DubDee

Question. I bought my membership at the Essendon game 2weeks ago. Then I got a letter saying I should have my card already? Can't find a previous letter from the club with my card

How do I get in to the G today?

I'm way too fired up. Too early to head in to the G?

IT'S GAME DAY!!!!!!!

On my way in for breakfast on Swan st then off to the demonshop then to the vfl then then meet a couple of mates at the Royal for boobs & beer then to the G.

You're living the dream mate!

Haven't been following the progress of Freeman. Injured last year but still not cracking the 22 at the pies? What's th go?

If he was at the Dees he'd already be written off as a wasted pick I'd say. Should've picked dunstan, Taylor, or crouch! ;-)

What a legend. Love the answer to the question at the end. It's that quality that makes champions.

I hope we have success more for him than anyone else

The best thing about recording a decent win tomorrow is that it will spoil both Gary Lyon and Gerard Healey's football tips (and help both Wayne Carey Dermott Brereton). It is a tragedy that the only past superstars of the game who have faith in us come from other Clubs rather than one of our own!

So you reckon anyone in the media should always tip the team they used to play for? Doesn't make for interesting tv. I'm sure Gaz wants us to win badly but just realises GC are a better team than us

Doesn't bother me

Really can't believe the fall of grimes. Is captaincy the poison chalice? Haven't had a good one since junior and after years it's taken someone of the character of jones to turn that around

In his first few years grimes was so competitive, never lost a one on one, great spoiling and read it so well

What happened?

I see the coverage hasn't changed. After every goal there is no replay for the next 30 seconds, we have to wait until the ump has ball in hand to sneak in a 5 second replay. Newsflash- there are no ads on Foxtel! Play a fricken replay of the goal. We don't want to watch the bloke run off the field

Not bad emergencies for GC! Matera out of favour I wonder? Good mid and defence but with a few kids in there I reckon we can win

Cue the over the top expectations building!!!

OLD COAST

B Jarrod Harbrow, Rory Thompson, Kade Kolodjashnij

HB Trent McKenzie, Steven May, Nick Malceski

C Jack Martin, Dion Prestia, Alex Sexton

HF Michael Rischitelli, Sam Day, Matt Shaw

F Harley Bennell, Daniel Gorringe, Touk Miller

Fol Zac Smith, Gary Ablett, David Swallow

I/C Mitch Hallahan, Jarrod Garlett, Adam Saad, Greg Broughton

Emg Tom Nicholls, Brandon Matera, Seb Tape

New Nick Malceski, Touk Miller, Mitch Hallahan, Jarrod Garlett, Adam Saad

Compared to the lineups from the nab challenge there are a lot less talls listed. I like it, however we may be stretched in the ruck with only Jamar & Frost. It will test Jamar taking the bulk of the ruck duties & so far Frost has been limited in the ruck. Perhaps Gawn will come in for Howe as another poster previously mentioned.

GC are not going in very tall so this might be the reason. No need for a 2nd ruck to drop back to mark their big fwds

who do you guys think will be sub?

Will be between VanDemon and JKH you'd think?

Brayshaw for sure. Roos loves the kids coming in via sub

Wonder how many frees the umps will gift Gary in his return game? I'm guessing at least 3,with 2 converted into goals.

Gaz gets free kicks coz he is a gun and puts his head over the ball when his opponents ignore the ball and illegally try to stop him. he should get more support from the umps not less. then maybe the McKenzies of the world will try at least looking in the general direction of the ball

why has he not been upgraded already? two on the LTI list

he has played NAB and at casey. whats the deal?

Just joined the coroner league. Thanks for setting it up mate.

'Kev's battlers'

I've still got it as a race in 3 for the premiership, but I'm hoping the seasons is full of enough twists and turns to make it interesting:

Looking at the swans: Tippett has a bung knee. Malceski left to the Gold Coast. Goodes should've retired last year. Richards and Grundy are declining. Their starting outside midfielders are Jetta (who went badly missing) Cunningham and Jake Lloyd and with Goodes declining and McGlynn moving to the midfield they lack a really potent goal kicker to go with Franklin and Tippett. They will still have some of the best ball winning mids in the comp and plenty of depth coming up like Mitchell and Zak Jones. They will still be there at the business end of the season but I can't see Sydney being a dominant top 2 team.

Hawthorn will be dominant. They've only gotten stronger with last seasons additions. They now have almost unprecedented level of depth in most positions. The hope is that as Mitchell, Hodge, Burgoyne, Lake, Gibson, Hale slow down then so do the Hawks. Unfortunately for the competition I think that won't happen next year.

I think you should be more confident about Port. With Ryder they now have the tall forwards/ruck, small forwards and midfield depth to match it with Hawthorn and Sydney. Their backline is underrated as well but I think it's got the ability just not the depth.

After those 3 it's about who else can get to top 4 and whether anyone can knock one of those 3 out for at least some part of the season.

Freo and Geelong will be keeping everyone honest. Essendon with the ASADA stuff behind them, Richmond and North should all push up, hopefully above the likes of Freo and Geel. I can't see them winning the flag but if they keep the top 3 honest and unsettle their seasons then that's a good thing. Adelaide, West Coast and Brisbane are 3 teams who might be able to upset a top 3 side on their day. Although West Coast aren't off to a good start and I don't think Brisbane will make the 8.

The next best threats for actually winning a flag are Gold Coast and GWS. Gold coast should make the 8 this year and GWS shouldn't be too far behind them. In a couple of years they'll be top 4 and probably Hawthorn and Sydney will be declining. What I really do hope is we get wholesale change in positioning as the new order takes over. I'd hate nothing more than a top 5 of Port, GC, GWS, Hawthorn, Sydney. Once teams start to drop out they should drop out properly and new teams on the way up should take over.

good analysis.

Ryder is a massive get for port and they will be top 4 id say. but i dont rate thyem as highly as most. Key position wise - I think the Hawks and Swans have them covered

in general though, I reckon there usually is more of a vibe of there are ~6 teams in it and maybe one standout. I hope it is not a trend that 15 teams are playing for pride before the season has even staeted

Port should be quite some distance in front of Sydney this year.

I actually think the Top 2 are quite predictable (Hawthorn and Port). I'm not sure if 3rd and 4th are easy to pick - will depend on the luck some sides have. For example, I see both North and Essendon (especially now) being in a position to challenge for the Top 4, but it's going to take a pretty flawless season from both to go ahead of Sydney, Geelong and Freo.

why do you think Sydney will slide? I expect them to be better than last year. A fit Tippett and Franklin should get 150 goals alone

they have no injuries and them young midfield is terrific. Maabe the ruck is their only weakness

I have them significantly in front of Port. last year sydney were 5 spots and 12 pts ahead of them

With all the drug talk I thought getting back to footy would be nice

Has there ever been a year where the top 2 is so far ahead of the rest? Watching the Swans and Hawks play against us or saints- its like we are playing a different game. Guys like Tom Mitchell not even getting a game at swans that would be in our top 3 mids.

There could be sruprises but I think we can say:

• there is no chance either team will be out of the top 4 - even with multiple injuried which Hawks had last year
• they will most likely be the top 2 teams
• they will be able to rest players aganist poorer teams

So my question is, am I right in thinking that this is unusually discrepant to other seasons?

is it healthy to already know who is the top 2 teams will be at seasons end? I personally dont see Port getting in the top 2 and freo may fall

Is there any chance these teams will fall down in the next few years - I honestly cant see the Swans being out of the top 2 for years, maybe the hawks a little with Mitchell/Hodge retiring soon

Can anyone catch them?

Should there be a trophy for 3rd place

I dont particularly want this thread to be about equalisation and free agency (would prefer to talk footy rather than money - but knock yourselves out) but it so quickly becoming like the EPL it is disturbing

Am I being irrational or other feel the same?

Gold Coast arent guaranteed to do anything great, sure they are loaded with potential but so are a bunch of other clubs.

no guarentees ever but to me they have the best young list by far in the comp. quality all over the park with heaps of speed, skill and hardness - key fwds, depth in the midfield etc. from next year they will be in the top 4 for most of the next 5-6 years IMO. (if not starting this year)

Well unfortunately this is the AFL, and at his age and games experience and after a full pre-season, you'd expect him to want have a really consistent and solid season down back like Jetta or Dunn did last year.

We need to live in the now. I once saw Juice Newton tear a quarter up as if he'd magically turned into superman. Does it mean we should have kept hold of him because we saw a tiny glimpse of what he can produce?

If a player isn't performing consistently well at age 27 with a fair amount of games experience, it's a worrying sign.

Garland needs to give the club a reason to want to keep him this year. He needs a big year.

I'm just not writing him off like a lot on here

But the comparison to Newton? C'mon mate. I'm trying to have an arguement here. Don't make it too easy!

you would have thought the stepping stone would have been playin in NAB challenge so I assume as he wasnt even in any of the 29 man squads he wil be no chance to play round one.

also not sure he is fit enough to play a full AFL game, he was running out of steam in the VFL from all accounts

give him 2-3 more weeks and then let him loose

As of right now, I don't think anyone would be disappointed if Garland left for free agency.

In terms of compensation, probably a 3rd or 4th rounder.

I would be. I reckon he has enough credits in the bank after some good years and a couple of very good years that can excuse one bad year. he was clearly our best defender in 2013 and was pretty consistent for 6-7 years playing in a horrible team. He cant have lost that overnight

I am always amazed how quickly we turn on our players when they are out of form

Plus we are missing Trengrove and Petracca, two #2 draft picks! Easy to overlook this and that fact that, fully fit, they are both capable of impacting games and rotating through our midfield. Also, losing to St. Kilda last year was assisted by our sudden depletion of, (for the first ime in years), a potentially elite forward structure with Clark and Hogan lining up alongside Dawes and Watts.

we are very close to full strength. Just missing one first year playter and JT who got dropped last year, and would not be automatic first 22

No excuses. we are in better shape that 80% of other teams regarding injuries

Ablett will play and I hope he does. Let GC come to us expecting an easy win and lets smash them.

just makes it clear that in 2013, we had...... one N jones.

at least we know have Jones, Vince, Tyson, Cross and Lumumba = 5

(I'm including Tyson- similiar to how I reckon port would include Wines)

any idea how this compares with others? you would think, comparison wise, it would be bottom 4 material