Nobody cares. Oh an interchange infringement. That's in the rules dickhead. Go read the fucking rule book
Welp, Dockers got absolutely throttled by Giants. Shouldn't have wasted time watching that this morning.
Dockers got a strong result over Bombers. Never know what to expect from this team. In other news, holy shit is West Coast bad. Swans absolutely embarrassed them!
Anyone watch this round’s Lions-Demons matchup? One of the more entertaining games I’ve seen. Competent football going back and forth is something I’ve yet to see from North.
Collingwood is just so fucking good at their ball movement from end to end. Once they get possession it seems like their whole team just streams upfield.
Collingwood's ball movement is not just a tactical advantage; it is an art form that showcases the beauty and creativity of the sport, earning them a well-deserved reputation as masters of the game.
Been awhile, but Grand Final Friday night on FS1 for any casual fans out there: Collingwood vs Brisbane, which I think has been virtually inevitable for a few months now. Lions are maybe the most talented club, but Magpies play the best attacking footy. Looking forward to watching how they both work defensively to slow down the other team.
I'm watching Gogglebox Australia this week and their showing them reacting to the Grand Final. Good times
This season is shaping up as one of the most even in a long while. Some great games on today. Collingwood vs Port Adelaide Carlton vs GWS Brisbane vs Geelong
Surprised at all these results, TBH. Collingwood's surge past PA was wild, and based on their respective form so far, not at all expected IMO. And I know Geelong has been playing well, but holding Brisbane to sub-40 points is fucking WILD (especially at the Gabba). And I was not sold on Carlton until this match - I feel like GWS has been the strongest side I've seen, and to see Carlton stand up late against them was impressive.
The Brisbane vs Geelong game was played in driving rain all night which made it hard to score. Geelong are generally a very good wet weather team.
I was thinking the same - currently the most wide open season I can remember in many years. Finishing Top 4 is going to be critical.
I started really diving in to AFL about 4 years ago, and every year I read about how "this is the year the Cats' will hit the cliff" re: the age of their list. Not only has that been not true, but they seem as strong as ever. I haven't been a fan long enough to know all the ins-and-outs of how they do it, but whatever they are doing it's fucking brilliant.
Brilliant player management. Whereas some clubs look to 'top up' to try and pinch a premiership when they think they have a chance, Geelong seem to plan way ahead and have ready-made replacements when their stars retire. Yes, they have a lot of older guys on the list, but they're all bloody damn good players.
They have lost 4 in a row now so maybe they are starting to slide. They missed the finals last year but they have been up for a very long time.
My team hasn't won a game at all this season. It's not because of the coach. It's because of the list manager who decided to cut 20 senior players from our list back in the covid affected years. We now have so many young players who have yet to play 50 games.
Tell us about this James Rendell bloke who's coming over to punt for the #Notre Dame Fighting Irish . Cuntshit or legit?
North Melbourne have lost 31 off their last 32 games and the one game they won cost them the best young talent ever seen, Harley Reid. They are an absolute basketcase and there is no sign of improvement at the moment.
Gizmo has it right, IMO. North is so far behind the rest of the league in terms of experience, and the experienced players they have are just not very good. Liam Shiels, Hugh Greenwood, Darcy Tucker, Luke McDonald… these are the players leading the way, and they are so far behind other clubs’ 26+ year old 100+ gamers. For example, compare them to the Eagles’ veterans and it’s just laughable. The club has been up and down this season, with some great effort every game where they are truly competitive, they just can’t sustain it. And since they aren’t a big club that can attract FAs off their name, the only way out is to push onward with the kids they have drafted - they’ll never pick up that experienced difference maker via trade/free agency so they have to make their own from what they have. So yeah, they’re a mess. But they’ve got the right people in place to change that IMO.
Remember, all we need him to do is kick the ball. If he can do that, he'll get a nice pay raise coming over here. So he'll be a rich cuntshit.
The problem they have is that they are not developing the high end picks well and them losing every game is just going to make them ripe for the picking when they come out of contract. I’d be amazed if Davies-Uniacke didn’t leave at the end of the next season. I heard Ben McKay saying he is telling players he still speaks with how good it has been at Essendon playing in front of big crowds each week. I know the AFL have said they will never get rid of another team but you wonder what the longevity is when their fans don’t turn up to games. They had about 3000 turn up to their Launceston home game last week.
You're not necessarily wrong about any of this, but what would you suggest they do? As far as I can tell, they are working hard to get games into their younger players, they're trying to retain what decent experienced guys they have (Zurhaar, LDU), and they're popping up as rumored landing spots for FA like Parker, Wines, and Lobb... What else do you want them to do to turn things around?
Invest more in development coaches. I personally would get rid of Clarkson. He is passed it and I think they got sucked in by his aura. They have butchered the draft over the past few years by going all in on midfielders and ignoring talls. Why they went for Will Phillips instead of Logan McDonald is a complete mystery. As you mentioned the mature aged players they have brought in have been a disaster. Jayden Stephenson, Aiden Corr, Biggie Nguyen, Callum Coleman Jones, Hugh Greenwood, Darcy Tucker, Zac Fisher and Liam Shiels are all average footballers.
They have invested more in developmental coaches - they hired Mick Barlow from Werribee, and brought in Jed Adcock and Xavier Clarke to bring in some fresh blood to the coaching ranks. I am relatively new to AFL fandom, but I have seen the freak out from other supporters over some pretty ordinary support from the league (some late 1st/early 2nd round picks that may or may not have been rescinded at a later date), so I think some sort of financial support would be perfect for a club in North's positions... A little extra cash outside the salary cap to hire more dev coaches or lure some higher end FAs. And I actually think they have nailed the last couple drafts (since Clarkson and Viney have been on board). They've nabbed Sheezel, Wardlaw, Brayden George (yet to debut but hyped up like crazy), McKercher, Duursma, Taylor Goad (developmental Ruck), Wil Dawson (developmental KPD), and Riley Hardeman (medium defender who has already debuted). That's pretty freakin' solid and hits a lot of needs. As for Logan McDonald... While Phillips isn't on his way to AA status, I'm not convinced Logan's worth much. He seems pretty slow and hasn't truly broken into Sydney's playing group. Plus, I'm pretty sure he'd already be linked to the WA clubs by now if he had been drafted by North. That covid draft class is all over the place too. Who is a plus player? JUH, Ollie Henry, Max Holmes, Errol Gulden, Beau McCreery... That's about it (though I'm partial to Tom Powell, he's not 100% there yet). LOTS of misses besides Phillips - he just gets targeted because he was #3. Finally, no arguments from me re: mature aged FAs brought in. Corr has been really good at times, and Greenwood and Shiels have played important roles, but other than that it's a bunch of dead weight (sadly just about the only option to fill list spots because North is North). The sooner they can get those guys off the list the better IMO. So again, I think they're doing the best they can under the circumstances.