Lucifers Hero

We should return on Saturday as we play Collingwood and no reason that game can't be in Melb then both teams have a bye. So if baby Lever and baby McDonald wait until the weekend to arrive both dads should be in town and available for upcoming games. ?? . I doubt either will want to go into a hub as their babes from last year are barely toddlers so it would quite a challenge for them and other players with personal committments.

Reports last night were that quite a lot of players have pushed back on i/state hubs again. Last year players were told 3-4 weeks and it turned into months. Very wary of the "3-4 weeks" line again. AFL is aware of it and unlikely to go into hubs. This is probably why there is talk of the season being delayed. If it is delayed it could also be shortened as clubs are concerned about this years the injury toll after a short preseason and would push if it was extended deep into October again. If shortened we are exceptionally well placed being 2 games clear of 3rd on the ladder. Assuming it becomes a 17 games again we would not have repeat games vs: GWS, Hawks, Bulldogs, Adel, Cats. The teams we are yet to play are Lions, Coll, Ess, Port, GCS, WCE. Very good chance that we would end up top 2, especially if we beat Lions this week giving us a 3 game break on them. Either way, Friday night is looming as a huge 8-point game.

I would fly interstate and suffer 2 weeks in quarantine to watch us play in a GF. Who knows when the next would be. Won't miss the first chance in over 20 years.

May talks about how good the hub was for us last year. i-did-have-a-few-worries-about-my-vision-may-opens-up-on-hawkins-hit so it can work to our advantage. I would prefer a hub in Sydney than Qld. I reckon it will hurt the Cats as they are playing poorly and relying on Home games to stay in touch with the top 4. Apparently we went 7 W - 3L in the back half of last season so while we missed finals we did very well in the hub and with all the travel. We drew the short straw last year on hub location and travel because the prior year we were 17th and had early losses in 2020. This year we are at the top and we will receive some decent draws and travel schedules.

Coaches Split: 5/4 Oliver and Gawn 3/1 or 2/2 Harmes/Lever 3/0 Petracca 1/0 McDonald Interesting that Beveridge said he didn't see a 28pt loss as something to worry about. That he couldn't find a single vote for any of his players in his up till then top of the ladder team, suggests he has quite a bit to worry about. Only 2 defenders on the leader board: Lever and Salem. Our defence is certainly getting a lot of respect from opp coaches. Of course May deserves to be there but there are only so many votes available.

It is my guess we have a different set play for each kick-in player and whether the kicker takes a short kick (which May sometimes does to Salem) or takes a long kick to one side or the other. So that is at least 6set plays (assuming May, Salem and Lever are take the kick ins) that players know how to position themselves.

I can't see it being in Qld unless their goverment changes its policy. They stopped GWS boarding a flight to Brisbane on Friday because they played in Melbourne 13 days earlier. They had to leave the next day ie day 14. Big turnaround if they let us or other teams play in Qld next weekend.

Thanks for correction, yes 10 days. I will go back and correct. The AFL should require Brisbane to go on a FIFO basis as well.

I would hope they allow crowds. If both teams FIFO the risk is miniscule as other than bus drives and other necessary folk there will be very little contact with local residents. First vs Third would be a rare treat for them, one they may not see again for a very long time. That is why I think it is narrow minded of the NT government if they don't allow the game to go ahead.

If the choice is Alice vs SCG I would take Alice: We get the $800k The flight to Alice is 30 minutes shorter than Brisbane to Alice. Not much of an advantage but not a disadvantage We play Pies 13 10 days later so even if we have to FIFO there is plenty of time to recover. Importantly, give the folks in Alice some enjoyment watching two top of the ladder teams. Edit: change 13 to 10 days.

Good point. Just as well there were no crowds on Friday night. The beauty of a 'block the corridor' order is that the while the opps hear it, they have no dea where our players will be, until it is too late. I was glad Richardson drew attention to it; it gives great insight into what happens on the field that otherwise we would not know about. I wonder how many other 'orders 'our leaders have to ensure players are in the right positions and structured correctly, ahead and behind the ball. I've noticed that Petracca has become more vocal. Melksham seems to play a similar role to Lever at the opposite end. Could be why he gets selected.

On Lever and our stingy (10 goal) defence. Matty Richardson said he could hear Lever often shout "block the corridor! block the corridor!" during the bulldogs game. Lever was suitably hoarse when interviewed after the game. 'Block the Corridor' impressed me for two reasons: Lever has to read the the play upfield and needs to pick the exact moment to order the troops into 'block the corridor' formation. A few seconds wrong either way and the opps get thru. The players need to know and get to their designated spot in the corridor quickly. On both counts the 'block the corridor' strategy worked brilliantly. Great example of on-field leadership and players playing their role, doing no more and no less. Last week Crows won by 'charging' our defence through the corridor. Not sure whether we didn't have 'block the corridor' tactic in our arsenal last week or just forgot how to execute. Either way we learnt heaps from the Crows 'charging the corridor' (also a key part of the Bulldogs plan) and our execution this week was flawless. The team would have been mighty proud of themselves for '10 goal win' v the bulldogs. Rightly so.

