That's one goal for every 11,287 people who bothered to show up across the two games. Coincidentally the same number of our 50,000 members are trawling through the terms and conditions of sale to see if they can get a refund. That we can still drag nearly 150,000 people to these games under the circumstances, especially with the sport of Australian Rules football seemingly about to be wound-up, is a testament to the human spirit. Or the desire of Richmond and Collingwood fans to see a guaranteed win.
Queen's Birthday was a colossal waste of everyone's time. We kicked a higher score than Anzac Eve (you'd have a tough time getting much less) but didn't even have one token quarter of glory before floating out to sea. This was just four quarters of not being good enough to challenge a confirmed top eight team who weren't playing well enough to humiliate us.
My only fond memories of this week will be the Pies fans who tried to play down their chances and suggest we had the remotest chance of winning. They're probably still traumatised by the memory of Watts storming towards the goals like they were a giant pair of bristols but you'll never win a miserable memories shootout with a Melbourne fan. In the last 10 years we've been carved up by Brad Dick twice, Adam Oxley and Mason "one prelim from a Kingsley" Cox, lost by 83 and 88, and kicked scores of 3.10, 5.9 and 6.5...
By those standards 7.15.57 was almost a luxury total, if you ignore that like GWS the Pies stopped to a walk in the last quarter. Even then we only added 2.6, leaving our last two final quarters narrowly beating all of Queen's Birthday 2014 by four points. Conversely, after missing a bunch of easy shots early in the game the Pies kicked 9.0 in the second half. Imagine that. Must be nice to spend years building out of the doldrums then endure as a contender instead of plummeting back to earth at the first chance.
The problem with this result is that we didn't play well, but at the same time there's no specific issue to rally around and get upset about. I'd rather not lose by 88, but when you do it offers the chance to cleanse your soul by going troppo. Now it's just blah. Four losses in a row, one that definitely should have been a win, one that might have, one genuine thrashing, then a defeat that people will have forgotten by Thursday.
Nothing that happened yesterday should influence 2020, other than the chance to have the key pillars of our defence going from day one, but I'm still wobbling on my belief that we'll fully embrace the rollercoaster spirit of the Daniher years and rebound straight into the lower echelons of the eight. Until then the question of where it all went wrong for us will be more hotly debated than the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Everything has had a run already - Injuries, recruiting, coaching, administrators, rule changes, complacency, and off-field conspiracies ranging from believable to so ridiculous they're probably true.
For mine it's like Air Crash Investigation, where a dozen different things that would generally not have cause the plane to land upside down on a freeway come together to cause a calamity. Once half our list had off-season surgery it was optimistic to claim top four, and after they began dropping like flies in season even the top eight started to look a bit shaky. I thought we might at the very least hang around and make a late run at ninth once the majority of the side were back. Now we're two games and percentage out of 13th, have a worse percentage than Carlton and are a live chance to finish last. Stick draft picks up your arse (but not too far, they might come in handy), I'm genuinely embarrassed.
Don't make me get the financial report out again, but whether you like the coach or not he's not getting sacked. Even if he hadn't signed a long-term contract extension I wouldn't say that was going to instantly solve our problems, but I wonder if the people who talk of this as a serious option are the same who want to chuck the NT and blow up the pokies. If we were rich enough to do all these things at once we wouldn't have gone 55 years without a flag or be playing games in Darwin to start with.
It's not to say he shouldn't be under scrutiny though. In fact I'm disappointed that there isn't more. Sure, when he said to stop focusing on the injuries he can't have seen about half a dozen more waiting around the corner, but there are still questions to be answered about why this team is playing so badly. What's wrong with Viney, are you doing anything to try and get Tom McDonald back into the game, where's Nathan Jones going, does Garlett provide enough forward pressure, would you instantly put your head in the oven if Gawn was injured etc...
Considering where we were coming from, being as boring at batshit under Roos was alright. Now we're tedious, have no kids, and a lot of senior players who are just going. If there are young players who need to spend the next 10 games gaining experience no matter what happens, so too should an inexperienced coach be on the end of journalistic fireballs for the rest of the season.
