- Mar 16, 2014
- 8,524
- 8,666
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
After I finished high school, I hitchhiked to Perth on a whim. Along the Nullarbor - which was long, slow, endless, tedious - I counted 28 dead kangaroos by the side of the road. We added one to the list last week.
I ended up staying in Perth for four years and in those days it was a one-team town. Every toothless, feral, offensive, racist, malodorous bogan was a West Coast fan. Every suited, short back and sides, narcissistic, corporate mining/banking executive was a West Coast fan. I thought I'd never hate a team or a fan base as much as I hated Carlton, but for those long four years I learned that there was one team and its fan base that could challenge -- and that was the malignant corporate club (members have no say, it's management dominated from what I understand) West Coast. If Carlton are the Hitlers of the competition, West Coast are the Stalins.
What's more, that block of Maynard in 2018 that gifted them the premiership will not be forgotten.
Luckily, they are in the worst state of their existence and that makes me sleep well at night.
Their team is an injury-wracked shadow, and really there's not much to say about it. They offer no threat.
The Mighty Magpies
We can only beat ourselves this week. So complacency is our main opponent. We'll miss Sidebottom but if all goes well he'll be back about a month before finals. Elliot has a shoulder concern and that doesn't surprise me. We need to get that right before he returns. So the questions are about what the team looks like.
One option would be to bring in a player who can replace Sidebottom and play his role rather than shifting others around (like Bobby Hill or WHE, who can still have a run there but I prefer as high half forwards). That means Bianco or Kelly, though their form in the VFL hasn't exactly demanded attention (Bianco's last game notwithstanding).
The other would be to bring in Carmichael or Macrae to play in the centre and shift the magnets around a little. Say, Carmichael plays centre and half-forward while Bobby Hill plays more on the wing.
The most likely is that WHE will start on the ground and the wing replacing Sidebottom and some variation of the above will occur.
If we hadn't had any injuries, I'd have managed one of our elder statesmen, but McRae was indicated there will be no resting players so expect no extra changes.
The Washup
The Pies by 73 points in football's version of a long slow drive across the Nullarbor
I ended up staying in Perth for four years and in those days it was a one-team town. Every toothless, feral, offensive, racist, malodorous bogan was a West Coast fan. Every suited, short back and sides, narcissistic, corporate mining/banking executive was a West Coast fan. I thought I'd never hate a team or a fan base as much as I hated Carlton, but for those long four years I learned that there was one team and its fan base that could challenge -- and that was the malignant corporate club (members have no say, it's management dominated from what I understand) West Coast. If Carlton are the Hitlers of the competition, West Coast are the Stalins.
What's more, that block of Maynard in 2018 that gifted them the premiership will not be forgotten.
Luckily, they are in the worst state of their existence and that makes me sleep well at night.
Their team is an injury-wracked shadow, and really there's not much to say about it. They offer no threat.
The Mighty Magpies
We can only beat ourselves this week. So complacency is our main opponent. We'll miss Sidebottom but if all goes well he'll be back about a month before finals. Elliot has a shoulder concern and that doesn't surprise me. We need to get that right before he returns. So the questions are about what the team looks like.
One option would be to bring in a player who can replace Sidebottom and play his role rather than shifting others around (like Bobby Hill or WHE, who can still have a run there but I prefer as high half forwards). That means Bianco or Kelly, though their form in the VFL hasn't exactly demanded attention (Bianco's last game notwithstanding).
The other would be to bring in Carmichael or Macrae to play in the centre and shift the magnets around a little. Say, Carmichael plays centre and half-forward while Bobby Hill plays more on the wing.
The most likely is that WHE will start on the ground and the wing replacing Sidebottom and some variation of the above will occur.
If we hadn't had any injuries, I'd have managed one of our elder statesmen, but McRae was indicated there will be no resting players so expect no extra changes.
The Washup
The Pies by 73 points in football's version of a long slow drive across the Nullarbor
Last edited:
endlebury
