Earl Hood

At the time I thought we should have had a good look at Dusty for sole reason that we needed some mongrel in the squad. Trenners and Scully were maybe the obvious talents but to me we had a list of nice players. In 2008 I preferred Hurley at No1 but we went for Watts, that is OK but then you have to mix it up to get a great squad. Consistently picking skilled but non physical players throughout that period cost us. Add Morton, Gysberts, Grimes, Bennell, Blease, Maric and you keep selecting supposedly skilled outsiders but no insiders and no enforcers you get an inconsistent team. That is because you lack leadership, aggression in a physical, competitive sport. Remembering around that time we offloaded Junior and Bruce. So your drafting and trading should take that into account.

Won’t need hubs by the time the AFL gets going in June/July surely. If there is no secondary surge in infections, state borders will be open and there will be limited social interactions and there will have to be if teams are allowed to train together and play. If interstate travel is available this hub idea is defunct. If there is a secondary outbreak, there won’t be any footy this year.

Not a good look at all. I have no idea about Howcroft’s football related ability but he was around and in a position of influence when we were totally dysfunctional as a club so why would you bring him back? Are there no consequences for failure for board members? As a club we have suffered since 1965 with second rate administration and board oversight and leadership. I suspect because we continue to appoint Admin and board positions on the grounds of who you know, what school and University you went to rather than what you have achieved or your leadership abilities and knowledge.

Can be a bit expensive though!

My vague memory of the game also says Eishold took a Lunging chest mark in the goal square but he slide outside the square and was directed by the umpire to kick from an acute angle, which he missed. I thought at the time he took the mark within the square so should have kicked from dead in front. A goal would have won the game. I remember Ex umpire Harry Beitzel saying you take the kick from where the marker ends up, not where he took the mark! So if I take a lunging mark running into the goal line and slide through I then take my kick backwards from the fence? Never made sense but then there was all the confusion about Jim crossing the line but after the siren so does the rule still apply..... fact is we had numerous chances to sow it up but it also summed up our unique ability to fail and Hawthorn’s tin [censored] ability to scramble through for a win they never deserved but to their credit they just kept plugging away hoping and we’re rewarded.

Interesting White only one all Australian in 2004. I thought his rucking in 1998 was absolutely superb and his work with Todd Viney got us into the finals. He was great again in 2000 and 2002 so unlucky to get just the one.

Anyone watching Expanse? Great SciFi series, incredible special effects and very intricate story line. Think it is on Netflix, I am watching on DVD courtesy of my nephew.

Re the point on rules and congestion, is it still a problem? My main observation of this year’s round 1 games was that there was little congestion, few contests, just constant ball movement. Reminded me of a scaled up version of AFLX! Was this a one off because of no crowds and uncertainty of playing more games?

Sean White turned it around in the third up forward, helped by Johnson big time.

Wet conditions, skills are [censored], just pick up and kick or just kick out of bounds. The rules have changed so much. I was there but didn’t remember it being so wet but back then that was the norm more so than these days.

Which pub was that?

Entertaining match, especially the second half. Coming into that round 7 match we haven’t had a win but you look at the side it is not that bad. Rivers, Garland, Frawley, Warnock and Bartram down back( Whelan injured), Robbo, Miller, Green, Flash and Wonna up forward. White and Jamar rucking with Brock McClean, Jones, Junior Mac, Maloney with support from Bruce, Wheatley etc. Not a great side but not horrible either. Of course other agendas may have been in play of course.

I remember Jimmy Stynes when president, referring to Charles and the club not supporting him enough when he was injured, something Jim was keen not to happen again.

Charles before injury could have been a champion. Fast, agile and knew how to kick a goal! What could have been, we didn’t manage or treat injured players well back then.

Dieter I am an old Box Hill boy what street did you live in? I grew up down South Box Hill way.

I only got to watch the first half but it was great to see how good an injury free Viney can be. Oliver in his first game demanding a tag. And AVB in full flight. Great memories. If only J Watts could have consistently built on that form, he would be a real bonus these days.

Sorry Red should have added a smiley ? face I guess. Although looking at my post the only inaccuracy was that I meant 1055 pages and 26000 plus posts. All the rest stands. I mean we have a dead writer who blew his brains out 60 years ago still providing input, albeit, quite insightful, to this thread! A frog from WA with a fetish for bananas, someone who thinks he is the ghost that walks in Burwood, and not to speak of a sexual deviant from Romsey who means well but it’s that tinnea thing that keeps us from fully engaging. And what’s with the Moon guy? You see it is all an allusion. Red you realise that it is just you and me that are real in all these posts but then again I am not totally sure about you. It maybe it is just me who is real in this prolongated pantomime. After all I am the Earl of Hood, no one can dispute that.

Recipe for disaster and the end of the AFL. Australia doesn’t have enough billionaires with the discretionary money and the few who might take it on will be like most business luminaries, around for the good times but go missing in action as soon as things get tough.

Which if you could retrospectively, would have saved 1055 posts of absolute nonsensical drivel, of fantastical dreams that never happened, of characters that never existed?

Unfortunately Langdon got a lot of it, ran with it but so often turned it straight over to an Eagle and we were then exposed for pace back the other way. But so would most sides. You have to stop the turnovers. So what is it with 24/7 professional footballers not being able to deliver a ball 20 to 30 meters to a teammate, often under no pressure? Yet we saw it time and time again today.

Rjay I agree but can you expand on your game plan comment? I am at a loss I think we have a lot of potential in the squad but the way they work together just does not seem to work. The inability to execute basic handball and kicking skills in a game is appalling but, as a fairly frequent training observer, these deficiencies aren’t obvious. At training, game simulations we always move the ball quickly and precisely to a leading forward target. But come game day we are bombing the ball, ignoring leads and shorter options or just coughing up kicks straight to the opposition. We seem to have a lot of ideas at training that crumble under pressure on gameday. And selection is a big issue, Bedford, Kossie, Spargo, ANB all in the same forward line?

Why do we keep employing people who can’t kick? Langdon and Tomlinson both butchered the ball going forward in amongst some good ball getting work. That is great but we knew we needed good ball users after last year.

Yes I see your point but all I saw were the same issues from last year, poor delivery options into our forward 50. Basic suburban level fumbling at crucial times, that led to turnovers. Inability to hold the ball in our forward line and the stop, delay transition out. And the usual, the inability to kick set shot goals, and that one kills you. We should have been 3.1 at quarter time if we could kick straight but we were 0.4. Game was lost then.

Plenty of endeavour but all the old problems still there in my view. Langdon and Tomlinson were OK but managed to kick blindly into the forward 50 and to the opposition. Gawn and Oliver struggled. Viney close to bog and good work from Kossie and Lockhart but really is it about players or our systems?

Oliver, Brayshaw and Gawn are MIA.