AFL Enjoyers
AFL Enjoyers - Round 20 Reaction and Review
(upbeat music) - So, I'm thinking on the channels for the Lincoln Trail and me and my brother are watching and we're both very excited because women's pole vault, where are you, women's pole vault? (laughing) This is a great kill. Got that, you know, that I've been waiting to see for four years on women's pole vault. Women's pole vault is, I'm not sure if the audience knows, it's not judged on how high you are, it's how hot you are. So, absolutely. (laughing) And then I really was tracking fields week two because the Olympics is there four years and you forget, right? So, flicking the channels and I pop one, there's so many random things in the Olympics, right? Fencing. Now, I know it's in France and I think the fences are French or something like that, but there's no way there's people being spend their life mastering fencing. I'm sorry, I just couldn't help you behind it. - You know what's baffling to me is like, what are they doing the other four years? Like, how are they making money? Like, who's actually, like, how much are you getting paid as a fencer? - I don't know, bro. - That's crazy. - You could probably get money building fences, but not fencing. - What before? No. So, it got me thinking like, 'cause this year they're skating in the Olympics, I believe, rock climbing, I've never seen before, there was rock climbing, internationals are good at rock climbing, guys. And then, maybe, how long will it take AFL to get into Olympics? - Well, here's the thing, right? Like, why not make like a smaller field version like half the players? Like an AFL mines? - Yeah. - And just make that Olympic sport? - Yeah, it's like that game, what's the one we- - Hamble, hamble, hamble, but football. And then, why would always just be Australia versus Ireland in the final every year? - And you know what, like, in the soccer, they do under, I think it's under 23s. And of that, it's kind of like the up-and-comers play. So, I think to make it fair, like, maybe we wouldn't put in, like, Bond and that. We'll just put in, like, at best, like, a sheasel, or like, the best of the young players. So, that the other countries that have more development maybe have a bit of a chance. - Yeah, yeah. And then, when they start talking shit, they're bringing the Bond and the creeps. - Yeah, like USA did with the basketball. - Yeah, like, you know what? LeBron, Steph Curry, let's go. - Put it on the grades. Yeah, so the Olympics haven't been thinking about whether AFL will ever be a international sport, like they tried a couple of years ago with that game in China that no one watched. - True, yeah, man. That seems like forever. - How long did that happen? - There, it was as long as the Olympics, I guess. Now, I've got a confession. - Go, man. It's a safe space. - Cool. - I left the Carlton game early on Friday night. - Ooh. - So, I went, wow. - I went thinking, you know what? It's been a big week. Let's get a break from the week. Let's go to the watch my team, dominate poorly that no one likes. And then, it's a couple of minutes left in the game, and there's that controversial, kind of, umpiring decision where the ball got kicked in, hit the umpires leg. I think it was a goal in the end, but from the crowd, you can't see shit. And I'm like, this is what's gonna end the game for us. This umpiring decision, I'm out. Saved us about 15 minutes. - So, that was the moment. - Yeah. - So, you didn't even see the outcome of it properly. - It was halfway through, I'm like, this is gonna be a goal. I left, bro. - Wow. - Now, to be honest, it's not a good sport to leave early, but man, it's like 15 minutes on the way home. So, I encourage anyone to leave the game early. I found that actually it's quite helpful. - Man, I'll never forget, I'm not a leave early guy. Like me and Matt's are notorious for like watching Josh Bruce kick his like 10th goal while we're down 100. Like we'll still stay around with all the punches. - We just take it like men, right? - Yeah. - But I do that because one time, I was at a Melbourne victory game and we're playing Brisbane Raw and it was Neil Neil, like the dirtiest, most boring game you've ever watched, right? And I'm like, you know what? Let's just get out of here. It's the 90th minute. What's the point? 91st minute, as I'm outside the stadium, I hear a Raw. I see the replay later, free kick top corner. - Oh, wow. - So, I miss the game winning moment right at the end. That was probably like soccer, anything can happen. That was stupid of me. - Yeah. Soccer, you only need once. - But footy, you kind of know when it's over. Look, man, I don't know, I'm watching this game and I'm just seeing two teams. One team that's like ferociously tackling. Like at the end, it's gone on the highlights where like Bergman just ferociously chasing down like three blocks in one play. - Yeah. - And Carlton, like it's not like you didn't bring the flight for the most of the game. It's just like when the heat was turned up at a certain point, you just couldn't go with them. - Yeah. Well, this is the thing, right? We were talking before the game and I was saying that I was a little bit nervous about this game, not because it's port as an opposition, but because there seems to be this narrative that we're tired. Now, up against North Melbourne, we had a couple injured bodies, Tom de Conning's out for the home and away season. Akis didn't make his fitness test. I'm sure there's a lot of other blokes that aren't right. Like I reckon they haven't said anything, but Sam Walsh looks like he's a bit hampered. And it's a five day break and you just see the narrative building shit. I just feel like he'll get the best of us. And then after the game finished, Facebook and Instagram, they make a post, you know, Carlton Football Club. And it says the caption from Carlton Football Club was ran out of legs. And it's like they're telling us, like it's so typical Carlton, they're almost feeding the information, they're excused. And you could just see it kind of becoming, happening throughout the week. And I'm just disappointed with you. I get that North came to play, but the season's on the line for us. I'm not sitting there judging the boy saying, run harder, you're weak. I'm not saying any of that because we don't know what's going on. But to give up second position and be left in the pack now, with other teams finding form, to give up a 30 point lead in the second quarter, it just can't happen, man. It's just, if you're thinking flags, it just can't happen. And I think we've lost three out of the last four now, only North is the victory. And even that wasn't convincing last week. Carlton's doing a bit of an asset in where they just, they've peaked at the wrong time. And as the supporter, I'm looking at this team and I'm finding flaws everywhere, but no solutions. - Yeah. - And you know, Vos tried a couple of different things. Harry Mackle was a laid out, so Lewis Young came in like he's our savior. But the thing that frustrated me the most about this game was the fact that we're behind. And we scored one goal in the second half, by the way. And we're just kicking it down the line to a non target. - I'll tell you who your target was when we were there. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know what he was doing. Was he playing mind games or something on wearing a Carlton jersey? It wasn't. And just no dare, no intention to change the way that they were playing. And it's just, we're watching that. And the crowd was feral, man. The crowd was like, - Do something else. Spread the play. Everyone else knows what to do, except for the Carlton fans, the Carlton players who either, they must, they just gave up. It's like, we're not gonna win this game by running. There was so many moments towards the end of that game where you could tell at this point the game's gone and the heads are gone, because there was opportunity to lower the eyes and at least try and kick it to an advantage of you forward. And it was like not even gonna look bomb it. And literally, I didn't even have to try to intercept the boy at the end of the room. - We hadn't met Owees, who's like the worst aerialist in the world, as full forward for most of the game. Colonel tried his heart out, but he needed to be kicking to himself and yeah. - It's tough, in the beginning I can understand it because you've lost a key figure in your structure for what of the ball and like, okay, Port's brawling the pressure 'cause they knew that if they pressured you, you wouldn't be able to lower the eyes. So like it kind of just was a domino effect. - Yeah. - My only thing with the Blues right now is, September hasn't even started yet. And the narrative of you're a bit banged up and you're tired, like I believe it's a long season. And you do have a couple of injuries to some key players, whether it's a long term or a short term. But what happens in September when every team that's making the eight is gonna be informed, because you're not making it unless you're informed? - Well, I agree with that. And it's actually a scary proposition. Like there's no doubt in my mind that we're gonna play finals, I just don't, there's no way we miss out, right? But we could be seventh. Seventh is not second, man. - Well, and who are you playing in this current form? Like say you make it in just because you'll win a couple of your next four, Hawthorne, dogs, like any of these team giants, like any of them can beat anyone, and you can beat them too, but you wouldn't be the most informed team of them, 'cause you've come from the top two down rather than making it in. - That's right. And the thing is like Carlton, Carlton is still either one of the best or the best turnover team in the comp, which you wouldn't associate with them, but they're getting smashed in the clearances. And I just think it's one of those things where, if you stop crips and Welsh, they have got no other answers. And I don't know what exactly strategically is going on in the midfield, but coaches have found us out, and Welsh and crips are getting caught for holding the ball nonstop. And that's probably them trying to do too much or not having options. And every other team seems to be able to beat us in the midfield at the moment. - What it might be is as good as Welsh and crips are, their main strength isn't that couple meter dash and burst. Like a lucky Neil will have that, or like even like an