titan_uranus

I have no idea if he's injured, but if he's not he gets in over Maric IMO.

Word on the street is that Smith is in line to take North's spot for the first Test. I'm not entirely sold on this. Whilst I think North should make way, I don't think Smith's ready. Of course, the person who should be playing, White, is in the wrong country (but has an important job to do nonetheless). As for the Shield, we just need someone in the top 6 to stand up and make a big score for us to be safe. With a top 6 of Rogers, Jewell, Finch, Hussey, White and McDonald, we should be able to make enough runs to at least hold out for a draw. Queensland's strength is undoubtedly their bowling, but away from the Gabba where the pitch does half the work we should be OK.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/90604/default.aspx The hope is he'll be back for Round 2 vs Collingwood, but they're still unsure. Sounds like a bit of wishful thinking, but let's hope they're right. As for Wonaeamirri, they're going to take a conservative approach, so who knows when he'll be back.

You weren't watching closely enough yesterday then. All this talk of 'softness' or a lack of 'nastiness' is utter tripe. I don't look at Geelong, St Kilda or the Bulldogs and think 'Ooh, they're such a nasty, physical team'. They're older and stronger than us. That's all. With time, our group will be older and stronger, then we won't be having this ridiculous conversation.

I think Stefan Martin is a pretty good example of someone who's development has been hampered by switching ends all the time. I don't think moving Frawley away from the backline is going to help him develop, as ultimately I believe we need him in defence. Yesterday we were caught out without Rivers. If we take Frawley out of the defence we're going to get caught out again.

I didn't say he'd be any good... Just that if he's selected he should be playing as a forward, more so to get him out of the midfield. But IMO he shouldn't be playing.

Whatever it was, it made for some tedious waiting to get out of the carpark. Surely the crowd was well over estimations: the place was packed!

I've decided to post some of my thoughts on the game in here. Apologies if this is the wrong place to do that. The clear standouts yesterday were Bennell and Jamar. Bennell was really, really good along half back. Showed poise and skill, as well as a determination for the contest I didn't see from him last year. Impressed me from the start to the end. If he wasn't a certainty to play Round 1, he sure would be now. Jamar was also dominant in the ruck. I felt in the first half that when we moved him out of the ruck the Eagles got on top. Some other thoughts on other players: Bail - looked OK in parts but lost at other times. Probably not ready yet Bate - looked slow, but it was his first game back Bruce - started well but didn't do so much late, again probably because he had come back from injury Cheney - still shows more hunger and aggression than a lot of other players, and never shirks a contest, but his skills let him down. I still think he has a future though Davey - a nothing game from him Dunn - appalling IMO (but I think I'm in the minority). He just gets lost in the midfield, and when he does get the ball he isn't reliable with it. Should be playing forward, if at all Frawley - held LeCras when he was on him. LeCras only came into the game when Frawley was moved Green - only had a few good patches. Missed a sitter of a goal that he should be kicking 100 times out of 100, but the goal he did kick was beautifully executed. Jamar - dominates in the ruck and took some good marks. Jones - hardly noticed him, but that's not to say he wasn't any good. Maric - showed a bit more strength and agility than I've seen before, but I don't think he did enough to warrant selection in Round 1. He plays better closer to goal IMO Martin - once again was shunted all over the park. This guy can't seem to get settled in one position, and it's hurting him. Needs to play a whole game as a forward I think. McDonald - played really well, much better than I was expecting from him this year McNamara - did a few good things, and he can definitely kick, but he was played as a KPP in defence to cover Rivers, and he struggled for size and height. Has talent, but still doesn't have the body. Maybe should be tried forward Miller - his kicking for goal is woeful (missed one from 15 metres he should never miss as a CHF), and he frustrated me and those around me by marking on the 50 and handballing straight away. Kicked 2 goals, which helps, and until we get Jurrah and Watts back he's going to stay in the team Moloney - seems to be over his OP, his kicking was pretty good yesterday (in terms of length, that is). Didn't stand out though Petterd - needs to hang as close to goal as possible I reckon. He is a strong marker and a good lead-up player. Scully - runs hard, but seems to be trying to do too much at the moment. Will be so much better with a year of experience at this level Strauss - he can kick, and showed it a few times, but also turned it over a few times. Has the potential to be a high-quality HB but needs more time and probably isn't ready for AFL just yet Sylvia - injured. Poo Trengove - just looks so classy out there. Looks equally adept at playing outside as inside Warnock - had a poor game by his standards. Beaten numerous times.

