No Oppo Supporters General AFL discussion and other club news

[KermitJagger]

The reason they go overseas is because they know they are learning from people who have a lot to offer. The US and Europe are world leaders in that space. Same reason AFL players use international facilities or go overseas for advice on injuries.
Notice how you don't see US or European head coaches spending time at AFL clubs during their off season? Not hard to figure out why.

People go overseas because they're learning from people who have a lot to offer, yes. Not because they're inherently better or more knowledgeable but because they have a different area of expertise, one that you can't get by just consuming AFL. Just because US coaches or players don't take advantage of sports they may feel are beneath them, doesn't mean that they're correct in doing so. In fact, some of the bat shit insane things that US professional sports systems still do are absolute products of their unwillingness to learn from other sports.

Also, the big reason why people go overseas for advice on injuries or for treatments is that bigger sports invest more money in those things. The more money invested, the more you can pay the best professionals, buy the best equipment and fund the best treatments. Players go where the expertise is, and expertise follows the money. Even US athletes go overseas for their treatment, whether it's to Germany for Regenokine or Panama for MSC Therapy. You've even got a tonne of athletes going to places like the Saudi Arabia or Qatar now, countries that can spend a frivolous amount of money on the best available people and treatments in an extended sportswashing attempt.

Darren Burgess is a good example of someone who successfully transitioned from heading up S&C at an AFL club before moving to Liverpool and Arsenel. The NFL and the collegiate systems are currently full to bursting with Aussie Rules discard punters who didn't make the cut to play professionally here. I'm pretty sure roughly 50% of the Power Five schools in the US have Pro Kick punters. Even with the relatively low amount of money invested in Australian sport (at least in an absolute sense) we're still contributing to plenty of sports with a significantly larger pool of cash and people to draw from.

 

[Phil McCreviss]

People go overseas because they're learning from people who have a lot to offer, yes. Not because they're inherently better or more knowledgeable but because they have a different area of expertise, one that you can't get by just consuming AFL. Just because US coaches or players don't take advantage of sports they may feel are beneath them, doesn't mean that they're correct in doing so. In fact, some of the bat shit insane things that US professional sports systems still do are absolute products of their unwillingness to learn from other sports.

Also, the big reason why people go overseas for advice on injuries or for treatments is that bigger sports invest more money in those things. The more money invested, the more you can pay the best professionals, buy the best equipment and fund the best treatments. Players go where the expertise is, and expertise follows the money. Even US athletes go overseas for their treatment, whether it's to Germany for Regenokine or Panama for MSC Therapy. You've even got a tonne of athletes going to places like the Saudi Arabia or Qatar now, countries that can spend a frivolous amount of money on the best available people and treatments in an extended sportswashing attempt.

Darren Burgess is a good example of someone who successfully transitioned from heading up S&C at an AFL club before moving to Liverpool and Arsenel. The NFL and the collegiate systems are currently full to bursting with Aussie Rules discard punters who didn't make the cut to play professionally here. I'm pretty sure roughly 50% of the Power Five schools in the US have Pro Kick punters. Even with the relatively low amount of money invested in Australian sport (at least in an absolute sense) we're still contributing to plenty of sports with a significantly larger pool of cash and people to draw from.

I don't think we will agree on any of this. I understand what you're saying but I'll go back to my original point. I don't agree when anyone in the AFL say it's the most difficult game in the world to officiate or play. It's an opinion which imo is ignorant.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Went to an official AFL post GF lunch last Friday, and there was a large contingent of Hawk’s connections. MC’d by Sam McLure and Catherine Murphy(ABC).

Interestingly on the same table as Andy Gowers, was David Parkin, Mike Fitzpatrick, Will Day, Calsher Dear and seated next to Growler, Laura Kane. I liked seeing this.

John Kennedy Jnr was there, Ben Dixon

Ben Dixon

Age

47

Ht

188cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.8

3star

K

7.5

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.4

3star

G

1.4

5star

No current season stats available

D

10.4

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

4.8

5star

T

0.8

3star

G

2.4

5star

played the role of Roaming Brian, quizzing some of the ex-players and faces in the crowd.
Dicko made a quip about Gowers getting Albo in the rooms and how that was helping getting us funding, Dicko joked that Gowers had just kicked him in the shins.