elder you to law. Like these guys are a bit quicker than those guys, but obviously they make up for it in other ways. So I don't, it can't be that simple. I think they're just, like teams are really placing an emphasis on making it as miserable as possible in the middle, 'cause they know that if they do that, they'll have a good chance of slowing you down. And the ball, I think it all comes from the fact that people want to slow down Carlton getting it in the 50th, because when you get it in there with pace. - We just get a freaky. - No one can stop you. It's either a freaky or a goal just from genuine mark. - Yeah, that's the- - You know, so, yeah. - There's a couple. I'm not super doom and gloom about it, because at the end of the day, like Port played the harder, they should have won by more, because they missed a lot of opportunities. But we played like shit, keep one goal in second half, and we're still in it up to about three minutes left in the game. Like we're hard, we're still hard to beat, right? And so they've got a couple of weeks to turn that around. It's just that the fact that if we don't get second spot, which it doesn't look like we're gonna get anymore, we're going to finals with a disadvantage, where we could have had a home final against someone like a Frito or a Brisbane, where they're a way easier proposition than they would be at home. So we just made our ground final chances a lot more difficult. But at the end of the day, if we're not winning games, we don't really deserve to be that sport anyway. - Yeah, I don't know, man. It's completely wild to me. I'm obsessed with the ladder at the moment, like everyone else is, and I don't know. I just feel like any team in there, like I look at Carlton as a really hard to beat team, and I think you can still do something in September, but it's not the right time of year to not be showing your best self. - Yeah, I agree. - And you still got four, like there is still a month to go, like all of August will be very telling. You could very easily win the next four, and look more like yourselves, and then all of a sudden it's all good. - That's right. - So we'll wait and see a little bit, but, you know, Port don't usually be playing Marvel too well. So it's kind of like that game where you'd expect to win. Now, in saying that, I don't know if you guys play it too well either, 'cause you've lost a few there and you're-- - I think we're all right. Actually, fun enough you say that about Port, but they've actually won a lot of their last games at Marvel, which was surprising to me when I heard that. But I don't think they're that good, to be honest, as a team, but they played with a lot of intensity. - And let's talk about them for a moment, and you were there so you can say more, but I initially saw Ryder go there up forward, and I thought Ken's lost the plot, what the hell's he on about? And then I thought to myself, no, actually, it's because Mackay is out, and what's the point of him being back there? It turns out he was all right, but he actually showed some craft. Like, he looked pretty good. - Yeah, he did. He kicked some nice goals. I think he started a bit slow, but he really built into the game. And yeah, he's just like a tough, big body. And, you know, I think weirdering is our key defender, but if he's taken away by Dickson, like he smashed Dickson, but Dickson basically played the role where I'm just going to sacrifice my game. And George Jardis is their most talent forward, and he's an accurate set shot. And you put another big body like radically in there to compensate from Todd Marshall not being there, and it looks pretty damaging. But also if they wouldn't, they smash us in the clearance, like double dust in the clearance port. So they're just getting the ball in freely. You can't, a weight of numbers, right? Eventually they're just going to break through. So, look, it was a good win from Port in a hostile crowd, and it keeps their season alive. So just from a talent perspective, it'd be disappointing, but we'll see what happens. - Yeah, I don't know, man. It's like you want to be in that conversation, but I'm kind of weirdly enjoying not being in the chaos as a North fan right now. - It's tough to watch, man. Like, I don't know if there's a conversation. Carlton has been one of the better teams throughout the year, and we've held that kind of top two spot for a little while now, and certainly the top four spot for a while. Sydney as well, which we'll get to eventually, has been the number one team of the year, but they've struggled a bit now. And then you've got other teams like the dogs who are firing GWS starting to fire, Brisbane starting to fire. So you can kind of see, it's taken a long time to kind of see the teams that are starting to make their play as genuine contenders. And it's probably not the ones we'd expect mid-season, but it's just how you enter the final series, really. And teams like Sydney, who I still expect to be the best team, Carlton, Essendon, are the teams that are kind of failing a little bit now. So yeah, it's interesting to see who gets there. And with the Hawks and the Bulldogs, big wins. Well, it's making it pretty close, isn't it? - We'll talk about it later, but mathematically, the Hawks can make top four areas. - Yeah, it's crazy, man. - It's actually crazy anyway, we'll get there, but so next game being North, right? And firstly, I just want to address, George, a non-North Tippo didn't even tip North against Gold Coast, famously. - Famously. - Famously. - Apparently, Tipps, I took North to meet Joelong. Tell me about that before I even get started. - Well, first of all, five, I'm second in my tipping competition, right? But five below the leader. - So it was a pod pick. - It was one of those ones where it's like, all right, I ain't gonna win this competition unless I do something crazy. North's been paying good football. All the talk last week from Carlton, like Patty Cribs and stuff was like, North's actually really hard to beat. They really put up a challenge. And I'm thinking, all right, Joelong's midfield sucks, right? North is playing tough football. There are blunts on arena, anything could happen. But Joelong, and I can't get a read on Joelong, like they're always up. They've been up there all year. And I still don't think they're that good. But they were clearly too classy for you guys in the end. - They're not that good, but you're right. They're the kind of team that I think are one of the last kind of teams North will beat when we do make our rise up the ladder. And I'll tell you why. Because if anything, Joelong has always been a well set up team with high IQ defenders. And even if they're not winning the ball out of the middle, they don't let you win it too cleanly most of the time. So the whole story of the game really was we should have done a better job of nullifying Tom Stewart. And it's one of those ones where like Dermi and the lads are just constantly pointing out how open Tom Stewart is. And then all behold, we'll kick a swim and they're like, see, I told you who's-- - Why can't Clark go see this? - Exactly, who's Clark go putting to him? So it was one of those ones, right? Look, plenty of positives as there has been with most North games since the by, besides the Sydney game, where we were just trash and Sydney had a lot to play for. Every other game, we've had more positives than negatives, I'd say. And this game was no different. Firstly, can we just say Harry Sheezele, man? There's almost not much left to say, but I'm gonna say one more thing, which is starting to get some whispers in the media, all Australian. - I think guaranteed. Like the only reason, the only argument you can give is you don't wanna give spots to a player on a team in the bottom three. - I never liked that argument, by the way. - I would argue him changing position and kicking goals from midfield is skillful and thing deserving of reward, no matter where your team is on the ladder. It's a hard thing to do. - I agree with that. The only problem, like, I think Sheezele is worthy of all Australian. Where would you put him though? 'Cause he doesn't, he's not gonna get a follower spot and he's not gonna get a midfield spot. - Sneak him on the half forward. - Or the bench. - I think the bench. - That's alright, yeah. - But I think he makes it, yeah. - And it's just like, it's crazy how he does it because you see other players on a team, like even older you, you know, he explodes out of the park, right? He can ride a tackle, he can handle, like Sheezele somehow, despite in his underage year before he got drafted, pretty much having no impact on the ball, and he would play on ball, but like he'd always just get the highlights when he's in the forward 50. Somehow he's just become this clear and specialist. - Yeah, well look, I watched him very closely because I had him vice captain super coach, right? - Good choice. - And yeah, Matt always talks about the lightning hands, but he's cleanly, I don't think he made a mistake by handle by foot the whole game. - It's crazy. - And it was one of those games where it was clear to me that Geelong was just a classier team. It just made things happen when they need to. North Melbourne did like, Fumbles on, eight in core, Fumbles on the goal. - Oh my God. - Those type of things like that, right? But Sheezer was the one guy in your North team that just, when he had the ball things happened. And like, even like Georgie Wardler played tough, Eldie played tough, but they don't have the class by foot that Sheezer has. And it kind of made the joke like half of the game where if they just gave Sheezer the ball and shepherded him to the goal line, you just win every play, like, just give this guy the ball. Just so clean, had space, had time. But to me, he was a bit of the standout with Sherry as the two men that were trying to carry the team along the line. And you had someone like Tyson Stengel who just made three goal opportunities that shouldn't have even been goals, a goal. And then, you know, how do you find something like that when you have to work so hard for a goal? And this guy just kicks it like taking the piss. - And this is the story out of the game from North's point of view. And even Clarko in his press conference was the end of that third quarter, which considering how the first half went, I was stunned that we brought it back to 10 points because we actually just started