Ted Lasso

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. what's incredible is the conviction with which something so ridiculous is posted. Loading is real, it's not exclusive to AFL, we did it in 2021, i almost guarantee we've done it in 2022 as have other sides, i would be shocked if we still were at this stage of the year, so it's not an excuse for last nights result. but i am going to call out and challenge any posted silly enough to try and claim loading doesn't exist because it's just an absolute load of nonsense.

That one stings, because the first half was premiership standard football, we maybe could have converted slightly better but overall pretty happy, and then just hit a bit of a wall, not too sure why. thought we found a little bit of energy in the last but the Pies just handled the moment a little bit better. It stings a bit to drop that game, but not too worried in the bigger picture The concern for me overall is that for the second time in 3 weeks our team defense has been found lacking. we seem to get sucked into the fast paced shootout style game with teams very easily and it just doesn't suit us.

In: Harmes Out: Hunt

Sucked in? clubs are pretty open about loading, if you're denying that's something they do? anyways, had nothing to do with tonights result, another poor defensive showing is a massive concern this close to finals

Geez Ed Langdon is a weird bloke

Gut feel is Clarko will go to North, simply because he has a past connection there and they're Melbourne based. Giants i think will go with one of Kingsley or Yze. If Yze goes, we need to headhunt the best midfield coach we can find, he's played a massive role for us. I don't hate the idea of James Hird as an assistant. i understand the negative drug saga side of it, but he's a brilliant football mind, a legend of the game and someone who'd walk in and have the respect of the players from day 1.

I don't mind what Ed said about this game, just because i think it could get into the Pies heads a little bit. reality is they may have won a string of games, but they're 3rd with a percentage of 106% which suggests to me they're not winning convincingly, they're winning close games. hopefully we give them a really blunt reality check tonight and send another warning shot to the competition. I reckon the Cats form is just starting to drop slightly as well so can't help but feel we're building at just the right time again to give another flag a very serious shake.

Interesting that Freo are seemingly into 3-4 high ish profile players despite having no picks to trade. makes me think a big name player might be on the way out.

Cam Zurharr? Out of contract at the end of this season, more of a hybrid than a key forward, but someone i think could be seriously damaging in a forward line with better delivery. my big question mark would be if his defensive attributes are up to a level required to play for Melbourne, it'd be hard to carry both him and Fritsch in the same forward line if they're not.

It's a culture killer, especially when as much as i rate Jacksons talent, you would normally see this sort of thing for a Bontempelli/Oliver level player, Jackson isn't really close to that yet so a lot of it is projecting.

I think if he requested a trade there is a decent possibility Port would grant it, but we'd probably have to give up something like a future second to get him. he's a talented player and a similar style ruckman to Max in my opinion 205cm Giant

Geelong stay competitive for a few reasons. 1. an elite core of champion players, Joel Selwood and co 2. a consistent and simple game plan that the champion core is able to execute consistently and stands up strongly in home and away 3. a HUGE competitive advantage with their home ground which essentially gives them 6-8 wins per season 4. Geographical appeal, the ability to play for a consistently competitive vic club, while also staying out of the Melbourne bubble to some extent is absolutely massive. I think these reasons show why the Cats are always so competitive in home and away, but they haven't done the work in terms of the draft and aquiring young talent in their prime to really beat the best of the best in big finals, and i'd also argue their game plan is a difficult one to sustain under intense pressure.

I reckon it'd be worth getting in the ears of Sam Hayes from the Power if Jacko leaves. i really like the signs he's showing as a player and he could come in and develop under Max which i think would be super appealing to a young ruck. At port he's behind Lycett and possibly even Finlayson in terms of the pecking order, and i believe he's a vic native. Port rate him but i reckon we could get him for a reasonable trade price as well

I think there might be quite a few high quality young Fremantle players wondering why they're bringing in a 20 year old backup ruckman on significantly more money than any of them are on, especially someone like Sean Darcy who's super popular in the Freo squad, would have to be thinking, why am i getting paid much less as the number one ruckman than the bloke who'd come in and back me up?

The Dogs are an interesting watch, you've got a long list of key forwards and well doccumented salary cap issues. Could we make a significant offer to Jamara with the money we would have spent on Jackson? it'd be a really bold move, but he'd have to be wondering how does he fit in with Bruce, Naughton, Lobb? Darcy and co next year.

The suggestion is Grundy is a good fit if he came for little in a trade and the pies paid a good chunk of his salary. if they’re desperate to free up cap space I think it’d be silly not to seriously consider it at the right price.

I just mean it's a little bit irresponsible in my opinion, if you can't get the deal done in good faith don't make the approach.

I don't think it impacts our hand much in terms of trade. when you're offering a bloke 950k x 6 you are basically acknowledging that you have to pay up. the league needs to tap Freo on the shoulders though because they're making approaches to a few bigger name players and i think they realistically probably have JUST enough capitol to get this deal done, and that probably involves losing a player

Trac is also an absolute beast. i wouldn't be surprised if despite his size. Darcy was a little bit intimidated.

I think this is more poor form from Journalists to be honest, it sounds like the club actually suggested to LJ we figure it out post season to focus on trying to win another flag. The headline "Jackson puts off talks" seems to me to be a little bit of an embarrassing attempt to make a story out of nothing. I have no idea if Jackson will stay or go, i suspect he will probably go, but this whole saga has really exposed the poor standards of reporting by certain members of the media around this. i reckon they know about as much as we do.

At this stage of the year we won't make too many unforced changes, i think Brown will come in for Weid if he's fit, and Harmes possibly but Hunt potentially did enough to keep him out for another week.

i've also heard talk of a Grundy chase. but we're wanting the Pies to pay a significant chunk of his salary, and the trade to be for a later pick, so a lot has to go our way for it to happen. I think it's a good option IF it can be done on our terms.

Gussy boy is an elite two way mid, and Petracca needs to rotate between mid and forward to help our scoring. best game both have played for a while

You’ve gotta keep him in the midfield now. That’s the best and most balanced our midfield as a whole has looked in a really long time and that’s with Oliver being tagged. viney was able to play like a mad man because gus knew when to hang just to the outside and cover him, it was a great two way midfield game. I didn’t think we lost much at half back either with rivers really stepping up and salem looking like some form is building

Just my take on the comments of Richo, Gus, Trac and Goody in the media, sounds like the players have been told they're on the verge on letting the season slip away and need to get back to our selfless values that made us great in 2021 or it'll be one that got away.