Diamond_Jim

AI is perfectly matched for NFL simply because every play is a set play. I'm sure that every team effectively has the offensive play book of every other team within weeks of each season's commencement. AFL is a little more chaotic but AI delivers trends. Question: If I buy AI analysis tools or better still the analysis itself from a third party is that cost included in the soft cap?

Pity about Jefferson... Would have liked the game time to be shared between him, Kentfield and JVR. Looks like we will continue to play Gawn into the ground. A shame simply because a managed season might extend his playing life. Not sure about that back 7 but I'll wait and see

Was referring to last night's game at Princes Park PF. We're not on Kayo's radar I'm afraid

They are there: Wangaratta Oval: Capacity 11,000 and I''m sure there are probably three or four more. Perhaps it is Kayo wanting night games?

I suspect the players welcomed the drive along the empty freeway to the relative countryside of Casey while the rest of us were limited to masked trips no more than five kilometres from home.

The Port development could be smoke and mirrors. I suspect that most of the $70M they are speaking of comes as a result of the Alberton oval being transferred free (or perhaps with limited recourse debt) from the old Port FC. The housing development smacks of wanna be property developers. Very high risk. Good luck to them but always take a balance sheet with a grain of salt. (North Melbourne perhaps)

I doubt that Port would have had us back then. They were a very strongly minded club. We split with Sandringham because they had too much say in selection. If we had gone with Port and bought the land next door (was the postal sorting building or similar) we'd be laughing... not to mention enjoying Burra Burgers

Interesting that he played the NTFL season. Surprised that more young delisted players or even VFL players don't take that route in an attempt to show off their wares

In 2024 we could see glimpses at Casey of a competency which suggested that 2025 was a probable break out year at AFL level. Many of us thought he should have been played at AFL level for the last four or five games of the 2024 season. Unfortunately he went backwards in 2025 even at Casey level. One of the reasons was that Casey had way too many tall forwards as we sought the elusive back up to Gawn. I'll be interested to see what 2026 brings as it's definitely a make or break year for him

It certainly did. In December 2020, Melbourne City officials announced the club would move training and administration facilities to Casey Fields in Melbourne's South-East. In 2019, the football facilities at Casey Fields included four floodlit pitches and a one-story administration building. The club announced that, in conjunction with the City of Casey, it would add an elite training tablet pitch, expand the size of the administration building to two storeys and leave space for potential future construction of a 4,000 capacity boutique stadium. The total cost of the project was $18.7 million, of which City of Casey contributed more than $11 million. As well as two and a half grass training pitches, there are three synthetic fields, 16 changerooms, a 60-seat theatrette, hot and cold hydrotherapy pools, two gyms, community classrooms, and extensive sports medicine, sports science, and administration spaces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Football_Academy_(Melbourne,_2022)

Pre-construction the ground only held 10k (mostly standing). During construction perhaps 5k at most is my guess. Strange place to have a match but I suspect there's an agenda. I would have preferred Wangaratta, Albury or Mildura (maybe too hot) as a venue for promoting football.

Seriously They are the racing body. They are the reason the place exists. They are the second most powerful club in an industry that contributes many millions to the Government coffers. Their members rank among the most powerful people in the State. If it makes sense and benefits the MRC we'll get our ground but we'll always be the lesser tenant. For instance I'll wager we don't have much by way of overhead lights for the ovals. Pitch side facilities will need to be submerged below the sight line plus a million other concessions. BTW: Where does the high roofed indoor training centre go?

The memory is of the little girl on the swing singing the Marchant's song

The Marchant's lemonade song. Perhaps second only to Aeroplane Jelly in its fame. Yes younger ones there was a time when Coca Cola was an expensive occasional treat

A retractable zipline Might even be a plus for recruiting players. Seriously this is a mess. The tunnel issues probably cover up deep seated rejection by the race club

Remind me when Caulfield became the number 1 option? Can't recall when we moved on from the Yarra Park car park alternative which IIRC was the last seriously considered option. Must have been pre-2023

Traditionally I've had GWS as my second team. Their gamestyle and star studded line up has always been a good watch. May just replace them with the Suns this year. I doubt that they will win it but they could be a value bet. Their two games in Darwin do them no favours though

My eyes will be on the forward line. Way too many goalless or near goalless quarters last year. Accuracy is another. Make or break year for Jefferson especially if he drops behind Kentfield. I've little feel for how our backline will fare especially if we play a fast game where turnovers are common.

If we're going the fast disposal gameplan you have to wonder where Max fits in. Blocking a hole on the rebound perhaps. The long boundary kick is dinosaur play these days

Was watching a long interview of Claire Williams recently. Claire was the Team Principal of the Williams F1 team. She discussed the impact of Drive to Survive on F1 and made the point that sport is now far more than the race but is more about the story arc. Practical impact was that in 2016 teams were struggling to sign "Title Sponsors" for $8M. Now they are knocking them back at $80M. I think we'll see a lot more shows like this

Up early fishin' and crabbing I envy him Good luck to him. He gave us all a lot of joy that lonely locked down night in 2021

It may not have gone away.... But the close relationship between Geelong’s benefactors and its players has rankled executives from rival clubs. “There’s just so much smoke around Geelong, and every time the AFL puts out a fire, there’s more smoke coming from somewhere else,” said a senior figure from a Melbourne-based club who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It will be interesting to see what they [the AFL] do now. Surely, they can’t ignore it … you have to wonder why the recent audit only went back to 2019,” the club manager said. One of Geelong's old sponsors has been accused of a very large fraud. Details in this Age Article: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/cats-sponsor-accused-of-fraud-paid-for-players-luxury-hotel-in-munich-20260212-p5o1va.html A former Geelong Football Club sponsor who is accused in court documents of defrauding up to $14.5 million from registered charity genU paid more than $3300 towards the luxury accommodation of Cats stars Joel Selwood and Mitch Duncan at a German hotel in 2018.

Age rankings gave Rivers 8, Gawn 7 and Kozzie 6.5 7 seemed to be the rating for solid/most players. BOG got 8.5 and 9 respectively Max Gawn (MEL)It was great to have the ruckmen again jumping – rather than just wrestling – at a centre ball-up (no longer a bounce under new rules). Had only four touches to half-time in what was a fierce battle with Darcy Cameron and Tim English. Worked hard late in the third term. Rating: 7 Trent Rivers (MEL)The Demons midfielder found plenty of the ball, finishing with 24 disposals and 500 metres gained. Rating: 8 Kysaiah Pickett (MEL)The Demons’ match-winner was a surprise starter at the opening ball up, and delivered his usual line-breaking run. However, he had two set shots for goal in the third term he would want back. Rating: 6.5 https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/state-of-origin-player-rankings-was-nick-daicos-snubbed-for-best-afield-honours-20260214-p5o2av.html

Surely you can't get suspended from real games for this Harlem Globetrotters spectacle

This could get ugly. Do you think they'll swap a few players at half time like in kids footy to even up the sides