chookrat

Sue, they may even go full toddler and introduce AFLX rounds for premiership points or half time cheerleaders.

I think the number of players in rehab in January and even February had a big impact on our ability to spend enough time doing match simulation. To meet it seems that on reflection, hindsight being a wonderful thing, Goodwin had wished we'd spent the limited match simulation we had on the fundamentals to our game plan, rather than adding layers. As a result we went into the season with a game plan we couldn't execute.

Interpretations, especially ones that change from week to week and even mid round (i.e Max Gawn ruck rule) are brilliant as they fire up the unwashed masses. To fix the state of rules and umpiring is the same as dealing with a toodler having a tantrum, don't react to it and the AFL will stop changing the rules to create controversy.

I haven't bothered reading the article but will say what I want to anyway. The more subjective the rules the more difficult the game is to umpire, which leads to controversial decisions. Controversy means there is more to talk about AFL from Monday to Thursday which is good for ratings and revenue.

Does this mean we're not going after Ian Zering??

Natalie Fyfe is will need to lose the arm guard if he wants to play for us. It's a no for me.

2017 is relevant to the players that were on the list at the time but Im not sure how our playing list is in any way responsible for the late 60's through to early 2000's given that most weren't born, let alone on our list for the majority of that time. Imagine if you were at work and it kept being brought up how [censored] the company has been since the 1960's.

SWYL don't get me wrong I think the players let themselves, the team and supporters down badly. The different opinion I have is that making the prelim last year should have provided the motivation to do everything to win prelim and GF this year. I don't see 55 years without a flag as motivation, at all, for the playing group. Footy players have short careers that can be glorious (Jordon Lewis) or forgettable and they need to approach all aspects of the game with this mindset.

Good point Lord Nev, I don't think the players really understand how much every moment counts. I'm optimistix that this year will be a massive wakeup call, its now a matter of how far back we have fallen and need to catchup.

I think Goody has covered for the playing group in press conferences and the media. The players will learn from this year and with Burgess on board I'd expect they will come back fit and hungry.

For [censored] sake - I don't get how supporters expect players to train or play harder because we haven't been successful for 55 years. Players want to play well, be part of a successful team and earn accolades. What happened before they were born might mean something to supporters but is not relevent nor should it be to the players.

I'm waiting for someonr to comment on body language and that person a did not make eye contact with person b

That our percentage is 77.9% and Freo's was around 65% means more than the relative change in percentage. We finished up 5th on the ladder with 14 wins and had a 6 game winning streak where we won by an average 60+ points which boosted our percentage significantly. By comparison Freo finished on top of the ladder with 17 wins. Who cares what your percentage is if you finish on top of the ladder?

Interesting that Jordan has had a longer career and played more games than Nathan Jones across two clubs but has had only 2 coaches (3 including the games Brendan Bolton coached while Clarkson took time off to recover from an auto immune illness), compared to Jones who has had 8 senior coaches (including caretakers) : 1. Neale Daniher 2. Mark Riley 3. Dean Bailey 4. Todd Viney 5. Mark Neeld 6. Neil Craig 7. Paul Roos 8. Simon Goodwin

Hopefully it means 4 years of linear imrpovement for us - haha

In reading about Ross Lyon's history with Fremantle they went from minor premiers and preliminary finalists in 2015 to 16th on the ladder in 2016 with only 4 wins. They finished above Brisbane and an Essendon VFL reserves team. https://m.afl.com.au/news/2016-08-25/season-review-fremantle Here are some excerpts from the AFL season review. An interesting observation is the reference to giving up a staggering amount of goals from turnovers. What we said in the pre-season We predicted a top-four finish if all went to plan and finals at a minimum even if things went slightly awry. No one predicted a 16th-place finish. No Nat Fyfe, Aaron Sandilands, Michael Johnson, Harley Bennell and Alex Pearce for the majority of the year made things difficult, but their form was poor when the majority of those players were available early on. What failed The 12-month quest to improve skills and ball movement has been an utter failure. The Dockers worked extensively on their ball movement over the summer, attempting to bridge the gap to the masterful Hawks. But the Dockers have not even come close to replicating the Hawks and have given up a staggering amount of goals from turnovers in the second half of the year.

What would happem if we weren't able to field a healthy 22? Would the AFL force us to play an injured player, would we play one short, or would the AFL allow us to contract a VFL listed player that is not on an AFL list, e.g. When Essendon were banned due to their illegal systematic doping program.

I agree Kelpien, and as for Inside Melbourne podcast the club can replace it with the players practising skills.

Now that we are locked in at 17th position I'd like to see us win,but in a way that we don't over exert and risk injury. Pretty much both sides kicking down the line and a total of 10 goals for both sides, boring inspiring football which we win.

I'd pass on Ben Brown. While he provides a target and kicks lots of goals he looks a bit silly, does long run ups and lacks drinking prowess. We don't need such attributes in a marque player.

I seriously think he's worth a look at. Handled himself extremely well at Carlton through serious injuries and has been super this year. Would probably get him for a rookie spot and would help free up Salem to play in the midfield and could also play wing. Use our first round pick for sn 18 year old and later picks/trades for 23 and under y/olds and we can afford a 30 y/old rookie that we will get a season out of.

With the season well and truly done and dusted I hope the players are focussed on important matters such as what they will wear to mad Monday and not some junk time game v North Melbourne. My call is that we will have a Game of Thrones theme with Clarry as Brianne of Tar, Gus as Ramsay Bolton and Pruessy as Hodor. Any suggestions re themes and costumes?

Im not sure Gawn or Lever's knees can handle the weight of captiancy.

It's a good point re potential to have won another 5 games with a functional forward line. As well as poor fitness and preparation we also lacked key players capable of getting us across the line in close games against the likes of Port Adelaide, Adelaide, WCE x 2, Doggies and St Kilda (second time we played them). WCE finished in the bottom 6 on 9 wins and a % of 95% in 2013 which featured a two win Melbourne, GWS and Gold Coast despite having a mature list. They featured deep in September both before and after having such a poor season. While this season has been a disaster in comparison to WCE in 2013 it's not much worse.

Fair point, Clarry has still been one of our best players and I'm probably being a bit harsh on him due to how good he has been in his first couple of seasons.