Deespicable

Big units always attract a crowd,{think john holmes}

Anyway,why kicking to him is a bonus with the crowd attached,it brings space and allows {theory}players to run onto and collect the footy in that space.

Unfortunately for us we only have one of those players atm and hes still getting used to our game.

Patience once again grasshopper.

That's part of the answer but the main one is that he's the long outlet up the line when all the other options are covered and that means it is crowded and quite often the opposition ruck has dropped into the space - you assess his game on the number of times that he makes a contest and the ball doesn't go straight to the opposition, not the number of times he actually gets it. I reckon he's very good in this area and that's why he's a better option than Pedo or Gawny.

There's really only a handful of times a game when Dawesy's is part of the link man up the line - he could probably improve that area a bit, his handball and kicking could be a bit slicker, but generally he's not too bad at this.

The only real area that he hasn't done well is the 3-4 times game when he actually gets a one-out with his opponent - he needs to take the odd mark in this situation and I think when you compare him with Hoges on this area, you understand what I mean.

He also has the advantage over Gawny and Pedo in that he can really hurt blokes when he tackles them.

Both Gawny and Pedo have advantages over him, though.

Gawny is a very good second ruckman and a cleaner mark.

Pedo can turnaround quickly and kick 55m to a player on the run.

But I suspect the problem of having a top-heavy forward line will be solved anyway in the next few weeks - Frost is hopefully not out for long and Watts won't be playing AFL for a while.

Peterson for Frost

Toumpas for cross.

I know cross can get his hands on the ball, spreads, defends and gives his all but his kicking and lack of creativity is starting to hurt the team. Think toump needs to be given extended run and let's see what he can do.

Are you a young kid, canplay?

Even though we lost, it was great watching as I really feel there's a sense of passion and pride reemerging and we now have a fair bit of youth mixed in with a few old pros.

To the guy that keeps wanting Cross out, hang your head in shame. He was always going to look a bit slow pre-season, but he does all the things you want from a player - the amount of times he makes body contact to evoke a spoil is fantastic and he's the sort of leader we need. I would be very happy if Roosy signs him up for another year.

How good is it that our recruiting staff now seems in synch with the game - big fast guys like Vandenburg, Lumumba, Frost (unfortunately got injured early so little impact yesterday) and tough big bodied midfielders like Angus and Newton. If Petracca hadn't done his knee he'd also be playing and showing the same sort of approach, although maybe as the sub.

A lot has been made of Vince's intensity and it was great to see, especially in Viney's absence.

A lot has been made of Wattsy's lack of intensity and it will be the topic of the next few weeks.

But back off him, the guy is a great kid and has immense skills - it's not his fault that he doesn't have the aggression for AFL, there are more things in life than being an AFL footballer.

Roosy will sort it and he's been through it already last year with him - the final 8 weeks or more were devoted to it.

He'll be playing for Casey - enough said.

Tom Mac rise is now getting plenty of airplay and it's great to see him run off the superstars - a bit like Hawk Chris Langford in the old days.

But it is also great to see the return of Col Garland as a player - he seems to actually be enjoying taking the game on now - hard to believe if you watched him last year. Perhaps a bit of Tom Mac's confidence is rubbing off him.

There will be three/four changes this week for the Friday night game and it will be interesting to see if a few players get rested after halftime today for Casey in preparation.

The main issue from the game, which has been correctly pointed out is that after the first term, we were smashed at the stoppages and that made us look slow because we were chasing rather than doing like last week.

So I would suspect the only major restructuring this week will be figuring out how to fix the stoppage issue.

And there won't be too many switches there because our two best players from last year - Jones and Tyson - were the main culprits if you like and they have countless credits.

I'd suspect Jonesy was ill or tight, or like us, allowed himself to dream of better days.

Unless he has the dreaded OP which I doubt given his training, he will be back working his butt off in Adelaide.

One of only two switches that I see is deciding whether against Adelaide we can back Jamar to last the whole game against Jacobs, or whether he feels he needs to have another bull - Spencer.

If he goes Spencil and Jamar, then Frost either drops out or gets sent to defence - that's why we recruited him after all.

