Lucifers Hero

The Run Home for pick #4 Richmond don't have their 1st pick so won't be looking to 'lose' games. They play the bottom 3 sides so are more likely to go up not down the ladder. GC have many winnable games, depending on which GCS turns up Dockers don't have their 1st pick and will be desperate to win games but doubt they will win many as they play the top 3 teams and last year's premiers. Swans have a softish draw so will probably go up unless they put the 'cue in the rack'... It looks like Freo will deliver pick 4 or 5 - more likely pick 4. if GCS win a few to impress a new coach. Their second pick # 23/24 which we hold, will slide due to the number of Academy players in the top 10/first round.

The vote split by coach: 5/5 May 3/4 Marshall and Petracca 2/2 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera 1/0 Steele and Brayshaw With the exception of the '1' vote the coaches saw it almost identically.

You mean the one that was subbed out this week and is earning squillions!!

What do you think these were for us: Round 1 Bulldogs Win 115-65 Round 3 Swans Win 134-84 Round 4 Eagles Win 126-63 Round 7 Kangaroos Win 139-49 Round 9 Hawks Win 103-49 I think it doesn't matter that some of theirs were relatively recent. We took our opportunities when we had them and there is the possibility of more to come. From here all we need to do is win 4 or 5 from 7 and the winning margin isn't very relevant since there is a big % gap for other teams to make up and not many games left.

Fagan got lucky in last year's final. A third of our team was maimed. Had we kicked straight the game would have been over by half time. Lions' ladder position flatters them. Since the bye they had a significant (but not big margin loss) to Hawks, so so wins over Swans and Saints and training runs over Tigers and Eagles. I reckon we go into this game with better and more consistent performances. While we haven't kicked winning scores sometimes we have been the better team and played very good football. Anyway thier defence is average, not necessarily their back 6/7 but their overall ground defence. Even if we lose to the Lions we are effectively two games ahead of 5th. Teams below us need to win two more games than we do and given there are only 7 games left, I don't like anyone's chances of doing that.

This summarises the rest of the season: On paper we have the easiest run home and can't see us falling out of the top 4.. While any team can win on any given day if we beat the Lions and Crows we can start resting players through the last 5 rounds. It is unlikely that we go further up the top 4 and there is really no need so imv preparing the players for September is a greater priority. Geelong has a very hard draw (they play each team 1 to 7 except the dees) but they will probably stay in the top 8 for lack of competition around them. But crikey, I really hope they fall out of the 8 - they will be a real threat if they make it.

WOW! That turned nasty pretty quickly! A far cry from their self-deprecation and dark humour before the game... Maybe this was their most apt description of their fans as well as their team (from the op post): We're bipolar, it's in our nature.

Tomlinson has a year to run on his contract. He is a depth player (horrible phrase btw). He will get games again. He may be disappointed but that is a far cry from suddenly having the 'very poor attitude' claimed by the ex Dl, now bf poster. That comment has resulted in discussion of, if he has 'downed tools!! We need to stop jumping at shadows and piling on players, coaches or the club every time someone posts some random rumour.

But was Tomlinson dropped? Fair chance he would have been told before selection for round 12 he would come in for X number of games to cover X player so there would no reason to be huffy about it, if in fact he is. He went out for Petty. It is Petty's spot. The defence has been very settled since his last game in round 13. This is the time to bed down our best 22 for finals. There isn't room for Tomlinson in defence.

If Nankervis gets referred directly to the Tribunal which seems very likely for a replica of the DeGoey late bump, he will get the minimum 3 week suspension so will not be available for our game.

Never!

Since teams were announced. Yeah, but scoring is not really an essential part of our game plan. ...in our case our coaches know our mids are poor and so they have no choice but to set up to win the ball back from a losing midfield. It does really mean that we start each ball up at a disadvantage. We have little other choice though and moreso if Marshall gets beaten in the hitouts. The Tigers have three premierships from the same style so it's not a disadvantage if you can work around it. It's harder work though. Bursting out of the middle before the defences can set up would be much less effort. Geelong and Sydney both made the GF off lesser midfields who often conceded. Yeah for sure. Just saying as good as Steele and Crouch can be, delivering the ball lace out inside 50 isn't their strength. As long as King occupies him. If he also drifts off him and takes intercepts then we are stuffed. Need to make May and Lever accountable Melbourne have only 1 tall forward and Grundy/Gawn. Howard and Cordy have that covered. Wilkie has the intercepter, NWM has the rebounder. We are set. The Dees losing Fritsch helps us along with Oliver not returning but overall they still look stronger across the board, it will take a big effort to win this. I reckon Melbourne don't set up to bring sides undone and play their game. We tend to do better against those sides than ones that set up to come at us. Dees by 11ty-billion. Squeak home against the worst AFL side in decades last week, the Dee's will destroy us Last words from their resident 'philosopher': I'm glad many of you are feeling up & about for this one. I respect your unending faith in the absurd. To many minds greater than mine, it has been said to be a path to enlightenment. Kudos. I am a cynic...when the world sees rainbows I remind people that it is indeed the shade White that contains all colour within it. When people say that it is sunny, I remind them that the sun will burn us all inevitably and that all life will be extinguished by the same source that gives it. Go Saints.

jr, I don't buy all the talk about the (wet) weather. I think it is used as an out by some fans...

