Diamond_Jim

I really thought North would be a hard team to beat in 2024 with around 8 wins and a few close ones. Maybe in 2025 but who knows

You could have all that if you were Geelong. The only team with a "clean stadium".

On the surface appealing but hard to execute. Also if you have corridor teams playing each other it often becomes a turnover feast between the arcs. My preference is Collingwoods angled plays. Not 90 degree switches but more like 30 degrees ground covering kicks. You have to get the ball in front of the masses running up and down. Having two very good wingmen doesn't really favour the central style. It will definitely be a challenge especially with Salem slowing down.

That's a curate's egg of a sentence if ever I saw one. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

The Age draft predictions have Smith going to MFC The top fifteen are: Sam Lalor (Richmond) Levi Ashcroft (Brisbane matching Nth Melb's bid) Alix Tauru (Nth Melbourne) Finn O'Sullivan (Carlton) Harvey Langford (Adelaide) Jagga Smith (Melbourne) Josh Simile (Richmond) Leo Lombard (Gold Coast matching St Kilda's bid) Isaac Koko (Essendon matching St Kilda's bid) Sid Draper (St Kilda) Xavier Lindsay (St Kilda) Harry Armstrong (Melbourne) Tobie Travaglia (Richmond) Jobe Shanahan (Richmond) Bo Allan (West Coast) https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-afl-draft-is-just-weeks-away-here-s-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-top-40-prospects-20241024-p5kl0v.html What I found interesting is that Jagga Smith was ranked 1 by the Age poll in August and has now slipped to 6. These are the comments on Smith: Smith is a lightly framed midfield marvel who is an expert ball-winner with quick feet and rare agility that he uses to escape tight spots. He gathered an incredible 50 disposals and 24 contested possessions against Western Jets in a game this season, and is renowned for almost always hitting his target, particularly by hand. Smith has performed against boys and men, and recruiters were pleased to see him kick more goals and be more damaging with his disposals towards the end of the season. He is the safest pick in the draft, but recruiters believe his ceiling as a player is lower than some peers. If it’s not Smith here, the Demons may take Sid Draper instead.

Where's that emoji when you're looking for it Like you I'm over it for 2024 Merry Christmas fellow supporter

TMac staying did surprise me as I thought it would be Petty down back and Jefferson into the forward line. On reflection I can see Jefferson not debuting until Round 5. That probably gives him two VFL games and a chance to ease into the long season. On Petty... he had developed into a good backman and... we all know what happened

Saty sometimes you need to read between the lines but this time the lines are as wide as broad gauge railway lines. Anyway as I said let's see what the future brings

Chairperson and CEO both gone within a month. Both left under a cloud. Not great by any score You could feel it coming from the moment he reportedly shopped Oliver around. Anyway we move forward but hell we are great at turning what should be a glory period for the club into a shambles

Obviously they all read Demonland. It will be approved. Once you have a willing sponsor it's not hard to construct a role. The one protection is the Corporations Law but in reality it only imposes brakes on listed companies in that all payments need to be in the interests of shareholders and properly characterised. The answer is to have a prohibition on all non football payments unless positively approved by the AFL. It's not that unusual as many employment contracts prohibit outside employment unless approved by the employer. While strictly speaking the AFL is not the employer of the coach or players but they are the regulators.

Watched the 2021 finals a few weeks back (yeah I'm desperate to see a winning final) Could not help but notice that Bowey often found space due to comparatively slow movement into our defensive zone by other teams. Can he deal with super fast corridor or zig zag style now favoured by many teams. Not sure. It's probably a question that applies to many of our defenders

The Hawks new training ground had a cost (not sure if it included land) of $113M. They got $15M from each of the State and Federal governments plus $5M from the local Council leaving $73M to raise themselves. (Albanese was at the shovel ceremony in early 2024). The oval at Waverley Park is owned by Hawthorn and the last grandstand is heritage listed. (Hawks still own it but can they sell it or raise money against it?) Would be interesting to know how the final $73M was funded. Hawks site has a donation target of $5M for the project at the moment. By the way the training centre sits on an old waste dump and has been "tested and treated" for methane gas leaks. ( Cue the hot air puns) It has not been without controversy https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/08/03/hawthorn-urged-to-continue-with-dingley-project-despite-escalating-costs/

When will we learn. If you want funding you have to push the community involvement angle. If we have one we're not great at publicising it As a separate note MRC want a return on the land so who funds the rent on the admin centre, gym, oval etc. It won't be cheap

I've always assumed picks are unlimited until you pass so perhaps we even go into round 6 as in reality it will only be one or two picks after our round 5 pick

Over 500 youngsters have nominated for the draft. Just over fifty will be selected. Of those fifty perhaps 30 will play 50 games and ten make it to 100. AFL is a tough world

