PREGAME: Rd 01 vs Western Bulldogs

[layzie 29,140]

There has never been one time in history where the AFL hasn't known what it's doing.

[WalkingCivilWar 32,749]

15 hours ago, ucanchoose said:

I would go, but the with the works on the Belgrave line, it makes it painful to train in until the end of May!

Don’t let that stop you! I brought giant Jayden home from Family Day by PT: three trains, a bus, and worst of all, those two words we all dread hearing… replacement [censored] bus. AND it was raining! AND I was carrying my weight in cakes and loaves of bread.

But then, not everyone is “slightly deranged” as I’ve been described on here. 🙃
 

Worth every “excuse me” and “sorry about that,” the majority of which were on the packed replacement bus where Jayden punched as many passengers in the head as possible. Good times 😁

Edited March 6, 2023 by WalkingCivilWar

[chook fowler 18,327]

39 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Don’t let that stop you! I brought giant Jayden home from Family Day by PT: three trains, a bus, and worst of all, those two words we all dread hearing… replacement [censored] bus. AND it was raining! AND I was carrying my weight in cakes and loaves of bread.

But then, not everyone is “slightly deranged” as I’ve been described on here. 🙃
 

Worth every “excuse me” and “sorry about that,” the majority of which were on the packed replacement bus where Jayden punched as many passengers in the head as possible. Good times 😁

You are the epitome of a Demon tragic WCW

[JimmyGadson 3,455]

Round 1 team selection is always tricky.

We look primed, slick, fit and hungry, 

Enjoyed watching out hitouts and loved our more aggressive ball movement and willingness to work angles and move the ball on.

Great to see a greater spread of midfield rotations even though we'll tighten that up going into Round 1.

Hunter will change us, such a great addition.

Love Brodie, think it'll work but I fear for the position of Ben Brown and see him potentially missing early on once Fritsch is back if his form remains the same. I'd also prefer Van Rooyen given his appetite to chase, defend and bring the ball to ground.

Harmes kills me and is just a weak link for us imo. He's in prime age bracket and for whatever reason is so inconsistent in his ball use and decision making year after year. 

Can't wait for round 1, I'm overseas all year so it's bittersweet if we make the Granny as I won't be able to get back!

We look formidable, go redlegs.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,369]

6 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Don’t let that stop you! I brought giant Jayden home from Family Day by PT: three trains, a bus, and worst of all, those two words we all dread hearing… replacement [censored] bus. AND it was raining! AND I was carrying my weight in cakes and loaves of bread.

But then, not everyone is “slightly deranged” as I’ve been described on here. 🙃
 

Worth every “excuse me” and “sorry about that,” the majority of which were on the packed replacement bus where Jayden punched as many passengers in the head as possible. Good times 😁

 

[layzie 29,140]

8 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Don’t let that stop you! I brought giant Jayden home from Family Day by PT: three trains, a bus, and worst of all, those two words we all dread hearing… replacement [censored] bus. AND it was raining! AND I was carrying my weight in cakes and loaves of bread.

But then, not everyone is “slightly deranged” as I’ve been described on here. 🙃
 

Worth every “excuse me” and “sorry about that,” the majority of which were on the packed replacement bus where Jayden punched as many passengers in the head as possible. Good times 😁

"Excuse me", "Sorry about that", "Huntmania coming through"

[640MD 2,892]

7 hours ago, JimmyGadson said:

Round 1 team selection is always tricky.

We look primed, slick, fit and hungry, 

Harmes kills me and is just a weak link for us imo. He's in prime age bracket and for whatever reason is so inconsistent in his ball use and decision making year after year. 

We look formidable, go redlegs.

I agree mostly with your points, but the established players will stay IMO the younger ones later.

another but, I see Harmes as the lightning rod, when he is on song,  and AnB too the Dees play well and usually win. 
probably means the better players are well on top.

i for one hope he has a blinder of a year.

hope you see a great win first game, it might be my only live match as well. 
 

enjoy your travels, Primitivo in its natural settings  with cheese and olives and some pastrami.  I just have to wait. 
In the mean time we do look formidable.

the last 2 1/2 years our winning ratio is great, far more wins against losses than I can remember   It’s a great time to follow the Dees,

enjoy this time,   Cheers 

 

[layzie 29,140]

5 minutes ago, 640MD said:

I agree mostly with your points, but the established players will stay IMO the younger ones later.

another but, I see Harmes as the lightning rod, when he is on song,  and AnB too the Dees play well and usually win. 
probably means the better players are well on top.

i for one hope he has a blinder of a year.

hope you see a great win first game, it might be my only live match as well. 
 

enjoy your travels, Primitivo in its natural settings  with cheese and olives and some pastrami.  I just have to wait. 
In the mean time we do look formidable.

the last 2 1/2 years our winning ratio is great, far more wins against losses than I can remember   It’s a great time to follow the Dees,

enjoy this time,   Cheers 

 

Don't forget the quince!