taking the game on. We got momentum, kicked a few in a row. Dersma got subbed on, kicked one, bit of a G up. And then with a couple minutes to go in the quarter, somehow we've gone from 10 points, it ballooned back out to 30 because they kicked three goals. And like you said, it was Stengel. Quick snap dribbled in. Ridiculous snap almost from the boundary bent it in. - Yeah. - Ridiculous. And then the clearance like Dangerfield contested mark. It's like, man, as an orthon, I was just sitting there like far out. We worked so hard to work it back in. From here, you never know. Like if it goes 10 points in on the last quarter, you can't rule anything out. But when it ballooned back out with three goals at the end, that just kind of says it all about north at the moment. We'll play really well, but the scoreboard won't reflect how well we're playing. - Yeah. - And you know, guys like Dempsey, you mentioned that one on the line. Like he just steals it from eight of core. Just stupid. - Look, I find kids like this, man. I'm sick of them getting blonde-haired kind of value picks. - I was telling my wife, watching the game, like I can't stand you along because all their players look like, if you went to Geelong, they just plucked some guy from the street that looked like six foot plus. Yeah, come play for us. - You play for me mate. - You play for me mate. And it just works. - Yeah. - Vanna, good on Geelong. Look, I guess teams that are better than north like in the top eight should be winning by about this margin. It's about a goal and a half per quarter, better than north. Makes sense. I don't have this unrealistic expectation to beat them. But in saying that when you're within 10 points and the third quarter's almost up, I was kind of thinking far out. We do like the polish. We lack that killer instinct to actually just ruthlessly end the game. - Yeah, of course. - I strongly believe that'll happen at some point. The flick will just switch like it has with Hawthorne. And I think we'll just suddenly become a winning team. Couldn't tell you when though. Probably next year. - Yeah. - But I think it's exciting for north. And despite like Charlie Common forward two games in a row now, as the key forwards do, floats in and out of games. But he took another specky like he creates a context. - Yeah. - Ward law is just that crash and bash. She's was the class. How do you bring something else? Like there's a good mix in there. My one thing I wanted to bring up actually just quickly was North's got a few free agents coming up. Right. Zuhar, one of them. Biola counts will keep him. Another one that I listened to in a lot of North Pods is Bailey Scott. I don't know your opinions of him, but me personally, he's finished top three or five in our best and ferris at the end of the year for a couple of years in a row now. - Right, I didn't know that. - I strongly believe that's just due to the fact we've been a really poor side. And if anything being a winger, he's pretty consistent. And he's a fit guy, like he can run all day. But there's heaps of North fans saying, we can't get rid of this guy. You know, he's finished top three in our sibbaka. You know, we've developed him, so on and so forth. I just want to say one thing to North fans. We need ceiling raises. This guy has no skill. And if you need to be a bit ruthless with your list builds, otherwise you're just carrying guys like Bailey Scott. And look, if we keep him, I'm not against him. I'm just saying, if we draft someone or recruit someone better than him, that's for the better of North Melbourne football club. - That's right. - So we shouldn't look at him like, give him the years he wants, give him the money he wants. We can't lose him. If he leaves, he leaves. Like Ben Makiah left. I don't think any North fans saying, man, if we only we had Ben Makiah, we would have won a few more games. - No, I think the SN fans saying, get rid of this guy. - Yeah, exactly right. So I'm just sort of preaching more to North fans. Like the draft coming up, we have a top three pick. They're all mids at the top of the draft. We're going to get one of them. Don't be upset about it, because we've got Alda Yuxi as a ward law. Phillips isn't good enough right now. Tom Powell is good, but he's actually pretty good around the ground. We don't need to play him on ball. If we draft one of the top three mids of the draft, and he's the next butters or Walsh or whatever, be happy that it kicks out Will Phillips. And I love Will Phillips. But if it kicks out Bailey Scott, be happy. 'Cause we need to go places, man. We can't carry passengers. - No, I agree with that. And I think you look at what you can get, right? I think to rebuild with a bit of velocity, you need to get rid of some of these kind of mid-tier players to give you really high-skilled players. And look, he runs hard. Everyone needs like those players that run hard and compete in a tough and a stronger body that stops the young, protects the young kids, but I don't, yeah. Once they let them go, man, it's not. - Yeah, and you're not one of those guys that you need to sweat about. - No, and you shouldn't be afraid to upgrade your own players if it's for the better of the team. That's my only message. So can you talk about the only picks for one second? I just realized I forgot my phone and the other. - Okay. - And the rest of the games are coming up. And I don't know as much as that. - No worries, I'll talk about the one things. What was with that opening ceremony, man? No, I don't know what the French people are smoking, mate, but that was some weird shit. And it's been taken, like, not a lot of people, like bad reviews. Like we don't get bad reviews or good reviews on this pod, but they got some seriously bad reviews. - Opening ceremony. - You know, I didn't watch it, but I've seen some clips about and stuff. Like there was something about like making a joke of the last supper or something, and I'm just like, is that what it was? 'Cause if so, like... - There was something like that. I think they were all trans or something people, but they were in, like, the last type of portrait. They were sitting like that. I didn't watch the ceremony. I just saw the highlights, but... - I just think with these opening ceremonies, just get whichever artist is killing it at the time and just do something that's French. Like, celebrate your culture to the world. All the countries come in, and that's it. Why are you overthinking it? - I don't know. I was actually thinking, like, what would I do as an open ceremony? And I've never actually seen a full one, so I don't know what they're like. I would find them boring. Like, even if I was creating a mic, man, this shit sucks to be honest with you. Like, who sits there and watches three hours of opening ceremony? - Well, you basically just have to wait for every country to just march in. - Agree, she's still first, yeah? - Yes, yeah, yeah. Yana said that the cumbo bared the flag. - Oh, did he? - What a big dog. - Yeah, massive dog. Yeah, thanks for stalling me out there, George. - No worries. - But, all right, so next game. Man, I'm so sick of talking about Gold Coast. Can we just, like, skip this game? - Look, let's just do a quick, a quick, Gold Coast have, the home thing is broken. - It always was, like, how long did you flash, where they've won one out of, like, what, 12? It's a joke, man. - Well, did you say hipwood was playing defense 'cause, like, there's, like, six lions defenders out? And Ben King and Lakosius need to go to kicking school. - But Lakosius was meant to be a good kick, wasn't it? - He's meant to be the best kick ever, and he does have, like, a cool style of kicking, and he can, like, toe poke at 60 meters. But, yeah, he's too good to be missing goals, and they needed to take all their opportunities. They needed to capitalize on some midfield dominance throughout the game, like, the lions would be good on top eventually, right? But, yeah, they just overwhelmed them. - I'm pretty sure we were promised by Damian Hardwick that this list is pretty much done. - Yeah, well, I was looking at the list on the stats, right, and Raal has been really down on form. He had an OK game. Flander's just dominating. That guy's, you know, he's promised and delivered. But without, like, Took Miller, you know, you just got a lot of these players are just battling, but then you look on the other side of the sheet and it's like McLokie just kicking goals, kneels, kicking goals, donkeys, firing, Zorco's firing. And it just looks like one team's kind of tripping towards the finish line and the other one skiing, their gear sorted and going hard, so. - It's actually crazy to me how, if Gold Coast just won, like, three away games-- - They'd be in the-- - They would be comfortably in the eight, right? - They should actually be playing finals. They should be playing finals. - But, like, how does that happen? Like, you lose to North. OK, North turned a bit of a corner, so maybe it wasn't an easy game. But, like, there's a handful of these games that, like, Saints won. I know they'll be robbed in that. Like, there's been a bit of unfortunate circumstance, but if they just win two or three, they are actually in the finals' heart. So, like, I'm hesitant to shit on them too much, but at the same time, I'm not surprised. And I don't look at them like a finals team. - No, no, I can't. I picked them to be in the finals this year 'cause I thought, you know, new coach, a lot of talent, you know, it's their year to start pushing really dominant midfield, but the midfield isn't dominating at the moment. And that's kind of their main driving force. They've got good plays everywhere. They're going to be very good in years to come because they've got a lot of high draft picks that are showing promise, but, yeah, it's just a bit uninspiring from them, yeah. - Yeah, I'm not a fan of it. On the flip side, Brisbane just gone from, like, 10 weeks ago, they've got no chance of making finals to a lock for the top four. - And we're times to be right on the map before they've come now the second. - Look, those were the pods that I wasn't on. And you guys were rightfully, I remember, I would've been the same, but guys like Kai Loman, rain has been a bit better lately, like their ground level in the forward line's been better and Dan and her and he would've stepped up. - That's right. - So like, as a forward 50 unit, they've become scary again, even