Lucifers Hero

I recall in an interview last year Goodwin said something like: Petracca's knee can blow up after a game so he doesn't do much with it at training on a Monday. Going on his burst of speed from centre bounces, displayed brilliantly in the GF, he isn't impaired by the knee in games. Probably all part of the Burgess mantra of building 'physical resilience' and not resting players with 'niggles' from training or from playing.

I know. The point was that the club has shown it is willing to re-contract players if they show what the club is looking for so it challenges them to do so. I was musing that the club could be doing that with Gus, albeit the different back story.

I'm a bit more optimistic. I can envisage that if Gus is looking for X of $/term/role the club says ok, shows us this, this and this. TMac and ANB were in a similar 'show us this, this and this' situation last year and the club extend their contracts by several years.

Wondering if the fixture on the AFL website is the latest? Bulldogs have played 6 games and by my count are scheduled to play 3 more in rounds 7 to 9. That is a total of 9 games for the season. (They round 10 game vs Freo was brought forward and played a few weeks ago). However, I can't find a substitute game for their round 2 postponed Lions game...

Gus doesn't seem the type to be motivated by money and doubt he would be looking for a FA type windfall. He would know he won't get what he is worth at the Dees but will most likely have a minimum $/term/incentives he would sign for. On the other hand, as much loved and as courageous as he is, the club may feel he is the easiest on-baller to replace with the range of players waiting in the wings. His 15 minutes in the 3rd quarter helped turn the tide in the GF. A cameo? Maybe. But the spoil then mark and goal were inspirational. He gave us the lead and team belief went up. His defensive wing role limits him showcasing and using his talent. Is it satisfying enough for hm? Does he want to be a role player for another 5-7 years... A different (midfield and perhaps a leadership team) role might be enough to entice him away. Would understand if he left. Hope he stays.

Robbie. Would love to see him hold up the cup.

"Western Australia has set a goal to re-open its borders on the weekend of March 12-14. The tentative date, which a WA government source confirmed as the state’s preferred scenario to foxfooty.com.au, would be a huge win for the AFL and Cricket Australia. Both organisations are awaiting official confirmation but have always been confident the WA border would ease by mid-March at the latest". WA to open borders mid March That's a good start!

Yes, it does matter. The rest of the competition will improve this year as we must. If we expect players to improve the rest of the club and the resources around them need to improve. And we owe it to the new players coming through, that may not be as elite as our current top 10, to ensure they can be the best they can be. Facilities will play a role in reaching their potential.

Teams in the AFL go thru long periods of being in the bottom part of the ladder and not being competitive with the top sides. We know only too well in the men's game. The new AFLW teams get enormous draft benefits and it takes time to build a winning team/culture/game plan to get towards the top. Again as we know only to well in the men's game. I don't think re-drafting is a good idea. It will bring the top teams down with no guarantee the bottom/new teams will lift. That would not be good for the competition given that the initial teams are just becoming to play good football.

They could help their cause if they lifted the minimum games from 10 per season! One wonders if their cause is too actually identify the best/better players or generate clicks and discussion/controversy. imv it is the latter. Not much will change.

That was a good question, giving the limitations placed on candidates have been questioned elsewhere on this forum. I had a sense a lot of 'curly' questions never saw the light of day. Not a curly question but I would like to have known what Nathan Jones is up to career wise. I'm sure he is busy with his family but his adoring dee fans would like to know a bit more now that it s nearly 5 months since he retired. It saddens me that you are losing respect for the Board. I'm not at that point yet but am having doubts about their methods and direction. If they stay unified it may not affect the players or the football department. That may be a big 'if' given the leaking that is going on.

Absolutely not and not sure how you inferred that I thought there should be comments on the HS articles. Last year's success does not remove our need and interest for progress updates. Yes, we are told the state government will make the announcements. Even then it wouldn't hurt the club to get some sort of overview/ big picture commentary from the state government. It wouldn't hurt to be given some info as to what stage they are at. eg What are the stages/project plan, in general terms. Has the 'scoping' stage finished. A loose 'time line'. None of that is difficult and it would all be well known internally by now.

The club will put a link on their website today.

To me it was like a warm fireside chat, albeit seated at tables. Are dee fans so satisfied that no 'curly' questions were raised? Disappointed there was no update on training facilities. It was good hearing Selwyn Grffith chat about his plan for fitness and it sounded like he would continue the Burgess philosophy of building 'physical resilience' in players to not always rest them from training and playing when they have an injury. It was a key strategy in our successful 2021 season and flag.

Disappointed there was no update at the Member's Brief last night unless it was during one of the spots where the live feed dropped out.

Scott wanted the bye to be before the Prelim instead of pre GF. Postponing it for 'health and safety' reasons would have given him that breathing space. As if a 6pm game could be cancelled/postponed at 1pm that day. On the interview it woud have been nice if he had said Melbourne were the better team instead of referring to us as 'the opposition'. He did similar in the post PF press conf. Just couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it was the Demons that thrashed them. Faint praise was the best he could muster while 'not making excuses'.

Yes, all 4 coaches voted him BOG. "Petracca was the only player on the list to play what the coaches deemed to be a ‘perfect game’ this season, earning 40 out of a possible 40 votes in the Grand Final after a Norm Smith Medal winning performance". 2021-best-and-fairest-all-the-winners I couldn't find GF votes for other players. What we can guess is that Max (3 Finals average of 30 votes) scored very highly in the PF. Oliver was consistent across all three finals and averaged 31 votes. Petracca was in the same range (average for two finals of 31 votes) and excelled in the GF with a 'perfect game'. Not far behind was them Salem them (Finals average of 29) who probably polled highly in the GF.

I assume so. But defenders usually don't get a lot of it. Understanding of our game plan and positioning should help in that regard.

He sounds like Christian Salem but perhaps without the footy IQ: "One of the smoothest operators in the draft pool, Judd McVee is the kind of player you want rebounding the ball out of defence. He handles the ball cleanly and is efficient in his use by foot, showcasing class to manoeuvre out of tight spots and keep cool in a crisis. With greater consistency and enhanced midfield craft, McVee has the tools to become a tidy player at the top level". STRENGTHS: + Class + Clean hands + Kicking + Rebounding IMPROVEMENTS: - Production - Consistency Very happy with this selection. Edit: I just saw the write up at the club which mentions his 'footy smarts'. Maybe he is more like Salem than I first thought.

No Senior or A Rookie spots left. For those above not too sure of the numbers, this thread (pinned at the top of he main forum) might help.

Confirmation: early-membership-milestone-reached It will be amazing if we can reach the club goal of 55,000 before Christmas. It will exceed our annual total ever, months in advance! Dec 5 at the G should be a huge day for signing up new members. @george_on_the_outerIs it time to resurrect your comparative 'Membership Tally' thread?

A few weeks ago the club submitted a list to the AFL of Rookies to be upgraded. Jordon was on it, Chandler was not so remains a Rookie. However, he cannot remain on the Rookie list after 2022, having been there for 4 years. I would expect the club will do the same for him as they did for Jordon in 2021- during 2022 renew Chandler's contract, extend it a year and place him on the Senior list as part of the 2022 draft.

There are two reasons for that. Age is one factor ie those with more games are older. But significantly a large number of our top players have missed a season (approx) through significant injury: Gawn, Lever, Petracca all had ACL. Salem missed a lot for thyroid and concussion. Brayshaw, concussion. Viney, foot. Great credit to them to come back and become A-level/Elite players after those setbacks.

As our NGA player we nominated to match a bid on him in the draft. As no bid came there was no need to match and we can automatically take him as a B Rookie without him going into any other draft. That happens later today but I've assumed that it is a fait accompli.

LATEST POSITION FOR CONTRACT RENEWALS UP TO Novemeber 8 Updated for one year contracts for Hibberd and Melksham ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Original post of this thread on Nov 26, 2021 was: The list for our next Premiership 🎏🏆 tilt is: At the excellent suggestion by @La Dee-vina ComediaI have identified the Premiership 🎏🏆players. Draftees added are: van Rooyen, Howes, Woewodin as Senior List players and Moniz- Wakefield as a B Rookie. This gives us one list spot for a senior player if we were take a Delisted FA or and A Rookie in the SSP draft or the mid-year draft. Note that Jordon is now officially a senior player. Milestone games in the 2022 H & A season could be: 200: Melksham, T. McDonald 150: B. Brown, Salem 100: Hunt In terms of 2022 contract renewals: Most of the 2022 OOC's will sort themselves out. However, Brayshaw and Hunt will both be Restricted Free Agents (See edit below). I can't imagine that either will want to leave and we would get comp draft picks if they did. Of interest is the length of Brayshaw's contract given that his contemporaries have long terms. Jackson is said to be in contract discussions. And of course, we would all love it if Oliver's contract is extended next year rather than wait with much angst to his RFA year of 2023. Can't see him wanting to leave. I love all our players and don't like to think of departures. Nonetheless, next years list management could be challenging as those OOC in 2022 are either Premiership 🎏🏆 players or have yet to play a game. The exceptions are: Baker, Bedford and Smith. Hibberd may be a retirement depending on how the youngsters shape up. Overall, it is a very stable list for the next few years and is a list that can go back to back. Edit: @old55has advised that Hunt and Weideman will be 'Unrestricted Free Agents' so have reflected that in the table with 'FA'. With Brayshaw it is a bit harder to tell whether he will be an RFA or a UFA. The difference being that with the former if there is an offer to him we can match it. With the latter it means we can't. Late Edit: Judd Mc Vee added to the A Rookie list. The only list spot we have left is one B Rookie. The 2021 Contracts thread can be found here: