SaberFang

My thoughts exactly and this is what Roos will be thinking. He's quick and can make a real difference in the second half if he comes on fresh and the Saints players get tired from playing keepings off for an hour.JKH is valuable because he finds space and gets to it fast, opening up scoreboard opportunities. If they're playing Gilbert (who broke his foot a few weeks ago) then they must be desperate over at StK Land.

Appalling.

Having Roos in charge will guarantee Toump develops well and I'm confident he will blossom into the role. The Watts and Trengoves of the team have been poorly developed like all our high draft picks, and hopefully Roos can finally unlock their full potential.

Nothing exciting but just saw Spencer with his Mrs at the shops. Wanted to wish him the best for tomorrow but didn't want to jynx anything so I kept walking! :D

Just got a train at Richmond and could see a big group of the boys at Goschs having some training. Kicking, tackling, marking. Good to see. Looked to be about 15 guys but the trees blocked my view.

Vince my favorite player now by a mile. Stealing Damo's glasses, while at the urinal no less, rather hilarious. Not surprised to hear he shied away in the corner when Vincey stood next to him. Damo, no doubt a small man in many ways

The club wasn't very loyal to his best mate when they used him as trade bait.

We have zero chance of Dangerfield, but have a feeling something might be in the works with TeX and Vince.

I imagine they'd be of the mindset that new era means becoming more marketable and shedding all traces of the last few years. Rebranding the logo would be a minor but warranted change.

What's the general consensus about the club logo? I like it, never thought you could fit so many design elements into a logo cohesively. So many other teams have atrocious logos. Adelaide, West Coast and Port spring to mind.

Michie, McKenzie, Bail, Blease,Toumpas, and Kennedy-Harris. Bail will be FP based on the leaked board from the MFC interview.

In my dark days last year of contemplating a switch to supporting Port Adelaide, I realised if they can achieve so much improvement in only an off season or two, there's zero reason the Dees can't do the same. Coaching, recruitment, and self belief are some of the most important qualities of a football club; we nearly have all three. A definitive victory Saturday night will get the momentum rolling.

Wouldn't read much into that. He was doing goal kicking practice back at training last year. It would be an interesting experiment but it goes against Roos' "know your role" mantra. But with Georgiou impressing, Garland soon to return and MacDonald down back as usual (with Dunn in the mix), I wonder if it's an experiment worth trying in lieu of Clark being able to play?

There's no reason that with smart recruitment and trading (I think the coaching team is pretty much as good as it gets now), we can't be pushing for finals next year and who knows where in 2016. Frawley still has at least 6 years left in him, the Dees will have an opportunity in that time to contest a flag. Tigers will go backwards this year IMHO.

Interesting hearing Grimes on SEN, Frawley's been begging Roos to go forward apparently.

Well the theory behind it is to say he's pretty happy at the Dees, which means other clubs might throw out some ridiculously high-ball options to lure him away. Similar to the way we got Clark to Melbourne despite him being happy to go to Perth. Money talks.

Can't be a coincidence that rival clubs are now of the opinion he'll stay at the Dees, unless they've been told as much by Chip's management. Probably means things are progressing well. If that's just his management trying to enact a bidding war, there wouldn't be much point. The Dees likely have more money spare than any other Victorian club, and they would be giving him whatever he wants at this point.

It'll be hard to get Giants players in a year or two if they start rapidly ascending the ladder. They still have the COLA... err, "expansion allowance" to keep their best players from flying home. We might be able to find more Viv Michie type players; good footy smarts but not good enough to crack an elite team's best 22. Happy to leave with the promise of playing more AFL in another team.

Makes you wonder how long Crossy can go for. All this talk lately of Fletcher turning 40 next year gave me high hopes that Cross could stick in our best 22 for far longer than anyone expected. I might need a dose of reality there.

Hard to believe he could lose that much between seasons. Only a few years ago he was a match winner.

I definitely see RO'K as the first player on Roosy's list of 2015 pickups. Especially given all the drama happening behind the scenes with the Swans, he's clearly out of favour due to his seeming disapproval of the Buddy deal. He would be another Daniel Cross type figure at the club, and I think Roos would have a leg up on other Victorian clubs simply due to their history. Plus heading into retirement, wouldn't be a bad thing to be back home (assuming he isn't settled in Sydney with family).

Have a sickening feeling it'll either be a frustrating close loss or a definitive victory. Ah the joys of being a Melbourne supporter.

I hope this is finally the beginning of a new chapter of the MFC. On paper, we should annihilate them, but how often has that been true over the years in round 1? We should've won against Brisbane in Jimmy's honour, too. It means nothing until you're on the grass. I'm cautiously optimistic but it's hard to see the light at the end of what has been a very long, very dark tunnel. I just hope it isn't the train. The club has suffered enough and for too long. It's time to begin a new era.

JKH would make a great sub because he could come in totally fresh in the second half/final quarter with a lot of speed and X-Factor that the starting 22 won't have. Remember he kicked all 3 goals in the final quarter of the Tiges match.

I like this kid a lot. Didn't he really stand up in that GWS win last year? I thought he kicked 3 goals which says something about confidence and accuracy.