Deefiant

In terms of the unfairness of the competition I feel like this is one of the lessor things we should care about considering the vicbias benefits we enjoy.

But have you thought about T.Mac? He may be injured but I think we're on to a winner here. Trust me.

Thanks for the update. Just on face value, those stats don't really indicate how we pulled up in finals scenarios. Feels like we again, ran out of gas in the finals. And if players are carrying an injury but still play it skews the stats a little.

Taking this comment on face value. Do you think it's affected our performance late in the season?

Didnt we also want Georgides and Holmes.

Just want to say thank you for calling this out. Some real old age thinking that unfortunately still exists. I would like to think that you're in the majority of views. Women needing to talk about women? Why is it up to the women to promote women's sport? Not that it should matter (but apparently it does) but as a man, I'm loving watching the women play this year. They seem to have a great team spirit and a lot more cohesive as a team than the men's team. It's a joy to watch as a supporter.

Bit more than that. Floating around on the afl and collingwood subreddits if you want to find out.

Taken 9 in the rookie draft. Surely we're not desperate enough to pick anyone who is tallish and can hold a sherrin. We do seem to have an abundance of not good enough tall forwards.

Yes and no. The focus wouldn't be as big however forward entries and poor kicking at goal have been a consistent issue since about round 6. It does seem like our efficiency dropped last year and it seemed like it improved at the start of the year but it's dropped right back down. Just feels like our midfield was off this year. Ed Langdon was of the most critical ones in our premiership year and his kicking issues seemed to have disappeared. Not sure where that has gone to.

Thought Theage's headline of Head, shoulders, knees and toes was pretty funny... despite it being not good for ilus https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/demons-coy-on-gawn-s-injury-but-say-he-s-fit-to-face-blues-20230912-p5e3we.html

You could tell in those final games lasy year how much success he wanted with the dees. Was seriously desperate in trying to win the ball. Wish Jackson played with as much heart in the end. He looked like he was out the door.

I think thats why i'm not too disappointed about last year. We looked cooked against Brisbane and the standard wasn't there for that the game. It was pretty obvious that the winner was going to get smashed against Geelong which is what happened. Hoping we learnt from our mistakes from last year. So far it's looking good.

I'm sorry I expect this from opposition supporters but from our own supporters... We finished second and dominated the first half of the season winning the first 10 games in a row. Yes we limped at the end of the year but doesn't take away from the fact we played well through the h&a and we should be proud of the effort of the boys. Geelong have only won 10 games so far and it's round 22. Not sure they are that comparable...

To be honest the final percentage doesn't really matter. It's more the percentage when compared to the teams around us. That's why I tend to look at the points for and against difference. With the obvious advantage to a lower points against if the points difference is the same. Collingwood currently have a points differential of around 400 points, we have one of around 380. If collingwood lose 2 and win 1, while we win 3 you would think we would make up those 20 points in our wins. A margin of 1 goal in each of the games should mean we finish on top. Obviously it's a moot point if Collingwood win by a lot in their 1 win. And Brisbane are only a few points behind us in their points difference so they have a realistic shot of overtaking us as well.

Still stand by it. It's a strategy that we love to use and if we consistently do it it's just a matter of time that we finish below expectations it doesn't pay off. But good on you for bringing up a post 2 years old...

Feel like you already have the answer, but just to add. Free kicks don't get paid if the ball is knocked out in the tackle. "For the avoidance of doubt, a Player does not elect to Incorrectly Dispose of the football when: (a) the Player genuinely attempts to Correctly Dispose of the football; (b) the Legal Tackle causes the football to be dislodged from the Player’s possession." Pretty much how the doggies got away with dropping the ball when got tackled for a long time.

Yep, was ready on the other wing for a switch but was ignored. Worked his butt off beating 2/3 Swan players to run deep into the 50 and leading up for the mark. Play of the day for me.

Yes, we need an scapegoat and answers!

To die for but not good enough to sacrifice a diet for 🤨

Unfortunately we've picked up a couple in the off season. Grundy and Oliver

Won* not sure we should be throwing shade after our performance last year

Pretty horrible take. If you saw us earlier in the year you could see that we were the hot team in the year. One connection was on point and we didn't see any of the issues that we had later in the year. I think that the team went into the preseason hard and they were ready for the start of the year. I think that our start of the year was a bit of a false prophecy for us. Unfortunately an AFL season is a long one and it's challenging to remain in the same mindset the whole year. Throughout the middle of the year, our confidence suffered. Maybe through injuries, maybe playing better teams, maybe it was the thought that the start of the year was too easy and it would come to us. Our connection was not on point. When we streamed forward we were losing the ball. Stuffing up 100% goals. Hopefully, we will learn from this.

I think the must win games itself presents a few problems. In the end we dropped out in straight sets anyway. If we lost some of those must win games but still finish with a more rejuvenated team I think at minimum we wouldve won the first game. Instead we played our finals the weeks leading up to the finals and apart from the Brisbane game not at a good rate. I guess hindsight analysis always picks the better option.

Problem was we tried to play them through the injuries. Guessing it wouldve been: Salem Petrecca Lever (ankle - had no turning circle/speed) Gawn Brown Jackson --- more guesses Petty Oliver

History gets rewritten by the media to suit the narrative all the time. Before last year 2018 Melbourne was the blip on the radar instead of 2019/2020 being the set back we needed. I'm guessing if we win next year this year will ge seen as the year we got our program wrong instead of Geelong being the dominat team.