Mega Thread 2025 Media & Miscellaneous Thread

[Tonga Bob]

Back by popular demand. However...

There has been some aggro from publishers of articles in recent months about sites that copypasta their content onto other sites, particularly the paywalled ones, which could lead to fines and whanot for those that do it. Apparently there are copywrite laws for these things. As a result we can no longer have full articles reposted here, so if you come across something then please refrain from nabbing the whole thing and just post the link. Quoting a paragraph or two and linking the source is fine however, just don't get greedy.

Here's the updated site-wide rule: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/please-read-re-copyright-posting-newspaper-articles.1389553/

Here's an example of what you can do:

"If West Coast was the gold standard for how to operate, then Fremantle's arrival into the AFL in 1995 could be viewed as a series of cautionary tales.

Despite eight wins in that debut season, a series of poor recruiting choices meant they didn't play their first final until 2003."

If they believe that us not making finals until 2003 was solely due to "a series of poor recruiting choices" then I have a bridge to sell them.

Can 'perennial underachievers' Fremantle become WA's biggest footy club?

For 38 years the West Coast Eagles have been WA footy's alpha male, but in the midst of their worst ever on-field run, is the balance of power shifting towards their bitter rivals Fremantle?

www.abc.net.au

Thanks for your understanding.

 

[BStaff17]

Bruce Mcavaney i recall called it our Herschelle Gibbs moment

Tommy dropped the cup.

But even then do we actually win that game if he marks it

We're still down by 9 points at that stage.

For all the momentum we had in the start of the last we had 1 goal in the first 7 mins

 

[nurries]

Bruce Mcavaney i recall called it our Herschelle Gibbs moment

Tommy dropped the cup.

But even then do we actually win that game if he marks it

We're still down by 9 points at that stage.

For all the momentum we had in the start of the last we had 1 goal in the first 7 mins

Home ground momentum though. We were 9 points down with 2/3 quarter left. Plenty of time. We had kicked 1.2 to Nil at that point. That dropped mark and goal to Cyril sapped all the momentum

 

[s_wd6]

Bruce Mcavaney i recall called it our Herschelle Gibbs moment

Tommy dropped the cup.

But even then do we actually win that game if he marks it

We're still down by 9 points at that stage.

For all the momentum we had in the start of the last we had 1 goal in the first 7 mins

Fyfe had a broken leg didn’t he? Wouldn’t have played the next week which could’ve meant a Gf loss to the eagles.

Still though, that’s all I remember from Sheridan unfortunately

 

[stax on the mull]

 

[jusjoshin]

I look forward to West Coast mortgaging their future to bring Chad over.

 

[Dale147]

 

[Superkoops]

Home ground momentum though. We were 9 points down with 2/3 quarter left. Plenty of time. We had kicked 1.2 to Nil at that point. That dropped mark and goal to Cyril sapped all the momentum

It sure did. He was a player that lacked composure. That was the low point for Tommy and one he never recovers from but there were plenty of other bad moments for him. I’m sure glad S. Hill ignored him when on the charge towards goal in the 2013 final against Geelong. We need another Stephen Hill so much composure.

 

[BStaff17]

T Train off the long run.


Kornholio’s massive head and ego wasn’t having that.

On Cornes his brand or whatever he calls is over polluted in the AFL media landscape.

Fmd he is here, there and everywhere.

A sook as well

You wont hear him bash any Port Adelaide players or Ken hinkley his blindspot when it comes to his analysis

 

[AFL Nut]

Has anyone got the Code Sports article on Treacy please ??

 

[go_the_dockers]

Has anyone got the Code Sports article on Treacy please ??

Try putting link in archive md, it is normally already there

 

[AFL Nut]

Try putting link in archive md, it is normally already there

Thanks no results found

 

[Deveraux]

Thanks no results found

It’s hard to believe that the softly spoken country kid who arrived at Fremantle in 2020 is the same Josh Treacy who is now the Dockers’ barometer.

When Treacy presents publicly, he comes across as reserved and thoughtful.

