Diamond_Jim

I hope Oliver's omission is a "physio management" issue. Long season... wet weekend 2 weeks off to freshen up the young body.and then a run at Casey...... makes sense in that we have seen what he can do etc etc

I will be disappointed if we do not win this week. This and the games against St Kilda and North are a strong indicator of whether we are going anywhere. But the again .......................

Let me try and explain my comment regarding the Anzac round taking away from the central theme of remembrance. I have always been very proud of the way Australia remembers its War dead and other than our disrespect of Vietnam veterans (which is now being remedied) the men and women who fought in those wars. That pride has been based not only on natural appreciation and thanks which we share with all other countries in respect of their war dead but also because in "celebrating" that memory we are one of only a few countries to mark it by remembrance of a defeat and thus highlighting the inherent futility of war. It is that second aspect that we are endangering (perhaps only in my mind) by celebrating the memory with a game that is all about winning and losing. Perhaps also we are in danger of thinking that there are such things as winnable wars. Sorry if the point is off football but I just wanted to use it as an example of how all pervasive the AFL can become.

This is a topic I have thought about for some time. Politics and Sport are mixed and have been since at least the days of the anti apartheid movement. It is far too late to unscramble that egg and I do not think we need to try. That being said is the AFL trying to fix too many of society's ills and in the course of so doing risks turning what should be serious debates into one off "themed rounds." Dare I say it but I think the Anzac round is detracting from what is a perhaps one of our most sacred traditions and that is a remembrance of war by the remembrance of an ignominious defeat. Anyway what prompted me to post is another article in the Australian version of the Guardian which touches on this and other subjects. Not sure if I agree that the AFL taking up these issues is leading to a disengagement by fans but perhaps we are becoming tired of another week and another cause. This used to be known as "charity fatigue" or similar. Here is the article and as usual the comments by readers are well worth a look. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/30/inside-50-the-winter-of-afl-discontent-may-not-be-too-far-away

Interesting article in today's Guardian newspaper https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/27/likable-and-watchable-gws-giants-are-becoming-many-afl-fans-second-team One of the comments says they have had "21 first round draft picks" (and a lot of those were in the first five or six picks probably). Add to that some one off salary cap relief and wow. I know a number of people say they will have to give up some of the better players as they all peak together but I think that is the wonder of their strategy..they will give up some and top up again with early draft picks. If they recruit well they may be unstoppable.

If we are into songs I assume most of you know that the Bulldogs song "Sons of the West" comes form the old British music hall favourite "Bobbing up and Down" Great little clip here to amuse you:

Looks like four losses out of the last five for the Kangaroos

Scotty Thompson (yes I know he left and we got Mahoney etc etc) but there is a good example of a solid B+ player who plays a decent game week in week out and has the occasional blinder Oh to have a few like him at the Dees PS He may be slowing down now but it is his 16th season !!!

Now that is controversial

My thoughts of GWS will always be coloured by the ten or so person cheer squad dressed like orange bananas at the MCG back in their early days. I think we won that day but if I remember it was a struggle until the last quarter. (Was it the day that Austin Wonnemira ran the length of the MCG almost to score the sealing goal perhaps) PS My apologies if I have incorrectly spelt Austin's surname

You are right about the Dogs. I have a friend who is a wildy passionate Dogs supporter. At present he is in heaven and have been trying to explain to him that system does not favour teams likes ours. Not sure he gets it.

Lot of talk across the forum on how we are moving up etc but it caused me to think about the last two times when we made the GF (1988 and 2000) Both times we came up against teams that were at the top of their games. Essendon lost one game in 2000. The Giants lost their first three games of this season and then in Round 10 against Adelaide at home. Looking at their run home it is hard to see them losing another game other than perhaps against North in the last round. Their art of trading good but NQR players for early draft picks means they continue to top up. Combine that with the home ground advantage of an interstate team and they have a lot going for them. It would be very disappointing if we are remembered as the "bridesmaids" to another dynasty albeit an AFL "made" one!

