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I have never seen a player with cleaner hands and better decision making with less than 10 games under their belt. This kid is next level. Anyone can bomb it long, players like Bowey are so hard to find.

Great to see the footy back … and we’re kicking off the AFLW season with a big game against traditional rivals - the Western Bulldogs. On Gameday, we’ll kick off on the main board and then migrate the thread to the AFLW board at the end of the round. Please support our AFLW team in their quest for the flag.

Sighting? Citing? Either way, it's disrespectful to Michael Hobbit.

19 points down midway through the 2nd will be my signal we're safe.

I wish we would stop reverting to Handball as the first option. The physical strength is not there across the board. we gave up on it half way through last season, successfully. Kicking for distance is critical in AFLW, especially when we now have tall marking targets in multiple locations. And if it’s not marked, then contests result, where we are superior.

Is that 18 out of the last 19 goals in a row to the demons?

I think you may find that the rules on isolation are very different in two months. We're already down from 14 to 7 days and there is talk of five days soon. In low risk environments where you are not mixing with the highly vulnerable one has to wonder if quarantine will become a thing of the past.

Brayshaw’s lack of defensive pressure was previously an issue, but to bring it up after 2021 is just laughable!

It was the first game of the year and the skills tend to be a bit scratchy. But it’s great to win when you’re one of the flag favourites. Nevertheless we looked a class above in the first half but the Dogs went physical after halftime which tested us. Zanker (BOG) continues to impress and her goal was a gem. Of the 4 debutants, I thought Harris’ effort was excellent, West looked comfortable at this level, Caris tapped and competed well, looks good to Meggs and Ali Brown tried hard but whether she holds her place next week? Megan F 24 - easily her best game in the red n blue and hopefully a platform for the season. Meggs also enjoyed the performances of Hanks, Sheriff, Heath, Hore, Mithen (doesn’t she loves passing to her flat mate Kate) and Birch. Tarrant looks better in defence too. A few girls were quiet this evening but it’s only Round 1. Bring on the Tiges!

Great to see the girls back and hear the song played after the siren. Hanks and Birch were our best 4 quarter players, however it was Zanker that steadied the ship in that 3rd quarter when dogs had the momentum, her ability to break not only tackles but lines was crucial, she's just so good at evading in traffic. Thought Maddie Gay was the other pick of the mids, Paxman and to a lesser extent Mithen and Hore were down on their usual output. Carris was excellent on debut as a 2nd ruck, means we don't have to rely on Zanker for that any more, and Loz was her usual excellent self as the #1 ruck. After a slow, patient, fluent possession game early on, it devolved into a bit of a scrappy turnover affair late, but a win and blowing off the cobwebs is banked.

Good to see Tayla Harris back in the right jumper, red and blue suits her.

Hanks is so tidy in traffic, love how she moves.

How outrageously talented is Daisy Pearce, what a star human. I’m so grateful that she was part of the AFL Grand Final coverage, not only because her analysis is the best in business but because she is a legend of our club.

You can add unbelievable endurance. In his 7 games, he averaged 13.33km per game, which allowing for his 76% game time is better than Ed Langdon and basically equivalent to Sam Walsh who led the league. He is a gun. In my opinion the thread title should be Hunt v Hibberd v Tomlinson

Melbourne playing the Bulldogs? Don’t know why but think it will be tight early and then we will kick away towards the end of the 3rd. Will win by about 74 points.

Can't have covid if you don't get tested

Gawn says in his Captain's Diary that he thinks May, Lever, Petty and Tomlinson can all play together, because it frees up May to play on a Martin or Greene type. May is super quick and strong, so it's not a silly suggestion. So you'd have Tomlinson and Petty taking the key talls with Lever his intercept role. One doubts it would be every week and it may be wishful thinking by the captain, but that's what he said for what it's worth. He also said Tomlinson will be right for round 1, but I understand the scepticism. He'll play when they think he's ready. I suspect if it's not round 1 it will be early in the season.

