DemonDave

I believe everything I read in the Herald Sun!

This list that was published by the little paper this afternoon paints a far rosier picture, only two players listed (and both at 1 or 2 weeks) http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/supercoach-news/the-barometer-find-out-which-of-your-clubs-stars-are-on-track-to-play-in-round-1/story-fncufbo5-1226605499510 but obviously I'd take the clubs one a bit more accurately. When in previous years have we had (lack of match fitness notwithstanding) such a short list at this time of the year? Also worth noting is the Eagles list, we play them in 2 weeks time, and none of those main players are due back in this timeframe...

did you go to or see any of his preceding games at casey that warranted his inclusion? As he showed real signs of potential stages there.

Such was our armada of invincible youth, Michael Voss warned that we may be the next 'super power' didnt he? The problem was so few of this armada turned into battle-hardened pros.

Looks like he's had a bit of "Soul Glo" in the hair Feel this could be a long trial, good luck Liam!

Based on the pre-season games Ive seen so far: B: Jetta Frawley Garland HB: Watts McDonald Dunn C: Grimes Magner Blease HF: Rodan Dawes Byrnes F: Howe Sellar Viney Foll: Jamar N Jones McKenzie I/C: Gillies, M Jones, Kent Sub: Toumpas Em: Strauss, Nicholson, Davey Assumes that Blease and McDonald are passed fit but Trengove and Clark are not.

Nope, he did take a big hanger, second quarter I think it was, right on the outer wing! A few observations: Dunn's intelligent kicking today was a definite highlight. He was able to use the sheer depth of his kicks as a weapon with the breeze, and smart enough to keep them low and 'steered' to teammates against it. Apart from N Jones easily our best out there today. The classic sneak supergoal a special, someone else hesitantly lining up 55 out with the breeze, gives the handball to Dunn just behind him, who unleashes with the perfect right-left wind bias from 60 out, never looked like missing. The Saints also tried to setup Aaron Siposs with the same thing to no success, he is also a superb long kick. N Jones the spark all day, again. I expect he'll wear a hard tag most games this year as he really is our only decent mid. Magner got better and better as the game went on after a slow start, I think this is a regular thing with him as his lack of pace means the game speed has to come back to his level after quarter time. Nevertheless, he was very effective after that interval today. Jamar killed them, but wily vets such as Del Santo, Hayes and Montagna seemed to read him better than our mids. The backup ruck spot would have to be Sellars right now. Not only is he showing an improved attack on his marking leads, but he seems much more lively than Pederson. I think only one of those two can play in the side at any one time. The free kick count was horribly lopsided. A lot the of ones we gave away were deserved, but tellingly a lot of the 50-50 ones went against us. Our ill-discpline wasn't as bad as the counts suggest. Really like the look of Matt Jones in particular, just looks comfortable at this level. Terlich also impressed as the game wore on in the last line of defence, will be a handy backup midsized/small defender. As mentioned by Allen Jakovich in the first half some of our structures really held up, forcing the Saints into skill errors and numerous out on the fulls against the wind. It's still the short handballs to guys standing still that kills us however, how does this ghastly habit develop? Hogan for the first time at this level had a defender play him very, very tightly all day, always never more than a short distance off his back. I think it was Dempster, who was All-Australian recently. Nevertheless his sheer workrate and determination to get to every contest meant he still contributed positively. Still disappointed in the relative anonymity of Luke Tapscott. He kicked one nice goal very early in the first, then had a couple of noticeable touches in the last quarter, but in between that nothing. No way is he in the side for Round 1. Without looking in great detail, I assume the 'outs' for us today far outweighed St Kildas. A lineup that includes Riewoldt, Milne, Kosi, Hayes, Del Santo, Montagna, Fisher, Gilbert, Jones etc etc is just about as good as they get.