It’s a different story at training or during games.

Acknowledging he was born with a severe case of white line fever, the boy from Bendigo is vocal, demanding and competitive.

It’s why Treacy, aged 22, was elevated into Fremantle’s leadership group this season. But when it came to finding his voice, Treacy first had to find form.

“I think it’s just confidence on-field,” he told this masthead.

“It’s allowed me to grow in other spaces and have more conversations and speak my mind when I feel like it’s necessary or I see something that needs to be addressed.

“I’m very vocal. It’s the way I’ve learnt to distinguish when I need to be brutal and loud and the rah-rah.

“I love winning and I’m very competitive. That’s part of who I’ll always be. I’m learning how to change the way I deliver things but still have the same meaning.

“Being named in the leadership group is obviously a big honour. It’s not something that I chased or was going to be disappointed with if I’d missed out.

“I’m grateful that my peers had the confidence in me to be a part of that group and help lead this club forward.”

Treacy only started believing he had the right to express himself once he was ingrained in the Dockers’ best 22. And after a breakout 2024 season, there’s a strong argument that Treacy has not only done that but emerged as Fremantle’s most important player.

When COVID-19 wiped out Victoria’s junior football competitions, Treacy was one sliding door away from not getting drafted.

The Dockers took a chance with pick seven in the 2020 rookie draft and he repaid the faith with 16 games during his debut season.

Treacy was limited to just four games in 2022 due to injury and glandular fever. He played 17 the following year but 2024 was the making of Treacy as one of the AFL’s best forwards.

Relentless, fearless and damaging, Treacy is the closest thing we’ve got to a reincarnation of the old-school key forwards from a bygone era.

With a career-best 45 goals, Treacy led Fremantle’s goalkicking and was in the All-Australian conversation before an untimely knee injury cut his season short.

Premiership Hawk Xavier Ellis declared this week that Treacy will be the best forward in the AFL by the end of the season.

Did Treacy always have the confidence he’d make it at the top level?

“I’ve had to figure out quite a bit along the way but I wouldn’t change what I’ve been through because it’s certainly shaped me and helped me get to where I am now,” he said. “I still have a long way but I’m trending in the right direction.

“I think that has a big impact on the way we play and I can drag others along through my actions.

“I just value what comes from within these four walls because it can be quite hostile out there but I think it’s exciting. It’s all I ever wanted to do as a kid.

“Keep piling on that pressure because it’s only going to fuel my performances.

“The more impact I can have an impact on others, hopefully, that moves us in the right direction.”

 

[AFL Nut]

It’s hard to believe that the softly spoken country kid who arrived at Fremantle in 2020 is the same Josh Treacy who is now the Dockers’ barometer.

When Treacy presents publicly, he comes across as reserved and thoughtful.

It’s a different story at training or during games.

Acknowledging he was born with a severe case of white line fever, the boy from Bendigo is vocal, demanding and competitive.

It’s why Treacy, aged 22, was elevated into Fremantle’s leadership group this season. But when it came to finding his voice, Treacy first had to find form.

“I think it’s just confidence on-field,” he told this masthead.

“It’s allowed me to grow in other spaces and have more conversations and speak my mind when I feel like it’s necessary or I see something that needs to be addressed.

“I’m very vocal. It’s the way I’ve learnt to distinguish when I need to be brutal and loud and the rah-rah.

“I love winning and I’m very competitive. That’s part of who I’ll always be. I’m learning how to change the way I deliver things but still have the same meaning.

“Being named in the leadership group is obviously a big honour. It’s not something that I chased or was going to be disappointed with if I’d missed out.

“I’m grateful that my peers had the confidence in me to be a part of that group and help lead this club forward.”

Treacy only started believing he had the right to express himself once he was ingrained in the Dockers’ best 22. And after a breakout 2024 season, there’s a strong argument that Treacy has not only done that but emerged as Fremantle’s most important player.

When COVID-19 wiped out Victoria’s junior football competitions, Treacy was one sliding door away from not getting drafted.