[Ollie fan 2,206]

I like Harmes and certainly hope he is selected and does a job on Libba.

[Dee Zephyr 17,819]

I thought Harmes had a good game, he seems to be judged harshly these days imo. He attended 20 centre bounces, equal most with Oliver and when you're in there as often as that you're bound to shank a few kicks with the pressure. He linked up well, had over 20 disposals with 6 score involvements, 2 goal assists and 6 inside 50s.

He's no Trac or Oliver but plays a role and that role against Richmond was performed admirably in the absence of Viney. He certainly did his chances no harm for a R1 spot.

[Kent 2,604]

2 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

I thought Harmes had a good game, he seems to be judged harshly these days imo. He attended 20 centre bounces, equal most with Oliver and when you're in there as often as that you're bound to shank a few kicks with the pressure. He linked up well, had over 20 disposals with 6 score involvements, 2 goal assists and 6 inside 50s.

He's no Trac or Oliver but plays a role and that role against Richmond was performed admirably in the absence of Viney. He certainly did his chances no harm for a R1 spot.

Love the Harmsey!!!

[layzie 29,140]

1 minute ago, Kent said:

Love the Harmsey!!!

I think when it comes to Harmes he's really never going to be anything other than a mid so people may judge him more harshly when he's in there. 

I see both sides of the Harmes argument but he's a required player for me and would be keen to see him Rd 1. 

[WalkingCivilWar 32,749]

1 hour ago, Dee Zephyr said:

I thought Harmes had a good game, he seems to be judged harshly these days imo. He attended 20 centre bounces, equal most with Oliver and when you're in there as often as that you're bound to shank a few kicks with the pressure. He linked up well, had over 20 disposals with 6 score involvements, 2 goal assists and 6 inside 50s.

He's no Trac or Oliver but plays a role and that role against Richmond was performed admirably in the absence of Viney. He certainly did his chances no harm for a R1 spot.

Well, with Weids gone and Melksy not playing someone has to cop the flak on here. 
🙄 

[Dr. Gonzo 22,526]

11 more sleeps to go 😈💙❤️

[WalkingCivilWar 32,749]

2 hours ago, layzie said:

"Excuse me", "Sorry about that", "Huntmania coming through"

It was actually fun on the replacement bus (said no one ever, amirite) because giant Jayden’s presence started a bit of banter between me and a few Bulldogs supporters. Started off by one of them saying Jayden is limp-wristed, (to be fair,  he was until I straightened his wrists at home later) and then it was on for young and old. There was four or five of them vs me, and Jayden too, only he didn’t say much, he just let his fists do all the talking. But I gave as good as I got. My crowning jewel… one of them said, “we beat you the last two times we’ve played.” I said, “We beat you when it mattered.” 

When we all spilled out of the bus at Sunshine Station, a couple of other passengers thanked me for making a replacement bus ride almost bearable. That’s a compliment of the highest order!

[layzie 29,140]

10 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

It was actually fun on the replacement bus (said no one ever, amirite) because giant Jayden’s presence started a bit of banter between me and a few Bulldogs supporters. Started off by one of them saying Jayden is limp-wristed, (to be fair,  he was until I straightened his wrists at home later) and then it was on for young and old. There was four or five of them vs me, and Jayden too, only he didn’t say much, he just let his fists do all the talking. But I gave as good as I got. My crowning jewel… one of them said, “we beat you the last two times we’ve played.” I said, “We beat you when it mattered.” 

When we all spilled out of the bus at Sunshine Station, a couple of other passengers thanked me for making a replacement bus ride almost bearable. That’s a compliment of the highest order!

Only you could make a bus ride this entertaining! 

What last two times? They beat us the last time, that was it. 

 

[WalkingCivilWar 32,749]

11 minutes ago, layzie said:

Only you could make a bus ride this entertaining! 

What last two times? They beat us the last time, that was it. 

 

Layz, these are ne’er-do-wells from St Albans, if they say they beat us the last 20 times, they beat us the last 20 times. 

[#11-TonyAnderson 696]

1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Layz, these are ne’er-do-wells from St Albans, if they say they beat us the last 20 times, they beat us the last 20 times. 

