4 hours ago, binman said:

That's better cranky.

Good to have you back.

I've always rated your posts.

Love you too BM. I also rate your posts although they can be a bit wordy & therefore beyond the comprehension span of the average D'Lander.

Ahh, the DL mutual admiration society for entertainment and obsequiousness.

We are the first team shown in the Fox ad for this season #flag

1 hour ago, Clintosaurus said:

We are the first team shown in the Fox ad for this season #flag

There you go, then!

7 hours ago, Demonland said:

 

What [censored] tool… hawks at no#2… 🥸🥸🥸

David King, who's been on seat 1A of our bandwagon this summer has ruled us and 6 other clubs from premiership contention this morning.

Cornes, who's reluctantly been on seat 46F actually disagreed with King and said you can't 100% rule us out.

FWIW I agree with King (as I don't think we're capable of applying enough scoreboard pressure to be a flag contender) but man that bloke flip flops with his opinions.

2 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

David King, who's been on seat 1A of our bandwagon this summer has ruled us and 6 other clubs from premiership contention this morning.

Cornes, who's reluctantly been on seat 46F actually disagreed with King and said you can't 100% rule us out.

FWIW I agree with King (as I don't think we're capable of applying enough scoreboard pressure to be a flag contender) but man that bloke flip flops with his opinions.

His reasoning was, as usual, not bullet proof. Cornes said he’d rule Port Adelaide out and King said he wouldn’t rule them out because Butters, JHF and Rozee might all go berserk and that might be enough, despite them being weak both in the backline and the forward line. Surely similar logic applies to us with, say, Trac, Clarry and Gawn?

Said it before but it’s a very even competition 

You do need some luck within games and on the injury front to first make finals and then win them 

We can definitely make finals with an element of luck in these two areas 

I’m still not sure we have the forward structure and the the ability to shut down teams who transition the ball quickly to go all the way - we’ll find out soon enough 

16 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

Love you too BM. I also rate your posts although they can be a bit wordy & therefore beyond the comprehension span of the average D'Lander.

Get a room...

Barring a bad run with injuries I think we have the cattle for top 8 and even top 4 but we need to see the game plan and how we execute to really know where we sit. 

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

David King, who's been on seat 1A of our bandwagon this summer has ruled us and 6 other clubs from premiership contention this morning.

Cornes, who's reluctantly been on seat 46F actually disagreed with King and said you can't 100% rule us out.

FWIW I agree with King (as I don't think we're capable of applying enough scoreboard pressure to be a flag contender) but man that bloke flip flops with his opinions.

Its awfully early to put a line through us.  I don't think we are anywhere near being favourites but to rule us out all together is a massive statement.

first battle is making finals

second battle is being in good form going into finals

biggest battle is fitness and luck when it counts

Hawthorn have a big Battle on their hands.

On 20/02/2025 at 16:23, GS_1905 said:

Many have us bouncing back into the top 8 but one i tend to keep my eye is coaches under the pressure valve. Goody along with Voss and Longmuire and Nicks are the consistent theme here.

At first I read Longmuire as Longmire - that blokes valve has already gone pop!

On 20/02/2025 at 16:39, layzie said:

Not me, I'm actually hoping to go through the whole season not consuming any AFL media and watching games on mute. 

 

On 20/02/2025 at 16:42, Demonland said:

That is known as the Binman Method and is not for the faint-hearted.

Forget sound proof rooms, let's face it, following this team, we should all probably be watching from a padded cell!

Edited February 21, 20251 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

4 hours ago, Demonstone said:

Hawthorn have a big Battle on their hands.

The media love fest is sickening

I still recall that Brad Johnson was about the only journo after 2020 that thought we could go anywhere in 2021 and make finals.  IMHO, he's one of the few comentators I can respect from the perspective of being all of a bit of a clown, but doesn't take himself too seriously and have too many tickets on himself, but also seems like a genuine good bloke, who knows a thing or two about footy.

I think it's cheap and easy for comentators these days to predict that we get back up there, because, let's face it, we've been up there as top 4 finishes for 3 seasons in a row previous to a horror season last year.

Personally until we perform again throughout the season like we did in 21, then it's all fugazi https://youtu.be/IiTfnpgNkmI?si=zfIUE8IPN0s15zDh

Edited February 21, 20251 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Just one other thing....... the 10%

On 20/02/2025 at 13:22, adonski said:

DerWayne agrees

 

They could "do some damage"  which means he thinks we can't win it

I don't read replies or reactions 

As an addendum to this, last week David King said we were one of 6-7 clubs who could be ruled out of flag contention.

Despite this, yesterday he said he had us in his top 8, until last minute switching us out for Gold Coast. He does not have Sydney, Carlton, Port Adelaide or the Bulldogs in his top 8, despite ruling none of them out of flag contention last week.

Strictly speaking not inconsistent, but generally speaking classic David King.

Don't be surprised if we have a checkered start for the first eight rounds until all the troops are back and the game plan sticks.  After that, barring injury we will humming nicely.

