Wiseblood

Also, I don't mind them playing Viney, Jones and Melksham at Casey. They clearly have a plan in mind and pre-season is all about getting things right for the real stuff - the result is meaningless. As long as the players are fit and ready to go, then I'll be happy.

The way they worded it - how he was going back to the VFL as part of his 'development' - may also suggest that he may have played himself out of a spot in the side come Round 1. If Ryder is fit and they go with the Ryder/Lycett combo then it may save him, otherwise we go in with Gawn and a pinch hitter.

Spargo.

That wasn't my point. I acknowledged that he is a fantastic footballer, like Oliver, but that he probably gets a few more plaudits as he plays in a side without many other players at his level and therefore stands out a little more. That's all.

Sorry, LH. I was looking at the list at the very top. Totally missed the other one.

Great pinning.

Bump. Melksham signed on for another three years, Salem close to another two years.

Weideman.

In all seriousness, he had about as much interest in the game tonight as Tom Mac did yesterday. He'll find it tougher to kick goals for Freo under Wossy, but I'll save my sniggers for when the real stuff starts.

I'm happy with Weideman's development, no doubt about that. The only other player I'd consider swapping him for on that list is Curnow, who is going to be a star of the competition very soon. I think Weideman can become a terrific player for us long term, though.

Underrated player. I only say that because, with Oliver, Brayshaw, Viney, Max etc in the midfield, it's easy for him to slip under the radar. Sublime skills, tough as nails and deceptively good overhead. Now that he's fit we are seeing why he was a top 10 pick. His range of abilities compliments the rest of the on ball brigade, and the half back line, perfectly. He'll never win a sprint contest but his vision and footy IQ more than make up for it. Hopefully he settles into a wing role without too much fuss and is hitting players lace out on their chest for the next decade.

Not only that, but statistically in 2018, they were extremely similar players. Cripps gets plenty of love, and rightly so, for being a fantastic footballer, but he stands out in a rubbish football side. Clarry is an absolute gun in a side that has plenty of gun players around him. That speaks volumes. I'd wager both of them are well and truly on the same level and Lloyd is well wide of the mark in his assessment.

Both good backup and depth players who are showing some progression, but with up to 9 players coming back into the side next week, I think they might struggle to get a run. I won't complain if they do, though. I'd bet my house on them seeing the Gawn/Preuss ruck combo in a proper competitive hitout before Round 1, which might mean Keilty misses out.

The full article can be found here, if you can get past the paywall: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/herald-sun-chief-football-writer-mark-robinsons-likes-and-dislikes-for-every-club-ahead-of-2019/news-story/7c961ae2e16f60396d97c18a6068e4d7 For those that can't, here is his short take on the Dees and the season ahead for us, which I think is relatively spot on, especially his verdict on where we'll finish: WHAT I LIKE They are the classic, if not the cliche — driven by the previous year’s disappointment. Won 14 games and two finals, and had the football world buzzing before West Coast gave them the dagger. Wonder how coach Simon Goodwin reviewed it — watched it with the players with the remote in his hand to highlight the jumpy moments? Or simply move on? It has to be used as a lesson learnt, because they will be thereabouts again. How can they not be? Well-resourced midfield, averaged 101 points in offence and 79 defensively, secured Steven May in the off-season and Jake Lever will be back from injury. No excuses, barring savage injury. WHAT I DON’T LIKE The preliminary final losers get scant attention because Grand Final week is all about the teams competing. The loss to West Coast was shameful, not because they lost, but how they lost. Fumbled when under pressure, they succumbed in the first half and it was game over. It was a performance that lives with them until they get back there again. As said, it should be some sort of motivation. Jesse Hogan will hardly be missed, and he’s probably already been forgotten, and Tom McDonald and Sam Weideman will be one-two up forward. It’s difficult to find fault with the style of play and personnel under Goodwin, so it might be a test of nerve deep in September. VERDICT Top four

If we make it through this weekend's game unscathed, then we should be going in to Round 1 with a pretty much full strength side, which is really positive. I know we started the pre-season late and had numerous off season surgeries, but it seems as though the medical and fitness staff have got a lot right to put us in a good position for Round 1. Also good to hear that Garlett may only miss a few weeks, as I think he might be a chance to play against Port in a few weeks time.

It's part of the game plan, though. I agree that we need to be smarter with it, but we bomb it in there and either mark it or keep it in there for long periods. It's 'chaos ball', for lack of a better term, and generally when we're in sync it's hard to beat. It didn't look flash on the weekend as we lacked a little cohesion, class and fitness, but that will certainly improve greatly in the coming weeks.

Normally you might say this is a big call, but it really isn't. His ability in close, his excellent hands, footy IQ and so on is just sublime. You would have expected him to struggle a little to find his feet after two shoulder ops over the summer, but it didn't make a lick of different. 32 touches in under 70 percent game time says it all. A gun of the highest order.

He will play more senior games for us this year than Tyson would have. Plus people were screaming out for a solid back up for Max. Now we have one. Alright, he wasn't super for a first up practice match, but he is what we need long term.

It seems we aren't allowed those types. They must all be superstars who hit every target and make zero mistakes. ANB has his shortcomings, but he kicked 27 goals for us last year and played a vital role in many games. He is a little underrated by our supporter base.

How about we wait until we have our first choice defence out there before we worry about the 'run' being generated from there. We were low on class and experience down there, especially with a kid like Jordon playing large amounts of the game on a half back flank, and five of our best defenders were out. Sure, the run from there wasn't great today, but it's hardly a surprise with the team we picked. Stink it up next week with most of them back and then you've possibly got a point.

Fair point, bing. I also think they are better players when they have better players around them, if that makes sense. They are only relied upon to play their role and they can do that with minimal fuss when asked. Today they were required to play more game time in prominent positions and it showed. They had a dip, but ultimately lacked the class to keep it going for more than brief patches of the game.

Not a bad effort overall, considering the players we were missing and the side Richmond picked to play. Our top six players - Gus, Oliver, Trac, Harmes, Fritsch and Salem - shouldn't come as a surprise, while I thought Petty competed well and Keilty was good in the second half in the ruck. I also thought young Jordon got better as the game went on. Big Preuss will cop it a bit for his performance, and there is some justification in that, but he'll be better for the run. Other like JKH, Stretch, Josh Wagner etc didn't do much to enhance there chances. We will be a much, much better side with more inclusions going forward. Overall nothing had changed about the positivity I feel about 2019 as a season.

Probably not, but he has been terrific.