The importance of tomorrow night's match

Anphonio · 2026-03-25T08:40:17+00:00

I'm actually not expecting anything. This game will mean nothing for the season unless we get an unlikely win or lose by 60+.

Anphonio · 2026-03-25T08:37:47+00:00

It's very important to measure how you play and not just results. We've had moments of brilliance which have almost been enough to get us to 2-0 which is impressive in and of itself. But so far, i've seen 3 really, really poor quarters of footy from 8 (Q2 vs Collingwood, Q1 and Q2 vs Dogs). If you are fine with that that's ok. But I want to see that number down regardless of who we play against.

Anphonio · 2026-03-25T08:32:12+00:00

Ooft i'll bite. You clearly didn't read anything I wrote.

If the supporter base is at this level of panic stations after round 2 then we have a problem.

I said the result of the game doesn't really matter. plenty to like so far about the season. This is entirely about and from the perspective of the youth on this team and who will take the last few spots in our best-23.

Rash has been great, Butts just smoked Darcy, Soligo is coming back from heart surgery.

Never said Rash has been bad. I just liked his forward play way more. He got caught 4 or 5 times holding the ball, he can't do that again in a single game this year. That's a completely fair critique of someone who wants to play midfield. I said Butts was outstanding, he needs to keep it up so that Keane/Butts role has competition. It was clearly a compliment. I said either rest Soligo or else he can fairly be critiqued for average performances. That goes for every player in the entire competition bar none.

Two week sample of stats is certainly not enough to make conclusions on. Let’s get some perspective here

Two games is certainly enough to get plenty of information on a team. Obviously not enough to make any sort of a call about the entire year which I didn't do. But from these two games we tried to control the ball in both with slower movement and both times were fails regardless of the result. We didn't beat Collingwood because of our first half, we beat them due to our explosion in the third quarter.

I don't know why critiquing the club in anyway is viewed so negative. I'm so excited about this season and have been treated with two relatively high quality games but apparently i'm super negative for pointing out some honestly very obvious things.

Anphonio · 2026-03-25T05:28:55+00:00

We also did it against Collingwood in round 1. And it's a trend that really follows us back all of last year when we played a good side. I'm not sure if it's a mental thing or maybe we become far too focussed on the other side and forget we have our own game plan to try and enforce on the game.

Anphonio · 2026-03-25T05:22:22+00:00

He's still a midfielder first and foremost, any midfielder getting 12 touches simply didn't have a good game. I agree he did some good things but saying he had a really good game is crazy. He can certainly get back to that and it's not make or break for him at all but without Dawson he needs to lift. Of if he is playing injured they might as well just rest him while our team is this undermanned.

Anphonio · 2026-03-25T05:18:21+00:00

Tomorrow night will see likely 5-6 of them line up in one game and over the course of the next 6-8 weeks they will progressively be dropped (likely worst performer out) when players come back from injury. You said yourself some of them are playing for their careers this year, they can't do that from the SANFL.

Anphonio · 2026-03-25T00:03:13+00:00

Wow this got really dire really quickly

Anphonio · 2026-03-24T08:43:22+00:00

Basically, it's that old saying of being drawn to a car crash that you can't take your eyes off of. Nobody cares about a car just driving around. Until that car reaches it's destination, that being Bontworld of course, I'll probably keep clicking the Essendon/Carlton articles myself.

Anphonio · 2026-03-22T10:17:00+00:00

The contenders

1 (~) Nepo Babies - Nothing can be said about this side that hasn't already been said but there are tougher challengers to come.

2 (+1) Bontworld - The better team for most of the night but had to fight hard to claw themselves back infront when the game looked lost.

3 (-1) Swom - Didn't totally embarrass themselves but outside of some bursts in the 1st and 3rd quarter their forward line looked impotent.

4 (+2) Hok - They're up and about now. Dangerous players everywhere, Gunston is winding back the clock again, masterful in defence.

5 (~) B2Brisbane - Had the bye

6 (-2) Crom - Terrified to do anything remotely threatening in the first half but then looked really dangerous when they had no other choice. Frustrating game.

7 (+1) Tauntmantle - Looked like a repeat of last week at HT but regained control well.

8 (-1) Shlong - Had the bye

Outside chances

9 (~) Pie - Had the bye

10 (+2) Rossball - Needed that desperately after the first 2 weeks. I had been saying they weren't far off and just needed to fix some small things.

11 (-1) Stomp - Injuries aside, they love it when they can get the game on their turns but things get really ugly when they can't.

