rjay

...and to think of those on here who wanted to drop him during the season 'dazz'.

Yep, probably some kind of jarring through the kicking leg. As you say, lucky it wasn't the planted leg,

My take on the Salem injury...the camera work is not great but after having a few looks on the Kayo replay (and this is what i thought live), the North player came in low to smother and took him somewhere around the shin area. Salem was kicking the ball and in the action came over the top of the North player. So, he might have a bruised shin or if any knee damage likely to be bruising there. There didn't appear to be any twisting or the knee, could also be an upper ankle type problem. Lets hope it's just a little bruising...please.

...but he's on the money with Laurie Bailey, great player this kid. Also noted JVR as a defender when he's been brought in as a forward. Top notch analysis Hugh.

I don't know what everyone was worried about... Read the comments from the first half and happened to catch only the 2nd half. Never in doubt.

A mystery that one...

Yep, 3 years is about right 'faulty'...

I think they like to build their profile a bit at this time of year. Go by the adage of there being no such thing as bad publicity. In fact they would probably be better off following the words of Mark Twain... “It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt”

I've already gone with Robbie... ...but I'm imagining Gary Hardeman in that defence off a back flank. Would be extremely fit in today's game and have a highlight package up with or even better than Howe. A lot of his big grabs were never caught on camera, but I remember one of the greatest grabs he took at the 'G'...up on the pack and lying on it when the mark stuck. edit: think of the one Ablett dropped but got paid it, well Hardeman didn't drop it....

Certainly was an entertainment machine as was Jakovic. ....but in the end it would be Robbie for me. Imagine him on one wing and the running machine Langdon on the other. Would be the goat of midfield groups..

I've heard this argument but don't agree...the surfaces are fine. Yes there are windy days but it hasn't effected VFA/VFL too much in over a century. You play to the conditions, unfortunately the skill level gets found out and that's where the problem is. If they played in AFL stadiums there would be no atmosphere, at least you get a bit of local footy atmosphere with the current grounds. Also the cost of opening a big stadium would be too great to be absorbed financially. The biggest problem is the standard and that is the AFL's fault for expanding too quickly, there is not enough talent to go around. Also as 'George' pointed out above the AFL have effectively created some super state teams. Now that horse has bolted I guess we have to see if we can put up with poor footy until the influx of quality players improves. Some are saying around 10 years for that to happen...can the competition limp though until then. The only thing that would make the game interesting at the moment is a close contest and these are few and far between. Well done Gill, well done AFL...

I think they do a good job of counting numbers... Then it's up to the professionals (coaches) to interpret them. Champion data are out of their league when they try to do the interpreting. They need to stick with the counting.

Scott often makes himself look silly in the coaches box on game day...he comes across as a total goose at times to be honest. Now he's carried this over to the off season when you can't even blame the heat of the moment for poor behaviour.

No hate... It's just some of the players listed are hardly elite for their positions. Their algorithm is still way out of whack when Carlton who have been one of the worst teams defensively in the competition have 3 elite defenders and we who were far and away the best defence in the competition only have 1 elite defender according to them. I know that team defence plays a role in this but seriously... ...Carlton were struggling for a place to hide Zac Williams.

That pretty much says it all...

Selwood has been a great player and leader at Geelong. ...but there is no doubt in my mind, biased or not who the current best Captain in the AFL is. He's the one who is the current AA Captain and Premiership Captain. Maxy is a great player (5 x AA), leader and Captain...well done big fella.

After the 2019 we had I doubt he would have come to us. Our destination club status took a big hit...

Obviously he is wrong...His time frame is up s.... creek From my observation the Geelong players seemed to have been struck by the said mystery virus some time in the 3rd Q of the final game down at Kardinia Park. It was out of control by the final Q.

What happened to it? Despite what they said, apart from a few one off's the players when push came to shove didn't really want to play it. The most important prize in our sport is the premiership and anything that gets in the way of that is not considered worth the risk. It's of great novelty value but nothing else..leave it where it is...in the past.

Watched this one again last week myself... It was a great performance, the whole series was dominated by us. One take away for me was I still don't understand why Salem wasn't an All Australian...I know we were heavily represented but the finals series showed why. Very stiff to miss out.

We're not... We're posting about a young man going through a difficult time. He's a joy to watch when he's not playing us. Plays with great flair and spirit, I wish him all the best and hope to see him back out there. ...and if he's not, then at least be in a good place with his life.

I'm expecting this will be the case 'D4Life'...it's why the game gets congested now and the spectacle is not so good. Once they can hit targets better by foot and hand the game will open up.

I agree on the standard, it's not great footy. Good women's sport (Golf, Tennis, Soccer, Hockey, Basketball etc) doesn't have the power and overall athleticism of the mens games, but it usually has a nice flow, the basic skills are all there. AFLW doesn't have this yet... ...but I don't think it's on the tele because of political correctness. There are fans that will watch their clubs no matter what and there are TV stations in need of content to fill spots.

You seem unhappy with other posters having a go at you... ...but then you want to put words in my mouth re contract length. I haven't mentioned anything in regards to contract length, for what it's worth I think he will get 3 years and that would be about right. I have pointed out that I think you are wrong in your assumptions and even though you never said the words linear progress your post points to that being a major issue with Goodwin. You are always going to get these fluctuations with a young developing team. In 2021 we saw the culmination in a balanced, maturing team. This doesn't happen from nowhere, it takes time to develop.

The problem I have with your analysis is that success is never linear...it has its ups and downs. In the drive for the premiership, the ultimate success, we should expect to have a time line similar to this. I wouldn't judge the coach on those results but on how he worked to fix the problems and fix them he (with the FD) did. ...2018 ultimately showed that we weren't there yet and without the drop off in 2019 I doubt we would have been able to build the team that won the prize. It would have been very unlikely that we would have picked up the 3 in the draft...Koz, Jackson and Rivers. 2018 also proved our need for KPD's and that took us 2 years plus to settle with Lever then May, along with Petty. We thought we had a generational forward in Hogan but that proved wrong so it was back to the drawing board there...come finals time we had a potent mix up forward, something Goody had worked on for a few years. You talk assistants, but they're only as good as the senior coach and his ability to let go and let them do their job. According to Burgess Goody is sensational in this area of man management. As for Yze taking the reigns down the track...I hope not. He should be aiming to pick up a senior job in the next 2 years and I doubt the Melbourne position will be open.