The Dockers took a chance with pick seven in the 2020 rookie draft and he repaid the faith with 16 games during his debut season.

Treacy was limited to just four games in 2022 due to injury and glandular fever. He played 17 the following year but 2024 was the making of Treacy as one of the AFL’s best forwards.

Relentless, fearless and damaging, Treacy is the closest thing we’ve got to a reincarnation of the old-school key forwards from a bygone era.

With a career-best 45 goals, Treacy led Fremantle’s goalkicking and was in the All-Australian conversation before an untimely knee injury cut his season short.

Premiership Hawk Xavier Ellis declared this week that Treacy will be the best forward in the AFL by the end of the season.

Did Treacy always have the confidence he’d make it at the top level?

“I’ve had to figure out quite a bit along the way but I wouldn’t change what I’ve been through because it’s certainly shaped me and helped me get to where I am now,” he said. “I still have a long way but I’m trending in the right direction.

“I think that has a big impact on the way we play and I can drag others along through my actions.

“I just value what comes from within these four walls because it can be quite hostile out there but I think it’s exciting. It’s all I ever wanted to do as a kid.

“Keep piling on that pressure because it’s only going to fuel my performances.

“The more impact I can have an impact on others, hopefully, that moves us in the right direction.”

Thanks for sharing legend

 

[Sumwun]

Article from WAtoday (The Age) about Mickey Barlow from Peter Hanlon. Not one mention of Freo however. Pity we couldn't tempt him as a development coach ourselves.

The podcaster, coach and ball magnet guiding some of the AFL’s most exciting talent​

By Peter Hanlon​

Michael Barlow’s birth as an AFL footballer was so laboured, it’s hard to imagine the end could have been just as harrowing.
Delisted by Gold Coast in 2018, nine seasons and 141 games after one of the most storied late-blooming careers had begun, Barlow headed home to Shepparton to be with his dying mother. He needed a family’s guiding hand more than ever.

Michael Barlow addresses his team during his days as Werribee VFL coach.Credit:AFL Photos

“When I finished footy I wasn’t going super as a person at all. I was a bit of a mess – 31, had just lived my dream, and it was all dawning on me pretty quickly that this is over.”
Jenny Barlow had played netball for Warwickshire and trialled for England. To the very end she was coaching Mooroopna. Michael shakes his head at the memory of a netball colleague visiting, and Jenny writing drills in a notebook. “I was watching, thinking she’s working on what they can do at training on Tuesday night, and she might die today.”

Barlow, pictured here coming up against legendary forward Lance “Buddy” Franklin in the 2013 grand final, always put his body on the line.Creditat Scala

Clubs from state and bush leagues were offering Barlow a significant “sugar hit”, and he almost hoped someone would help him take the easy out. Older brother Dom was having none of it.
“He said, ‘It’s not in your nature, you’ve been away for a while’ … he pretty much told me, ‘You’re staying.’ Pretty quickly with Mum’s illness, it straightened me up – what’s important in life, where do you want to go, how do you want to do it?
“I didn’t have any choice but to roll my sleeves up and keep grinding away.”
Grinding away could be Barlow’s Mastermind specialty subject. By the time Jenny died he’d committed to rejoining Werribee in a playing-assistant coaching/community role that paid less than half of what he could have got elsewhere. What he learnt from Mark Williams and the players he coached to the 2023 VFL grand final has been priceless. He treasures Werribee and the VFL for all the club and competition have done for him.


The ball magnet, who was shunned through draft after draft is still racking up big numbers – as North Melbourne’s head of development, a twice-weekly regular with podcaster Dylan Buckley, a sometimes VFL commentator, and grassroots footballer with oldest brother Herb’s North Warrnambool in the Hampden league.
Having such a full and diverse book gives him valuable perspective – not least in balancing the serious business of working at the coalface of an AFL club with the good-natured piss-taking of Footy & Friends, a preview and review show with (ex-Carlton and GWS player) Buckley and Brett Deledio (ex-Richmond and GWS).
“I think we’ve got a great platform for clubs to take things in the way it’s intended,” Barlow says of a vehicle that’s grown from a tiny rented office sharing a single microphone, to a schmick studio in Richmond with cameras feeding a YouTube channel.
“I’m very aware of my role at the club, too. There’s times when you need to be serious and edgy, but there’s also times when we need to not take ourselves too seriously.”