without Charlie Cameron playing that well. - Yeah. And he's got other gears to go to. - Correct. - And Bailey's just come back now in a form. - Yeah. - So, forward of the ball, they're really good. They're defence. I know they've held Gold Coast to 65 points, but there are a lot of outs, like you just said, Hipwood's playing there, covering a little bit. - Yeah. - I don't know, if they come up against a really strong attacking team, I think that'll be the difference in the finals, but nothing but impressed by the way they've recovered this season. - Yeah, look, it shows that you're never quite out of it. Look, last year, it seemed like they were primed for the flag and that was their year. It'd be funny if they wanted this year after having like a really up and down season. They didn't lose one game at home all of last year. They didn't win the flag. Now, they're second on the ladder and kind of not really convincing second, given the way that they've gone about it. And yet, they still probably could be considered the favourite now. - That's crazy. - Just 'cause it's so even compared to what it was last year and last year was even as well. - So, if they do get the home final, that means it's Gaba Gaba, right? And then MCG if they win both. - It means Gaba Gaba, yeah. - Now, they haven't been unstoppable like the Gaba this year, but not less. - Not as fearsome, but yeah. - It will be in the finals. It makes a difference, better than going to the G or Optus. - I'll tell you this now, I don't even think this is a hot take right now, but I think any team that ends up making the eight can win the flag. And if anything, I wouldn't be, like I'd actually be expecting a team in the bottom half of the eight to have like an equal amount of chance as the top. I don't even think it's like higher per cent of the top. - Yeah, well, I agree with that. I agree with that. And I think if some of the teams that we think are gonna make it like, I think the Bulldogs will make it now. Let's say Bulldogs finish seventh, that I'd be scared to go up again, even if I was in top four. - Well, talk about, did you see Liam Jones just flying for every ball today? Meanwhile, Lobs just there just in case. Like, are you kidding me? - Look, man, we'll talk about it. - Yeah, we'll get to them. Well, let's just get over Gold Coast. Let's go to Essenham because I know you have some things to say. - I'm so excited to talk about this game. It's actually hilarious, like North loses, not long after this game starts. And a sick part of me, like, wanted Saints to win this game more than I wanted North to be too long. - Yeah, that is a sick part of you. - That's, it's sick of me, but like, I'm just being an honest guy right now. It was there, I'm acknowledging it. Now, all I have to say, and I'm not even gonna talk about the bombers, you know, I don't rate their team and so on, like I actually think they've got a lot of exciting plays. I quite like Coldwell and Durham and Caddy and a lot of these guys. All I have to say is the political rubbish that Brad Scott's spews week after week is so hilarious to me. - I actually didn't catch what he said this week. - The funny part is, man, I had no intention of hearing his comments after the game, but it came up on my YouTube recommended because last week I searched up Brad Scott's press conference because I wanted to hear it. - The algorithm has sorted you out. - The algorithm fixed me up big time. So thank you, YouTube algorithm, right? Now, basically he said the effort was stirred, right? - Yeah. - Which it was. And one of the, so he's talking about that for a while and like that hasn't been us all year, but it was, you know, and then someone, one of the reporters, I don't know who it was, but like credit to you, he actually said like, at this time of the year with finals being so competitive, like why, something along the lines of why should you need to tell your team to give more effort? Why is it third rate effort? Basically. - Yeah. - And then I can't remember Scott's response exactly, but like he backtracked so much of like, well, it's only margins and like, you don't need to be far off for this to happen. It's like, actually Brad, you don't lose by 50 points by being a smart job. - No. - You lose by 50 points when you get out played massively in every facet of the game. - Yeah. - Right? So that was just so hilarious to me, man. - Look, I feel so for acid and fans, man. 'Cause what, there's some acid and pod glass, I don't know the name of it, but it's been popping up on my feet because I like you searched for acid and when they had lost a Carlton. I was interested to see what they had said, right? - Just enjoy those. - And this one pops up. And the YouTube, like the comments on the Eastern front is like, optimistic, optimistic. Yeah, I think if we play again, we can get 'em. This is like the preview to come with the Carlton. Now it's like, you know, what were we thinking? Like, and it's like, of course, Eastern fans are gonna be optimistic when they're up in the top four and they're winning games. Right? But to see them, after they first Carlton, I got a good look at them. And I said, I think they'll make the eight. They still got some threats. I still didn't expect them to kind of capitulate like this. They are not making, I don't wanna hear finals. They've got a tough run home. And now there's other teams that are way ahead of them. I think Esteins, what are they, 10th now? - They've fallen, yeah. They're out of the eight. - They're 10th, bro. - Well, here's the thing, man. Like, we looked at their fixture and at that point, I think it was six weeks to go. And there was these two easy games and then it got hard. And we were like, oh, maybe just 'cause of the easy games, they'll just be too far ahead and they'll make it. - Yeah. - They've blown it before it's even started. - Yeah. - And a couple more things I wanted to mention, right? Was during the week, and this is, I don't really feel sorry for Esteins in totality. I do feel sorry for some of their more realistic fans. But some of like Brad Scott, I do not feel sorry for, right? Because all year, and I've called this out multiple times, they're talking about learning lessons from last year and specifically how the season ended, right? Everyone's saying it. Merritt's saying it, Brad Scott's saying it. Random player getting interviewed saying it. And you're like, okay, let's wait and see, right? Now, the same exact thing's happening. They're falling and it's not pretty. It's not even like close games, right? - This was like the equivalent of the GWS. - Correct. - None of loss. - Well, yeah, pretty much. And Jeannie Ross was a good side that was on the rise and pumped them by 100, right? This is like 50 to say, so it's basically the same thing. Now, what did I say last week was, Brad Scott blamed the players. Like he basically said it was like of execution. Nothing wrong with the setup, basically. - Yeah. - Now, during the week, they were saying, and he said, we've reviewed the tape in Gory. That was the word. Gory detail. - Yeah. - So the way I'm looking at it is if the structure's all good, what are you actually reviewing? Are you just playing all their mess ups, all the players' stuff ups? And just that's the gory detail of like, how you fumbled it. Like basically calling out all your players. And if so, Bombers fans should not be surprised that their team looked like they had no confidence. Like, is this the way he's gonna coach is like, you guys messed up. Let's watch the footage of you messing up a week. - I have no idea, but what I, to criticize Scott, I think is easy this week, because the Saints came in with the game plan, and the Saints had been playing better football. I don't know why it's taken them this long to get their shit together. - True. - But they played a bit of like a mark kick top of game, and their aerial dominance over Essendon was laughable. Like they had players like Kupa Sharma that no one's even heard of, played the game of his life. There was, I was watching the third quarter, and the commentators were saying that Kupa Sharma had more marks than the whole Essendon team in the third quarter. Like, they're just, it's literally just, they're mark kicking their whole way to the goal. And these are some, these are marks not just uncontested, there was like, in the contest marks, one v one marks. - Even one v two the other way, they'll mark in a few. - That's right, and like all these players that we've been waiting to see something from this year, like all ones who had a great year last year, came back in the form. Memory last couple of weeks. It's just everyone's finding a way to keep goals, and then they start taking the piece, like Jack Silke's three goals in a quarter, just from nothing. And... - Matzas Boy, shout out Matzas Boy. And it's like, when is the coaching change up gonna happen? Like, how can you just let a team walk it? Like surely there's some measures, I don't know. - But that's my greater point is according to Brad Scott, it's the players not executing. So, I don't think he's taking responsibility for what's happening. - Yeah. - And I'm calling it out. One other thing I'm gonna call that, 'cause I'm not done, is Dyson Hepple getting dropped last week, and then back in the team this week, the comments coming out was from Brad Scott, that it was one of the hardest discussions he's ever had to have dropping Dyson Hepple. Now, I don't watch the bombers close enough to know whether he deserved to be dropped or not. All I do know is that he's a leader of the club, and you're trying to make a finals push. And I don't look around and seeing Scott Penner getting dropped, or so I bought him getting dropped, or some of these other really experienced players getting dropped. So, I think again, this is just Brad Scott all over again, 'cause I saw it with North, that one-off season, we get rid of Brent Harvey, we get rid of Del Sano, Petrie Farida, all in one clean swoop. - Yeah, remember that. - And I just think this guy just has a thing with like the older players, instead of respecting what they bring to the table and their structure and their organization and leadership, it's like, we need this imaginary younger player that's gonna be better, 'cause he's faster or whatever. Like sometimes your positioning means you're always in the right spot, regardless of how fast you are. - Yeah, of course. - And then he brings him back