Lucifers Hero

Scott has already started the mind games declaring: We are the danger...! Lets wait and see what they are made of when they play the top 3 teams in the coming weeks - the teams they need to beat in the finals. Beat Coll (G), Port (KP) and Lions (Gabba) and it could make them GF favourites. They will be going all out to finish 5th and get a home final. If an an interstate team sneaks into 8th, most likely GWS the game will be at KP. That would be a fascinating first final as GWS beat them at KP and both teams have improved since. Hopefully the physical toll of their run home wears them down in the finals and they don't go beyond the second week.

They don't even realise there is a game this week let alone who they will be playing!

In McVee we have found Hibberd's replacement. Did as good a job on Cameron as Hibberd has in the past. And he has tamed a few other small forwards this year. Moves like a gazelle and its a joy to watch him weave through traffic with lowered eyes, taking his time looking for the best option. As an East Fremantle product, Freo must be ruing they didn't take him in that rookie draft. They could do with a gun defender who is a star in the making.

Probably the most boring read of any game preview I've come across. Up to page 12 and still not a word for next week’s game. Their fans have all but given up on the season and now turning on a few of their players. Thank you Rory, you've been a wonderful player, but shouldn't be selected again Changes??? I couldn't care less anymore. The only changes I'm interested in are changes at the end of the year. Continuity matters. Still mathematical finals chance. No change. That will absolutely loose me Why bother even starting this thread. when we know that sloane, sholl, murphy, mchenry are going absolutely fxxkn nowhere. they wont be dropped. Not a fxxkn chance. I would think so highly of Rory if he announced his retirement this week. Or that he didn't want to be picked, and will play 2s for the rest of this year. And maybe next. I have no idea what they can do with Sloane. He's miles of it, but there seems to be some delusion about where he's at. Powaa has no problem dropping their captain. Sloane isn't even captain and the club is scared of the reaction from the Facebook brigade. Fmd. I can't wait for next February where we argue which spud deserves his spot in the best 22 only for the happy clappers to talk about what amazing depth we have. We push Murphy from the forward line up to the stoppages because it's the only thing he's good at.. The other team doesn't care about him because of his poor skills so we gift them an extra in defence. If Crouch or Himmelberg are playing on Sunday I'm not going Poor Rory!! Imagine if we had talked about Jonesy like that. No respect being shown to Sloane. I'll check back in a few days and hope they have something more interesting to say.

That is very gracious. Thank you.

So its fair to say Grundy is not being 'managed' for fatigue or loads, he has been 'dropped' and would be playing at Casey this week if they didn't have a bye.

We also had three 10 day breaks in 2022 between rounds 13 and 16. The difference is that in 2022 we were blindsided by the late schedule release so had no chance to tailor our training accordingly. I've mentioned before it is no coincidence the AFL released the 2023 fixture to the end of round 15 ie after all the byes were finished.

That was the best death ride because it was Collingwood!! All the way down to pick 2!!

Such indignation!! Btw, the best chefs in the world are blokes, who cook in k-i-t-c-h-e-n-s! Haha, there was no stipulation of what culinary storm blokes could cook up: BBQ? Spit Roasts? Whole fish on an open fire? In my neck of the woods these are a man’s domain!!! Shock😲 and horror - sometimes they even venture to cook on an outdoor k-i-t-c-h-e-n! And what else can ladies do but relax and sip a vino while the blokes cook, with beer (or decent shiraz) in hand. Come on Bbo, Fair’s Fair!🙃 Anyway, you could try cooking a barbie just to test that ‘natural order of things’☺️. Skills learnt can easily transfer to a real k-i-t-c-h-e-n! On second thoughts the latter might be a bridge too far for someone who lives in The Manor! As for the vapours, I'm told this was a popular remedy in the ‘good old days’😉:

I had started typing a reply to this, as is. But now that a whole swag of additional thoughts have been added to the post I figure it is time to bow out. I respect your views and have said previously, your commitment to the cause.

Love it! Very apt!🤣

Binman, I marvel at your ability to reverse engineer just about every decision the club makes, to fit the 'fatigue' (aka 'loading') dogma. You are preaching to the converted! Everyone believes in loading but don't necessarily see it as the dominant or sometimes even a relevant explanation for club decisions and team performance. There are a myriad of other possibilities behind individual club decisions/team performance. Maybe its time to widen the lense of the fatigue/loading prism...

