chookrat

This and the fact that we have developed most of our own players through the draft and haven't paid huge $ for stars. Considering we brought in Melksham, Lever, May, Tomlinson and Langdon we don't have the same pressures as paying close to $1m to bring in a Jack Martin, Jeremy Cameron or Patrick Dangerfield. Most of our imports would be on 500-700k where we have brought in 1 - 2 players a year over the past 4 years, while putting aside cash for our stars like Oliver and Petracca, without paying overs to bring in similar players and thereby devaluing our own talent. List, system and culture wise we are well placed to setup a dynasty for the next 5+ years.

An excuse is the meat of a lie wrapped in the skin of reasons. This has no bearing on whether we win or lose on Saturday.

Great to see the man unable to contain his excitement. Love the rev up he gave before Spuds Game.

I've got a mate in Perth who I've given my 5 barcodes to but he's just highlighted that 4 of them are for concession tickets. Does anyone know if these can be used to purchase a non concession / full price ticket?

Norm Smith is Obi Wan Kenobi.

I have 3 x priority 2 barcodes and 2 x priority 3 barcodes that I am donating to a mate in Perth. He's a WCE supporter but like most footy lovers he and his mates will get right behind Melbourne. Does anyone have a view on whether it is best to wait until priority 3 sales open at 1pm or whether to order 3 x priority 2 tickets at 11am and the remaining 2 x priority 3 tickets at 1pm?

Was thinking the same DD. The club president is in no way essential to the team performing in a Preliminary or Grand Final and if based on the G2G application criteria would likely be rejected automatically without even being reviewed by a person. This said the AFL does have a different agreement with state governments so the criteria may be different. While WA has been alot more strict re not allowing the players family members into the state I think this reflects a balanced approach where other non-residents cannot get into the state on compassionate grounds. Personally I would not want to travel interstate for a month without being able to bring my family. Compare this to Queensland where the NRL have brought large contingents into the state at a time a two week pause was put on its own residents returning to the state.

Abra cadrabra

Maxy leaves no stone unturned when it comes to preparation. Every element of his life is in pursuit of our next premiership 💪.

37. Tom Barrass was instrumental in West Coasts 2018 campaign.

Oliver has been unbelievable this season. Week in, week out he is so consistent. He's so important to our spread and quick ball movement because he will win the ball against 2 or 3 opponents and get clean hands to one of our players out of the contest. When he wins contested ball it's not just against his direct opponent it's multiple players. He never gives up either, whether he's being tagged or were getting beaten around the contest he just finds extra gears and does superstar stuff.

Can we nominate Traeger Park for our home final? We tend to play well there, it would be a great way to celebrate our work with the community and we could potentially earn the $800k we lost earlier this year from the NT Government.

Jaded, the first case identified in Shep lives there and there is no evidence that it was seeded by someone travelling from Melbourne to Shep. From memory there were detections in Shepparton weeks ago as well so there is every chance that Covid has been seeding locally in Shep for a few weeks, as it was in North/West Melbourne. Also, a serious question. Does anyone know why during the press conferences our politicians thank Regional Victorians so much? They obviously do this for a reason, but I am unable to make sense of it.

I think there is next to zero chance of crowds being allowed at GMHBA while Melbourne is in stage 4 lockdown. All you need is one delta case attend and it would extend the lockdown by an extra couple of weeks. Even if the health risk were minimal, the optics of playgrounds being closed while 30 mins down the road there are crowds at the footy wouldn't look good and I think would send the wrong message re the need for people to 'follow the rules'.

Rpfc, I cannot see crowds at any AFL match in Victoria this year given the current lockdown is scheduled to end 2.5 weeks before the GF. While I'm sure Geelong locals will push for crowds at GMHBA it would take a very brave Government to close playgrounds to kids while having crowds at the football 30 minutes down the road. When we consider that there have been Delta outbreaks and lockdowns in every state and territory except Tassie into he past 2 months, and that NZ is now in lockdown, there is a reasonable chance that WA will have cases between now and the GF. It will be interesting what happens over the coming weeks.

For WA there is no real benefit in opening up the the rest of Australia until international borders open. They have no community transmission, their economy is ticking along nicely, pubs are full, and holiday destinations are fully booked with locals. It doesn't make sense for them to open up until things open up to the point where locals want to venture interstate or overseas.

The last piece of the jigsaw puzzle has fallen into place.

I disagree with this. While Trac is a solid unit, it's his combination of power, decision making and skill that makes him so good, and he's better using these attributes to move the ball to our advantage rather than focussing too much on taking out opposition players. I also like that he doesn't waste time and energy carrying on getting stuck into the opposition or complaining to umpires. I'd say all of our players, probably bar T-Mac who carries on a bit sometimes, just get on with the game.

Wrecker, this isn't just a mistake it demonstrates he as a leader is contributing actively to the casual racism that is prevalent in society despite the benefit of shared experience from senior indigenous players such as Eddie Betts. I'm all for redemption but for Tex the best thing he can do is front up to his club, show how sorry he is, do work with indigenous groups, and then use his experience to help address the problem of casual racism. The Crows official who reported him to the AFL should be commended.

This is what I find the most disturbing. You would think that being the captain a footy club and playing alongside indigenous players in a time when there is such awareness of racism that it would be the last thing that you would think of saying. I think back to how the indigenous players felt during the camp with the talking stick and lack of cultural sensitivity. The osiitive out if this is that the Crows official reported it and such moments are capable of having a profound impact

Agree with all of this. I'd like to see all jumper punches (off the ball hits to the chest with an open/closed hand to the chest) automatically receive 1 week. It is not a good look and should be stamped out of the game. Further, eye gouges and head punches such as Selwood earlier this year should receive a suspension irrespective of medical report and injury based on the threshold that they are deemed unsportsmanlike. This is an opportunity for the AFL to set the standard for all off ball / out of play actions that are a poor look.

While I don't like the action of players wrestling off the ball, after Selwood being fined earlier this year for punching a defenceless player in the top of the head (while he was being held by another Geelong player) and then stomping on his leg, there is no way we should accept any suspension for a less serious incident.

If we take Joel Selwood's incidents earlier this year v the Bulldog's then Viney has nothing to sorry about re suspension. https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/chris-scott-backs-joel-selwood-explanation-on-two-ugly-incidents/19462a23-900a-436c-9eb2-4c6626b8dee7

The force on the shoulder makes the action completely different to say if Viney had the full force of his forearm on the players neck. That the other player was holding Viney's jumper says to me it's nothing more than two players wrestling off the ball.

For those suggesting 4 - 5 weeks there is no way Viney will receive more than 2 weeks. I reckon it's at least a 50/50 that it will be a fine, otherwise 1 - 2 weeks.