Mega Thread Port Forum General AFL Thread Part 25

[Handyandy]

You would have to think that after every contest his opponent would ask him if he shat himself that time. I know I would.

Butters is going to have a field day with this one. It’s gold.

 

[JimmyBC]

Interesting. I recall a conversation with someone connected to our football dept at the time who said that the AFL (possibly umpires rep?) came to Alberton to apologise for it.

Seems the AFL gets to keep its cake and eat it too.

Yea I remember hearing the same I think it was later on in the following pre-season, the guy copped a bit from the players.

 

[Handyandy]

Whinging to the umps all the time just makes you look like a sore loser and will just piss the umps off more. It’s human nature, if I was an ump and a club cried about every perceived mistake I would make them pay.

 

[backtozero]

Whinging to the umps all the time just makes you look like a sore loser and will just piss the umps off more. It’s human nature, if I was an ump and a club cried about every perceived mistake I would make them pay.

Evidence from other clubs says this isn't true. It's worked for Chris Scott over the years.

 

[Handyandy]

I think keayes shitting himself, then refuting the obvious, deserves its own thread.

 

[Handyandy]

Evidence from other clubs says this isn't true. It's worked for Chris Scott over the years.

Yeah you should test that theory next time you get pulled over by the coppers, make a big song and dance and see how that pans out for you

 

[bomberclifford]

Yeah you should test that theory next time you get pulled over by the coppers, make a big song and dance and see how that pans out for you

It's a little known fact that every other planet in the Solar System can fit in the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Your post leapt even further than that.

 

[JimmyBC]

It's a little known fact that every other planet in the Solar System can fit in the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Your post leapt even further than that.

Handyshandyandy making leaps

 

[Handyandy]

Yeah bitching and whinging to the umps department is going to endear yourselves to them? Not far fetched at all, at least not to any normal, intelligent person. My mistake was assuming even a modicum of intelligence from the lynch Hinkley brigade morons on here

 

[Handyandy]

Your bitching only proves my point. You obviously take issue with someone who questions your views

 

[JimmyBC]

Yeah bitching and whinging to the umps department is going to endear yourselves to them? Not far fetched at all, at least not to any normal, intelligent person. My mistake was assuming even a modicum of intelligence from the lynch Hinkley brigade morons on here

Calm down bruz it's the internetz we don't have to agree with each other.

 

[simba_]

Whinging to the umps all the time just makes you look like a sore loser and will just piss the umps off more. It’s human nature, if I was an ump and a club cried about every perceived mistake I would make them pay.

those people are less than human. that's why they get those jobs.

 

[Troopsy]

You would have to think that after every contest his opponent would ask him if he shat himself that time. I know I would.

Wouldn’t put it past Butters to say something like that to him

 

[theouthouse]

How does one accidentally rip googles off of someone’s head?

Pretty sure he was talking about shitting himself.

 

[Handyandy]

Butters definitely will, it’s too good an opportunity to pass up, I bet he has a nickname lined up already.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Those Kangas are still comin

I think part of their problem will be they'll be looking for the quick rise. They need to settle in, it's been obvious the last few years that a very long rebuild was on the cards. They're literally looking at a 5-7 year total rebuild to get to that challenging level again. Cutting corners will only get them stuck in a low-mid table funk.

Nah they don't need to cut corners. They need to get their players fit and healthy for future years and make some deep cuts at the end of this season and some more in 2024. Plus, they need some inspiration and confidence. And they need to get good footy people into the club.

They had 2 AFL listed players fit enough to be available for their reserves side last weekend, and its basically been in the 2 to 6 range for 2 months. That is unheard of. They are beaten in their heads before they get to the ground.

At the moment you play a shit game and you probably don't get dropped as there is nobody to replace you.

There is no inspiration. Simpson doesn't help, he seems very uninspiring, resigned to not much he can do. He was a good 300 gamer mid fielder, but exciting wasn't a word you would use to describe the style of player he was.

