Lucifers Hero

It looks like the 'reserved seat' and 'reserved bay' options include the GFG and they have a limited number of GFG's they can issue.. So they need a category with a reserved seat but not a GFG. It may be too late to create this for 2022 but a good option for 2023.

That is great value as 3-game memberships had similar member rights for finals tickets, except the GF, in 2018. If our finals are at the G they are almost guaranteed to get a ticket to those games. I'm almost tempted to sign up a few friends just in case I need extra finals tickets. Is the code simply 'Gus and Gawny'?

I'm hoping Tigers keep losing so their are more seats available for us dees at the ANZAC Eve game.

The Cats moving the ball quickly and moving from a 'control' to a 'territory/keep-the-ball-moving' game style is straight out of the demon playbook, courtesy of the IP their new development coach, Shannon Byrnes brought with him, which of course he allowed to do. Not sure they have the talent to pull it off consistently against good sides. Hopefully, we have developed a few new tricks over the season that will surprise them and others..

I don't dislike Weightman. He didn't dive but he played for 3 of the 4 frees vs Ess. The first he dropped the ball, pushed up the op arm wrapping it around his own neck and nestled his head in opp shoulder: High. The second he virtually put himself in Draper's armpit: High. The third he leaned back on his opp who was on the ground and no where to go: Holding. The 4th was a mistake by the umpire. Those 4 goals gave the Bulldogs all the momentum at a time the game was level pegging. Ess would still have lost. The free vs Smith last week wasn't Weightman's doing, it was an umpire mistake. But he is getting a habit of 'positioning' himself for frees. Styled on Selwood.

If it is Rivers, to get our usual overlap ball movement we would need one of the mids or small fwds to come up to the d50 which may upset our ball movement structures. But doable. I hear what you say about accurate kicking out of defence. I thought Brayshaw was pretty good last week in the Salem role and Bowey is pretty good by foot so we could afford to keep Rivers back and let Hunt play his natural role. Thankfully we have lots of options.

Good question. Of those two, probably Rivers. From the little I've seen of Rankine he plays close to goal and we need Hunts run to clear the ball from defence and overlap through the midfield with Langdon.

I think it does matter. Apologising to the public is one thing, apologising to the person is another. At least Tex apologised directly Walker who accepted the apology. It doesn't change the hurt but he did face him. Beveridge had the opportunity to apologise to Morris before his Statement press conf, before Morris's videos became public.

I would say not based on this: "Asked if he’d since spoken to Morris, Beveridge said: “We’d rather leave it where it is, based on everything that’s happened to him. There’s nothing to be gained by pouring any petrol on what’s already happened.” Luke-beveridge-press-conference

At his press conf this morning: "...a journalist asked Beveridge if he or the club were aware of Morris’ leaked audio ahead of his press conference outburst, the coach responded: “It’s not going to help. Let’s just move on.” Anyone else think that is a way of avoiding saying: 'Yes', he or they new about it. Full context: beveridge-speaks-after-round-one-controversy

That makes it easy: Rivers for Salem.

I thought that too until I reflected on his extreme bullying of Morris being out of character (notwithstanding his past sparring with Cornes and Barrett), on his reference to the mental health of staff and players and the impact of the soft cap, that it may have all been a cry for help. Thankfully help both football and personal is now forthcoming. He knew he had embarrassed himself, his club and sponsors. His apology was filmed before a blank sheet, no sponsor logos in sight. He looked shattered. Any further punishment by the AFL may not be the best for his well being.

An interesting discussion re our backs. Last year we played: May, Lever, Tomlinson, Hunt, Salem, Hibberd and Rivers until injury struck. We add Petty and Bowey for Tomlinson and Hunt. At any given time they are all starting 22 but we don't have enough spots. Who are the depth? Maybe Hibberd. But it isn't a decision we need to make for a while with Petty out for 3-4 weeks and Salem out for 6-8. So at the moment we have 7 defenders who are fit or are 'test'. If Lever is fit he comes in and TMc goes forward. Maybe the rest bide their time until a spot becomes available, especially if we continue to play Brayshaw as a defender which we might while Salem is out. After all Goodwin has shown he sticks with players who are playing their role.

A question about ANZAC Eve tickets. Does anyone know if we get to buy tickets at the same time as Richmond members (it is their Home game) or do we have to wait until sales are open to the public? I've tried ringing the club but just get a recording to leave a message.