This won't happen because footy media is run on a wink and nod system where asking too many provocative questions will end with you covering games in Tallygaroopna. It's safer to be as generic as possible, allowing coaches to do platitudes, cliches and say 'connection' on a weekly basis. You might get the occasional assassination job on TV or radio but I've got no respect for it unless put directly to the coach for his right of reply. On that note, Simon you're always welcome to a state of the union interview on this site - contact me via the usual diplomatic channels.
There's a lot of people who didn't bother to watch this game, and not just those in places without a public holiday. If you missed it source a replay of the first 90 seconds and you'll understand everything that followed. It started at the bounce, where Gawn kicked off one of his most animalistic performances by collecting the ball and trying a fancy one-two with Oliver that went awry, leaving a Collingwood player to gather unchallenged and hit a leading teammate on the tit with an opponent trailing miles behind with no chance to impact the contest.
He missed the set shot and there you had it, Gawn doing colossal things in a failing system and the Pies spurning opportunities to kick our brains in. Even before it got to players cracking heads you can press stop and get on with your life knowing you missed one of the most tedious exhibitions ever. A four quarter holding pattern that would have had neutrals and television executives alike reassessing their public holiday entertainment choices.
As the club's self-appointed Miserablist Laureate the only other 'highlight' until the last minute of the quarter was our all new settled defensive lineup, finally free of ACLs and binge drinking, lasting all of 90 seconds before one of them was injured. Not even just one, we picked up the spare by losing Salem and Frost at the same time.
I enjoyed Salem standing in front of the umpire giving him a look like "I wonder if he'll notice this" while his face was in the process of exploding into a crimson mask. Not surprisingly the umpire did spot it, sending both of them from the field and leaving us two defenders down within two minutes of getting Lever and May back. Frost was never seen again due to concussion, and we must have only had one concussion test in the first aid kit because Salem came back on and played the rest of the game like he was in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
At least after consecutive late withdrawals he made it to the game this week. No offence to Frost but I'm glad he was the one who came out worse because I hate to think what the ramifications would have been if Salem had come back from one concussion then suffered another almost immediately. First Brayshaw wore a helmet, now Kolodjashnij's got one, and if we keep going the entire list will look like Phil Narkle. Everyone involved in this result is a helmet in my book.
Because Salem got through the warm-up without having a Chris Mew this week we had to find somebody else to be a mystery late withdrawal. Tim Smith took his chance, apparently suffering from the flu. If the TV ad has taught me anything it's that he'll be stuck on the couch for the next four weeks. What I want to know is if the virus cropped up at some point after 2pm Saturday, because if he was touch and go wouldn't it have made sense to take Preuss out of the Casey game instead of Stretch and Josh Wagner? Then we lose a forward/ruckman and have the option of replacing him with a defender/not midfielder or a midfielder/not defender.
If Melksham was still alive or we had any other sort of half-forward line I could have bought the idea of just playing two talls. But when Max is taking on one of the few ruckmen who can shine his shoes, Cox is recalled in the hope that he might launch a 2018 style stitch-up on us, and last year's leading goalscorer is in dreadful form there was never a better time to unleash this brick shithouse of a man onto a significant TV audience.
Then once they declined to do that (and again why in the name of dutch buggery did you recruit somebody who hasn't got the tank to be a first ruck if you weren't going to play him as a second ruck) we reacted to recalling four defenders by putting another one in the side. Wagner is a classic inoffensive depth player and Stretch is hardly Robert Flower, but what would have been wrong with picking the more attacking player and having a bash at kicking a decent score?
If there was any good news to come out of the game it's that Lever and May both survived and looked capable of playing key roles in the future. They were both rusty but ultimately helped keep the score to where it would have been 'gettable' if we had anything even remotely approaching a functioning forward line. You could have Chris Langford and Glen Jakovich down there and it wouldn't help if the rest of the team is kicking 69.8 points per week. It's a disaster, and at this rate I can see us go into 2020 with a solid defence but still losing all the time because no bastard can a) stop the ball going down there or b) put it through the posts at the other end.
The forward structure is my greatest concern. I know Mark Stevens ruined adversarial journalism for everyone when Mick Malthouse treated him like a peasant but if anybody will risk redeployment to the Latrobe Valley here's a cut out and keep question for you to drop at the next press conference. "Simon, Tom McDonald has gone from one of the most dangerous forwards in the competition to barely getting a kick. Is he 100% fit, and if so are you making any changes to your forward structure to try and get him into the game?"
