Macca

Cotchin has been rubbed out once and fined 11 times. The whole process is a standing joke Hall got to play in a GF, Dunkley the same, Cripps gets off etc etc etc

The average football supporter might want Kozzie rubbed out as we as a club are now seen as a threat But if he gets off then many of those same people will tune in Friday night to admire his exquisite skills and openly (or secretly) wish that he was playing for their club ... a quick turnaround in thinking. That's your footy supporter Meanwhile, the AFL know all this and will almost certainly make (or influence) a business decision to suit self-interest. So which way do they go? There are numerous examples ... for instance, the Essendon 34 were set free by the tribunal yet later on all rubbed out by CAS (for a season no less) So with regards to Kozzie, if it was purely about the money and staying in the news (for the AFL) then the rest of it is academic in my view Also, the precedent has been set with star players in a myriad of different sports. It's not all confined to the AFL

I agree ... it's a week but once it's a possible week then things can get argued to a fine I also believe that a player should have the option to pay a higher fine as a bargaining chip. Right now, there are maximum fines with the CBA agreement But if Smith was hurt, it's different ... you pay the price The outcome was negligible so a heavy fine would be sufficient ... unless, as you stated, it's about the 'look' Also, the camera can paint a different picture to realities. For instance, the Kossie/Smith incident looked far worse than the actual outcome

But we can still refer to the Cripps incident in pure footballing terms (ignoring all the stuff that went on in the background and/or any loopholes) That stuff doesn't have to be brought up and the 3 tribunal members may not be au fait with any previous technicalities. It only takes 1 member of the tribunal to see the Cripps incident as a precedent and away you go on a strong defence. Remembering that they are generally ex footballers who aren't trained lawyers (some are) And the Cripps/Ah Chee incident is very recent. The other thing is that when it suits, the AFL panders when it comes to self interest (they often make stuff up on the run) Kozzie is a star player, there's a big Friday night game coming up etc etc. Call me cynical but I don't trust any of the AFL processes and I don't know anyone who does So the wheel turns ... suddenly we're a star team that people want to watch with a star player which the football world admires

We can argue outcome though and go very strong on that aspect And the outcome was that Smith was not affected in any way. If he'd stayed down and was concussed, different story The camera angles we've seen makes it look like Kozzie has cleaned the bloke right up ... but Smith bounced back up as if he wasn't even hit. And with no ill-effects It wasn't a good look but the Cripps/Ah Chee incident sets a precedent regardless of the legal technicality I reckon it's 1 week or less

Yes Smith's head went flying back but the way he bounced back was extremely quick. In fact, has anyone ever seen a player bounce back like that after seemingly being cleaned up? Most players would milk the contact even if there is only minimal contact. Smith bounced back like he was the inflatable man! Weird! We can certainly argue minimal impact (and/or contact) Where as Cripps knocked Ah Chee into tomorrowland ... and got off!

Cripps getting off allows Kozzie to get off. But whether that happens or not (getting off) is subjective and obscure. The MRO is often inconsistent as is the tribunal Maybe the best course of action is to argue and (possibly) appeal with a view to limiting the suspension to 1 week (which isn't too bad of an outcome) I'd take 1 week if it came to that and get on with it ... get him back for the Sydney game Fritsch & Viney could be back next week and May is an outside chance so the make-up of the team will still be super-strong for the Lions clash (especially when analysing our dismantling of the Doggies last night)

Neal-Bullen with the party trick Been a good night

And yet we still managed to win 16 games in the season proper despite not firing on all cylinders. So if we get it right and if we have a reasonable run with injuries, logic tells us we'll win at least 16 this season Last season we closed down the opposition (often from half-way through the 3rd quarter's) in a lot of those wins. But by 3/4 of the way through the season, we started to wilt. In my view, we looked tired from about round 8 So our first 3 games this year will be testing. Dogs, Lions & Swans where none are guaranteed wins. If you offered me 2 wins from those 3 I'd take it in a heartbeat (starting the season with 4 big outs - Fritsch, Viney, Salem & May)

Well we can pressure them a lot better than Geelong did tonight. But we need to do that as well as bringing our A game elsewhere And we need to fix our delivery into our forward line which is something the club has been talking about and practising in the off-season. We can learn from the Pies with regards to our ball movement into the forward line. They just don't waste opportunities and that's why they're so efficient We've got just as many skilled players but we can't be wasteful

We've had our troubles with the Pies but we can beat them. Don't ask me how, ask our coaches and our MC! We're going to need a good plan as it's hard to get the ball off them when they're firing. And a lot of their scoring opportunities emanate from half back with continuous possession

Their run last year was tremendous. Their ball movement from half back through the middle and into their forward line is something a lot of other teams can learn from. Precision skills And they are quick The Daicos lads don't get tackled (for instance) ... just like their old man! They are a team we need to get past if we're going to salute

Did you seriously downplay the Pies for this season, layz? Most I know were predicting at least top 4 ... they are probably the most skilled team in the league and are getting better The Kings Birthday clash will be an absolute ripper. But who starts favourite?

