Goodvibes

Is Newton ok?

That's a fair call but I'm pretty confident that Brayshaw and Stretch would have been included in NAB Cup/Challenge action at some point in any of the past 8 pre-seasons.

The second half against Footscray was the perfect warm up for this game. Spots are genuinely up for grabs and I'd be surprised if we didn't smash them. I want us to play at round 1 intensity, clean them up and avoid injuries. If that happens, we'll boost confidence and boost membership and have us all believing a victory against the suns is a possibility. There's a lot of decisions that the coaching staff need to make. I'm most interested in where they'll play Frost and whether they'll play Gawn and Jamar in the same team not to mention Gawn, Jamar and Pedersen in the same team. Will Salem remain at half back and will the coaching staff back in Toumpas? Can Kent, JKH and Garlett all play in the same team? Will Roos support Grimes and Garland and if so how do Frost, Dunn, McDonald, Lumumba, Jetta, Salem, Grimes and Garland all fit into our structure? The Essendon game will reveal much.

If you go back far enough hardtack the 'ze' has germanic/latin origins. The English imported the 'ze' to America. If it wasn't for the Norman Conquest, the English would still be using 'ze' but instead the French introduced their 'se' and things got complicated. My rule is simple, 'ze' unless the word has French origins, such as surprise. Go Deeze!

So our top 5 draft picks from the 2014 draft won't play a single Nab Challenge game between them. This is a very different list.

As opposed to all those carefully researched, factual threads?

I think it's what he's about to do. Buckle up. I'm a believer.

I've been on this forum a long time now and it still amazes me how upset people get when someone disagrees with them. It's a bit of an occupational hazard for a dedicated footy forum member. How many days until round 1? It also worries me that just as I'm warming to big Maxy everyone seems to be jumping off. I think we need to bring back our share market game. I'd definitely claim some Grimes, Garland and Gawn shares as well as the in demand Hogan, Salem and vandenberg shares. Viney might be good value at the moment too. Don't understand the doubters there either. I'm still a little cautious on the Watts and Toumpas front and more than happy to see others make their money on them.

Colour-coded table form would be nice with an 'outcome' column (centre square clearance won, lost or neutralized) so we can get a feel for our most effective centre square combo. Cheers!

If anything wakes H from his slumber it will be a discussion of the worth of the bottom six versus the top six. I couldn't disagree more with Buckley. The Malthouse Pies in his early years contained a very thin list and some very average role players but they had star power. Buckley, Burns, Clement, Rocca, Tarrant and Didak were a pretty handy top six. Their bottom six was easily replaceable by similar standard players. McKee, Steinfort, Freeborn, Lonie, Cole, Lokan, Kinnear and Jason Cloke all played in their 2002/2003 grand finals. Even players like Wakelin and Presti were workmanlike and Holland and Johnson had flaws. Licuria and O'Bree were poor kicks. It was their stars that elevated them to grand final status.

Not much love for Gawn in 2015. Thought his centre square ruck work was pretty bloody good against Minson.

It is a lottery. I know. I've got the golden ticket.

Senior assistant coach Simon Goodwin has the strong support of the club and will take over from senior coach Paul Roos in 2017, despite his involvement in Essendon’s supplement program. Thanks Jay Clark. It's the little things that bug me.

The guy hasn't played for 12 months. He showed promise on the weekend but his timing looked out and his touch and match fitness will improve. He'll probably miss this week by the sounds of it but I'd play him in both of the remaining two Nab games if he's fit. He needs the match practice. And we need him up and about if we're a chance against the Suns. This cotton wool, alarmist mentality is disturbing.

So the design of the away strips is great. And most agree which is awesome. Any chance we can now get a set of jerseys that actually fit our players?

The Grimes situation is perplexing. He really is struggling. Garland hasn't looked close to his 2013 form for a long time now. Put simply, if Frost continues as he did in the second half last night, he must play in defence round 1. McDonald and Dunn appear locks. Jetta is definitely our number one lockdown small defender now. That leaves Garland and Grimes fighting with Lumumba, Howe and Salem for two positions. Right now, I'd side with the masses and play Lumumba back, continue with the Salem experiment. I'd also push Howe forward when fit. Have a heap of respect for Garland and Grimes. Hope they can turn it around but fear for their respective futures.

Unless of course you're on that part of the east coast that doesn't have daylight savings. 6.10 for those behind the banana curtain.

Way to keep a lid on it Chunk! http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-04/one-of-the-best-ive-seen

Once in a decade forwards tend to play pretty well from the get go. We should definitely expect down periods dependant on the quality of supply and the quality of opposition but my expectations are unashamedly high. The kid is a star and the football world are about to find out.

I love the fact that the main thrust of the article from Roos' point of view was to play down expectations in an attempt to take some pressure of the kid yet at the end of the article I was already fantasizing about Jesse kicking 4 or 5 in our round 1 win against the Suns and being the first rising star nomination of the year. Now that would get us up and about, not to mention add a few thousand members in the process.

I'm pretty sure I posted something very similar to this about four years ago. Hope you're right!

Get your hand off it West Coast?

My God, half a club missing a pre-season. C & B would go into over-drive. It's the ultimate golden ticket!

And kudos to the OP. Nice to hear a few positives.

Where's Liam Pickering in all this? Agents/Managers are well paid. This is the kind of stuff they get paid for, particularly when a player is dealing with an issue whilst transitioning from one club to the next.