McSizzle's demise this year has been so mysterious that they should play the theme from Twin Peaks whenever he's on camera. I'll be buggered if he's not either suffering physical issues, severe emotional trauma or both. Last year he played the season of his life and got a big pay day two years after flirting with being delisted, now he's wearing the thousand yard stare of somebody who's just invaded Normandy. Tom's day was so bad that when he finally got on the end of a mark in the last quarter the commentators blathered on about it being his first shot of the day, ignoring the two in the first quarter that missed everything and left him with a look on his face like he'd just caused a major traffic accident.
Not only that but he'll have to be reminded of the first miss over and over again by seeing the free that created it on repeat. In 2017 he was the stepladder for Howe's mark of the year, and the only footage anyone will want to see from this game again is the same player taking another screamer on him, but this time being penalised for jamming his foot into the back. Tom then got a bit excited, made a vigorous push in the back gesture after he'd already been paid the free and kicked it like Earl Spalding having a stroke.
Opinions broke along party lines, with Pies fans thinking it was a legitimate action in a marking contest and ours claiming it unfairly pushed Tom out of the way. For mine I have no idea if it was legal under the current rules but would be comfortable if given as a mark because the game needs some razzle dazzle at the moment. Obviously Toby Greene kicking somebody in the face was different, but given that you can still knee your opponent squarely in the back of the skull as part of the marking contest I can handle this being paid. If he drops the mark pay a push in the back.
Shortly after that Darcy Moore - looking more like one of the Chantoozies than ever - was pinged for a deliberate in the pocket, leading to Tom giving it the full Hannan and missing everything. In Round 1 he was so full of confidence he gave away what would have been his second goal in the first quarter to Melksham, now eight goals in 11 games later this. Not to mention he kicked six straight in the same fixture a year ago. I haven't seen a fall from grace like this since (insert epic list of all our falls from grace).
The good news for Tom is that he's 26 and has time on his side. The same cannot be said for Nathan Jones, who didn't do anything spectacularly bad (not more so than 21 other players anyway) but had almost zero impact. There are terrifying signs that unless they can find an alternative role for him he's approaching the end. Don't let this end up like an even more emotional version of Lynden Dunn having to run out his last couple of years at another club because we didn't know what to do with him.
In the week where he gained one on Kade Simpson in the race to Kevin Murray's all time loss record, Jones also became the first man to be beaten 100 times on the MCG. It's a bit of a cruel record to lump on him considering only one team played there until 1965, and two until the 1980s, but it helps my narrative that he's the greatest martyr in the history of football so let's go with it.
Chunk is 21 behind Murray's magic 208 losses (including 42 straight at one point), so even if Simpson makes up his eight defeat deficit by the end of the year Jones needs him to retire to get a clear shot at the title. He'll definitely play on until the end of next year, so if we go badly enough until then he has a real shot at it. There's something to look forward to.
If he makes it we should run on the field and carry him off. But will he still be in the team by the end of next year? It's not all about disposal count but the rest of the team is moving on without him. Pity they're not moving in a forward direction. I don't like him in a Lewis style role in defence, but I'm desperate to give him a go as a forward. We're keen as mustard on ruining Petracca's life by playing him deep inside 50 so why not give Jones a go instead. If it works you've found a new goalkicking option for the next couple of years, if it doesn't we haven't lost anything other than a captain.
Speaking of Petracca, he played further up the ground and surprise, surprise, had his best game of the year. Via the humorous interlude where BT tried to convince us he was a good kick on goal shortly before he shanked one it was a performance which had more impact on things we did well (and there were some if you looked hard enough) than about five of the times he was played as a deep forward combined.
He looked so much better creating opportunities and we must persist with having him up the ground for the rest of the year, even if it leaves him having a big old spew at three quarter time every week. Consider it his pre-pre-season training, because that's the role where he's going to give us full value in the future. Forget unkind comparisons to Jordan De Goey kicking arsey goals, 75 games in that's not going to happen and he'll go mad if we try to force it.
We just avoided our first Super BaileyQuarter since the prelim (yes, we played in one of those) via a late, late goal from Garlett. He did well to break away from his opponent and run into the open goal, but most of the credit should go to Petracca for the long bomb that set it up. It was just the sort of kick we needed when we had no earthly idea how to create a goal otherwise.
