Banter 2020 Finals Discussion

[Carnthedockers]

What did people think of Rayner tonight? Kicked an amazing goal but basically did nothing else. You’d expect more from pick 1.
Happy we have Cez and andy instead..

Check out his last 5 games. Had 1 good game. In the other 4 his highest was 6 touches. I keep hearing what a star he is but have seen very little.

 

[Lach72]

Brisbane are one of those teams who will never quite make it. The midfield and rucks are just not good enough with Neale so much better than everyone else. They have one good forward and one good defender. To be honest I find it unbelievable they've been top 4 the last 2 years. Wouldn't be surprised if they miss the finals next year if there is a normal H&A season.

Some horrible coaching tonight as well. Rich was beyond putrid on Ablett. And just let Geelong have a spare man all night and were destroyed by it.

Dunno what Fagan was thinking bringing Ellis Yeolman in for Coleman. Coleman was excellent last week and Geelong just walked the ball out of their defence time after time. Last week, Campbell was great defensively

 

[Bender571]

So the proposition here is Geelong and Fremantle agreed to terms for Kelly, but he refused to come? News to me and if true, I should never again doubt the inside knowledge of Jon Ralph

All we really have to go with is media reports, which suggest we were close to satisfying Geelong's demands. But it's not really that important to the original point which was if Kelly needed to get home to his family in 2018 he shouldn't have ruled out the team most likely to get him home.

 

[Bring back Drum]

I remember saying at the start of the year to a Lions supporter that I thought we were closer to a flag than them & thank god I still can.

At that stage I couldn’t predict the huge benefit they would have got because of Covid & let’s face they were given a tremendous opportunity this season to at least make the GF.

There would have to be a thought amongst their group & supporters that if we can’t make it this year with that advantage, what hope have we got in the future?

Little bit of doubt would be creeping in & Fagan really is losing his cool more with each game. I really don’t think he does much coaching up there & relies heavily on Noble & co & he really just seems like another supporter at times who’s allowed to sit on the bench with the players.

 

[Sweetback]

Wasn’t the story that Kelly didn’t want to come to us because he’d had a chat with Ross at some stage before he was drafted and Ross said he wasn’t good enough? Fair enough he didn’t want to come to us while Ross was still here.

 

[fnerd]

Wasn’t the story that Kelly didn’t want to come to us because he’d had a chat with Ross at some stage before he was drafted and Ross said he wasn’t good enough? Fair enough he didn’t want to come to us while Ross was still here.

If that’s the case then how *en precious is he?

 

[FreoRicci]

Brisbane are severely overrated. Apart from Neale, hardly a star midfield. Zorko is meh. Lyon, although a great pick up, is B grade.
Need another A grade pick up.

 

[E Shed]

What did people think of Rayner tonight? Kicked an amazing goal but basically did nothing else. You’d expect more from pick 1.
Happy we have Cez and andy instead..

Early days but he doesn’t look anything like a pick 1 at this stage. He has some weapons & may turn out to be a late bloomer but our 2 have him covered easily.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FreoRicci]

Wasn’t the story that Kelly didn’t want to come to us because he’d had a chat with Ross at some stage before he was drafted and Ross said he wasn’t good enough? Fair enough he didn’t want to come to us while Ross was still here.

Good. Avoided him. Geelong clearly struggling massively without him... Big loss

 

[gaskin]

Brisbane are severely overrated. Apart from Neale, hardly a star midfield. Zorko is meh. Lyon, although a great pick up, is B grade.
Need another A grade pick up.

I have thought the same all season and if it were a normal season, there is no way they finish as high up the ladder as they did. Basically given a free ride to a top 4 finish.

 

[tacopavlich]

Damning stats those are

I'm a bit confused, why would it be a bad thing that it's no longer a foregone conclusion who gets into the GF based on the first week? Those stats say the change is a positive rather than a negative to me.

 

[Sweetback]

If that’s the case then how fu**en precious is he?

Sounds reasonable to me. If some work place told me I sucked and then two years later tried to get me to join them when they realised in fact I was awesome I too would give them the middle finger.

 

[dxlr8]

Have never really watched a Fagan press confrence closely until tonight, and I get the lovable farther figure he has going for him. However I get a more uncle arthur type vibe than a fagnism messiah type vibe from him.

 

[FreoRicci]

What did people think of Rayner tonight? Kicked an amazing goal but basically did nothing else. You’d expect more from pick 1.
Happy we have Cez and andy instead..

Surely plays in the middle next season. That’s an absolute waste playing an absolute cooked Ellis-Yolmen in the middle ahead of Rayner.

 

[FreoRicci]

Lions were very ordinary, would have lost by 10 goals if the Cats could kick straight. Won't get it nearly as easy next year, a lot of teams now used to playing in Queensland, they will have to travel every second week and they should get a lot harder draw unless the AFL is still hell bent on still trying to "grow" the game in Queensland.

Really don’t see where they can improve with the same squad. A lot of meh apart from 3-4 stars. Berry, Robinson and Zorko are garbage.

