AllMyTeamsAreWank

I was at the game and saw Hunt do some nice things out of the back line. He burned a couple a doggies players and spotted up someone on the wing.

I reckon he'll be alright. 

Was at the game. Saw him come off and do a single run up and down the line. He was able run, but not without discomfort. He spent the rest of the match on the bench icing his ankle.

I think he'll be ok. 

So was anyone at training? 

1 minute ago, ProDee said:

It's worth noting that Watts played as a forward in the match sim, which endorses his recent comments.

Can anyone repeat how he performed? 

Cheers for the reports Saty and ProDee.

Cannot wait to see Kent back in action. 

1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Can you paint?

Better than Derm can commentate and that's not saying much. 

42 minutes ago, dee-luded said:

well done AMTAW, yes i think your right.. hadn't thought of it like that.

Back in the day Mike Williamson was so easy to listen to with a smile,  instead of today's frown & grimace...    as you said,  people like Mike didn't but heads with the EX players. he looked up to the players insights & also sore them a equals in the commentary booth.

.... those days were a pleasure watching & hearing  the commentary & with the humour & fun.

 

todays meat heads are all about i,,, me,,,  & they kill the natural organics of the game.

I'm too young to remember Mike Williamson, but what you've outlined is the perfect balance. It should never be about the commentator, it should be about the game. Martin Tyler is a great example who never lets his ego take front and centre.

Just call it as it is! 

Also, why the hell does there need to be like four of them in the box? I'm surprised they manage to squeeze their heads in the same room.  

Australian commentary suffers from so much one-up-men-ship (is that even a thing) it's ridiculous. DC would at least call the game as it is with his unique style, while the other morons try and outdo each other with words the average punter has probably never heard of.

Listening to Derm spend ten minutes attempting to wax lyrical on the intricacies of how a player kicked the ball inside 50 makes me want to cut my ears off.  

18 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

No matter how quick or fit a guy is it takes really good delivery to take marks on the lead inside 50 these days. So if Watts is playing deep we will need to be moving the ball better.

Also as the designated '3rd tall' he'll have to compete in the air much better than he has and take some contested marks. 

The possibility is there for guys like Watts and Petracca to work together to create mismatches on the mid sized defenders, with Watts using his pace and vision to get free from bigger opponents and Petracca using his size and power to outbody smaller opponents, it's just a matter of it coming together. 

I also think there's no way Watts should ever be used close to goal entirely, his best games are so often when he can float up the ground and get involved in play. He can be designated as the third tall but he's got to use all his tricks to his advantage. He's never going to be a traditional player.

I think you make a good point regarding Watts playing higher up the ground as his delivery inside 50 last season was his strength. Wasn't he ranked highest in our club for assists or something? 

Having said that, I'd still like to see Watts leading for the ball inside 50. I think a lot of it comes down to confidence and backing yourself. We even saw Garlett lead well and take some good marks inside 50 last season. Even though he couldn't bloody convert them.

 I believe we have the players in the team now to deliver it to Watts on the lead, which means he won't have to do the physical stuff as much as required in previous seasons. Someone with his speed and kicking accuracy should theoretically be a perfect target in the forward line. If the penny doesn't drop this season, I think it's fairly safe to say it never will. 

Please don't let Hamish step up to take his spot. That might be the final thing to tip me over into getting foxtel. 

Watts will kick 30+ this year. Will have the attention taken off him and the delivery will be a lot better. He is one of the best set shots in the team and all he needs is his leads honoured. He will have a good year.

Our forward line hasn't been a good hunting ground for mid sized forward for a long time. You get the vibe with Hogan taking the best defender and Garlett taking the small defender, Watts will be able to play his natural game. I have never felt more positive about the bloke. 

This all looks extremely poorly thought out. Why can't clubs run their own academies with a stipulated budget that fits into the salary cap? Even playing field and none of the problems. If a club wants to invest in an Indigenous region, it should be subsidised by the AFL or not included in the cap to encourage spending. 

3 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Does anyone read Matt Burgan's diaries on the MFC website?

I got about one paragraph into the first one.

They're pretty terrible. I don't think he could sound more contrived if he tried. The first couple of paragraphs were a cringe fest. 

1 hour ago, Choke said:

Good news

Any word on how Hogan's doing with his running with the increased weight? I read the other day he put on some during the holidays (seemed to be intentional). He was a big unit before, can't imagine him much bigger.

Always thought he looked a little light in the arms department. Might have gained some size there. 

Thanks for the reports Wayne. Sounds very promising. In previous years scattered amongst all the praise I usually notice a few "skills still need a lot of work" type posts. There seems to be a lot less this year, which is a good sign!