For all my criticism of Garlett (and whoever left him in defence for one of the Pies goals earlier in the quarter) it was just the sort of goal nobody else on our list would have kicked. Doesn't do enough otherwise, get him to spend bye week training Hunt on how to break away to an open goal, then send him on his way with my best wishes for his future endeavours.
That goal breathed undeserved life into a contest where we'd been outplayed everywhere but the scoreboard. When the "time in forward half" stat after five minutes had Collingwood on 99% the only explanation was they didn't have space to show a team on 100% so rounded down. At this stage you couldn't blame the forward line. There was plenty for them over the next 3.5 quarters but this was a failure of everybody else to get the ball down there.
Once the ball crossed halfway for real things didn't get much better. The midfielders shut their eyes and kicked long, the forwards couldn't get an inch of space from their defenders, and it was in every way a 2015 style performance, with one fewer win to Round 12, two points less every week, and no mid-rebound goodwill.
It was an indictment on Collingwood that they were only 15 points up. Our backline - already one man down - was jumpy under pressure, most of the mids were offering bugger all, Gawn's heroic display was only warmed up to about 60 of 110% and our forward line was set for induction into the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame. Even more outrageous that when Petracca dashed in to kick the first of the second quarter (see, he started outside the 50, ran into it and got a goal. Do I need to draw a diagram of how this works?) we were within single figures. No wonder Collingwood fans were risking eviction.
No need for panic, it was soon obvious that nothing had really changed after quarter time and we were more content to keep the margin respectable than toss magnets in the air and try to pull off something incredible. Having said that, there was no call for the idiotic 'special comments' suggestion that we play May at full forward. Imagine trading Hogan for a 27-year-old defender, losing him for nine weeks with injury, then shifting him out of defence in his comeback match. Mr. Bartel, please proceed to the Australian Media Doping Association offices to urinate into a beaker. That none of the other stooges challenged it as a stupid idea says all you need to know about the circle jerking boys' club of footy commentary.
Almost giving Petracca's goal straight back out of the middle was a fun throwback to last year when McDonald's goals (remember them) were cancelled out in an average of 112 seconds. The miss let us off the hook for a few minutes, until Grundy was gifted one of those bullshit ruck frees that nobody on the ground understands and they were on their way again. This provided a demonstration of the stark difference between the sides, when they were given a half chance they took it, while we tried to create goals like McGyver making a bomb out of everyday household objects. For the rest of the day they were kicking goals from obscure bounces and soccers while we were trying to do it the old fashioned way and getting nowhere.
Somehow we created a goal out of thin air that kept us in the hunt. Even more surprisingly it involved Charlie Spargo kicking the ball 40 metres. His hamstring must have been ready to tear out of his leg and join the space program. As much as he looked promising last year I don't think he's the man for a struggling side but this was much appreciated. Of course no good Melbourne goal goes unanswered, and within a few minutes the Pies had got it back with another couple of points as interest.
For the second week in a row the contested ball was exposed as footy's answer to a pyramid scheme. From +15 in Darwin to +27 this week it was demonstrated that you can have four players scrapping at a contest like madmen but it will mean bugger all without the kick inside 50 and kick on goal to follow. One or more of Goodwin, McCartney or Stone Cold Jennings has the biggest horn on god's green earth for contested footy and the others need to stage an intervention. If they're all in on it send an external mediator.
After the game Harmes - one of the few who put in a proper performance - said "we win the contested ball, but we just can't hit up forwards". And Goodwin said "we're working on our goal kicking, our inside 50 entry and our fundamentals. We're working on it every single session". Training ground form be buggered, what are you doing about it behind the scenes?
As Neeld discovered you can train the house down but it's a bit harder to execute when an opposition turn up. Are they doing anything to adjust the gameplan and train the adjustments, or are they just hoping everything's going to click into place and off we go again? Because it won't. Last year we were a fringe top eight team that got on a wonderful four week run, if you didn't think the rest of the league were going to study that and try to cut us off at the knees you're bonkers. Alternatively they might have some tremendous innovation ready for next year and don't want to waste it on a failed season. If that happens I'll come back to this post and add a fulsome apology.
