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I love cricket so much I once had a dream I was timed out. It was the worst nightmare I've ever had. I also support the Western Bulldogs, which, much like dressing like clowns on the street and scaring people, was weird and depressing for a very long time, briefly became amazing in late 2016 and then swiftly went back to being weird and depressing. I also occasionally tweet about things at @timejmiller.
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Amid all the hysteria and gnashing of teeth that accompanies any team following a particular galling loss, it's worth remembering at all times that…
After near-perfect tipping scores across the board in Round 4, the going was significantly tougher last weekend - a slew of upsets made 5…
Five rounds are in the can for season 2024, and the ladder is beginning to take shape. Brisbane and Collingwood are on the path…
There's plenty of time left in the 2024 season, so there's a chance we will see a better win than what Adelaide produced to…
It's the seven-minute mark of the final quarter. Essendon lead the Western Bulldogs by 19 points in a match that has, since halfway through…
19 months ago, a banged-up Brisbane came to the MCG as heavy underdogs, faced a formidable Melbourne outfit that stood among the premiership favourites,…
Three of our four experts made it big in Gather Round with a perfect 9/9 - sorry, Dem, but your faith in the Western…
Gather Round was back for the second year - and after a rough start, boy was it a doozy! Four of the weekend's last…
If you're a Fremantle fan - and I'm basing this on the social media reaction to what happened on Saturday afternoon at the Adelaide…
For all the talk and all the acclaim the so-called 'Essendon Edge' has received in the past few weeks - and I firmly fit…
For three and a half quarters on Thursday night, it was the same old Adelaide. Unambitious with ball in hand. Slow in movement. Horrendous…
Gather 'round, kids, it's time for the AFL to head to Adelaide for Season 2 of Gather Round! After last year was a raging…
RIP our tips, because Round 3 has already seen upsets galore - and it's not over just yet! Sure, Hawthorn are unlikely to knock…
You could write 10,000 words about all the things Essendon did wrong on Saturday afternoon at Marvel Stadium - and not a single Bombers…
Alex Pearce won't get any Brownlow Medal votes for his performance on Friday night at Optus Stadium. If there was a medal to be…
It has been ten years since Australian cricket icon Ricky Ponting released his autobiography At the Close of Play, but there's a passage that…
The Easter weekend is upon us, which means five straight days of footy - yay! But it also means no games on Saturday afternoon…
Victoria's highest grade of amateur cricket has witnessed what might be its most remarkable grand final ever, after Carlton produced a comeback for the…
We had a pitch invader, fights galore, Tribunal drama and a couple of remarkable comebacks - footy is well and truly back! It's weirder…
For the last 20 years, it's been pretty easy to work out how Essendon fans will react to a loss. Barring the closest, most…
Thanks to everyone who flagged the issue with the tipping competition. A temporary fix has been put in place – if you head to this page – https://www.theroar.com.au/tipping/?comp=16 – and where it says ‘Select a Round’ go manually to Round 16, you’ll be able to enter tips there. Apologies for the inconvenience, should be smooth sailing for the rest of the season.
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions Round 16: Huzzah, the byes are done!
I honestly think it’s pot luck. No one knew West Coast would be this bad before the season started.
The fixture just is what it is – some years your team will get a good run, other years it’ll be a struggle. Unless we go to a Premier League-style 34-game season where every team plays every other team home and away, which ain’t happening, it’s always going to be slanted, but at the end of the day, if your team’s good enough they’ll usually do well regardless.
Six Points: Cram the Crows condescending, Bucks, Swans weren't that good, and the rule change AFL must make
Bucksball
Six Points: Cram the Crows condescending, Bucks, Swans weren't that good, and the rule change AFL must make
It’s a bit of a cheap shot by me but I think a lot of the talking from Essendon and Carlton over my memory as a footy fan has been around being entitled to success rather than having any understanding about how to obtain it in the modern day, and we can see it from the way both teams have pretty blindly thrown money at ‘star’ players (e.g. Zac Williams, Adam Saad x2, Jake Stringer, Devon Smith, Dylan Shiel et. al) without much thought into how they fit within their structure.
Particularly given where Carlton are at this year, I think displays like Sunday night’s ring of premiership cups – which copped a roasting all around – just enhance that problem.
Six Points: Sicily and Butler did nothing wrong, ridiculous Weightman pile-on, and calling out abysmal commentary
I reckon he’ll be this year’s Bontempelli – by year’s end he’ll be acknowledged as having had the best year but they’ll give the award to a Sheezel or an Ashcroft who were consistently excellent from the get-go.
Footy Fix: This simple, U10s gameplan sparked the Suns' greatest ever performance
Was a great win and deserved an honourable mention in the list – but remember that game being an absolute scrap, sort of like their wins over Sydney. Can’t ever remember the Suns looking as slick as they did Saturday night.
Footy Fix: This simple, U10s gameplan sparked the Suns' greatest ever performance
I’m just happy tipping them in a 50/50 didn’t blow up in my face like it usually does…
Footy Fix: This simple, U10s gameplan sparked the Suns' greatest ever performance
I find this criticism very weird because this is the second-shortest of these pieces I’ve done all year!
