Lucifers Hero

Nicole Livingstone say the ladders will sort themselves out because there are a lot more in-conference games coming up. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/aflw-boss-calls-for-patience-on-conference-system-20190219-p50ypm.htm That is true but it doesn't man the top teams in conf B will rise above the lower teams in conf A. Conf B teams need to win a lot of games to bridge the W/L gap with conf A. Equally as important they need to win by big margins to bridge the %'age gap with Conf A. I fully expect the combined ladder at end of rnd 7 will be much the same as now ie top conf B teams will be below most if not all the conf A teams. Livingstone is just delaying the day of reckoning and praying for some miracles. Time will tell...

'Optics' be damned!! I'm sure the AFL ran many fixtures until they got what they wanted ie 7 games (that would help the AFL's 'favourite' teams; the big Melb clubs, Pies and Blues). So, fake Conferences were born and they then found weasel words to justify them. I say 'fake' because 'real' conferences do not have 'crossover' games. The concept of 'crossover' games may be 'innovative' but makes no sense. The AFL compounded the problem by having one very strong conference (A) and a weak one (B). I believe it is no coincidence that Pies and Blues are in the weaker B. Note: Blues play only one of the two prior premiers (both in Conf A) and Pies play neither while other Conf B teams play both. The cynic in me thinks this is tailor made for them to make the finals - the old story: good for tv ratings!! If either team does make the finals the AFL can really start worrying about the 'optics' as those finals are bound to be scrappy, one-sided affairs. What about Home Ground for finals? With the current ladder Freo would play Blues and because Blues are on top of the Conf B ladder they would be the Home team. Enormous disadvantage for Freo, especially as they will most likely have to come back to the east cost for the GF. If the AFL focus on what is good for the game and developing a worthwhile competition the 'optics' will take care of themselves and there will be no need to be 'innovative'.

The bubs in red and blue beanies which look especially knitted - very becoming ? Hope Daisy makes her post playing career at the Dees; an incredible asset to our club.

This is an earlier thread but I can't get behind the paywall to answer the question.

Fantastic news! Great to see mum and bubs healthy. ...Maybe Daisy will swap the red and grey swaddling colours to red and blue soon. Then again, the club has probably already sent her baby dee jumpers with # 6 on the back with their names or with 'mummy'.

Too true. Biased commentary especially from Alistair Lynch.

Blind Freddy could have foreseen the problem with the 'conference' ladders that is now glaringly on display. A conference system isn't needed to put 10 teams in 7 rounds. It could be done with a random draw and let the results (and finalists) fall out on a ten team ladder. Either way there are two teams that each club does not play. There is no way the AFL will 'realise the error of their ways' and change the finals this year.

It seems Cunningham was not reported. Good news as she will be an important player vs North next week. A critical game to win and maintain finals hopes. It being at Casey gives us a bit of an advantage especially if we play the wind there to our advantage.

I've forgotten all the details but broadly, because we have 5 teams in each conference but a 7 round season each team plays others in their conference once (ie 4 games) and some teams in the other conference (ie 3 games). (Daisy was pushing for a 9 round season so that teams played each other once...fell on deaf ears). After round 7 the top 2 teams in each conference play off for finals. I think that means a Conf A team vs a Conf B team and the winners of each game play in the Grand Final. Right now it seems pretty clear the teams that finish top 2 in Conf A will play in the GF. Given these limitations it would have made more sense to combine the conference results into one ladder (ala the table in my post above) and the top 4 teams play in finals regardless of which conference they were in. The worst problem is the severe distortion of potential finalists that sit in the bottom half of the ladder. Edit: I just saw DeeSpencer's posts with similar info to this post.

The joke of the conference system is shown in the ladder. If this was the final round Carlton and Brisbane from Conference B would be playing in the finals (as the top two teams in Conf B). Yet they are below all of the teams in Conference A. Its embarrassing. It was rather dumb of the AFL to put the last two premiers in the same conference and Melbourne as a recognised strong team in that same conference.

Well, that experiment didn't last long...the game isn't over yet. I opened the thread from the main board and by the time I finished the post the thread had been moved. I reckon regular AFLW posters are still watching the game...

Very scrappy vs the pies last week. Very clean this week. There has been some really good marking, overlap play and short stab passes to position. And our defensive structures are holding up really well. For a change we have kicked more goals than points. It will be a good win and a very good percentage boost (if I haven't spoken too soon...).

Updated for Melksham signing on till 2022. Its great that he has signed up again as he has turned into a very valuable player, somewhat unexpected at the time he was recruited. We still have one list spot and it looks likely that if it is filled will be in the mid season draft. Gives the club a chance to see how potential target players go in their respective leagues before committing. I would think the club is working on contract extensions for Salem, Weideman and ANB as we speak.

