FMD the optimism has started already. I remember well last season how we were talking about the favourable draw and how 6 wins were likely before.... FMD! Hello fellow groundhogs (WTFTA).

you do realise in GHD....Bill does get the girl !!! just saying

Montagna is suspended for round 1 2014 further depleting their experience. We must win the midfield battle!

bargain

Apparently one of the radio stations just said that Scott Watters has just been sacked.

Watch this space...

This game just got a whole lot more interesting !!

This game just got a whole lot more interesting !!

And a whole lot more harder to win...

if we lose to this rabble ... i dont even want to think about it

And a whole lot more harder to win...

Maybe not. I really dont think it got any easier or harder, just there'll be a bit more focus on it now both teams start off afresh

Montagna is suspended for round 1 2014 further depleting their experience. We must win the midfield battle!

What did he get suspended for?

As bad as Melbourne were/are surely we will beat Stkilda?

They literally dont have a team.

Who are they going to replace NIckyDal, Mcevoy, Montagana and Milney with?

if we dont get them than the MFC really is out of hope

What did he get suspended for?

striking/rough conduct of Ryan Crowley..

Not surprised, he's a pest

Oh ripper! Bogey ground, new coach, the stars are aligning for us? I have taken the Dees in my footy tips the last 10 years for the 1st round, getting sick of losing!

Round 1, 2013

B Sellar Frawley Nicholson

HB Dunn Garland Gillies

C Grimes Jones Toumpas

HF Watts Pedersen Sylvia

FF Byrnes Clark Howe

R Jamar McKenzie Viney

I/C M. Jones Tapscott Rodan Blease


Possible line-up round 1, 2014


B Clisby Frawley Garland

HB Grimes McDonald Cross

C Watts Jones Vince

HF Trengove Hogan Howe

FF Dawes Clark Kent

R Jamar Tyson Viney

I/C Michie Toumpas Pick 9 Blease


Some will have McKenzie, Terlich or Matt Jones in, while others will have Blease, Toumpas, or Clisby out, but that will unfold over the next 6 months. I prefer Clisby to Terlich and Matt Jones had a good first year, but should struggle to make this side. The less I comment on McKenzie the better. Cross may be forward instead of back, Gawn instead of spud Jamar, etc.

Also, I've named Hogan at CHF. He plays all of next year as a 19 year old and loves to work up the ground and double back, i.e. the classic CHF. I won't let his age restrict his output. We all know he'll be a gun CHF and I see no reason that he can't hold down that spot as a 19 year old right from the start. Others won't like me naming him there.

Bolded are new to the club and underlined didn't play in round one last year; 11 players. Half the side. If they perform to expectations we'll be so superior to last year's outfit it's not funny. Well, maybe it is. It will take a couple of months into the year for the players to become adept at the new game-plan, but injuries permitting we could have a side that forms the nucleus of a very competitive outfit. Games of footy aren't played on paper, but I'm starting to like how ours looks.

Edited November 2, 201311 yr by Ben-Hur

Sweet mother of god...did we really have all of Gillies, Pedersen and Sellar playing in Round 1? Suddenly that result makes perfect sense.

Looks good BH.

I have always been skeptical of Jones and Terlich (maybe unfairly but they are 25)

Don't know if pick 9 will be playing round 1 though also not sure about Blease.

I think Strauss will really come on under Roos - maybe Cross can take pick 9's spot and Strauss takes Cross' spot. (would be nice to have a good kick/play maker down back).

Looks good BH.

I have always been skeptical of Jones and Terlich (maybe unfairly but they are 25)

Don't know if pick 9 will be playing round 1 though also not sure about Blease.

I think Strauss will really come on under Roos - maybe Cross can take pick 9's spot and Strauss takes Cross' spot. (would be nice to have a good kick/play maker down back).

The players you mention are "interchangeables" and not the most pivotal aspects of success.

There's no reason pick 9 can't do a Vlastuin, Crouch, O'Meara Wines in that they play just about every game. It would be best case scenario, but one I wish for and not without precedence.

Like your team BH but with a few reservations.

I'm not sure if we're putting too much expectation on Jesse Hogan's shoulders given it will be his debut game. I would perhaps be easing him into the role as an AFL player and start him off as an interchange in round one. He will still get plenty of time and he's a mature young bloke but I'd try to turn the limelight off him until about round three when we can unleash him against those orange monstrosities at Skoda Stadium where we can exact our revenge on them for what they did to us in round 19.

The other one is Sam Blease whose career could go anywhere next year under Roos. It could end up on the rocks or in stardom - we know and he knows that he still needs to apply himself so that he's far more consistent from week to week and that his best and worst aren't so far apart. He also has to (and I dare say this in view of the controversy surrounding a certain delisted player) bring his defensive game up to scratch although he has improved in that area. If he can show us something during the pre season and what remains of the NAB Cup then he's in.

Draft pick 9 - depending on who we get. If he's a similar midfield type to those we've already recruited then he might have to bide his time at Casey but if brings some special attributes into the team then I'm fine with him in the starting 22.

Like your team BH but with a few reservations.

I'm not sure if we're putting too much expectation on Jesse Hogan's shoulders given it will be his debut game. I would perhaps be easing him into the role as an AFL player and start him off as an interchange in round one. He will still get plenty of time and he's a mature young bloke but I'd try to turn the limelight off him until about round three when we can unleash him against those orange monstrosities at Skoda Stadium where we can exact our revenge on them for what they did to us in round 19.

The other one is Sam Blease whose career could go anywhere next year under Roos. It could end up on the rocks or in stardom - we know and he knows that he still needs to apply himself so that he's far more consistent from week to week and that his best and worst aren't so far apart. He also has to (and I dare say this in view of the controversy surrounding a certain delisted player) bring his defensive game up to scratch although he has improved in that area. If he can show us something during the pre season and what remains of the NAB Cup then he's in.

Draft pick 9 - depending on who we get. If he's a similar midfield type to those we've already recruited then he might have to bide his time at Casey but if brings some special attributes into the team then I'm fine with him in the starting 22.

Yes, I knew Hogan would be contentious, but it's my opinion and I reckon he'll be ready. Others won't.

I don't care about Blease. Keep him or swap him with another other NQR. We have plenty.

Pick 9 - we'll either get a Toumpas, who was a mile off, or Vlastuin, who was ready. I'm hoping for the latter. The sooner we get class into the team the better.

Edited November 2, 201311 yr by Ben-Hur

If Freeman's available, we'll take him. And he'd be picked round one, fitness permitting.

Sweet mother of god...did we really have all of Gillies, Pedersen and Sellar playing in Round 1? Suddenly that result makes perfect sense.

I actually laughed when I saw that team.

It's a bit sad that we thought that was an AFL-standard side, really.

Like your team BH but with a few reservations.

I'm not sure if we're putting too much expectation on Jesse Hogan's shoulders given it will be his debut game. I would perhaps be easing him into the role as an AFL player and start him off as an interchange in round one. He will still get plenty of time and he's a mature young bloke but I'd try to turn the limelight off him until about round three when we can unleash him against those orange monstrosities at Skoda Stadium where we can exact our revenge on them for what they did to us in round 19.

The other one is Sam Blease whose career could go anywhere next year under Roos. It could end up on the rocks or in stardom - we know and he knows that he still needs to apply himself so that he's far more consistent from week to week and that his best and worst aren't so far apart. He also has to (and I dare say this in view of the controversy surrounding a certain delisted player) bring his defensive game up to scratch although he has improved in that area. If he can show us something during the pre season and what remains of the NAB Cup then he's in.

Draft pick 9 - depending on who we get. If he's a similar midfield type to those we've already recruited then he might have to bide his time at Casey but if brings some special attributes into the team then I'm fine with him in the starting 22.

I'll back B-H in with his assessment of Hogan; he appears to have seen more of him than most of us. I too would be wary of putting too much on his shoulders, but I guess if you're going to do it, at least do it with a mountain of a man who has played his final junior year with men and not boys.

Also, starting him as an interchange makes it worse, if anything. Think of the raptures of the supporters as he strides onto the ground 2 minutes in. At least Round 1 is at Etihad and thus without the MCC behind him.

Agree re: Blease, but I have no faith whatsoever in him. If he does come on, that would be a wonderful X-factor to add to the side, but I fear that ship has long-sailed (add Strauss to that category).

To me, pick 9 may be duelling with McKenzie for the final spot in the side. Depends on the type of player we take, of course.

I'll back B-H in with his assessment of Hogan

Considering Roos thinks that what we did to Watts for his debut was one of the worst things he's seen a club do to a young player he may well be conservative with Hogan. Preseason will answer many questions.

I reckon Hogan will be ready sooner than later. Leigh Matthews won a B&F in a premiership year as a 19 year old. Now I'll be accused of comparing Hogan to Matthews by dimwits. My point being that there are 19 year olds and there are 19 year olds. Hogan will be a player ready to go day one, imo.

I'll be disappointed if Hogan isn't starting in Round 1. This is no ordinary kid. He's ready to roll.

Reluctantly, I think McKenzie is a lock to start for Roos' first game.

I'd also have great hesitation about Cross at HB. Given the other two are Grimes and T Mac, we need a very good distributor taking up that spot. Kicking is not one of his strengths. I'd have Vince or even Toumpas there ahead of Cross, who I'd be throwing into the middle from the get go.

The talk about Hogan reminds me of the emergence a long time ago of another precocious teenage KP talent in Peter McKenna of Collingwood.

McKenna was 18 years old when he made his debut for Collingwood in Round 1, 1965. He showed promise, played 12 games for the season but was by no means an overnight sensation. In the opening game of 1966, he booted 12 goals against Hawthorn but his form dropped off and he finished with only six games for the season. He continued his gradual improvement over the years but it wasn't until 1970 (his sixth season) that he broke the hundred goal mark for the first time. His days as one of the AFL's leading goalkickers came in the 70s.

Times have changed, the game's changed and players are different. However, McKenna's story might temper the views of those who think he's going to take everything before him by storm from day one.

those who think he's going to take everything before him by storm from day one.

I'm not saying he'll take the competition by storm from day one, but I am saying he'll be our best CHF from day one.

He'll take the competition by storm in his third year when he's 21.

The talk about Hogan reminds me of the emergence a long time ago of another precocious teenage KP talent in Peter McKenna of Collingwood.

Yes Barry Price was upfield from McKenna and one of the sweetest kicks you would ever see.

We on the other hand, have Mckenzie who has perfected the sublime trick of getting the ball and tripping himself over handballing to Mr Nobody as he hits the deck and searches for a free.

If McKenzie is in our opening lineup, Roos has given up.

Hogans ready to go, it doesn't matter whether he gets a kick or not, he'll take a sound back men and free up one of Clark, Dawes or Watts