Another option to this is that Roosy could just drop Jamar and back Spencer's greater endurance (but less reliable tapwork) and retain Frost as the second ruck.

Our defenders have to be looked at a little - McDonald's hot form means he will go to Tex, but can Dunny cope with Jenkins' height. Isn't Jenkins the perfect match-up for Frost. It could be that Frost is sent back and Garland is unluckily squeezed out. Given Garland's Rd 1 form, that would be a huge call and Lynch does appear a perfect match up for him. But Howey or Dunn could go to him.

The other selection issue is that JKH had a blinder in our shock win in Adelaide last year and he must be a huge chance of a recall.

The question is for who though - almost impossible to gauge that which is why it may not happen unless there is a genuine injury.

The Adelaide win last year is a reminder that we actually match up better with them and hopefully Brodie Smith is out because he provides so much of their drive out of defence.

I'd expect Viney to go to Sloane and Cross to Dangerfield, but it may be the other way around. Jetta will have Betts like last year, Salem will have to take Douglas or Cameron.

The key in my view is having Tyson, Jones and Vince playing like in 2014 - if they do we could pull off another Adelaide Oval upset.

The second key is that going big up forward can be a huge advantage but it also requires the third and fourth tall - Watts and Frost and Vandenberg - to create match-up havoc. That didn't happen at all against GWS.

While I know there will be heaps of calls for change and yes, I accept that Dawesy didn't provide the strong long outlet that he needs to, but I reckon we may end up making only the one. In Spencer. Out Frost.

If Jones is injured, then JKH will come in as the sub.

Interesting to see the turn in comments from last week and primarily from half time yesterday.

Ultimately after a really good start, we were smashed in the middle and didn't cope with their tackling intensity which started in the second term, but we hung on.

Any chance of us slowing the run on and turning the game into a Sydney-style stoppages game was destroyed by the fact that our two best from 2014 - Jones and Tyson - were unable to get their hands on it and as a result our confidence went out the door and we suddenly looked really slow, something which this year we aren't.

I am sure Jones had a niggle of some kind - it was so unlike him.

Interestingly if you throw in our most improved player last year - Jetta - who had another quietish game - it's fair to say that some times when you think you've made it, you've got to go back to the basics and work even harder than before - Crossy style.

I am still a bit concerned at the lack of pace in our midfield - I know we did a lot of 400 reps in the off-season, but did Misson employ a sprints coach for the guys who needed it (eg: Toumpas, Tyson, N.Jones, Vince, Dunn, Pedo, Salem and quite a few others who would have benefitted) or did he just assume that with Garlett, Lumumba and Frost now in our side, we didn't have to work on explosive speed?

My only comment is "Don't write everyone off on the basis of one game or in reality one bad half".

I very much doubt there'll be a lot of changes this week and nor should there be - give them a chance to get back to being level-headed after the Rd 1 euphoria.

If Tomlinson was as bad as mo64 makes out, then they would almost certainly bring in Downie to replace him, which is even more reason for us to stick with our current defensive mix.

Agree with the first bits, but more interesting in who we choose for the tall match ups. Shame it's not Day and Gorringe each week!

Tommy Mc did ok on Cameron last away game v GWS. Reckon he might get the nod. Despite him being the biggest size wise the way he leads up the ground it might be Garland or Howe on Tomlinson which would leave Dunn with McCarthy. Will be interesting. McCarthy is a super talent who's just getting started and we all know about Cameron. Tomlinson might have to ruck and isn't the most agile but I think he's handy as well mainly through is top shelf work rate, he's a bit like Dawes as a strong repeat leader. Jetta will have a fun day chasing Dev Smith. Palmer will make it hard for Salem and Howe gets whoever is left.

Yep agree with this. I didn't see enough of the St Kilda game to know if Tomlinson was still playing up the ground like last year. Given that he rucked a bit when Mummy went off, you may be right that he plays more from the square this year. Whoever plays more from the square is who Dunny will have and that could even by McCarthy. Dev Smith is our main danger small and therefore it would seem Jetta will get him, but the nice thing is we now have the luxury of sending Harry O back on to him if it's not working.

We need to pick a team that will give us the best opportunity to win as opposed to the best 22 players. It's clear that Frost is the preferred 2nd ruck, so he's playing.

