Lucifers Hero

Is it possible that we might fly other players to SA on the same flight as North (to abide the AFL covid protocols)...just a thought...

The AFL has extended the official cut off date to Aug 30 so we won't see club figures for 4 - 6 weeks. Here is an early insight: afl-fans-to-the-rescue Key Points: only 1 per cent of members across the competition have requested refunds, albeit with significant numbers pledging their money through to 2021. 5 clubs have membership records: Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Gold Coast, St Kilda and West Coast The Western Bulldogs membership is also up, 12 per cent ahead of 2019 with that club one of several rewarding members' loyalty not only with club merchandise but also an automatic upgrade in 2021. Emphasis is mine On DL we compare our memberships to Carlton, Saints, Bulldogs, North so I created a little table from various sources We are a smidgeon behind North as the smallest Vic club The only reason I can think of for the 24 % decline is our disastrous 2019 and our ordinary start to 2020. Maybe Melbourne members didn't buy into the off season hype. Lord knows how many years it will take to get back to 52,000+. That we have dropped off so much more than our contemporaries must be very worrying for the club. The last time we had 39,000ish members was 2016. Not much to add really... Edit: were we one of the clubs that offered 'club merchandise or an automatic 2021 upgrade?

Alex Neal-Bullen has pled guilty to rough conduct, but the case is being made the incident should be deemed 'high' impact rather than 'severe'. Crikey, the Adelaide medical report doesn't help at all! "Immediate treatment for concussion, Hamill will miss likely 7 days of training and will miss at least one game. Hamill "will not play for at minimum two weeks" according to the club doctor". It must be the same lot of docs that condemned Jack T a few years back for the Danger tackle. Played the next week!

We had a crushing win over North in rnd 3, 2018 at the G. They will really work us over. Even if they lose they will make sure we will be sore and sorry making it harder to win games in this compressed schedule to increase the value of their demon draft pick. Still expecting to win. They have no game plan.

Yes, there will be 18 rounds. 8 rounds to go. I agree we won't play an 'extra' game, per se, it is the 'catch up' game for our 'bye' months ago. My issue is the 'catch up' game is said to be during rounds 14 -16. By my calcs that is a game every 4.2 days. A gruelling schedule. Am I missing something... By the end of rnd 16 all teams have played 15 games.

The way I read it, our ess game is during round 14-16. ie 4 games over 2 to 3 weeks. At best a game every 4.2 days.

That is awful for us. Compressed rnd 14 - 16 means 3 games in about 2 weeks. But we will have to play an extra game with Ess in that time. 4 games in 2 weeks without...just don't see it. Nah, not on. Not fair on the players. And, potentially a game at Alice during that time. Ess were lucky to get their NT game in a rnd 13 ie a 'normal' week. All the more reason we circumspect with selections and not burn-out players.

Of the North games I've seen they are playing 'trench warfare'. Zero game plan. No intention to win. Play to hurt. Throw in that 4-5 of their best players are out injured and if Majak doesn't play, they don't have much of a fwd line or ruck support. Expect them to double down on the 'trench warfare'. Forget playing 'our way'. They will drag us down into the trenches for arm-to-arm combat. In terms of selections this week. given that we have a game 6 days later we should: not confirm speculation on who has an injury; a mistake with Gawn as it allowed Crows to target that shoulder. rest someone with and injury; not worth the risk to make it worse. look at resting players with recent high game time especially mid-fielders. I note that Petracca has played (most recent first) 92%, 90%, 95%, 91%, 89% in the last 6 games; the most recent on short breaks. He is a strong lad but gee I'd hate to seem him worked into the ground. I want us to win and I think we will but player welfare is important, especially as the AFL is likely to condense rounds 13 to 15. Its one thing for Burgess and co to condition players for a condensed season but 7 rounds compacted into 4 weeks is gruelling. Throw in a future trip to Alice and no bye like other clubs get and I think we have to be more circumspect in team selections. Edit: AFL to condense rnds 14-16 and we play Ess during that time! All the more reason to select fresh, fit players now and avoid players burn out.

My first reaction is Boooooooooo to finals at 'Boo Stadium' because of the obvious advantage it gives WCE. But then Tigers, Hawks and Pies have had that advantage with little travel and 'Home' finals at the G for eons. I just hope that Eagles get eliminated early in the finals series so we don't have to listen to their supporters and watch the biased umpiring. And that the AFL negotiate a deal that if finals are in WA that they make adjustments to quarantine rules so that opp fans can attend.

