of touches  in the backline can't be hard

Boon...Hawks due for an upset tomorrow..seems the round for it ?

 I haven't seen too many games this year but from what I have seen, I am blown away that the speed of the game continues to get faster... It looks to be a bit of a catch 22 for the developing sides as they try to replicate the ball movement of the better teams but simply don't have the skill level to pull it off and get smashed the other way when they keep turning it over in dangerous positions. 

If they don't have a license to try, they are never going to get better but I fear some of the developing teams are going to take some serious punishment this year. 

Looking forward to the Freo v Carlton clash this weekend. I'd put a line through Freo before the season started but they are making me eat my words so far!

 Or freo will lose this week.

 How pathetic have the goal umpires become.... Can't seem to make a decission even when it is so bloody obvious to everyone else, may as well not have them and just review every score.

 Better effort from the boys yesterday, skill errors still costing us. Let's not mention Darling's frangar chest. 

 Darling needs to join Gaff in the WAFL, he is an embarrassment.

Close one Pies lads. Gotta admit, not particularly fond of Ginni or Maytard but was laughing at how hard Ginni got under his skin.

Much better effort from my team but simple errors by hand or foot between our wing and forward 50 are killing us. I think it'll be Gaff or Sheed in for Chesser soon so he can work on his... well everything. Bailey Williams continues to grow and is taking some nice clunks in the packs. Even IF Reid only stays for 3 years, it's going to be one hell of a ride and hanging out to see Hewett come back fit and into the mix.

One thing really upsetting me is how the FECK do we end up with Kelly Underwood each week? Getting thrashed is one thing but having to here it from her is draining my soul.

 Got 4 points, equal 8 th atm, watch this space ha ha, alot of top teams playing each other in coming weeks

Hey Boon

When's Sam Mitchell gonna start playing all this elite young talent the Hawks have been stockpiling?

 week?

 Just stay in touch, they seem to run out of puff

Who's going to take out the Owen Cup?

 Do the comp a favour

 Pies waking up!

 at optus??

 Is going to be interesting

This is the only time I have ever been happy about West Coast beating Freo - they were the last leg of my crazy multi from the weekend that has now funded my next east coast fishing trip. What a great pick up in Harley Reid. Geezus, clubs will be climbing over themselves with big money to lure him home.

But congrats to peddles for 10000 possessions and great mark Jamie, in the 8 for awhile at least

That was a hanger for the ages!

Anyone heard from Boon?

I was a bit critical of Naicos last night as he's never in a hurry to put his head over the contested ball but gee whiz he can read the play and is beyond elite by hand and foot. What a clutch goal!

 You blokes will get over your bias of Nick, he's no soft player he's got it all, ELITE SKILLS, and fitness, put Reid on him next week, I'm happy to see the team getting back to their best, road is a bit easier over the next month

 put his head where he might get concussion 

 Play each other next week, should be some good footy

 Will be smacking his lips, read for best players as well

 3 out this week

 Will shut him down

 G'day there Frosty and you other mob of legends.

I hope all is well!

Life is bloody busy so haven't been here for a while.

Good to see both WA teams playing some good footy.

The mighty Hawks will beat the Saints this week me thinks but I've said that a few times this year and been wrong most times. I won't put my half built house on it but I'm confident they may have turned the corner.

 Nightmare this weekend

 G'day Dave,

Sicily out leaves a bit of a hole.

If it wasn't for that I would be confident but we'll see how we go.

 Dee's had a big comeback, wheels falling off the blues? I did pick em.

First time I've ever endeared myself to Freo but those poor boys looked absolutely shell shocked during the tribute to Dardy McCarthy.

The AFL seems to have a dedicated round for everyone besides their primary audience, men.

Hopefully the powers that be see fit to set a round aside dedicated to men's mental health. Many of us cook like a frog in a pot over an extended period of time and don't recognise/ignore the signs and put it down to work/life stresses and get by by lighting the candle at the other end and pushing ourselves harder and/or self medicating with substances whether it be booze or prescription/illegal drugs.

Eventually that volcano can only erupt and it's a long road back with seemingly no end in sight and it isn't hard to see how someone without a network of support around them or is too afraid to reach out could make the decision just to end it all.

Mother's Day Massacre. A month of good footy and then looking at 20 goals plus for a bit there.

 Good to see , guess we'll  see harlys mark all week now, naicos running wild, gotta admire this club. They have become very family oriented  now, I love the way they bring mature players in and plenty of youth as well, moving up now.

 Live in your heads

 Had better stat's the harley

Hey Lads, This is a bit long but a great read on Cam, and WA footy by a local Gym owner i got to meet through little athletics with my oldest daughter many years ago.

Remembering Cam Hey Team, Hope everyone is well. As this week ticks by I have been doing a lot of reflection on life, the universe and everything. Last week one of the young men I coached once upon a time passed away at age 29…I have to say it’s been really hard to accept and understand. The feelings of both guilt and loss are pretty real right now. I mean – I know what has happened is not my fault – how could it be?? – but at the same time we’re talking about a person who up until about 18-months or so ago I had semi-regular contact with…more a message here and there with an occasional call for a chat than anything ‘formal’ – but somehow between the two of us we have let even THAT ‘low effort’ relationship slip away. Now as it turns out I will never get the chance to share a joke or story with him again. I first met Cameron during the early rounds of the 2013 WAFL season…a little over a decade ago. I was coaching the WA State U18’s and he was playing in the forward line for the South Fremantle colts. Going into the season myself and the other selectors had been quietly optimistic about our chances of winning the championship that year…but then under the unique draft rules of that season, our 2x ‘BEST’ players – Jaeger O’Meara and Jesse Hogan – became the two x 17-year olds taken in the pre-draft dealings of the GWS Giants as part of their assistance package from the AFL. Talking footy ‘stuff’, losing Jaeger was bad. Losing Jesse was a disaster – WA is a small state (numbers) and there were really no other key forwards available. We were really in a bit of a bind as even with Jesse in the side external predictions were that 2013 would be a ‘DOWN’ year for WA. As the WAFL season started, Cameron was taking a couple of marks and kicking a couple of goals for what was an EXCELLENT South Fremantle colts side. When I say a ‘couple’ I mean a ‘couple’. In his first game he had just 4-kicks…but kicked 2x goals. In his next, 6-kicks…but 3x goals. Talking to the guys at South Freo (shout out to the legend Arthur Maskos who was coaching them at the time) it turns out that Cameron had so little confidence in his football ability that he initially had not shown up for training at South Fremantle that summer…he figured that his best chance of getting a game would be in the amateurs and had instead heading down to North Fremantle with some mates. Luckily for everyone who loves footy, Arthur had seen Cameron play a bit of junior footy, reached out to him and got him down to the club. Cameron made his name in the AFL as a forward – amazing overhead mark and a beautiful kick for goal. It might be surprising for everyone to know that as a junior he was a GOOD player but certainly not one of the stars of his side. His junior team – South Coogee – which featured a couple of other members of the WA u18 side that year in Dylan Main (later drafted by West Coast and then going on to captain South Fremantle) and Ben Sokol (winner of a couple of Bernie Naylor medals with Subiaco) – had won (I think!) 5 or 6 junior premierships in a row…Cameron was the player who was part of it but not in the ‘middle’ of it…I guess there is a message here somewhere about players developing at different rates and everyone being on their own journey but I’ll leave you guys to work that out for yourself. Anyway, Cameron continued to deliver some consistent if not overwhelming performances in the colts whilst myself and the u18 selectors tried to finalise our squad. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Cam would have been the LAST played added and the conversation was something along the lines of, “well, there’s really no-one else”…So he came up and joined us at the WACA (where we trained) and despite his somewhat shy nature AND lack of outward confidence in his ability – as you can imagine, the best 18 year olds in the state are usually VERY CONFIDENT in what they can do!!! – quickly made friends and settled into the group. The presence of his mates from South Coogee and a large contingent from South Fremantle (who I think had won the colts grand final in 2012) no doubt made it easier. Cam continued to get better week by week and by the time the ‘real’ games started had cemented himself in the side. Coaching the 18’s means quite a lot of travel – that year, we headed to Tasmania for a game in Launceston as well as to Melbourne for the carnival – and the way the seating allocations work is ‘alphabetical’…as it turns out, “Mc” and “Pr” are pretty close in the alphabet and I flew back and forth to Tassie seated alongside Cam. How and why I can still remember this and chatting with him about life, the universe and everything – especially music – I have no idea. Cam had been working as an apprentice – sparky or plumber, I can’t remember – and had a few ‘apprenticeship’ stories as well…Needless to say, I have been thinking a lot about these conversations in the past few days. Back to the ‘fun’ part – by the time we arrived in Melbourne for the final two games against Vic Country and SA, Cameron was more than a selection afterthought – he had become a key player in a side that was doing a LOT better than expected. There were a couple of guys in that team who have shown themselves to be unbelievable leaders (Patrick Cripps, Tom Barrass, Dom Sheed and Charlie Cameron in particular) and had really instilled a belief in their team-mates…and with Cameron kicking goals, despite a terrible start we had ‘nearly’ run down Vic Metro at Subiaco oval and were really defying all of the pre-carnival predictions. We arrived in Geelong to play Vic Country. It was an incredible game of u18 footy – eventually won by us when Cameron kicked a goal after the siren to put us ahead by 3-points. You can read the match report here if you care: https://wafootball.com.au/news/2530/wa-pinches-nail-biting-win-in-under-18s From there it was on to play SA at what is now called Marvel for the championship. Sadly, we went down by 10-points – the absence of Sheed (broken collarbone vs Vic Country) and injury to Cameron just after half time (broken leg – he had already kicked two goals) certainly didn’t help. I still remember Cameron sitting in a wheelchair waiting for the ambulance to arrive and explaining that his leg “wasn’t that bad” and that he felt OK…anyway, x-rays confirmed what the physio and Dr (cheers to Nick Caputi and Lionel Lim – legends both) had already suspect – the leg was broken. Cameron was a tough bugger. I remember Cameron’s dad was down in the rooms when all of this was going on and he said something along the lines of “He’ll be fine – it’s only his leg”…a tough family I reckon. You can read about the SA game here if you’re interested: https://www.afl.com.au/news/451895/under18-championships-sa-v-wa-match-report (I know it says Cameron was injured in the last quarter…maybe I got it wrong?? No idea!). If you want to see more of Cameron in action at that u18 carnival – he was pretty bloody good – check out this video on news.com.au: https://www.news.com.au/sport/cameron-mccarthys-impressive-afl-draft-vision/video/a85c6e92f6aa0d56fef1af58a9124785 There’s one more part to his u18 story that I will never forget. The draft was being held in the Gold Coast and I was lucky enough to get to attend with Dom Sheed, Cameron and a couple other of the WA Talent staff. Sitting next to Cam when his name was called – about 13 or 14 I think – by the Giants he said to me: “What do I do now? I haven’t even spoken to them yet!”. I have no recollection of what I actually said – hopefully it was helpful – but I guess I tell this story to illustrate that whilst being selected to play professional sport is a great opportunity, not everyone dreams of being ripped away from their family and friends aged just 17 and I hope everyone remembers that just because you dream of one thing doesn’t mean you can’t fear it at the same time. The rest of Cam’s journey – footy and otherwise – has been documented all over the media in the last few days. I’m not sure about any of that stuff. What I am sure is that the Cam I knew was a quiet guy, friendly and liked by everyone. And I 100% wish I’d made more of an effort to keep our relationship – such as it was – going over the past couple of years. This is just a sad, sad situation. I’ve really no idea what to do – or what I should have done…all I can say right now is if there are people in your life who you have let ‘slip away’, well…reach out. It isn’t about doing any more than showing that you care about them and making sure they understand there are people around them who are there to help. See you in the gym, Michael.