The margin had extended by half time but was still only 21. Of course 21 this year is worth about 121 considering how scoring is going, but remember the days where we used to kick a string of goals in quick succession? This time we didn't even do the reverse of conceding a bunch, it was just a slow, orderly trudge to the inevitable result. Like somebody going to the electric chair not even bothering to call the warden's mother a whore before the power goes on.
I wanted so little to do with this game at half time that I evacuated the room and did something more useful, only accidentally walking back in to find the third quarter had started. I arrived just as Garlett was lining up a shot from the pocket. Against Footscray 2016 he kicked the most casual around the corner goal ever from the same spot and I thought it was awesome so can't hold it against him for missing with an equally carefree effort here.
That - and the next 10 minutes we spent shambling about trying to restrict the damage as much as possible - was enough to convince me nothing had changed at half time and there was no miracle revival to be had. Hunt kicked a nice goal from the boundary line, and later set up another for Weideman with one of his old school turbo runs, but we were just second rate in about 15 of 18 positions.
I was pleased to see the Weid convert twice, albeit in a zero pressure environment, and look to be free of trauma from last week. Still unkindly muttered "where was that last week?" under my breath as if I could personally kick more than 25 metres without suffering a heart attack. Though to be fair when he had the chance at a third that might have given us a very outside shot at winning he missed the lot with a rancid kick so maybe you only want him kicking for your life with the heat off.
The game was finished when the score was 0-0, but the Pies decided to put it away for good at the end of the third. Our defenders took a five minute rest after being battered all day, through went three goals and out the door went the Dees. It was nice to see Steele Sidebottom, the man who once beat Banana Yaya in a silly names competition, get one after spending the day whinging to umpires like he was Gary Ablett.
Via a few minutes of complete disinterest from the Pies we got the first two goals of the quarter and the door ever so slightly opened to a stirring comeback. It wasn't going to happen but you've got to at least buy a ticket in the lottery. Ironically after last year it came down to the Pies scoring immediately after a Tom McDonald shot on goal, only this time they weren't replying out of the centre, but going from end to end after another shithouse set shot.
From there procession mode was activated and they banged through four in a row. With nothing else to play for it was fitting the game finished with the ball in Gawn's hands. He'd been the thin line between dignity and destruction for the whole second half and it was appropriate that he got to delay Collingwood's celebrations for a few more seconds by taking ages to kick it. The extra thinking time didn't help and he sprayed it horribly. I'd say "oh well, who cares" but it cost me a match-winning exacta in the FMITL. Am I remembering correctly that at first they put up a graphic with the final score as if he'd kicked it then had to redo it without?
For everyone other than me, it was actually "oh well, who cares". We confirmed there's no chance of beating a top four contender this year, Pies fans learnt absolutely nothing about their capabilities against decent clubs, and we end round 12 with the decidedly head-in-the-oven record of 3-9. Even two of those wins could be considered flukes. What's not to love about 2019?
2019 Allen Jakovich Medal votes
5 - Max Gawn
4 - Christian Petracca
3 - James Harmes
2 - Clayton Oliver
1 - Angus Brayshaw
Apologies of varying degrees to Weideman, Hunt, Hibberd, Lever and May.
Leaderboard
With 10 to play the dreaded dotted line of elimination is going to make an appearance soon. It'll take a few weeks to work its way up the table and confirm the winner but as it stands Maximum holds an enormous lead. In a race realistically down to three (just like the wooden spoon hey Dees fans?), the equal second place holders are capable of ripping out a few massive weeks of vote collecting but may be too far back already. Not a cracker of change in the minors.
38 - Max Gawn (WINNER: Jim Stynes Medal for Ruckman of the Year)
24 - James Harmes, Clayton Oliver
18 - Christian Salem (LEADER: Marcus Seecamp Medal for Defender of the Year),
14 - Jake Melksham
11 - Marty Hore (LEADER: Jeff Hilton Rising Star Medal)
10 - Angus Brayshaw
9 - Jack Viney
7 - Jayden Hunt, Christian Petracca
5 - Nathan Jones
4 - Bayley Fritsch, Billy Stretch
2 - Jay Lockhart, Corey Wagner
1 - Sam Frost, Michael Hibberd
Aaron Davey Medal for Goal of the Year
In another limited field it can't be anything other than Petracca on the run in the second. Apologies to Hunt and Hannan from the boundary line in the last but this was much more satisfying. His weekly prize is my ongoing support as a midfielder and the sort of verbal spray likely to have me evicted from the MCG the next time I show up and he's standing in the square. Hore against Gold Coast retains the overall lead.