May is kicking to the Langdon wing ie our attacking side. Whether the ball is marked or it comes to ground we can set up to take the ball fwd. How often do we see the end to end ball movement with overlap handballs involving Langdon with Salem or Hunt. Gus on the other, defensive, wing is rarely seen in those overlap runs. For mine, as long as that system works May can continue kick ins to the left.

After the Crows game Lever was interviewed and said their aim was to keep the opp to about 60 points (10 goals) and generally we had achieved that. He wasn't at all happy that the Crows kicked 90+ pts. I can't remember his comments but sensed it was like an insult to their professionalism. No surprise the defence came back with a vengeance this week. Yes, Roos would be very proud: stingy defences win premierships. And we are becoming one of the stingiest defences in the game. In other threads folks talk about 'run away' wins. But they come at a cost - more attacking by us gives ops more chances to intercept then attack themselves and score. Any win will do me and I'd rather a stingy defence than a big win where the opps break down or break thru our defences..

@Wells 11and @Lord Nev I've heard her say the 'tanking' saga was as bad as the Ess drug sage. I was angry but it passed. For some reason the 'tanking' hit a nerve with her and it has clouded her judgement about those events. I don't warm to her as a person but on the whole I find her articles well researched and reasonable. She is one of the best non-football calling reporters in the industry.

She gave Richmond (Hardwick and Gale) a serve this week saying the AFL is filthy with them for whitewashing the Bolton saga and complaining about Marvel and umpires. Bolton gets a $20,000 none of which is suspended. She said they are 'at war' with one another. Even said she wouldn't be surprised if they get 2 games at Marvel next year. I personally doubt that. The point is she can be critical of her own club and the AFL. She isn't as one sided as people make out.

At the moment I'm not a fan of moving a player out of his set position. But I think it is a matter of managing the risk. I like that idea of Hunt to the wing, mainly because he has been running along side Langdon all year from the backline so he knows Langdon's positioning and moves and could more easily slot into the role than someone who hasn't played a game for a few weeks and not familiar/practiced in our ball movement from the back half. Brisbane isn't brimming with small forwards so bringing in someone to replace Hunt in the back line is the lower risk option. Less risky than replacing Langdon with someone not in the team. I think Jones is too slow for the wing. Could be a candidate for the Hunt role if he is moved. Other candidates for Hunt role: Lockhart, Sparrow, Bowey if they want to give him a taste of AFL.

Its unfortunate for Brown there is no VFL this week to impress. Not sure he has done enough to force Weideman out. The club is still experimenting with its 3 tall forwards. Brown will get another go just don't think it should be now.

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Seriously? Our jumper is nearly all red and theirs is a mid range blue. This is the start of the Sir Doug Nicholls round - doesn't make sense to not wear it - no clash whatsoever!

Won't we be wearing our indigenous jumper, this week?

Update for Alex Neal Bullen's two year contract extension. Given how well Hibberd is playing he would be good for another 1 year contract. Goodwin is pretty confident Weideman will stay with the club. Well done to the contracting team for signing up so many OOC players early in the season and for bringing forward other contract renewals.

I think we will come out determined tonight. They blew it last week and they knew it. Last week I felt we didn't bring our 'game face' of earlier games when goals were taken in their stride with little fanfare/celebration and quickly ready for the next play. Handballs were targetted and purposeful. Last week I saw the 'hollywood hand ball' come back. Early goals received more than their usual backslapping/laughing. They celebrated hard after Clarry's last goal thinking the game was won so forgot to defend a very good lead. Tonight I want to see that steely 'game face' again. The one which says: we are here to be serious.

The media didn't name the Bulldogs 'staff member' who was at an exposure site. Appropriate that the same respect be shown to our club.

Gettable? Depends what happens when Dylan Shiel returns. Parish has excelled since Shiel was injured. Had he not been injured and Parish given a chance to play in his best position, I would say he was definitely gettable. Now, I doubt they will let him go. He has quickly become a well rounded midfielder, kicking goals. Shiel is 28, still young but probably not there for their next tilt at a flag (may that be decades away) so Ess may trade him out while he has good currency and continue their rebuild from the draft. If Shiel goes back to his midfield position and Parish is relegated back to a flank he could be gettable. I'm guessing Parish will sign with Ess for 2 years at which time he will be a RFA.