Macca

Exactly The replacement forward line stood up manfully and tried their utmost But if our forward line looked like this do we lose either of the finals? HF Petracca*/Kozzie** Petty Fritsch F Melksham JVR/Brown Chandler *Petracca not able to play forward due to the loss of Brayshaw **Kozzie not able to have stints on the ball as he was needed in the forward line Dark italics - not available So not only did we not have key personnel up forward but we lost all balance and flexibility (up forward) Despite all that we went down narrowly in both finals The above forward line would have helped us win the '23 flag, without such a forward line we had very little chance (of winning 3 finals)

Well, that time was now rjay, see above haha

Excellent list, top level coaching, A1 Recruiting, good admin = good board (9 times out of 10) Poor list, poor coaching, terrible recruiting, below average admin = board not up to it It's quite straightforward rjay as I see it Ultimately, the board is responsible for most major appointments so if they get the right people in, it will reflect on them (the board) Appoint the wrong people and look where it ends up So if we're going to castigate the board when things are going bad, equally, we need to give credit where credit is due

The board is an easy target as many are going to believe the bs that gets thrown about. Throw enough mud, it sticks We're doing alright at board level and as for that bloke sprouting his stuff about fair elections, he's just a pest If we had all positions up for grabs every off-season, we'd be down the gurgler in no time Most sporting clubs are structured at board level the same way. Stability & continuity is vital so there has to be an element of trust Open slather and it's a mess. I've seen that happen too many times at local level as I'm sure you have Mind you, I had a completely different view in 2013

They are just miserable types ... born pessimists. Only happy when they've got something to whinge about In real life outside of the internet, it's easy to get rid of those types out of our lives But here we are! haha I suppose it takes all types and promotes debate In a general sense, this place is a battle between the optimists & pessimists. And you won't see many realists

Financially we're doing very well, the coaching is top-notch, a great playing list, 2 training venues that are way more than adequate (we won a flag out of Casey), a united board despite the bs that gets thrown about, 70,000 members, prime time TV slots left, right & centre The media are constantly talking about us, instead of being virtually ignored like it was in the dark days What's not to like?

Thanks Civ I can understand people being disappointed with the 2 losses in the finals but reality bites and bites hard You cannot win without talent and if the majority of your forward line is where that talent is missing, how do you win? (3 finals) Do people think we could have won 3 finals with Upper Gully's front 6? The replacement forward line was not a patch on our best forward line, it's as simple as that. That's why we lost So to get so close in both finals says a lot about our will to win and never say die attitude - we tried our guts out but came up short

May & Lever are game-changers So are Viney & Gawn. Fritsch when fully fit. And how about Kozzie? Rivers, McVee, Sparrow, Petty, JVR, Salem, Langdon and Gus are all capable of stellar games in the future We've finally got a good list of players and you can only find 2 players? It's not 2012/13 DJ Injuries to most of our forwards last season cost the club a flag There is no other standout reason For years, we've seen 1 excuse after another (umpires, our drafting, the board, the coaching etc etc) Now, a legitimate reason for not winning the flag last year is put forward and people want to blame the coach? Or just spit the dummy with their constant whining? We didn't win, get over it and go again We've got the list and we've got the coaching. I've never seen the club in better shape and I go back as far as you do

Yeah, us supporters can't get ahead of ourselves as it will filter through to the club and then they'll start drinking their own bathwater! Seriously, it would be a boring old world without speculation with regards to sport (footy in particular) It's what we do

Free agency? We can play that game too. Is that the next Jason Taylor episode? Gawn & May fair enough but we'll find another ruckman as we've had a rich history in the rucking position May? That's a toughie but maybe Petty after a couple of years up forward. He's still only 24 Petracca has got another 5 productive years as has Oliver. Same for Gus and watch out for Sparrow to take it a level up. Rivers continues to improve. Salem will find his mojo Lever is 27 ... there's another 5 years of good footy from him coming up Windsor & Tholstrup? Both could be stars. JVR as well but he's got to get on the lead Plus of course, our ongoing stellar recruiting through the draft and through trades We're in great shape for the future. Past 5 or 6 years, who knows? But no point getting worried about 2029 just yet, rjay! The Swans, Pies & Cats are constantly thereabouts or in contention We can do the same!

Whilst we've got Jason Taylor as head of recruiting, we'll be more than competitive His strike rate is fantastic and for years most of us were bemoaning the lack of quality on the list. Many of those years we were bereft of talent and now look at us! With a full list to pick from, we've got good players who are not in everyone's best 23 '07 - '14, where was the talent? Years ago many here would have had Tholstrup & Windsor starting the season in the seniors. Now, we can afford to be patient And it all comes down to talent and how many good players you've got. Then it's easy to coach & administrate So we've worked our way into a great position and windows can stay open for more than a decade (e.g. Cats, Swans, Pies) We can stay at or near the top for at least the next 5-6 years

Not really As one mate said to me a few years ago ... it's our only chance to see any Australian cricketers outside of the Test players Albeit in a 'Go the tonk' game. I flick it on occasionally but am quickly bored with it Billy Connolly said this about cricket years ago (in a mocking style) ... "Johnny hits it for 6!" That's t20 and maybe the great Billy Connolly was ahead of his time Mind you, t20 is exceptionally popular and there's a lot of money in it (especially the IPL) i.e not going away in a hurry

