grazman

I agree about McKenzie, he should play rd 1, good in and under player: According to Schwabby, Bater and Wona came through the Casey match unscathed, and will probably play next weekend, given our lack of scoring options, I'd say they will both play rd 1 if they get through against the Eagles. Cam Bruce and Col would both need to play this weekend, but on the back of limited preseasons, you'd think they'd be given more time. Davey will play unless injured.

The Hawks have had a pretty poor preseason thus far: Burgoyne is almost certain to miss along with Sewell and their weak ruck division will be on wood for a while... could be very interesting.

Even listening to the bias of 5AA I'd say that is wishful thinking.

ankle apparently... I thought I heard him being called in the last (though with the muppets commentating, it's speculative at best) so hopefully he just rolled it.

Adelaide won by 4 pts. 9 goals something (15 points or so) to 10 goals something. (5 pts) .... Petterd 4 goals, Maric 2 goals, Miller 2 (maybe) Scully and Jurrah. From what I could make out on the radio...Better players were Trengove, McDonald (Jnr) Frawley, Scully, Bail and Jones until injured.

On the brighter side... we play them in rd 3 at the G. We have more players coming back than they do.... won't know how serious their problems are until the real stuff starts, but about three years ago I predicted their bubble had burst, I might have been three years too early. No Porplyzia or Tippet and they can't kick a score.

1/2 time "It was Melbourne, Melbourne and all Melbourne."

Actually I think it was in relation to Dunn as in Riley Dunn.... still ... WTF!

Not quite sure, obviously a very young list, but the opposition have their problems as well and have had as poor a preseason as us to date. Could be a nil all draw considering it will be played at a neutral ground ( I doubt too many of the good folk at Elizabeth will be sipping their Chardy in the outer today). Obviously it's all about getting games into young bodies, so I doubt we'll kick winning score - I imagine next weeks team will be a far better indication of the likely squad for rd 1 depending on availability.

Players have done ACLs before and walked off the ground so we'll have to wait and see on Morton, but it's never good when the coach says it doesn't look good. The medico's would have done the tests and have a fair Idea, but it can only be confirmed once he's had a scan, but I've prepared myself for the worst. Also being reported from those at the ground that Moloney may have a calf injury (unconfirmed) and that Sylvia may have a hammy (unconfirmed)

Football clubs need to be cautious about believing their own press, though Freo fans are probably saying the same things about us. From a completely biased perspective, I don't think under Harvey they will improve significantly over the journey.

Probably preaching to the converted, but anyway. Yze played some pretty good footy in some pretty good sides (albeit not premiership sides) there were also some lean years. Flower unfortunately (apart from 87) played in some pretty bloody awful sides. Flower was simply sublime - IMO his star shone even brighter when given the chance to play with better footballers in State of Origin... simply my opinion, but I think he'd receive more universal recognition and praise from beyond the red and blue if he'd played in greater sides.

Absolutely spot on.

Spare a thought for poor old Freo... there famous numbers are.....

I probably didn't phrase it as well as I could have, but I think we're on the same page.... The Prima Facie case was one of trafficking, Stokes may have been able to argue his case down.... except he made an admission of fact... because he can't lie straight in bed.... how ironic. What I find even more ironic is that a bloke that's paid somewhere around 200k a year to play football has just [censored] away his career for $500 of blow.... oh well too bad so sad, maybe when the court hands down its verdict he can go to Haiti and tell the locals how tough life is....

Bert Chadwick and Denis Cordner before he wore #1 (changed when he became captain I think) That's two pretty big names. If Strauss can emulate Brett Lovett and become the rock of half back then 17 would be very appropriate.

The AFL drug code is a farce.

Under the legislation the charge is based on the quantity of drugs. If it's over a certain amount it counts as trafficking - plus he stated that he naively bought it for his mates - which I'm sure his lawyer has now told him is actually an admission in relation to trafficking. He knew where to get the drugs from, but his drug taking mates did not, and of course his conversation with the dealer about the cocaine being "good [censored]" was about a completely unrelated matter.

Martin Pike Matthew Bishop Tony Elshaug Crackers Keenan Players that turned their backs on the club, but didn't get a premiership: Gerard Healy Troy Longmuir Jeff Farmer Steven Powell & Scott Thompson Chris Johnson Brock McLean

I'm sure I heard on ABC radio one of the major sticking points will be FIFAs insistence (as per previous contracts) stating that no rival codes are allowed to conduct their competitions in any of the participating cities and they need at least 12 stadiums of 50K capacity. I have no interest in any other rival code, but my level of antipathy will rise to new heights if this goes ahead.

Spunj, you had me at "hello". Two words... Nick Smith.

I got the impression from reading the article in the age this morning that GC are intending to use their rookie picks to take experienced players to supplement their kids... that may include guys like Juice and Mees... maybe not, we'll know soon enough.

Exactly. The whole rate the draft is a waste of space. We'll know in the fullness of time. I doubt any recruiters woke up the next day thinking "gee we buggered that up didn't we".

James Sellar isn't guaranteed, John Meesen and Fergus Watts are busts ... Adelaide picked four blokes between 191-195 cms... why is that? Their history doesn't support your assertion.

Well.... and I'm just guessing here... I think the recruiting department may have had slightly more insight into his ability than the one clip on youtube. That the consensus didn't have him going as early as pick 11 doesn't worry me. If all we needed was consensus to pick players then the club could save it's money on staff by using the plethora of phantom drafts to make it's choices. I'll back the professionals over the amateurs every time. Plenty wanted a KPP for pick 11 and again the consensus was that either Talia or Black were the two most likely. Talia went to a club whose track record of selecting first round talls isn't exactly flash (Fergus Watts, Meesen, Sellar) and Black slipped to 25 - which suggests plenty of other clubs had their doubts as well. Only time will tell, but I think the selection of Gysberts (second for kicking at the draft camp) and Strauss and Blease last year shows the emphasis that BP and DB place on being able to hit targets.