Yep, he referred to himself as a ‘landscaper’ when asked his occupation. I was such a Brett Lovett tragic as a kid that I told my mum and dad if I wasn’t going to be a footballer I wanted to be a landscaper. Today I live in an apartment and own exactly one plastic plant.

That wasn’t pretty. But take the points. Paxy rested a bit and down back. Hanks forward a lot. So we didn’t overdo our prime movers and gave Zanker, West and some others a good run. Fitzsimon was busy. Bannan on the wing is good for her development. Backline definitely missed Goldy and Colvin too. The back up talls aren’t much chop. And my opinion on Birch probably doesn’t line up with most of the forums. Forward line was far too Harris conscious in the 2nd quarter. Should’ve gone to other options and iced the game. Kicking was mostly good. Handball game was sloppy. Missed a lot of chances to put team mates in to space. Defensive work rate and tackling were both strong. Thought the attack on ground balls was probably just a bit off. A few players just trying to spin out with the ball compared to bodying it. But that’s not unusual early on.

First time I’ve seen us beat the dogs at the kennel. Very good win but plenty to work on

Ha how good is it having footy back, yelling at the tv screen, getting frustrated with players and hearing our song at the end. The winning form rolls on Also good to hear Jason Bennett back calling the games.

Harder to judge her defensive work from the armchair but she has contributed offensively my my viewpoint.

We’re looking sensational. First to the ball every time. Very stiff breeze here as well. Reckon the girls will traumatise the doggies just like the men did in the GF

Am i the only one who thinks the girls skills have improved out of sight since the first year of the comp? Maybe im just blinded by all those lovely Red and Blue goals...

Daniel handed over the baton in the GF. Has anyone identified “that bloke” or has he self identified? Such a iconic reflection of what so many of us felt at the time. Congratulations whoever you are. We all love you and woukd love to see you at a game Are you a Demonlander?

I closed the last thread because people were getting too political. I’ll allow the discussion here to continue as long as we keep it general and not get political/name calling. Bans without warning for those that abuse.

The sad thing is that I double checked to make sure I used a 'e' instead of an 'a'

The way things are going we will all have covid before the season actually starts.

I think Dustan's got tools but hasn't been shown how to use them, when you're in a side that's not interested in you it can be difficult to shine, maybe if he's given a role and sticks to its he'll do ok. All I'm saying is don't get too excited, in my opinion, he's behind quite a few and whilst he will never work his way to the top he will get a game if there are injuries. Jack Viney should take him under his wing and show him how to win the ball at stoppages and stick a tackle, and Harmsy should give him a few tips on how to tag a player and still win then ball. Williams can teach him to kick and preferably to a teammate. I've seen him did some good things and some bad thinks, when he has to kick the ball in to the forward line he seems to freeze and kicks a grubber or to no one. At Melbourne you are either in or out, you don't half tackle you hit them with all you can, you don't throw a half hearted arm at them. That's Melbourne of old.

The first siting of Hibbert for the season. Are we on a roll or what? C'mon 'Landers, show some respect, these are our first premiership players in 57 years, at least spell their name correctly.

How good is our depth

The first sighting of 'Hibbard' for the season....

Still pinching myself. Life has brought no other pride and joy than what it did following Bailey Smiths fumble on Sept. 25th, 2021

I fired up youtube on my big telly and it immediately started showing the GF, 3rd quarter, couple of minutes before Bonts goal. Is that good service or what? (How did it know) Gee Caleb made some poor decisions, did the dogs abandon their game plan?

Hunt for Hibberd in 2022 😎

Every week long Antonio Brown saga seems to view like a soap opera with events and news each day of the week. If you didn't read the news since the walkout on Mon you really fell behind.

Welcome Back Tayla

I wrote a bunch of speculations and then deleted them and wrote some more and deleted them, also. But I do want to thank you for giving me an excuse to look over our list and go, "ooooooooh nice".

