Earl Hood

Interesting and confronting to read that article. I had forgotten that Grundy was traded in with the idea that Max plays forward predominantly & Grundy takes up the major portion of the ruck duties. We know that didn’t work Grundy & Max weren’t kicking goals and they were OK in the ruck, but the output of 2 rucks at best equaled just one. OK it’s not working but in the second half of the season we have Goodwin announcing that Grundy is headed back to the VFL to learn forward craft! And that was about it for Grundy. If I read between the lines I find it highly likely our likeable “Alpha Male” Max has cracked it big time and made it clear to the coaches he has to be numero uno in the ruck. I suspect from there Grundy has fallen out with the Coaching staff and this has led to his non selection no matter who is injured and then the unforgivable Schache sub fiasco. And to be harsh although Max played his heart out in the finals he also cost us with his very selfish play, missed goals, kicking when he should be handballing to a midfielder and that truly bizarre spoil on our own goal line. Not all his fault by any means but he is the spiritual, on field leader. And does that explain some of the similar, rushed, selfish play, (ignoring handball options, leads, players in a better position) in our forward half by so many others? An absolute train wreck at season end. I didn’t think we could win it once we lost Petty, then Melksham and then Brayshaw but then I watched us squander 2 very winnable finals. Ultimately the consequences of failure sit with the Coach and his staff. Would love to know the full explanation for our failures but we will never get the full story. But let’s hope we can learn from them.

Just confirming did you see less emphasis on the goal kicking drills in the second half of the season, Kev? I thought we had finally fixed the set shot problem in the first 7 games this year. I think we were the most accurate in the first half of the year, only to end up near the worst. It’s a crucial part of the equation for us as we usually generate more inside 50’s and more shots on goal than our opposition. Convert and that’s a win! And the coaches should be all over Petracca. For a guy with his ability it is just ridiculous that he misses so many. I am not talking so much about his set shots, it’s his shots on the run that infuriate, so often too rushed when he needs to steady and does have the time & space. If he gets that part of his game right he becomes truly elite.

I hope there is an objective analysis and report on the season and especially the finals campaign. That would be the responsibility of Pert and Richardson hopefully using an objective, knowledgeable outsider. The postmortems in the media have been scathing as we know, from inexplicable team selection, indiscipline, selfish play to poor execution and poor on-field leadership at critical moments and add the accusations that the coach was rattled and add my thought that the captain seemed to decide he had to do it all himself. We need to understand what happened and what we need to do to improve.

Under what rule was that a free to Rioli?

And we saw Bedford leave due to his limited opportunities with us and now he has slotted nicely into the GWS mid/forward mix. Rivers, Pickett, Sparrow needed to be run a lot more through the middle all year. The old guard in at centre bounces last night just could not get their hands on a tap down, quite extraordinary.

That one KPF would be Petty. When he went down, so did our chances this year.

As the biomechanics guy said once Maynard was airborne he was like a frisbee with legs, nothing he could, no control of his body. I mean see this all the time in the Olympics, you know on the high diving tower, the floor routines in gymnastics, the high jump all the time. You know once a strong, trained athlete leaves the ground all they can do is curl up into a ball and hope for the best! Just wondering why the frisbee nonsense wasn’t challenged, there were options and Maynard was in the best position, arms out in front, just before he chose to turn the shoulder that did the damage. I believe He would have stayed open if he was about to collide with a team mate.

That sums up my take on the incident. 3 minutes into a do or die final a known enforcer wants to make a physical statement. And it worked.

I am thinking BoBo is Rollo. Or they are a tag team.

Agreed.

Let’s calm down. There won’t be a bloodbath. And I suspect the AFL is not necessarily that happy with this outcome. They prosecuted for a suspension and lost. Suspect the new Footy GM was keen on a sanction for a blatant head high hit but didn’t get her way. Further up at CEO/Board Level they may be just happy they could, via the Tribunal, wash their hands of any of the head trauma liability that is coming their way.

Suggest not. We have to refocus on this Friday, the whole club.

Bizarre stuff. The importance of games to be missed is totally irrelevant.

Oh that reminds me of Uncle Byron Pickett. And I thought we had moved on but we haven’t.

Yeah it was a football act, he came in and gave Blakey a good whack to the head. That’s footy, surely?

Will Brayshaw be cited for a dangerous block? I mean he kicked the ball then moved toward Maynard in a menacing manner.

Yes watching FC as well and Caro is fighting on alone. Cornes throws up 3 examples where players got off when someone was concussed, but all 3 were where the ball was in dispute, either in the air or bouncing. Then Cornes showed multiple examples of knees to the head in marking contests, again irrelevant. Again the Maynard case is about taking out a ball carrier just after he disposed of the ball. The smother attempt is irrelevant to this case.

Yes the old players are the most likely people to understand what goes on in a final. They would know the players who can get “white line fever” and what it can lead to. That is what happened 3 minutes into a final.

I think the fact Laura Kane’s name is included in the statement is telling and add to that it took hours, until after the nightly News opportunities for a decision to be announced. I suspect Laura put up a very strong and long argument for the decision against significant opposition from the usual old guard.

The ball was not in dispute, that is my point, it was not in the air or bouncing around unpredictably, it was in Angus’ possession until he belatedly was able to get foot to ball. It’s the same if a ball carrier passes off by hand but is taken out, front on by an opponent coming at them. Free kick and reportable if it is high with severe consequences.

I am astounded how the smother action is so front and centre in the discussion, especially by former “Old Guard”footballers. All the precedents thrown up by the Old Guard about footy actions often involve a footy in dispute, a marking contest, a collision of players hunting a bouncing ball. In this case we have a ball carrier being taken out at high speed, front on by a player who made a bee line for him. It’s a front on charge. Forget the jump in the air that is only relevant in that it made the collision worse, it does not excuse the result. Let us be honest it was a case of White Line Fever, three minutes into a do or die final, gone astray with dire consequences for Brayshaw. Maynard failed to show a duty of care for his opponent in this case. No doubt the lawyers will differ.

The side angle shows it was an old fashioned front on charge with a leap in the air that made it even worse. If Brayshaw hadn’t kicked the ball a collision would have still happened without the leap.

If you read my post properly you would realise I am not saying that🤔.

The forward cupboard is basically bare. And from my memory most Premiership clubs have a full list to choose from in their finals run. Our Cup chances have been falling away with every injury through the season, first it was TMac, then Brown, Fritsch, then Petty, Melksham, Brayshaw, now JVR suspended.