any better inless they spend the $$$$

Fingers crossed there are no injuries or concussions (or reports, so we need to be careful on the bumping too) It's all about the QF now and this is a practice match (which is a handy position to be in)

Where there is smoke, there's fire, and West Coast need multiple decent players, not just one potential gun They (Eagles) might be interested in proven talent with any of their picks as well ... much like what we did when using numerous 1st & 2nd round picks over the years for established talent (May, Lever, Langdon, Brown, Melksham, Hibberd, Grundy & Hunter) ... as well as those traded for players who have come and gone The Eagles need to stop the bleeding and they need to win games so they need players who can play now (much like when we needed the same) So GNF is probably on the money ... an in-principle agreement for pick #1 is probably on the table The question is, how much we're prepared to give up for pick #1? If Reid turns out to be an out and out star player, paying overs is no big deal at all So #5 and 2 late first rounders should be enough but the deal could be quite complex and we might have to deal with another club first to satisfy the Eagles But it shouldn't be forgotten that we can't put all our eggs in one basket up forward with just JVR, Petty and maybe Jefferson So we'll need another KPF as well you'd imagine ... and May isn't getting any younger either so Petty might be a better fit at FB (down the track) So if we're in the market for an established KPF, (or at least a KPF who has real potential) that's going to cost us as well In Taylor we trust

Whatever happened to Rusty or Bluey?

Last round of the season so (in theory at least) it's easier to find winners in the AFL Getting on the teams with a high incentive to win along with backing against those sorts of teams with no incentive to win For instance, tonight the Bombers are $1.90 at the line (30 points) ... their incentive is to bounce back from a shocking defeat whilst the Pies have already secured a home QF Other likely winners (in my view) are Gold Coast, Bulldogs, Port Adelaide (go to whoa) And GWS will possibly have to win to make the 8 Stay away games are maybe Syd/Melb & Bris/St.Kilda

All time best would have to have Norm Smith at the helm The Red Fox was a proper ginger

Notable Premier League Match-Ups for the Weekend Sat 5.00am Chelsea vs Luton Sat 9.30pm Bournemouth vs Spurs Sat Midnight Man Utd vs Nottingham Forest Sat Midnight Arsenal vs Fulham Sat 2.30am Brighton vs West Ham Sun 11.00pm Sheffield Utd vs Man City Mon 1.30am Newcastle vs Liverpool

With the mooted medium sized forward line we should be taking the preferred option of our players lowering their eyes and hitting up targets to our medium forwards Our forwards leading their backmen out of the hot spot with others leading into that area for better goal scoring opportunities With the long bomb to the pocket becoming way less of an option and less of a decent percentage play Of course, the above is easier said than done but if we're going medium, more of a necessity The game against Sydney is effectively one where we can practice such methods

From that angle the ball either looks like it has clipped the post or ... because of the spinning motion of the hooked kick, it has hooked further just as it passes the post Much like a draw shot in golf (properly played) where the golf ball goes dead straight (or out to right) for x-amount of yardage then suddenly hooks to the left at the end of its trajectory (for a right handed golfer) And with bodies jostling everywhere forcing the umpire to be moved out of position, I'm surprised that more aren't taking the umpires point of view

The 2 weeks off between the QF & PF is beneficial but with better training methods and fitness programs these days probably less so than say 15 years ago But recovering from niggles and just being able to freshen up is an advantage In our case, winning the QF would be a great result as we've had a few stumbles But we're running out games well and look quite fit so losing the QF won't be a disaster (as long as we can bounce back and win the SF and therefore, get back on track) Our best can beat any team so if we bring our best in the QF, we'll win

The occasional run on the ball doesn't equal being a midfielder (certainly not in totality) He was dynamic against the Crows

There are numerous ways we could use Kozzie ... on the ball occasionally and as a player who can deliver inside 50 are 2 examples As a small forward only, a player can go cold and get lost ... so we need to get him warmed up and into the play like we did against the Crows

To get rid of diving the Serie A soccer league started retrospectively ousting the divers (3 match bans) ... cleaned things up straight away

So should we sack every umpire who makes an error that leads to a score? How about that free kick against Clarrie against the Blues? Did he handpass the ball? Within a short space of time we'd have no umpires left