WCW - please get is right It's: "Stnalbns" :-)

[layzie 29,140]

1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Layz, these are ne’er-do-wells from St Albans, if they say they beat us the last 20 times, they beat us the last 20 times. 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by layzie

[DeeSpencer 23,256]

11 hours ago, JimmyGadson said:

Love Brodie, think it'll work but I fear for the position of Ben Brown and see him potentially missing early on once Fritsch is back if his form remains the same. I'd also prefer Van Rooyen given his appetite to chase, defend and bring the ball to ground.

Harmes kills me and is just a weak link for us imo. He's in prime age bracket and for whatever reason is so inconsistent in his ball use and decision making year after year.

BBB was beaten in a lot of 2 on 1 contests by Grimes or others coming off Chandler as the 3rd man up. Fritsch back in his usual role could change that dynamic. Overall minus a couple of mistakes I think BBB did enough. I also think JVR’s willingness to chase and tackle looks great at training but might take a while to translate to afl footy. It’s damn hard to lay tackles on gun afl defenders when you’ve worked super hard to compete in the air and you don’t know their movements instinctively. 

Another factor is we love engineering the spare back by dropping the ruck out. That makes our key forwards compete 2v1. Not saying it’s wrong but our coaches have designed a game plan to boost the stats of Gawn, Lever, May etc and make life hard for the tall forwards. 

At the same time we absolutely have to be proactive with making the changes with the talls. JVR needs game time. Brown needs rest.  

I think Harmes will be sub if Viney and Fritsch get up. Pickett, Sparrow and a sprinkle of ANB will be the 4th, 5th and 6th on ballers (plus a dash of Rivers or Gus) and they trust Hunter to play big wing minutes. So they’ll prefer Chandler’s forward craft and left foot.

I’m surprised Harmes is worthy of so much discussion. He’s a very good on baller, he’s a good wingmen, he’s very useful for versatility if used as a 3rd wing/on baller/forward as he was in 2021. If he’s a forward/mid and tasked with too many decisions with the ball especially around half forward he struggles and is fighting for a spot. Most players struggle in that role though, you can’t just go the shop and pick up gun 2 way mid/forwards.

[WalkingCivilWar 32,749]

31 minutes ago, #11-TonyAnderson said:

WCW - please get is right It's: "Stnalbns" :-)

LOL you out-of-towners amuse me!

It’s actually “snorbz” but I figured no one would know what the hell I was talking about. Snorbz is the phonetic spelling of the abbreviation “S’n Albs” and any self-respecting bona fide snorbz denizen knows this. 😁

[DeeZee 6,779]

If Fritsch and Viney are fit , then they come in for Laurie and Woewodin, which will leave Chandler as the sub as Fritter takes his spot in the forward line.

Spargo and ANB are looking good as the small forwards along with a mid rotating Kozzie.

McVee and Bowey have also done enough to keep their spots down back.

Hibbo, Woey, and Van Rooyen emergencies.

[kev martin 9,215]

26 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

Chandler as the sub

Not sure Chandler is the most flexible sub for us.

Would rather see Harmes as sub, even Rivers, or JJ.

Though Rivers is playing good footy, and could be a waste of use, of him.

I think that role will be a very strategic position. 

If we have a player having a shocker, we need the option to drag them for a close, like for like change.

Edited March 7, 2023 by kev martin

[Diamond_Jim 11,936]

1 hour ago, kev martin said:

Not sure Chandler is the most flexible sub for us.

Would rather see Harmes as sub, even Rivers, or JJ.

Though Rivers is playing good footy, and could be a waste of use, of him.

I think that role will be a very strategic position. 

If we have a player having a shocker, we need the option to drag them for a close, like for like change.

Interesting thoughts Kev. When it was a medi-sub the versatile player was logical. (Always thought Joel Smith was the perfect medi-sub). In the old sub days (to which we have now returned) the typical sub was "fresh legs". I suspect that we will see 3 or 4 players rotated through the role. You could also use it from a structural viewpoint. Go tall in the first half in the forward line and then sub Chandler for BBB in the second hoping to unbalance the opposition.

I suspect we will be conservative but other teams could pull a few surprises

[kev martin 9,215]

18 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Go tall in the first half in the forward line and then sub Chandler for BBB in the second hoping to unbalance the opposition.

I can see the logic to bring more pace into the game. Though sometimes the tall's, get taller as the game progresses and fatigue hits the smalls/medium's. 

A small could also help with the bench rotations, and reduce the exhaustion of the on-ballerrs.

We also have TMac, as a pitch hitter in the backline if a tall from there needs replacing, or they need support. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by kev martin