Gil and Kylie Rogers in attendance and were quizzed quite heavily as to what they could say now that they were no longer part of the AFL.
Rogers told everyone that Katy Perry made a significant contribution of her own money to make sure the production on the day of the GF hit the mark. Rogers was quite glowing of Perry and said that most of the acts that they’ve had over the years have been a pleasure to deal with.
One of the strangest “riders” Rogers said she was given was from a big name male performer who called for 3 framed posters of Coldplay’s Chris Martin in their dressing room prior to performing. Very odd.

Rogers also threw Gil under the bus when quizzed as to how Kylie Minogue is yet to perform at an AFL GF. Apparently mushroom and Rogers had organised to meet Kylie at a concert and Gil intimidated her with his size and pushiness and it all went pear shaped.

Cripps was there. McLure asked “is it true that you told a mate on the red carpet that you thought might get 40 votes?”. Cripps who handles himself very well and seems very likable smirked and said “yeah that’s true…”. The crowd was laughing, Cripps went on to say “well I had a really consistent year, we won a lot of games and I played well most weeks so I figured that if it went my way I could get a fair few votes”. Logically, he was correct.
Cripps was also pretty glowing about the role of the umpires, joked about how they look after him, but said that they have the hardest job in the game and that descent rule coming in(as well as him growing in maturity)was the best thing for the players at it forced them to just accept umpires decisions.

Sheedy was there, and by the time they got him up onstage for a Q&A with Parko he was 8 reds deep and had a lot to say. Parko joked that maybe he wasn’t required onstage as Sheedy was going to enjoy the camera time.
Queried as to what was wrong at Essendon by McLure Sheedy responded with “I honestly don’t know”, McLure prodded with “you were on the board, surely you had some input” to which Sheedy replied “being on that board was the closest thing to being in a straight jacket”.
McLure poked Parko and Sheeds about how both clubs that they coached have done nothing since they left and this got an interesting response from Sheedy “I’ve got no idea(why), but look at Hawthorn, 13 flags in 60 years, they are just a ruthless organisation that make good decisions…look at what they did with Clarko, just moved him on and then they sign Mitchell… ruthless footy club…” seemingly aghast at how Hawthorn are the benchmark for making calls that refocus the club.

Will Day was interviewed by Dicko for a short time, doesn’t have the sling anymore, said none of them know what “Hok” is but that they love playing footy together, that the boys are quite aware that the expectation is now on them, that their rise might not be linear and that it will take hard work. Gave Calsher a massive pump up as being a “special talent” that had a year that not many 1st year forwards have…and told the crowd Calsher was punching him in the back as he was saying that.

Koutafides was there and went on a big sell of how he’s going to make Melbourne great again.

Razor Ray and two of the GF umpires were up on stage for a bit and were quizzed about all sorts of things. Apparently Nic Newman

24

Nic Newman

Age

32

Ht

186cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.7

5star

K

13.7

5star

HB

5.9

4star

M

5.5

5star

T

3.3

5star

MG

400.8

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

1.0

1star

M

2.0

2star

T

1.0

2star

MG

157.0

3star

D

22.4

5star

K

12.8

5star

HB

9.6

5star

M

5.4

5star

T

3.6

5star

MG

387.8

5star

is the one player the umpires all get mouthfuls from.
Dicko asked Razor who the biggest prick player was to umpire, Razor said he wouldn’t call him a prick, that he’d say he was “ultra competitive and incredibly difficult to manage… Peter Bell.”
Nic Foot said he booked a holiday in Noosa, went to check in and when he saw who was in the room next door, it Nic Newman