There have been several examples of turning it around in 3 years from the depths of despair, but you need to clean out the dead wood and get good coaches and good footy people into admin to change things quickly.

I have said for over a decade on here, that the fundamental difference between a top 4 side and a bottom 4 sides is 4 players, players of All Australian quality ie made an All Oz side or just missed out - a KPD, a KPF, a midfielder and a ruckman. You can build a good side around these type of 4 key players.

I moved to Sydney in May 1992 and the swans were 3-1-3 and a few days later I went to the SCG and saw them lose to Richmond by 5 or 6 goals and it was the start of a 26 game losing streak, 15 that year then 11 next year and a 1 win in 34 games at the end of 1993 when it was only a 20 game season, and by mid 1994 it wasn't much better, and that stretch of games was a 3-47 record. I went to most of their losses at the SCG.

In the middle of the 1993 season the private owners handed back their licence and said we can't do this anymore. The AFL stepped in, supported them financially, and talked coaching legend Ron Barassi to coach the swans. Ron was past his best, but he was an evangelist for Australian Football having a national comp for 25 years, so he threw himself into the job, with some gurantees from the AFL, and brought in lots of proper football club people and ideas and had instant credibility with the players and whole club.

The AFL moved Alan Schwab there to help fix the swans as part of the Barassi move, but he died after being there a month, after a session with a hooker and drugs. They lucked out asking Richard Colless, who had moved to Sydney a few months earlier with work, to be chair - a bloke who was the first chair of an independent WAFC, was the first chair of WCE and stuck his hand in his pocket for $1m to help buy the licence when the VFL screwed both WCE and Brisbane and said you have 30 days to come up with $4m, not the 10 years we initially told you. And they went and approached ex brownlow medallist and star CHF Kelvin Templeton who was GM of MBF health fund or GM of a significant division of MBF, to become CEO.

So off field they got it right with bloody solid footy people in charge with coach, prez and CEO. They didn't know it at the time, but at the start of 1993 they appointed the right bloke as captain, 23 year old plumber from Wagga, Paul Kelly. They had a lot of priority picks, they blew the 1992 picks inc trading #1 for 2 players with WCE, who didn't contribute much, but did better in 1993 and 1994. And between 1994 and 1996 they found those 4 players - plus others.

Kelly became a star midfielder, they recruited Plugger who was 28 and in his prime, Roos who was 30, past his best but an on field general and coached players on field and Greg Stafford went from doing nothing for 2 or 3 years to breaking into the top 10 ruckmen in 1996, and the swans made a GF 3 years after they hit the bottom in 1993.

Barassi did his job over 2.5 seasons, he stayed on as a board member, they got a hungry new first up coach who had done well as an assistant and he helped them make their big jump in 1996 after a big improvement in 1995. Without the AFL's financial support they wouldn't have succeeded, but they put the right people in the right place to succeed.

Hawthorn were hopeless in 2004 and 2005, but with Jason Dunstall in the acting CEO role for about 8 months in 2004, he/they were driven to change things for the better. Ian Dicker didn't know a lot about footy, but he used his cheque book to stabilise the Hawks, had negotiated a great deal to give up the Waverley Park lease and delegated power to good football types.

They get a good young new coach, driven to succeed, they had a very good recruiting team in place for 2 or 3 years before the slump, in 2004 and 2005 they traded away asset players in Thompson and Hay, hide their mental health issues to maximize their trade value, nailed the 2004 and 2005 drafts partly due to pre Rd 1 priority picks each year and steal good footy people from Port - fitness boss Andrew Russell, Hardwick was going to stay at Port in an assistant role, but Clarko nabs him, Chris Pelchen was let go in December 2004 ( after Buckenara and co at the Hawks had recruited Roughead, Franklin and Lewis in the 2004 draft) as we didn't have the funds to keep our Melbourne office, so Clarko recruited him and in 2006 pinched long time development coach Geof Morris from us.

So like Sydney they get good footy people and have financial support/stability and they pinched the flag in 2008, maybe 2 or 3 years before they were expected to, but went from 2 years near the bottom. to finals 2 years later, then the flag the next year.