On his left that meant to read

getting slaughtered in midfield no surprise there. jamar has worked tirelessly but their mids are quicker to the contest, he has been leading well to little reward and scrambling at the bottom of packs too so I think jamar has been ok. terlich starting to get a few touches, reminds me of whopper Walsh, no frills but works hard. toumpas struggling, made a couple of basic skill errors that qtr and in one play refused to kick in his when he had pressure on his right side, instead turned full circle and turned it over.

Frawley came back on towards the end of that quarter. looked like he copped one in the stomach. was also good in that qtr to see tiumpas chip a fullblooded kick in the face but managed to dust himself off and get on with it. Matt Jones did well that half. Did anyone mention its hot here?

Both sets of teams hit the sheds at the break due to heat

lynden dunn point kick out torp clears the centre circle and marked by howe. strong breeze we have!

heat policy in effect here at casey meaning no limit on interchanges it has just been announced. strong breeze to the right of your screen if viewing from grandstand side.

Thanks KC! Good to see a demon connection with Cranbourne's coach, Melbournes own Doug Koop. How good was he in the 87 and 88 finals?

how many Port Adelaide players made the Power Players list?

Oh When the Spurs..go marching in! Great weeked, the Dees getting a win and Spurs winning the Nth London derby..

He played in the intra-club game the week before, but didnt do anything to really catch the eye like he did in that VFL game against Box Hill last year. So unless he got injured between then and Friday I would think he is fit and ready to play. I'd assume he will be playing this week in Renmark as they have said they are going to take a young squad across..

Sadly I threw away my dictionary in the middle of last year when City Hall announced we were being investigated for tanking. When I looked it up, the word wasnt even in the there! Useless waste of trees!

It was interesting that the ad in todays Sun for the game(s) had a photo of one player from each team , two established stars from North and Tigers, and Jack Viney for us. Is it too early in his career for him to be a 'face', a marketable commodity? Cant wait till Friday!

Yeah but it was the same old suspects. Sorry for reporting what I saw. How was your view of the match?

The overall standard today I'd say was good, but hardly crisp, never hitting the deck football. Plenty of the usual suspects kicks went astray at times (McKenzie, Nicholson, Spencer). Some of the players who were unusually quite for their relative experience were Grimes, Tapscott and Davey. As the game wore on, some players seemed to get more involved. Strauss and Couch in particular got better as the game wore on. I loved the look of Jetta running off a half back flank, he didnt get a lot of the footy but when he did he really stood out with his pace, class and decision making.u Jamar had the better of Spencer in the ruck duels, but around the ground they were fairly evenly matched although Jamar has far more presence at marking contests. There werent a lot of centre square bounces, as this was a game that could be stopped by Neelds whistle at a whim (he patrolled on the ground the whole game) and could then be moved 100 metres down the ground to try a different setup just outside of goal. Also quite often goals resulted in point kickouts etc etc. Pederson was fairly quiet throughout. Gillies after a fantastic first half went a bit quieter but showed good signs. Toumpas didnt get that much of it but looked slick when he did. Viney was Viney, if you saw him play U18s or VFL last year you know what to expect, the stepup in intensity didnt faze him in the slightest. Rodan was very busy, in the first quarter alone he and Byrnes combined passes about 5 or 6 times. Byrnes clearly BOG, his goals werent as a result of crumbing but of working hard to offer himself to teammates all over the ground.Hogan definitely shows he has 'it', attacks the ball well I think he will acquit himself very well at VFL this year.

lyden dunn has been great in the blue defense as has watts, very composed. Not playing today dawes, macdonald, gawn, howe, trengove, bail, clark, sellar

To make it harder some guys changed teams/numbers at qtr time. toumpas went from Blue 5 to white 2. Sylvia and Davey also swapped. Sylvia has been impressive Davey I don't think has had a touch. Kent has done quite a few nice things to fwd for Blue. gillies in white was very lively. reads the play very well.

THink of all that IP and 'winning culture' they bring from us to the Dawks....

Nineteen - this is the only one I have: