Lucifers Hero

I chuckled each time Oliver placed a peck on the temple area of a teammate after they kicked a goal. At least twice last night.

Over the journey, Goodwin has talked about our high level of i50 and playing in our front half. When we do that, and minimise the opps i50 we win regardless of our goal kicking accuracy. He coaches to win not so much for %'age.

In his press conf Goodwin wasn't too worried about their scoring efficiency: 20 scoring shots (10.10) from 39 i50. He would have been rapt that we kept them to 39 i50! 39!! That means the game is being played in our half of the ground. Tough for any team to win with only 39 i50. Gus was a huge part of keeping the ball out of their scoring zone.

Petracca appeared to have an interesting role last night possibly to protect his knee but also to surprise the opposition. He had only 2 clearances which suggests he didn't attend many stoppages or the tactics were for him to play a defensive rather than his usual attacking role. It looked like he was a decoy to lead his tagger (usually McGrath) away from the play/contest and stay out of Ess fwd line. This allowed Oliver to run amok without anyone on him altho Caldwell tried but to no avail. And it looked like Bowey took over some of Petracca's work, attending stoppages in our back half and playing higher up the ground when we attacked and to defend in the midfield. All the while Brayshaw was like the Berlin wall with 20 marks. Not much got past him. A very good Lever clone albeit his work was just fwd of the d50 rather than inside the d50 as Lever usually does. If my hunch is right about Petracca being a decoy to free up other players and reduce Ess attacking capability it was smart coaching and planning.

A few players look to be carrying injuries: Rivers: Knee and lower leg still heavily bandaged. Had just 62% game time which is very low for our defenders. Gawn: Just doesn't look himself around the ground. When on the ground he didn't drop back or forward very much. Petracca: Full leg bandage at training and knee bandaged for the game. No where near his usual impact May: hasn't been able to chase for the last few weeks. After Port they get a 9 day rest so its time to grit teeth, soldier on and bank the 4 pts.

Did Goodwin say Lever and Brown are available next week or that they will play next week? Subtle difference. If Lever comes in a tall defender is the most likely to go; Tomlinson or Smith. Port don't have many talls playing at the moment and Dixon isn't due back for a while. Brown coming in is a bit harder to negotiate. Sam earnt the right to play again and have the chance to claim a spot. Not sure if TMc is carrying an injury but he just can't get off the ground to mark or spoil. He probably hasn't won his position for quite a while. And, I'm not sure that having no team training would matter that much for Brown so he could slot back in. So keep Sam and omit either Brown or TMc.

Did anyone else hear John Ralph talk about this last night on Fox? He said good progress had been made and the extension would be a 3 year extension until 2025. Then he waffled something about us being a 'tied' to the AFL club so we have to abide their rules, so 2 years were fixed and 1 'floating' (my word not his). I thought the club went to some length in the last two years to not be a 'tied' to the AFL club ie one that did not need or receive AFL special, covid related financial assistance, so we could run the club and make contracts without being beholden to the AFL's approval. We are now a very well run club, certainly in the top 5 of the AFL. It strikes me as odd that the AFL would be involved if we are not a 'tied' club. I guess In practice it probably doesn't matter whether the contract is 3 years or 2+1 years but 3 years give a stronger endorsement of our Premiership coach than 2+1 years. Ralph isn't always a reliable reporter.

I would guess TMc takes Brown's role in the fwd line and Sam replaces TMc roaming further upfield.

The Port game is in Adelaide so the latest Brown could fly out of Melbourne is next Thursday morning. Unless his iso started Wednesday night/yesterday morning, which is unlikely as he was named in today's team, I'm sorry to say he won't play vs Port.

That is a handy analysis. Looks like the umpires threw away the whistle for 'dissent ' against WB players and they missed a number of frees/50m, most of them at critical times in the game or in critical spots on the ground.

Last week Buckley said coaches train players to go two handed when near the ground. He and other commentators then talked about scooping the ball out but they didn't/wouldn't call it a throw. He also complemented a Pies player for being adept at lowering his centre of gravity to get a free. Such action is is illegal and is more like ducking. Some teams get away with it more often. Cue the Bulldogs.

Don't be fixated on 'diving' for frees. You are right, he rarely does it. But he does just about everything else to get a free. Watch the Ess EF again..

what-can-i-say-swans-coach-speechless-as-fans-stunned-by-dogs-free-kick-edge “This is getting out of hand,” Gerard Whateley said on AFL Nation after Chad Warner was pinged for a dangerous tackle in the third term. Former Collingwood star and Brownlow medallist Dane Swan tweeted: “An unbiased opinion (mine) would say that dogs getting the rub of the green with the umps.” Football commentator Brenton Speed said: “Umpiring tonight …? Oh boy!” Sports reporter Andrew Wu said: “Swans fans feeling ripped off by the umpires in a game against the Bulldogs. Where have we heard that one before?” Journalist Scott Murphy said: “Imagine how sad the umpires will be if the Swans win this.” Comedian Titus O’Reilly joked: “Find someone who loves you like the umpires love the Bulldogs.” Sports journalist Bulldogs fan Luke McGarry added: “I’m glad the umps are helping us tonight, many of our goal kickers aren’t.” I think the free kick tally for 2nd and 3rd quarter was 17:3. Whenever the Swans started to get going during that time a free kick would turn the tide. Not saying all frees were undeserved but they sure are a momentum killer when there are that many to the opp and so many are missed for the team trying to get going. The frees were even for the final quarter but the damage was done. As often is the case it is when and where the frees are paid that can make be difference: 17:3 in two critical quarters is just WOW!

I don't hold hope for AFL action. They didn't do anything after the 2016 Prelim and worse the 2016 GF. They and Beveridge even acknowledged the one side umpiring in the GF. There has been plenty of time to 're-train' the umpires. Crickets!

I heard that podcast. It was very insightful. The bandaging and the heavy knocks to the players I mentioned (btw meant to say Bowey not Spargo) looked more than 'stiffness and soreness'. My comment was in the context of back to back i/state trips, simultaneously with back to back 6 day breaks.

Going on your reactions, you've been vomiting quite a lot! A visit to a doctor might help.

The media hesitate to discuss the WB frees as it will be seen as criticising the umpires. A no-no for the AFL It wouldn't be so bad if umpires were consistent. Last night WB got all the 50/50's some 80/20's while the Swans got zip of those. The number of blocks of Swans fwds not paid was horrendous. Talking of umpires we have #2 tonight. He tends to treat us like the Swans were treated last night.

Back off. od has health issues and there are risks for him going to a football game/stadium.

od, regardless of which membership you have, how many games you go to, you will always be a Demon at heart. Sometimes that is enough.

While it takes a lot for Goodwin & co to change a winning team, I'm a little surprised there are no changes. Petracca, Brayshaw, Rivers and Spargo took some big hits last week. Rivers was heavily bandaged last week and Petracca was at training on Monday. We are coming off a 6 day break from an interstate trip and we play Port next week with an interstate trip on a 6 day break. (Before anyone complains just be aware that they bookended with 10 and 9 day breaks). I read in another thread that we had a light training week. So, wouldn't be surprised if we closely manage playing time especially for those above to preserve them for next week. Or could we make a late change? One thing is for sure if we get a good lead we will shut down the game pretty quickly and defend. We only need the 4 pts and keep injuries to a minimum

We haven't used the 'current facilities' for two years. We have been at Casey where the ground is almost MCG size, they have very good workout facilities and we don't share it with anyone. But admin staff were still at AAMI. Yes, we won a flag from Casey but it is no reason to not push forward to get AFL standard facilities for football and admin.

We use several techniques: Complete shutdown from go to woe: Harmes took Lliberatore out of the first game vs Bulldogs last year. He has said before he likes tagging the best because they lead him to the ball. I don't think we use that one too often. Mind the mid at CB and hand over to a defender when they go forward: A mid usually stands with Dusty then hand him over to Hibberd. We do the same with Bontempelli. Stop at CB only. Can't recall which game but Viney did this a few times last year. Also, In the finals at CB he would sometimes leave his man as the umpire stepped in to bounce the ball and by the time the ball hit the ground he was minding an unsuspecting opp mid or cutting off his running space. Stoppages: Man them only at around the ground at the stoppages. So 'tagging' is a bit of a misnomer. Goodwin has said he has no qualms tagging for all pr part of a game if needed. We are fortunate we have mids we can use in these roles without giving up too much attacking capability. If most clubs don't so if they employ a tagger or minder at CB they need to take an attacking player out. For this week, I wouldn't bother tagging Parish, just have Viney, Sparrow or Harmes cut out his space at CB. Springer may need a tag to start the game so they don't get off to a fast start but he will run out of puff by half time. But if Max and Luke tap the ball to our mids we won't need to mind anyone.

Oouchy! Even 'Uncle' could be entitled to feel offended. He might be nothing like his DL persona, could be a nice guy in real life. After all he has good taste in Shiraz🍷, has a good, albeit slightly twisted sense of humour, can afford a Trident membership and barracks for the dees. See, not that bad...

What daisy is saying is because the club links a GFG to a reserved seat, the reserved seat sales are limited to the number of GFG available. If that link did not exist we could sell a lot more reserved seat add-ons to GA members; a with a nice little boost to revenue. There may be a lot of people who want a reserved seat but not an (expensive) GFG but we no longer offer such a membership which many clubs do.

In contrast here is a lengthy discussion mainly by Mooney and Lewis who are encouraging him to sacrifice the big $ for now as they will come in time. luke-jackson-analysis-out-of-contract. It is one of the more considered articles I've seen on his contract. Goodwin said in his press conf the club is comfortable with the contract talks and Jackson 'will be paid what he is worth over time...' (or words to that effect). I have little doubt he will stay and will not get the big bucks in this contract.