Goffer

That was Mother’s Day 2013 wasn’t it? Still get the shudders remembering that one. I was thinking rd1 2015 when Viney smashed Ablett in Q1 and he was hobbled for the rest of the game.

Right before he gets gang-tackled by our hungry midfielders and dispossessed. He doesn’t have a good record in rd1 games against us at the ‘G

Let’s hope Norm hasn’t read this then...

We haven’t played a game yet. Make no mistake the media are building us up to fail and Goody needs to have some form of insulation from this hype for the playing group.

To be fair most fans would have no objections to the AFL changing either the Dockers or Port’s song unilaterally

Didn’t James Sellar kick 5 in a preseason win against Port in 2013 (a fortnight before they buried us and started that nightmare of a season)? You can never tell with pre-season. Not sure he’ll have it so easy when the real stuff starts and he had a tough one against the Eagles last week.

Didn’t James Sellar do something similar vs Port in 2013 when we beat them pre-season? Kicked 5 iirc and barely got a game when the real season started

So basically he did SFA for 9 years for us because he couldn’t be arsed. Great

Can’t play 4 quarters yet and the Saints made s horrible mistake taking McCartin.

For all the flack the club had copped this summer (rightly in some regards) locking away the likes of Hannan and Tracc without too much media forelnowledge is encouraging. We’re now a watertight organisation and will present a challenge for anyone, anywhere. I can’t wait to see us hand out plenty of the thrashings that we endured in 2012-2014.

Good, it means we’re still flying under the radar. Long may they continue to underestimate us.

Last year we lost both our captains, our AA and backup ruckman (at one stage Jack Watts was our ruckman) main KPF, Brayshaw, Kent, and Salem didn’t progress as expected with their injury issues, plus the suspensions we had, never mind the winnable games we threw away. Despite this we were 0.5% off a finals berth. All things being equal if we can get even one more game out of Hogan next year we make the 8 and when that happens all bets are off. It’s time to believe.

Getting right up to the barrier and singing Grand Old Flag at the top of my lungs to the Eagles players as they walked down the race at the end of that game last season. My Hawks mate gave Mitchell [censored] too for good measure

Hmm aren’t Tracc and Brayshaw out of contract this year too? Think next year we may have cap issues when it comes to Hogan’s next contract.

Why shouldn’t we give things a good shake? At stages of the 2017 campaign we were scraping the bottom of the barrel in personnel terms, with the stupid suspensions and the cataclysm of injuries we suffered. Add Lever and Hogan to the line up for most of our season and all things being equal we are a two-goal a game better side, even if we see no improvement in other areas of our game. Brayshaw, Petracca, Oliver and Viney being fed by Gawn will be a formidable midfield for anyone to contend with.

The truth of the matter is probably halfway between the coaches position & the players position but my concern is for the clubs brand. The playing group will be branded as soft for the rest of the season and the question mark over their mental fragility will be larger for mine. Would not be at all surprised to see that same mental brittleness when the real deal begins in March.

So he left to win a flag with Port? IIrc he was dragged out kicking & screaming.

Won't believe it til I see it. How many false dawns have we had? Yes this team has the makings of a strong outfit but they folded when the pressure was on, both this year and last year.

Weidemann? I think Ox got it wrong, Viney is our most important player, he's a born leader and pulled us across the line against the Eagles. If we lose him for an extended stretch of time we're rooted.

My prediction We'll lose a close game against 'lesser' opposition and the front page will be full of melts for the following week. Oh and Hogan will give the Coleman a red hot crack.

The talk of the AFL community this last month has been Ports trading. I'm not convinced though. Rockliff, Watts and Motlop were moved on by their respective clubs for cultural issues. Looking at Port I'm not sure they are a club with the internal culture to turn around three careers like that. Take Toumpas for instance, he was a high draft pick like Watts and has stagnated in their VFL side (bearing in mind their 2016 side was distinctly average and this year we showed better form for most of the season)- despite this they renewed his contract last week. Watts has better tools but the same attitude, I'm not sure Port can trade their way into contention

We should be concentrating on our core product not wasting time and precious resources on a novelty project. We neither have the money in the bank a la Collingwood to indulge in something like this, nor the success to leverage off in building a netball/basketball club. After the miserable failure of this season I'd be ropeable if either the board or the CEO were spending their time or other resources on such a project.

McAnallen was a champion Gaelic footballer who died from an undetected heart condition at the age of 24. He represented Ireland in three series of Compromise Rules, and following his death a number of GAA clubs in Australia adopted his name in their official title. A bit of respect for a champion sportsman wouldn't go amiss.

So it's a Sunday afternoon but shaping as a Marquee clash - we are hosting Geelong at home, 3.20pm on Sunday March 25th, in an unveiling (all going to plan) of the two boom recruits of the trade period, Lever & Ablett. http://m.afl.com.au/news/2017-10-26/eagles-swans-to-ignite-perth-stadium-in-r1-2018 An interesting choice, given Collingwoods reported lobbying for a home clash vs us as their first up.

Flown under the radar a bit but Ryan would be a good addition to our forward line now Watts has moved on. He won the Bernie Naylor medal with 73 goals, and a quick look at his highlights package shows he can play tall, and would present a decent marking option. He was overlooked at last years draft due to some attitude/professional issues but seems to have cleaned those up this year. An associate of mine knows his family from Geraldton and is of the opinion that an interstate move might suit him better, allowing him to concentrate on developing his game. Would be worth pulling the trigger with a late 2nd rounder, according to the AFL website we're one of 3 clubs with an interest in Ryan, WC and Port are apparently looking at him too.