Even Port in 2011 hit the bottom and made a PF in 2014 and missed the GF by a kick, and have been a strong side since then. We were the pits in 2011. The SANFL almost took us over in June, we had no money, Alberton was very shaky, we got smashed by 138 pts then 165 pts, then the next week at home in Rd 22, we were 0.0 v 10.3 against the Bulldogs with 30 seconds of the first quarter to go, before Daniel Stewart took a mark 48m out and went back and goaled on the siren. But we did find Johnny Butcher who made sure the game was a basically a draw after 1/4 time and he lifted us for the last 2 games and helped us avoid the wooden spoon.

Did anyone in Rd 22 2011 at 1/4 time game say, Bob's your uncle, we will challenge for a GF in 3 years and 1 months time or was the despair there that we are 5-7 years away from it and need a long rebuilding??

We cut 7 players at the end of 2011 including Chad and Broges, and then between August 2012 and Christmas 2013 we cut another 18 players from our 2012 squad that Primus had to work with. I even started a thread called the Primus 26 and 16 of those 26 players were the core players in the 2013-15 seasons.

We didn't have great drafts in 2011 and 2012, but we drafted 2 star kids in Wingard in 2011 and then Wines in 2012 and traded for Ebert in 2011 and Monfries in 2012, all who made huge impacts in 2013-15 seasons and whilst we didn't have great priority picks like above, we worked the system to get compo picks by letting go Chaplin and Pearce and with one of those compo picks we got Hombnsch+ Neade who were big contributors between 2013-15 seasons.

But we also put in good footy people in the right spots. KT as CEO was an excellent selection, getting Burgess back and him building a fitness team was vital. Hinkley was a hungry new coach who wanted to prove those who failed to give him the top job at other clubs, wrong. KT employed Alan Richardson 6 weeks before Hinkley and Richo had a specific role to help develop the coaches and work with them. We lucked out that he didn't move his family to Adelaide in 2013 as his daughter was doing year 12, so he did the work of about 1.5 coaches as he had a lot of spare time with his family not being around. When Richo left we got Phil Walsh in. But we needed financial help to stabilise things. The June 2011 package the AFL put in place with the SANFL and moving to AO provided that.

WCE don't need the extra financial support like the above 3 examples needed. They are all templates the WCE can follow, rather than be a carbon copy of.

They need to get a coach who can inspire them. Hardwick has the credibility for instant respect and drive. Go get Don Pyke and Dean Cox back from Sydney's coaching panel if need be.

They need to beef up their fitness and medical departments. They aren't AFL fit enough. Go find a Burgess type. Half their injuries are collision type which nobody can do anything about, but the other half are soft tissue injuries. They have to get Yeo and a few others back to their best.

They need to get rid of the corporate type CEO and put in a footy first CEO. They did have footy ops boss Craig Vozzo in their midst, but lost him last year when he took up the Essendon CEO position. Maybe they can talk another good footy person, Mike Fitzpatrick, to replace his brother Paul as chairman.

He's not a footy person, but board member Justin Langer might be the right person to take over as director of coaching and drive higher standards and change his board oversight role, to a more hands on oversight role.

They need to nail most of their high draft picks and be prepared to trade away players or let free agents walk for compo picks.

There was nothing wrong with WCE trying to squeeze an extra flag or two out of the 2018 premiership squad and maybe pay them overs and back end contracts. Who knows how they would have gone without Covid. They didn't handle that well and the farce of WA being locked out of Oz for so long meant their 2022 season was covided when covid got into WA.

Now is the time for tough footy decisions. WA has a reputation for big boofy blokes making hard ruthless decisions, be it in politics, law or business. I don't see why footy would miss out.

They need to cut their 2023 contracted veterans or trade them away if they can - even get pick 69 like we got for Chad + Broges from GWS or give away pick 48 like we did for Monfries when we could have got him for zero, but we wanted to keep the 2 free agent compo picks for Chaplin and Pearce, not have them netted to 1 compo pick if we got Monfries for free.