 

[FreoRicci]

So the proposition here is Geelong and Fremantle agreed to terms for Kelly, but he refused to come? News to me and if true, I should never again doubt the inside knowledge of Jon Ralph

Phew. What a disaster that would’ve been. Given up Serong, as we would’ve used the matching big for Henry earlier.
Let West Coast deal with the chubby lazy millionaire.
Geelong are into a GF ANND STILL have a first round pick at 11 this year, even after the picks they had last year. HA!

 

[BStaff17]

I'm a bit confused, why would it be a bad thing that it's no longer a foregone conclusion who gets into the GF based on the first week? Those stats say the change is a positive rather than a negative to me.

I do see both sides of the arguement.

Its more to do with the fact that it feels like ita no longer a reward to earn a week off winning week 1 in top 4. Seeing as everyone gets a week off beforehand.

It does suit the AFL equalization argument though.

And look its good for the game that the prelims are no longer straight forward like it was between 2007-2015

 

[BStaff17]

Brisbane what are wasted opportunity i dont get the hate for Brisbane here i assume its got to do with lachie. But if its covid related so what its not like vic teams never get 85% of games in vic every year. Brisbane got the GF it's not the lions fault blame the WA government who are more interested in the health then attracting sporting events atm.

The lions have been in the doldrums for so long why not wish them success. If anything it proves no matter how dire things are your fortunes can quickly.

 

[holybishop]

Its more to do with the fact that it feels like ita no longer a reward to earn a week off winning week 1 in top 4. Seeing as everyone gets a week off beforehand.

Two byes in quick successions is arguably a momentum killer, so winning the QF may now be a detriment.

 

[Tbonefreo]

what was the line?
i am gobsmacked Graham gets a game. I see him as a VFL, WAFL, SANFL level player who is shielded by being in a good team.

Graham, Jack Graham

34

Jack Graham

Age

26

Ht

181cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.7

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

6.8

4star

M

2.1

2star

T

6.3

5star

G

0.4

3star

D

11.8

3star

K

5.3

2star

HB

6.5

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

4.2

5star

G

0.0

1star

D

14.0

4star

K

6.0

3star

HB

8.0

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

7.0

5star

G

1.0

4star

that is.

Something that Bruce said. It was repeated non stop

 

[Tbonefreo]

Rekon Cerra would have been handy for the lions tonight.


But that dude, Jack Pain(spelling)?. He was awesome. Some good young fellas coming through

 

[Midnite65]

Brisbane what are wasted opportunity i dont get the hate for Brisbane here i assume its got to do with lachie. But if its covid related so what its not like vic teams never get 85% of games in vic every year. Brisbane got the GF it's not the lions fault blame the WA government who are more interested in the health then attracting sporting events atm.

The lions have been in the doldrums for so long why not wish them success. If anything it proves no matter how dire things are your fortunes can quickly.

Have they been in the doldrums for as long as us? Last time I saw they had 3 premierships.

 

[Taylor]

I'm a bit confused, why would it be a bad thing that it's no longer a foregone conclusion who gets into the GF based on the first week? Those stats say the change is a positive rather than a negative to me.

I'm curious if there is something in there to do with the way the fixtures are set up now too, where teams that have jumped higher than the precious year and those teams at the top face a tougher draw.

 

[ImperialPurple]

Scenario:
Neale contracted to Brisbane until 2023.

Freo win the GF in 2023 (SF in 2021, PF 2022, big one 2023).

Fyfe wins the Norm Smith (to go with his 2021 Charlie), age 32. Mundy gets his premiership, then retires age 73 (is that about right?).

Meanwhile Brisbane win a final here and there but not really achieve much.

Neale - now 30 - requests a trade back to Freo (reason 1 wifey, reason 2 premiership chaser).

Prodigal son returns (empty handed). He gets three years (till 2026).

Brisbane win 2024, but he’s back at Freo, so he’s now missed out twice.

Anyone (except weags) win 2025/2026.

Neale decides GWS might get him a flag, so heads off to Sydney for 2 years, but GWS miss the 8 both years.

Freo go back-back 2027, 2028 in the two years he’s at GWS. He‘s missed out again, and retires after watching Freo go back to back. He wonders where the big, big sound went.

Fyfey gets #2 and #3, retires aged 37.

Neale, now 35, has never won a premiership, and wifey is sick of trudging all over the country watching her husband fail at every step in his quest for the one thing missing from his trophy cabinet - a premiership medal. (They have been getting very rich in the process so that’s a consolation to them both).

Freo have so far won 2023, 2027, 2028.

2029 he comes back to Freo as a development coach for the 1st - 4th years. GWS win the flag that year. Oops, he did it again...

Eventually becomes midfield coach and our stoppage work has never been better. He finally tastes premiership success as an assistant coach, as Freo win a 4th and 5th flag in 2030 and 2032, and are the dominant team over that 10 years period.

Yep - I’m looking at the BIG picture... playing the long game.

 

[freo_leo29]

I'm a bit confused, why would it be a bad thing that it's no longer a foregone conclusion who gets into the GF based on the first week? Those stats say the change is a positive rather than a negative to me.

The problem is that the extra bye week may be working against the top teams.

The fact that there has been such a big swing is not a great sign as teams are getting disadvantaged from winning week 1 now, like brissy today had only played 1 game in 28 days and got pantsed.


Hope that puts it into perspective