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chookrat

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Everything posted by chookrat

  1. Have only watched the first half but my takeaways are: 1. Our midfield is up and firing and the inclusion of Salem and Windsor should improve our ball movement. Also good to see Sparrow go up a level and ANB moving the ball well/so quickly between the Arcs. We've done well to cover the loss of Brayshaw and to think we still have Oliver to come back into the side. 2. Our forward line looks potent. Ball movement in our forward half much improved, Pickett and Fritch busy, JVR clunking everything and Shache obviously working well with JVR and Fritch. 3. Backline held up well and looks like we haven't lost much from a defense perspective despite our quicker ball movement. In the context of being in the top 4 every round in the past 3 years bar 2 games yesterdays match reinforces that we are a quality outfit that will be aiming for a top for finish and home final and having our best team fit and ready to challenge in September. i think the clubs approach of not doing too much media and letting our actions speak for themselves will silence the critics.
  2. For those suggesting that we should have traded Petty for McAdams and pick 14, had Petty been fit for finals last year we most likely would have beaten Collingwood and been a good chance for the GF and combined with JVR sort out our key position forwards. By comparison the value of pick 14 and a future second round pick would net us a young key position player requiring at least 3 years development at VFL to help us in September. Alternatively to bring in a KPF from another club would require approx $1m per annum on a long term deal whereas retaining Petty would probably save us in the order of $200 - 300k per annum. As for Petty being injury prone, I don't see the evidence for this. He has been fairly durable to date with only minor soft tissue injuries until his recent foot problems and most key position players have periods where they miss games through injury. Having a medium term injury does not make a player injury prone.
  3. 4 weeks is a pretty hefty outcome for SPP and Port and he is such an important player for them. I thought he might end up with 3 weeks given the player was slung into his path and the time he had to bump, brace or tackle. Overall btw 3 - 4 weeks seems reasonable and if he was a Melbourne player most if us would think 4 is a bit harsh.
  4. There has been alot of discussion about our straight set exit from finals, off field issues, our injury list and the gap that Gus's retirement will leave in the team. What hasn't been discussed is the matter of our players having babies and/or pregnant partners on the eve of the season and how this may serve as a distraction in our 2024 campaign. While this is great news from a personal perspective outside of football, as a parent I do worry about the impact of nighttime feeds on sleep and the morning sickness, food cravings, and general irritability of pregnant partners on our playing list.
  5. It is an interesting question re which party takes on the risk of player being injured when signing a player on a long term deal. I think the difference between a medical retirement and retirement due to injury is that rehab is always possible with an injury, where as a medical retirement is where the medical condition creates a situation where continuing to play would create an unacceptable risk. I cannot think of a situation where an injury in itself is career ending. Usually a player might suffer a recurring injury which means they eventually retire as it becomes too hard to get back to a condition where they can play. Re medical retirement while brain injury is the most topical there would be other scenarios such as heart irregularities and potentially other conditions that cause seizures etc that could result in medical retirement. Even the eye condition that Mason Cox has would have resulted in medical retirement if he wasn't able to wear goggles. I think its reasonable for the AFL to share in the risk of medical retirements given it is a workplace health and safety decision that is entirely outside the control of the football department. Obviously the salary should be outside of the salary cap and the AFL or insurance should contribute towards the contract payout and the retirement frees up a list spot. I think there is also a good case for draft pick compensation given the medical retirement is fully outside of the control of the football department and that the free agency compo formula is probably a good basis to work from.
  6. It is incredible yet unsurprising that the AFL has not determined whether the club or league pay what is owing on the contract, how this impacts on salary cap, access to supplementary players, and how draft pick compensation would work if the league medically retires a player.
  7. I'm not convinced that we've lost any midfield depth that won't be offset by what we have brought in and through improvement to our existing players. 1. James Harmes - struggled to break into the team in 2022 and 2023 who was forced to play half forward and back. Handy depth but I think Billings will offer us more in the forward half. 2. James Jordan - a handy player who is best 22 and will continue to improve but able to cover his loss with the younger brigade of Woewoden, Laurie etc. 3. Angus Brayshaw - leader and champion who allows Trac to play forward when needed and can plug gaps off half back and help fill the void if Oliver is not available. Our main loss with Gus will be his leadership. 4. Luke Dunstan - handy depth if we are decimated by injuries. Was unlucky to be injured when we could have used him in 2022 and 2023 but we managed pretty well. Kossie will build on 2023 along with Rivers to make us more dynamic. We've also brought in Windsor, Tholstrup and Brown who could all feature at stages in 2024 and would expect improvement from our second and third hear players. Olivers health and availability is probably the most important aspect of how our midfield performs as he is probably the best ball winner in the competition and frees up our more dynamic players in Trac, Pickett and Rivers. Personally I think it is our forward line that will be tested again and my view on this is that the lack of tall options early will provide the opportunity to work on our ball use inside 50 and then hopefully have JVR, Petty and Fullarton/Melksham play most of the year together and build cohesion in the second half of the year.