We and even Lions could end up in the bottom of the 8...

They haven't heard where the GF is played...

Interesting if Grundy can't play two back to back games on a 6 day break immediately after he has had 3 x 10 day breaks between games. Can he be that unfit... If he had an injury wouldn't we just say so rather than risk having his fitness called into question. ...tending to agree with others that we are trying a one man ruck again.

I LOL at those. They were my second favourite group of quotes. As an aside, I don't edit any posts but I try to group related ones together to tell a story.

Not a complete list. A few that are missing. round 18: Dees vs Lions round 22: Cats vs Pies etc

THE NEW SOCIAL ORDER 😀 Bring a plate: Some CWA help including lamington recipie, for blokes to cook up a storm! (empty plate provided separately) Bring a decent shiraz A little gem from any vintage. A Romsey neighbour no less. Presumably it features in The Manor's well stocked cellar ensuring an ample supply to accompany the culinary storms the blokes cook up! Meanwhile, sheilas can sit back😀, relax 😀and

Fairly confident but much angst about their MCG hoodoo They will be dancing in the streets of Brizvegas tonight... again Will never win at the G again if we can't salute here. I'll be disappointed if Gunston doesn't outscore the opposition off his own boot for the second week running. Lions by 81. I've seen people say this game is crucial for our season. Crucial for Top 2 maybe, but even if we lose we are still a game clear of Melbourne in 4th. It's crucial also due the last time we'll be playing at MCG before finals. Sick and tired of the MCG bs, even if we make it so easy to write. Let's just get the win to shut the critics up. MCG is a haunted ground. It disgusts me that we are forced to play there at all. It will always be a thing until we start winning there more consistently. Or win a Grand Final. To maintain a top two chance, we just have to win this one at the MCG. Squiggle suggesting a nice relaxing game ... Melbourne 76 - 73 Brisbane Lions 81 points is our Go To margin. Don't see anything wrong with sticking to what we know I could have kicked a couple against West Coast and I’m waiting on a knee replacement on my preferred. Tickets bought, off to see another MCG masterclass by the Lions :) Quietly confident on this one, I think it will be a low scoring affair but I think our defence vs their forwards is stronger than their defence vs our forwards - we just have too many routes to goal. Lions by 18 You can't take them lightly because they have many other good players but they'll need to have a night out to beat us. This is ours to take , just need to bring our A game. If you want your eyes to glaze over check out the champion data definitions relating to pressure. Sounds like Grundy is doubtful to play, which isn’t much of a loss for them given his form. It should mean we can get away without having to worry about going in with the 2 specialist rucks ourselves How teams have performed the game after belting WCE by 60+ Melb: LOST to Ess by 27 Carl: LOST to Bris by 26 GC: LOST to Bris by 43 Haw: BEAT StK by 10 Coll: LOST to Melb by 4 Ade: LOST to Coll by 2 Syd: DREW with Geel 1 win from 7 games. Big watch on Bris against Melb this wk A huge 16 point Friday night game this week - No.3 vs No.4 ! A classic 32 point game! Cant afford to lose this 64 point game and be derided as pretenders for the nth time this year My Favourite: Some humourous banter from local fans: : Public service announcement re Friday's game: for any of my fellow Mernda or Hurstbridge line travellers, don't hang around celebrating the win for too long after the match. Bus replacement services will be running after 11pm. Yes, don't go home until the first morning train! Crown is open all night. if we win the game I think I’d happily walk home. Late Edit: Dees by 4 goals!!:

Just another record for us to break! Not suggesting we want to lose or that we will. But hey, if we have some sore players why play them in a dead rubber, if that is what it turns out to be. Nonetheless, I like the romance of an out and out champion of the game being saluted in his last run.

Hope 'Uncle Bitter' doesn't get too used to the gracious lifestyle...this board wouldn't be the same without his always entertaining and occasionally irreverent posts...☺️ And, @WalkingCivilWar may not recognise the new 'Uncle Bitter' to irreverently spar with...

Contracted to 2025

It will probably be Buddy's final game, packed house at the SCG so they will be highly motivated and go all out to give him the send off he deserves. Often forgotten in the GOAT discussions. By then I think we will be locked into 4th so the result of the last game won't matter.

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.