He takes the business of mentoring North’s players seriously indeed, bringing empathy and a tangible example of where grit and resilience can take you. When he urges patience in young players like Riley Hardeman and Brayden George, they can be sure he knows what he’s talking about.
From his game-day seat on the bench in last Sunday’s stirring win over Melbourne, Barlow saw exciting evidence of progress. “A big growth has just been an ability to come out of ourselves and be more connected as a playing group, which I’ve seen really strongly,” he says.
His week gets busy early, recording the pod on Monday and Wednesday mornings and sitting across North’s AFL and VFL programs through game reviews while setting up the week as training coordinator. By Thursday afternoon he puts “a bow tie on footy for the week” with a group of players who voluntarily stick around to contest Barlow’s weekly “Touch Golf” challenge, packed with handball and craft over nine “holes”.

Barlow now has one of the most important roles at North Melbourne, as the club’s head of development.Credit:AFL Photos

“I run it every Thursday arvo, and I don’t think Tom Powell has missed one,” Barlow says. “[It’s the] little things in development coaching … when you see a guy like Tom start to play some consistent footy and get results, that’s pretty cool because you’ve seen the investment they put in.”
At 37, he wonders if he should learn to sit still, but that would take time he hasn’t presently got. He runs 60 to 80 kilometres a week, craving movement to focus his mind. North’s runner, Daniel Cross, coerced him into a mid-week basketball team, which caused great amusement when footage of a 16-year-old teammate ignoring Barlow four times in one play found its way to Arden Street.

Partner Rily recently brought Eddie into the world, a little brother for two-year-old Lonni. When North’s schedule permits, they’ll head to Warrnambool where Dad Herb, sister Maisie and brothers Herb and Dom live. Still having a kick helps with empathy if a fatiguing North player doesn’t see an open teammate in the corridor. Barlow laughs that, with so much hands-on training, his skills might actually be improving.
Doing Eddie’s late feed recently, he watched three different footy shows and concluded they were all talking about the same thing through the same critical lens. He’s seen players and clubs feeling suffocated, and in regular off-site catch-ups with young Kangaroos strives to bring balance. A 2024 coaches’ association gong as development coach of the year indicates he’s hit a sweet spot.

“I do have a lot of time in my role to be able to connect with players and work with them on the grass, in their lives. With the development coaches, it’s [about] how do we technically make you a better player and fundamentally make you a better person as well, which I’m invested in.”
Remembering Jenny brings back her consoling words after his last draft rejection in 2009. In a sliding-doors world where he wasn’t rookie-listed soon after, Barlow thinks he would have gravitated back to Shepparton, used his urban planning degree, played for Shepp United and maybe ended up coaching them.
“And I would have been as happy as a pig in mud doing it. But I’m pretty happy now too.”

 

[sumavich]

I was at his 1st game at Subi, think he may have got 3 Brownlow vote. He was a ball magnet, and a heart and soul player.
A leader on the field.
We badly miss that sort of player now

 

[muzzington]

I'll always have a soft spot for Brian Taylor for the way he called Barlow's first game.

 

[freo84]

I was at his 1st game at Subi, think he may have got 3 Brownlow vote. He was a ball magnet, and a heart and soul player.
A leader on the field.
We badly miss that sort of player now

I've watched that game about 20 times.

 

[Lach72]

Article from WAtoday (The Age) about Mickey Barlow from Peter Hanlon. Not one mention of Freo however. Pity we couldn't tempt him as a development coach ourselves.