in. And again, I don't know if that was the right move, but I just see a lot of consistent mistakes and no accountability, and it's not gonna lead to any success for the bombers, no matter how good your team is. - What direction do they take next week? Like, are they even clear what went wrong? - Well, here's the thing, as far as I see, the Saints are walking the ball out of their defensive 50, 'cause they've got Caddy, Langford, Peter Wright, and a couple of other taller guys, like Dreybell will rest forward. Like, things will just tell you, like logical telling you, play some faster pressure forwards, so you can keep the ball in your 40-50 a bit better. And you're still getting up marked, which is the hilarious thing. - Yeah, the unlocking was crazy. I hadn't seen anything like it in a long time. I was just thinking when I was watching that game, 'cause it was clear that Saints were gonna win. I was just looking at Kyle Langford and his expressions, 'cause I remember Kyle Langford said last year, "I've gotta have some serious chance with Scott," 'cause the end of this season doesn't make any sense. What's he gonna say to Scott now when they've realized that it's all falling apart again? - Yep, I don't know, man, but I just think the bombers need to be realistic for once, and not just say, yeah, we're rebuilding or we're trying to make a final sports, just actually just don't talk at all. Just try your best, structure up, play tougher, and just let the results fall as they may. But you talk in one way, and then you deliver it the other way, and you dig your own grave. And I feel sorry for the bombers fans in that regard, 'cause it's not them talking and they're not delivering. They're just trying to enjoy the same win, and they get excited and they win, even if it was against week or opposition and whatnot. But, you know, Saints, 100% credit, I truly believe they did it for Chris Michaels. Congrats, Chris, on his win. - Hey, congrats, congrats, Chris. - Awesome display. Like you said, man, though, where has this been all year? It's a shame, but at least if they finish the season like this, the fans can look excited towards the next year and have something to play for, so. - There's a shell of a team there that can do something. But yeah, look, the conversation, the competition, so even as we said, and where they see it and how they can make a rise next year, I'm not sure. But yeah, if they keep playing football like that, they just dominated, like they just looked amazing. Everyone looked amazing, but that could just be 'cause the essence pressure was half Saints. And also you can't pressure an opposition that keeps marking the ball. It's not like you can tackle someone that's just marked it, so. It was crazy. - Yeah, not too like harp on about the marks, but like man, contested marks, 16 to five, inside 50 marks, 20 to seven. And for the game they had like 40 and a lot more marks, that's crazy. - It's insane, man. Cooper Shaman, one player had more marks than the whole excellent team, the third quarter. - And this isn't a guy like known for doing this every now and again. - It's not Jack Rewell, but look, to be fair to Cooper Shaman, I don't know much about him, but he has been playing good football the last couple of weeks. I feel like he's gone into the forward line and given a bit of an impact. So good on him. But yeah, like if you're getting destroyed by this guy that no one even has heard of before, you've got to reevaluate, you've got to play. - 100%. Next game, Melbourne GWS. Now I wasn't watching this game, I got to be honest. I was just tracking the score. It looked like a pretty predictable outcome was ready to be had. And then I look up again and I see that Melbourne's destroying that. - Always touched it. - Well, Melbourne destroyed him at the start, right? And then the Giants had to find a way to work it back. And I was praying and hoping that Melbourne could find a way to win it for the Carlton perspective of keeping the Giants out. - Yeah, of course. - And look, credit to Melbourne, like they played pretty tough football. We kind of, because the truck is not there and all of it's not the same player and I lost brace all last year, I kind of just see him as a bit of a winded team. But there are some pretty strong contributors to this team and they still play pretty tough football. And with Max going back this week, they played pretty well. But the Giants are one of the informed teams that over the last four weeks their scoring has gone to the roof. Like I think they were averaging something like 60 points for a while. Now they're all in the 90 points scoring range. So they've jumped up massively. I think Toby Green's done to play good football. Jesse Hogan's been consistent all year, but he's taken another little rise. They're small forwards, he getting to work again. Tom Green's back in form. They've just got their mojo back. I don't know why they lost it. - Well, that's the question, isn't it? Because you look at the stats, you look at the highlights and you watch the game, you're thinking, this all just makes sense. Like it's, you know, Callahan's showing promise as he does. Like Daniel's is coming well, you know, Whitfield's getting on the ball. Like nothing about that is surprising. Yet for a while it was like, where is this? It wasn't even just like a week or two. It was like a month or a month and a half. - Yeah. - Of bad form. - It was a long time. It was a long, long time. It was half of the season they'll play in bed. But yeah, they've just, they've got that manic pressure back. They've got that kind of four to hand ball. They've got that speed back into the game and they're just able to put on scores and find a way to work themselves back into the game. But I also think like, from a Melbourne perspective, I don't think they're going to play finals this year. But they were a pretty good team not to play finals. Like they're still a pretty solid team. You've got to beat them. - Well, and you have to beat them. And despite their drop off in form, they've never not been in the finals race. Like they've always been like a win out. - That's right. I just, I don't know what Melbourne exactly needs. I think they need a bit of a rejuvenation in their list. It, they have brought in some younger players. Like I feel like Judd McVee's had a good year. They're playing this one, it's Wakefield. It's the second half of the year off the half back. They've got little players that are coming coming up. But they still need a really genuine gun, tough forward. Van Ruhan might become that in time. I think they need to replenish their midfield a little bit. Just add some spice throughout their team. I don't know what they're going to do with all of us. He's got a really big contract. Is that something they look to offload and get some draft picks? I'm not sure exactly what, like they line up their praises and next year they come through round one. I'm not sure if we really expect anything different from Melbourne. But they're still a tough team. Like they're still, they're still there. So I don't know, there are, my point I'm trying to make is I think they're a pretty good team not to make it. Whereas like Gold Coast, I feel like don't deserve to make it. But Melbourne have played some pretty strong football. They've had a couple of anomalies, like the two losses to Ginsphria. But even this, like the Giants are a pretty good team. And they started strong, Giants came back and they still fought to the end. Yeah, well that kind of tells me that they have the talent. It's more just for some reason, the motivation and the consistency is not quite there. Yeah. And I think the best teams just play the game on their terms and the other team has to counter them. I think Melbourne this year has for one reason or another become the team that needs to think about the opposition too much. Yeah. Because if they were playing within themselves and playing on their terms all the time, like Stephen May would be decepting everything. And like Petrarch, I was assuming he was fit, would be dominating and all of it would be dominating. But it's kind of like they have a good quarter or two. But then the other two quarters, they really have to be conscious of the other two. They're not playing four quarters. I don't think they're playing four quarters. And one thing that I think could impact that is the crowd. Which we've talked about 16,000. I know it was cold, bro. No one wants to go out. Apparently, I saw the comments of Melbourne fans like, do your research. There was transport was down or like apparently there was reasons, right? I'm calling total cap because we know that Melbourne fans don't rock up. They don't rock up. I've seen it with my own eyes. I was at the North Melbourne game. I've been to a Melbourne Saints game. It was like a tumbleweed was going through the ground. And the worst thing about it, as we just mentioned, is that they have not for a second not been in the finals race. So this is the time to be like, I'm going to show up at least get like 30,000 in there. We're not asking for much. Yeah, I'm not expecting 80,000 crowd, you know, in a cold wet night. But 16,000, it's almost a Giants homes game. It's almost like a Giants home game. All I know is that as a North fan, I have seen North being in the dumps for the last half long. If there's even a remote chance of us winning the game, we've got high 20s in there. And that's just the scratching the surface of the fan base. So I think it's completely poor form from Melbourne. Like maybe that's it. Maybe if they just had a bit more of a G up from the crowd, they lose by two points. Maybe they win by two points. But I'm just saying like momentum is everything. The crowd actually win Friday night, right? Carlton's been challenged. And then for Paul to get them in front and it's back to the center bounce. And it's just a come on, Carlton, come on, come on boys. Like a rambling around the ground, like get them out. Yeah, that's a support. That's a lifting hand that did absolutely fuck all nothing, but it was an attempt. No, 100% of crowd plays a huge, huge impact. How can it not? Huge impact. So I think, yeah, look, these fans, I know it's cold. Melbourne is cold this summer year. Boys, buy a thermal man, go to a backpack, get a thermal, get it like a two for one combo, put it on and go. Some thermal socks, like a scarf. Like you can actually do something about the cold