Hahaha you click baited me with your feature image of the great Brodes of Grundy, but enjoyed the read. Very nice summary Josh.

Disagree with couple of things in there, but all in all pretty accurate description of where the Pies are at. Think if things go their way they can make finals, but will probably end up just falling short – though I hope I’m wrong. Not nearly as bad as what I was expecting Josh!

How many of the players that were let go were picked up by other clubs, and of those how many were any good after they left? So far Shaw is the only one. The move revitalised his career, while Collingwood got Adams, which was a win win for both clubs and both players.

Why should Andy Maher pick up the phone to lambast his fellow journalists? To call him lazy for using SM to say he disagrees with the camp out at the Hirds’ home, and then naively calling for him to do more are absolutely ridiculous statements. So too is blaming the media for Hird’s current situation. Media didn’t introduce a supplements regime at Essendon, and it also wasn’t the media who refused to take any responsibility for introducing said regime.

While I hope Hird gets better and particularly feel for his kids, the fact remains that he brought this upon himself, and everything that has happened since is a consequence of his original actions – and that includes the abhorrent handling of the whole situation by the AFL who only cared about protecting their brand.

And @Dom. The emergencies should not be considered as subs. Only to be used for a game ending injury – I just gave concussion as an example. Being down to one on the bench would be too big a disadvantage for a piece of bad luck, so in the case of concussion ONLY would act like a sub.

Totally agree about holding the ball or incorrect disposal, and lowering the cap would do a similar thing. The idea behind the suggestion was to deal with congestion without any extra officialdom or rule changes. Only difference would be 20 players rather than the current 22.

Not sure about this one yet. One thing I will bring up though, is Ollie Wines. Doubt very much he would have had those type of numbers in 2017 with the return of Lobbe and Ryder. If all of a team’s rucks are injured and a club has to rely on someone like a Trengove for ruck duties, 3rd man up is just evening up the contest in a way. Bontempelli similar situation.

‘North Melbourne Football Club released a rather casual, oddly-timed statement’ – Now that’s very un-Northlike.

Good point about Tippett. Had Sydney brought in Franklin first, would they have signed Tippett? I wouldn’t think so. I reckon that’s the one they would regret in hindsight. If no Tippett Mummy would still be at Sydney, and they may have been able to keep Titch.

Also can’t just measure the Buddy deal just on on-field success. The amount of publicity and interest he has created in the Swans and AFL footy in general is worth a hell of a lot. AFL is one of, if not the fastest growing sports in NSW amongst juniors, and much of that can be put down to the Buddy factor.

I honestly don’t think there is a loser in the deal. Hawks got the threepeat, GWS ended up in a lot better position in terms of being able to keep and recruit class players, and Sydney would be more than happy with what Buddy has brought to the club.

‘The AFL are notionally the custodians of Australian rules football, even if it sometimes feels like they are a corporate monolith enriching some faceless ownership group in the manner of the NFL or NBA in the United States.’

Great description Ryan, I remember in those ‘good old days’ you refer to in the article we actually used to play a game called ‘aussie rules’.

I personally don’t mind BT’s calls. Worse thing about Saturday nights is Luke Darcy, who is one of those types who couldn’t walk past a mirror without a longing glance at himself. As for Bruce, he lost me a long long time ago. Way too much man love going on with Bruce, especially when Cyril or Buddy involved – not that there’s any thing wrong with that, but it does grate after a while.

Feel for you mate. And while I can see the sense in Dal, Petrie and Firrito (yes I know him and agree), can’t see the sense in the Harvey decision. Particularly given his ability to stay on the park compared to Wells and Waite.

As always an enjoyable read Ryan.

Probably not, but stranger things have happened.

Honestly can’t see either of these two sides making top four, and reckon the loser could very well be in danger of missing out on finals altogether – particularly North who have a difficult draw, and could lose all but two games. I’ll probably be howled down here, but IF Collingwood can keep playing like they did yesterday, they are a legitimate chance if one of these two do fall away.

Absolutely outstanding piece Jay – at least from my point of view. Thoroughly enjoyed reading a sensible article on Bucks for a change. Personally I have never been able to fathom how so many fans have turned on Buckley (regardless of results). Even Hird was given more from Essendon supporters. Great read.

What an inane rant. Feel better now.

Massive loss, but he’s reported to be ahead of schedule in his recovery and should get a few games in before finals start. While I agree it will be difficult to go all the way without Tippett, the Swans won’t have to. So as long as they don’t have a shocking last part of the year should be firmly in contention when he returns. Still my tip.

With the comp so even, if one side is on and the other even a little off (except Hawthorn), the ‘on’ side will take the game out. That becomes even more pronounced with a young side like the Saints who will be more up and down than more experienced teams. Nice write up.

