The heart beats true

Did you see their protest today? The picture in The Age made it look like they maybe got 60 people to show up. I felt embarrassed for them. They don’t have any public support left, as they aren’t able to articulate an alternative. They may as well be protesting against winter. SACK THE RAIN!!!!!!

To be fair Bob does look fabulous in a Prada scarf.

It’s big in Northern Ireland too. Gets a good run in Derry Girls.

Every time I see Todd Marshall I think of this amazing description from their fan forum when we beat them… ’floats around the field like a fern frond’ ?

I will say we are certainly backing in the same group again. There’s an element of responsibility about this approach that I really like. Our best is good enough. We just need to bring that intensity and desire consistently. Ive been a vocal critic of Goodwin over the last few years, but I think he’s showing a teachable restraint with this group of players that hopefully really allows the playing groups to understand it’s up to them.

Given the speed of our National vaccine ‘stroll out’ 2022 might even be optimistic. Tried to make a booking for my first jab again yesterday (I’m in my 40’s). No appointments for 6 weeks, and not taking appointments after that. It’s a sham. We are being gaslit by the government about our willingness to vaccinate. There simply isn’t enough.

Cool, but also if they don’t fall over does that not mean that we as a supporter base can officially trust the club, and give it more credit? Just trying to understand how this all works. What an exciting time to be a supporter! So much on the line.

To put all this Academy stuff into perspective - my nephew just got accepted into an AFL academy through the school he’s going to attend. He’s 11. He’s a ripping player for his age, but there’s a long way to go between now and 18, and it highlights the way the system works. The kids are babies when they get access to this stuff - hence why few of them actually come into the AFL. Nah, actually I just posted this to brag about my nephew. He’s a legend! We are definitely drinking our own bath water at my place tonight. ?

So true. Imagine you’re sitting at work and your boss says ‘ok everyone gather round. I’ve brought in a bunch of people who worked here 17 years ago to regale you with war stories to ensure you make the most of the coming months. We’ll start with Sharyn who used to work in HR, but now runs a successful online essential oils company. Sharyn the floor is yours’. It won’t mean much. I’d rather they spent the time kicking footballs, as radical as that sounds.

The biggest concern for the AFL is the woman in Queensland who brought it in from Victoria. If they get an outbreak and go into lockdown the season will have to pause. We are running out of states. I wonder if the AFL is thinking of moving to hubs? And I wonder what that means for players who are in with no chance of finals. Would they go away for a month leave families again? Could be ugly.

I wonder what the sticking point was for the delay in announcement, since it appears the clubs had been told this was going to happen prior to Saturday night?

Wondering why the AFL has no mention of the change in games anywhere, but the media reporting it?

Ollywood?

GWS look to be playing a high possession keepings off style like they did against us. Sydney want stoppages and then to burst forward. My point is that certain game styles do better against certain teams, and helps to explain some of the unusual results. Swans looked great against Dogs last week, GWS looked horrible against Suns. Coaches want flexibility, but some teams are just better built for certain game styles. Pretty interesting season.

Which I totally get. I just get so frustrated by umpiring decisions that are only fixing the problem of the bounce, and which don’t make sense to people who watch the game. It’s very difficult to stand under the ball and not give away a blocking free kick in the ruck. You only need to stand under the ball if the umpires stuffs up the bounce.

Multiple players out of the GWS Swans game Due to CoVID restrictions. New teams to be released now. This season is starting to fall apart.

Ok cool. It’s not just me. I was trying to think of other sports where the umpire needs so much skill. ?

I’m watching a game of AFL and watching the umpires give free kicks in the centre bounce ruck purely because of their inability to consistently bounce the ball. I’ve also noted this year far too many short throw ins later in quarters that result in goals (or frees) because of tired boundary umpires. I’ve come to the conclusion that we expect far too much of umpires as ‘creators’ of the play - as opposed to adjudicators of the rules. If they simply had to throw the ball up (no bouncing), and we did away with throw ins and instead threw the ball up 20 metres in from the boundary I think we’d get rid of at least 5 free kicks a match. I’d also argue that of those 5 free kicks supporters don’t understand 4 of them - which is ruining the spectacle of the sport. The AFL did away with third man up to create a purer ruck contest (so we know they aren’t purest), but then have created all these extra rules that would be cleaner if we always had consistency in how the ball enters play. Am I missing something by trying to simplify the game in this way? I just see too much of the sport being based on umpires making a mistake to restart play, and not on players playing. Enighten me.

Did he really? They got 16 frees to 7 in the 2nd and 3rd quarter - including a very dubious run of 6 straight, and a pathetic 50, to start the second half.

Nah, he’d be disappointed we didn’t lose. It’s not as ‘stimulating’ inside the gimp suit when it’s a draw.

Our midfielders are making a habit of picking when to go. That’s the difference for us. I can’t have Viney in our midfield mix. He’s just way too one dimensional. Can’t kick, and too slow. We don’t look anywhere near as dynamic with him in there. We will respond next week, but it’s becoming an issue that we even need to. I feel like our midfield is a few years off having the emotional maturity to contend over a full season.

Horrible

9 frees to 3 in the 3rd, following 7 to 4 in the second. We are poor but that’s insane.

Anyway I can see the free kick count this quarter?

I think this is a really good opportunity to evaluate our coaching. We’ve seen what they’ve got. Now we adjust and go again.