On at least five separate occasions from 2017 to this year, and including during meetings with German heads of state, Taco has stated that his father was born in Germany. In fact, Fred was born in New York and it is Taco's grandfather, Friedrich, who was born in Germany and emigrated to the USA. Each time Taco has made that claim about his father's birthplace, he has been corrected and even shown copies of his father's birth certificate. However, he continues to state that his father was born in Germany.
As a passionate family historian, I find it hard to fathom how someone can get a parent's birthplace wrong but I accept that not everyone has an interest in their family history. However, to repeatedly claim the wrong birthplace for a parent despite being corrected is not just a misunderstanding or mistake, it's yet another cognitive glitch by the bloke with the nuclear codes.
Ironically, Fred tried to hide his German ancestry and claimed to be Swedish.
Deeming seems like a bit of a trouble maker to me.
Master of the understatement G2C 😇
I suspect that there’s some manipulation/motivation coming from the more conservation faction.
Crazy stuff really, given the unpopularity of the Government … unless they think they can’t lose and nobbling the progressives will strengthen their influence 🤔
I think the current setup is working because the players are less mentally burdened, and because Fraser the Amazer has taken 2.5-3 quarter good efforts and turned them into 3.5-4 quarter efforts. He deserves credit for that. However it's completely inaccurate to think that one individual (an inexperience caretaker coach no less) can take an entire organization from zero to hero in seven days, and keep it going for 6 weeks. There's no way that can be true. A football club is massive, with significant inertia and investment in training loads and methods, personnel, game style etc.
I still have my doubts about Wright and Davies.
Everyone I have spoken to with connections to AFL clubs and in particular Coll and Haw, tell me Wright is a jet and knows what he is doing and his track record is proven. The fact he was hand picked and anointed by Cook is enough for me. I have no intel on Davies but from what I have seen and heard from him, he seems knowledgeable and impressive.
Wright may have been a good list manager but he’s never been a CEO before. There’s also the matter of him walking away from Collingwood because he had issues with Kelly. That may well be a positive but he doesn’t have a track record as a CEO or long term football administrator. He may well be brilliant, and I hope he is, but the jury is still out.
I have a lot more faith in Davies who does have a proven track record as footy manager.
Is Walker playing? Did we ever get an update on his shoulder??
Walker trained with no strapping on his shoulder during the week. However, the footage I saw was only the warm up drills. He may have been wearing the green cap after that.
I can't say I'm a big fan of Matthew Guy, the bloke lacks something, but if that circulated clip is the alleged "assault" on Moira Deeming, then her credibility is also shot! Opportunity knocks.
Also, the Victorian Liberal Party. It's either mind numbingly stupid or ridiculously toxic, maybe both. Because at a bare minimum this appears to be acting in bad faith on several fronts, about as bad as it gets!
If that's the incident, Guy is just leaning in and drawing her towards him to make a private remark. The other images of the event seem to show Guy and Deeming getting on like a house on fire
People talking about 2nd year blues are just guessing. We'll know soon enough.
But every year i say the same thing when evaluating our chances. Some kids won't come on as expected, or even go backwards. Some older players will decline in output, some may even fall of a performance cliff and/or retire early. Some gun players will get injured.
Happens to everyone, every year. Whether thats Jagga and Dean, or Byrne and Ison.....or whoever. This year O'Keeffe definitely fits that bill.
Skull has the added burden of being set for a new role and one that may not entirely suit his skill set.
You shouldn’t take Cripps and Walsh’s performances in isolation.
Their best performances are when the support cast is firing.
You may debate which is the cause and which is the effect and, to a certain extent, it’s a feedback loop. However, my observations are that Cripps and Walsh are riding on the wave of support from their teammates.
I have to reiterate this because it's obvious and yet ignored.
The current good form of Cripps and Walsh is a direct consequence of the players around them making an effort. Instead of standing back waiting to benefit from what Cripps and Walsh do, the players around them are now rolling up their sleeves and helping out more which gets Cripps and Walsh to the end of games in much better condition. That, along with confidence in execution, is the real reason for the current 4-Qtr efforts, not some invisible change of game plan.