My suggestion above to put the 'AFLW: Rd x vs xxx' (ie the game day) thread on the main board for a week (then it moves to the AFLW board when the next round thread goes on the main board) would mean we wouldn't need the same thread on two boards. After a while people would get used to seeing the current Round thread on the main board and know to go to the AFLW board for older threads.

An option might be to have the 'AFLW: Rd x vs xxx' thread on the main board for that week. That thread seems to pick up all the news for the week: team selection, injuries, game day comments, Coaches votes, TOTW etc etc etc all in one place. At the end of the week it is moved to the AFLW board and start again with the next round's thread. This gives the game exposure during the season with only one thread at a time on the main board.

31,759. Worth noting that it took till mid Feb to reach a similar level this year. That is 2,700 (8.50% up on the Dec 22, 2017 count). As and aside, received sms from club today saying my membership packs are with aussie post, so should arrive any day now!

LOL! I didn't even notice the 3019. Hoping it is a typo! Might alert @Flag Favourites 3019so that he can change.

Thankfully those days are over. Just today it was reported that recruits spent the first month living with a senior player, went to Alice on a camp together (again with club leaders) and will live together for 3 weeks in Kooyong as part of their induction to the club. They will learn early what is required of them and importantly given the internal relationships to support them now and as they develop.

@Flag Favourites 3019may have drawn a long bow to compare Hogan to Watts and Sylvia but he was merely noting that another talent may go begging and that we are better off for the Hogan/May trade. Remember this was is first post. He made some well expressed good points and praised the club for their work. Let's cut him some slack so that he feels free to post again without attracting harsh judgement or implication of NFI.

Interesting question but I hope they don't. Fishermen's Bend is rather soulless with zilch public transport. At Burnley, there is open space at the freeway end of Swan Street: Burnley Park bordered by Yarra Blvd which has an oval of sorts. And, The Bicentenial Park (not sure how big it is). Burnley station and Swan St tram are the only public transport options. Interestingly, there is a lot of space behind the Burnley Gardens campus (owned by Melb Uni). But that land effectively is Tiger territory as it is dominated by the Kevin Bartlett Reserve and Kevin Bartlet Sporting Complex (which the State Gov't recently promised nearly $.5mill to build a new pavillion). The precinct has two football ovals and is home to a range of sports including Richmond and Collingwood soccer clubs. Both AFL clubs are expanding their sports so I wouldn't be surprised if one or both have their eye on expanding into the aforementioned Burnley Park across the road. So I reckon we are too late to join the Burnley party! As Pert previously noted the importance of giving supporters a place to go before and after games neither F'Bend nor Burnely fit that bill. I get a sense we will push hard for Yarra Park.

Good point re giving residents direct access from Wellington Pde. Re last para. My recollection is that buildings were 'proposed' for the airspace over the railway line rather than in the park. If they build in the airspace they can keep the protective fence and give East Melb residents, the general public, MCG attendees etc direct access to Yarra Park via a 'ground level mall' type of set up. If I get really creative I can visualise that 'mall' as a retail and/or cafe area...

Based on this article Yarra Park is the one we will go hardest for Not a Pipe Dream It looks like we aim to generate a groundswell of community support (and thereby drown out the 'not-in-my-backyard' type objections of the Residents Group). Pert said: "Quite a few of the community groups and individuals are really excited by the possibilities. What they're saying is that this is an area where there's no flat ground." Amassing support of the broader community is a good strategy: get the numbers on-side and implicitly isolate the Residents Group. In that article there is a steely resolve by Bartlett and Pert that we will make it happen.

Extract from club tweet re AGM Goodwin: "I couldn't be happier with how the players have returned from their break. "Their intent, physical condition + training standard has been fantastic." This is the first time ever that players have come back in good nick. Shows it is a really committed group.

I believe details were sent to 'mailing house' this week so should be received next week, if aussie post has its act together. As an aside, based on the chat in this thread and the release of new Trident and Redleg memberships, lots of members have upgraded or added features (eg reserved seat, GFG). That is great news: not only have no. of members increased the average spend per membership is increasing. So a nice 'extra' impact on club revenues.

I had a Redlegs wait listed seating request which couldn't be accommodated but was offered seats in new membership categories. Those with existing wait list seating requests get first option on these and then they go on sale to the public. New releases: Trident Open Air – Bay P12 - Premium Reserved Seating on Level 2A of the Great Southern Stand on the wing. Redlegs Open Air - Bay P9 - Premium Reserved Seating on Level 2A of the Great Southern Stand in the pocket. You might try contacting the club and ask if you can still upgrade to one of these new categories . As an aside, Membership now 30,891