I fear that Charlie may not excel at the modern game plan. He may suffer the same fate as Caleb Daniel. Hope I'm wrong

epl has no salary cap but about 10 years ago it introduced a rule limiting losses. So you can spend as much money as you make.(favours big clubs) Anyway Manchester city is now in danger of relegation on the basis of: 1. That amounts paid by Abu Dhabi went way beyond arms length sponsorship agreements 2. Amounts paid to the Manchester city coach to advise Abu Dhabi football were disguised salary payments. The sporting world awaits the outcome which should come by the end of January. Sports accounting has come a long way from the Saturday post game sling

Name is Roy George.. now 23/24 years old. Played a few years for Peel Thunder and then moved to the Victorian country league and also played a few games for Casey. He was great to watch but he's perhaps not the type you need at VFL level as he would be competing with McAdam. It's a great discussion as to what type of player is needed/wanted at VFL level. It's not simple.

Do you happen to know which teams they train with? Is Casey training the whole squad or only those likely to be picked on the following weekend

Not sure on Friday night Foxtel have exclusivity for Saturday games for Victorian viewers for Rounds 1-15. Other than the occasional re-set to 1080 from 4K (re-installing the app fixes this) I've found the Kayo connection to be very reliable. They are fast losing sports that interest the bulk of viewers during the summer break. They really need either EPL or better still the Champions League to deliver a year round service worth paying for. The alternative is to offer a 12 month sub for the price of 10 months. The other change which will come unfortunately is limiting the two screens to one physical location. Just a matter of time PS Forgot to mention that Kayo's sister streaming product... Binge ... is about to lose its biggest content drawcard in HBO. To deflect from this loss they are introducing some sports onto Binge. BINGE is entering its sports era with an expanded content offering to include live and on-demand premium sport, direct from Kayo Sports, on the platform, as well as additional live news channels, at no additional cost to subscribers. Starting with a bumper finals weekend with the back-to-back AFLW Grand Final and WBBL Grand Final on 30 November and 1 December, sport will appear on BINGE. Following that will be Men’s Big Bash League, Super Netball, and, come winter, NRL and AFL footy on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays (simulcast games) during the regular season with no ad breaks during play. Additional sports and shows coming to BINGE direct from Kayo Sports include World Surfing League, Women’s Golf (USLPGA, Ladies’ European Tour, AIG Women’s Open), all Kayo Minis of the F1®, and Fox Sports-produced magazine shows including AFL 360, NRL 360, Sunday Night with Matty Johns, Bounce, and The Back Page, among others. Who knows if Binge will survive.

One outside mid and one inside mid please. (not necessarily in that order) Best available but with good foot skills and speed. Must be 6ft. (We have drafted too many mid size flankers IMO). (Where people see Thornton Sparrow and Rivers is a big influence. If we regard the three of them as key midfielders you might be tempted to go for a half back) In all honesty I have no idea !!

AFL players usually make up 10-14 members of the Casey team. Realistically around 10 Casey listed players are getting a weekly game. It must be soul destroying to play in a comp where you are performing well but can be replaced by a lesser performed AFL player simply because they are AFL listed. Similarly how do you train when over half of the team (the AFL listed members) never train with you. Overall it's just a weird dying competition

The "streaming rules" are starting to emerge for 2025. https://www.bandt.com.au/binge-pushes-play-on-live-on-demand-sport-news-entertainment-lifestyle-content/ At the heart of Foxtel’s 2025 offering is a landmark AFL rights deal, which will revolutionise how Aussie Rules football is broadcast. Starting in 2025, Fox Footy will exclusively stream every match of the AFL season live, ad-break-free during play, and in stunning 4K quality. The first eight rounds will be available nationally, with the first 15 rounds exclusive to Victoria. The coverage will include expert analysis from a line-up of AFL greats, including Jason Dunstall, Jonathan Brown, and Garry Lyon, ensuring fans receive the best insights in the game. A bit convoluted and unclear but on another forum a poster explains it as follows: Rounds 1-8. No Saturday Channel 7 produced games. You need Fox/Kayo to watch Saturday games live. Teams outside Vic will have their teams games on a 2 hour delay on Ch 7 Rounds 9-15. No Saturday Channel 7 produced games. Teams outside of Vic will have their games live on Ch 7. So the big take away is in Victoria no FTA coverage on Saturday

says it all !!

Yep the Free Agency has been a bust but we are now seeing long term deals for relatively young players. Eagles would give Harley R a ten year deal in a heartbeat and McAndrew just signed a five year extension making it a six year deal at age 20. (Ironic given that the Suns only exist on AFL handouts). Insurance could be the answer but I suspect rates are through the roof these days. Surprisingly professional sports people often fall outside Workers compensation schemes. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/people-human-resources/injured-sports-stars-not-entitled-workers-compensation/