Lucifers Hero

I hope Jetta and Jones are going. On every level it would be horrible leaving them behind. If they don't go it would be a terrible way to treat two much loved and loyal servants of our club. The AFL has not limited how many players can go. So I think that anyone who is not injured should go. There will be no scratch matches here so what are they expected to do back in Victoria. At least in Sydney they can keep learning and developing, especially the younger ones and New and Jonesy can mentor them. Even tho some have their cards marked we should do our best to keep developing them and give them some chance of getting to another club next year.

This may sound dramatic but I would let him explore his Free Agency rights. We would only get a 2nd round pick but importantly free up a huge chunk of salary cap which may help get us a KPF. I know a lot of people will shout me down but step back. If his name wasn't Viney would you not look to let him go elsewhere.

Not our worst but he was poor today; rarely read the flight of the ball correctly and made no second efforts. He is terrible below his knees and that is not knew. He cannot bend down which may be his past knee issue but today it looked like poor motivation.

Don't think so, DJ. NT gov would get free tickets as a key sponsor. All clubs have 3 game members so I doubt they are the reason our drop off is so bad: 22% on 2019 total.

During the game the other evening it was announced that the saints were within 1,000 members of their all time record. Carlton had 67,000 members in Feb, prior to covid being even heard of. 64,269 for total 2019. Our other membership contemporaries in North currently 4,000 down and Bulldogs currently 6,000 down are holding much better than us. Our membership is now where it was when Roos left. When the final figures come out in about a month we will be embarrassed at the fall off the membership cliff. And I will bet my bottom dollar that covid wasn't the primary cause.

We should win because right now Rich is worse than us and are distracted by hubs. But they will probably beat us with their usual strategies of: spreading quickly from the contest to get goals out the back because our mids/defenders take attacking positions and can't man-up of get back to goal square fast enough. an extra marking player in defence. Salutary to remember that in last year's ANZAC Eve game the Brownlow votes were 3. N.Vlastuin (RIC), 2. K.Lambert (RIC), 1. B.Houli (RIC) If either of those happen today and we don't have counter tactics ready then we have learnt nothing in the last 12 months.

Lever and T Mac also have babies born in the last six months. Others have young families with two or three pre-school kids. I would guess they will go for this round of games which will be for three weeks. They can then opt to come back and sit out the next round of hub games. And they have the option of taking their family with them. Or, if it all gets too hard for their family they can drop out of the hub at any time. Also, the AFL has flagged there will be a 'pause' at some stage when all Vic teams come home. Of course things change quickly so who knows. Edit: We fly out later today: clubs-begin-to-leave-victoria

This. One of the top 3 strategies op use to beat us. Rich were one of the teams that smugly pronounced: "Match them/let them win on the inside, beat them on the outside", before the game! And so it came to pass. Their players spread faster than us from the contest and had outside players so even when we won it there would be a turnover with fast movement into their fwd line and our attacking placed midfielders and defenders didn't have time to get back. I've not seen anything this year to say we have fixed this problem. Hopefully, tomorrow is the day.

You refer to which distressing possibility: covid-19 gets out of control in Victoria and shut down the country again? War in the South China Sea The Great Depression re-visted Ess wins the GF All the above

Each quarter being 6-8 minutes shorter is significant. Without tracking the stats, a lot of goals are scored during that traditional time-on when players tire, their concentration lapses and play opens up. Not saying there aren't other problems, just that this isn't a representative season so not sure too much action should be taken based on the low scores.

Did others notice the Ess fill in ruckman put out a straight arm to stop Grundy going for the ball at centre bouncers? Put him off balance a few times? Max was penalised for that many times in 2018, in particular vs Saints. I recall he trained with one arm tied down to stop himself. And while I'm on umpiring: since when has two handed scooping the ball not a free kick? Saw it a few times last night. Bulldogs have mastered the art.

Agreed. But they changed tack in the last quarter. Stopped bombing it in and started working the ball down the boundary with hand ball and short kicks which resulted in faster movement and Ess didn't have time to fall back. Buckley is a clever coach and knows when and what levers to pull. It nearly worked.

I think we will win. Not because we are good but because Richmond are worse. This is the Richmond of 2016 not the Richmond of 2017-2019. Some key people who helped turn the ship around in 2017 are gone: Rutten defensive coach left end 2018 Rance left end 2018 Caracella who was credited with ball movement strategy left end 2019 Gale and more importantly Balme is not in their authorised 'bubble', so no face to face contact And captain and co-captain seem more distracted by the idea of an interstate hub than galvanising their team to deal with whatever happens. Perhaps they are so used to the comforts of home both domestic and playing 16-17 games a year on the MCG not having those has them nervous. So Hardwick is more or less the lone ranger in terms of leadership but he struggled before Balme arrived. They may rally tomorrow because they think we will be easy beats. But I think they are the easy beats right now. If we can't beat the Richmond of 2016 then I'll be very concerned

I'm not sure there is an optimum point in the context of the playing style Axis of Bob described ie to bring the ball to ground and take advantage of space behind CHF as I feel it is a low percentage play especially now that we have gramophoned it to the world. To me it pays to have a balanced fwd line that provides a variety of avenues to goal from which a shot on goal within the 50m arc can be taken.

