Wells 11

If he nailed his shots he’d be a champion. But he’s looked uncertain and unconfident all year. So costly. Those shots with the wind .... he wasn’t kicking to remotely the right places to allow fr it. Doesn’t look that present a lot of the time. love to see him pumped up instead of looking so angst ridden and wobbly all the time.

Wow and deep Respect Gee N. I bow down to those with this experience. I got the bug as an 11 year old in 71... flags feel like an impossible dream to me.

Good post. If true This is frikn diabolical. The AFL makes us fly up on game day to cut costs? On a 5 day break into cairns. FMD. You could see from how they started something just wasn’t right. I reckon those opening 2-3 mins were neeldesque. I don’t want to let them off the hook but that is really tough.

Two week isolation still needed to get into WA made it pretty hard for them to get the nod, hard to see them hosting any of the finals tbh. Im glad as a GF in WA with WC in it would have been hard to watch with such a lopsided crowd. No matter what when at the g there’s always a somewhat even crowd. plus , if WC don’t get that home final this comp evens out in a bigger way. The tigers feel a cut above tbh but given everything, IF we make it , I don’t feel a flag is an impossibility.

This week will show us exactly where we are. Effort has never been in question w this side imo. they’re very very rarely thrashed and always hard at it. We either have the personnel and ideas to beat the faster teams or we don’t. this and last week were the crunch test games. If we go down vs saints there is going to have to be changes ... to the playing list , the coaching set up ideas etc. last roll of the dice. even if this IS the case and we’ve been treading water while other styles and teams have passed us, we’re not that far away. The core of this team is really good but its obvious now we’re lacking speed and class. As such we are having to work with a game plan that’s suited to our players. Good in theory but not quite good enough to be in the upper bracket. a mini rebuild on the cards. Look how fast the saints rebounded. sat eve will reveal a lot .

we were better than that... it was sadly an awful off day. one i think everyone at the club would still have trouble living with.

Still carry some disappointed about 1990. Beating the hawks two weeks in a row just didn’t happen back then. Having done that we’d set ourselves up fr a real crack at a flag in a very even top 6. Odwyer knocks out gary Lyon at training at Thursday eve training, the eagles come out breathing fire and we play on a Waverley ground that doesn’t suit our game. From memory we never even show up...12 goals down half way through the third, come back a bit and lose by 5 goals. like the 2018 prelim we were never even in the game, except in this one we were unbackable favourites. I think we won 16 games in 1990 and missed the top on percentage after inexplicably losing big to north (by 25 goals!) near the end of the year. It was a year of big things being so so possible but just a CM out of reach. The ultimate tease. That elimination final v the hawks though was def a highlight. The rise before the fall.

Hmmmm....except there is no round 18 this year. So that effectively means no jacko this year unless we make the finals.

we’re getting a lesson in clearances under pressure.

heres hoping!

agreed ...but Im not sure we have a forward structure.

As much as I love AVB I reckon Tomlinson makes our side better anyway. But regardless fully agree that tmac only comes in for jackson and its not a call I would make for this week.

Good to CP5 nail the clincher. He’s coming into the player we always wanted. Sloppy by foot tonight but still massive. He’s the type that want to step up and win games. Mays disposal is starting to be a real concern, some horrible errors. but he was there in the clinches at the end along with lever. Kozzie looking like SUCH a prospect and dare I say it, we are definitely a better side with Omac back in the team

commentators talking about Weids poor body positioning. Scratching my head about what he's been learning since he entered the system. Anyway..maybe the goal will kick start him. He has that onfield lost feeling about him which never fills me with confidence.

Feeling your pain re your family DD...and this this sentence. Unfortunately I fully agree. I think whats happening for me is, set against everything else, Im realising how trivial the AFL has been all along. Something has changed in me. That right next to also realising that this side and this coach isnt going to bring the success we thought in 2018. So its getting set for another reset at the club and watching the world tremble and shake at the same time.

but....would we still get to sack goodwin?

Don’t mean to be depressing but Covid is not about to go anywhere. And it’s highly unlikely for there to be a vaccine anytime soon. This kind of situation may be The new normal.

80 point thrashing coming up. some heat on its way to goodwin.

the difference when they have the ball and when we do is immense.

or his match winning goal against the bombers in the dark years.

That feeling you get when you realise that BOTH St Kilda and Carlton are more exciting, playing a better brand of footy and probably closer to a flag than we are. Man have we gone backwards. I see a bad moon rising.

After the game I switched off everything as the loss cut deep. Perhaps the losses feel harder in covid now? Whats been on my mind, and please forgive if this has been mentioned as Im not going back to re read the thread. We should have won...easily. Our game style isnt that bad but simple errors were. These goals against plus not goals for stand out from BASIC errors. 1. Kozzie misses from 15 metres out on the run under little pressure. FFS, that is a goal 999 times out of a thousand. 2. Fritsch drops an absolute uncontested dolly from a bullet pass from Melksham 20 metres out direct in front. 3. Its a free everyday of the week to Melksham in the last minute on the 50. If that isnt in the back then nothing is. Melks kicks those. 3. Ratagolia kicks a set shot goal from outside 50 that goes through about head height without us getting a hand to the ball. Terrible error. 4. Dangerfield gets a 50 for diving which leads to a goal . If that was oliver that want to report him or suspend him. Shocking decison. 5 Hunt and Langdon cant get the ball out of bounds in the dying second of the 3rd. Leading to a goal . WTAF. Thats FIVE goals and I think , on even just a regular day, prob 3 or 4 out of the 5 are reversed. On a good day all 5. We're not that bad.

i’ve been staggered by how affected the lack of crowd has been fr me. I always thought i watched as a footy purist. But I realise now my enjoyment and engagement in a large way was feeling the crowd as a part of the game. Im trying but i def can’t engage or care like i used to. Watching footy atm feels like talking to an ex or something.

Some truth in this I think as we all saw what Weid could do when his focus was fierce. he's just not good enough to be able to play at this level without it. So the message may be, demonstrate you can bring that focus and energy as a regular part of your game ....or we dont pick you. Still makes me angry that both Mc Kay and Curnow for the blues were picked after him in that draft and both are seriously good. Im sure he'll get his chance as Jackson doesnt look quite ready yet. But if Weid gets a chance and he blows it we may just put a line through him and stick with getting games into jackson.

Getting 35 and 47 back never seems to be mentioned here. “ 2 first rounders”:is all most want to say. I’m a lever fan and believe he will be worth it.