The podcaster, coach and ball magnet guiding some of the AFL’s most exciting talent​

By Peter Hanlon​

Michael Barlow’s birth as an AFL footballer was so laboured, it’s hard to imagine the end could have been just as harrowing.
Delisted by Gold Coast in 2018, nine seasons and 141 games after one of the most storied late-blooming careers had begun, Barlow headed home to Shepparton to be with his dying mother. He needed a family’s guiding hand more than ever.

Michael Barlow addresses his team during his days as Werribee VFL coach.Credit:AFL Photos

“When I finished footy I wasn’t going super as a person at all. I was a bit of a mess – 31, had just lived my dream, and it was all dawning on me pretty quickly that this is over.”
Jenny Barlow had played netball for Warwickshire and trialled for England. To the very end she was coaching Mooroopna. Michael shakes his head at the memory of a netball colleague visiting, and Jenny writing drills in a notebook. “I was watching, thinking she’s working on what they can do at training on Tuesday night, and she might die today.”

Barlow, pictured here coming up against legendary forward Lance “Buddy” Franklin in the 2013 grand final, always put his body on the line.Creditat Scala

Clubs from state and bush leagues were offering Barlow a significant “sugar hit”, and he almost hoped someone would help him take the easy out. Older brother Dom was having none of it.
“He said, ‘It’s not in your nature, you’ve been away for a while’ … he pretty much told me, ‘You’re staying.’ Pretty quickly with Mum’s illness, it straightened me up – what’s important in life, where do you want to go, how do you want to do it?
“I didn’t have any choice but to roll my sleeves up and keep grinding away.”
Grinding away could be Barlow’s Mastermind specialty subject. By the time Jenny died he’d committed to rejoining Werribee in a playing-assistant coaching/community role that paid less than half of what he could have got elsewhere. What he learnt from Mark Williams and the players he coached to the 2023 VFL grand final has been priceless. He treasures Werribee and the VFL for all the club and competition have done for him.


The ball magnet, who was shunned through draft after draft is still racking up big numbers – as North Melbourne’s head of development, a twice-weekly regular with podcaster Dylan Buckley, a sometimes VFL commentator, and grassroots footballer with oldest brother Herb’s North Warrnambool in the Hampden league.
Having such a full and diverse book gives him valuable perspective – not least in balancing the serious business of working at the coalface of an AFL club with the good-natured piss-taking of Footy & Friends, a preview and review show with (ex-Carlton and GWS player) Buckley and Brett Deledio (ex-Richmond and GWS).
“I think we’ve got a great platform for clubs to take things in the way it’s intended,” Barlow says of a vehicle that’s grown from a tiny rented office sharing a single microphone, to a schmick studio in Richmond with cameras feeding a YouTube channel.
“I’m very aware of my role at the club, too. There’s times when you need to be serious and edgy, but there’s also times when we need to not take ourselves too seriously.”


He takes the business of mentoring North’s players seriously indeed, bringing empathy and a tangible example of where grit and resilience can take you. When he urges patience in young players like Riley Hardeman and Brayden George, they can be sure he knows what he’s talking about.
From his game-day seat on the bench in last Sunday’s stirring win over Melbourne, Barlow saw exciting evidence of progress. “A big growth has just been an ability to come out of ourselves and be more connected as a playing group, which I’ve seen really strongly,” he says.
His week gets busy early, recording the pod on Monday and Wednesday mornings and sitting across North’s AFL and VFL programs through game reviews while setting up the week as training coordinator. By Thursday afternoon he puts “a bow tie on footy for the week” with a group of players who voluntarily stick around to contest Barlow’s weekly “Touch Golf” challenge, packed with handball and craft over nine “holes”.

Barlow now has one of the most important roles at North Melbourne, as the club’s head of development.Credit:AFL Photos

“I run it every Thursday arvo, and I don’t think Tom Powell has missed one,” Barlow says. “[It’s the] little things in development coaching … when you see a guy like Tom start to play some consistent footy and get results, that’s pretty cool because you’ve seen the investment they put in.”
At 37, he wonders if he should learn to sit still, but that would take time he hasn’t presently got. He runs 60 to 80 kilometres a week, craving movement to focus his mind. North’s runner, Daniel Cross, coerced him into a mid-week basketball team, which caused great amusement when footage of a 16-year-old teammate ignoring Barlow four times in one play found its way to Arden Street.

