chookrat

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.

I'm at two minds with this. As a father with young kids who like to watch the footy and see this sort of behaviour and wish the players would stop doing it. On the other hand it doesn't look like there's much in it, Viney looks to be telling the player something and holding him down down to make sure the guy hears what he has to say. This sort of thing happens all of the time and is no more silly or dangerous than things that result in a fine week in/week out. This is classic Joel Selwood sort of stuff

There is no way Geelong should be allowed to play a final at GMHBA. That they train there provides a massive home ground advantage that no other team in the league has.

There is no reason why the players wouldn't be let off the plane as airports continue to operate even in a lockdown and unless the terminal becomes an exposure site the players would be fine re isolation. While there is a risk that GC players have been caught up in an exposure site since the 27th, which I'm assuming they have already been in lockdown protocols given there have been a small number of local community cases on Queensland over the past week, it shouldn't impact teams being given exemptions to play in Vic or WA.

I reckon they will try to play the GC match in Melbourne either tomorrow or Monday. Imo this is the fairest approach as the alternative to cram the remaining rounds and provide a bye provides an unfair advantages to the teams that can plan for their bye re training loads, resting players etc, where as ours is imposed on match day 3 hours before the bounce.

Gold standard

As demonstrated today. Winder if the boys will fly straight back home on the charter flight now that today's game is cancelled.

Assuming close contacts that weren't at exposure site need to test negative but not subject to 14 day quarantine. If he tested positive then the need for teammates to quarantine for 14 days would probably take effect on basis that they would be primary close contacts or change room may be classed as a tier 1 exposure site.

Our lack of composure and that we didn't slow the game down in the last 5 minutes stood out to me and what I took away from the match. I don't read to much into it as it is only 1 game and I'm sure the team will address it. I felt we were pretty fortunate to get the draw (compared to a loss it provides a buffer for our % against Doggies and Geelong. and from this perspective is almost worth as much as a win).

I really enjoy Kane Cornes role in the media. He's not afraid to say his piece and while he can be deliberately brash and polarising he has a job to do. Has some good insights and comes across as genuinely loving the game which can only be a good thing.

This thread has an air of entitlement about it. In the current environment, we've been pretty fortunate to; 1. Be able to watch footy at all. 2. Be able to attend games. 3. Be playing well. 4. Have arguably the most exciting list and have our 'window' open. 5. Have a stable admin and be financially independent, noting the $1.8 million hit that purchasing a GF guarantee will help cover. For those bemoaning the lack of value in their MCC membership, ditch it. If you want to attend the GF and can afford it, buy an MFC membership with GF guarantee if you don't have one. Or if you do have an MFC membership then upgrade it. If you can't afford it then ditch MCC, simples. Our success over the next 5+ years will depend somewhat by our membership and willingness/ability to contribute financially to the club.

Agree on this BBP, they beat us around the ball early and defensively were very disciplined to not allow us to get any overlap run. Hunt was doing the right thing in trying to generate some run in the 4th and him being caught is more a reflection of the pressure than what he did. Players such as Spargo and ANB were also caught a couple of times early in the match as well which I'd say is pretty uncharacteristic. Similar to how we denied Richmond and Doggies there ability to play the game on their terms, GWS did the same to us. Where we failed is that despite evening up the contest in the second half we didn't matches their pressure defensively right across the ground. How many times were they able to run the ball out of our forward 50 without enough pressure.