Roar Rookie
Joined February 2020
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As I sit here sweltering in the summer heat pondering yet another discussion about State of Origin I’ve come to the realisation it’s time…
Yeah Smith finished 3 shots ahead of Davis so clearly he was the stand-out Australian performer.
'Unshakable' Scheffler claims SECOND Masters jacket as LIV stars flop, Smith leaves charge too late
I agree he won’t be Easton Wood but his level of confidence is going up quickly. He looks much better as a third backman than a forward.
Yep, the alarm bells will be ringing if we lose tonight.
'Stuck in quicksand': The Bulldogs are lost in mid-table mediocrity again - and something's got to give soon
I have a different outlook on the Dogs; I’m much more positive. They’ve been severely hamstrung (by their own doing) by putting all of their chips on JUH and Darcy in a couple of drafts. This stopped them from drafting the role players you need to be a good team, so they’ve filled those spots with VFL level players – Bevo was spot on about our list.
This year, however, is different, with most of our problems on the way to being resolved:
– most of those role players have been moved on and replaced by better talent.
– the forward line structure has changed to create more space, with Weightman and West now doing their front and centre job
– Darcy and JUH have come on so we get the benefit of their talent
– the backline has been shored up with the recruitment of Liam Jones, who missed half of last year with a broken arm
– Buku has come on, giving us the replacement for Easton Wood that we’ve sorely missed
– we’ve injected more youthful talent into the team (Sanders, Gallagher, both better than the players they replaced)
– we’ve injected speed into the team (Baker, Gallagher, Vandermeer (spew emoji), Bramble
– we’ve got a good mid-sized backman (although he’s injured yet again so that one may not pay off)
I’ve thought for a few years now that we will be a good team when there’s no spot for Daniel. He’s a liability who pulls off the odd good kick. We are better when we don’t have to pick him.
It’s the same for Macrae over the past 2 years – he doesn’t have the pace or kicking skills to keep him in the team; he’s a Crouch in Dogs colours.
Yeah we always lose to Melbourne, but they’d had a week head start on us, and we always lose to Geelong but we were a lot better than we have been against them in recent years; they beat us by 10 goals in our premiership year so I don’t think it’s a good indicator.
The next 3 weeks will confirm where we are placed this year but I’m bullish, I think there’s some subtle but significant improvements.
'Stuck in quicksand': The Bulldogs are lost in mid-table mediocrity again - and something's got to give soon
Utter one word and you get 3 weeks, whack a bloke in the guts you get nothing. That about sums up what the western world has come to.
AFL News: Players Association slams 'double standards' in Finlayson ban, Cats to weigh up Thomas lifeline
Dogs will flog Essendon and go down in Fox’s power rankings.
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions, Round 5: After a weekend of 9s, can our experts back it up?
What happened to Thilthorpe? He was pick 2 behind JUH and ahead of Logan McDonald at 4; both of those players are key members of their forward lines now but he seems to still be struggling? Is it injuries?
It’d be remiss of me to not point out that Adelaide did bid on JUH at one and were done over by the academy rules of the day.
'Suffering from paralysis-by-analysis': Adelaide Crows have gone from box office sensation to under-performing turkeys
It’s pretty simple really. They don’t have the cattle. Last year they rode a wave of adrenaline at home but couldn’t win away and were overly reliant on Tex to kick their goals.
Now they don’t have confidence at home and Tex is cooked. Fogerty hasn’t come on and now they don’t have a forward line. You can’t win if you can’t kick goals.
'Suffering from paralysis-by-analysis': Adelaide Crows have gone from box office sensation to under-performing turkeys
At least they’ve started actually umpiring the push in the back rule this year, except for Tom Hawkins; the rule doesn’t seem to apply to him.
The most noticeable rule change this year is holding the ball. In the AFL’s infinite wisdom, at a time when they’re trying to eliminate dangerous tackles and to protect the head, they’ve decided to give the tacklee (is that a word?) two lots of prior opportunity; one before they get tackled (mostly, sometimes they don’t get it if the umpire has a clear view) and one after they’ve been tackled. The rule is now that as long as they dispose of the ball it’s not holding the ball, no matter how long they’re in a tackle for. There’s several examples of this in every game this year.
This is a distinct rule change. It needs to go back to being pinged as soon as you’re tackled.
Love to whinge about the latest umpiring shocker? That's exactly what the AFL wants from you
I have no doubt that the AFL deliberately manipulates umpiring to create controversy. They also do it to manipulate outcomes; that’s why the rules change every year.
It’s not coincidence that boundary umpires are missing so many balls out on the full this year. Did they all become incompetent in the offseason? I doubt that very much. And clearly goal umpires have been instructed to ask for a review any time there is any doubt.
Speaking of goal umpires, I’ve noticed that they’ve changed their positioning over the past few years. They used to stand behind the goal line, on the trajectory of the ball, to determine if the ball has passed between the big posts. Now they stand on the goal line for what looks like the sole purpose of determining if the ball was touched. This positioning is wrong; that’s why we are getting reviews when the ball is a foot inside the post, they can’t tell from a perpendicular angle where the ball crossed the line. In the era of the scrore review they should go back to standing behind the line of the ball and letting the technology determine if the ball was touched. They would get a lot more decisions correct and they would get out of the way of the players.
