The heart beats true

Is it weird that I want the media, all of them, to come after us really hard now? Its time the club felt extreme heat.

I’d love to ask Pert how much he predicts this season will cost us in membership and sponsorship revenue. We will be held accountable, and it’s such a waste.

We are under done. The preseason looked ordinary and we had more surgeries than any other side. It’s not about week 1, it’s about a season. We didn’t have the legs today. You simply can’t win a game of professional sport if you don’t have the aerobic capacity to compete for more then 80% of the game. I don’t mind what happened today in the context of where we are at as a side. It’s a wake up to all that it’s a very competitive competition. Keep the faith.

I’ll back in our footy department everyday after what they’ve been able to achieve over the passed 4 years. Thye have earned and deserve trust.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/swans-circle-as-demon-aaron-vandenberg-considers-move-20180928-p506ls.html ?

Today really helps to solidify the argument that small moments in regular season matches matter. We win 1 more and finish top 4 and it’s a very different outcome. I’m super proud of where the clubs at, and I love that we’ve got such highly competitive players that today will really sting. Go Dees!

Really disappointed the club couldn’t have got the deal done on Monday - so he could have come to our B&F.

Reports on AFL site that Lever's been advised not to come to the Crows B&F tonight. First they low ball him, and now they won't even buy the bloke dinner. Classy.

Lever is a good player no doubt, but he's allowed to read the play and react because of Talia. Im not sure we have a Talia type. I think we have a lot of 'developing' Lever types. Id love to have him, but I'd love a gun outside midfield runner more. GWS have a few, but one of them wouldn't exactly be welcomed back with opened arms. I actually think our defence is looking ok. Our team defence and structure is often the issue.

Demonland the day after a win: The premiership is ours! Demonland the day after a loss: Trade everyone! (Closely followed by 14 pages of arguing with each other about the order in which to trade - and who is the 'softest' of our players)

If May leaves GCS they are going to want either a ridiculous draft hand (which I doubt given their inability to maintain players) or more likely an experienced player in the 23-25 age bracket. I don't see how we get it done without losing something of value. People talking about Watts will then very quickly complain about our lack of tall forwards.

I think everyone is going WAY too early on McCartin. Given the difficulty of playing forward of the ball in the modern game, and the ability of defenders at AFL standard, it's not like key forwards can just walk into the game and have an awe inspiring impact straight away....

Rumour is the reverse. Don't know how valid it is, but I've heard it from a few different places. Not necessarily him, but more his treatment versus the rest of the playing group.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/fremantle-dockers/fremantle-shock-as-hayden-ballantyne-joins-list-of-dockers-looking-elsewhere-20160812-gqr90i.html something is up at Freo. There was a few rumours floating around Perth earlier in the year about players being unhappy about favouritism. It seems like something has definitely changed the culture of the club. Fyfe and Sandilands are good, but they aren't that good that the rest of the team becomes completely incompetent.

You know what's great? We've got something everyone wants, it's very, very scarce - which means you're going to have to give up something equally remarkable to get it, and we are very, very happy to keep it. This is the 'downside' of great drafting. Well played MFC.

I'll take him in our best 22 over Jordie, Bail, Terlich and Riley. Sometimes drafting is just about improving the middle to bottom end of your best team. That's what this deal seems like for me. Don't understand all the hand wringing over this really. You guys could be accused of being overly 'negative'. Welcome Jake. Play well. Go Dees.

Props for bringing Anarchist theory into this HT It's interesting to see clubs handling leadership differently. We currently have a 9 person leadership group. Seems to have lost it's value when half the side is in it, no? Doggies went for one Captain and a revolving door for the VC position. I think they have a similar leadership void to us, although there's seems exacerbated by concerns over senior players being able to get on the field, where ours is a genuine void. If nothing else I think Jones should be rewarded with the captaincy if we are still crap after 2014. We'll really need to switch things up anyways, and you have to reward a personality that is widely regarded as our best player, not just our 'going to be' best player.

I played footy against his brother as a jnr and then with him for a little while when I was older. He really developed into a good player and was very hard at it. I like the look of his kid brother. I'd trade Bail for him. I don't see Bail's skill level improving and I don't see him winning enough inside ball. Caddy is a no brainer in that swap.

He looks a player to me. A mix of in and outside. I think he's at a perfect age for us to develop him with out new midfield. I do think he's 3-5 years off his best which is great if he gets there but he needs someone to show him the way. We really need an experienced midfielder that lifts the workload from day one. If we can get someone like that (Boak) and then Caddy and Viney I'm very happy. If it's 3 more young blokes I still have concerns that they don't have enough on field leaders in the middle.

Keep an eye out for the amount of times Bruce McAvaney calls someone with a 'good kick' that manages to miss the mark or even be turned over to the opposition. He does at least once a quarter. I think he likes the kicking action more than the result sometimes. I do think the AFL needs to get involved with the relationship between commentators and player managers. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Ditto with anyone that sits on a board. Pick a side and then be as good at it as you can be. It's why a lot of the best callers historically haven't been players. They understand their role and people trust them for it.