Would think Holmes wouldn't be happy about this treatment for last year's GF. We targetted Holmes at the draft but Geelong made a very late pick trade to get him. We would have Holmes and Bowey instead of Bowey and Laurie. We have been targetting an elite mid/wing (via draft or trade) for years: Gaff, Butters, Anderson (had we not lost pick 2 in 2019) Holmes, Cerra, Humprhrey but we just haven't been able to get the deals done. We need to soon find the next gen mids/wings to step up as our midfield ages! I would be surprised if isn't targetting this type of player at either the draft or via trade. Holmes would have known we would take him if he was on the board at our first pick and Taylor tracks his targets. Would be very happy to get him to the club and we have the draft currency to do it.

I thought we owned Adelaide Oval...☹️

For those reasons this has been one of the more entertaining 'What They... ' threads to put together. Its almost like they have accepted their lot as a mediocre team yet can still take a lighthearted take on it.

Hey, you weren't to know it was elsewhere...lots of water under the bridge in those threads today so the videos are a fair way back in the threads. It was good you put up the article just in case.

Several videos and much discussion of this in the 'Injury' thread and in the 'Pregame' thread. Merge with one of those...

Just a tad more confident now that Oliver is out out: No reason we can’t win now. Two of their most important players are out There are plenty of reasons. But no Fritsch and no Oliver is helpful. Sad to be celebrating Clayton's misfortune but that is good to see from my point of view with that been one of the major issues for them the last 6 weeks. If jones and hunter make the cut I'll be tepidly hopeful of a W.

This article has a video of Oliver running. (My copy skills don't extend to videos). https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/oliver-leaves-training-early-with-hamstring-concern-20230705-p5dlwq.html At the end Oliver goes for a run. He gingerly walks back with a tiny limp/favouring his leg. Make of that what you will. Maybe Oliver is too keen and trying too hard and not giving himself the chance to fully recover.

Did he say why? Played well for Casey so is he injured?

How does a journo get into a closed training session and film this stuff...

I don't expect any info from the club. Let's be clear your posts about Oliver are opinions and not based on any knowledge. Its best to say that from the beginning.

If you know there are other personal issues (no need to tell us what they are) that comment is fine. If you are assuming there are other personal issues that comment will spark another round of rumours about Oliver. There are more than enough out there and we don't need any more. So could you please clarify and perhaps edit that post and the earlier one about him being 'definitely unwell' to clarify if they are based on assumptions.

Their despondency is matched only by ours on bf and on our very own on D’land! We will get absolutely smashed next week. Highly doubt it. Dees coming back from a slog in Alice Springs, it’s at Marvel, and their form has generally also been far from convincing. Reckon we'll beat the Dees. Can't show up to a game against division 4 bush league footballers but will turn it on against a top four side. We're bipolar, it's in our nature. Saints by 27 I can't see it happening, mate, but that would outstanding. Yes, it would be a very St Kilda type of thing Gawn and Grundy will work Marshall over. Their midfield will have an absolute day out against Crouch and the Witches Hats. May and Lever will take a billion marks between them. Demóns by heaps. Melbourne will be a class above. Dees by 35 We almost certainly be 4th if we win… if Collingwood beat WB, we’ll be 4th and a win clear of 5th! Could be the worst top 4 team at this stage of a season ever! 💪 We need to do something different up forward. May and Lever are going to have a field day if go out with the same set up we've been sticking too that we know doesn't work and only leads to opposition defenders dominating. If you have a quick read of their preview thread, the sky is falling and all hope is lost for them as well. You’d think the two teams were 4th and 5th bottom: We’re gonna win this and lose to suns the week after… literal lock. Stroll in the park for Melbourne. May to get 25 intercept marks and 300 supercoach. Couldn't get on fast enough for a demons bet. Melbourne may be struggling to score/kick straight, but they seem to be doing almost everything else pretty well. Their rucks and mids will be too much for us alone I fear. I would be pretty surprised if we don't lose this by 30+ points. We have lost all run and dare...they are going to absolute torch us through the middle and our defensive unit has been very ordinary of late. Unless they kick 5.25 we are not winning this game Just our luck the media get stuck into Melbourne before we play them! We are going to get destroyed here if we can't find a spark on the track this week. Melbourne by 60+ Melbourne is the only team we haven't beaten since 2019. As it'll be under a roof instead in all liklihood, Dees by 47 and May to both look like he sucked on a lemon in disgust on his way to the same amount of intercepts and us to maybe kick 10 goals, maybe. No idea what this is about but gave me a good laugh: You're forgetting to factor in the Dougal pirouette. It's like a boxer that has no skill but insane KO power. If it lands, we're in business. Could not believe my (piercing blue) eyes when he attempted another. Leave-without-pay type operator. There was a moment in the 4th where he picked the ball up inside our 50, without anyone on him (maybe an Eagles player 15m away directly infront of him) and instead of shifting his body from front-on to the Eagles player to the right of the Eagles player so he could get the kick away, he instead spun around on the spot and then as he turned back around, went to the right. Literally sat there and said 'What the *??'. He's incredible. Favourites: A round 17 clash between 4th and 5th on the ladder and both Melbourne and St.Kilda fans couldn't be any more pessimistic. I'm sorry Melbourne, but we're going to lose harder then you! You guys need to step up your game, the woe and despair in here is a pale comparison to the Demons board at the moment. We should take care of their form slump for them. They should start paying us to return teams to form. The dees poor kicking have made a mess of my predictions lately but will go out on a limb one more time: Dees by 3 goals! One thing is for sure; with two very defensive coaches this will be a dour game to watch☹️.