We cut 7+9+9 players between 2011-13 trade and draft periods. WCE will probably have to do something similar

McGovern, Shuey, Hurn and Cripps are coming out of contract this year. They have to cut them or trade them away even for pick 60 or 70. McGovern is the 3rd highest player in the AFL this year according to the Herald Sun Rich 100 list I posted yesterday. Getting rid of him frees up a 1/13th of the cap space, to go chase other players.

In 2024 Yeo, Naitanui and Gaff are out of contract. Spend a shit load of $$$ to fix up the first twos' injury issues otherwise trade them out and even pay 70% of their contract if you have to if you can trade them out. Trade out Gaff if you can and be prepared to pay up to 70% of the his contract. Moving on those 3 and paying 60-70% of their salary might still save upto $800k, the salary of one very good free agent player they can go and chase.

I said the difference between the top 4 and bottom 4 is basically 4 players that you build around. They have those 4 players in Tom Barrass 27, Tim Kelly 28, Oscar Allan 24 and Bailey Williams 23 who isn't the best ruckman in the league but can do a Greg Stafford and be a top 10 ruckman.

And Sheed, Duggan, Witherden, Darling, Waterman, Ryan, Jones, SPS, and Hunt give you a core group of 13 players you can build around during 2024-26 seasons.

When they played Port in Rd 6 they gave a big effort to keep us at bay. I reckon Barrass stopped Port from kicking 10 goals that day.

Their 2 first rounders from last years draft, Grinbey and Hewitt are good players, but its been hard to judge them given how poor the team has been playing and Hewitt has had injuries. They will get pick 1 this year and they maybe able to trade it for a couple of more top 10 picks to use on WA players, or keep it, if Harley Reid is that good and work on keeping him for 6-8 years and set him up financially like they set up Chris Judd, knowing they will eventually lose him.

They should get a compo pick like North did. North had 3 poor years and got 2 x 2023 priority picks which they had to trade away for players which they did for both in 2022. WCE should get 1 pick based on what the AFL did with North.

If the West Coast are prepared to be ruthless in the next 4 or 5 months and maintain it for the next few seasons I can see them playing finals in 2026 and pushing upward from there. If they don't, then they will remain cellar dwellers.

 

[Festerz]

I don't think this is true. What makes you so sure?

Was in the Age story I linked. Might have changed in following weeks/months

 

[powermacs]

I’m not sure what’s more embarrassing. Shitting yourself or rocking that haircut for the past 10 years.

 

[bomberclifford]

Yeah bitching and whinging to the umps department is going to endear yourselves to them? Not far fetched at all, at least not to any normal, intelligent person. My mistake was assuming even a modicum of intelligence from the lynch Hinkley brigade morons on here

You jumped from an AFL club seeking clarification on umpiring decisions to a driver talking back to a cop who has pulled them over.
The two circumstances are not even remotely the same.

 

[bomberclifford]

I’m not sure what’s more embarrassing. Shitting yourself or rocking that haircut for the past 10 years.

He should be wearing happy pants and a novelty whistle necklace dancing around to East 17.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

And this is where it goes, review this free kick and that free kick ...

 

[Schulzenfest]

Your bitching only proves my point. You obviously take issue with someone who questions your views

You post nothing on this board except bitching about other people's views. You're not smart enough to be as arrogant as you are, get back in your box.

 

[Poo Eckert]

I think keayes shitting himself, then refuting the obvious, deserves its own thread.

Maybe the general thread should be changed to general shit my pants thread

 

[DaTBird187]

How does one accidentally rip googles off of someone’s head?

Sometimes when you’re shitting you just gotta grab hold of something.

 

[Lawnchair Larry]

I saw Keays shorts and was immediately suspicious that an anal infraction had occurred. It appeared as a dark vertical stripe.
But I explained it away at the time by thinking that his cleft lay in the rain shadow of his enormous bum cheeks.