24

Nic Newman

Age

32

Ht

186cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.7

5star

K

13.7

5star

HB

5.9

4star

M

5.5

5star

T

3.3

5star

MG

400.8

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

1.0

1star

M

2.0

2star

T

1.0

2star

MG

157.0

3star

D

22.4

5star

K

12.8

5star

HB

9.6

5star

M

5.4

5star

T

3.6

5star

MG

387.8

5star

and his family.
Foot said he loves the game, knows that his decisions can be scrutinized so much, but that he enjoys the job and gets along with the players well.
Simon Meredith when asked if he gets along with and talks to the players in game, “they hate me and I hate them”.
The umps got asked what they thought about “hokball”. Foot said “I’m probably the youngest bloke up here and I have no idea what half their celebrations were about, but I love seeing how much fun they were having and I love that they brought personalities back to footy. There should be more of it.” The crowd applauded.

It was a good day, plenty of other stuff said on the day, but that’s the more interesting stuff from the day.

 

[ahhhhhh]

Collingwood is going for Gold with an aggressive strategy this season.

Assuming they can get Houston they will be set up for more silverware well into the future. In two years time, with Pendles, Sidebottom, Mitchell and Howe gone they will still have an incredible base of A graders, albeit with less promising youth than some of the opposition.

Daicos x 2
Houston
Perryman
Quaynor
Schultz
Hill
Moore
DeGoey
Maynard
Lipinski
McReeery
Dean
McGuane

That's 14 genuine All Stars! Scary, huh!

Are you a Collingwood supporter? The only A graders on that list are Nick Daicos and De Geoy.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

My issue is media and coaches saying it is the most difficult sport to play and or officiate which is ignorant in my opinion.

Footy media and coaches are talking up a sport they are clearly passionate about - is that all that surprising? Rugby League for decades in this country has used the tagline 'the greatest game of all' - is that ignorant? No, it's just marketing.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Notice how you don't see US or European head coaches spending time at AFL clubs during their off season? Not hard to figure out why.

Because international clubs are insanely more well resourced, yes. Not because our code is inferior.

 

[KermitJagger]

I don't think we will agree on any of this. I understand what you're saying but I'll go back to my original point. I don't agree when anyone in the AFL say it's the most difficult game in the world to officiate or play. It's an opinion which imo is ignorant.

I respect that you disagree, but I don't think you can call it ignorant given how passionate most AFL coaches are about sports. They have the most informed possible opinion, as I said before. Quite a few spend their off seasons studying those sports abroad.

 

[Phil McCreviss]

Footy media and coaches are talking up a sport they are clearly passionate about - is that all that surprising? Rugby League for decades in this country has used the tagline 'the greatest game of all' - is that ignorant? No, it's just marketing.

Where did I say I was surprised? I just think it's a ridiculous thing to say about a code that barely anyone knows outside of Australia. I'd have the same reaction if someone in the NBA or NFL said the same thing.

 

[Phil McCreviss]

I respect that you disagree, but I don't think you can call it ignorant given how passionate most AFL coaches are about sports. They have the most informed possible opinion, as I said before. Quite a few spend their off seasons studying those sports abroad.

So because an AFL coach is passionate means they are not ignorant? Apply that logic to Ken Hinkley.

Their passion for sport doesn't make them any more informed than you or I for most sports outside of the AFL. So generalised statements like "most difficult game to play and officiate in the world" is lazy and ignorant. As it would be coming from another code.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I just think it's a ridiculous thing to say about a code that barely anyone knows outside of Australia.

Why? Why does it being confined to Australia mean it's any more or less difficult to officiate? Calcio Storico is the most brutal team sport in the world despite it being isolated purely to Florence.

So generalised statements like "most difficult game to play and officiate in the world" is lazy and ignorant.

Again, why? It's not remotely possible that the AFL coaches who have said that are coming from an educated position having played this sport and following others closely and have come to that conclusion? In my opinion it's not remotely an easy sport to officiate for all the previous reasons I have stated. You have presented only NHL as one that is more difficult to officiate in your view - to which I disagree. Does that make you ignorant? Absolutely not - it's a difference of opinion.

