BigFez

I believe the squads will be announced as per usual.

I suspect Dunn will only go to the key forward closest to home. He can't go with TMac or Hogan if they push up the ground. He might even go to Smith. Crisp, Maynard and Howe will most likely share the job on the Hogan and TMac as they roam further afield. All have good tanks but are undersized, so I suspect there will be a lot of helping each other out in the Collingwood backline this week. IMO this is where we have the distinct advantage. The midfield is where this one will be won and lost. I rate their midfield, Treloar in particular will be too quick for any of our mids if given space to tuck the ball under the arm and run. Hopefully we bring our trademark pressure and attack on the ball and man and create enough opportunities for our forwards. Stating the obvious, Lever is a HUGE out for us, I'm hoping our backline functions well enough without him. I have a lot of people to get in touch with if we win, as payback for the amount I copped after that game that we don't talk about anymore. FWIW I think the order for replacing Lever this week should be Smith, Hunt then Frost. I'm tipping a very close game here and can't wait for the Gawn vs Grundy battle.

Can you ask him if he is any chance of a move to the backiine in Lever's absence?

Extremely poor form by them. Regardless of who you support, laughing at a young man who has suffered a serious injury and who will miss a year of an already short career means you are 100% a grub. This makes me just as bad as them, but I really hope anyone who commented or even used a laughing emoji loses all of their worldly possessions in a house fire.

Anyone else think the Casey team could give a couple of AFL sides a real shake at the moment?

To me this week is our biggest test since we started winning. We were always going to be up for it last week, with the commentary around how 'we haven't played anybody yet'. This week we have supposedly 'weaker' opposition, the media hype around us is unprecedented, we are all of a sudden a genuine premiership 'threat'. Anyone who saw the first quarter last Friday night will know the dogs can still play some decent footy. I see this week as the next test of maturity. Will we expect it to happen like we did so many times last year? Or will the team keep executing the way they have been and do what they need to do against a weaker opposition? The 4 wins against the minnows should have set my mind at ease, but still have a slightly uneasy feeling around this weeks' match. Hoping we haven't gotten ahead of ourselves and we keep doing what we have been doing.

Chuck in 14 marks and Dusty would have a centerfold I reckon.

How annoying are extended benches? I remember reading the Adelaide thread last week and they were whining about the extended bench because it was their first Sunday match of the year!

I am so deeply scarred that I am just waiting for the wheels to fall off. I suspect many in the media are waiting for the same thing. Similar to what a previous poster said, I'll believe we are finals bound when we are a mathematical impossibility to miss out on finals. Terrible attitude I know but as they say about being once bitten. In our case we have been bitten a lot more than once! Riewoldt's comments were pretty much spot on IMO.

I think we have started taking advantage of our contested ball domination too. We have more trust in each other to win the ball so we don’t have every man and his dog trying to win it and leaving the opposition with multiple options around the contest for the quick handball. Our setup around the contest, our winning of the contested ball and lightning spread away from the contest has really sped up our ball movement and made scoring much easier than it was. Also choosing better options entering F50 lately has made us a much better side. Just a couple of ideas. Whatever it is, I like it.

Instead of pornhub tonight I might just swing past the Adelaide game day thread.

Adelaide were favourites early in the week but all the money has been for us. There must be a long of non-Melbourne supporters punting on us. We would of course know better than to bet on Melbourne in an NT game.

Didn't think I'd ever come to the point in my life where the heath of another man's big toe would be the source of my happiness or discontent. And yet here I am.

Yep completely agree, was having a good old chuckle at some of the responses.

No it was play on http://www.afl.com.au/video/2018-05-20/bernie-lines-up-daisy

No wonder the supporters are complaining about injuries. We should win this with the team they are going to have to roll out. Hopefully we don't take it a bit easier knowing who is not playing.

Maybe put the 'Garrett' in bold text next time

Living in Hobart, I would consider 27 to be tropical. They should consider calling the game off for safety reasons.

Saw that on the AFL Facebook page but it sure looked like Hannan to me. Still don't think Spargo needs a rest though, keep him in!

Fair call. You don't hear much about Witts playing up on the GC but he's been really good, Maxy wore him down and ended up getting right on top the longer the game went on. Even ended up snagging 6 votes in the AFLCA. I think we rest him at our peril, our 'connection' as Goody likes to call it between Max and the mids is a big advantage for us, taking Max out of that equation for a week would result in a lot less clearances I suspect We covered his loss admirably last year, as the mids adjusted their style and learnt to shark the oppo's taps, but taking him out for a week would upset the balance, and I really want to beat the crows. Slightly off topic, but our improved connection seemed to arise once Brayshaw came back into the team. Coincidence?

I thought Bull competed well enough to be a backup ruck. Aside from West Coast nobody plays two genuine rucks anymore. Bull is capable of giving Max rests he needs during quarters. Not sure who Adelaide use as a backup but I'm sure Bull won't be a liability in there. A seven footer resting forwards would give the defenders nightmares.

Some Adelaide fans are saying Jacobs should be rested because Gawn will smash any ruckman they throw out there anyway. Quite a surprisingly sensible lot compared to the Carlton fans from last week. No way I'd rest Max, he's a huge part of why we are winning at the moment. Apart from Steph Martin, who almost broke even, he has flogged every ruckman he has come up against. Let him wait for the bye for a rest. As much as I love Hunt and Garlett I can't see them taking anyone's spot after the Carlton match. No way Bernie gets rubbed out either, there's no charge for a fair bump. His shoulder was at head level but there was no contact with the head. It was all in the hip. More good luck than good management though I reckon. Gee I enjoy a good shirtfront., or watching a good shirtfront I should say. Kudos to Thomas for getting straight up and getting involved in the contest again. It would have hurt.

6 Lever - Positioning was outstanding, cut off just about everything that went forward of centre 5- T Mac - Could rightly be called the AFLs MVP at the moment with his ability to play anywhere. 4 - Melksham - Did as he pleased, made the Carlton defense look silly 3 - Gawn - Kreuzer is no mug, but big Maxy clearly got the points, think we kicked 7 or 8 goals from centre bounces which is a huge number. 2 - Brayshaw - Loving having him back in form after his horror run, so hard at it, composed, a real natural footballer. 1 - Jones - Love to see him enjoying his footy so much. Puts in 100% until the final siren. Can't wait to see how we go against a decent opposition next week.

Weather update in Melbourne?

My SportsBet account and I are hoping we win by 39 points.