I couldn't understand why Strauss wasn't using the short option that was often provided. Too often he chose to go long, and we turned it over in a contest, when a safe option was available. It's possible his instructions were to go long as often as he could, but it just didn't work yesterday. This really is an area we suck in. Has been for a few years. But I do like the idea of having a designated kick-inner (as opposed to whoever wants to do it), and having Strauss in that role is good.

Am I the only person who thought Dunn was shocking yesterday? I wouldn't have him in my Round 1 team unless he was the last available option. I thought he was terrible. My Round 1 team, given the pre-season, would be: B: Cheney Warnock Rivers HB: Bennell Frawley MacDonald C: Bruce Grimes McDonald HF: Bate Miller Green F: Jetta Petterd Davey R: Jamar Moloney Trengove I: Spencer Scully Trengove Martin

I think the answer to this question (if in fact it is a question) lies in yesterday's match. When Frawley was on LeCras, LeCras did nothing. When Frawley was moved off LeCras, LeCras came into the game. Frawley is a very good CHB. He does a sterling job most weeks. He should be left where he is. If we're going to move a defender forward, I'd prefer it be Garland.

I dont' know who told you that. Dunn was poor. Looked completely lost in the midfield. Never in the right position. And his skills were, as usual, sub-par. If we are going to persist with Dunn, it must be as a forward only. He is borderline useless in the midfield

Ridiculous idea. Increasing the number of finalists will just lower the standard of finals football, giving us more matches like Adelaide-Essendon last year. The finals system is fine the way it is. Besides which, having a top 8 for an 18 team competition means you have to do better than make the top 50% of the competition to play finals.

I was there but I didn't see the incident. Someone said Kennedy could get reported for it, but something tells me there'll be no evidence. I actually cannot believe our luck with these injuries. Not to demean Jurrah and Morton, but Sylvia is the biggest loss. A chunk of class, strength and skill just got ripped out of our midfield.

They're all collision injuries except Wonna. It sucks. But get over it.

Well that's somewhat disappointing.

Here we go again. Western Australia needs 106 for victory. And they're 2/1 afer 7 balls. Here come Queensland. Edit: Now 3/1, with North making a golden duck. Very, very lucky to be going to NZ. WA's top 3 have made 1, golden duck, and golden duck. Edit 2: Now 5/27. Still need 79 runs for victory. Queensland could well win this. Hopefully it won't matter, as Victoria leads Tasmania by 160 runs on first innings, and Tassie are currently 2/3. Wade made 50, but our tail didn't kick on like it can. Shouldn't matter, though. Edit 3: But Tasmania are 5/18. Wright has 9 for the match. Game over.

I'm going. Will be my first venture out to Casey, as well as my first non-home and away match. Should be fun.

There is one thing in that article I can agree with, and that's the undue pressure associated with giving our draftees prestigious jumper numbers, and making a massive fuss over it by having people like Ron Barassi and David Neitz handing the jumpers to them. That's something I think Watts, Scully and Trengove could do without. Otherwise it's just another journalist having a go at us.

Oh, well even 'worse' then. Why he needs a rest, at his age with his body (I don't know of any recurring injuries, or any injyuries at all), I don't know. But if it gives Strauss, Cheney and McNamara more gametime then it's a good thing I guess.

Well I think he played forward for a while at Casey last year, so it's not entirely impossible. He also kicked a nice goal when we played Fremantle (from about 50 metres too IIRC). IMO, if Dunn plays he should be played as a forward. That's where he plays his best football. He is not a midfielder.

Looks like a good team Nasher. I'd consider bringing Cheney in for Strauss, as I reckon Cheney's shown more in the pre-season, but Strauss wouldn't be wholly undeserving. I'm also not sold on playing Martin and Spencer alongside Jamar, but as you say it's a tough decision either way. Dropping Martin leaves us short a tall in the forward line, but Spencer can actually ruck.

Looks like both teams are playing some pretty decent teams. Glass and Lynch probably are the only 2 Eagles missing. This should be a decent tune up. Seems odd to me that MacDonald is being rested. Didn't he miss the Essendon match? Other then that, it looks like we'll have had our entire team out on the field in the pre-season at least once, with Bate and Wonna getting a run this week, so that stands us in good stead for Round 1.

In great news for Victoria, Queensland have been bowled out for 106 in reply to Western Australia's 286, and WA have enforced the follow on. Hopefully Queensland can't come back from this one, and if they don't then we'll host the final regardless of what happens in our match vs Tasmania.

No, this is just Seven News broadcasting their sport segment from a different AFL club's home each night. Our turn I guess.