On 23/12/2015 at 10:36 PM, dee-luded said:

.....  at least they should be safe flying through the South China Sea area ?   as long as they can keep the wings on the plane

 

I guess you weren't planning on any snorkeling around the Spratly Island group on the way,  AMTAW

 

.

I hear it's great this time of the year. You get to experience Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysia, Philippines and Taiwanese culture. all in the one place.

4 hours ago, nutbean said:

I go to China twice a year and I avoid China Southern like the plague.

They are good value in terms of pricing but as the old adage goes - "you get what you pay for"

Thanks for the tip. Might be worth the extra $100 to go with someone more reputable. 

2 hours ago, H_T said:

nutbean I thought you would have contributed something like the latest form of technology for waffles. My wife loves waffles. In fact, she is not immune to waffling on. Isn't there a device of such so she can playback and hear herself waffle? 

 

Incidentally, this 6 piece logo evolution pin set needs updating: -

I'm pretty sure they brought something out in the 90s called a 'yak-bak.' Maybe your wife would be interested?

11 hours ago, hardtack said:

They would want to have improved their service a hell of a lot from when I last used them... three of four flights from Sydney to LA via Guangzhou were delayed by a minimum of 2 hrs and a maximum of 12 hours.  To top it off, when questioned at the gate in Guangzhou re when we would be boarding, the staff literally ran off and left the entire waiting area of people to fend for themselves at 10pm (the flight as it turned out, was canceled and we weren't officially advised).  After that experience and the way their Customer Service treated us after I followed it up on our return, I would never use them again under any circumstances.

That's really unfortunate. I think most airlines can be pretty awful when it comes to customer service. It's just the luck of the draw in my opinion. I flew with them in 2011 from Vietnam and it was a pretty pleasant flight. The plane was old, but surprisingly more comfy than the newer models. 

Hi Guys,

I'm looking at booking flights to Kathmandu for a trip to Nepal in October next year. I know China Southern fly there and happen to be one of our major sponsors. Do you know if Dees members get any sort of discount for being paid up?

Cheers

4 minutes ago, Akum said:

True, but who's going to call them for it? Part of the problem is that monitoring & accountability etc has been virtually non-existent until recently.

You are probably aware too of the potential to link it with other scams. The rewards are potentially huge, and the chance of being caught has been tiny.

The virtues of deregulation!

They have been getting monitored pretty closely over the last 12 months by ASQA. Quite a few places have been doing dodgy stuff have had their VET FEE-HELP licences pulled because of these tactics. The big players have managed to get away with it, but it's changing pretty fast. The Senate introduced changes in August this year banning inducements as a direct result and more regulations have been passed recently. It's baffling it's taken this long to be honest. 

It wouldn't be surprising to see Acquire go the way of Vocation who were the golden child of vocational education, now gone into liquidation. The other big name about to disappear onto the scrap heap leaving thousands of students in limbo is ACN, who are also massive. They've been getting dragged through the courts because of their dodgy RTO, Phoenix Institute, and have had trading suspended on the ASX. 

Their days are numbered I think. 

35 minutes ago, Mach5 said:

Maybe not illegal, but certainly not ethical.

Which part? Much of what RTOs and brokers like Acquire have been doing is in violation of regulations, namely inducements and hard sell tactics. 

I spent the last six months working in this industry and left only 2 weeks ago. I left because it is the most misleading and predatory industry I have ever been a part of and didn't want a bar of it.

The government set up the private education industry so that RTOs basically had a licence to print money at the expense of the young, uneducated and easily persuaded. Unlike tertiary institutions, RTOs can charge whatever they want for their courses and have access to $100,000 worth of VET FEE-HELP loans to fund courses, which the student is required to pay back HECs style. The reality is, most students will either never earn enough to pay them back or don't understand they will even be saddled with a debt. The most unbelievable statistic is only 7% students pass courses that are completed online, which is the majority. RTOs have been taking a healthy slice of government funding whether their students pass or not.  The government is only really now starting to put the regulations in place to stop rip-off merchants from making a quick buck.

To put it into context, one of the providers we worked with was charging $27,000 for a Diploma in IT. You could do a Bachelors at Melbourne Uni for less! Another was charging $32,000 for a "Business Mastery" course, which is just a Diploma of Business with a fancy name.  

Acquire Learning have a reputation for super dodgy sales tactics and making it extremely difficult for students to withdraw once they realise they've been duped. Just google 'Acquire Whirlpool' to get an idea of it. 

I'm happily sitting on the sidelines, now hoping the government closes up all these sharks and starts from scratch. 

I really like Newton and think he has the potential to be a really good player. He has a good eye for goal, but just needs to work on the defensive side of his game. It's shame he's injured. Fingers crossed he can fight his way back into the team. 

Thanks for the report!

Great to hear that Petracca is starting the contact stuff. Cannot wait to see this bloke strut his stuff.