Insightful Media Coverage
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Yeah but I go to tokyo fairly regularly and its a beautiful, clean city. Closer to home I have never had problems with places like Sydney or Adelaide. Melbourne just seems to be dirty all the time.
Lived in Darwin for 10 years along time ago, really love the place, always wish I bought a block out at Howard springs or humpty doo.
IMO Perth a great place to live if it's were you b&b there ( I was brought up in Cottesloe and lots of family still there and surrounding suburbs), if not from there and have a new family I can imagine it'd suck a bit.
That's my fav time of year, same as we're I live now, lots of people FO to other parts!
FreeTK
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I know so many folks from WA who feel exactly like you do.
It sounds like you come to Melbourne during footy season.
Melbourne is certainly not pretty in the way Perth is and certainly not clean in the way Perth is.
I think of Melbourne as a tale of two cities. In the spring and summer it is beautiful and green and so much to do and see.
In the autumn and winter (footy season). It’s dark grimy and has a kind of gothic feel.
Personally I like to get out of Melbourne a bit though the winter as it can be somewhat depressing.
I’ve lived in Perth, Brisbane, Darwin and Melbourne and have to agree with wcephil with his general summation.
It sounds like you come to Melbourne during footy season.
Melbourne is certainly not pretty in the way Perth is and certainly not clean in the way Perth is.
I think of Melbourne as a tale of two cities. In the spring and summer it is beautiful and green and so much to do and see.
In the autumn and winter (footy season). It’s dark grimy and has a kind of gothic feel.
Personally I like to get out of Melbourne a bit though the winter as it can be somewhat depressing.
I’ve lived in Perth, Brisbane, Darwin and Melbourne and have to agree with wcephil with his general summation.
Only Perth has the Eagles so...
Well, until we buy the Melbourne Demons and set up an East Coast franchise.
No against, so long as the first thing we do is trade Clayton Oliver.
FreeTK
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A really interesting article with some analysis and insights on how the new rules will affect the game.
From the sound of it, our game style seems well suited to the changes, provided we are willing to be more direct with our ball movement.
www.theage.com.au
From the sound of it, our game style seems well suited to the changes, provided we are willing to be more direct with our ball movement.
Pressure down but not everyone wins: how new rules will change the AFL
Early indications are that AFL games may be more open this year – but teams that try to play a high-energy style for a whole game run out of gas.
Wouldnt be using Carlton as a good example. With the timing i meant they needed to decide if they going to try for another go at a flag before Mundy, Walters and Fyfe retire. I think when those 3 retire they will be in no mans land for a while as i dont see enough quality coming through on all lines
Bender_
X
I just don't see Brayshaw as much chop. Cerra seems above average and Serong obviously pretty good but none appear to have a defensive bone in their body.
MM thinks we might struggle this year.
AFL coaching legend Mick Malthouse reveals his top eight for the 2021 AFL season
We all know that the final eight never stays the same from year to year, so it’s easy to predict a change.
The hard part, especially after a season like the one we had last year, and just one round of the pre-season Community Series, is choosing who will make way for the potential finalists.
On the surface of last year it’s hard to see anyone falling out. The clubs that remain solid through youth or additions will more than likely cement a top-four spot early on.
I see Richmond, Geelong, Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions claiming those bragging rights.
St Kilda and Western Bulldogs have improvement in them and will play finals again.
Which leaves West Coast and Collingwood. If there’s two clubs with question marks next to their names, then the Eagles and Magpies are those. Possibly making way for full-of-potential Carlton and excitement machine Gold Coast.
So let’s start from the top.
The Tigers are the Tiges. When the whip gets cracking they’ll be thereabouts. Still. They’re too good a team not to be.
Very rarely do we see a Grand Final team pick up three very good players in the next trade period, but the Cats did just that with Jeremy Cameron, Isaac Smith and Shaun Higgins. All three will add immense improvement.
So it’s hard to fault Geelong, a very worthy Grand Final contestant in 2020, but the reality is it has a lot of players on the wrong side of 30 for AFL football which makes these next two years make-or-break for a premiership.
Port Adelaide will continue to make natural progression through youth development with the likes of Xavier Duursma and Connor Rozee, and a fine trade to bring in Aliir Aliir.
