DubDee

the headlines in the papers are a disgrace. NEVER before has a player with 2 year left on a contract had the headline: "talks put off til the end of season". that phrase always refers to a player having one season left on their contract. the casual observer (idiot) that doesnt read the article will look at that and say - oh Hogan is gone. just puts pressure on hogan and is negative publicity for the Dees. The media always kicks clubs when they are down (aside from the bombers). when we win a few they'll be the first to jump on the bandwagon saying we will make the top 4. such lazy, biased journalism

No question, Hogan. Could be the best player to ever play for Dees. Massive call obviously. He could actually destroy teams this year if we give him some service and lift the inside 50 count

One thing is for sure, it's officially time to panic!!

nah you just get your money back. you neither won nor lost

had a look on sportsbet, no luck. they usually have hundreds of markets for AFL incidentally: Gawn is paying $12 to be AA and Hoges is paying $23 to take out the coleman. i like those odds also think Mills at $8 is a monty for the rising star

how many games have Salem, Kent, Hogan, Tyson and Viney played together? answer - not many. Man im excited to watch these guys play together and get on the same wavelength. aside from Hoges all had injuries last year

think its fair to assume the following wont be available for the seniors round one: JT, Dawes, Newton, Petracca, Lumumba. with petracca and Lumumba back soon after round one once they play some casey for match fitness Vince should be right. So overall not too bad. JT was never going to be right and we wont miss Dawes or Newton much

so you can be banned from a sport for taking drugs and then make money off it in the media while you are banned? wtf

that the Hawks are even considering Fitzy as a replacement for Roughy just shows what a massive hit it is for them (no offence Fitz) i imagine they will just play two rucks, mcevoy and ceglar and Fitz will only get a run if more injuries occur good luck to him. but he had chance at the Dees and this was in years when we had amazing forwards lines including Rivers, Garland, Frawley

So, not one plausible reason listed yet. The lack of respect shown to a club champion is embarressing. The thread from last week was full of it. He was reluctantly talked into helping the club appoint the coaches. I would give my right nut to have a player such as Lyon to play in the current team with hoges. Great leadership, such skill, some of the best kicking for goal ive seen. rewatch 1994 final against dogs if you don't recall how good he was. Ten goals in 3/4s. He and the Ox were on fire! Gaz is one of my all-time favs.

That's why I mentioned our best players didn't get injured. We should be able to cope with injuries to our mid-level players. We should have greater depth of senior players this year. My other point is that people saying we'll improve as Frost and Salem should play a full season. This doesn't make sense to me as other players will no doubt get injured obviously I agree that the less injuries you have the greater the chance to win

I think we need to stop using injuries as an excuse or a reason we will improve. Several teams had a worse run last year like WC, lions, Suns, pies. Aside from Viney none of our top 5-7 players were injured eg vince jones t Mac. Injuries happen every year and although we had a fair few injuries we need to be able to cope with this. Like it or not we will have 5 or 6 injuries at most times from round 1 as it is the nature of the game.

I'm so torn on this season. We will certainly improve but nearly every other team will also improve. Anything could happen which is exciting in itself and we couldn't have said this in years gone by. We could win anything from 6 to 13 games IMO. the season is so short that it makes the afl so unpredictable. I have port and the pies 100% in the 8 as much as I hate to say that. I reckon the eight could change this year more than any other year.

This is a blow for us if he can't play much this season. If pedo gets injured as he tends to do then we are very short in the KPF area. I am hoping frost can turn himself into a decent fwd but I am not convinced on the little I've seen. Looks more of a natural defender. Poor kicking for goal and average marking. Again this is all based off 3 games so I'm hoping he can do better. Looks loke The Weed and Hulett will get chances. With the sub going as well maybe we will see Gawn and Speno playing together more

Man it was enjoyable to watch that Geelong win again. So many great games from our youngsters. Viney, Gawn, brayshaw especially. So hard at it Can't wait for the season to start!

This could be the year when we prove a lot of people wrong and after the past decade of agony watching us play, by God it will be sweet. Essendon will be lucky to win 3 games for the season. There will be distractions galore with law suits and players thinking of leaving. Eg hooker free agent. They have picked up players that not one of the 18 teams wanted even on their rookie list and suddenly they'll be good? Seriously. Why would these guys give a rats. It's just a pay check for kelly, stokes etc. i hope the Dons and Carlton stay on the bottom for years.

Got plans this weekend? You do now if you've got Foxtel or have a dee supporting mate that does. From midnight on Friday night for 24 hours it is nothing but Melbourne games. A few from 2015 and a few older ones. In true Foxtel form they don't give the year of the games just the teams and round. I assume they will all be wins ? so tell your other half to take the kids to see the grandparents, buy a slab and enjoy some footy. Ive been hanging to watch some old matches as I've got a newborn and am up all hours with nothing to watch. And Foxtel have only had that guest programming on which is basically the same finals played over and over. Don't get me started. Anyway, thought some of you might not notice that this was happening.

All we can do is hope Toumpas turns it around and becomes the better player

There is no option but to let them top up. If they get 12 injuries which happens sometime and suspension or two, they cannot field a team. That would be an even bigger farce. Relax. Top ups = rejects, retirees, players that can't get on a rookie list. And the 32 squad players won't be invested. Why should they?

I agree this is a major issue. The last few years our season is over by round 5, let alone round 11. you wait all year for the season to start with the sole goal of making finals to have a chance to win the flag. Then half way through ~6/7 teams are no chance at all. what are they playing for? to improve/game plan blah blah. a footy game without a real reward or goal is pointless. I can certainly see a new draw in the coming years where each plays each other once and then it splits into 3 groups with rewards for each.

the draw is compromised every year. playing essendon twice is no different to playing carlton twice. we've had a very easy draw handed to us for years but it hasnt done us much good

Id take the 2nd rounder even if he wasn't banned for 2016 as I dont rate him highly and never have

they are missing their 7 best players (based on champion data). midfield smashed and key positions in tatters. if we can't win comfortably, we have not improved. lift the veil of negativity!!

the 2nd and 3rd quarters from that north game were our best 2 quarters for the year i reckon. we played unbelievably well and I think and hope it was a glimpse of what we are aiming for with playing and moving it quickly. carn the Dees! (Im excited too apparently)

guilty but no bans i reckon. think i wont happen? this is the AFL/WADA it dont have to make sense!