Diamond_Jim

Excellent and clear post The 91 to 61 scoreline is not unreasonable on a slightly wet windy day. I suspect the magic figure is around 105 to 60 and we are equal with North on percentage,

A win by a few points is better than a loss but it makes it all the harder for us to make up the percentage on North

Big quarter coming up here Needs to be a 25 point win (75-50) to the Swans

It seems that Oscar is quite a smart young man...... ATAR score of 99.3 (Very strong in Mathematics .... bet you he has our finals chances all mapped out !!) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/19/inside-50-afl-clubs-are-starting-to-ponder-the-value-of-brains-over-brawn

we will keep going there. They play the big teams (and we are not one of them) at the MCG and the rest at Geelong. You have to love "equalization"

this could bring on a discussion about all the wonderful places we watched the footy from. I can remember being at Princes Park in 1965 watching the game from on top of a small tin shed down at the Carlton end. I also remember a big brawl between some spectators that day. Cannot remember who won but it would of course have been the big grudge match with Barassi playing against his old team.

it's the words in the brackets (it can be done in any later round if approved by the AFL General Counsel) cheers

Tired to google the answer to my own question but no luck. Interestingly I did discover that in the last year or so the NRL changed its rules so that payments to a player for early retirement due to an injury would not be inlcuded in the salary cap. Could the new Collective Bargaining Agreement be relevant to this equation ?

Agree... sounds strange. Just looked at the Collective Bargaining Agreement. After Round 18 you need the approval of the AFL General Counsel to put a player on the LTI list. The pre-condition is that it is reasonably believed that the player is incapable of playing for the next 8 weeks. Could someone please explain the various salary cap permutations of early retirement with a payout. Thanks

Why is our game any different to any other major sport around the world. To my knowledge none of the EPL, NFL, NBA or NRL have byes after the last rounds. Sure the NFL has wildcard play offs in the first round but that is no different to our week off for the winners of the matches between the top four. The week off before the Super Bowl is mainly due to scheduling reasons and rewarding the city who hosts the event with a week of events. Because of the NFL Conference system many teams wrap up top place in their conference weeks before the end of the season but no one complains. In the EPL the management of teams between all the competing trophies (Top of table, FA Cup, Champions League etc) is an art. Also what about the teams that send off their key players for surgery around Round 18 thus weakening their chances of "shaping the 8: I just see it as an over reaction to a one off year. (if in fact it does help the teams at 5-8 it won't be long until the power houses complain that they are not being sufficiently rewarded for top place !!!) It is not a big issue but I see it as "own goal" by the AFL.

As we move towards round 23 it is obvious that almost all if not everyone of the positions for the top 8 will be up for grabs in some way or another. No need to worry about teams not turning up. So we have a bye and lose the momentum of the season. Not a good decision. I am sure there could have been some other solution to the "game playing" of 2015 other than a bye.

You are right there Dr Gonzo........... I will keep dreaming. Just one question.... is it too early to be arranging my tickets for the Grand Final ??

Oh my childhood maths...... my earlier post was slightly wrong... and I am completely sober !! the odds if we are at 50% chance of winning each game are of course 1in 16 (so around 6%) Whatever it is a long shot when you put it that way If you were to say we were a 90% shot to beat Carlton and a 50% shot to beat Geeelong (well it is dream time) Swans and GWS are both an 80 % chance to beat North Then the probability moves up to 30% which still is not mind blowingly great

if you multiply out all the probabilities 6% is about right. Remember for us to get in 4 events have to go the right way... even if they were all a 50% probability the chance of all four events going that way is 1in 8 or around 13%.

Academies are the new Zones. As usual it will assist the interstate clubs. If we are going to continue with the NT experiment we may as well lobby hard to "own" the NT academy. We wont succeed but we may get some crumbs.

It is the old AIS Academy as I understand it. From the AFL site The NAB AFL Academy aims to prepare the country's best young players for the step up into senior AFL football. Launched in 1997, the Academy provides elite young players with a NAB AFL Academy scholarship, as an opportunity to develop their football and personal skills in an accelerated AFL program over 12 months. The level one squad of 25 players is selected following the NAB AFL Under-16 Championships, and the level two squad includes the best 35 under-18 players in the country. These players are eligible for the upcoming NAB AFL Draft. In 2015 there were 203 graduates of the NAB AFL Academy on AFL lists, including nine of the then-captains.

Only Academy players (It is made clear if you click on the "related news" link) An independent list picked from all young players would be fascinating though

I hate to admit it but I was there that day. Was brought along by some friends who lived on the Glenferrie train line. I was young and really cannot remember the game save that everyone told me it was a biggy. The first game in my memory was against Footscray in 1962 after begging my father (who was a Queenslander) to take me along Thanks

Buckenara's kick sailed through goal post high. The 15 metre penalty made it easier and of course has become part of Demon folk lore. Hawthorn got thrashed the next week by Carlton in the GF after having the week off. Of course one never knows what might have happened and that is what makes '87 so special. One of my bad memories of the Preliminary Final (and of course there are many) was the way two Hawthorn players (Tuck and Dipper if I remember correctly) engaged in a co-ordinated two sided bump onto Robbie Flower. Not illegal but a very low act

I certainly can .... the rooms both before and after a game welcomed one and all It was so different to today

Nothing can be like '87. 23 years in the wilderness ..........almost a whole city barracking for you..........having the wind for three quarters at Waverley and then that unbelievable end to the dream. After the siren the crowd was hushed. People wandered the car park trying to understand what had happened that day. It was very special. No it's not '87 but it is a very good feeling.

Good post If at all possible we should include Salem this week but otherwise no change

a 40 point win in a relatively low scoring game was definitely a plus The Dream is alive........... YEAH !!

30 plus point win (make that 40) almost the same margin as half time .... hard to believe with all the doom and gloom on here Very good win interstate .......... and now for the Blues !!!!

From the AFL site " Melbourne has been inaccurate from set shots, only managing 3.7 (28) from this shot type. The story is worse from outside 30 metres where the Demons have kicked just 1.6 (12) from set shots. "