TeamPlayedFine39

My understanding is that, with that result, we win tomorrow, we play Week 1 and 2 at the G... that’s a good result.

Experiment before finals.

I’m confident that Oliver and Gawn will make the AA team and equally confident there will be no other Dees in the 22. Jetta, McDonald and Brayshaw are possibly a chance to make the squad, but even that may be a bit of a stretch.

It doesn’t matter- if it’s there, it’s there. That’s the only test that matters. Not really buying the ‘but it’s only banned on match day’ line (pardon the pun). This drug is in fact banned 24/7, 365 and 1/4 days of the year. Murray’s either an addict who cannot help himself and needs immediate intervention, or he is a complete and utter moron.

Agreed. Addiction is an illness and he is very, very unwell, but the threats that he is making to his ex and children are scarily familiar and there’s a dire outcome if he is not removed from their lives.

Exactly. With McGovern resigning WCE may not be in a position to match a huge offer. Darling, Kennedy, NicNat as well as signings like Redden and Jetta would all be taking up a lot of cap space. They’ll need him to re-sign for quite a bit less than market value as they’ll struggle to ‘match’ it.

The crowd behaviour in the west is cultural and ingrained; they do it now instinctively, and it clearly has an influence on the umpire’s decision making. It was clear to see that the umpires were (rightly) resisting the crowd’s pleas and abuse this round, as incorrect or borderline decisions that usually go their way, were not awarded. The most staggering part for me however was the WCE players reactions to not being awarded free kicks. Clearly they are just as conditioned as the crowd is to getting the good side of contentious decisions. They complained more than any team I can remember seeing to the extent that they looked rattled and irritated.

It’s very rare to see any player reacting like that- especially after the siren. There was no arguing, just anger.

There would be some health related reasons, but above that, in the AFLs point of view, would be the look of the game. They're not wanting parents to see players covered in blood running around after other players covered in blood.

West Coast is awarded 4 more free kicks than us, including this howler when AVB spoiled a mark fairly... yep ‘rigged’ and we still managed to win.

Um... great...

Not a classy bump. There are plenty of people over the last ten years who abandoned our club when we needed them, Jack wasn’t one of them.

Hannan and AVB were revelations yesterday. I've never seen Hannan attack the ball and contest the way he did; his pace and aggression went to the next level and he showed he can play finals football very well if called upon. AVB is a brute. He is big, strong and mean, and when he tackles you, it hurts. Likewise, when others try to tackle him he is very, very difficult to bring down.

I wouldn't shop Hogan around, but if he asked and that was the offer... we'd be mad not to take it.

Is Viney running on solid ground yet? Last I heard he was only on a treadmill, but that was a couple of weeks back... anyone know is he’s progressed?

I think Oscar is safe as it wasn’t a ‘driving’ tackle. If anything, he rolled Darling slightly to the side to avoid driving him to the dirt.

The look in Jetta’s eyes says otherwise...

Paul Roos commenting on the Melbourne Instagram page. We’ve come a long way since he and PJ came to the club.

Has gone from a liability when the heat was on to a real weapon and dependable player in big games. He’s gone to a level I didn’t think he was capable of and I think there’s still room for improvement there.

AVB will be a fine at worst- careless and very low impact. No resting players unless there’s a niggle that could be made worse by playing. Next week is another must win for mine in order to maintain winning form and better our chances of a home final. In addition, we have a bye the following week, so anyone who misses next week, would essentially be out for two.

The pressure on him today was immense and he stood up. Outstanding effort and a big future!

Posted this in the music thread, but it seems even more appropriate here.

Great start! Keep the intensity up!