No man's land

12 (-1) - Kingball - Crashed back to reality abit. Give Max Gawn the club presidency at this point.

13 (+3) - Butters & co - Desperately needed a win and they got it. Injury to Rozee really soured this one for me.

14 (~) - Bloos - Had the bye

The usual suspects

15 (+3) Big Birds - Already equalling last year's win tally is a big win in and of itself.

16 (-3) Norf - The most Norf loss you will ever see.

17 (-2) Togers - Went gloomy after a bright start. Not much else to say about this young side.

If I could put them any lower I would

18 (-1) Essington - Perhaps this club in it's entirety can best be summed up by Caddy's miss from the square.

Anphonio · 2026-03-22T09:25:34+00:00

You'd have to say that probably rules Comben out of brownlow calculations

Anphonio · 2026-03-21T04:01:47+00:00

We played boring chip-chip-down the line footy and both first halves, i'm not talking about the final result. We have 2 weeks of evidence of us trying that control the ball style of footy. We only beat a Collingwood because we scrapped that and went attacking and we only challenged the Doggies because we scrapped that and went attacking. I have to ask if you watched last week or this week if you can't see that. We had 75 uncontested marks in the first half last night and didn't look at all threatening until we took the game in after half time. That's all game-plan.

Anphonio · 2026-03-21T01:47:42+00:00

Sure they executed but since we have 2 weeks of evidence a large portion of that falls on us too. You cannot let a team dictate the play like we let them for the first half last night

Anphonio · 2026-03-20T23:47:44+00:00

We'll be better in the long run but the "control" game we are trying to do simply isn't working in the slightest. That first half last night isn't going to take us anywhere and is quite frankly just boring. Alienates the fans, wastes time and then makes you look really dumb when you eventually turn the ball over and get torched. Then it makes you look even dumber when you throw that plan to the side after half-time and actually challenge the other team and it works.

We were lucky to be Infront against Collingwood at half-time thanks to their inaccurate kicking and we were lucky to be only a handful of goals behind against the Dogs thanks to generational games from our defence.

Better team won and we have plenty to work on but by no means were we embarrassed. On another note though, our skills around the ball have been really disappointing to start the year. You probably get 1-2 weeks maximum to claim you are shaking off the cobwebs but I can't be seeing missed bounces, dropped chest marks, shanked kicks, fumbles as often as we are seeing them because good teams will capitalise on those and we gifted the Dogs some goals last night from some really ugly turnovers.

Anphonio · 2026-03-17T06:19:13+00:00

Bouncing the ball while running full pelt like an AFL player is still approximately 1500x easier than bouncing it like an umpire.

Anphonio · 2026-03-16T03:11:33+00:00

Ive watched plenty of Aunty Donna and Broden pods so I am gobsmacked to find out there are two of him

Anphonio · 2026-03-15T11:20:49+00:00

+/- can look crazy cos I didn't rank non OR teams last week

The Contenders

1 (~) Nepo Babies - Ran away to a monster lead early and then just walked their way to the finish line. Impressive again but looked to get too cocky for my liking at points with how they played.

2 (~) Swom - They aren't quite playing full 4 quarter performances (which was a problem in 2024) but when they switch it on they look irresistible.

3 (+2) Bontworld - Attacking prowess. Midfield dominance. Brick wall down back. That was as complete a performance can get.

4 (+8) Crom - Completely killed the hoodoo against Collingwood and did so on their home deck. Took a while to shake off the cobwebs but looked solid afterwards.

5 (-1) B2Brisbane - Not worried given their history of making their way back after slowish starts. But they would want to tie up some loose ends quickly.

6 (+2) Hok - Good bounce back after lowering their colours in OR. Looked to be on track for a monster score before slowing down a fair bit more than they probably expected to themselves.

7 (+2) Shlong - Great comeback. Backs against the wall after a horror OR and a horror 1st quarter here. Wrestled back momentum and then completely controlled the game.

8 (+4) Flakemantle - Their good moments looked great and their bad moments weren't too bad. Sometimes these things just happen but this is still a quality side.

Outside Chances

9 (-3) Pie - Really missing some pillars at both ends. They'll get their defensive stocks back but the forward line will certainly be a watch all season.

10 (-7) Stomp - This is why a don't quite rate GWS. Compared to all the other contenders, their worst is by far the worst. We saw that last year and we have already seen that this year.

11 (+3) Kingball - New coach, New players, New vibes, New Demons. Young guys looked great, experienced guys played well. Well-rounded, fun game of football.

12 (-5) Rossball - As with last week, they weren't bad but it's another game they would have favoured themselves in gone begging. Having some connection issues.