level. If you have a love and passion for your team, you should be excited to go and just brave that weather for a few hours. That's my opinion. Like I'm not speaking from a position of authority because we play at Marvel a lot and it's cooler in there. It's isolated there. I would still brave that weather if I really thought, you know, my team could win and not only that, but like there was a purpose to sort of support them. And that's a game to go to. Correct. It is. Anyway, that's enough about them. What have we got next? Freeo Eagles. Weird game, bro. Eagles were ahead of half time, I'm thinking, please Eagles miracle, please Harley Reid. Yeah. I'm praying to Harley Reid to get the freeo a lot. Again, for selfish regions of Carlton, keeping the total score. Of course, of course. But now we're never going to win that, right? Because they won the match at the start of the year where they absolutely pants. We all thought that West Coast at that time was like turned the corner to back. Harley's the savior. I couldn't believe, just thinking about today's game, how much they destroyed free. It's a nice little full loop. Because freeo, actually, as a team, have grown a lot this season. They're kicking high scores for fun. Yeah, they play four and a half football. Look, Ryan, I bought him on Super Coach. I'm going to play Matt's role here. For like the highest price you've ever paid. And he doesn't touch the ball, which shows they don't play that kick game anymore. They just go forward. As they should, what's the point of chipping it around? And their midfields on fire. Had a young, has been a revelation. It's like an Ed Richards kind of move that just adds spice to their midfield. He's a different book. Sean Darcy's back. And he's just a bit of a ball. It does sacrifice Jackson's game a bit, but it's probably better for their overall team. And players like Tracy, he's come at like, did you remember Tabena used to play for freeo? And this is the thing, right? Because for so many years, they didn't have a kick forward. And it was always just the hopes of Tabena. And no one thought he was good enough ever, right? But Josh Tracy has been incredible this year. Yeah, really, really good. Amos is a developing player, he has his moments. But I just think you're right. They're playing more of a full 50 game. Their midfield balance is incredible now. I've got a bit of a call for you. And you tell me what you think here. Bit of a brown, low smoky, bracial. Look, really strong second half of the year. I just don't think he's-- But you just don't know how many votes he's going to steal in the first half of the year. The way I see it is this, right? Sirong won the medal, like the showdown medal, whatever they call it. And bracial had more of the ball. I just think because Sirong does a little bit more of the hard gutsy stuff, that's what I reckon the arms look at. So I think Sirong is more likely. It would be interesting to see how many votes bracial versus had a young get. I reckon they'll both be in like the 14 to 15 range. Either way, they're doing a lot right. And I didn't personally think they had to do them. But credit to them, they've kept it up. And the interesting thing of the game, though, was what did you make of the whole Harley Reid treatment? Firstly, the booing from the fans. Secondly, the roughing up and the mini-malade that broke up. Look, Reid got 29 possessions and 10 clearances. Like the kid can play. He's in first year. He's a first year player getting 29 possessions and 10 clearances. All I could say is like I was watching that part and Harley Reid got the ball and I started booing him. And his expression went from like a focus to a smile. And he enjoyed it. The whole crowd is booing him and he's like, yeah, baby. So irrespective, I think they boo him because they know that it doesn't phase him and they're pissed off by it. - I would argue the more you boo him, the worse off you'll be because there are athletes like that in all codes that feed off of that adrenaline that they get from a reaction and the attention on them. - The thing about Reid, right, is we don't really understand it because we don't live in Western Australia. But there are two team town and he's like the prodigal son. He's like, not the prodigal son. He's like, he's the hero. He's the prince that was promised. Game of Thrones reference, right? This guy, he's all they talk about. And whether you're West Coast or Freo, everyone knows Reid. - Oh yeah. - So who else to boo? - Yeah. - Who else is there? Not gonna boo you. - And he would be the first to give it to the opposition. So I've got no problem and I love that he does that, that they give it back to him. It's a sign of respect firstly, but like, if you give it, you take it and he does take it. - He does take it, yeah. And I don't, I'm not all for the media, like, saying that it needs to mature up or whatever. Like that's his character. We want personalities like that in the game. He makes it interesting. - I'll just talk about Hawks. He's like, I would like to beat myself. Jackie Dinevans, I'd like to be himself. So certain Mitchell's cultivating this kind of, we can be here we are. So yeah, I'm for it. I like a bit of that in the game. What was interesting though, the same point I've had with Harley Reid is that the media is too obsessed with him. - Yeah. I don't mind fans and opposition being obsessed with him, but Kathy or whoever her name is that does the interview interviewed Angie Brashall after the win. He's like, who's giving more lip, you or Harley Reid? And Brashall didn't really want to answer the question too much. And so he gave like a half, half question. She's like, yeah, so who's giving more lip? Like she doubled down on it. And it's like, leave the kid alone, leave Brashall alone. Like why is the winner of the freeo team talking about the opposition player? - Exactly. - You know what I mean? - Especially when they've just competed and they've run however many kilometers they run. Like, it's not like you're trying to catch him out sort of thing and like say something bad about Harley, then it'll be on the back page. - Freeo one, why are you talking about another player? - Exactly. - When Bond wins, they don't go, oh, so you smash creeps, didn't you? Like, you know, it doesn't work like that. So what we'll say about West Coast is like they're probably the worst team in it. Like I still think they're worse than Richmond. But like still we're leading it half time. So it goes to show that like, because it's a home, not a home crowd, because it's a derby or whatever they call it over there. You know, the pressure's on for them to perform. They gave their best effort. They just can't compete. But yeah, there's still some nice players that play for freeo. Yo, it's just such a beast of a football. - Waterman played well as well. - Waterman. - But look, Freeo, I'm very interested to see how they go in the finals. - I think they can make a prelim. - Well, that's the thing, right? And I don't think they'll get a home final so they're gonna have to do it tough. But they have proven that they can win around the country this year, when usually it's like home or nothing. So it's kind of uncharted territory is for freeo in a while. Since the day they made the grand final, they haven't been this threatening. - It's crazy to think like at the start of the year, we would never have even freeo a top four spot. - No, we didn't have them in the eight. - Even like six or seven weeks in, they started pretty well, but it's like, no, no. And look at them. - Interesting man. - They've definitely whetted the season and come out on top. So good on them. - Full credit. - Calling Irishman, this is one of those ones that kind of like the incident, where they've got a tough run coming, but they had this one easy game before it, that they just need to nail. And Davis was like, look, I might just get like eight 10 possessions in the first quarter. - Yeah, look, when he's part of the entire chain from like defense to attack, like just for fun, unpressured, you know that it's not gonna be easy for the opposition. Look, what I'll say about this game is calling with one, but I wasn't impressed in saying that I've got a lot of outs. Like, I'm not one to make excuses, but this current team they're fielding out there isn't capable of doing what they did last year. It just simply isn't and it won't. And for that reason, it would actually be miraculous if they made finals. - It would be from here. They've got, let me look at it. - You know, I would actually be more impressed if they made finals than like, for most of what they did last year. 'Cause last year was like, you could tell they had the look in their eye, the aura, this year they've got none of that. - No. - And the injuries. So like, they did the job. Richmond essentially beat themselves in a lot of the game. So many like skill areas and things I'm saying used to saying North doing, but yeah, it was an underwhelming game. Like it's probably the most underwhelming Richmond calling with game for years. - Super boring. - Yeah. - They've got Carlton. - This is calling good? - Yeah. - Then Sydney. Then Lyons. Then say, no, then Melbourne. There's no way, man. - Yeah, no. It would be kind of miraculous, like I said. - I wouldn't be surprised if they beat Carlton 'cause they love beating us. And they play, it doesn't matter the form of the team, they play their life out against us. - Yep. - But like then Sydney, then Lyons, then Melbourne. Sorry, Colin and Fangie, you've had your fun. - Yeah, and at least they did have their fun and they pounced on their year where injuries were like. - Everything perfectly worked for them. - Correct. - They beat GWS by one point. They beat Lyons by four points. But they were the best team last year. They somehow found the way to win a flag, those bastards. - Yep. - But now go back into your hole. - Yeah. - And like McStae being back, like funnily enough, when they've got all these injuries, now McStae decides to be fit and fire. - Yeah. - Bit late now, bro. Maybe next year, but no. It's, there's not much else to talk about. I mean, Richmond, they've consistently been keeping the score lines respectable, kind of like North does. But yeah, they were never gonna be a threat to be calling but even with all the injuries, I don't think. We've got to be fully fit. I think they just got a reset. Go another preseason on their new coach. Get their players right. Get a nice high draft pick for once. - I do have one observation on calling with them, which is this. You can tell when they're up against it like internally and they're feeling a bit of pressure as a team for their season where they are. When you're watching them play and like every little thing their players do, there's high fires from like everyone. It's like every time they do something remotely good, it's like that player just kicked his first goal in A4 footy. Like everyone's getting around there. Like McStays running from full forward to go tap Darcy Moore on the back. - Yeah. - That's when you know calling with a bit of trouble internally and they're feeling it. 