Pirlo

You reckon Richo would have said the same about the Tigers, Luke Hodge would have said the same about Hawthorn or Ling about Geelong etc? They’re all in the same job. He could easily have manoeuvred around it. “I think Max handled it well” or “I’m sure Steven regrets it”. He sooks about his sadness again because it’ll get his face in the papers, not because he feels compelled to answer every question honestly behind the mic.

Very disappointed that Nathan Jones decided to add his two cents. The story was just beginning to die out thanks to Bailey Smith.

My partner and I were at Entrecote on Sunday night as well and we heard/saw nothing. Didn't think it was that big a restaurant. The desk looked fine when we left after 10pm as well...

Doesn't take a genius to see that Jordon, Rivers, Jackson are exhausted and are being absolutely wasted playing at 50%. Meanwhile Sparrow is sub every week and can't get a look in above JJ for a week or two.

We had chances and didn't take them. Most of our young players are having no impact and have needed a rest since Collingwood. I'm having a hard time not calling them mentally weak, like they used to be. It certainly feels like they are drinking bathwater. I love the podcast, but there was no introspection or acknowledgement of how bad that result was last week. They spoke about the other draws they'd played in and moved on. There's a lot of references to being first on the ladder (which we aren't anymore) when our players speak to the media, and they don't seem unduly bothered by their poor run of form. Even Hunt's interview after the game on the MFC social media channels. Is he for real? Taking the positives? The Bulldogs did to us what we were doing to other teams at the start of the year. Absorb pressure, and get a quick run on whenever the opposition manages to kick a goal or two. And we looked incapable of stopping them, the much vaunted defence getting just a touch worse every week to the point that we don't blink anymore when we concede 12+ goals. I was about to finish this post when I saw Goodwin's commentary about our scoring: "not worried at all". Get real Simon. I might have thought you were deflecting but clearly there is no real work being done on this. Pickett still has that ridiculous run up that sees the ball fade every time, Brown is going at 1 in 3, Petracca was spraying them everywhere. Like I said. Bathwater being drunk. They just seem pleased that we're going this well, with essentially no introspection about how top four now probably requires 3 wins in 4.

He's already won a flag. Not like he's been stuck at a cellar dweller. Having said that, above three clubs usually attract these kind of deals because they ask the question. I'd hope we do the same in a couple of years.

Erm...no. The only reason this contract is cancelled is because Boyd wanted it to be. Ordinarily, retiring players (see Kurt Tippett) still get paid their contract if the club agrees for them to go and free a spot on the list. Boyd obviously wanted as clean a break as possible, and not to rort the Dogs given how much they've paid him already. Not many players will agree to that.

He came fourth in the best and fairest last year, for goodness sake. Are you honestly saying he wasn't best 22 on talent in 2018?

Yes, and a fine job they're doing of it. Two years ago, Jack Viney was the one lining up guys for huge bumps. Now, he's caught prone. There's very little leadership out there, cutting the only one with demonstrated leadership experience would be a disaster.

In two weeks time he will become our second most capped player in over 160 years. If you're suggesting he's been a "servant of the club" then I have to wonder why you'd bother supporting us. His co-captain has been just as poor despite being half his age, and didn't win us our only game this year.

Should think he'll play next season, even if he's not in the side every week. I'll be ropable if we sack him or lean on him to retire, and will likely stop supporting the club. Sacking Junior ripped the heart out of the club, this would be round 2. Would never happen under Jackson, but I don't know about Pert.

Not entirely true. There were question marks over his shape in pre-season as well. Obviously he knuckled down, shut his mouth, and worked his way back into shape.

Hitting a roadblock implies that this was unavoidable. This is more like driving with your phone in one hand, a dart in the other and three kids in the backseat and then wondering why the police have pulled you over.

Petty was killed by the U18s last week. He very much can do worse than Oscar, even on this season's form. You just have to think about his debut. No use bringing the saviour kids in like its 2009 if they can't do a job against underaged opposition.

Steven May's preparation is clearly an absolute joke. Fingers crossed we have a strong enough culture to carry people like him for the next few years until he sorts his standards out. Lots of footy to play, but all signs point to this being an unmitigated disaster.

This season maybe, but its pretty reductive to claim that Lever, May and T.McDonald aren't historically very good players.

Every club that's not winning a flag is rebuilding. We may need to sell some stock to get some young runners/crumbers in but our spine remains as good as any in the competition, as does our midfield.

Let's just hope this year is a step backwards (albeit a large one) for two steps forward. We're woefully underprepared for the rule changes, and that doesn't change. Leg speed and natural crumbers will be the order of the day when it comes trade time. Unfortunately, we have nobody of real use to trade so will need to hope for a JT first round special.

Went to the second half of the Tiges game after our game today. They will rip us apart with their leg speed, and will use their entries well with Riewoldt coming back. I've been to the four game in Vic this year, including down to Geelong, and broken my longstanding rule around avoiding replacement bus services at all costs. Wednesday night, PH the next day, trains back on...I'm seriously considering not going. We are a side bereft of confidence, belief, leadership, guts, and instruction at the moment. Everything that could go wrong seems to be going wrong. I'm sure I'll be roped back in by next Wednesday, [censored] that I am, so here are my changes. Out: Wagner, Wagner, Spargo, Hibberd In: O.McDonald, Stretch, Garlett, Kolodjashnij Hibberd is absolutely bang out of form. We know he's better than this. He needs to sort it out. He is costing us every time he brings it out the back 50. J.Wagner was ok but we have too many of his type at the moment. C.Wagner was abysmal. The less said about Spargo, the better. Stretch and KK aren't perfect, but we need two way runners and hopefully they'll play that role.

People ITT haven't watched him much. He's a Heeney clone in an inferior team. He would be perfect for us, but won't leave GCS and good on him for it.

May and Lewis are both back, right?

A three year extension was too long.

It is a genuine indictment on this club that fans can watch our players start the season so complacently and preach patience because "the players and coach are hurting too". That's the kind of rubbish we stood by for about a decade before we got serious under Jackson and Roos. I will be patient, happily, because most teams that make a deep finals run for the first time take a step back the next year. Teams figure them out and start paying more attention. But this start to the year isn't normal. This is far more than one step back. Three quotes stood out to me yesterday: A.Brayshaw: "Unfortunately some of our players aren't buying in and coming back to help defend" Lewis: "I think May would look back at the way he arrived at the club and wouldn't be happy with it" Goodwin: "We're going to try and turn this around" Would this kind of defeatist language have happened under Roos or Jackson? How could our recruiting team not realise that Steven May has dreadful standards before they signed him up on a high priced deal and, if there were concerns in his medical, why would they not have given him an off-season exercise plan? Brayshaw literally accused his teammates of downhill skiing after the game - does that symbolise a united playing group? For all the fugazi about the boys loving Goody so much, why has the top-down consistency that Jackson established eroded so quickly? Why have our players forgotten how to play football? Why are they putting in so little effort that two senior players blasted them for it on the same day? Goodwin insisted after the Cats game that we are not underdone, so what's the excuse? Where the [censored] are our captains in all of this? I'm just not confident in the culture of this club at the moment, and I never once had that concern under PJ and Roos.

Extended for three to make four. I agree he shou;dn't be in any danger yet, but what say we finish bottom four? And start next year the same way? The club can't afford to pay him out. Our financial position is built on six careful years of the Jackson administration slowly building modest profits. Talk of 70k is ludicrous, let alone the 50 they wanted this year. We have only reached 45 and that's coming off a prelim.

Why did we need to give him a four year deal? What was the rush?