Port has been lacking that one player with height on the backline to counter the big forwards of the better sides, so Aliir might be the missing piece of the puzzle.
Brisbane was blessed with a lot of games at home last year, so travelling more often this season is already a test.
The Lions have added to their weaponry with Joe Daniher who is a huge addition. But losing Cam Rayner to an ACL injury is rough, just when the 21-year-old was looking the goods to go to the next level.
New recruits Adam Treloar and Stefan Martin will make the Western Bulldogs a better side.
Treloar in an already talented midfield and Martin to back up exciting ruck Tim English, makes the Dogs a genuine chance at a premiership tilt.
They could have done with an Aliir-type player because they do lack an A-grade tall back. Ryan Gardner and Zaine Cordy are good, but don’t always match it with the big key forwards of the better teams. Alex Keath is more a secondary tall back.
Question marks remain whether St Kilda can live up to expectations.
Injuries haven’t been kind to the Saints already, with James Frawley and Jarryn Geary set to miss an extended period of time and Dylan Roberton forced to retire.
Plus one of my favourite players, Rowan Marshall, is out indefinitely with a foot injury and now Paddy Ryder is taking a leave of absence due to personal reasons. This leaves St Kilda depleted in the ruck division.
Collingwood remains an enigma.
In the space of a week in last year’s finals series we saw the Pies at their very best in Perth against West Coast, then at their ugliest against Geelong.
We all know that the final eight never stays the same from year to year, so it’s easy to predict a change.
The hard part, especially after a season like the one we had last year, and just one round of the pre-season Community Series, is choosing who will make way for the potential finalists.
On the surface of last year it’s hard to see anyone falling out. The clubs that remain solid through youth or additions will more than likely cement a top-four spot early on.
I see Richmond, Geelong, Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions claiming those bragging rights.
St Kilda and Western Bulldogs have improvement in them and will play finals again.
Which leaves West Coast and Collingwood. If there’s two clubs with question marks next to their names, then the Eagles and Magpies are those. Possibly making way for full-of-potential Carlton and excitement machine Gold Coast.
Collingwood was badly beaten in its semi-final last year.
West Coast’s (and Fremantle’s) hopes will live and die by their Premier Mark McGowan.
If someone sneezes in Victoria he will slam the boarders shut, with very little interest in what that means for the state’s two AFL clubs.
Make no mistake, no team will quarantine in Perth for two weeks just to play the Eagles or the Dockers, so hub life is only a distinct possibility for the West Australian teams.
If that happens, goodbye finals.
West Coast is heavily reliant on four players — Josh Kennedy, Nic Naitanui, Luke Shuey and Jeremy McGovern. Elliot Yeo has groin issues with still no definite return date. Naitanui has had his fair share of injuries, and the others from time to time are starting to show their age.
As exciting as the Eagles are to watch they’ve shown their vulnerabilities, only look at their last match on home turf in 2020.
AFL coaching legend Mick Malthouse reveals his top eight for the 2021 AFL season
We all know that the final eight never stays the same from year to year, so it’s easy to predict a change.
The hard part, especially after a season like the one we had last year, and just one round of the pre-season Community Series, is choosing who will make way for the potential finalists.
On the surface of last year it’s hard to see anyone falling out. The clubs that remain solid through youth or additions will more than likely cement a top-four spot early on.
I see Richmond, Geelong, Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions claiming those bragging rights.
St Kilda and Western Bulldogs have improvement in them and will play finals again.
Which leaves West Coast and Collingwood. If there’s two clubs with question marks next to their names, then the Eagles and Magpies are those. Possibly making way for full-of-potential Carlton and excitement machine Gold Coast.
So let’s start from the top.
The Tigers are the Tiges. When the whip gets cracking they’ll be thereabouts. Still. They’re too good a team not to be.
Very rarely do we see a Grand Final team pick up three very good players in the next trade period, but the Cats did just that with Jeremy Cameron, Isaac Smith and Shaun Higgins. All three will add immense improvement.
So it’s hard to fault Geelong, a very worthy Grand Final contestant in 2020, but the reality is it has a lot of players on the wrong side of 30 for AFL football which makes these next two years make-or-break for a premiership.
