Deespicable

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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

I have said this before on another thread, but providing we don't have too many spuds around them, the real winner on draft night was Casey. In the past we have had Melbourne guys who are in the VFL and playing on back flanks (Strauss, Clisby, Nicho) or half forward (Blease). But this year we have a plethora of genuine midfielders and providing we don't get injuries,we should have handy VFL standard ruckmen to help them out. Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Newton, Brayshaw, Riley, Toump, McKenzie, M.Jones, Vandenberg and Bail all may play in the AFL at times, but all are more than capable of going into middle for the VFL. That's 10 midfielders with only 2-3 likely to be AFL required at any one time, so at worst we have a squad of 7 good midfielders. Spencer is also a very good VFL ruckman and you'd expect that one of Gawn/Pedo would also be playing in the VFL each week as well.

I just wonder if Jack Grimes reads all our posts and its affecting his confidence. I have always liked him since his early days when he kept having back-related problems. He was just so reliable and his game against Adelaide last season was a case in point. But he seems to now be worrying about his disposal - whether he's taking the comments and game pressure too seriously and not just having fun like Kokky I don't know. But his game against Freo (albeit first up and of a high standard) has me worried. I also don't feel that he's muscled up like other footballers - perhaps he can't, but it certainly affects his ability to break tackles. Anyway this post is not about Jack Grimes. The Michie v Newton decision will probably get down to whether we aim to pick seven forwards (with one the sub) and seven defenders (one always rotating), as this impacts number of midfield options. I suspect we will have a rotation of 8 mids (includes Jamar/Gawn as one) and if fit, the lucky 7 in my view shape as - N.Jones, Tyson, Viney, Bail, Cross, M.Jones (I'd rather Stretch but it's M.Jones spot to lose) and Newton (a little more mongrel than Viv). Obviously a forward (Garlett) and defender (HarryO or Salem) can be thrown into midfield every now and then to help with rotations. But injuries may yet be a factor and don't get too settled on a line-up yet.

Given how pleasing it was tonight, I'll even pick a side for Rd 2 of NAB Cup against the Dogs. I'm guessing that we will pick a fairly strong side again because it looks like we may be playing Essendon's reserves in our final match before Rd 1. So full strength side, minus the following injured players - Vince, Howe, Newton (if its just a face knock he may yet play). Angus will have to wait another week, as will Howey. In: Watts, Viney, Stretch Out: Newton (inj), McKenzie, Pederson (the Dogs are a small side, so we have to leave out at least one more big) B: Jetta Dunn Frost HB: Lumumba Tom Mc, Salem C: M.Jones, Tyson, Bail HF: Vandenberg Dawes Watts F: Garlett Hogan Kent Ru: Jamar N.Jones, Viney Int: Michie, Cross, Grimes, Garland, Gawn, Toump Subs: JKH and Stretch (youth has to wait, I'm afraid).

I'm quite comfortable with the match-committee's decision not to play Stretch, even though I would have loved to see him play. It's really important to start out the season being loyal to your senior players - you don't want alienate the older players like Neeld did in his first year playing Toump. Roosy has always shown great loyalty to older guys - have a look at his Sydney days and have a look at his leadership group. It's not for kids. He's already made it very clear that Lumumba and Garlett are walk up starts this year - unless they muck up majorly. Stretch will get plenty of chances in days to come I'm sure. But Matt Jones deserved his spot. The question now is for how much longer can Roosy persist with him. We saw last year that he was starting to waver in his loyalty to him, so my guess is that it could be pretty soon.

One more thing - tonight was another win for our current recruiting staff - thank christ we finally got rid of Prendergastly. While injuries and luck may play a part in how they do in the future, there's no doubt they have chosen well. The Dom Tyson/Salem deal is looking like a sensational bit of wisdom. Daniel Cross was a great mature buy at no cost and has already proved his value. Frosty might be the best pick off all at No.21 or whatever given his athleticism and closing speed on the big forwards. Harry O, injuring permitting, looks a really wise choice and could be mega reliable for the next 3-4 years. Bert Newton looks like he wants to succeed and adds major depth to our midfield and we got him for virtually nothing. But this year's real gem may yet be the rookie-listing of Vandenberg. No-one would have taken him and he arrived with a bung shoulder - you have to be very gutsy to go for a mature-ager like that. But with Petracca out all season, he could be our saviour as a medium forward. Even if he does not make it, he's already shone he was worth rookie-listing.