I've always felt that our best forward line structure is 2 talls (Hogan and Dawes), a 3rd tall (Watts) and 3 smalls (JKH, Kent, Garlett). But now I feel that Frost may offer more than Dawes with his forward pressure.

Alternatively, I also believe that our backline is susceptible to be hurt by small forwards, and worry with a structure of Dunn, T.Mac, Garland and Howe. That's one too many to match up on Cameron and McCarthy. Dunn and T.Mac are locks, which leaves Howe and Garland.

If conditions are fine and dry with little wind:

In: Vince

Out: Toumpas

Or

In: Vince, Dawes

Out: Toumpas, Garland (Very unlucky)

I'd prefer option 1, because I like the idea of having 4 mids or small forwards on the bench as opposed to an average 2nd ruckman or a key position player.

So which midfielder are you sending back to replace Garland - who as I said earlier, is coming off his best game for more than a year. He actually attacked and played with confidence!

What you have to realise is that Jetta and Salem will play on the smalls and Howe and Garland are versatile enough to play on smalls or bigs and we also have Harry O to throw back there when we need to and he is quicker than any player they have got.

Tom Mc will get Tomlinson, Dunny will have Cameron and Garland and Howe will swing on McCarthy and whoever is the high forward they choose and then be the third man up to spoil when they can.

Have a look at the Hawks - they have Lake, Frawley, Stratton and that leaves Gibson free to spoil. That's four bigs - it's not a problem if they are versatile.

How would Frosty go on a wing? We're not dropping him.. Don't want to upset team balance.. How about making Dawes or Frost the sub?

Neither will be the sub and Frost will be playing as the second ruckman this week.

I was talking about when we play Hawthorn and my dream is for Frosty to play on Smith on the wing and chase him down and see if he can cope with a taller, faster version than him.

When we play Hawthorn, Frosty won't be the second ruck anyway, because they play two big mothers. That will be a game for Gawn.

Why would we waste our best tagger on their shittiest midfielder :D

It was a malicious joke blossom. Obviously we wouldn't waste Viney on him, but if Sculls was having a day when his untrusty left boot actually was causing us problems, then I'd send Jack to him straight away.

Look, there are four guys in our line up who I'd be sh.t scared playing on - Viney, Dawesy, Frost and Brayshaw, because when they tackle they get ya.

I suspect Newton and vandenBerg are of the same tackling ilk as well and our skipper isn't bad at nailing players either.

That doesn't mean your whole side needs to be tackling freaks, but the balance has to be right and we look to be mastering it with a mix of class (Watts, Garlett, JKH), ballwinners (Jones and Tyson) and smart players (Cross, Salem).

I am hopeful that we will look back and say that our draft/trade period of 2014 was the best we've ever had. We've picked up six new players (Hoges doesn't count) that played Rd 1 which is unprecedented in the modern age and four of our five fastest players now on our list are newbies - that's phenomenal recruiting.

I haven't been as excited about our chances since the day that Sean Charles took a helicopter and made up a forward line that included Schwarter and Lyon.

And if I recall rightly, that side included a really broad mix of players including Todd Viney, Andrew Obst, Glenn Lovett and Andrew Lovett and a loveable couple of Irishmen.

Watching the Hawks you saw what a fantastic blend they have with pace (Hill, Smith, Anderson, Rioli, Breust), smarts (Hodge and Burgoyne), tacklers (Lewis) and the ultimate extractor in Mitchell.

I reckon this year we've made ground on them and I'm looking forward to Round 7. I'm sure they'll beat us because they have more experience, but they won't blow us away for pace this time and our game plan is now pretty much the same as them.

One more thing, if I was selecting I'd leave out either Kent or JKH for Vince, but whoever it is should be an almost certain inclusion the following week in Adelaide. Kent, given he had a minor concussion on Saturday, would be the easy way out without upsetting JKH.

As to Bernie, I'd play him as the sub, because that way he can have a bit of a taste before the really big game for him in Adelaide - where he will start bang smack in the middle.

The inclusion of Dawes will mean that Watts and vandenBerg should be able to present match up height problems on occasions and we should be trying to get a mismatch by having Wattsy drift to the goalsquare regularly.

And keeping Mr Versatile (Frosty) means we are pretty much covered whatever happens because he's as quick as anyone.

Having just watched the Hawks game, I have Frosty earmarked already for playing on the wing on Isaac Smith.

I don't think it's that simple BBO.

The forward set up worked well against the Suns but the introduction of Dawes could very well upset the balance and we need plenty of pace against the GWS midfield.

Don't get worked up on upsetting the balance - Dawes, Hoges and Frosty played all three pre-season games together and Watts played one and a half, so there's nothing to unsettle.

As I said earlier, Manuka Oval is different to the MCG, slightly narrower, so that means outside players have a little less room to create real havoc and if I was a defender, I'd prefer to be tackled by JKH than Dawes.

So that's why Dawes will be in - not to mention he's in our leadership group, been fit all summer and has played every practice game and his form pre-season was overall pretty good.

The main reason that our forward line looked good against GC was because we attacked from defence - even Col Garland took them on - which is why he was in the best six for the first time since his breakout year.

GWS has a very classy midfield (they are tougher than Gold Coast around stoppages now with Griffen), but they aren't as quick as the Suns though.

Dawes will replace Toumpas and then it is very tricky to decide who the unlucky player is for Vince, but I'm hoping it's not Brayshaw because we'll probably need his hardness and tackling ability.

The key to winning will be again playing with a mix of adventure and control from defence and not being smashed in the middle.

Cross will go to Griffen (bit of Dog sniffing Dog) is always a winner, and based on last week Viney's next assignment may be Treloar rather than Ward. I'd love him to go to Scully though!

If our guys play with the confidence to take risks as they did last week, then we will win this one - not sure about the week after though.

GWS have Phil Davis as their only key back. Dawes must come in to exploit that. I think Frost has to stay as not only the 2nd ruck but to smash his old teammates

Have you ever heard of Joel Patfull - won two B&Fs at Brisbane where he played on almost every tall forward - he will probably get Hogan with Davis on Dawes.

They also have Aidan Corr - who is taller than Lynden Dunn - who will take either Sam Frost or Watts.

Like others I only saw second half and Spencer and Gawn clearly stood out - partly because with Keefe gone, the Pies were a little shorter than required except for Mason Cox, who was given a bath by Spencil.

The two players who surprised me were:

The small forward with the beard - pretty sure it was Will Petropolous - he was a real goer.

Mitch White - his vision and hardness was great to see and he's another left footer which is what we need - I suspect he'll get a game mid-season.

Other comments:

Pedo didn't look fair dinkum like last year - maybe he's a bit disenchanted now that Frosty has taken his Mr Versatile role.

I actually didn't see Grimes - maybe my glasses aren't quite good enough and he was on other side of ground, but I presumed he and Matt Jones were rested in case of last minute senior call up.

The Pies had 14 listed players in their squad and we had about 16, so it was a good standard VFL game.

This could be the first time ever that we have to drop a form player from a winning side.

GWS is a smallish side like GC so on paper that implies that we can again go small and quick like them.

But the game is in Canberra which is not a massive ground, so we can lose an outside player because there won't be as much room for outside players.

Dawes is in the leadership group and I'd hate to be playing on him at a ground like Manuka, so mark him down as a certain inclusion.

But he won't be coming in for Frost because he is a mobile big - just look at all his tackles - and we have spent most of the pre-season grooming him to play as a back-up ruck and in case you forgot, we are playing his former side.

So In: Dawes. Out: Toumpas.

The question is whether Vince gets in, not Dawes.

Bernie may be lucky and replace either JKH or Kent because of where the game is being played, not because JKH or Kent did anything wrong. Brayshaw is another option, but it would be a tough call given he acquitted himself so well. Whoever it is will travel to Canberra as the 23rd player.

Spencer and Gawn are unlucky given they dominated for Casey but neither can break in this week, although I suspect Spencil will also make the trip with seniors as the 24th man.

And Matt Jones and Grimesy will be given game time this week - in the VFL.

6) Jason Taylor (Recognised the need for speed and added four quick guys - Garlett, Lumumba, vandenberg and Frost to the list and still kept the high pics and got a handy father/son).