The premiership package: we know all about that one. The jumbo package: May plays the lockdown pocket, Petty full back, Tomlinson CHB/oversize flanker, Lever intercepts. We lose speed and run but can own the air The versatile zone package: 3 talls as last year, Rivers, Salem and 2 of Hunt, Hibberd, J Smith. By playing a lot of 187-190 flankers we can switch opponents at will. The speed package: 3 talls, Salem, Rivers, Bowey, Hunt/ D Smith. Plenty of run and pressure at ground level We’ll see how he adapts to year 2 but Bowey’s certainly a lock if he plays the same way. He’s good enough defensively to take a man but of course it’s the balance of his game that’s most impressive. Rivers probably played better when Bowey came in, he had more of a defensive responsibility and did the job. Long term I think he’ll want to come up the ground. I doubt he’ll want to be known as the lockdown guy. That leaves the one lockdown spot. It’s Hibbo from J Smith from D Smith currently. But Hunt could target this spot. It’s not his natural role. But it wasn’t Hibbo’s natural role until he adapted to it either.

McDee works for me!

Lucky Hibbard's first name isn't Jordan.

Jason Taylor didn’t even mean to pick him, he just saw his name on paper and felt compelled to say it out loud

Judd McVee sounds like a made-up name.

KDA sorry but you have not looked at our last 6 Finals. Jack Viney has been in our top 3/5 in all games except the 2018 Prelim Final where hardly any one played well. I also suggest you look at the GF again and see who got the ball out numerous times for our outside mids to break open the game and score multiple goals. Jack played one of his best games ever and has changed his role for the teams benefit. He looks to pass the ball on first grab he gets and no longer takes on the opposition and gets caught with the ball. I believe Dunstan will be valuable and get games as part of our midfield mix but form and injury will decide over the season who plays in the AFL team. Sparrow especially but Harmes and Jordan also deserve their spots if they are in form and fit early days 2022. But Dunstan is a good player who will be valuable in 2022 at various stages, But to say he will work better than Viney with our rucks and mids after the Finals is not correct as their chemistry was as good as it gets from Round 20.

He is definitely good. Based on 2021 he is well ahead of both Sparrow and JJ. That being said we don’t yet know what the ceiling is for those two. His 11 Brownlow votes puts him well in front of even Viney if you rate that as a measure. i am predicting we will use most of our list this year and where fitness and injuries were the measure of success for good teams in past years, depth will be the measure in 2022. COVID infections are going to hit every team hard, players will not be isolating and infection numbers will be closer to European levels than 2021 Australian levels. It is going to make for a very different looking season. I’m guessing it is going to favour team’s like the bulldogs who are constantly pushing versatility (often, in my opinion, to the detriment of themselves). I suspect it will also favour team’s with good depth and players who are well drilled to swing into a role. i am also predicting that taking the whole list to Perth and spending all that time together is going to look like genius in 2022.

He wouldn't have been recruited if VDB had opted to stay

Assuming there are no restrictions rnd 1 will be chaotic . Crowd could be 90k plus for the flag unfurling . I think those members who buy general $140 ?Un reserved Membership on the first home game will buy before hand. Why queue for the membership while the ground is filling up . . Its not going to be a 35k crowd vs freo and you can get a seat easily.

And such a worthy winner. He had a wonderful season and his play in the GF was outstanding with his goal assists with pin point passes. Shows so much passion and obviously loves the MFC and his team mates. Congratulations ANB.

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but it struck me as being incredibly poetic and reflective of the entire 2021 season that the two players told to look elsewhere during the off-season were the same two players that had the final 2 disposals in the grand final. Oliver marks, handballs to Neale-Bullen who short kicks to McDonald. And it's fitting that they round out the top 10 in the B&F. What a year.

If it wasn't for Jack Viney's years of hard work, Bowser wouldn't be 7 from 7 and a premiership player.