Considering they have more disposal income than Bill Gates, Collingwood should do good banners. And apart from the one that went to buggery immediately before the Grand Final they do. I can only get a half look at it via this tweet but about 20 seconds in you can see how magnificently kerned it is, and how perfectly the letters line up. The design is so perfect that you almost suspect the thing is machine printed.
Under normal circumstances that might have been enough to deliver a shocking upset win, but what they failed to note on the run-through side was the charitable aspect of the day. We had MND messages front and back. And crucially, perhaps uniquely amongst AFL banners, the reverse side included a comma. That's the sort of touch that elevates our lot to the top of the cheersquad leaderboard. Dees 11-1-0 for the season via a thriller.
It didn't factor into the scoring but there was also the emotional element of Brad Green's kids running through after the tragedy their family suffered a couple of weeks ago. When they cut to Brad and he was holding back tears I nearly went with him.
Matchday Experience Watch
Neale Daniher's battle against MND has reached a Jim Stynes vs cancer level of heroism. Should you or I go down with any of the big ones they are amazing role models of how to not only battle your arse off but do some good while you're at it.
I've got a suggestion, given that nobody's going to be keen on the name 'King's Birthday' once QEII shuffles what about dedicating a public holiday to positive causes, volunteers and generally wholesome scenarios like a man's dog greeting him as he leaves the field:
— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 9, 2019This otherwise bullshit holiday may as well be dedicated to doing some good rather than a tenuous tie in to a new monarch born on November 14.
Meanwhile, the charity focus of this day is tops but the slide gimmick has hit the wall. If it wasn't for Nick Riewoldt's uncanny Freddy Mercury the atmosphere would have been as flat as a tack. We should donate the Hogan's Heroes concept and get celebrities taking screamers off the back of Russell Robertson in the middle of the ground.
Either that or replace the ice with human waste, set up a leaderboard of all the AFL journos and let people donate money towards the 10 they want to be sent into the sewage. Not sure I have enough money to cover all my selections but I'd nearly be ready to mortgage the Towers for the cause.
Anyone who genuinely thought we were a chance of even dragging back to a Stranglewank loss in the last quarter needs to front the tribunal. This didn't stop Channel 7 having a red hot bash at convincing us something was up.
Under normal circumstances I'd suggest somebody was screaming in their ear to keep people watching so the 6pm news ratings were protected, but with BT in the chair you knew he was just going for laughs at our expense. Now that Gee God Boy Wow is a distant memory I'm backtracking on my comments about coming around to him, he's dreadful in all aspects and should only be allowed to roam around asking novelty questions to boot studders.
"Are you with me Tim!?!" he screamed about five times, obviously part of some 'humorous' in-joke from another game that I missed. Nobody likes in jokes or outdated obscure references more than I do, but I'm not the one providing the audio to the historical record of the game. That's why if I see somebody fall on their arse outside the MCG you're going to get an 800 word description here and it won't rate a mention on Demonwiki.
You're there to report on what is happening in front of you, not "well called Darce", not "ho ho ho that's a good one from you Lingy", and not "hey King, remember that time you got capsicum sprayed by the police? Ha ha ha!" The quality of commentary doesn't get nearly enough coverage in state of the game discussions.
Next Week
The bye, thank Christ. How will I fill the massive disappointment void in my weekend? Might open a Muffin Break franchise or take up Scientology.
The week after
Fremantle at the MCG, and if you think that's going to be an pleasurable experience you must be heavily into masochism. We're playing like the days when Ross used to torture us for fun so he'll be licking his lips at the chance to drag us around our own ground by the ankles, making the few thousand desperate people who show up as uncomfortable as possible. Unfortunately I'll be one of them.
Casey won, which is about as rare as Melbourne this season, but were barely convincing. In a rare case of the league(s) getting something right this year they've landed the bye for the 2s on the same week as the seniors (although we have got another bye coming later in the year and had one in Round 3...) so this is the only form we've got to go on. Does it matter? It's all about the setup for next year now. For instance, Lewis was very good but what's the point in playing him now? Let's wait a few weeks, set up a respectful exit strategy and clear him to the media in time for finals.
