Diamond_Jim

Just preparing for the big trip to Melaka next week. Well it is not really that far ... about 500k but in the Malaysian context that is big ........ Car is serviced .. went for shave and haircut while that was being done. Boy when you get the old second scrape you don't need a shave for days. Tickets still a conundrum. The Australian Supporters group are offering a match day package for A$250. Hell one could live for a month on that. Present plan is to rock up to the stadium the day before and with my impeccable Bahasa Malay vocab (usually used only at the nasi kandar stall) make inquiries of anyone I might find. In keeping with Malaysian tradition my most important decision will be where to stop for lunch. Bean sprouts and chicken in Ipoh perhaps or roti cenai at Kuala Kangsar. The roads are very good with big clean roadside stops replete with food halls about every 100kms. Local coffee is fantastic. The local greeting by the way is often not hello .. but rather is sudah makan kah which loosely translates to "have you eaten yet". Looking forward to trying the Portuguese styled Nonya food around Jonkers Walk in the evening. Last week we had the tail end of the typhoon that hit Vietnam. Did it ever rain. The west coast of Malaysia is actually very benign when it comes to weather events due to the massive island of Sumatra being a mere 100 or so kilometres across the Starits of Malacca. So fingers crossed for no rain. Local coverage of this match in the media is about nil ... well from what I have found it is nil. So until the next exciting instalment...

I hear they might want money as well in the form of a return of cash because his contract for the present three years (now at the end of his second) was heavily front loaded. Wonder how that works under the salary cap. Presumably it reduces what Geelong can pay other players in 2018 but what it does for the GCS salary cap I have no idea as it is money already spent. (In reality it is of course just AFL money.) Also begs the question of who pays the money.. the clubs or GAJ... after all the money is in his pocket at present. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/26/gold-coast-indicate-willingness-to-allow-gary-ablett-to-return-to-geelong Ablett’s contract is believed to be heavily front-loaded, meaning the Cats may be asked to provide some level of financial compensation to secure his services.

that is a bit of a problem as you say .... I suppose the difference between 16 or thereabouts (that they would have had) and 20 is not too bad from a GCS viewpoint

being so near yet so far over the last two years after ten years of nothing does tend to temper the optimism Ernest. Actually I am upbeat on the next five years but I know that it wont come easy.

First rounder for Ablett albeit a late first rounder ... interesting call given his injury history and age... is Geelong going with head or heart? Will he retire if GCS play hard ball?

Great thread and brilliant post BB ... while many will not agree with everything it is well thought through and well argued.

ah yes.. sorry forgot about him... probably would have been delisted to be honest had he not had another year on his contract. credit to him ... he was a very good player for a considerable period

Thanks for the replies Other than the simple lack of skills etc that it means on game days I think it has also been destructive of any attempt to build a club culture. Sure we can have the trappings of the guernsey and the honour boards etc but the player continuity where the club culture is handed down between the generations is sadly lacking. Nice to think that the youngsters can build a culture but it will take a while. As an aside on another thread a poll is running on whether Jones should remain as co-captain. At first I was ambivalent but for some of the reasons raised in this thread and moreover the terrible way we have treated our recent captains I think we need stability on this front for another few years at least.

Hi I was reading the other day that after the recent delistings, other than Jetta and Jones we now have no home grown (drafted) MFC player over the age of 25 .... (could have been 26) No wonder we have problems....... For the statistically inclined does this make us the worst recruiting team for the relevant period?

Thanks for that, I assume it is the same for goal of the year. Didn't really follow these things but it now has as much credibility as the Gold Logies

would be somewhat ironic if Dangerfield outpolls Martin

Just dropped in Round 11 and our top vote getters are on 6 votes. We really do have a profile issue !!

In 2016 he was best 22 and now he is virtually available for nothing... what happened?

Some great points there ... I will respond to two: The Schizophrenic Forward Line I know what you mean but what you describe is for many teams the norm. Have a look at Richmond on the weekend and the Bulldogs last year. The big question is do you need contested marking type players up the ground which GWS and the Crows have for instance or can you do it with sheer pressure ... Richmond. Rioli kicked 4 goals on the weekend. I don't think he will do it again in the GF. Not Adapting the Game Plan for Local Environments The failure to outscore North in that last quarter in Hobart when we had a howling gale behind us was an absolute failure on the part of the coaching staff. We knew exactly what the weather was going to be for that day at least 10 days out but we kept to our usual handball happy game. Similarly not having a plan to counter North's greatest strength in Ben Brown was lamentable. I expect a lot more from the game day strategists in the coming season.

wonderful mixing of names there BB Go Salome or whatever Herod said about John the B !!!

When the VFA were televised live (for the youngsters this happened before the VFL ,,, now the AFL were televised) Port were probably "bigger" than some of the VFL clubs. Hard to think it now

Looks like their luck ran out as far as the VFL final was concerned !

Never had a problem with clash jumpers. Cannot think of too many professional sports around the world that don't have them. Must say that the Toiges alternate strip is a "bright" one....... (Wonder if it is a big seller)

Interesting to see that Western Australia is now going to legislate against Lottoland due to its impact on their local State Lottery. "Betting agencies such as Lottoland could soon be banned in Western Australia, in response to a big drop in Lotterywest revenue. Lotterywest figures show a significant drop in the number of West Australians buying Lotto tickets, with sales revenue down by more than $60 million last financial year. One of the reasons for the revenue drop is believed to be the emergence of online lotteries such as Lottoland which allow people to bet on the outcome of local and overseas draws, rather than purchasing a ticket." Anybody heard about any other business disrupters on the horizon. I find this whole area fascinating. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-16/wa-lottoland-ban-likely-premier-defends-lotterywest/8952130

So true ... 90 was the year to pinch one

buy and buy again... you will easily sell them whatever the outcome if you have one extra

Thank you A Collingwood Premiership.... no wonder it was wiped from my mind !

remind me... was there a GF where the team that wore the clash jumper had their traditional jumper ready to put on for the celebrations? IIRC they lost

must say live I thought nothing in it but that still is very thought provoking Nothing like a suspension and an appeal to liven up the week

For years they have tried to set up Punt Road as an entertainment venue for the overflow crowd Might just work this year if they can hire a decent big screen Hell..... I'm jealous