Love to whinge about the latest umpiring shocker? That's exactly what the AFL wants from you
I want to be friends with Ads. He seems like the nicest bloke.
Six Points: Clutch kings do it again, footy's dirtiest player, and debunking 'Vic-centric' fixture myth
I may just be a little tougher than most…
Six Points: Clutch kings do it again, footy's dirtiest player, and debunking 'Vic-centric' fixture myth
Look out for the Dogs this year. Many will write that loss to Geelong off as “a mediocre team being beaten by a mediocre team” but it’s not. Geelong are the Dogs kryptonite; they suck the life out of their game plan and always beat them (ignoring the game last year where Geelong played their reserves team) quite comfortably.
4 points is as good as a win against Geelong, and we could have snatched it if Vandermeer knew how to kick. We got off the chain late and our defense looked good with Buku down there. It’s been a long time since we were even remotely competitive against Geelong.
Mark my words, the Dogs will roll through Essendon and St Kilda in the next 2 weeks, and if they get over the purple people eaters in Perth, look out. They’re on this year.
Six Points: Clutch kings do it again, footy's dirtiest player, and debunking 'Vic-centric' fixture myth
I’ve done it a few times, made no difference. I was fine.
Six Points: Clutch kings do it again, footy's dirtiest player, and debunking 'Vic-centric' fixture myth
Freo was absolutely robbed. I could see the deflection on the TV, how could no umpire see that?
And the umpires need to toughen up and understand the game setting better; they killed the game because someone said a bad word. That’s not good enough, there’s too much at stake.
Footy Fix: No, the umpires didn't gift Carlton the game - but Freo sure did
Essendon are still as bad as always. Their midfield is full of undersized downhill skiers and has been for years.
And to make things worse for them, they get their bogey team next week – The Dogs will flog them by 10 goals, again, for the same reasons that Port did; their midfield is much better than Essendons.
Footy Fix: Does the Essendon Edge not apply to Connor Rozee or something?
That’s very footy media.
'Disproportionate reaction': Forget the doomsayers - Sydney's shock loss to Richmond means absolutely nothing
I don’t recall seeing any doomsdayers writing Sydney off.
'Disproportionate reaction': Forget the doomsayers - Sydney's shock loss to Richmond means absolutely nothing
That’d be Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar – they were first.
AFL News: Surprise new team enters race for 20th licence, Eagles close in on priority pick for 'self-inflicted incompetence'
4 for me last week, YTD 7 off the pace. I feel like my season is almost done. I feel like West Coast. These teams won’t feel like West Coast this week:
– Dees (they’re playing like they have something to prove this year)
– Lions (and easy kill couldn’t have come at a better time)
– Pear (HGA)
– Swans (no comment needed)
– Baggers (a flip of the coin this one, I wouldn’t be surprised if the purple people eaters win this)
– Mighty Dogs (I’m backing them in. Neutral territory, another bogey off the back)
– Big boys (what happened to the lifeguards making the 8?)
– Tigers (they’ve been surprisingly good against some good teams)
– Pies
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions, Gather Round: Footy heads to Adelaide - but who will leave victorious?
I think people overestimate the talent that Beveridge has had at his disposal. The Dogs bottom 6 have been VFL level players for several years now. Plus, their key defensive stocks have been ordinary as well (Liam Jones has made a massive difference but he was missing for 2 months last year with a broken arm).
The problem with coaches staying too long: Will Brisbane have the courage to punt Fagan if they don't contend?
What’s wrong with Luke Beveridge at the Dogs? They were in a grand final 2 seasons ago. Played in two grand finals in 10 years; most would be pretty happy with that.
Or are you going down the Fox Sports route, where they mark the Dogs down because they didn’t bury West Coast by quarter time? And how they didn’t win the clearances, even though Bont was rested forward for large chunks of the game and Libba was subbed at 3 quarter time?
The problem with coaches staying too long: Will Brisbane have the courage to punt Fagan if they don't contend?
Doesn’t matter, should get a week. One week is enough.
AFL News: Tribunal verdict in for Tiger over Swan hit, Cats in the clear over Hawkins' phone use
Hawkins should definitely cop a week…
AFL News: Tribunal verdict in for Tiger over Swan hit, Cats in the clear over Hawkins' phone use
He’s still milking it. He still doesn’t deserve a free kick.
Having said that, he’s playing much better than Schulz right now, the Pies shouldn’t have traded him.
Umpires' anti-Ginnivan bias has reached a new low - it's time for the AFL to step in
It’s already going that way, with the help of our activist media – anyone with the “wrong” opinion that doesn’t tow the social engineers line cops a character assassination and is howled down. And they wonder why people let loose on social media.
Social media trolling of our sportspeople has its newest victim - but Sonja Hood won't be the last unless we take a stand