Though I am very optimistic I have couple of niggles in the back of my mind. After our first two wins the following games have been a let down. It also remains to be seen if the bye has a negative effect on us. In previous years we have mostly always disappointed after the bye. Then again we did not have Roos coaching us. Their losses of Monfries, Hartlett and Cassisi is a bonus for us but considerably offset by Dawes missing. Cassisi is a natural leader and will be missed just like we will miss Dawes leadership. The key for us is to shut down their scoring. Schultz and Wingard in particular.

From what I saw yesterday, Chip Frawley is setting himself for a big game, he is a really cool guy, you can take the [censored] and he takes it, a couple of us and Jack Grimes were bemoaning the fact that Dawes and his leadership was missing right in front of him, he just smiled and basically said "she'll be right", he looked pumped during the session

Forget the bye, the team was switched on the minute they hit the track yesterday, Roos said as much as well in his Roos' Views, there is real competition for places now, you have to produce.......Nev Jetta is itching to get a crack at Wingard, as he put it, 2 'brothers' in Indigenous Round, I reckon Dunn will take Schultz, Terlich and Garland will share Robbie Gray and any midfielder coming forward and Tommy Mc will get Westoff

I am very optimistic and actually looking forward to the game

I find it hilarious, the noise coming out of Geelong was that even they were worried about going to face Sydney without Lonergan and Enright, makes it sound like they were beaten before they ran out.....we have a team full of confidence actually looking forward to cracking in against the top team.....how times change

I see no reason why we can't beat Port.

So on that, I give us a chance.

Port are nothing special, they get there on hard work and gut running.

If our fitness holds out, we'll give it a shake.

I really think we can match them in the midfield, and our defence is capable to keeping their score under 100, the big question for me is can we kick a winning score?

For the last 5 years I have gone into games with hope.

This season I go into games with optimism.

Now THATS progress.

This sort of optimism will help celebrate our victory.

I've got a really good feeling about this one.

I put my money where my mouth is.

I took the $7.00 on offer.

I'm feeling cocky after taking $6.50 about the swans for the flag.

I always hope for a miracle these days, but the Gods are still angry with the MFC. So I hope we win but expect another lose.

I always hope for a miracle these days, but the Gods are still angry with the MFC. So I hope we win but expect another lose.

"The gods are still angry with the MFC"....

.....Do us a favour, next time you see them, knock the chip off their shoulder!

I put my money where my mouth is.

I took the $7.00 on offer.

I'm feeling cocky after taking $6.50 about the swans for the flag.

Swans were my pick at the start of the year - still they remain my pick.

But I wouldn't base them a sure thing, just on last night.

Sydney were always going to match up well against Geelong, they are similar sides.

The challenge will come during the finals against Hawthorn and Fremantle.

Both Hawthorn and Fremantle play extremely disciplined football, they play to structures extremely well.

I think they could hurt Sydney on the outside come finals time.

We can win!!! but one aspect where we will need to be on the top of our game is ‘manning the mark’. Port, at their best, are a very low (trajectory) kicking team which results in:

1. the ball travelling quicker;
2. benefits leading forwards; and
3. negates a third man up role defender.

However by forcing port to kick over the player manning the mark, particularly if it done aggressively (jumping with outstretched hands to their optimum) then the result is more hang time for the kick, equating to slower ball movement and most importantly the likelihood of aerial contests (suiting our defence which is well catered for in this aspect by McDonald, Garland, and to a lesser extent Dunn; while Howe's great marking attributes would also come to the fore). Note aside from Shulz, Ports contested marking capability in the forward line is average.

Of course aggressively manning the mark is a 1 percenter, that the goods team do extremely well, and is an indicator that a team is switched on.

Another consideration is that the port player should always be put on the ground when they have possession, so as to reduce the amount of open (free space) possessions/options. Accurate bullet passes (which port are extremely good at, even over long distances) are so much easier with time and space. So even if it meant giving away a kick, forcing port to kick over the mark will help reduce the effectiveness of their game and bring to the fore our strength (aerial contests).

A by-product of these tactic is that it also slows down the game (speed of ball transition) which is another port strength.

Can we beat Port, yes.

Will we, probably not.

Is it great that we can consider the possibility after the last 7 years, absolutely.

Can Jones,Viney,Tyson,Vince,Cross run all day back and forth and even keep up with the Port mids?

If yes-without Dawes,we probably still don't have the firepower

If no-our defenders will come under extreme pressure and the dam wall will burst at some stage

where both teams are at,i'd be stoked with a <40 point loss after the 79 point loss last time we met.

Can Jones,Viney,Tyson,Vince,Cross run all day back and forth and even keep up with the Port mids?

If yes-without Dawes,we probably still don't have the firepower

If no-our defenders will come under extreme pressure and the dam wall will burst at some stage

where both teams are at,i'd be stoked with a <40 point loss

Losing is no longer acceptable, honourable losses are no longer enough, we play tomorrow believing and expecting to win and anything less is a failure.

where both teams are at,i'd be stoked with a <40 point loss

Lift ya game.

We can't think like losers again. No more excuses.

If we lose we work out why and address it.

If we kick early goals tomorrow we can win.

Get the PAP on the back foot.

Dictate the game.

I shall never be stoked with losing. Look what Tanking did to this club....

But it wasn't just the losses that got to me. It was nauseating watching the club go from disaster to disaster off the field as well.

How good is it to see the difference there?

Yeah, that just added to the 'basketcase' tag we had. It's fantastic knowing there are professional people running the club.

I reckon Dunn will take Schultz, Terlich and Garland will share Robbie Gray and any midfielder coming forward and Tommy Mc will get Westoff

Surely Tommy Mc will go to Schulz...

Surely Tommy Mc will go to Schulz...

Much more likely to go to Westoff.

Lift ya game.

We can't think like losers again. No more excuses.

If we lose we work out why and address it.

If we kick early goals tomorrow we can win.

Get the PAP on the back foot.

Dictate the game.

I shall never be stoked with losing. Look what Tanking did to this club....

Exactly!!!!

We can bloody well win it!! We all as Demons fans are living in reality that we are rebuilding the culture/club ect but that doesn't mean we can't beat up on some teams along the way!

We've played good enough footy this year with a much better game plan also, but we just need to continue it! And theres no excuse's now...we have proved we can win!

The boys know it & state it within the media!

Theres no reason why the guys playing forward can't kick goals! Chip has proved it! Gawny! JKH! Ect!

GO DEMONS! I'm ready for the stress fest hahaha!

Defensive pressure all over the ground will put them off their kicking and their game, it is how we have won our other games. The sides we beat all kicked lots of points due to our pressure and somewhat to our poor kicking in. dont let them have an easy kick or handpass force them to have long shots, etc.. and we are in with a chance.

We are capable of winning. If we play 100% committed footy we can do it. We actually match up very well....the only variable is that if every MFC player is not switched on & play to their capability then we don't get the job done. But that happens with every team ...it is above the shoulders. Have a good look at ports wins & losses ......again I am confident but it requires everyone to stand up & that is the challenge with a club that is slowly starting to believe in themselves. Go Dees

Lift ya game.

We can't think like losers again. No more excuses.

If we lose we work out why and address it.

If we kick early goals tomorrow we can win.

Get the PAP on the back foot.

Dictate the game.

I shall never be stoked with losing. Look what Tanking did to this club....

WYL, you incessantly sound like an U/15s coach from the 90s that has no idea why his side is at the bottom of the ladder.

You say all this tough talking inspirational guff that really has no meaning.

The kids would run onto the ground full of desire then run in circles cos they wouldn't know what to do.

We are oft supposed to take the stance that every game is taken on its merits.

Are we likely to beat Port....possibly not.

Is it totally implausible ? No...definitely no.

Footy is oft a strange game and strange things happen

How anyone can say for cert anything is amusing

We are oft supposed to take the stance that every game is taken on its merits.

Are we likely to beat Port....possibly not.

Is it totally implausible ? No...definitely no.

Footy is oft a strange game and strange things happen

How anyone can say for cert anything is amusing

I didn't feel confident we would beat the crows, blues or tigers, but we put ourselves into good positions to attack games.

Every time a team runs out they have a chance to win...the question is the degree of difficulty in achieving it.

Well we aren't going to lose at bad as Geelong or St Kilda. I guarantee that