  8. This thread reeks of excuses. We have a solid list and will be contending again this year. Trac and Viney will do what they do, Clay Clay will go to another level, Pickett will dominate, our second string players will step up and our first round picks will play this year and provide energy.
  9. Reading Gus's letter puts into perspective that footy is just a game. He can look back at his footy career and be really proud of what he has achieved and the friendships he has made. He is a heart and soul player who supporters love and I'm happy for him in the sense that he won't continue putting his health at risk on the field and hopefully he doesn't have longer term issues.
  10. Our forward line was functioning really well in the past few rounds up until Melksham did his ACL vs Sydney. IMO losing Melksham cost us significantly during finals as he made us so dangerous forward of centre which would have made a significant difference in both finals.
  11. While it is not ideal to have such a decimated forward line heading into 2024 I don't think it's all doom and gloom. Going into round 1 we will likely see JVR, Fritsch and Schache as our key forward targets, gaining Kossie for Round 2 and then McAdams and Fullarton filtering in during the early part of the season. I'm not convinced we will see a fit McDonald or Brown back in the side but either could play in place of Schache or Fullarton depending on injuries and form. I'd anticipate Petty and Melksham to come in after the bye and at that point our list should be at full strength with the next 10 or so rounds to keep improving for September. The bonus of starting the year without alot of firepower up forward will be the need to use the ball well out of the middle, a skill that will serve us well even when we have our first choice forwards available.
  12. I might be slightly wrong here but from memory he kicked the 13 goals over 3 games, the first and last of which he was injured in the first half. Effectively kicked 1.5 goals per quarter he played on the ground as a forward.
  13. Stats can be deceiving, of the 17.3kms I think you will find the majority of these were hus runup when kicking for goal.
  14. I received an offer for $15 off Kayo Basic subscription, which is currently $30 and looks like it will increase to $35 in February (so $20 per month after the Feb increase). According to Kayo this offer is only for returning customers. Personally I don't care about 4K but would instead rather Kayo get their HD image quality and buffering to an acceptable level. Last year I cancelled Kayo when I saw how much better the 7HD broadcast quality was compared to Kayo not to mention the buffering that would at times make Kayo unwatchable.
  15. Isn't trackless tram just a fancy word for bus?
  16. You're in your 50's and have never been in a committed relationship but are desperate to meet someone and and build a life together. Every prospective partner in the past 20 years has turned you down after your high school sweetheart Amy Parks wanted a relationship but you were afraid to commit and she moved on with your nemesis. Your mum has now arranged for you to meet a girl through a family connection through lack of any other options but you have very little in common and have started to work out what you have to offer her and her family before you actually meet each other.
  17. Should we write a letter to the club asking if they have thought of this? A few of us could offer to mentor the players, maybe at the same time as some goal kicking practice with them and offer tips to improve their routine and ball drop.
  18. No, they go off points and then sort the ladder alphabetically.
  19. Governments have an obligation to fund sporting clubs equitably and we should hold State and Local Government to this given we have funded half of the feasibility study. If the Government is broke then sell us the land at market value less what they would otherwise contribute.
  20. If only Goody saved someone from a fire, that would really stick it up to Kane Cornes.
  21. Tomorrow we will find out that the man who dislocated his shoulder jumping into the water was none other than Joel Smith.
  22. I think we've had a very shrewd trade period where we've managed to get back what we paid in picks for Grundy, brought in a maturing Forward/Ruck in Fullarton, traded out some midfield depth (Harmes, Jordan) in exchange for some forward half class (McAdams, Billings), have picks 6, 11 and 42 to bring in either Reid or a couple of elite youngsters and freed up probably $1.5m over the next 3 years with the ins and outs. This puts us in good stead to offer a long term deal to Petty or attract a key position player via free agency next year.
  23. They haven't made the connection between their weird camp and how it made the Tex a better husband, father and lover, and players wanting to 'go home'.
  24. What if Clayton Oliver offers to live with the Petty's when this happens?
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