2011 AFL Off Season Thread - We are Geelong, the greatest team of all, for now

[intedomine]

Can't see the Demons being anything but the worst Victorian side this season, and that's got little to do with Jurrah, who I felt was overhyped anyway. I just feel they stagnated too viciously last year. Not to belittle Neeld in any way, but getting rid of Bailey was an error of judgement in my book.

Axver's prediction of 9th for Richmond is very realistic, but 9th in an 18 team competition is better than it was in a 16 team competition! Martin played like the best player in the league in the pre-season games that I've seen, but I'm not gonna read too much into our decent form in this bullshit "competition".

1. Hawthorn
2. Fremantle
3. Collingwood
4. West Coast
5. Carlton
6. Geelong
7. Richmond
8. Adelaide

9. North Melbourne
10. Sydney
11. Frankston Saints
12. Footscray
13. Essendon
14. Gold Coast
15. MCC Demons
16. Brisbane Bears
17. Port Adelaide
18. West Sydney Israel

After West Coast's incredible revival last year, expect anything.

That section between 7th and 13th is going to be super tight.

 

[bono_man2002]

Hawthorn V West Coast grand final for mine this year.

Hawks
Weagles
Pies
Blues
Cats
Freo-heave-ho
Bomberz
Norrrrf

Radelaide
Swansea
Dogs
Machette
Lions
Garry Ablett Jr
Aint Kilda
Port
Greater Western Republic of Sheedy

 

[intedomine]

There's no Tigerland there?! Or are you justifiably assuming that they'll occupy the ninth slot, so no need to mention their finishing position?

 

[bono_man2002]

Must have removed them when I did some chopping and changing of the ladder. However, yes I'll go with the view of them finishing 9th.

 

[cobl04]

Massive argument between The Australian asshole Patrick Smith and Eddie over Eddie doing an interview with Liam Jurrah without the club's permission. I applaud him for that, there should be much more of it, but I do find myself agreeing with Smith that it's a bit of a conflict of interest because he's Collingwood president. And he probably would crack it if the situation were reversed.

 

[Axver]

That section between 7th and 13th is going to be super tight.

God yes. The tussle for those last two spots in the eight should be epic by the end of the season.

For the sake of my nerves, I hope the Bombers have an awesome year, stay just ahead of that little scrap, and settle comfortably into the top six.

Greater Western Republic of Sheedy

I just assume that the S in GWS stands for Sheedy.

Wish Essendon still played at Windy Hill just to see the Bomber faithful react to Sheeds coming "home" with GWS.

 

[bono_man2002]

I wish the Pies still played at Vic Park, if North still played at Arden Street they would be playing infront of sellout crowds every week (b_m2002's North Joke count is at least at 3 in this thread, so far!!)

It would be nice even if Carlton went back to Optus Oval or whatever its called now.

 

[cobl04]

Have added reggo, ashley, travis, bonnie and vlad to the comp. still need email addresses for danny and inte! feel free to inbox them if you so wish.

or, sign up and enter the code SWV52YUH4U to join the comp.

 

[bono_man2002]

Which site an I signing up on? I'll do it now!

 

[cobl04]

tipping.afl.com.au.

Sorry should have mentioned that

 

[bono_man2002]

Done and done!

 

[bono_man2002]

Is anyone keen on doing supercoach? I could set that up now too.....

 

[cobl04]

throw me a code and i'll do it. can't promise i'll be super into it but who knows. could be funny watching ax and lemel and ashley do it

 

[bono_man2002]

Fantasy AFL - Herald Sun TAC SuperCoach There's the join code.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

The awkward moment where you don't have a mobile phone and you can't type anything in.

 

[bono_man2002]

 

[Axver]

It would be nice even if Carlton went back to Optus Oval or whatever its called now.

I notice a whole bunch of warm-up games this weekend are at Princes Park/Optus Oval/Visy Park/that big thing on Royal Parade north of the university. What's up with that?

The awkward moment where you don't have a mobile phone and you can't type anything in.

2002, let me introduce you to 2012.

 

[bono_man2002]

I notice a whole bunch of warm-up games this weekend are at Princes Park/Optus Oval/Visy Park/that big thing on Royal Parade north of the university. What's up with that?

The VFL use it regularly as well. Its a shame. I can see why the Hawks don't play at Glennferrie and the Saints at Moorabbin anymore, but Optus Oval is plenty big enough to host games that definitely wouldn't sell out at the G/Etihad

 

[Axver]

Yeah, agreed. Plus, it's not like it's lost down some side street and would suffer from transport chaos. It's on Royal fucking Parade, and really close to Citylink and the Eastern, not to mention the route 19 tram has one of the highest capacities of any route in the city and the railway's close.

 

[intedomine]

It's a shame that opportunities to maintain some element of suburban footy were never pursued. Bit of a conservatively minded cop out really.

Glenferrie and Punt Road were never realistic possibilities, but Princes Park, Victoria Park, Moorabbin and Western Oval were.

Refurbishments that upped the capacity of these stadiums to 30-45,000 would have made them viable to host up to 7 home games a season, and given clubs true home grounds, as Geelong and some of the non-Vic clubs have.

It also might've curbed the excessive growth of Collingwood, St Kilda and Essendon for example, putting a cap of sorts on the amount of supporters these clubs could cater for, and maybe making Footscray and North Melbourne more worth supporting, and minimising their financial woes.

I'll sign up for that tipping comp, shortly

 

[The Sad Punk]

Wtf, I haven't been paying attention at all, should I go to the game Saturday?

 

[The Sad Punk]

Joined the tipping compa, too.

The awkward moment where you don't have a mobile phone and you can't type anything in.

I didn't even know this was still a thing!

 

[cobl04]

 

[cobl04]

We've talked about suburban grounds before, and honestly, as much as I'd like to see games still being played at Optus Oval and the like, it's not feasible. There is no way in hell you could stage an AFL game at Glenferrie Road, for example.

This is not to mention that the VFL (sadly) has a piss poor following.

 

[Axver]

Bonnie, go to the game!

Danny, yeah, I know we rehash the suburban grounds thing a fair bit, and I agree some grounds aren't feasible, but why on earth is Princes Park not? I don't see how it's any less feasible a venue than Kardinia Park or the 'Gabba.

 

[cobl04]

I agree with you on Princes Park. That's a good venue and there's a tram line out the front, no? And there's also an absolute shitload of room to build more parking spaces, no?

 

[Axver]

Yeah, you could whack in a bunch of parking, the route 19 can be very high capacity (especially if the storage shunt a couple of blocks north is reconnected and rewired - it has been disconnected since Princes Park stopped being used), and it's a short walk to the Upfield railway line and to other tram routes. Hell, you could probably clear crowds from there better than half of the stadiums currently in the competition. Definitely bring that one back so that we don't have to see games at the MCG attended by 15,000 people.

 

[cobl04]

And suburbanality - my latest neologism - is dead so all the Vic clubs barring Geelong could play low-drawing home games there.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I have a footy folder in My Pictures, every image is of NicNat jumping.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Bonnie, go to the game!

Should, hey. Anyone been to a game alone? I'm not sure if I can get someone to to devote their Sat night to me looking at NicNat on such a short notice. I mean, as long as I don't get stabbed on the way to my car I should be alright, yeah? Even drunk Crows fans are bound to be apathetic since it's a NAB game, right?