The heart beats true

Have noticed this for 3 years. He’s not one of the lads Jack, or at least he doesn’t appear to be on the field. It’s all very workman like around him, not joyous.

Yeah, but if Umpire 22 goes down with a hammy their season is in serious jeopardy. He’s their second most influential contributor after Bont.

I feel like we have been down on confidence for about 6 weeks. We just don’t seem to have that spring in our step that made the first 10 weeks so enjoyable to watch. Our effort is, honestly, not in question. You can see the guys try so hard. I think next week we will see some changes forward of the ball. Melksham should be back. We need a couple of players who can finish. If we finished off our work in the first half tonight we would have been even at half time, and that score is the difference in the match. I think our younger guys are looking tired too. It’s a long season for them, and it’s starting to take its toll. And finally, I’m so over the way the commentators ALWAYS barrack against us. I do not understand how our team, which has one of the poorest long term success rates of any professional sports team in the world, is somehow never the emotional favourite. The Bulldogs won a flag in 2016. Half those players are still there. You could argue they’ve criminally underperformed since then, yet somehow they are the golden boys. I know it’s a small thing but I’m absolutely over it. We’ve had to cop a lot as a supporter base, but some of the garbage 7 trotted out tonight was embarrassing. They mentioned in passing in the last quarter that the Dogs had over 100% more free kicks. Had there been a crowd there they would have rioted.

Yep

Got 2 of our free kicks that quarter in the back pocket. Spargo and then Hibbo. I can not stand that Channel 7 won’t show the free kick replays either. They have such a huge impact on the game, and they just try and gloss over them.

Dear channel 7, show the [censored] free kick or give up the coverage. You are ruining the sport.

We are killing ourselves. So frustrating to watch. And to make it worse they can’t miss.

Well, that will be remembered as the half of football when Ben Brown lost me as a fan. We really need to finish off our work. it's reminding me so much of our 2017-18 era where we worked incredibly hard and got no reward for it It's also hard to tell on the TV, but is anyone else thinking that Viney is supposed to be doing a negating role on their half backs and getting absolutely annihilated?

Our boys aren’t setting up as well for the conditions. Trying to be too deep. The ball falls short every time and Daniels is there. Need much more from our half forwards. Not competing enough and winning enough 50/50’s. Started well but didn’t take our chances too. Hope we rectify positioning and come at them hard.

What a tool.

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.