rjay

I the immortal words of Jack Dyer "He keeps on getting where the ball aint".

I don't think he's a natural mid 'deever'...reckon he would be better with the ball coming at him plus we haven't replaced a bull like Hibberd coming out of the backline who can match up on those strong mid sized forwards. Got to try Sparrow somewhere to his and the teams benefit.

Sparrow - send to defence

Should be able to make it to Casey by Sunday...

An interesting thing but when I was younger I could clearly see what was going on over the other side of the MCG. Now I can't. Sure I'm a fair bit older now, and I was thinking it was that. ...but my distance vision is still pretty good, not great but still pretty good. Then it occurred to me that it was because of the density of players around the ball that I was now having trouble seeing what was going on. ...logic tells me that's also got to make it more difficult for the umpires. Yes, coaches will complain but if they had their way they would push for more on the interchange & unlimited numbers again. A side benefit of less interchange could be less injury. There wouldn't be the same ballistic running, nor the same mass of bodies around the ball. Again, just thinking out loud.

Would be good to stop the pile on...dropping the interchange numbers will naturally do this a bit anyway. There just won't be the same number of players in the area to pile on. 10 a Q seems about right to me.

Really good point. I find her description more confusing than the decision. https://www.afl.com.au/news/1153771/afl-concedes-umpire-error-but-ticks-off-50m-penalty-call "You can see on the vision, Bailey Scott takes the mark, the umpire blows his whistle and one of two calls could be made. It could be play on immediately, or it could be stand, which would indicate the mark had been paid." This part is odd as surely the decision to pay the mark is on the whistle. Not the call of stand... So no, the decision was clear & there are many instances where 50 is paid when players run directly over the mark before stand is called. Pity for North but the result stands. As for the AFL, they seem to have compounded the mistake here.

I would also like to see less interchange. Anything that would cut back on flooding & packs. It could actually quicken the game as players would go back to kicking more to close the greater distances. Maybe...just thinking out loud here. Stopping gang tackles might be another thing to open it up a bit.

Agree... ...and there will always be mistakes made by umpires as they are human after all, and by nature imperfect. Same goes for the arc. ...and fans will always complain & see things differently, the confirmation bias of my side being the right side. The rules will always have grey areas, it's the nature of the game. ...but, we should still want continuous improvement from the umpires as well as all parts of the game. Along your lines of thinking & I agree we shouldn't let it ruin our love & enjoyment of the game. ...although it has nearly cost me the odd TV.

That was interesting... ...but who decides if a story is a fabrication?

You're right of course. It's also great for Cornes...can work the fans to a frenzy.

Well, they changed the interpretation of holding the ball a couple of weeks back & it seemed to be heading down the right path. However it's reverting back pretty quickly (as usual) if the weekends games are the example.

The stand rule is fine, it's just that the purpose of it has been eroded by letting players come from behind the mark & by letting others wonder through a rapidly diminishing protected area.

To me he doesn't find the footy enough...he might be better with it coming at him. edit: he's definitely no winger.

Time for Sparrow to go back...

Sparrow back, McVee mid.

I would say it's a list issue. Some of our own making and some of the AFL equalisation measures. Also the Brayshaw and Smith situations haven't helped.

I know people like to bang on about this but it wouldn't matter who the coach was when you have only 2 (Fritsch & Kozy) AFL level forwards on the list & 1 (JVR) in development.

100% agree... It might be a lot of the same faces as those that won a flag in 2021, but that's the problem. It hasn't evolved enough to stay in contention. We've been passed by.

Wayne Bennett is/was very big on this approach, Alan Jeans also. Both had a disregard of the media and funnily enough both were ex police. Bennett talks of a very small circle of advisors, people that he really trusts. At times it might even be a group of one.

They are going to run out of cap space and can't keep them all. We will be in a good position to lure him away.

Do you know him personally 'Red'???

Yep...

Definitely not a saviour but at least deserves a call up. ...been the only consistent performer at Casey.

Because our club is full of amateurs who have no idea what to do about anything let alone about the player they've drafted and what is best for his long term development.