joeboy

no Aussie ,no Grimes , no Robbo , no Whelan , and no Sylvia , otherwise our best possible .

I personally don't take much heed of omens , but by the same token I hope the photo that appeared in yesterday's HeraldSun was not prophetic of the season ahead. In a cute photo of little babies adorned in the colours of the 16 AFL teams , guess which colours were being worn by the only baby to be crying ? Yep , the little red and blue crybaby !

I've been happily using the Hankook tyre outlet in Carnegie for many years

Yes I also saw highlights of what looked like an underwhelming crowd at the Stkilda Family Day , but the accompanying commentary suggested a crowd around 7000 . Go figure.

Buckley - excellent early on Jones - too many turnovers Bartram - held Aker well McLean - poor in conditions Bate - had little influence Miller - undisciplined and quiet Frawley - continued to impress Morton - conditions didn't suit Dunn - good linking game Petterd - good until injured Green - classy and safe Garland - just so safe Bell - was rarely noticed Moloney - many wasted possessions McDonald - was rarely noticed Cheney - calm and confident Meesen - not totally useless Rivers - reliable and assured Newton - didn't impose himself Bruce - good ,not great Martin - continues to impress Davey - worrying late injury Warnock - safe and confident Jetta - clever and dangerous Spencer - conditions didn't suit Bennell - clever but limited

I was rebuked recently ( probably correctly ) for making a disparraging ( humorous , in my opinion ) remark about one of our players ,yet there appears to be no abatement in the negative comments being directed towards Jamar at present . Are any of the moderators issuing warnings as they did to me ?

My information directly from an MFC director is that the final details involving dual sponsors are still being worked through but the money involved is significantly less than we'd have received from Mission Foods.

Jones - another poor game McLean - enthusiastic but limited Miller - aggressive and involved Frawley - was rarely noticed Morton - poor ball disposal Johnson - an average game Sylvia - outstanding second half Dunn - was rarely sighted Petterd - needs to settle Grimes - poise and class Green - good first half Garland - strength to strength Bell - good before injury Moloney - needs more time McDonald - was rarely noticed Cheney - excellent football brain Meesen - tried , didn't fail Newton - probably on field Bruce - occasional clever glimpses Martin - calm and confident Davey - worked into game Warnock - possibly our best Jetta - reason to enthuse Bail - can get ball Spencer - gangly but effective Bennell - has indigenous magic Valenti - little game time Strauss - excellent under pressure

His mother was one of the gladiators in the tv show of the same name.

No he couldn't . Undersized and slow - just a player with a good build

It's a fine line between heaven and hell ! If we'd held on for a couple more seconds we'd all be in ecstacy even though we'd only won by a few points .

6 - Green 5 - Spencer 4 - Garland 3 - Frawley 2 - Miller 1 - McLean

We played safe and we lost !

I agree. There was nothing particularly illuminating or enlightening about this lightweight piece . I think it just gave Flanagan an opportunity to have a few ales with an old mate who happened to barrack for the Dees .

Maric trained at full speed today .

There were 3 official - looking photographers at training today along with a Fox Sports' vehicle .

No , I don't think Spencer is quick enough to drop in short ; the kicks to him were invariably to the flanks .

Sylvia was not as outstanding as he'd been at other sessions , whilst Davey was SMOOOOTH in everything he did.

As expected an obvious rise in intensity was evident from the outset this morning. The standard was significantly up on the five previous sessions that I've attended. Of the players who would have been walk up starts for Saturday's match if fit ,who were not training ,were :Junior, Jamar, Robbo, Wheatley, Watts and Rivers. Today's session was the first time I'd actually seen Jurrah join in all exercises and he was used in strategic plays so he might even get some game time on Saturday (though my money is on him not being selected due to 'conditioning') Spencer was often used as the go-to man at kick outs, with the crumbers running next to him, for obvious reasons. IMO the training standouts today were McLean, Valenti, Garland, Aussie (whose skills are sublime for so early in the season) and ... Newton (unlike the weekend's game where he was crap, today he was holding his marks on the lead, and showed agility, strength and interest). BTW Rivers was walking laps, slowly, but without a limp; Wheatley and Jamar ran laps then went on a bike ride to the local pool (after asking permission); Robbo was running laps and having goal kicking practice, but still appears proppy and somewhat hefty; Junior was not sighted (by me).

Not from my observation . He DID play well but he HAS trimmed down .

Actually by the looks of Petterd today , the guy in the photo may have eaten 2 of him . The Petterd I saw today was whippet-like in build and movement , and had a great game .

IMO Brock and Moloney were surprisingly inconspicuous, whilst Bell got the ball a few times without much impact. I imagine that the first 2 were just given the job of finding their feet on the playing field again after being cruelled by injuries over the last 2 years.

Not all gloom and doom -Robbo and Watts were message boys so they did plenty of running ; Jurrah was having kicking practice with Blease pre game ; Wheatley told me he had a minor back related ailment ; Jamar was walking and jumping fences unhindered ;and no major concerns after today's game , assuming Rivers only suffered a slightly twisted ankle .

It seemed quite a minor strain and he was walking around later without a noticeable limp . With only limited game time today I doubt he will be risked next weekend .

Buckley was impressive IMO, and probably in the top 3 or 4 on the field. Four goals to Aussie gave him BOG with Miller, Petterd and Buckley vying for the other votes.