Wells 11

With injuries, sadly no. But then just to add salt to the wounds there has probably never been a better number 3 either. As good as Judd was, I think Martin is incomparable.

He did that in 2018 and came 3rd in the brownlow. Obviously different circumstances and it wasn’t a fitness issue keeping him out bk then, but hey it’s pre season and i’m looking for omens!

Yep...point taken. That was the worst in living memory. Amazingly many of us still walked into 2019 thinking we might win a flag.

It’s always positive in January. It always amazes me how many injuries supposedly happen in the last weeks of pre season. It’s all about membership sales atm so I take it all these early reports w a large grain of salt.

Way too early to make a cleat call on Kozzie yet imo. Yes, he missed some absolute sitters and slipped over way too much, but then he also did some extraordinary brilliant things also. A raw , talented, 1st year player who’s at least a chance to be a gun... but no guarantee. Let’s talk with more clarity at years end as I’m on the fence.

That footage of the 1963 GF is SO much better than anything Ive seen from our 64 win. Chalk and cheese. Wish we had something that vaguely resembled that from 64!

Thanks everyone for sharing all your passion, news, analysis and hopes in 2020. This site is a constant source of interest ( and dismay) but most of all a shared brother / sister hood. Let’s hope for a mighty 21 and to drink together from that holy grail we’re all starving for.

well, if yr choices are closest to the pin then everyone on this site will be delirious. Hard to know how much you’d imbibed before writing but im barracking fr u!

I’m warming to the idea of two bases that we’re moving toward. A large elite one out at Casey and a boutique version near the G. But I agree any frikn home is welcome at this point.

Surely there will be some sense of fairness brought into this. We need the AFL to step in I think.

I hope you're meaning that our consistency will be the talking point, with choco being a part of that, not choco just creating meaningless headlines.

Its not finished til April next year. Will we be training at Goschs once it starts until then? I thought we were doing our pre season out there due to covid etc ? Anyone know how the logistics of this will work? We just cant afford a substandard pre season this year.

I wonder how open Goody will be to getting input from him? 2 good footy brains have walked into the building.

100% agree. annoying thread title.

I think it may be a reflection on doubts about whether Tmac ever plays at AFL standard again tbh.

So trying to " put more time and space" into the game, as Hocking put it, is surely going to favour the faster teams. Of which we are not one. Goodys heavily contested brand may be not looking like its the way forward . Hope Im wrong...as I also thought the 666 rule would work in our favour!

Agreed. I think if / when we ever were to announce a definite home base it would actually almost like winning a flag.

Im not sure this helps us though does it? We're still a team that does well in the clinches but gets beaten on the outside. If the game opens up more it could hurt us. Thoughts anyone?

So, if i’ve read all this right. BB waa injured last year, a floating bone in his knee. He also lost a child and while dealing w that ordeal was stuck in a hub w a coach who was losing more of his [censored] by the day and a club that was internally imploding. So one way or other, as the club descended and the emergency grew down there , his massive form loss was perhaps taken personally by coach or those around him. Relationships seem to have been broken and they also obviously must have had some doubts about his capacity to recover physically. All in all a perfect time to buy the BB stock ... at its lowest ebb. But not without a degree of risk..... mitigated in a massive way by having burgess on our side. here’s hoping the arrival of BB lifts us up to the next level . out of the 6-10 range and into 3-6 range. fingers crossed.

do we package up 18 and 19 for a pick in the top 10 maybe?

JM gets a lot of hate here but he's a smart operator I reckon and doing brilliantly this year.

It was Nudge, on another thread, and his sources are usually excellent. But he also said that its all dependent on offloading Tmac ..which isnt looking great.

Given the circumstances I think its actually about right.

absolutely should have. 71 was my first year going to the games. Ian Ridley Coach. Huge start to the season. Won 8 out of the first 9. Memory sketchy now but as I recall we did a massive, early, pre season in Adelaide which was a new thing back then. But, as it was so much more amateur only the top 20 or so went ...and I think paid for themselves. Once we got injuries we came right back to the field. finsihed with 11 wins for the season and a draw. Strangely that disappointment still hurts after all these years.