 

[OnTheRocks]

Went to an official AFL post GF lunch last Friday, and there was a large contingent of Hawk’s connections. MC’d by Sam McLure and Catherine Murphy(ABC).

Interestingly on the same table as Andy Gowers, was David Parkin, Mike Fitzpatrick, Will Day, Calsher Dear and seated next to Growler, Laura Kane. I liked seeing this.

John Kennedy Jnr was there, Ben Dixon played the role of Roaming Brian, quizzing some of the ex-players and faces in the crowd.
Dicko made a quip about Gowers getting Albo in the rooms and how that was helping getting us funding, Dicko joked that Gowers had just kicked him in the shins.

Gil and Kylie Rogers in attendance and were quizzed quite heavily as to what they could say now that they were no longer part of the AFL.
Rogers told everyone that Katy Perry made a significant contribution of her own money to make sure the production on the day of the GF hit the mark. Rogers was quite glowing of Perry and said that most of the acts that they’ve had over the years have been a pleasure to deal with.
One of the strangest “riders” Rogers said she was given was from a big name male performer who called for 3 framed posters of Coldplay’s Chris Martin in their dressing room prior to performing. Very odd.

Rogers also threw Gil under the bus when quizzed as to how Kylie Minogue is yet to perform at an AFL GF. Apparently mushroom and Rogers had organised to meet Kylie at a concert and Gil intimidated her with his size and pushiness and it all went pear shaped.

Cripps was there. McLure asked “is it true that you told a mate on the red carpet that you thought might get 40 votes?”. Cripps who handles himself very well and seems very likable smirked and said “yeah that’s true…”. The crowd was laughing, Cripps went on to say “well I had a really consistent year, we won a lot of games and I played well most weeks so I figured that if it went my way I could get a fair few votes”. Logically, he was correct.
Cripps was also pretty glowing about the role of the umpires, joked about how they look after him, but said that they have the hardest job in the game and that descent rule coming in(as well as him growing in maturity)was the best thing for the players at it forced them to just accept umpires decisions.

Sheedy was there, and by the time they got him up onstage for a Q&A with Parko he was 8 reds deep and had a lot to say. Parko joked that maybe he wasn’t required onstage as Sheedy was going to enjoy the camera time.
Queried as to what was wrong at Essendon by McLure Sheedy responded with “I honestly don’t know”, McLure prodded with “you were on the board, surely you had some input” to which Sheedy replied “being on that board was the closest thing to being in a straight jacket”.
McLure poked Parko and Sheeds about how both clubs that they coached have done nothing since they left and this got an interesting response from Sheedy “I’ve got no idea(why), but look at Hawthorn, 13 flags in 60 years, they are just a ruthless organisation that make good decisions…look at what they did with Clarko, just moved him on and then they sign Mitchell… ruthless footy club…” seemingly aghast at how Hawthorn are the benchmark for making calls that refocus the club.

Will Day was interviewed by Dicko for a short time, doesn’t have the sling anymore, said none of them know what “Hok” is but that they love playing footy together, that the boys are quite aware that the expectation is now on them, that their rise might not be linear and that it will take hard work. Gave Calsher a massive pump up as being a “special talent” that had a year that not many 1st year forwards have…and told the crowd Calsher was punching him in the back as he was saying that.

Koutafides was there and went on a big sell of how he’s going to make Melbourne great again.

Razor Ray and two of the GF umpires were up on stage for a bit and were quizzed about all sorts of things. Apparently Nic Newman is the one player the umpires all get mouthfuls from.
Dicko asked Razor who the biggest prick player was to umpire, Razor said he wouldn’t call him a prick, that he’d say he was “ultra competitive and incredibly difficult to manage… Peter Bell.”
Nic Foot said he booked a holiday in Noosa, went to check in and when he saw who was in the room next door, it Nic Newman and his family.
Foot said he loves the game, knows that his decisions can be scrutinized so much, but that he enjoys the job and gets along with the players well.
Simon Meredith when asked if he gets along with and talks to the players in game, “they hate me and I hate them”.
The umps got asked what they thought about “hokball”. Foot said “I’m probably the youngest bloke up here and I have no idea what half their celebrations were about, but I love seeing how much fun they were having and I love that they brought personalities back to footy. There should be more of it.” The crowd applauded.