5) Paul Roos (Got rid of the hard working but high turnover merchants and also decide to go small against a side that is skillful but tiny).

4) Simon Goodwin (If the mail is right that he has encouraged a more attacking style to balance Roosy's possession style lockdown game, then he had a major win).

3) Fitness/Physio/Medical team - Only two players missing through injury if we don't include Bernie who played full game in reserves.

2) Peter Jackson (got Roosy in first place and seems to have steered a dead ship into clear seas)

1) Robbie Flower (his spirit has carried us through and the Dom Tyson's goal was reminiscent of the magical way we used to get excited in 1987 when Robbie's final year sparked play that we normally could only dream of)

It is early days and there will be plenty of more physical sides to come that will upend us, but at least we look competitive.

Interesting to see we have gone small and fast - obviously we decided that Gold Coast pace would hurt us big time if we went our normal 22.

The decision to leave out three very honest footballers - Grimes, Bail and Matt Jones - was a big shock to me, but shows that Roosy really doesn't want to risk being carved up on rebounds by poor turnovers that this trio tend to produce a little more regularly than others.

We have also picked an incredibly young side - a bit of a rarety under Roos. Perhaps he just felt that the Suns youth meant that we could put our youngsters in the hot seat as well.

The keys to the game that I see are as follows:

1) We have to at least match their clearance unit of Prestia, Swallow, Rischitelli, Hallahan and Ablett when he doesn't play forward. Win the contested ball and they will be starved of opportunities because we now play the Hawthorn prototype possession style - but without the same class yet.

2) Once we get possession, we have to minimise our turnovers because they have pace to burn - the K man, Harbrow, Martin, Bennell, Saad, Sexton. When we play our triangle chip game out of defence, then we can't miss our targets (or at least not often).

3) One of Hogan, Frost or Watts has to get on top and provide a reliable target up forward for us. The Suns backline is experienced, but short. Thompson will play on Frost (I suspect) and May will take Hogan, but that probably means Malceski or the K man gets Watts or Vandenburg and we have to exploit whoever gets Malceski in the air.

4) Gorringe is a bit of a weak link for the Suns at moment and with Lynch suspended and Nicholls omitted they are hoping he thrives. Dunn must keep Gorringe quiet when he's up forward and not allow his confidence to build and Frosty should be able to match it with Gorringe when Smith/Jamar rest.

5) Ablett and Bennell are the two danger men. I assume Ablett will play out of goalsquare which is why I think Garland will have to pick him up, but Howe is the other one who can match him for pace and in air. Salem or Jetta will need to play on Bennell which is a huge ask but if they contain him I suspect we win because I reckon T Mac can handle Day and Howe or Garland should cope with Shaw. The problem for either Jetta/Salem is that one of them is going to get dizzy constantly swapping match-ups on Miller/Hallahan/Saad/Garlett.

I know the tipsters didn't go for us, but I am pretty confident we will win this one. The Suns still haven't embraced a new style under Eade and we have a clear system.

It will take the brilliance of Ablett or Bennell or our own lack of confidence to stop us winning IMO.

Doubtless Demonlanders will be talking about the likely changes for Rd 1 from the side against Essendon, but I think we pretty much saw our Rd 1 side on Friday.

Obviously Dawes will be out with suspension and that enforces one change and means there will be plenty of debate as to whether to replace him with a big (most likely our 23rd man Gawn or Pedo) or whether the pace of Gold Coast means that a quicker player is brought into the side - Kent or JKH.

Gold Coast's ruck tandem of Zac Smith and Tom Nichols means that Jamar will go with Smith.

Nichols is quick and mobile for a big guy, so that could mean Roosy could risk using Frosty in that role.

Whilst I know Roosy would prefer to have another power forward, I think the lack of size and pace of GC will mean he needs more speed for Rd 1 and that he asks Frosty and Watts to step as the tall forwards.

A lot of Demonlanders will be calling for the usual axings of Grimes and Garland and Bail and Matt Jones and Toump and even some for Newton, but I can't really see Roosy forsaking his policy of staying loyal to his senior squad until a major loss occurs. He will however consider Vince and Howe if they play a VFL practice match this week (not sure if there is one), but most likely their lack of match fitness would mean they would be the sub.