@Go the Biff @titan_uranus @BDA @Dr. Gonzo @Clintosaurus @DemonDave @Dee Zephyr @Dappa Dan @Gorgoroth @layzie @JV7 @DeeSpencer We have a winner in the tipping comp! @Dr. Gonzo triumphs after coming home with a 3 pointer just getting past a desperately unlucky @DemonDave and a fast finishing @Gorgoroth ... getting up to gain the 3rd most amount of points was a barnstorming @layzie with @BDA close-up with the 4th amount of points In the end, a Seattle win or loss decided the 18 week comp The rest of us competed hard in a very tricky season for road winners (looks like we'll be making a change or 2 for next year's comp - stay tuned and give us your ideas) Well played gentlemen and thanks for your participation and perseverance!! Further on down this post are the details on the post-season comp But for the regular season comp, to the winner, go the spoils! Leaderboard Tipping Comp (Final) 8 - Dr.Gonzo 7 - DemonDave, Gorgoroth 6 - layzie 5 - BDA 4 - Clintosaurus, Macca*, Dee Zephyr 3 - DeeSpencer*, Go the Biff 2 - JV7 1 - titan_uranus *Bonus point awarded Wild Card Weekend Schedule (AEDT) Sun 8.30am Cleveland (-2) @ Houston (+2) Sun 12.00pm Miami (+3) @ Kansas City (-3) Mon 5.00am Pittsburgh (+9.5) @ Buffalo (-9.5) Mon 8.30am Green Bay (+7) @ Dallas (-7) Mon 12.00pm LA Rams (+4) @ Detroit (-4) Tues 12.15pm Philadelphia (-2.5) @ Tampa Bay (+2.5) A really good selection of games with maybe Dallas and Pittsburgh being the only clear favourites So, if we get enough starters, we can have another post-season tipping comp Here's how it works ... Straight winners & margins (1-6, 7-13, 13+ or post up your scorelines) Week 1 ... 1 point per win plus 1 bonus point for each correct scoreline bracket Week 2 ... 2 points per win plus 2 bonus points for each correct scoreline bracket Week 3 ... 3 points per win plus 3 bonus points for each correct scoreline bracket Week 5 ... 5 points for the SB win plus 5 points for the correct scoreline bracket You can use the above list of games (copy & paste) to post up your tips but don't forget to add a scoreline or points bracket (1-6, 7-12 or 13+) A 2nd chance at tipping glory without the arduous task of trying to find road winners!! So post up your tips and margins ladies & gentlemen (we could always do with a few more participants!)

Yeah, that seems to be the obvious solution, Gorg, and we could go with that system every week as stock-standard The high reward for picking 3 remains and a reward for 2 out of 3 (ain't bad) The bonus point for being the sole winner can stay as it allows people to catch up and incentives creative thinking ... for instance, in week 18 this year, those that went away from picking the Eagles took a chance but were rewarded Many were eyeing off the 4 points as I believe every combo of 3 picks was different So, under your system, we play for the 4 points! (which would include a bonus point as an add-on)

Trying to line up all the names in some sort of semblance of order is damn near impossible! Looks ok(ish) on a laptop but on a phone, landscape view only of course The post-season comp (from my point of view) in terms of picking winners & margins is good fun So, in the off season we should have an open chat about the regular season comp in terms of tweaking or even a do-over. Even just picking 2 road winners instead of 3 would mean that we'd be rewarding more points instead of numerous weeks where no points are allocated. Maybe incorporating the margin brackets like we do in the post season? Since we brought in the bonus point, many have been more creative with their picks so there's that

It's only 1 game but with 32 teams, there will be a team that will give Wentz the starting position Any number of former starters get another chance, often because of injury A classic exsmple of that was when Wentz himself got injured and in stepped Nick Foles to win it all. What a story that was!

Right before that moment, Miami looked the winners. I reckon the Bills can go a long way in the playoffs but much depends on Allen as he's capable of match-winning plays Watched a few matches in week 18 but the Miami/Buffalo game was a beauty and of a high standard (despite the interceptions) Both of Allen's interceptions were in the end zone, both on 3rd or 4th downs so not that costly. Both teams went all-out for TD's too

Yeah same A nothing to lose attitude can sometimes be good in terms of taking chances And the Packers definitely have to take risks to beat Dallas ... for instance, we can't be satisfied with 3 pointers at BigD. Going to have to score 3 or 4 TD's to have any sort of chance. As it stands, it's a big ask but you never know

Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Silver Bronze 2023 Dr.Gonzo DemonDave layzie Gorgoroth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2022 DeeSpencer Go the Biff layzie ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021 Go the Biff Clintosaurus DemonDave JV7 layzie Gorgoroth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 titan_uranus Gorgoroth Go the Biff Clintosaurus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 JV7 Go the Biff Gorgoroth Macca Dee Zephyr Clintosaurus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 DeeSpencer Clintosaurus Gorgoroth Dappa Dan Dee Zephyr Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Clintosaurus Go the Biff Dappa Dan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Clintosaurus DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Macca JV7 DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan DeeSpencer Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 cowboy_from_hell pantaloons Gorgoroth Strafford Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Silver Bronze 2022 Go the Biff layzie JV7 Clintosaurus DeeSpencer Dee Zephyr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021 DemonDave Gorgoroth Clintosaurus Macca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 Go the Biff Dee Zephyr Macca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 DemonDave Go the Biff Macca Dee Zephyr Gorgoroth JV7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 Gorgoroth Go the Biff DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Macca Clintosaurus Go the Biff JV7 Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth JV7 Clintosaurus Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 JV7 cowboy_from_hell Gorgoroth Macca DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7 pantaloons Gorgoroth Go the Biff Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Medal Tally Gold Silver Bronze Go the Biff 4 5 2 Gorgoroth 4 4 7 JV7 4 3 2 ---------------------------------------------------- Macca 4 2 6 Clintosaurus 3 3 4 DeeSpencer 2 2 4 DemonDave 2 2 1 titan_uranus 2 0 0 cowboy_from_hell 1 3 1 Dee Zephyr 1 1 3  Dappa Dan 1 1 1 Strafford 1 0 0 Dr.Gonzo 1 0 0 pantaloons 0 2 0 layzie 0 1 3

And with a very handy back-up in Carson Wentz as QB (who played well) There was a time where Wentz was regarded as close to the best in the league Still, you can only really play 1 QB so Stafford will be involved in every offensive play If you can get over Detroit, it's game on but that first wild-card win is the key. I could say the same about the Packers but the Cowboys at BigD is a huge assignment for such a young team (Packers) But your Rams have a lot of experience so you have that playoff experience over the Lions. Bookies have Detroit at -4

We ran out of viable forwards (our best forward line as a collective might be rated as B or B+ (A is a bit of a stretch)) The forward line that took the field in both finals was no better than C or C- In defence terms it would have been like losing May, Lever & Rivers (shudder) I've no doubt that the 5 or 6 forwards that took the field gave their best but talent is talent (and that includes a banged up T-Mac) Fritsch wasn't right either and Gawn had lost his mojo up forward As @rjay has said previously, we ran out of options Here's what our forward line might have looked like if everyone was fit (and firing) Pick your best 6 HF Petracca/Kozzie Petty/T-Mac Fritsch F Chandler/Spargo Brown/JVR Melksham Petracca couldn't play forward because with Brayshaw out, we needed him in the midfield full time T-Mac was not match fit and was on 1 leg Fritsch was not match fit and obviously hampered Brown was not available because he was on 1 leg Melksham was out with an ACL Petty was out with a foot injury JVR was out suspended (ok, that's self inflicted) Gawn had become a liability up forward (for whatever reason) Grundy is not a forward (again, that's on the club)

Wild Card Weekend Schedule (AEDT) Sun 8.30am Cleveland (-2) @ Houston (+2) Sun 12.00pm Miami (+3) @ Kansas City (-3) Mon 5.00am Pittsburgh (+9.5) @ Buffalo (-9.5) Mon 8.30am Green Bay (+7) @ Dallas (-7) Mon 12.00pm LA Rams (+4) @ Detroit (-4) Tues 12.15pm Philadelphia (-2.5) @ Tampa Bay (+2.5) A really good selection of games with maybe Dallas and Pittsburgh being the only clear favourites So, if we get enough starters, we can have another post-season tipping comp Here's how it works ... Straight winners & margins (1-6, 7-13, 13+ or post up your scorelines) Week 1 ... 1 point per win plus 1 bonus point for each correct scoreline bracket Week 2 ... 2 points per win plus 2 bonus points for each correct scoreline bracket Week 3 ... 3 points per win plus 3 bonus points for each correct scoreline bracket Week 5 ... 5 points for the SB win plus 5 points for the correct scoreline bracket You can use the above list of games (copy & paste) to post up your tips but don't forget to add a scoreline or points bracket (1-6, 7-12 or 13+) A 2nd chance at tipping glory without the arduous task of trying to find road winners!! I'll prompt up everyone tomorrow or Wednesday but feel free to go early on your tips I'll wrap up the regular season tipping comp soon enough but well done to Gonzo (winner) and those that finished on the podium (DemonDave, Gorgoroth & layzie) And thanks to all for your participation

Leaderboard Tipping Comp (Final) 8 - Dr.Gonzo 7 - DemonDave, Gorgoroth 6 - layzie 5 - BDA 4 - Clintosaurus, Macca*, Dee Zephyr 3 - DeeSpencer*, Go the Biff 2 - JV7 1 - titan_uranus *Bonus point awarded

Fantastic 2nd half from Josh Allen ... overall has thrown for 370 yards with 2 TD's, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble and has run for 69 yards 1:17 left and Miami have got the ball back. PI so Miami on the Bills 40 yard line (14-21 so they need a TD) Interception!! Bills win the division

Another costly dropped catch by Miami ... punted it away 4 in a row now Bills can put the game away with this drive (leading 21-14 with 5:28 left in the game)