'Cause they weren't doing that. So obviously last year with our winning. - That's like, you know, boys, the focus is to get around each other, do the 1% is. - Correct, yeah. So. - Which means that they're not doing the 1% is. - Exactly, which means that like internally they're panicking, but. - Fair enough, yeah. Well, this was probably the surprise of the week. - Oof. - Dogg Sydney. - Man. - And like Sydney kicked a couple of late ones. Like it was way worse than 48 to 87. This is arguably the most informed team in the comp. The dogs because they've been in Carlton, one other team. And then. - Jelong. - Jelong and Sydney in the last three weeks. And done it convincingly. This is one of those ones where we've talked about dogs like why aren't they better? They've got Jamaro, they got Norden, they got Darcy. They've got to start starting midfield. They've got Key, like Liam Jones has fixed their back issue. They've got plays in every position, why aren't they good? Well, they actually are now. They're like really good. And for once they've learned how to defend. And now suddenly everything's working for them. They destroyed Sydney, man. I know Sydney has some injuries as well. I don't know how bad they are 'cause they've got a lot of depth. I mean, when you're fielding Mills and Parker and all these people in your team like how bad are your actual injuries? But that was just an annihilation. The funny thing is Sydney's been getting away with bad first quarters for a while now. And recently it's kind of cost them. Yeah. But the big thing I was seeing was like, Sydney, they've lost a couple, but look at the combined total points they've lost by. Like it's ridiculously low. Really like one and two points. Correct. So even then people were like, you know what? Forgive them, you know, they've had such a great year. They've lost a few games. But the slow starts is an interesting thing. And it happened again for our goals to none. And then the second quarter starts and Sydney kicks two quick goals. And you're thinking, okay, this is typical. They'll have their quarter now and it'll go into the break more or less level. And then dogs are just like, nah, not today. They had answers for everything today. From that point where Sydney kicked two goals early in the second, the dogs kicked the next three. And then it was only a couple more Sydney goals and then another couple for the dogs. So like they never let them get close. No. Super impressive, man. Like Jamaro on his day is unplayable. He's took four goals, three weeks in a row. So he's in form. It's the time to do it. - Yep. - Look, I talk about every week, but I love Ed Richards. Like the impact these guys had on the midfield, he's just given such a different look, man. Love going in the back line has helped. Oh no, they're just playing as a team. They look like they're a team. - Yeah. - And you can just tell that they're putting the pressure that they haven't traditionally done in stopping transition. They're winning the ball back and they're kind of punching. Trello is in career-based form. Lib is getting his form back off. There's some injury. - I don't know, man. Like Cody Waeman has been to big conclusion the last couple of weeks. - Maybe Bevo like throwing those darts at the wall. He's finally hit the bull's-eye with his positions, man. - Well, you can't criticize him at the moment, can you? - I said these weeks ago, I said, you know what? Bevo lately has been making the right calls. Like the loved one caught me off guard, but the Richards one, early on I saw that, I'm like, you know what? That's actually kind of genius. - I think it's the move of the year. I think it's better than had in young. I think he's the perfect midfielder. And remember when at the start of the year, he subbed Balladale. Maybe he thought that Richards was the better half-back or something along those lines. Well, Balladale after that comes in and has dominated the whole year, which is coming to the midfield. It's just a perfect move. If you're a coach and you've got a half-backer, consider putting him in the midfield. That's the flavour of the month thing. - Well, you know what they say? The best half-backs are actually just midfielders that can't get a spot in the midfielders. - That's right. - So, you know, not surprise at all. I just wanted to call out Chad Warner in 11 Disposals. - Yeah, he's had, yeah. - Woeful. - That's kind of the knock on them still. Like he can do some amazing things, but he hasn't been consistent throughout. - Well, he's rather a core. He had more possessions than him. - Yeah. - That's crazy. But now, well done, dogs. Sydney, look, it's hilarious that they've fumbled massively lately and they're still clear atop because everyone else is also fumbling. So they're still going to have these home finals. The only issue for them now is they're going to be playing a team in fourth. That'll either be, it could be anyone. It could be Brisbane, could be Port, could be you guys, could be free. Like any of these teams now won't be as scared as they were a month ago. - No, because this is the thing like you're on top the whole time and every other team is looking at you and what you're doing well. And after 10 weeks, they've probably figured it out. So they know what's in these weaknesses are, we don't necessarily know them. I'm sure it comes from a lot of pressure, like everything. But yeah, even though they've got a star-studded team, any team like that can look vulnerable. And today the dogs made them look like kids. This is at the SCG in front of like a red crowd. It's crazy, man, it's crazy. - Well, speaking of the crowd as well, these guys left the stadium like the entire last quarter. - Yeah. - Embarrassing from a scene. - So the traffic is in is rough. - Yeah, but here's the thing, man. You're first on the ladder, right? Your team's been killing it all year, giving you a game and even when they've lost, they've been in it to the death. They deserve a bit more respect than you walking out at three quarter time. - Yeah, three quarter time's way too early, man. - That's poor form. - I left like two or three minutes. - You are, look, I'll forgive you. You're on notice, though, but. - Hey, man, I started the pod with the confession. - You know what? No, you're forgiven. I don't know what crowd does. - I've seen. - Yeah. - But Sydney fans, like unless you're all confessing. - Yeah. - Just confessing. - I'm not accepting that. Now the last game, man. - So we've gone, we've gone super informed Western Bulldogs to Hawthorne who look invincible. So I left for the, to come here at three quarter time. And the hawks were up and I'm like, I'll find a way to win it. And then I came and I arrived and it's 124 to 58. Did the, did the close kicker goal in the second half? - They kicked two in the last quarter, but the hawks kicked 10 goals, which is more than two. So. - What in the world, bro? - Look, man, the thing with the hawks right now is confidence through the roof, their structure suits their players to a tee. And they just are tough around the ball, but also quick on the outside. Like they've got a really good balance. We know that their form since they started that win streak against North Melbourne has been that of a top 14, if not like a top two team pretty much. And quite honestly, I don't care what their fixture is on the run through. I look at them when I tip now, this is a top 14 I'm tipping for. 'Cause they've earned that respect, man. I think if, like even a Sydney, if Hawthorne snuck in a fourth and Sydney host them at the SCG, Hawthorne will not give a shit. And they'll give him a good as game as anyone could. - Yeah. - So I think it's like a huge testament to Sam Mitchell's coaching. The players have completely jumped on board, but they're also physically ready to compete. So, massive credit, man. - It is. And I think I'm trying to, it's hard for me to kind of work out what makes the Hawks good. But one thing I'm looking at is they've got 11 individual goal scorers and crows have one, two, three, five more than double. That's just an even contribution. And I just think that's what the Hawks are, that everyone's playing their role. There's not a lot of superstars in this team. There could be future superstars, like Conor McDonald had a big game. He's only in his 30, I think. He's a special player. You could tell from his first year, right? World day is a gun. We get that. But it's really just role players just giving their role. - Well, is this not what we should all learn, I guess? Like we all want that key forward. Like Carlton's got two of them. You've got these incredible targets. But I think like, look at St Kilda as an example, right? King has been the focal point since he's got drafted. Yet for some reason, they look better when he's not there. And I think the unpredictability that anyone on any day in that forward line can kick two or three is probably more important in modern football than having one forward that can kick five. - I agree with that. - So I think the Hawks, and it's like Hawthorne of old, like when they were winning the flags, yes, it was on steroids because they had Franklin, Rufford, Gunston in his peak, Bruce in his peak, see Rioli, but even then it could be Franklin three, Rufford three, Gunston two, Bruce two, Rioli two, like it was still was spread. And then obviously the odd day where the big boys would kick it back. But that's the biggest danger. And I totally agree with you. You don't know who to mark. Like if you put your better small defender on Guineven, then Watson will go crazy, Bruce will go crazy. So you put the better one on them, then Guineven goes nuts. And they're all just ready to step up, which is why they're so hard to beat. - And