titan_uranus

Confirmed that Culley’s 46:

As an addendum to this, last week David King said we were one of 6-7 clubs who could be ruled out of flag contention. Despite this, yesterday he said he had us in his top 8, until last minute switching us out for Gold Coast. He does not have Sydney, Carlton, Port Adelaide or the Bulldogs in his top 8, despite ruling none of them out of flag contention last week. Strictly speaking not inconsistent, but generally speaking classic David King.

Gawn on radio yesterday said he’s playing, and he expects everyone to play except Melksham and McVee.

I think this is the right call. I don’t think we’ve had adequate midfield depth for a while now and from all reports Culley has done everything asked of him, and more, this pre-season. I reckon we’ll see him in the side earlier than many expect, even if only for a handful of games.

Cal Twomey’s article suggests the rationale to cutting it off as early as possible is to allow lower league clubs to know who is actually going to be playing for them, without fear that at any minute their players might be picked up by an AFL club. Surely the end of February/start of March isn’t too early for leagues which don’t start until the end of March? And even if it is, surely today (for example) is practically no different to Friday, but allows us and the other clubs who had their practice matches on Saturday to get in before the cut off?

He obviously can’t given who he’s employed by, but tbh I think he’s conceding as much with the word “quirk”. It was so obviously foreseeable.

The official AFL website is running a fan survey, with a bunch of respectful questions on there, like this one… Guess they forgot the “none of them” option…?

As much as the result is pleasing given we had 10-12 best 22 out and they had maybe 2 out, it was a practice match so the result is largely meaningless. For those who were able to watch, I’m far more interested in our game plan - how did we set up, did we press high, how did we move the ball, etc?

His reasoning was, as usual, not bullet proof. Cornes said he’d rule Port Adelaide out and King said he wouldn’t rule them out because Butters, JHF and Rozee might all go berserk and that might be enough, despite them being weak both in the backline and the forward line. Surely similar logic applies to us with, say, Trac, Clarry and Gawn?

Is it just me or is this clip not doing the rounds on Demonland already?

So it could be be a Cometti favourite - the third of two options (Henderson over both Culley and George)

Pretty damning interview. I applaud his honesty tbh. But it’s abundantly clear that he wants out. I suppose we have 6 months to convince him to change his mind.

The timing of this match is the sort of thing that needs to be raised at the AGM. Why are we embarrassing ourselves and our hardworking volunteers? Is there a good reason? I certainly can’t think of a good reason for a Friday afternoon timeslot in school term. The McAdam injury is devastating given his changed fitness and attitude this pre-season. Only serves to compound the frustration that comes with Pickett’s suspension.

That’s what you took from that? It’s arguably (maybe inarguably) the most open/candid interview he’s ever given. Which may not be saying much given he’s renowned for being a deadpan closed book, but makes the interview insightful all the same.