Wells 11

Tricky question as I never saw Barassi either. Stynes has to be up there in this conversation somewhere surely. Also if you ignore the number of games played and just talk about " best players" Then Schwartz at his peak and even Jakovich come into my thinking. So I think it has to be best players who played over 150 games? As others have mentioned its difficult to rate players like Flower, Barassi, Lyon, Stynes and Gawny against each other, but in terms of what Ive actually seen Flower was just a class ahead of anyone else. Its probably enough to note that Gawn now has a place in this conversation.

honestly thought we were being crushed reading this. so much negativity!

This a moment i absolutely never sick of watching.

I generally agree with your sentiments, so it’s just nitpicking , but I do remember he kicked 3 in a drawn game in 2018 sometime.

Great report thank you! Im not sure if you noticed but did Tmac kick his goals while May was playing on him? because if so thats no small feat.

perfectly said. Eddie made that ugly, shameful chapter in our game worse.... and then didn’t learn anything.

well yes and no. Yes for a few of us that would respond well to the honesty. However others would say he's weak and "making excuses" . Somehow saying this would be seen as having a lack of drive/ heart/ ferocity/ care etc etc etc Others would say "once he's on the field he's either 100% fit or dont play him". Its a no win game blaming injuries as a coach or as a player. So while I, like you BAMF, would prefer to know I can fully see why they dont come out with it.

He’s got some hype now doesn’t he. Hope we at least see him in the pre season game /s to get a sense of him at this level.

It’s interesting that Hunt is back training with the backs and Harmes is with the midfielders isn’t it. Perhaps the coaching panel was trying to be overly clever in moving them, but these two owned those positions a cpl years back. Sometimes you have to stick with your strengths.

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!