The plot thickens Turns out that goal umpires might get marked down if they go to the Arc too often So in order to keep your position you could easily take the (perceived) safer option .. maybe more so if you're out of position But again, being caught out of position is not the fault of the goal umpire So the footy public got their pound of flesh & their sacrificial lamb but the overall shoddy problem still exists

I reckon the Pies & Port win but St Kilda is the wild-card. But there again, the Lions will be going flat-out to secure a home QF Still and all, we might be faced with the dilemma of win and we play Port away or lose and we play against the Maggies at the MCG But I'm the same, not too concerned with going to Port in a QF but would rather the Pies on our home ground (in a QF)

4th will probably happen for us, layz, but I can see the Saints maybe beating the Lions and if we're fair dinkum, we should beat the Swans The Saints are playing for a home final and if they lose, they might have to fly interstate for an EF Port should beat Richmond But if the above occurs, the Lions would almost certainly slip to 4th and we'd end up in 3rd spot (on percentage) Pies can win or lose and still finish on top (if Brisbane lose) There's still a bit to play out especially if the news coming out of the club that we're going flat-out against the Swans is true (I wonder?) The one thing in our favour is that by the time our game comes around, we'll know all the permutations

With regards to the mooted medium sized forward line it should be noted Smith can often play tall and that Fritsch can take a high mark on occasions JVR is a tall and as each week goes by his physicality is coming to the fore And Petracca can therefore become the wild-card forward much like how Dusty Martin was used If we take Petracca out of the forward line more often, the flow on effect is what do we do with Brayshaw as someone ends up getting squeezed out of the centre bounces? (and that can't be Viney or Oliver) And then there's Kozzie Pickett as the other wild-card forward (or at some of the centre bounces) So, despite the loss of Petty, our forward line is looking dangerous (with the return of Fritsch) and with the goal kicking capabilities of Melksham It's almost like we've got one extra but that's for the MC to sort out

In the last 16 seasons only 3 of the flag winners didn't win a QF Hawks in 2015, Bulldogs in 2016 and the Tigers in 2020 So the 3 aberrations are in fact that, aberrations. Not the norm. And in the case of the Hawks & Tigers, both were champion teams heading for their 3rd flag in a short space of time The only real outlier was the Bulldogs and in their case, their players were trained to the minute with regards to exploiting the holding the ball rule ... ball dribbles free in a tackle and then regained by another Bulldog - rinse and repeat with no penalty (an AFL rules of the game issue, not the fault of the umpires) So if we're looking for a pattern, follow the norm. But sports fans can have high hopes at times. A bit like punters on the horses But as previously stated, if we lose a QF final, there's still hope but the odds are against you. And deep down, most know that Thus, there lies the importance of winning a QF. You don't want to lose that game even though you do get a 2nd chance

Spurs have started very well under Ange. For those who follow other teams, are they everyone's 2nd team? Hammers started well too with a big win over Chelsea De Bruyne out for a few months for City but they've won their first 2 (as have Brighton) Liverpool & Arsenal are thereabouts and the Gunners are at Palace later this morning

13 of the last 16 Grand Final winners also won their QF So the odds are well and truly in the QF winners corner

And Steven May came out not long ago and declared that he'd instructed his fellow backmen to always claim they'd touched the footy when near the goal line (even if they hadn't touched it) It's quite a toxic environment isn't it? We set up the umpires to fail and then scream blue murder when they make mistakes The sport needs an overhaul with regards to all the grey areas. Flopping & staging needs to be stamped out as well. Retrospectively rub the cheats out ... weeks on the sidelines like the Italian league (Serie A) dealt with the divers And as previously stated, the area around the goal line needs a complete overhaul

Not necessarily The video available at the time might have been inconclusive just like it was in the Petracca incident And if the initial call was that the ball shaved the post, the soft call might have stood We've seen various angles since but what was available at the time? We can't be sure of anything And the umpire was miles out of position to make a call anyway ... again, not his fault because we tell the goal umpires to get out of the way of the players. Which is farcical in itself The goal umpire should sue the AFL for wrongful dismissal It's classic scapegoating to appease supporter bloodlust