Wiseblood

Did you get that off the team sheet they provided?

I think he's just learning how to deal with more attention. In the past he's been able to fly under the radar a little, but he is getting more attention from the opposition who are looking to stop his run anyway they can. Once he, and those around him, learn how to break that and get him free then he'll be a better player for it. He just may need a little time to get there.

Where? I saw his press conference after the game and at no point did he say Fritsch was a certainty to play.

I'll be howled down for it, but I think Fritsch is the one who misses. Hannan has been very good this pre-season and, for now, Garlett is an automatic selection in the 22. Having said that, there is more competition for his role in the side so he won't get away with having a few off weeks. Bugg is the controversial one. He has some positives (tough, gets to the right spots, can kick goals, gives 110%) and then he has some negatives (misses too many shots, can be a pest, disposal overall only average), but I think the FD like what he brings into our side and he will get a gig in Round 1. Just a gut feeling with that one. I'm willing to cop it on the chin for even suggesting Fritsch misses out, but someone has to. We can't fit them all in, and even though he has shown some terrific glimpses during this pre-season, I think he'll have to wait a few weeks for a debut. Edit - and, for the record, I'm super happy to be wrong in my assumptions here. If Fritsch plays Round 1 then I'll be cheering for him as loudly as anyone. I just think, at the moment, he's the one who will be VERY stiff to miss the 22.

Smart move by the club. The season is a marathon, not a sprint. I'd rather have him for 20 rounds for football than for just 2 or 3.

The one question I got from this game was: Can we fit all of Garlett, Fritsch, Hannan, ANB, Harmes and Melksham in the one side? I feel like the final spot will go to one of Fritsch or Hannan, but someone will be very stiff to miss out. Consider that through the midfield we still have Oliver, Jones, Viney, Tyson, Salem, Brayshaw, Petracca etc. I don't think we can fit them all in... or can we? Good luck to the selectors.

PD answered it better than I could, Steve.

Spot on. Plus I think we continued to experiment in other areas during the game as well. If we had played with our proper gameplan and our best side for 95% of the game, as you normally would, then the comeback from St. Kilda would never have happened.

I don't understand why people are so hard on Dom Tyson. Coming off an injury, he played under 70% game time and still accumulated a raft of possies, kicked a goal and laid 8 tackles. I know his kicking can be a little suspect, but he was crucial for us last night, especially in the first half. If you don't think he's in our best 22 then you've got rocks in your head.

He got better in the second half, but for the most part he didn't have the same impact he normally does. Not as much dash and run from half back, but perhaps they gave him a different role last night... ? His disposals didn't really tell the whole story.

He spent a little time there, although we rotated players through positions quite heavily, especially through the third term. He got a look in there without T Mac playing and when Pedersen went into the ruck. Having said that, he did take a ripper mark over Carlisle at one stage, so he could easily play there if required.

I like Frosty, but you sometimes feel he is one extra step away from disaster. He did some really good things last night, including a great contested mark running back with the flight and some dash out of the back line, but you feel there is more scope for mistakes with him than there are with Oscar.

Positives: - We won. A win is always a positive, no matter how you get it. - When we played at full tilt in the first two quarters, we looked fantastic. Great transition, slick ball movement, manic pressure and our backline was terrific. - It feels like we have some players ready to take the next step. Petracca and Hogan rotated through midfield and forward well, Gus had a really good game, Lever is a ripping acquisition and guys like Hannan and Fritsch give us some real X-factor up forward. - Gawny is ready to be an All Australian again. - Many of our players had limited game time. We rotated much more than them which showed in the third term. Negatives: - The third term. We changed things up a little but we stunk it up big time. We need to fix that ASAP otherwise we won't make the improvement we all expect. - We had a few players off tonight. Hunt couldn't really get himself into the game, Salem was just okay and I'm not sure Wagner is in our best 27-28 players. - We fumbled a bit but that was due to the conditions more than anything. Overall, it was a good win with a horrible lapse in the third term. Bring on Round 1!!

Just cramp guys. He was smiling when he went off and sat down for a rub down.

Well said, SD. He's no world beater, and he will probably get pushed out when others return for Round 1, but he's a great foot soldier to have on the list and he's done himself no harm in his chances of getting games this season if he's needed.

So the umps are taking the [censored] now. Absolute rubbish decisions to kick off this last term.

Meh. Poor quarter for sure, but we were clearly experimenting, not to mention that the Saints have played the bulk of their better players for 90% of the match while we've rotated much more. The run of goals is clearly something to work on, no doubt about it, but it's JLT. I'd rather us iron out the kinks here than come across them halfway through the Cats game.

Getting smashed through the middle. Saints have fixed things up and they are sling shotting the ball forward. It almost looks as though we are tired. Mids are nowhere to be seen.

Not the term I expected at all. We've dropped off poorly here.

Great defensive work from Frosty. Helped to set up this shot on goal.

I'm annoyed right now as the Saints are [censored] terrible. Playing right into their hands at the minute.

Pretty sloppy start to the term, but the Saints were always going to improve and have a real dip at some stage. How we respond is important.

We are up 71-40.

I don't think we could have asked for too much more in that first half. We played against the breeze intelligently, and because of that we ended up out scoring them. We are playing team footy, and even if the oval is a little slippery which has stopped us in our tracks a few times, we generally have them covered across the ground. Hopefully we keep the foot on the throat and finish them off, like we did against North, in the third term.

I feel like, for all our great work going forward, our backline has been sensational!