Not by the coaches. Scored 6 in the AFLCA votes. Split 4/2. Thankfully the coaches don't look at Player Ratings or stats. They look at Impact and playing their role.

Clean sweep of the Coaches votes: 10 Oliver 7 Viney 6 May 3 Petracca 2 Weideman 2 Salem No surprises. Rapt for Sam for the recognition. It was a mature game. Petracca 2nd on the Leader Board with a game in hand. They may as well give the Brownlow to Neale now. But in terms of other podium finishes we are at the stage where our players will start taking votes from each other. My guess on vote split: 5/5 Oliver 4/3 Vine 4/2 May 3 Petracca 2 or 1/1 Weideman/Salem Salem's votes might surprise some who were quite critical of his game.

Yeah, I saw your post and chuckled a bit wondering if you would open this thread... Salem is one of my faves so I can't fault him. But even I was surprised to hear how valued he is and how much work op coaches put into him. Unfortunately not having our people at the ground the only feedback we get is what the camera or commentators show. From what I saw last night quite a few hits or plays involving us weren't replayed. So its hard to tell how much pressure is on players to dispose of the ball. Even harder as there seems to be little overhead camera vision.

I have a vague recollection that woo hoo man outed himself after that Adelaide game - there might be a post in the PostGame thread.

Gisele Gazelle like

Another Qld game for the Saints! Very comfortably settled up there. Looks like the AFL have made the Gabba their 'Home' ground. Finals advantage perhaps?

LOL. Good pick up. Clearly I shouldn't post before the morning espresso!

"Its all about me", perhaps?

He makes some interesting comments about Salem. He likes how Melb put the ball into his hands as he is our best user. And that Jade Rawlings knows his game and North will come after Salem to minimise his impact. And he said watch out if they go after Salem dees players will come out swinging as they absolutely love that guy! Just shows how much we don't know about the value of a player within club land and behind the scenes stuff. Maybe we should look more closely at how much attention Salem gets as he tends to go under the radar for fans and not appreciated for what he does.

Cunnington, Ziebel and now Brown injured. They will put Brown on ice to preserve his trade value. And they are gung ho for the draft north-s-shift-in-recruiiting policy so they will want the best draft picks they can get. I think they have put the cue in the rack.

OMG! Explains everything!

Had no idea who Crocker was till last night. He is now up there with my most hated players from other clubs. Ruffs up Lockhart who is 11cm and 7kg smaller(who to his credit held his own), crunched May in the head, pushed Hibberd in the back then turned, kicked a goal and pranced around as if they had just won the premiership. Faux tough guy. Approaching thug status.

Really liked Sam's game. His confidence is growing by the week. He is using his body more in contests, making good positions and loved the confident snap at goal. He may have some up and down games but he has only played 36! And I like the strut he is showing.

Folks think that 2018 was an aberration for Gus. It wasn't! He had an outstanding 2015; his first year, he played 21 games and just missed the top 10 in the b&f. It was the year before Oliver arrived and Gus had a lot of midfield time. Injured most of 2016/2017 and the whole club had a poor 2019. He is just coming into his prime: 24 yo and approaching 100 games. There would be many clubs who would take him and happily build their midfield around him. As I said a few days ago it will be our loss if we trade him.

Not breaches as such but some players seem to be getting a bit 'high and mighty' and Richmond seem to be the main culprits. league-fed-up-infuriated-richmond-demands "The AFL has become increasingly frustrated at Richmond players for some weird, wacky requests and bills that have been sent to league HQ. Other clubs are aware of the AFL’s frustrations in Queensland as the league does its best to keep the season running. One high-ranking club official said: “The AFL is off them massively. Self-entitlement is huge.” It was a Richmond person who inquired about bringing a puppy to Queensland, which prompted the AFL to issue a strict edict last month to clubs telling them this is no holiday. It’s also understood at least a few Tigers players asked the AFL to reimburse them for Coles online orders too". Entitlement indeed! Unsure if this applies is Richmond but it beggars belief that people would do this: "Nine journalist Sam McClure on Wednesday said the AFL was “fed up” after some players had put in requests for carpenters to alter apartments..." Come back to Victoria folks for a dose of reality.

A watershed game for Oliver. The start of becoming not just a star but elite. That was a very damaging performance. He played like an angry lad; 22 of his 34 disposals were contested. And it was great to see him burst out of the packs and to kick a goal. It will be huge for his confidence. Commentators saying that is Danger like aren't giving Oliver enough credit. Danger wasn't playing like Oliver when he was 22. Portend of great things to come.