It was a good day, plenty of other stuff said on the day, but that’s the more interesting stuff from the day.

Thx that was a good read

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Please define A Grader or All Star? Schultz, Quaynor, Deane and Moore were all very average in 2024. The latter 3 really suffered when Murphy retired.

**** off minnow.

 

[Faraway Hawk]

Geelong are threatening to walk Smith to the draft and are so confident none of the clubs with higher picks will touch him.

Saints can for once walk away as absolute cool dudes by first calling out the NGA kid from *, and forcing * to give up their pick, they should then follow up and call that GCS academy kid name and force GCS to match and then select a player who's career they will ruin in 2 seasons anyway. Then with Pick 9 call out Smiths name and just collectively walk out of the room.

 

[Nathan Detroit]

Agree to disagree. If you look back at the original post it was the "this is the hardest sport in the world to officiate" line which was thrown around by coaches and media which is 100% myopic imo. It's the same premise of AFL athleticism. Im not denigrating the capability of AFL athletes at all, its more where the level of athleticism in AFL compared to all global sports is rated. As someone said before, every person in every country has a different opinion on this and the main sport in each country will justify why their national sport has the best athletes.
I do remember an interview a few years ago with Sav Rocca after he played a couple of NFL seasons. He said NFL is a harder game to play, coach and requires much more athletic preparation than anything he saw at AFL level. I heard a similar interview with Ben Graham. This is from 2 afl vets who know both sports intimately.
There's a lot of preparation that goes in to major league sports that we don't see and we just assume through game play that it's not as difficult as AFL. Just annoys me when I hear "world's best or most difficult". Right up there with the Americans calling the NBA championship World Champions, world's most liveable city etc.

I must be a true outlier. I've been watching US sports for over 60 years and my two favorite sports overall are Hockey (Canadian) and AFL (Australian). Of all the sports you have mentioned here, these are the two where genetics (while still very important overall) are, by comparison, the least determining factor for greatness. Even the most gifted athlete would find it difficult to play either if they've not started at a young age. Probably the best examples I could give (which will absolutely date me) were the contrast between Wayne Gretzky and Hakeem Olajuwan. Hakeem didn't pick up the game of basketball until he was in his late teens, yet went on to become an all-time great. If Gretzky hadn't skated until he was 18, no way he'd have made it out of beer league.

This is a really long-winded way of saying my US bias still has me thinking AFL may very well be the most difficult to umpire, particularly when of the sports mentioned here, they are the only part-time "professional" umpires/referees.

 

[houdinihuddo]

Geelong are threatening to walk Smith to the draft and are so confident none of the clubs with higher picks will touch him.

Saints can for once walk away as absolute cool dudes by first calling out the NGA kid from *, and forcing * to give up their pick, they should then follow up and call that GCS academy kid name and force GCS to match and then select a player who's career they will ruin in 2 seasons anyway. Then with Pick 9 call out Smiths name and just collectively walk out of the room.

Can you imagine how excited President Weasel Face would be. He’ll have to wear protective glasses as his “hand trolley” goes into overdrive .

 

[Hawkers Hero]

Geelong are threatening to walk Smith to the draft and are so confident none of the clubs with higher picks will touch him.

Saints can for once walk away as absolute cool dudes by first calling out the NGA kid from *, and forcing * to give up their pick, they should then follow up and call that GCS academy kid name and force GCS to match and then select a player who's career they will ruin in 2 seasons anyway. Then with Pick 9 call out Smiths name and just collectively walk out of the room.

