Carrot Top

So I guess saying that 'I nearly had a heart attack' when there is a close game is now bad form?

I reckon that it took big balls to play the long game is Sydney. He would have been under more pressure to gett runs on the board as here. Now I'm not saying that his style will be the same, but I think that his plan will be the one he sticks to regardless of any outside pressure. If that's boosting confidence early then he'll do that, if it's forgetting about anything but shaping the team he'll do that. I don't see him being a stooge to what the media or the fans want if it means him changing what he thinks is right.

Maybe I was reading a different article, but what I got from it that as a player he understands all too well how painful it is to play for a club you love that is run by people you don't believe in, and that as a premiership coach it's important to give players defined roles with clear objectives, and that to keep in mind that these young men need to know that everything that is being asked of them is only being asked because it will make them better footballers. I also got the feeling that they'll play for him because he won't throw them under a bus when things get tough.

Aye. We need to be smarter than what we were. Football players make the club, not fancy slogans and gimmicks. On a side note this man is smiling. Does that mean he's now a ten year player?

He's going to get good coin no matter who he signs with.

I don't blame Chip for waiting. Not one bit. We've been excellent on delivering hype and terrible delivering results for the whole time he has been at the club. I'd sure as hell want to see that we aren't just doing the same thing over again before I committed my next couple of years to this club. Quite simply it's up to us as a club to give him a reason to re-sign. If we can't do that in the next 4 or 5 months then we deserve to lose him.

You're generous, The best I could find was a bottle top and a ripped in half movie ticket from 12 years ago.

He was never going to play early. This just frees up a rookie while he completes his rehab and gets his fitness up.

They ain't us so they can all swim at the bottom of the sea.

True. When Bailey left we were in a bigger mess than when he took over. Not all of that can be laid at his feet, but enough of it can. For a so called development coach we saw a lot of talented kids drown. Neeld inherited a mess and made it worse through bad man management and substandard tactical ability. But he did make them train hard, even if he went about it arse up. Roos will get a list of talented kids (Bails) that have been made to understand that hard training is the norm (Neeld). It's obviously not ideal where we are, but even though those two failed badly at the job they were given, they have - in a roundabout way - given the new regime something to work with that wasn't there in 2007.

Oh yeah, and I like the idea of having a couple of hard nuts in the midfield, for no other reason than to make the pretty soft Carlton mids [censored] blood for a month after playing us.

Adelaide supporting mate of mine, who has a good footy brain, is dirty on us for snagging him. He reckons Riley tackles better than most rugby players, and legally hurts those he does by just hitting the sweet spot time and time again. Now I haven't seen much of him, and tbh didn't even know who he was until he appeared on our list, but if he can do that and break even in other departments then we've done very, very well. Those players win you finals. When the intensity is through the roof and you have a bloke that knocks your fillings out every time you pick up the ball something has to give. You hesitate a fraction of a second to see if he's around; you take a short step because the last couple of long ones hurt like hell; you dish off quicker than you normally would; and the players around him get that sniff of blood and go a little harder too. Tough teams win grand finals, and it's often only a couple of players that make them tough. Recruiting a fella known as 'pigdog' can only be a good thing.

You generally amuse me with your random comments, but as per the above post is it possible that you could add something better than Rodney Dangerfield quips?

I love you too, mate. But seeing how you seem to have a problem with what I posted, what do you reckon the chances are that you'll say something intelligent in rebuttal? I'm giving it the same odds as my dog completing a crossword, but in this mixed up crazy world anything is possible.

The same kid that mentioned he had Cale Morton's build? I think he has a healthy respect for the both the sublime and the ridiculous.

I might not be inspiring, but at least I don't constantly talk [censored] like you do.

Whatever Tony is, he ain't Kevin and he ain't Julia. It's not pretty, but it isn't as ugly as it was 2007 - 2013.

If we can break even there, then we'll be alright. We converted pretty well from some horrendous I50 stats over the last couple of years, and it looks like our forward line is better than it was then. A break even will also give our reasonable backline a chance. If the midfield can go a step further and win more than they lose over the next couple of years then we will be in good shape. Not great. Great is a ways off. But good. And that will make me a happy camper.

Not stolen, old chap. Borrowed. They can have it back after we are finished with it.

Ban all those that disagree with you, Eh Stuie? You'd be on your Pat Molone pretty quickly once the ball gets bounced in anger. On Goodes: Meh. The award has been drifting to one of profile over substance for some years. That's not saying he is unworthy. It's saying that many others are more worthy. And he does try to make the world a better place, so kicking him because the award went his way is pretty harsh. It's the goldfish brained panel that needs the kicking because they seem unable to look past headlines when they decide the award. A lot more thought needs to go into these things if they are to be the honour that they should be.

Too right. I might start one where we can analyse whether his boot stud pattern is holding him back. (I have some pretty strong thoughts on this, so beware)

Nah. I'll have better things to do. Like celebrating a 5-0 start to our year.

He could play. No doubt about that. But he was (is) a nutcase. I'm really testing the memory here, but was he the one that threw a can of beer back into the crowd at Windy Hill, or am I thinking of someone different?

Lol. Are you sure we're taking about the same code?

Agreed. I'll take a bunch of scrappy wins over a bunch of free flowing losses. I want a successful team not a pretty one. Further to that I wonder how many Swans fans (real ones that actually understand the game, that is) that care what the Roos brand of footy looked like in 05 and 06?