I understand everyone has their own reason/justification for leaving early and not wanting to judge anyone but I was very disappointed with the number of Carlton supporters that left early on Fri.
On top of perfectly valid reasons to leave, rain, cold, working on Saturday, getting a seat on the train, too late past bedtime, there are a lot of late season bandwagon supporters who have jumped on board. They wouldn't stick fat, and some were probably only there because the rain came after the start.
Years ago we'd leave the GF after 3/4-time to get the best spot at the bar, we'd usually have it all under control in the 3rd!
I started hearing from people wanting to go to the games this year around Rnd 18, people I hadn't heard from for years!
Ubiquitous technology plays a big part, communications, transport, everything is easier, easier to coordinate, easier to run, easier to get bored, easier to buy drugs.
My friend in Qld tells me the youth crime drug situation appears a bit worse in Qld than Vic, but it's mostly petty crime, drug offenses, domestics, etc., etc., and the reporting requirements are different. He also said there is a much higher incidence of crimes of opportunity like pick pockets and fraud due to the tourism economy and transient population.
The really serious criminal stuff scales with and follows the population and is the same everywhere, the more people the more money the more opportunity for crooks.
The problem I have with state based reporting is different state to state rules and definitions, for years we've heard one state is better than another, but when the Fed's published the report I recall crime followed population.
A friend of mine in the Vicpol force was "lured" to Qld by better pay and conditions, when he got there he said certain crime was worse than Vic but the stats don't show it!
I notice both F1 and the ATP Tour are cracking down on influencers ruining the events for the general punter. F1 has been slowly weeding them out for a period of time, to the point there was uproar about Hamilton's partner being exempt to the crackdown. In tennis the US Open announced a crackdown with a plethora of complaints from fans about blocked views and unwanted photography. This reminded me of an experience.
A short while back I had a similar experience at a hatted restaurant, we were there taking advantage of a very generous gift voucher, expensive but not too expensive for us as we had "help". But there were a lot of people in the venue paying the full ticket, celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, other special occasions, etc., etc.. All of it interrupted by a foodie influencer turning every coarse into a web documentary. To the point at one stage they stood on a chair and took an aerial photograph of the table, I'm assuming to get a wide angle view with obligatory cleavage shot. You know the type of shot, "I was ripped off by my landlord, but my tits saved me!" photograph. The restaurant staff asked them to restrain their activities for the sake of other diners, at which time they made a scene about paying good money to be there and being free to "experience what they have paid for however they like!" One diner quietly piped in with a beautifully timed comment, although it was also a bit misplaced, "The food is beautifully presented, but not so much your fat arse!" As the situation degraded security was called and the influencer and conspirator were ejected while "vlogging" all the way out the door.
What the feck is wrong with these influencer people? This was a hatted silver service venue, somewhere many people might only experience once in a lifetime and may have saved up good hard-earned money just to attend that once.
I recall seeing some Federal Bureau of Statistics data a year or two back that showed an almost direct correlation between the size of a state population and the amount of crime, it's probably still on MyGov somewhere.
Of course @Thryleon makes a good point about media coverage, although I doubt evidence really makes any difference, maybe on the conviction side it does, but the media do not need much "evidence" to report.
If you differentiate reported crime from convictions, it becomes an issue of statistical definitions, for example if someone is killed but there is no convicted murderer than would be no recorded conviction for a certain crime that was committed. That's an extreme example, but the same applies at all levels of crime.
I'm sure there has been someone, somewhere that has said something alnog those lines at one point in time......but to imply that it was a widespread belief, is flat out BS.
My point was being made about fans who flip not a statement about the head count or populist vote, that's something you've assumed.
Whether it's 1% or 50%, it's not the count that matters it's the flip.
Much of the wider fan base only sort issue with talls recruiting after Charlie left, so many had argued we couldn't run both Harry and Charlie, a lot of the same very same loud critics complained we needed Mids and were too slow and heavy before that. It's pretty straight forward summary and can't be questioned because it's there in the posts and the quotes. If any want to back over previous claims and deny the flip then the record is there for cross checking.
Our state is now completely out of control regarding serious crimes in particular stabbings and home invasions.
Crime is an issue everywhere, the trick is to read a balanced news service and not be sucked in by the media biases.
It's easy to think it's overly bad in your own backyard, because it's your own backyards news that the algorithms push to you, and that makes people paranoid.
A great example of this bias is the reporting / non-reporting about some of the current One Nation candidates. One in particular is being reported by media almost all over the country for a pretty nefarious history, cults, weird practises, etc., etc., etc., except in their own state where they are noticeably absent from the media reporting. That's media bias not reporting.
I've mentioned before, multiple times, if you want a less biased view open a browser tab in "private mode" before searching, it's shocking just how different your news feed will become!
It's a great insight, a simple message delivered clearly, you can't leave that meeting not understanding clearly what Fraser thinks, and why you should not be celebrating the season too much while still taking some positives from the short achievement.
@kruddler You do realise people are free to go back and see what was written, I suspect you're betting they won't be bothered. But they will all remember the debates around KPPs and Rucks, it must be burned into their retina!
No, because as we know, our list management is determined by committee with the coach, head of football and CEO all involved and sharing responsibility for direction and decisions. Another couple of KPPs would be nice, but not if they're like Harry Lemmey or Josh Schache.
It's not lost on me, that only a short while ago when we had Lemmey and a couple of others, a lot of fans complained the list was top heavy. At the time fans were content with Harry and Charlie with Pitto on hand and TDK coming into contention, and most were busy screaming for more midfield depth.
Now we have a midfield bonanza, at least at the moment, TDK and Charlie have buggered off, and all of a sudden it's list mismanagement!
Some navigate list management like Captain Jack Sparrow's crazy compass, always pointing to what you desire without showing you a direction!
I think the players deserve to be judged on a full season. I would struggle to name one clear winner last night. Maybe a couple of break evens, and that's about it IMO. Most of our guys played average to poor. I wouldn't be kicking McGovern, Acres etc to the kerb based solely on last night's game. McGovern has absolutely earned his extension, looking at his full 2026.
I thought Walsh was clearly our best, Hewett had a lot of footy but I suspect little impact. Weitering was well on top before being smashed by Neale, just another accident. I suppose the usual suspects will role up here telling us how soft Weiters is and why he should be traded!
There is a toll paid when you try to better teams like the Handbaggers, they are willing to go that step beyond fair to get a result, and they are coached in it. They bury knees into hips and backs in marking contests, take legs out from under opponents, block hinder and push to the limits of the rules and often beyond, they happily give away the free if the opportunity to bruise an ear or two surfaces. All the time claiming an injustice at peak voice.
You can't defeat them by colouring inside the lines, we just never seem to learn that.
Cats have been pushing Harry and Kemp out tunnel style at every contest all night, and not a single free has been paid, now in the last quarter we touch them and they get a free.
I watched the Cats forward burying knees into the backs of the Carlton defenders, then when the opportunity arrives at the other end it's a relatively gentle contact. We need some mongrel in our side, we are too easy to play against, we play fair, and get taken out.
