TeamPlayedFine39

Alternatively, GWS may celebrate a little too hard after they win one- same fate as the West Coast and Collingwood 'dynasties'.

There is a hard competitive edge to this team that is still a little raw and untapped; shades of Hawthorn's attitude in 2005/06. I love the way they get stuck into players who duck or shirk the contest.

It's a scary thought... However, Essendon were arguably the best team in the league from 1999-2001 and only won one flag; Geelong were the best team for 2007-2011 and only took out three; while the Hawks were the dominant team of 2012 but lost the GF to Sydney. Having the 'best' team doesn't necessarily win you flags.

You've outed yourself now Abe- Demonlanders are going to be beating your door down in trade week.

Great news about about Jack wanting to sign on (if there was ever any doubt) http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-forward-jack-watts-says-outgoing-demons-coach-paul-roos-saved-his-career/news-story/a0f2d0e55dee5098b47f9835f491d20b

Everyone who is saying we haven't improved this year are ignoring the fact that we beat GWS. It doesn't support your arguments of not beating anyone above us on the ladder... but we did, we beat GWS. Sure we are yet to take the competition by the throat, but you can't prattle on about us not beating any good teams this year when we did in fact beat a very good team in round one.

10-12 was my preseason target... I'm sticking with 10 (the lower end of my expectations)

In fairness, Richmond and Melbourne assessed his value in 2014to be a first round pick, not a second. To put that in perspective, Melbourne would have lost Trengove and our second round pick for pick 12 - Richmond therefore rated Trengove as more valuable than Pick 12: Corey Ellis, Pick 13: Lachlan Weller and Pick 14: Jake Lever in that draft.

I mentioned over the page that he had a kid this year, so presumably he's been getting thrown up on, slapped in the face, screamed at, eye gouged, pooed on, praying and being deprived of sleep, rest and any semblance of peace.

I suppose it comes down to what he's looking for in a new club. Playing list? Yes, hands down. However if his main reason for wanting to leave Gold Coast is their medical/rehab team and their handling of his injuries, I'm not sure where we stand in the league for these facilities and staff...

True - in fact we've looked at our best when Jesse gets on his bike and roams round the ground, rather than planting himself 20m out trying to kick a bag and save the day.

We need Jeffy firing if we're to be a chance against the better teams in the comp. Obviously we're not privy to the targets he was given when he was dropped, but at a minimum it would be pressure acts and one percenters - hopefully he's been reaching those marks. He also strikes me as someone who only really ignites on the big stage- we need him back on the G.

https://mobile.twitter.com/emmasq/status/744825617271513088

Conditions like this are difficult, particularly when they reveal themselves in adulthood. It'll be a case of equal parts specialists getting his treatment right, and Christian himself learning about how his body is feeling and what it's trying to tell him. Zero concerns about him as a footballer, and until I hear otherwise, very few concerns about him coming back fit, strong and healthy.

Bernie must have some mates on the MRP - he's been very luck a couple of times this year. Great player, but needs to pull his head in sometimes; he's too valuable to us to be suspended.

I'd offer him two years at the end of this year- he's done everything asked of him and if we don't offer it, someone else will. He's rebuilt his body, consistently dominated vfl level after two years out, does the 1 percenters, tackles fiercely. He's best 22 imho. At worst, he's our best depth midfielder.

The blow-out in the last quarter was very disappointing, but this was Sydney... at the SCG... in the rain... Sydney will play off for the premiership this year, so a defeat, while unpleasant, is not a disaster. A young team looked tired today and hopefully the bye will refresh and reenergise. There's been plenty to like in the first half of the year; I hope we can focus on that for the next two weeks rather than bemoaning this poor performance against a very, very good team.

Soooooooo far from our worst performance in two years!

Sydney is beating us at the SCG!! Mcveigh is getting a lot of the ball off half-back!!!

This, in my opinion, is far worse than what James Hird said on the Footy Show back in '04 about Scott McLaren. Attacks the umpires' integrity and spreads a complete lie. A fine and an apology is not enough- he needs to serve weeks.

It's really hard to say if he'd be rookied - as an outsider looking in. It's been so long since we've been able to have a good look at him playing. He has some real strengths, but also some significant deficiencies that he needs to have been working on. Unfortunately, he hasn't been working through these as he's been injured so often. Hopefully he can snag a few matches for Casey at the end of the year. ***** Just checked the contract thread - looks like he's signed on til the end of '17. Good on him - hopefully can get a game or two at the end of the year and hit the preseason at full tilt.****

Hip flexor according to Misson. Out this week to I believe.

The amount of AFL matches screen on A+ is great IMHO, far preferable to the app, which can be a bit unreliable. The only problem is they run the same three ads over and over again for the entire season; can recite them all word-perfect by round three.

Not only that, but Grand Final day used to be the Grand Final day for everyone. Matches seemed to start at about 9am.

All this posturing is simply Essendon seeking to inflate his market value. They'll take every chance they can get between now and November to say how 'valuable' 'talented' 'important' and 'required' Hibberd is in an attempt to get more back in return.