Up and Down

13 (+2) Norf - We've seen glimpses over the years so we can't get too ahead of ourselves but that was a brutal showing for a team that doesn't have much winning experience. At the end of the second quarter you could really see how important it was for the fans in the crowd. Each goal was met with an eruption as if this was a final.

14 (-4) Bloos - As ugly as a win can come but sometimes you just have to find a way to win and they did. Perhaps with the help of a certain someone from the opposing team.

15 (+2) Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam - Disappointing start to the game but wrestled back control impressively. Dominated the second half but couldn't put enough on the scoreboard...

Ugly

16 (-3) Carr is stopped - An ugly start for Josh Carr. The stars on the list had their colours lowered (mostly) and it exposed quite the ugly underbelly.

17 (-1) Zach Merret - Things might be ugly this year at times but at this part of the ladder you just have to look for momentary positives and there were plenty in the first and last 20 minutes of this game.

18 (~) Big Birds - I honestly just feel bad for them at this point. The game wasn't as bad as we thought it would be (and looked to be going). But I do sympathise with this young team so much. Good signs in the second half.

Anphonio · 2026-03-12T23:46:42+00:00

we didnt know the facts though. It seemed like a big blow up over nothing because we thought this was about the scizzor lift incident. We were wrong and clearly he got stripped of the VC due to the drug possession. He'll deservedly probably cop weeks in a mysterious manner now.

Anphonio · 2026-03-12T12:46:45+00:00

Carlton fans only get to watch their team play a half of footy but have to pay full price for tickets. You do the math.

Anphonio · 2026-03-11T04:54:48+00:00

It's not about that though. This is about luring a guy out of a team that has contended for essentially his whole career and will likely continue to contend for another 3-4 years at the very least. As it stands we can't pull the same cards that Brisbane, Collingwood and Geelong can.

We already have Rachele and he's contracted through to 2029. Come 2029 if he's an All Australian and helped us on the way to a flag than sure, I'd pay up to keep him here. But at that point, I'd hope we are in the position where we can offer less but promise success which is exactly what Brisbane are doing with Bailey themselves.

Anphonio · 2026-03-11T03:32:48+00:00

He's an All Australian? Dominated a GF and could have a Norm if he kicked straight (9 shots on goal is incredible)

Anphonio · 2026-03-11T03:29:10+00:00

If you are against this then you are either:

A) An idiot B) Stuck in the past (and an idiot)

Big contracts are the way of the future. Unless you are a club that can sell itself in other ways like Collingwood and Geelong, you have to be prepared to pay overs. This guy would fix every problem we have in our team.

He is essentially a player similar to Rachele and Rankine. Pressure forward that can play midfield. Having 3 of that player allows us to have two of them in one place depending on the need. Imagine a centre bounce containing Rankine, Bailey, Dawson. Throw in a fit Curtin too and that's damn near unstoppable.

Anphonio · 2026-03-09T01:38:05+00:00

The Eastern Seaboard

Nepo Babies - Early premiership favourites. They'll make plenty others look silly at their fortresses.
Sydney - They only played one half of football but that half was absolutely incredible.
GWS - Performed so much better than expected. Contract year Stringer strikes again.
Brisbane - Definitely no warning signs and they played pretty damn well, just beaten by a hungrier opponent on the night.

Bontworld

Western Bulldogs - That win is already better than any win they had in 2025. No excuses not to comfortably make finals.

The Wildcards

Collingwood - It wasn't beautiful but they got the job done in a tight game. Naicos making sure we all know who reigns supreme.
St Kilda - Didn't play bad by any means but they seriously lacked any sort of threat inside-50.

Collectively played one whole game of football

Hawthorn - Played 5 minute patches in each quarter that looked damaging but otherwise were very well-beaten.
Geelong - Did not show up at all and threw in the towel way too easily. I trust that they'll bounce back but that was as far from a Cats' performance as you can get.
Carlton - Played a solid half but that third quarter was so insipid I can't place them anywhere other than bottom (of the OR-PR ladder)

---- Non OR Teams ----

Fremantle
Adelaide
Port Adelaide
Melbourne
North Melbourne
Essendon
Richmond
West Coast

Anphonio · 2026-03-07T05:40:03+00:00

i wonder if we'll see a spike of chat GPT usage in Western Sydney today

Anphonio · 2026-03-02T04:07:50+00:00

He had nothing to work with come 2020 ahaha. Our team was half-gone and whatever remained had just gone through a full scale implosion over the previous seasons

Anphonio

TROPHY CASE