Yes it's hard to see our team falling away with all the young talent we have on the list (and experienced talent of course) The template is there now and we just need those within the club to remain hungry (ravenous) whilst endeavouring to stay ahead of the game making smart moves Our best beats both of the teams tonight but we were not always at our best in the 2nd half of last year Recruit well and keep extending the window

Yep and it's gone from maybe 3 pages in the godawful years to often 15+ pages these days I suppose being a good team means less envy when watching the rivals play? So we can easily watch the good teams (now) with a more discerning eye

Actually, when we were crud the other games were barely talked about. Many here were saying that they weren't watching other games mainly because it was so painful to watch our games (2012 - about 2015) As we improved and became a top side, these threads became popular again. Last year was probably the most popular for the 'Other games'

Maybe not

Just watched the 'Match of the Day' highlights and on another day, Man Utd might have scored once with their opportunities and maybe Liverpool only 3 or 4 times In terms of goals scored, everything seemed to go right for Liverpool in terms of deflections and the way the ball was pinging around in their favour ... but they were the superior team of course Defensively Man Utd weren't good and they got sliced up In terms of CL spots (apart from Man City & Arsenal) United should be able to consolidate 3rd spot whilst Spurs, Liverpool & Newcastle will fight for the 4th spot As for the Title, can the Gunners prevail? They are 5 points clear with 12 games to go so there's a lot to play out

Ouch! Mind you, my Hammers are headed for relegation unless they get their act together! They are sticking with David Moyes (for now) But the Man Utd loss is being described as the worst ever (especially to a rival in Liverpool) It's a bit like that 7-1 win to Germany over Brazil in the World Cup (in Brazil) Doesn't get forgotten easily

We're primed and ready to go! The teamwork was great and we ran hard all day. 2 wings (Langdon & Hunter) to be a driving force as well as the run out of half back (Salem, Rivers, Brayshaw) The other teams are possibly going to be forced to play 2 ruckmen against us with 1 of them a probable liability as the match goes into the 2nd half. 2 x All Australian ruckmen versus what? There's a lot to like and it looks like we'll he playing 3 talls forward (rotating about within the forward line) And we looked quite mobile despite playing a tall forward line We're going to be awfully difficult for the other teams to match-up on. More of a nightmare for the opposition match committee's And we looked very fit

Full credit to the Aussies for a stirring win in the 3rd Test. The pitch was a tad 'questionable' but to win by 9 wickets on a bush track was nonetheless, quite an achievement We have now qualified for the World Test Championship* and our opponent may well be in fact, India But India can miss out if they don't win the 4th Test and if Sri Lanka win both of their tests at home to New Zealand. Which is quite possible but not probable But who knows? I didn't believe we had a chance of winning the 3rd or 4th Test but we could now win the final test if augers well *The World Test Championship will be held from the 7th June until the 12th June (6th day is a reserve day) at the Oval

I believe you are right ... vaguely remember the same

Pertaining to your last paragraph ... we ourselves can have a corridor based, ball-in-motion style as well as some real dash off half back. It's entirely do-able. We played that style quite a bit in 2021 (Finals especially) And 2021 is still quite recent right now I seem to remember Salem & Rivers (especially) dashing out of our defence a lot in 2021 and either linking up with the midfield or delivering to leading forwards. (Rivers mainly linked up with the midfielders) Yes, that largely went missing last year (injuries played a part re Rivers & Salem) and Langdon wasn't as good either. Hunt the dasher was used as a defensive lock down player. So we definitely lost our dash. Brayshaw played well across half back last year but he plays a different style Salem himself had 5 inside 50 entries in the first quarter in the 2021 GF If we hadn't have put together 16 wins last year then the thinking might have been ... premiership hangover! It's an easy thing to say when a premiership team drops away but it is a very real thing that does happen quite a lot

Harmes will be ok as it's only one hit out. Certainly wasn't at his best but we know how good he can be van Rooyen needs time as he is still only 19. First of all he needs to break into the team and then needs a block of 3 or 4 games to show his wares But Hunter really stood out especially because it was his first go in the Demons jumper. He's hit the ground running and if he & Langdon both shine this year on both wings, lookout! If he'd picked up 15 possessions instead of 27 we'd probably be quite pleased with his output first time up Also, Grundy was quite good ... he's certainly got a presence and is imposing. And that's what you want from a ruckman (we've got 2 as well) The possessions will come

27 possessions to Hunter was most pleasing Rivers, Kozzie & Bowey getting amongst it through the middle was good to see Grundy & Gawn worked quite well in terms of both having a real presence in different parts of the ground ... that will concern the other teams McVee looked alright too. Brown & Chandler were ok as well