Great to see how we go against an actual side and a good one at that. Following comments off TV so apologies as it makes it hard to rate some players who stuff off the ball like Bail. Pleasingly Tyson won plenty of clearances and looks like he may be even better this season. N.Jones as usual showed great disposal and got plenty of touches. Teams up so well with Dom. Harry O was IMO clearly our best player with his dash and intercept Newton had a super first quarter and only had a couple of errors until he copped a knock to eye and came off late in second. Subbed by Vandenberg. Tom Mc was right about Frosty being an incredible athlete. Don't know why Frost wasn't playing down back in first half, but it proved costly because Dunn and Garland were touched up by Pav and Taverner. As soon as Frosty went back, we looked so much more assured down back - hence the third quarter comeback with the wind. Salem looked handy and was moved on to Mundy in third and won a bit of ball which was great to see. He'll be a genuine first 22 player this year. Hoges worked hard and while not dominant, was dangerous and you can tell he can play. Vandenberg only played half but showed he might be able to play the mid-size forward role that Petracca would have played. Garlett was quiet in first half but picked up as game went on and you can tell he's going to be dangerous. As so often happens pre-season - all our recruits were fantastic. I'm sure young Stretch would have played well too if he had been given a go. We also had plenty of forward forays and I reckon even with our ruckmen getting beaten, we may have won the clearance count thanks to Dom and Jonesy. We also finally have pace out of defence with Harry huge across half back and Jetta good until subbed at half time. Tom Mc was criticised here and yes he does look a bit slow to get rid of it at times, but he still does get rid of it and he should form a very good running defence with Dunn, Frost, Salem, Harry O, Howe and Jetta. Worringly I am a Jack Grimes fan, but a couple of his howlers would worry even him. Col Garland came to the club as a forward, he might actually be one. Please give him a go up forward in Rd 1. Jordie still gets pinged lying on top of the ball. Pedo was quiet and dropped an absolute sitter and may have played himself out of the Rd 1 side. Matt Jones turns it over ... and over. Billy the kid is waiting to take up his wing. Our rucks were thrashed and Jamar's miss from 10m and Gawn's first-half short-kick howlers were not a great look. Freo does have good ruckmen (Griffin, Clarke etc) and the heat made it slippery, so reserve opinion for a while. Jimmy T did one sensational fake, but still lacks pace. Sorry but he may not make it unless he becomes an inside player to use his hips. I love JKH, but he needs to do more and his up-the-ground lead howler where he waited for the ball would not have endeared him to his coach. Some other player was playing as Daniel Cross - don't worry though, he is never going to be suited by hard, fast March grounds like that one. Bail was relatively quiet, but you can't rate his games off the TV. You have to be there to see how much hard running for the team he does to appreciate his value. Michie was useful at times, but needs to do more if he is going to push his way into the side. Should get the next two games though.

I can't begin to express my disappointment at this news - it's not quote as bad as when Schwarter went down or when word spread that Scully was going to leave the club (yes he was promising back then), but it's pretty darn close. I've seen him at training and his bullet-like kicking was phenomenal and with his height, aggression and pace, we had a real livewire - sure we still have him, but we are going to have to wait. There are very few winners out of this. For us fans, I suspect he was in the top two "most looking forward to see players" - ranking up with Hoges. I felt he was also a point of difference for our forward line (forget the midfield bit as he was never going to play there this year). He was tall for a small forward and could tackle hard and he had that uncanny Dustin Martin type instinct around goal. Now we are consigned to just small or bigs, unless Howey is sent back to the forward line. It's a big blow for this year - not quote as big as if we lost Hoges or Dawes, but certainly up there, and forget talk about him being just a kid, he was legit already.