We had renowned expert Adam Cooney on trade radio yesterday claiming that no-one would dare touch Bailey in the PSD to avoid annoying Paul Connors. If this was true and happened, there is no greater evidence that the player movement system is broken imo.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I must be a true outlier. I've been watching US sports for over 60 years and my two favorite sports overall are Hockey (Canadian) and AFL (Australian). Of all the sports you have mentioned here, these are the two where genetics (while still very important overall) are, by comparison, the least determining factor for greatness. Even the most gifted athlete would find it difficult to play either if they've not started at a young age. Probably the best examples I could give (which will absolutely date me) were the contrast between Wayne Gretzky and Hakeem Olajuwan. Hakeem didn't pick up the game of basketball until he was in his late teens, yet went on to become an all-time great. If Gretzky hadn't skated until he was 18, no way he'd have made it out of beer league.

This is a really long-winded way of saying my US bias still has me thinking AFL may very well be the most difficult to umpire, particularly when of the sports mentioned here, they are the only part-time "professional" umpires/referees.

Sounds ignorant to me.

 

[VernonSpots]

Geelong are threatening to walk Smith to the draft and are so confident none of the clubs with higher picks will touch him.

Saints can for once walk away as absolute cool dudes by first calling out the NGA kid from *, and forcing * to give up their pick, they should then follow up and call that GCS academy kid name and force GCS to match and then select a player who's career they will ruin in 2 seasons anyway. Then with Pick 9 call out Smiths name and just collectively walk out of the room.

Surely hawks would take him with our pick just before Cats? If we have the cap room, that sort of talent is huge for next 2-3 years

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Wrighty staying on the mainland it seems - going to take over as Blues CEO.

 

[SSSSSS]

Wrighty staying on the mainland it seems - going to take over as Blues CEO.

Pies board absolutely melting lol

 

[RobHawk]

I am loving the argy bargy between Collingwood and Carlton to win the services of Houston. Knowing one of the teams will lose and the potential winner will pay a king's ransom in trade assets.
Even more amazing if north slipped in and signed him Bradbury style

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Pies board absolutely melting lol

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

Geelong are threatening to walk Smith to the draft and are so confident none of the clubs with higher picks will touch him.

Remember their honourable dealings surrounding Tim Kelly!

Filthy club

 

[KermitJagger]

I must be a true outlier. I've been watching US sports for over 60 years and my two favorite sports overall are Hockey (Canadian) and AFL (Australian). Of all the sports you have mentioned here, these are the two where genetics (while still very important overall) are, by comparison, the least determining factor for greatness. Even the most gifted athlete would find it difficult to play either if they've not started at a young age. Probably the best examples I could give (which will absolutely date me) were the contrast between Wayne Gretzky and Hakeem Olajuwan. Hakeem didn't pick up the game of basketball until he was in his late teens, yet went on to become an all-time great. If Gretzky hadn't skated until he was 18, no way he'd have made it out of beer league.

This is a really long-winded way of saying my US bias still has me thinking AFL may very well be the most difficult to umpire, particularly when of the sports mentioned here, they are the only part-time "professional" umpires/referees.

Olajuwon works as a comparison, as does Joel Embiid who similarly picked up Basketball at I think maybe 15 or 16?

I'm glad a (relative) outsider agrees that Aussie Rules is an extremely hard sport to officiate. Part time umpires, continuous play, a relative lack of structure compared to other sports and a massive ground to cover. The biggest issues, though, are interpretive rules which the AFL has a lot of - reasonable attempts to dispose, insufficient intent to keep the ball in and the like - and the regular change in rules and interpretations that happen between or even in season.

A nightmare sport. The true test is how difficult pretty much every company has found trying to make a video game out of it.

 

[peetoo]

Geelong are threatening to walk Smith to the draft and are so confident none of the clubs with higher picks will touch him.

Saints can for once walk away as absolute cool dudes by first calling out the NGA kid from *, and forcing * to give up their pick, they should then follow up and call that GCS academy kid name and force GCS to match and then select a player who's career they will ruin in 2 seasons anyway. Then with Pick 9 call out Smiths name and just collectively walk out of the room.

This should disqualify the club from psd.
1991 freo with McPharlin……they got banned from psd for another matter. hodge worked out for us though. Imagine that freo strong armed hawthorn into getting pick 1
1993 buddy. That worked out OK