But Tomlinson kept his spot until injured so that says something for him.

Tomlinson and Hunt were preferred selections in 2021 until they were injured. I think of them as part of our starting back six and could easily have premiership medals if luck had gone their way. As it was Petty and Bowey got to play instead and fully deserve their medals. So I'm not sure Tomlinson and Hunt are just 'depth'.

I noticed that. I assumed there aren't many AFL bulldog and demon members and the 'neutrals' didn't turn up. The AFL made a few false moves: closed car parks, didn't make clear the ticket options (apparently it was possible to buy tickets at the ground) probably to boost Ticketek profits, and the MCG changed the caterers who saw fit to close some of the bars because of staff shortages. Also it would be good if they stopped announcing crowd numbers as that would put people off rocking up for a game via public transport. The AFL usually overestimate the numbers because they aren't really based on ticket sales. They estimate how many MCC, Club and AFL members with annual memberships will attend. They guessed badly for our game as it looked like few bulldog and AFL members turned up.

60,000'ish will be a very good result. I suspect quite a few who would usually wait till after the start of the season to renew already have so we may not get the 13,000 going forward.

Its worth acknowledging there were no problems getting into the G with a digital pass. No queues, no fuss. There was a regular announcement saying there was a club window open between gate 3 and 4 to help people access their barcode, before joining the queue to enter.

Its good to see the club is putting more support around him in the coaching and football department. But It seems he has isolated himself from the Coaches Association and the AF and is creating a bunker mindset at the Bulldogs. One can take the 'us against the world' theme a bit too far. Having difficulty coping doesn't mean having mental health issues and Goodwin is a prime example of finding a path to 'wellness' and coping better. His path involved seeing the media chat as 'fugazzi', accepting and facing his anxieties and weaknesses, then involving external support. Among others, Goodwin involved 'healers' and people who helped him focus his energy. This may be a bit exotic for some but their are many options. He is an excellent role model for someone like Beveridge to follow. It isn't 'unmanly' to acknowledge weaknesses and anxieties. The Coaches Association and the AFL have a program called 'Tackle Your Feelings'. At the game last week there were TYF ads on the scoreboard with Goodwin featured. As Beveridge has isolated himself from them I hope there is someone around him that encourages him to tap into this program or something similar.. A phone call to Goodwin could help him along the way.

Seriously? Are you trolling?

It was only a guess as I don't see Goodwin rating Smith that much higher than Oliver.

Thanks, I didn't realise it was 4 hours. I'm glad the whole coaching panel isn't affected. Would hope the season is as even as possible and wins are are achieved on merit rather than covid rules, this year.

As Voss tested + on Friday morning how is it that all those in the coaches box on Thursday night aren't in iso as close contacts?

10 Christian Petracca (MELB) 6 Aaron Naughton (WB) 6 Ben Brown (MELB) 4 Bailey Smith (WB) 3 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 1 Ed Langdon (MELB) A little trickier to work out how the votes split by coach, this week. I make it: 5/5 Petracca 3/3 and 4/2 Naughton/Brown 4/0 Smith 2/1 Oliver 1/0 Langdon A fairly even assessment except that one coach rated Smith 2nd BOG and the other didn't rate him at all. If my split is correct I would say Beveridge gave Smith the 4. Edit: An alternative split is in @titan_uranus's post below which I'm copying here: Could also be that Naughton and Brown were both 4/2, Smith was 3/1, Oliver the other 3 and Langdon the other 1. This split looks a better reflection of the game than my first guess. On this basis the voting is more even and Smith wouldn't be 2nd BOG but even with Oliver. Leaderboard Votes Player Club 10 Patrick Cripps CARL 10 Patrick Dangerfield GEEL 10 Dan Houston PORT 10 Luke Parker SYD 10 Christian Petracca MELB 10 Matt Rowell GCFC 9 Jordan De Goey COLL 9 Patrick Lipinski COLL 9 Joshua Rachele ADEL 8 Andrew Brayshaw FRE 8 Joe Daniher BL 8 Tom Green GWS 8 Tom Hawkins GEEL 8 Changkuoth Jiath HAW 8 Matthew Kennedy CARL 8 Touk Miller GCFC 8 James Sicily HAW 6 Ben Brown MELB 6 Adam Cerra CARL 6 Luke McDonald NMFC 6 Aaron Naughton WB 6 Brandan Parfitt GEEL