Nice in theory. The problem with flagging is that ops know it and develop counter tactics and fill the space behind the contest. eg set up for small defenders to be goal side of our small forwards and plonk someone in the goal square. Our small fwds may win the contest but they will have nowhere to go (ie no space behind the contest) and will have to kick/hand ball blindly to get through/over the pack, with the most likely result being clearance by the opp, ball up, a point or fall into the arms of the guy in the goal square. Low percentage goal scoring style, imv. And as we seem unable to adjust tactics within games we are unlikely to find an alternative. Unless we start to bomb it long...

"Foxfooty.com.au understands the SA government is more likely to allow teams to fly in and fly out of the state, once they’ve quarantined in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia". updates-afl-fixture-afl

It would help if the club had a consistent narrative around Harley: When selected to play rnd 2 Goodwin was effusive with praise and believed he was ready to play. When not selected to play rnd 4 Goodwin said its about his form and building his game but Mahoney said he had to get his body right. When not selected to play rnd 5 Goodwin says he needs to work on his defensive game and only got the rnd 2 game because Hannan, AvB and Pickett weren't available. ie gifted No wonder people are sceptical.

DJ, it pains me to say it but that is all we deserve. We may even lose the 3.30 time slot which is FTA on Ch 7. I'm happy with Sydney. We can go and watch the games live without going into quarantine. Has to be a big positive for Dees fans.

This has signs of other talented fwds without defensive skills that Goodwin tried to convert and in the end they were forced out, one way or another. While there were other 'reasons', I'm thinking: Hogan, Watts, Garlett (may yet happen to Weideman). I hope that one day our coach will set up to maximise each player's strengths while neutralise their weakness rather than try and make them something they are not. Maybe, Goodwin should apply the same standards to our other mids that he applies to Harley!

Good news is most of us can get into NSW to see our games. So I look forward to the fixture. Yes, Coogee or Manly would be good ?

Possibly. But if only two teams (Hawks and Ess) go to Qld they both need to go up at the same time so that they play each other (after 7 days) and can then play the two Qld teams in the following two weeks - same deal as the WA model. On related note - the fixture is shaping up to be an enormous benefit to Brisb and GCS. They will get a lot of Home advantages; not just Home ground but also the opportunity to live at home with their families and train in familiar environments with very little interruption to their routines and lives. NSW teams will get similar benefit. They can all bank wins very early in the season. Going early but reckon the premiership will be won by the team that gets their emotions and head space together.

Latest: Possible i/state Vic Hubs Victorian clubs are still waiting to find out where they’ll be based next week, but likely new homes continue to emerge. The Western Bulldogs are expected to join Geelong and Collingwood in Western Australia, according to multiple reports, and it’s likely another Victorian side will come along with them to ensure they have someone to play next week. VEXIT HUBDATE: As we told you on @7NewsPerth last night, expect @westernbulldogs to join @GeelongCats and @CollingwoodFC in WA hub as early as next week. Likely more teams sooner than expected. League is heading for a condensed fixture that will see teams play 5 gm in 32 days. — Ryan Daniels (@FootyRhino) July 2, 2020 Hawthorn and Essendon have been tipped to head to the Gold Coast, though it’s unclear whether they will go to Sydney first - a 14-day quarantine period would be required if they head straight to Queensland. Melbourne, St Kilda and North Melbourne have all been linked to New South Wales, with several areas including Manly, Coogee and Wollongong named as potential hub locations, though Olympic Park is a strong option. That leaves just Carlton and Richmond with their new homes unclear. That means our catch-up game vs Ess won't happen for at least a month.

Crikey, Goodwin virtually said Harley was given his first game because Hannan, Kozzie and AvB weren't available. Vastly different from the praise and excitement when Harley was first selected. Not sure which set of comments to believe. Would imagine the latest comment would be rather deflating for Harley as it sounds like he hadn't earnt his selection in round 2.

That is true but Goodwin has trained the 'frantic'/chaos/ballistic to be instinctive rather than a 'decision'. If it were the latter, imv it would be a lot easier to unlearn/reprogram. I think he is trying to change that instinct but now players appear uncertain and hesitate. Very noticeable in our last two games.

Anyone listen to May's interview? I don't know how to post the video but it is in this article. may-open-to-hub-move Several comments interested me (around the 4 minute mark): Not adjusting to changes other teams make during games We prepared for Geelong but they changed their tactics. That speaks to inflexibility, lack of anticipation and lack of tactical nouse by both players and coaches. He was asked an (inaudible) question but given May's response it must have been about his on-field behaviour towards team mates. He said he was working on it and was a lot better. There was a case during the Geelong game where players were arguing and he had to step in. Did anyone notice that during the game? I liked the interview. He was honest and didn't dodge questions. No platitudes and did not use the word 'learnings.