Footy Fix: This simple, U10s gameplan sparked the Suns' greatest ever performance
Yeah this piece sort of took on a life of its own! Lot of things I wanted to unpack but yeah, future Footy Fixes won’t be anywhere near this long. 😂
Footy Fix: Mitchell's masterpiece! How 2023's finest coaching performance set up famous Hawthorn win
This is a very late response in every sense of the word, but thanks so much for this kind message. Do always try to provide stuff with my AFL writing other media doesn’t really touch on, so it’s really meaningful when it gets appreciated by people who take the time and effort to read it. 😊
Footy Fix: 278 seconds and six moments to turn nine years of Dreamtime despair into Don delirium
Your best player has done a hamstring. Your coach has taken indefinite leave during the week. You’re on the verge of a famous, upset win for the first time in eight weeks – and then that happens.
I’d call that heartbreaking… wouldn’t you?
EXPLAINED: Incredibly rare interchange breach breaks North Melbourne hearts - here's why it was paid
I think that tradition is countered by the fact that 14th on the ladder at the start of a round is on a six-match winning streak this year – and Sydney are 14th at the moment!
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions Round 10: Sir Doug Nicholls Round is here
Six Points: Don't write off Carlton just yet, 2023's dumbest act, and why Dee's ban is an utter disgrace
Usually love your work Cam but can’t stand this idea that some clubs are more ‘worthy’ than others of their spots in the AFL because of the number of supporters they have, which has little if anything to do with on-field success or off-field competence.
Also find it telling how the people calling for clubs to be culled are all for it… so long as it’s someone else’s team getting shafted.
Welcome Tasmania, but the AFL should be a 16-team competition so three clubs must go
Only Showdown final was 2005 SF IIRC. Port got absolutely smoked which kind of ruined the atmosphere of the whole thing.
Footy Fix: Horne-Francis was incredible... but it was Hinkley's finest coaching hour that unlocked the Saints at last
Agree Freo’s best years are ahead of them, but it’s been a sizeable drop – especially with Serong on absolute fire. Sydney had a similarly inexperienced list at the end of 2021 after making finals ‘before their time’ and backed it up by making the grand final.
The aim pre-season would surely have been at least a prelim, otherwise why bother bringing in O’Meara, and they’re almost certainly going to fall well short of that.
Footy Fix: Boring, brainless and utterly broken - it's time for Freo to find Plan B
Why don’t the Eagles make a play for Tim English?
Please don’t give West Coast’s list manager ideas, DTM.
Footy Fix: Boring, brainless and utterly broken - it's time for Freo to find Plan B
Sadly I think ‘a fit Fyfe’ is an oxymoron now.
Footy Fix: Boring, brainless and utterly broken - it's time for Freo to find Plan B
Even if he’d played forward, I reckon Logue would have prevented Liam Jones having the aerial influence he had. Did some really good jobs as a decoy key forward last year.
Footy Fix: Boring, brainless and utterly broken - it's time for Freo to find Plan B
The very best coaches adjust their playing style year on year, both to get new personnel in and to keep ahead of the competition. Look at Clarkson at Hawthorn or even Craig McRae at Collingwood this year.
Longmuir just seems to be trying the exact same style as last year, but teams are ready for it and know how to beat it. And it doesn’t suit a team without Acres and Mundy, who played vital roles.
Footy Fix: Boring, brainless and utterly broken - it's time for Freo to find Plan B
I think other teams are doing more with less. No one thought St Kilda could do much with their list yet they’re 4-1 after five games, Essendon have a similar lack of high-quality key forwards with Peter Wright out, even North have mustered the same amount of wins as Freo with a far less impressive playing group.
The Dockers have an outstanding ruckman, two of the best 15 midfielders in the game in Serong and Brayshaw (I’d definitely say he’s an A-grader too, by the way), and had the best backline in the game last year. That should be enough to be better than they are.
Footy Fix: Boring, brainless and utterly broken - it's time for Freo to find Plan B
I mean, I enjoyed it… 😊
Footy Fix: Boring, brainless and utterly broken - it's time for Freo to find Plan B
Was thinking about this the other day. Voss might come in if Harrison Jones is injured for Anzac Day, but it’d be harsh to have to debut under that spotlight. Tsatas is a gun but might benefit from 12 months in the VFL (and it’s not like the Bombers have to put him in), while Hobbs will probably have to slot in as a pressure forward to get a game unless injuries strike.
Cox I think has a role to play if he can get fit – maybe as a defensive winger in that Mason Wood mould, folding back from stoppages to give his backs aerial support and a tall marking presence on the end of rebound 50s.
Footy Fix: Brilliant Bombers didn't just outplay the Dees... they totally outsmarted them
Am I the only one that thought it was fine? Yeah it got a bit dark in the second half but it wasn’t as if the players were cannoning into each other in pitch dark, and I’m a sucker for that suburban footy feel.
Also, substandard ground? I thought the oval looked in great nick (certainly better than I expect Adelaide Oval to look in 48 hours’ time!)
Footy Fix: Don't let the comeback fool you, Freo have been worked out
I don’t think the Warner problem has been particularly big until the last 12 months or so. Was injured and a key absence for the start of the 2020/21 India series and we had 0 replacements for him (Matt Wade opened in a couple Tests), then made a hundred and a 90 to start the 21/22 Ashes.
Really only when he was poor in Sri Lanka and then ordinary again to start last summer against the Windies/South Africa is when it became clear there was an issue.
Still far too slow a reaction from the selectors in any case.
COMMENT: Australia left it too late to fix Warner problem - we're stuck with him for the series