10 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

As an addendum to this, last week David King said we were one of 6-7 clubs who could be ruled out of flag contention.

Despite this, yesterday he said he had us in his top 8, until last minute switching us out for Gold Coast. He does not have Sydney, Carlton, Port Adelaide or the Bulldogs in his top 8, despite ruling none of them out of flag contention last week.

Strictly speaking not inconsistent, but generally speaking classic David King.

Haha he’s all over the shop

Can take Dwayne off the bullish list. We've now slid to 9th after the Freo practice match.

Dwayne Russell has made one change to his top eight after the AAMI Community Series wrapped up.

Before the official pre-season kicked off, Russell ranked all of the teams from 1 to 18, with Melbourne his very early eighth side to play in September.

While Russell still has the Dees rising in 2025, he has replaced them in his top eight with Carlton after the Blues beat GWS by 58 points at Manuka Oval on Friday.

“Seven of my top eight were already locked in pretty much prior to the weekend of footy we just had,” Russell told SEN Afternoons.

“But I actually loved what Carlton showed me. I loved the progression of Tom De Koning as the number one ruck, and he might end up being a contender for the All-Australian ruck spot this year.

“He showed me something on the weekend that I really wanted to see, and that was a guy who looks like he's about to take the next step, a bit like Sam Darcy has been showing us for quite a while.

“There were a couple of issues with the backline that I had in my mind that weren't necessarily looking like they were going to be fixed by Carlton, but I liked the addition of Jack Silvagni.

“The fact that Carlton don't have to rely on Lewis Young as their second key defender has encouraged me to think that they might have evolved to the point that they've got a backline that can hold up.”

With Melbourne sliding from eighth to ninth in his rankings, Russell thinks the main thing that’s holding the Dees back from being a top-eight lock in his eyes is their tall forwards situation.

“The issue with Melbourne is as good as they looked on the weekend, they still haven't fixed their forward line problem,” Russell said.

“It's been a problem for 3 years. We've been told for three years it's going to be fixed. Van Rooyen, we have been told is going to be the fix.

“But they don't appear to have fixed it for mine to the point that I’d put Melbourne in the eight ahead of Carlton.

“So, Melbourne, I have at ninth.”

Dwayne Russell’s updated top eight for 2025

1 – GWS  
2 – Hawthorn  
3 – Geelong  
4 – Fremantle  
5 – Brisbane 
6 – Sydney  
7 – Collingwood  
8 – Carlton

 

7 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Can take Dwayne off the bullish list. We've now slid to 9th after the Freo practice match.

Dwayne Russell has made one change to his top eight after the AAMI Community Series wrapped up.

Before the official pre-season kicked off, Russell ranked all of the teams from 1 to 18, with Melbourne his very early eighth side to play in September.

While Russell still has the Dees rising in 2025, he has replaced them in his top eight with Carlton after the Blues beat GWS by 58 points at Manuka Oval on Friday.

“Seven of my top eight were already locked in pretty much prior to the weekend of footy we just had,” Russell told SEN Afternoons.

“But I actually loved what Carlton showed me. I loved the progression of Tom De Koning as the number one ruck, and he might end up being a contender for the All-Australian ruck spot this year.

“He showed me something on the weekend that I really wanted to see, and that was a guy who looks like he's about to take the next step, a bit like Sam Darcy has been showing us for quite a while.

“There were a couple of issues with the backline that I had in my mind that weren't necessarily looking like they were going to be fixed by Carlton, but I liked the addition of Jack Silvagni.

“The fact that Carlton don't have to rely on Lewis Young as their second key defender has encouraged me to think that they might have evolved to the point that they've got a backline that can hold up.”

With Melbourne sliding from eighth to ninth in his rankings, Russell thinks the main thing that’s holding the Dees back from being a top-eight lock in his eyes is their tall forwards situation.

“The issue with Melbourne is as good as they looked on the weekend, they still haven't fixed their forward line problem,” Russell said.

“It's been a problem for 3 years. We've been told for three years it's going to be fixed. Van Rooyen, we have been told is going to be the fix.

“But they don't appear to have fixed it for mine to the point that I’d put Melbourne in the eight ahead of Carlton.

“So, Melbourne, I have at ninth.”

Dwayne Russell’s updated top eight for 2025

1 – GWS  
2 – Hawthorn  
3 – Geelong  
4 – Fremantle  
5 – Brisbane 
6 – Sydney  
7 – Collingwood  
8 – Carlton

 

He obviously wasn't concerned that the Giants looked absolutely terrible in both practice matches....

6 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

He obviously wasn't concerned that the Giants looked absolutely terrible in both practice matches....

This comment from Dwayne makes zero sense unless JVR was out for the year.

“The issue with Melbourne is as good as they looked on the weekend, they still haven't fixed their forward line problem,” Russell said.

“It's been a problem for 3 years. We've been told for three years it's going to be fixed. Van Rooyen, we have been told is going to be the fix.

“But they don't appear to have fixed it for mine"