A profound observation from my partner who I took to her first game of football on Saturday night. She said, after the game, that every time there was a free kick she would have thought that it should have gone the other way. This is not quite 'out of the mouths of babes' but you get my drift. It's ...

I haven't read through all the above posts, and this might be a strange thing to say, but I reckon Wayne Carey is the most over-rated player I've seen. There were plenty of games against us where one of the Wakelin's would keep him kickless for three quarters. Then he'd suddenly pop up with a couple...

Armoooo wrote:Head has always been the worst umpire for us, as far as I can remember atleast...

Certainly of the current crop, but I remember back to Don Jolley!

He cheesed me off last time he played against us with his staging for frees, but if does the same for us I won't mind quite so much! Actually, I'll now give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he has that rarely neurological disorder where pain that should be experienced in the upper body is subje...

They were brilliant.

A real thrill to watch them.

Best attacking defence you'd ever see.

Hope you are well soon, Dave.

And a nice little win in Owlerton last night.

McLaren is the worst official in any major professional sport I have seen in many a long year: he usually looks all at sea out there, he has no feel for the rhythm of the game, and he is always a risk of diving in and awarding the stupidest and most nit-picking free kick imaginable. McBurney is onl...

Tough as he was, Carl Ditterich used to get reported for next to nothing as well. It's been going on for decades. I know this sounds defeatist, but anyone who can't cope with this sort of stuff should barrack for one of the other 15 clubs! I agree that something should be done about Bakes, but I've ...

I can't remember being more pleased about a Brownlow win, other than when a St Kilda player has won it.

Seems like a very modest and pleasant young bloke.

In terms of individual players, Sam Gilbert's development was the highlight. Continued development of Gram into one of our top players was a close 2nd.

Lowlight was Hamill.

Most of those Geelong players who gave North a shelacking have got kicking and hand passing skills that some of our blokes can only dream about.

I haven't seen any team play like that since the first half of 2004.

Can someone tell me this?

How does a medium sized player who has no ball skills with either hand or foot, but is blonde and can run quickly, get as far as earning a place in a mid-ranking AFL side? Is that all it takes these days?

Don't anyone mention ball magnet. I know all about ball magnets!

Reckon we all love him.

I'm still getting choaked about it.

He has good anticipation of where the ball is going to drop or spill, gets himself in the right spot, and does some good mopping up work. Too useful in that role to pull out of defence altogether.

Supporting the Saints is a frustrating, crazy, brilliant, hilarious, roller coaster ride, and the whole thing was encapsulated in the G-Train.

Thanks for everything Fraser.

The only reason to hate Collingwood is that they aren't actually very good but they are still playing in the finals and we are not. Adelaide looked a far better team and from the opening bounce it looked like a false hope that Collingwood might stand any chance of winning it. They were lucky to stay...

To finish 9th, or whatever it turns out to be, after playing no more than three quarters of football most weeks was something of an achievement. What really killed us was the Hawthorn loss when we had about 10 players missing but still should have been 6 goals in front at 1/4 time, and the Collingwo...

About three years ago, when Sam Fisher was new, we played Sam and Fergs on Richo, with Fergs blocking his run and backing into him.

They did a pretty good job on him from memory.

Played well against us earlier this season.

Would be very handy, but needs to play four quarters. Seems to burst into the game early and then fades.

Raph had one of his better games last night.

Some very brave running the same way as the ball as it was being pumped into our defence.

He also looks much quicker than he did a month ago. He'll come good next season if he avoids injury.

I'd have Bakes shaddowing RL the whole night.

Walk along the boundary with him before the game.

Go out to see the team at the breaks.

Stand with the team and celebrate at the end of the game.

Needs to be a constant presence and a constant reminder of what we are up against.

It was an illegal act which resulted in an opponent being badly injured.

So if you push a player in the back and he smashes his face on the ground and breaks bones, you won't be reported because pushing in the back is not reportable, but you will be suspended for weeks?

Is that the way it works?

If we lose we are dependent on other results falling in our favour. If we keep winning it's in our hands. The thing I've got my eye on is Sydney. We don't want to have to travel there in the first week of the finals should we finish 7th or 8th. Our best bet would be Collingwood or Hawthorn in Melbou...

McLaren is certainly the worst of the lot.

Little Mr Controversial, and seems to think it makes him an expert.

But Vozzo has been appalling lately too.

Had the incident occurred in exactly the same way, but with Farmer uninjured and Baker having sustained a fracture to the back of the skull, what would the verdict have been? Just as it's always the players' fault when they make contact with an umpire, is it always Baker's fault when someone runs in...