The only other big issue as I see it is deciding which defender will man up on Ablett, who will spend a lot of time up forward because of no match practice. Given GC is missing Lynch and is so small and will use Gazza as a marking option, I suspect that Garlo will have to go to him which is a big ask I know, although Grimes is another option. Nev Jetta should get Matera and Salem will most likely have Touk Miller or Saad.

So side for Rd 1 will be:

B: Jetta Dunn Garland

HB: Salem Tom Mc Grimes

C: Lumumba N.Jones M.Jones

HF: Bail Frost Vandenberg

F: Garlett Hogan Watts

Ru: Jamar Cross Tyson

Int: Viney, Newton, Toumpas

Sub: Kent (Howe or Vince if they get through practice match well)

Emerg: Gawn, JKH, McKenzie

Like I said on another thread Kent is either:

a) Disciplined from Perth trip

b) Has Family reasons (bereavement etc)

c) Seriously ill and club don't want to talk about it (unlikely though as there's no reason to hide things)

d) Injured - but unlikely for same reason as point C.

Likely side (based on last week)

B: Jetta Dunn Frost

HB: O'Brien Tom Mac Salem

C: M.Jones Viney Cross

HF: Bail Dawes Garlett

F: vandenberg Hogan JKH

Ru: Jamar Tyson N.Jones

Int from: Newton, Gawn, Toumpas, Garland, Grimes, Michie

Subs: Watts (full game next week), McKenzie

Left out: Pedo, B. Stretch, Fitzy (all playing VFL practice game)

A few things have changed at Casey Fields (the scoreboards appear to be operating) but it's still windy down here.

According to the team sheet the MFC players in this game are:-

Angus Brayshaw, Jack Fitzpatrick, James Harmes, Oscar McDonald, Cam Pedersen, Jake Spencer and Billy Stretch.

What's wrong with Hunt and White and Riley - anyone know?

I am very happy with the Mitch Clark trade.

We got a very fast running defender in Lumumba, who is a year younger and has barely missed a game for several years and it's an area which we needed.

Sure there is an element of luck with drafting, but on paper when you consider the three clubs - Pies got Varcoe in the deal - then there's only one loser and that's the Pies.

That could easily change next week if Clark and Lumumba go down, but stop worrying about things you can't control.

The same applies to Chip - I just hope all those bagging him and saying he played carp in game 1 weren't also complaining that we got a poor deal out of it - we got pick No.3 which was pretty fair compensation, maybe even too fair.

??????...Kent is one of the most disciplined players in the squad, you would need to explain this, but then again don't bother

Yes I forgot you would be taking the "nothing is wrong view" on this.

However I did come up with a couple more options that weren't included initially that would meet your approval.

Family reason:

Sickness (I did suggest injury, but illness is quite prevalent at this time of year).

RE: Kent.

He would not have been dropped - that's not Roosy way with his senior players and Lent is one of those.

He is either:

1) Injured and the club don't wish to discuss how he got injured.

2) Disciplined: You have to remember he was heading back home, which is where trouble sometimes follows.

Look forward to reading definitive reason.

At this stage Rd 1 v Gold Coast (now no Lynch)

Injured/susp: Vince, Dawes, Petracca.

I would have selected Stretch because I know we'll want pace against the Suns, but this is subject to M.Jones falling over again against Dogs/Ess and Stretch getting a good run in either of those two games, which I doubt.

I suspect Bail and Cross will be used as defensive wings in Rd 1, but Stretch will get a go after a couple of big games in VFL, as will Brayshaw.

If Pedo has another horror game against Dogs, then Garland may play up forward Rd 1 instead.

Another howler by Grimes against Dogs could also see his spot seriously under threat.

B: Jetta Dunn S.Frost

HB: Grimes T.Mac Lumumba

C: Cross Viney Bail

HF: Garlett Pederson Howe

F: Kent Hogan Watts

Ru: Jamar Tyson N.Jones

Int: Salem (defense), Gawn, Newton

Sub: Vandenberg or JKH

Emerg: Toump, Michie, Garland