Partner Rily recently brought Eddie into the world, a little brother for two-year-old Lonni. When North’s schedule permits, they’ll head to Warrnambool where Dad Herb, sister Maisie and brothers Herb and Dom live. Still having a kick helps with empathy if a fatiguing North player doesn’t see an open teammate in the corridor. Barlow laughs that, with so much hands-on training, his skills might actually be improving.
Doing Eddie’s late feed recently, he watched three different footy shows and concluded they were all talking about the same thing through the same critical lens. He’s seen players and clubs feeling suffocated, and in regular off-site catch-ups with young Kangaroos strives to bring balance. A 2024 coaches’ association gong as development coach of the year indicates he’s hit a sweet spot.

“I do have a lot of time in my role to be able to connect with players and work with them on the grass, in their lives. With the development coaches, it’s [about] how do we technically make you a better player and fundamentally make you a better person as well, which I’m invested in.”
Remembering Jenny brings back her consoling words after his last draft rejection in 2009. In a sliding-doors world where he wasn’t rookie-listed soon after, Barlow thinks he would have gravitated back to Shepparton, used his urban planning degree, played for Shepp United and maybe ended up coaching them.
“And I would have been as happy as a pig in mud doing it. But I’m pretty happy now too.”

Good article…amazing they never mentioned Fremantle at all in the article.

 

[Sumwun]

I was at his 1st game at Subi, think he may have got 3 Brownlow vote. He was a ball magnet, and a heart and soul player.
A leader on the field.
We badly miss that sort of player now

He didn't get a vote in his first game despite setting a record for disposals on debut. Didn't have a big enough reputation maybe? He did poll 2 votes the next game though.

 

[Sumwun]

Good article…amazing they never mentioned Fremantle at all in the article.

Vic bias

 

[DocT]

I wonder when was the last time a bottom of the table clash drew the highest crowd for the round?

 

[Paracleet]

I wonder when was the last time a bottom of the table clash drew the highest crowd for the round?

View attachment 2267462

Ooofff Essendon at home 25k. Wonder if we're finally seeing just how long a period of consistent failure is required to cause big club shrinkage.

 

[Paracleet]

Also shows you just how big WC are. 5% of any clubs fan base would have thought based on form last week and their trades 'we are going to smash them' and decided to rock up. Whereas in fact they are a rabble: that 5% added 10k to the crowd.

 

[Docker82]

Ooofff Essendon at home 25k. Wonder if we're finally seeing just how long a period of consistent failure is required to cause big club shrinkage.

Attendances in Victoria are sh** whenever it’s against a non-Victorian team that isn’t Sydney.

I’ve said this many times but imagine what would happen to Freo or West Coast if we only showed up when playing each other. 25k each week except one game a year would see both clubs broke quite quickly.

Having that I think both clubs have a significant amount of members that have ticket to each game and attend each game. There is a semi noticeable difference when we play one of the big clubs at Optus Stadium rather than a competition minnow. It’s going to be interesting to see how the North Melbourne game goes given they’re a bit of a nothing club and our members need to pay for that extra ticket.

 

[Paracleet]

Attendances in Victoria are sh** whenever it’s against a Victorian team that isn’t Sydney.

I’ve said this many times but imagine what would happen to Freo or West Coast if we only showed up when playing each other. 25k each week except one game a year would see both clubs broke quite quickly.

Having that I think both clubs have a significant amount of members that have ticket to each game and attend each game. There is a semi noticeable difference when we play one of the big clubs at Optus Stadium rather than a competition minnow. It’s going to be interesting to see how the North Melbourne game goes given they’re a bit of a nothing club and our members need to pay for that extra ticket.

We got 33,000 to a Gold Coast home game at Optus in 2018 round three. Be very surprised if it was less than that. If we're going badly 37500, if we're flying could be 45000+