Forest Demon

Thank god we didn't trade Fitzy like many of us suggested we should.

Dunn is easily entrenched in the 22. As you say, people need to get over their hatred and get used to him playing. He can actually be pretty damaging bringing it out of defence with his long and usually accurate kick.

I was all for young guys like JKH being kept back early in the season, but he is so far in front of Boo-urns it isn't funny

Terlich is easily in our best 22 for me, but M.Jones is borderline at best.

99% certain he is restricted, but some concrete confirmation from someone at the AFL/MFC would be handy.

Finally we addressed our most glaring weakness. Still waiting to see how this midfield group stand up in the real stuff but I am far more confident than previous years. Lack of injuries in this area helps also, Viney is the only one I can think of to come in from Friday night.

Trenners definitely looked a lot better on Friday night. A couple of blunders including the one in the last couple of minutes aside, he was very good.

Contested game was good also, which I didn't really expect to be honest.

Funny how many forget over a pre season, but Terlich is so far in front of others competing for similar positions. Just because he isn't as 'fashionable' doesn't mean he isnt a more effective footballer. Strauss and co aren't even close to taking his spot.

Don't understand why we wish these guys well when they leave. I hate seeing guys ditch us for other clubs, and might be harsh, but I wish them no team success. Unlikely, but I want those guys to look back and realise leaving was a terrible decision. Except players who are delisted e.g. Brad Miller

Did anyone honestly expect him to sign before the season starts. He is waiting to see how the club shapes up this year, which is exactly what we all said he would and should do a few months back. He isn't gone, as long as we start heading the right direction.

Who doesn't love Richie

Genuine question, did any of those who say they wanted Freeman watch a lot of junior footy last year? My reason for asking is almost every draft guru had Salem ahead of Freeman, and Freeman wasn't great statistically, but it seemed as soon as someone said 'plays a little like Patrick Dangerfield', people starting frothing over him.

I could swear the Port player was Trengrove with the extra R, as you suggest. But now, everywhere from the AFL site to Port's official site to Wikipedia have dropped the second R. Hardly riveting for most, but I am genuinely interested to know what has changed.

To the contrary, if he was playing today he would struggle to even get drafted and probably just be one of those country footy superstars who never made it for personal reasons.

As others have said, I don't think it is a case of the AFL missing the boat, it is more of the AFL thinking they could just plant a team near a large population and the crowds and support would follow. Not that simple, people in the west of Sydney are not interested in AFL, and it will take generations to win them over. And for whoever is playing down the 18,000 crowd, you do realise that is capacity. They literally have not been able to grow the capacity of Parramatta Stadium quick enough to keep up with the juggernaut support of the Wanderers. Compare that to the huge amount of empty orange seats at Giants games. And only a fool would think that a few wins is the only difference.

Stopped reading at Michael Hibberd. This isn't a list of elite footballers, it is a list of elite super coach options.

Seriously, what are the chances of the 'celebrity' ever being picked out, would be lucky to happen once in 20 or 30 seasons. Can't get into the Big Bash. Far too gimmicky for me.

"Everyone is aware of both of those things"...you might be, but I would bet my last buck many on here aren't. I am looking forward to seeing all our draftees develop and hopefully turn into good senior footballers, but I won't be expecting to see JKH named come round one (great if he is) as many have already called for after just a couple of weeks of training.

Let's not put expectations on him just because he is training well. At the end of the day, he is a first year player drafted at 40-odd, so we should set our expectations based on that.

Just don't see it with Cam. No real strengths that make him dangerous at this level. I think he is well down the order both forward and back in terms of talls.

I am satisfied with the drafting/trading during Neeld's tenure. The old hacks he bought in cost us no more than a spot on the list, so while they weren't a success, they didn't set us back.

I don't think he was strong on that at all. He said they aren't expected to play in their first year, but if they are doing the right things and earn their place then they would be selected.

I like Bernie, always have, but find it amusing that Sylvia goes out and is called unprofessional and a host of other names, while Bernie goes out and is a just a likeable lad. Ultimately, like Sylvia, he has failed to live up to his potential. Although I can see he has been a better player than Col and had one stellar year.

One thing I will say to stick up for Terlich is i think a lack of options and spread by teammates often make the option he takes end up looking rubbish if that makes sense. I think as the team gets better and we have numbers running with him, his supposed clangers will dry up a bit. He is never going to carve a side up like Aaron Davey off half back but I think he easily best 22.