As such we finally play Preuss as a forward and discover what he's all about. He's not going to kick 50 goals this year, next year, or possibly combined for the rest of his AFL career but he will at least make a contest when the ball is roosted aimlessly inside 50. Instead of going back to a three man forward line I propose we temporarily put Tom McDonald out of his misery, especially now there's no call for him to play in defence. Even if Frost has such a significant concussion he's unavailable in two weeks I'd rather give Petty another run.
It's a bit cruel to see the Weid play a couple of promising games then get rid of the senior member of their combination but the McSizzle has gone out so violently that I'm not even sure what protection he was affording his teammate. Invent a mystery ailment if you need to and just give him two weeks off to sit in a darkened room and either watch highlights of how he kicked goals out of his arse in 2018 or whatever website ending in '...hub.com' will help him relax.
Stretch gets another go doing whatever it was that Spargo did. The difference is that Billy is bigger and can usually kick more than 20 metres without having to exert excessive force. He was suspect in defence last week but that's because he's not a defender. Give him a go near the ball and decide whether we want to give him another contract.
Finally, why not just give Dunkley a bash at the big time? There's nowt to lose, let him have a taste of the good stuff. It's hardly like for like to bring him in for Wagner, but then again it's more realistic than bringing Wagner in for Tim Smith. I'm sure our crack coaching division (not an on crack coaching division, that would have been when I wanted Wayne Carey to replace Daniher) will make something out if it.
Garlett is in the same boat as Lewis, except we don't have any obvious replacements. Don't care, not offering enough. He didn't do offensive things today, just not enough good things. Time to move on. Like Stretch but with more credits in the bank I'd like to get Anal-Bullet back in to see if we can recapture some of the old magic.
IN: Preuss, Stretch, Dunkley, Neal-Bullen
OUT: T. McDonald, Spargo, J. Wagner, Garlett (omit)
LUCKY: Jones
UNLUCKY: Lewis, Neal-Bullen, T. Smith, Stretch
I expect to lose, and won't get upset unless we either go close or get thrashed. Another gloomy defeat like this and you can pre-write the "was it worth it" segment before I get home. Meanwhile, don't be a cockhead and boo Hogan. We could very well have kept him but tried to get smart and bet the farm on a Sizzle/Weid future that has gone tits up. I genuinely wish him well and hope he kicks all 10 of Freo's goals in a 150 point loss but fear it's more likely he'll kick two and they'll win by 95.
Next Year
The midweek two year extension for Weideman's was welcome, and now I want him to play every game for the rest of the year no matter what. As for the rest of the uncontracted players, you don't want to get excited and demolish your stock of experienced players but there's a fair bit of carnage to be had amongst this group:
Retirements - Garlett and Lewis
New contracts (of varying lengths) - Jones, Baker, Dunkley, Frost, Lockhart, Neal-Bullen, J. Smith
50/50 - Stretch, T. Smith, the Wagnii
In all sorts - Kennedy-Harris
All but gorn - Keilty and Maynard (I'm sad about this one) + it looks like injuries will put Guy Walker away.
Considering all the certainties are rookies, that's only two players off the senior list pending trades. That's bad news for the group directly above them. That's where the Wagnii come in, neither is ever going to bring the house down but unless we need to clear spots for instant upgrades in other positions is it not better to have them in the tank rather than some pick 84 kid built like Cale Morton?
The off-season can't come soon enough. I can't believe we're to delist - trade - draft being the happiest time of the year already.
Final thoughts
Never thought I'd say this during footy season but thank god for shift work. Not only was I able to justify staying away from this abortion because I'd only gone to bed at 9am but it also means not having to go back to work on Tuesday in a mood because my long weekend finished with a performance limper than a broken dick. Now I've got a few days for non-online life to carry on as if it never happened, unencumbered by slurry football, and by the time I run into random footy fans and Collingwood supporters later in the week the heat will have gone out of the result.
Bring on 2020. Both the year and the total number of points we'll kick over the next two seasons.
Good call on staying home, your usual perch looked rather full from where I was sitting!! TMac needs a run at Casey, unless there is something going on that hasn't been disclosed. On another note, was disappointed that the MND beanie stands had shut up shop at least 30 mins before the bounce. Walked halfway around the G for nothing.
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