Sorry but the bandwagon is still some way in the distance for me. I am sure we all felt the same way in the early Bailey years. (Forget which year but all the pundits said we had the best young list and we were on the way to the finals next year etc etc.) The other thread about who in our team is "elite" makes me cringe as did the "can we make the finals" thread. Next game against Adelaide will be interesting. They are the 8th ranked team and we are playing them at the MCG. If we are anywhere near close to on the way up that is a game we should win but then again ??

If the game style is similar to that of the Bulldogs I question whether it can take you beyond positions 5 or 6. It is just too easy for the "disciplined and skilful" teams to pick apart the helter skelter game style they play. It also requires an across the board skill level rarely seen in the team's players ranked 10-16 let alone the last 6. On its day it can be a winner but consistently through the season and enough to get you to top 4 the jury is still out. Anyway let's hope it's a "good ride"

Last week there was a time to drop "Jack" theme... now this Let's not eat our own please...... it tires me (and no I am certainly not a rose coloured glasses supporter) Happy to discuss where he or anyone fits in the long term game plan but it is not like he is is keeping an ace youngster out of the side. Six games at least and then let's have a chat about it

Ten goal loss in the wet Double our scoring shots for almost the same inside 50's Almost no score between the 10 minute mark of third quarter and the 27 minute mark of the last Hard to see many positives

No it is very much alive but as mentioned now goes under the name of Australia Plus What did change a few years back that the budget was cut and programmes specially made for Asian audiences were discontinued. Now it has the ABC current affairs, lots of soaps and lifestyle shows plus the AFL. Rugby league is on the main sports channels. http://tv.australiaplus.com/ The scroll down does show times for Vietnam.... it is included as a "lifestyle programme" in my subscription and sits some 300 stations from the sports section if that is of any help

Sometimes the memory can play tricks but what I remember about watching the Reserves was near empty stadiums until around 3/4 time where the stands would start to fill and the reason for that was the short break of 10 minutes between the end of the Reserves and the start of the seniors. (My vivid memory was that because of the low crowds you could often hear what the players were saying on the ground.) Sure at finals time there were more but that occurred because standing room and the members were unreserved meaning people had to get there earlier than usual. If you had a half hour break between the reserves and the seniors to allow for warm ups and the now ubiquitous advertising I suspect the crowd watching even the last quarter would be low. On a diverse note it must be hard being a player for Casey where there are two bands of players (the MFC players and the non-MFC players). As a non MFC player it would be natural to feel some form of discrimination. Perhaps another topic over the off season.

Out of curiosity Reverend what is the picture quality of the broadcast in Beijing. In Malaysia where I spend a lot of my time the AFL (5 games per weekend) is shown on the Australia Television Network. The channel is standard definition unlike the main sports channels which all have HD duplicate channels but the quality of the AFL broadcast is below the other standard definition shows (say Q&A) that is shown on the Oz network. The game is on about five minute delay and I suspect the compression rate they are using for the broadcast transmission is less than perfect. It is a bit like watching a you tube clip meant for your computer blown up on the television. As we say in Hokkien ... cum siah

You are right... just checked the stats......... we won by 30 odd points after being two goals down at 3/4 time. Freo did not score in the last quarter !! round 11 2004 Time to make some new stories perhaps

Hard to see a win here but the wet weather could turn it into a low scoring lottery. For those who can remember it might be like the game in the West all those years ago where Vardy won it for us on what I think was almost the last kick of the day.

I believe Trengrove needs 6 games or so on the trot and then a rest if required. I say this because if we can get a B+ or better player for next year out of a player who many had written off it can only bode well for the future. The only way to get that player is to give him a sustained run. Of course he could build up strength at Casey but then we will still not know if he is "back" as we all hope he will be.

Just stopped on my way through Thailand. Always read the Game day thread before checking the scores. Helps me deal with the pain perhaps but this is looking good. Go Dees

Driving through Thailand today. Looking forward to a win but more importantly a solid effort from our mid to senior level players

out of interest what speed do you need for a decent high definition picture of an AFL game/movie