We are playing the exact same style that we did from Rnd 0, the difference is we are now making less mistakes at it and sharing the load. Our better players aren't hitting the wall at the end of the game, and the lapses are diminished. It's the same game plan the Lions play, and even with the Lions you can see how it can go horrible wrong when it's left to few.
While I wouldn't say that we had players standing back, I think that the improved form and effort of the support cast in Hewett, Acres, Cerra, Aisworth, Hayward, and now Cottrell, has taken pressure off Cripps and Walsh. If Cripps or Walsh is quiet, others are filling the void but that support is also enabling Cripps and Walsh, as well as Jagga Smith, to accumulate possessions and distribute the pill effectively.
Cottrell's ability to get to contest after contest and affect the outcomes of those contests is elite. I don't think that he'll ever by a high possession player but his work rate, endurance and ability to snag a goal or two is invaluable ... and then there's his gob iron
I don't that there's any question about Billy Wilson's ability to have an impact at AFL level now, and I think that he has probably consigned Adam Saad to depth player status. Billy's chase and run down tackle with 30 seconds to go warmed the cockles of my heart. That's the effort and desperation that wins finals.
Harry Dean's ability to hold down a KPD spot, even in the absence of Weiters, has probably exceeded my fairly high expectations. You know that he's not going to lose many contests, even against the best key forwards. Then there's his willingness to fly the flag for his teammates. I wonder how Toby Greene felt when he was ragdolled by an 18 year old.
Harry's equally inexperienced fellow KPD in Wade Derksen has also exceeded my expectations and has shown that he's more than capable at AFL level. His lack of experience shows at times but his ability to intercept and spoil is right up there. Some folk have concerns about his lack of height but he's on a par with Dean and Weiters. It would seem inevitable that Weiters will replace Derksen but the latter will be stiff to miss out. Maybe he should get a shot as a forward
I was on board with Thry's prediction that Ainsworth would the best of our trade-ins but I think that Hayward has just shaded him now, and Florent is not far behind. The ability, aggression and attitude that those three have added to the team is really starting to pay dividends.
Brodie Kemp's ability to win the ball inside 50 was a real bright spot but his kicking for goal is reminiscent of Levi Casboult at his worst. His field kicking is good but his technique is all over the shop when he lines up for goal. The "experts" will tell you that kicking for goal is the one aspect of the game that has never improved and Kemp is living proof. I'm reminded of a Nathan Burke anecdote. He thought that having his AFLW players just concentrate on the goals might help so he had the behind posts removed for training. It made no difference at all to their accuracy. Anyway, a goal kicking coach for Kemp is a must.
Lods suggested that it might be time for Jack Ison to refresh with a run in the Magoos. I'm not to sure about that. While he may not be getting much of the pill, he is tackling and his tackles stick. I'm more concerned about Byrner, but he is also contributing to our forward pressure. Like Kemp, he needs to work on his goal kicking.
I wasn't confident going into the game, particularly without Weiters, but it was a good win even if our poor kicking for goal reduced the margin.
All players suffer it to some degree, it's a consequence of increased scrutiny.
Picking Daicos as an exception doesn't work as his worst year statistically was his 2nd season, so he isn't one of the handful of exceptions. Nick Daicos career to date on FinalSiren
But my comment is more about the stupid things fans blame on the coach. (Actually, they are right to blame a coach, just that they blame the wrong coach, it's the opposition coach who is at fault!)
Crippa's first season was a write off but he was Rising Star runner up in his second season. He didn't really suffer from second year blues until his seventh season. The Bont's second year blues hasn't happened yet.
Dean and Smith, by their performances and importance to our team, have made themselves the objects of as much scrutiny now as they will get next season or throughout their careers.
Some players may well experience a physical and/or emotional speedbump in their second season but the idea of a universal second year blues malady has no basis in fact.
