Lucifers Hero

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

Imagine the panic with this list of outs a year ago. No more MFCSS!!

Salem Out for 6-8 weeks. Big loss Trent Rivers - Knee | Test Kade Chandler - Abdominal | Test Michael Hibberd - Calf | Test Jake Lever - FootTest Harry Petty - Calf | 3-4 Weeks Daniel Turner - Foot | 4-6 Weeks Christian Salem - Knee | 6-8 Week round-2-injury-report-salem-sidelined-four-dees-a-test

Trent Rivers - Knee | Test Kade Chandler - Abdominal | Test Michael Hibberd - Calf | Test Jake Lever - FootTest Harry Petty - Calf | 3-4 Weeks Daniel Turner - Foot | 4-6 Weeks Christian Salem - Knee | 6-8 Weeks round-2-injury-report-salem-sidelined-four-dees-a-test 6 to 8 weeks for Salem is a huge loss.

For leadership experience and to marshal the troops that Lever usually does ie mids rolling back and the half backs. May marshals those around him.

We would host it but unlikely to be at Casey Fields. More likely Marvel stadium. A few years ago Crows got a 40k+ crowd at Adelaide Oval for their final. Technically we lose the Home ground advantage but given how we played in Perth with no wind a closed roof Marvel might suit us very well, if we get there.

I thought that also, perhaps to play on Salem but he stayed fwd even when Salem went off. I also wondered if JJ late out forced them to move a mid back to make room for Hunter. Or maybe he is just getting slow or as you say on the outer a bit. Whatever it was it was a very poor game from him.

Anyone know when tickets for the ANZAC Eve game go on sale?

Jaded, sure you don't mean Hunt on Rankine and May on Lukosius? Big mismatch otherwise. Hunt has the speed to match Rankine and May has the height and strength to match Lukosius.

I hope they abide by the 'potential for injury' part of the assessment which they made a song and dance about. Not holding my breath.

Salem will be a loss. However, Brayshaw filled the role of playmaker/rebound defender exceptionally well. I prefer Gus on the wing but if JJ can hold down that role then Gus will be a very good replacement for Salem, sans the silk. While I don't put a lot of store on stats, Gus was our 4th best player and he kept Liberatore quiet when he played forward not that Libba showed a lot of interest. With Salem out the Bulldogs underestimated Brayshaw. I wouldn't be surprised if we give Lever another weeks rest and keep TMc down back then bring in Weideman to play fwd. I wouldn't mind seeing Laurie play so hope he gets an opportunity soon as the med sub perhaps.

Updated for two of our youngest Premiership 🏆 players: Bowey and Sparrow. Both have extended for two years until end of 2024.