May, Lever, Salem and Hore all back.  Its the best team we have fielded  this season by far.

Get the win today and launch toward a finals berth.  The next 4 games are vs Fremantle, Brisbane, Carlton and Western Bulldogs. All very winnable.

Last chance to turn around the season,  must get the job done.  Good luck to Lever and May in their comebacks.

The first game Lever missed was QB , and the pies broke our 6 game winner streak , quite ironic he finally returns exactly a year later . I still think that game against the crows a few games prior when lever was hitting his straps intercepting off the backline was one of our one most complete performances over the past couple of years 

excited for the inclusion of May / lever/ Hore  but have tempered my expectations, I think it will take some time for them to get in sync as a back 6 

would love to have Nev back out there too 

the silver lining to our season will be our new look defence and getting it primed for 2020

This weekend there’s been a few upsets, let’s see if we can keep the trend going go dees!

I’m tipping a demon win. Pies have been very average for the last few weeks. They’ve also had a major distraction with the Buckley/malthouse saga. 

I think the dees will come to play and treat this game like a final. 

It also helps that we are fielding our most experienced side of the year 

9 minutes ago, bandicoot said:

I’m tipping a demon win. Pies have been very average for the last few weeks. They’ve also had a major distraction with the Buckley/malthouse saga. 

I think the dees will come to play and treat this game like a final. 

It also helps that we are fielding our most experienced side of the year 

with all due respect @bandicoot - I cannot for the life of me see that Pendlebury, or Moore, or whomever fretting over the r'ship of Buckley and Malthouse - it will be a non factor.

Ithink a win is there to be taken today,wet weather should help nulify Grundy around the ground and Cox in the air when he is forward.Our mob fumble in the dry so the wet will just make a normal day out

I have my reserved seat (expensive!), and will hope the boys can have a red hot crack.  Have tipped us (nothing new there...) but also think we can be competitive.  Hopefully for the whole game and not drop away.  Go Dees!

i like the event of the big freeze, but have no care for any of the people going down the slide this year.  Zero interest.

Pies won 7 on the trot before their loss to freo. 

We have been inconsistent and horrible in front of goal. But overall our intensity has improved. 

We are not without a chance but it will be tough. 

But you can never tell what will happen on these big days. The rain is meant to clear and the sun come out which is great. 

Playing Cox is a mistake in my opinion. He is not a natural footballer and needed to get some touch after 6 weeks out. 

24 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

I have my reserved seat (expensive!), and will hope the boys can have a red hot crack.  Have tipped us (nothing new there...) but also think we can be competitive.  Hopefully for the whole game and not drop away.  Go Dees!

i like the event of the big freeze, but have no care for any of the people going down the slide this year.  Zero interest.

I spoke to a couple of the sliders

'buck who?'

???

3 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Pies won 7 on the trot before their loss to freo. 

We have been inconsistent and horrible in front of goal. But overall our intensity has improved. 

We are not without a chance but it will be tough. 

But you can never tell what will happen on these big days. The rain is meant to clear and the sun come out which is great. 

Playing Cox is a mistake in my opinion. He is not a natural footballer and needed to get some touch after 6 weeks out. 

Glad Cox is playing,under done and slippery ball will not help him

12 minutes ago, forever demons said:

Glad Cox is playing,under done and slippery ball will not help him

I can see the headlines now:

big Cox fails to stand up in front of big crowd

16 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

I spoke to a couple of the sliders

'buck who?'

???

 hahaha omg so funny!   You totally showed him!

Edited June 9, 20195 yr by Petraccattack

 

5 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

I am sure Buckley will be worried at breakfast. Oliver plays or Billy does. He would have planned for both.

3 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Have been waiting for the “Oliver Twist” headline pun for several years now and there it is. Expect it won’t be the last time we see it during his career.

28 minutes ago, forever demons said:

Glad Cox is playing,under done and slippery ball will not help him

Won't be slippery. Forecast is fine and sunny for this afternoon and i'm currently at work in the city and all rain has cleared.

Brayshaw and Viney in particular need to find a richer vein of form today if we’re going to at least break even with Pendles, Sidebottom and Treloar. Our mids should enjoy the wet conditions.

The backline looks far more accomplished but will they be able to gel right away is the question. Some early fists away and intercept marks can build confidence quickly. A few early Pie goals is not what we want. May and Lever are experienced but they will also naturally feel nervous early.

Its our forward line however which will likely determine whether we win or lose the contest. Weideman and TMac have to stand up today and kick at least 5 - 6 goals between them. Petracca, Hunt and Garlett must play manically to lock the ball in and create some moments of magic as well. I still don’t think this area of the ground stacks up for us however and will ultimately be our undoing by the end of the day. It’s the third worst forward line up against the third best defence by numbers. 

Filth by 24 points.

Flew in Saturday morning, love getting home, love the beer (strangely enough they have beer in Sydney too) love the food and love catching up with family and friends. No excuses today, we can take them. No more losses like those to the Crows and the Eagles.

Yep me. To cox  kicks  6 in the rain

This game will give a good idea of where we are at.  We are evenly matched: only Jetta and Melksham of our best 22 out; Coll have 3-4.  Lever and May will be rusty but so may a few of the Pies players.

Pies haves smashed us with the same method in the last two games:  Beat us on the inside, get the ball outside and run it fwd.  This is partly because they take Viney out of the game as he has no right side.

Since this game last year they have adopted more of the WCE 'controlled' kick/mark game, a style which continually brings us undone.

Win or lose this will tell us how much our game plan and tactics have evolved in the last 12 months.  But we have had plenty of time to prepare for them so really no excuses for not winning today.

Edited June 10, 20195 yr by Lucifer's Hero

36 minutes ago, Kent said:

Yep me. To cox  kicks  6 in the rain

May will shut that dumb yank down.

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

I am sure Buckley will be worried at breakfast. Oliver plays or Billy does. He would have planned for both.

He will need to have a plan for Oliver, but if Billy plays he could allow things to pan out as they occur.

Forecast update!

Sun is out - it will be dry weather footy

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

I am sure Buckley will be worried at breakfast. Oliver plays or Billy does. He would have planned for both.

Haha. No planning required for stretch. Let him have the ball and turn it over. 

On paper, this is undoubtedly the best 22 we've fielded in 2019.

But we have to be realistic. The backline isn't going to immediately gel and I expect it's going to get exposed more than once today. 

Other than the obvious interest in seeing the backline playing together (indeed, playing at all), I'm really keen to see how our midfield goes. If Oliver is out, I expect to see Brayshaw getting more stoppage minutes and that could be a good thing for him. Either way, their midfield is excellent and if we can't compete there then it won't matter that we've got a better backline.