The heart beats true

I don’t understand holding the ball. It’s the worst rule in our game.

Ugh.

The minute Hawkins retires Geelong are a 4 goal worse side. Please let him retire.

All I took from this story was that you broke the rules and travelled outside your 5km zone. 🤣 I think I have lockdown PTSD.

Agreed. The club clearly has a formula for player value. They aren’t trying to play someone else’s game with trades. They know what they want to do, and regardless of external noise they get it done. Too often people conflate this seasons relative disappointment with the clubs many moving parts. When it comes to trading we’ve been exceptionally well managed for almost a decade.

How come they didn’t ask Wayne Carey? Maybe he was busy crushing up his Neurofen and sorting it into small ziplock bags?

Why do it on the river? Horrible decision. Also, Papley posting that on his social media just shows you what a prat he is.

I didn’t interpret any of this as taking anything for granted. I love the way Tracc says ‘versed’ when he’s talking about teams we’ve played against. Reminds me he’s just a big kid. He’s a good guy. I also like that he refers to himself as an optimist. That’ll stand him in good stead for life. All that video reminded me is that we’ve got a ripper.

Who told you that? Kane Cornes?

I wish all the Star Wars series had the same mood. I’m enjoying the vibe. I can’t stand it when they so clearly pander to a younger audience. Why did they put that stupid biker gang in ‘Boba Fett’? Honestly, why can’t all things I loved as a child still cater exclusively to me? What’s wrong with the world!

When is something going to happen? I’m bored.

I disagree OD. As horrific as it is to read, these stories need to come to light so that tomorrow is a better day - for your grandkids, and all the grandkids. Most young people just aren’t going to tolerate this kind of behaviour - for themselves and for their community members. The world is changing, which presents an opportunity for all of us to make it a more fair and equitable place. 20 years ago this would have never been a story. Now it’ll be on the front page of every paper. It’s time to tell the truth, so that the future can be built on it. 👍

In the late 90’s I knew a lot of players drafted into AFL clubs. At the first meeting of one player I knew with his new club all the drafted players where asked about their relationship status and told to end their relationships. They were also warned to limit contact with families to one call a week, and to not talk to them about football, or anything that happened at the club, at all. On day one. Prior to the draft the player welfare manager at my under 18’s club told my family, and any family that would listen, that ‘the worst thing that can happen is that you get drafted’. It was a very confusing thing to hear. The expectation on young players was insanely all encompassing. Everything I read here, while shocking, also sounds entirely plausible in the context of what I’ve been told.

This is undoubtedly true. Essentially the contemporary discourse might be grappling to comprehend that ideological thought has replaced nation states as a sort of silent coloniser? Which begs the question is there anything wrong with that? It’s one of the bigger concepts facing globalisation, and it’s ironic that small minded, self anointed protectors of colonialist culture are unintentionally bringing this conversation into the public sphere.

I’d be excited by it, if only that it shows we are taking our forward half issues seriously. I also don’t think the last 5 minutes of the Brisbane loss are an accident. May played a bit of footy forward early days - but when the game needed to be won Goodwin put Petty forward.

'Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died?

Gunstan makes a lot of sense for every team because he’s a quality finisher. However of any team in the competition that needs a third tall it’s not the forward line that already includes Daniher, Hipwood, Lincoln McCarthy, and Charlie Cameron.

Fagan is the anti Goodwin. You score 150 points, we’ll score 160. They need to fix up their defence, not strengthen their forward line further.

I too thought I’d share this, without comment, for others comment

There’s too much mental arithmetic involved in trades these days. I find it interesting that the AFL want to simplify the actual game, at the expense of its history, but let this kind of very technical stuff happen off field. We get it. You wanna be the NFL. But you aren’t, you never will be - and that’s a good thing.

I actually think if the coaches votes weren’t disclosed until the end of the year it would easily surpass the Brownlow in terms of interest and creditability. It’s only the suspense that makes it a spectacle. Who thinks the umpires are the best judge of the game anyway? They aren’t watching it - because of the pace of the game they are always trying to work to the next position to get the best perspective on infringements. It seems strange we ask them to vote when the AFL goes out of their way to try and make them invisible.

Agree. Him and Shai Bolton are arguably the 2 most dynamic, game changing players that aren’t midfielders.

‘Again’ implies it ever was.

Can we appeal?

There’s a very, very long list of incredible players who never win a Brownlow.