Unlike you Josh, I thought signing Boyd to such a long term big money contract was huge mistake. Very high risk reward for an untried player, and so much more could go wrong than right. While Boyd may very well end up being a superstar of the game, I doubt it will be within the six years he has signed on for, as power forwards take time to mature and ‘usually’ do not hit their prime until mid 20s. He could conceivably leave for more money when that time comes. Of course he could be the rare exception, but his domination at junior level could also have been because of his size. That advantage lessens at AFL level.

Another concern was one I think you alluded to, in that his signing would cause some resentment in the playing group. Again an untried player getting more than a Murphy, Stringer, Bontempelli doesn’t sit right with me, and I’d dare say there would at least be some within the Bulldogs’ playing group that would feel the same.

As I said, Boyd may end up being anything, but I’d suggest the club is at least considering whether they have done the right thing at the moment, and the idea of trading him is one worth at least discussing. Although that discussion should not include Collingwood or Grundy – unless maybe straight swap for Witts, and the Doggies pay two thirds of his salary.

While I can’t really argue with anything you’ve written Cam, I still wouldn’t be risking my hard earned against them. Just the fact that they are down in so many areas and still winning (albeit luckily), is a concern for the rest of the league. What I reckon still sets them apart is their bottom six. Unlike most sides the Hawks so called fringe players all consistently perform.

While you’ve made some pertinent points, you only touched briefly on injuries. At the start of the season most would have had Collingwood’s forward line as follows – Swan, Cloke, Fasolo, Moore, Elliott, Witts/Cox/White and a resting midfielder. Take Petrie, Brown, Harvey and Thomas out of North, or Gunston, Bruest, Roughy and Puopolo out of Hawthorn and they too would struggle to win games. Brown and Reid, who should have been providing the leadership for a young defence, have also spent much of the last three seasons on the sidelines.

While there are definitely issues at the Holden Centre over and above injury, the fact is they have played a significant part in where the Magpies are now.

Had a feeling you’d have an article on Lindsay Thomas this morning Josh. Problem with Thomas compared to the others you mentioned is that Thomas is one of those players opposition fans love to hate, so is an easy target as the only protests will come from North people. I’ll come straight out and say it too – I don’t like Lindsay Thomas, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t deserve at least two free kicks last night, and the one given away to Gibson shouldn’t have been payed against him (and as I have Gibbo in a few fantasy sides I wanted him to get a kick).

If the umpires did say that (and apparently Channel 7 mikes picked it up), they should be stood down. For an official to go into a game with a preconceived verdict on a decision that has yet to occur, is absolutely reprehensible – even if it is Thomas.

And agree about stagers. Suspend them, and use Macmillan’s last night as a final warning.

If a player strikes an opponent he should cop a suspension. Really sick of these little stomach punches. Serves no purpose, is a terrible look and a bad example for kids. All the AFL have to do is suspend a few players for doing it and it would stop.

Although Hawkins could be considered unlucky, I disagree. More that Cameron was lucky to get away with his and shouldn’t have. Taggers appear to be coming back into the game, so with the current interpretations and punishments as they stand, a tagger could conceivably belt their opponent in the gut all day rendering him useless, and basically get away with it. What club wouldn’t be prepared to pay a fine to keep Danger down to 15-20 disposals or less?

Totally agree though about the risk of getting extra punishment for defending yourself. Penalty should be set at however many weeks, and players should be able to argue their case to either have it reduced, or be exonerated.

i keep a pretty close eye on Christensen as I have him in a few of my fantasy sides (last year as well), as I’ve been expecting him to step up, but sadly for him and me that hasn’t been the case. I realise fantasy doesn’t reflect form necessarily, but he has been very up and down, as well as injury prone.

Bell has been a victim to some degree of spending too much time down forward. Should be used as a midfielder and rested down there. But that also reflects on Leppitsch playing him in the wrong position. That being said, I still reckon he should have been much better than he has been.

Have any young players shown consistent improvement under Leppitsch? I’ve just really quickly gone through their list and I can’t see one. Taylor has gone backwards since winning the Rising Star, and players such as Mayes, Harwood, Green and Andrews are no better than they were two or three seasons ago. Remember Weitering v Schache a few weeks ago?

He continues to play another ruckman alongside Martin, despite how obviously detrimental to big Stef and the team that is. And although Robinson and Bastinac are playing better now than when they were at their old clubs, Christensen and Bell have pretty much stunk since moving north.

Also wrote an article last year about how old school both Rocky and Leppa are. Now while personally I have no issue at all with that, is it in the best interests of the club to have two old schoolers as Captain and Coach in this day and age of ‘being in touch with your feminine side’, and of course the away from home issue they have had in recent seasons. I realise they have hired Craig Lambert to help in this area, but is it enough?