Port Adelaide will continue to make natural progression through youth development with the likes of Xavier Duursma and Connor Rozee, and a fine trade to bring in Aliir Aliir.
Port has been lacking that one player with height on the backline to counter the big forwards of the better sides, so Aliir might be the missing piece of the puzzle.
Brisbane was blessed with a lot of games at home last year, so travelling more often this season is already a test.
The Lions have added to their weaponry with Joe Daniher who is a huge addition. But losing Cam Rayner to an ACL injury is rough, just when the 21-year-old was looking the goods to go to the next level.
New recruits Adam Treloar and Stefan Martin will make the Western Bulldogs a better side.
Treloar in an already talented midfield and Martin to back up exciting ruck Tim English, makes the Dogs a genuine chance at a premiership tilt.
They could have done with an Aliir-type player because they do lack an A-grade tall back. Ryan Gardner and Zaine Cordy are good, but don’t always match it with the big key forwards of the better teams. Alex Keath is more a secondary tall back.
Question marks remain whether St Kilda can live up to expectations.
Injuries haven’t been kind to the Saints already, with James Frawley and Jarryn Geary set to miss an extended period of time and Dylan Roberton forced to retire.
Plus one of my favourite players, Rowan Marshall, is out indefinitely with a foot injury and now Paddy Ryder is taking a leave of absence due to personal reasons. This leaves St Kilda depleted in the ruck division.
Collingwood remains an enigma.
In the space of a week in last year’s finals series we saw the Pies at their very best in Perth against West Coast, then at their ugliest against Geelong.
We all know that the final eight never stays the same from year to year, so it’s easy to predict a change.
The hard part, especially after a season like the one we had last year, and just one round of the pre-season Community Series, is choosing who will make way for the potential finalists.
On the surface of last year it’s hard to see anyone falling out. The clubs that remain solid through youth or additions will more than likely cement a top-four spot early on.
I see Richmond, Geelong, Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions claiming those bragging rights.
St Kilda and Western Bulldogs have improvement in them and will play finals again.
Which leaves West Coast and Collingwood. If there’s two clubs with question marks next to their names, then the Eagles and Magpies are those. Possibly making way for full-of-potential Carlton and excitement machine Gold Coast.
Collingwood was badly beaten in its semi-final last year.
West Coast’s (and Fremantle’s) hopes will live and die by their Premier Mark McGowan.
If someone sneezes in Victoria he will slam the boarders shut, with very little interest in what that means for the state’s two AFL clubs.
Make no mistake, no team will quarantine in Perth for two weeks just to play the Eagles or the Dockers, so hub life is only a distinct possibility for the West Australian teams.
If that happens, goodbye finals.
West Coast is heavily reliant on four players — Josh Kennedy, Nic Naitanui, Luke Shuey and Jeremy McGovern. Elliot Yeo has groin issues with still no definite return date. Naitanui has had his fair share of injuries, and the others from time to time are starting to show their age.
As exciting as the Eagles are to watch they’ve shown their vulnerabilities, only look at their last match on home turf in 2020.
I think Bulldogs are much more risk than us to fall out. They just scraped into finals two seasons in a row and have done nothing to fix their KPP weakness. Making their already strong midfield stronger, is not going to improve them.
Then we have the old equation of who out of the top 4 will drop out. There's usually 1 or 2 that go from top 4 to 5-8 or sometimes miss altogether. I'd put Port in the category of missing (their ganeplan is one dimensional and I don't see Hinkley adapting) and Lions down to 5-8 (2019 and 2020 finals series showed they were never close to being one of the two best teams which finishing second implied).
FreeTK
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Agree with most of your post.
The Bulldogs already had a very good midfield, and now have Treloar and Stef Martin to fit in. If they play 2 rucks, that probably means Dunkley is out and hard to fit Treloar in. I can't see them moving higher up the ladder to be honest.
I just can't see Brisbane dropping. They have a very talented squad and Daniher to Brisbane is a match made in heaven. I know he has a wrap for poor accuracy, but he will give them so much more presence up forward. Instead of requiring Cameron or mids to kick winning scores they now have big targets up forward, and Hipwood can roam further up the ground, which I think is where he plays his best footy.