the other thing I like about him is the fact that last year they played a really good half and got swept away. And it's like, well, this is the potential of this team, but I can't sustain it. Now they're actually arm wrestling with teams and then blowing them away, which is a massive like leap from what they were doing. And you kind of think like, I don't know if I can see the hawks like that tough of like a grunty team, but they are. And they're proven that by being able to hold Adelaide, play the game with Adelaide and then just go bam Adelaide. I don't care that you're at home in front of your home crowd. We're gonna spank 10 goals and you're in the last quarter. - Yeah. - Really impressive. And you know, I think that, let's look at the ladder now that we've talked about every team. - Yep. - The hawks are 44, so percentage out of the eight. - They would have been in if dogs didn't do a madness. They would be a thriller. - Mm, well dogs are 119, there's 104. But we've got Sydney, Brisbane, Freo, Carlton, Jeto, West, Geelong, Port, dogs, hawks. I think that's an acid and Melbourne Collinwood sons. Forget about those teams. So it's really Hawthorne. It's nine teams, I think it's nine teams now. - Yeah. - And the order, the order is probably the crazier part because Carlton's fourth on 48 points with one 12 percentage, DWS 111, Geelong 109, Port 106, all the same, like just insane. - It's gonna be crazy, man. Like if the finals started right now, Giants, V dogs, crazy game. There's a bit of history there as well. Geelong, Port Adelaide. You guys go to Sydney, Brisbane, Hose, Freo. Any of those features-- Imagine trying to tip any of these games. - Good luck. - Yeah, no way. So it's really exciting. I personally hope Hawthorne wins 'cause I like the fact that there would be like an underdog, young-- - But let's say Hawthorne wins it. Who out of that top eight goes? It probably depends on fixture, which I don't know. I think-- - Maybe Geelong. - Geelong or Port? - Geelong or Giants even for me? I know the Giants are on the upper little bit, but they're not a show or thing. I think even like Port, Port got suspect as well. I know they played well against you guys, but-- - I think Port or Geelong, man. Giants are pretty good. Carlton has an easy fixture. - Either way, good on them for giving themselves a shot. Like considering the start of the season they had, it's similar to the Lions in a way, but the Lions, obviously, were in a grand final last year. Hawthorne was in the bottom four. Like it's-- - Yeah. - It's only similar as to what happened this year. - No, it's an incredible rise from the Hawks. - Yeah. - The fans must be having such a good time. - Oh yeah, great time. Some even watching from Greece. You know who you are. - You know who you are. - Fair friend of the pod over in Greece. Let's do some tipping, Georgie. So we've got no matter here to sit on the fence. So we've got to be pretty black and white, pretty united. - I'm happy to do that, man. - First game of the round, Doggy's hosting Melbourne at Marvel Stadium. - I think you've got to go dogs. - Gotta be the dogs. I'm saying that the dogs can just do a dogs on us. - Yeah, yeah, they could. But look, Marvel, I don't think Melbourne plays Marvel. I don't remember the last time they played Marvel. - Yeah, do they even play there at all? - No, I don't know. Do they even know how to get there? (laughing) - Dogs have been by default 'cause Melbourne goes to the G bikes at it. - Yeah. - Next game. - Melbourne plays and their fans both have traffic issues. (laughing) - Bad. Eagles hosting the suns. - The suns getting away when? No, I'm not tipping them. - You know what, I'm with you. And you know what, where was this energy a few weeks ago? (laughing) - Let's go Eagles. - Yeah, let's go. Eagles, raid to go 40 and 10 goals. - Done. Saturday, 144. - Oh, North Wishman. - North, can I be just saying real quick, that freer, sorry, the Eagles suns game is the second of two Friday night games. - Yeah, what's up? - That's disgusting. Anyway, no one's watching that shit. North in the prime time, Saturday, one, four. - That's why they put it. That's why they put it on Friday. - Prime time, baby. I will be at this game and we are gonna win. - Yeah, North, yeah. - We're gonna win this. - Yeah, I think you win it. - Do you wanna win it? - Absolutely. - Yeah. - Oh, no, we're not even talking traffic, so I do not care. - I think you wanna win. - 100%. - 100%. - Jelon hosting the crows. GMHBA, not being a fortress, but I'm still gonna tip him. - Yeah, go them. - Collingwood, Carlton. - Please, Carlton, man, please. - You know what? Just because the top eight race is making me go crazy, Carlton just wins so we can really rule out Collingwood. - Yeah. - Don't let them have hope. - Oh, look, Penderby's 400's game, by the way. - Huge. Friend of the pod. - Friend of the pod's got him. - Friend of the pod, flowers. What else do you say? - One of the games is ridiculous effort, though. - That's a bouquet of flowers for Scotland. - Yeah, that's a lot. Just lose, please. - Yeah, just lose, though. Man, that changes things, actually. Cheers. - Look, imagine how many high-fives are gonna be giving each other after every play, man. That's crazy. - That's a lot of high-fives. And Penderby, like, they tactical subbed him at three quarter time to keep him fresh, and he was dominating. - They're ready for it. - Look, I just hope Carlton wins, but I'm not really confident to be honest with you. Coling would always find a way to the dogs. - Well, go, Carlton. My car should be back from his-- - Yeah, it would be back. - Concussion owners, produce concussion sickness. - Acres back. - We don't know, yeah, we don't know. Concussion, so my car aches, hopefully a couple others. - You should be fine. You'll be fine. All right, next game. Port Adelaide hosting Sydney. The Sydney bounce, this isn't a guarantee for the manual. - Yeah, it's hard to know what Sydney's really gonna do. - I'm gonna, you know what? I've just got this thing that Sydney is just sliding a little bit. I'm gonna do Port. - Yeah, sure. - I'll do Port. - Giants, hawks, hawks beat them in Tazzy last time. - Yeah, look, I think the Giants will win this. - I'm on the hawks train. - Ooh. - Until otherwise-- - Rock off on the scissors. - Rock off, all right, done. - Rock off on the pot, first time ever. Rock, paper, scissors. - Oh, he's gone scissors. - Scissors, baby. - Scissors beats paper. - That's what you mean, sorry. - Giants are in good format. Look, so are the hawks, but I think there is... I keep saying there's a maturity difference, but he's there, hawks are pretty mature. - Well, you've done your rock off now. The scissors have spoken, Jordan. - Yeah. - The scissors have spoken, the Giants. - Giants done. - All right, bombers hosting Freeo. Freeo's gonna win. Not even close, I don't think. - I don't wanna talk about it. - I think, but if St. Kilda's kick-marking their way to a win. Imagine what Freeo's gonna do to a person. Are you kidding me? It's over, bro. - Look what they did to Melbourne. - It's over. Freeo by 50. - Look, if the doctors do what they did to Melbourne and win by like 70 points, like lock your doors in Melbourne. - Oh, man. - Like anyone living in Essendon or any local, so just lock your doors and just barricade it, man. 'Cause it's gonna be hell out there. - Yep, 100%. And the last game is St. Kilda hosting the long ends at Marvel. - I'll go lines. - Yeah, lines. - Done. - Imagine if St. Wien. Look, I'm not confident about any of these tips. This is probably the hardest round of tipping I've seen. - You know what, name your short bet. Like what is your short bet? - All right, let's go. The short bet is Freeo beating us in. - Yeah. - In my opinion. - Yeah, 'cause it's, but it's actually at the G though. - It is, but I just think Freeo is just a way better team. And Essendon, that specifically that game style of kick mark that Freeo can do, it would just be too much to stop. - Yeah, this is a tough round. So anyone behind in tipping, this is the one to get right. I don't know if we've helped you at all, but. - Well, we rock off. So there's no better way to settle disputes than that. - That's it. That's how you do it. - It's a bit about it, man. I know Matt is probably sitting on a beach watching this pod right now. So Matt, I enjoy your coffee. - Enjoy. - Enjoy the sun. Those linen pants. - Oh, yeah. - Find yourself a Greek wife. - That's it. - Actually, this is super random and probably makes no sense. But I was watching the game today. The Collingwood one, I think. I think it's a Collingwood one. And there was a bird that fell in the middle of the screen and just like plonked down on the ground. - What? - And no one like. - I missed it. - And it just, it did wanna, you know when the leaf is falling from a tree? You hit that but like. - Which camera did it hit the one that's like on the wire? - They didn't hit the camera. It was, someone was kicking off the half-back line. And it just went on in the corner of the screen and just went. And like right there. And I was like, what did anyone see that? Shit, look at that bird. And then I kept trying to look at the corner of the screen without playing to see the bird. And then about 30 seconds later, they went back to it or a minute later and it was gone. But that bird died. Something happened to that bird. - My theory, just upon hearing this for the first time is that the Olympic event where they do the ski shooting. - Yeah. - They ran out of room in Paris. So they've done it in Melbourne at the G. And unfortunately, the bird was hit instead of the clay pot. - Was it an omen though? It wasn't a mad pie, but. - It was a tiger. - Was that the last win? - He was a tiger. (laughing) - And I just thought that was, I've never seen a boy like a, he didn't get hit or injured. It just kind of flopped like it had just been killed. - Man. - And no one mentioned it. Surely that's a BT special like that. - Isn't that what, what's your name on the boundaries for? For those expert comments? - Hey guys, just a quick one that's a bird that's just like collapsed. He's getting CPR at the moment. - Can you give us an update on that bird? - That's just odd. Yeah, can confirm, no heartbeat for the bird. - Yeah, bird's dead. (laughing) Anyway, all right, let's call it. - Thanks guys. - Thanks guys. - Appreciate it, see you later. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)