Port are a risk of dropping. In 2019 Port has the most I50's of any team. In 2020, they turned that into scores, and that is a big reason behind their rise last season. All it would take is a form drop or injury to Dixon and then all of a sudden you start to wonder where are they going to kick a winning score from?
It will be interesting to see how Geelong adapt to back to longer quarters. They already had an older team, and then they went out and recruited 2 30+ players and a 27 year old.
I have Port finishing higher that Brisbane.
Brisbane are yet to convince me how good they're winning away from home.
Malthouse is right about the hubs though.
We're screwed if we have to hub interstate.
FreeTK
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I just feel Brisbane is so much more complete than Port.
In terms of Hubs. I think we need to accept the reality that the AFL season will be disrupted in some way in 2021. We have seen just in the last 2 days community cases in 2 states. If McGowan continues his approach to borders, WA's borders will be closed to some states, at some stages in the year, and that may mean WA teams need to hit the road again.
I would imagine the club would probably request a different location this time, probably South Australia if that was possible.
Keys
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It’s such a fine line - the last two years Richmond have finished 3rd after H&A and we’ve been 5th - positions that could have changed had we won 1 more game or they lost one.
Richmond like the Hawthorn and Brisbane three peat sides haven’t necessarily dominated in H&A but they’ve stepped up in finals. Their success gives the impression they’re miles in front of everyone else when the reality is the gap isn’t that big - Brisbane beat them in a final, Port were within a goal and Geelong had them on the ropes before Dusty took over
We’ve been criticised, somewhat justifiably, for underachieving the last two years but haven’t been all that far off. The ability is there but in the cold light of day, when it’s really mattered the will to win hasn’t - not to the extent a side like Richmond has shown
It shapes as a really interesting and competitive season as the gap between the top 4 or 5 clubs is wafer thin and the chasing pack isn’t far behind
A really interesting article with some analysis and insights on how the new rules will affect the game.
From the sound of it, our game style seems well suited to the changes, provided we are willing to be more direct with our ball movement.
Pressure down but not everyone wins: how new rules will change the AFL
Early indications are that AFL games may be more open this year – but teams that try to play a high-energy style for a whole game run out of gas.
Completely moot point obviously, but can't help think it's a real shame Jetts couldn't go on one more season
I don't disagree but hopefully the club's learnt from last year. Attitude was all wrong.
Completely different sport obviously, but someone at the club should be picking up the phone to the Perth Wildcats
Start of the season is so important especially with our injuries. Not really sure we will get anyone significant back for Rd: 2 so hopefully those selection against Gold Coast have a good first up effort.
Robbo's take on us from today's The Tackle.
WEST COAST
LIKES
After a restless year in the hub and with injuries, I think the band is back together for 2021 and the Eagles will be strong contenders.
List changes were minimal, so the Eagles are confident with their squad.
Elliot Yeo back for a full season (hopefully) is a huge plus because he is a warrior and (hopefully again) Liam Ryan gets even better as a forward‑mid. Keep ’em out of a hub and the Eagles will be tough to beat.
DISLIKES
They would love another small forward because they didn’t find a consistent replacement for Willie Rioli.
The Eagles get enough of the ball inside 50, but are there enough scroungers underneath Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling and Oscar Allen? Is three talls still the right mix?
Probably, because the Eagles like to go long.
Age is on them and with that can come injuries, so that could be an issue.
But that’s the case for most clubs.
Expect the Eagles to be rocking at home.
VERDICT
A contender for top four.
WEST COAST
LIKES
After a restless year in the hub and with injuries, I think the band is back together for 2021 and the Eagles will be strong contenders.
List changes were minimal, so the Eagles are confident with their squad.
Elliot Yeo back for a full season (hopefully) is a huge plus because he is a warrior and (hopefully again) Liam Ryan gets even better as a forward‑mid. Keep ’em out of a hub and the Eagles will be tough to beat.
DISLIKES
They would love another small forward because they didn’t find a consistent replacement for Willie Rioli.
The Eagles get enough of the ball inside 50, but are there enough scroungers underneath Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling and Oscar Allen? Is three talls still the right mix?
Probably, because the Eagles like to go long.
Age is on them and with that can come injuries, so that could be an issue.
But that’s the case for most clubs.
Expect the Eagles to be rocking at home.
VERDICT
A contender for top four.
