BigFez

Looked to me like two actions, one to elbow Lever in the head, and one to put his arms up. Not sure this changes anything in terms of you analysis, which I completely agree with, apart from I think Goldy tried to engage Lever as he was running in, perhaps to draw a free. Don't two wrongs make a right? Play on for mine.

Just had a wander over to the Hawks Big Footy forum. Came back very annoyed. Very confident of a win over there, one poster even said Jesse Hogan and Sam Frost aren't great forwards and should be covered easily by Frawly and Stratton. Really knows his stuff that bloke. Also found this gem: "Melbourne a due for a bad loss so I hope we can dish it out. They’re a limited team that’s had a very soft start to the season. They are exactly the kind of team that we need to beat to jump above that logjam of sides trying to improve." Only one poster out of 10+ pages was concerned about the degree of underestimation going on over there. Not sure if it's because of the number of smug Hawthorn supporting friends I have, but I can't stand the Hawks. Really hope we turn up and win this one. Didn't mind the side last week. Hoping we play a defensive forward on Sicily, not sure I could emotionally handle him tearing us up. Cyril is another one that causes us headaches, hoping Nev isn't injured and can go with him, otherwise bring Hunt back.

Hawks were rubbish early last year and still beat us. Really hopefully of a win but would be very surprised if it wasn’t close.

I remember that. Disgraceful. At one stage when the whistle went everyone (even North players including Goldstein) were looking around wondering who's kick it was. I can't describe how much I want us to win this game.

Exactly. Risking sounding like a [censored] here, but I reckon this game will have a finals like intensity about it early. If not that intense, then guarantee it will be willing. There was plenty of feeling in the games last year. North will really fancy their chances and despite all the talk about hoodoos being meaningless, North and their supporters would like nothing more than extending it to give them another year of gloating. On the other hand, we will really want to break this hoodoo to stop it being discussed, so both teams will be smashing into each other. Hopeful of our class shows through like it did in the JLT. Super nervous about this one, might just put a sneaky $20 on North 1-39 into Ben Brown kicking 4+ goals to ease the hurt if North win. Can't see them winning without him kicking at least 4. Would love to see Brayshaw get a run.

Think there's some confusion between the Official ratings best 22 and Kane Cornes' AFL team of the week. As for the latter, he had Tom Mitchell on the bench and Dangerfield AND Ablett on the ground. Anyone who saw that game would agree Mitchell was better than both of the Geelong players. Cornes had Garlett in a pocket and Hogan on the bench. No sign of Oliver.

6 Oliver. 5 Garlett. 4 Hogan. 3 Jones. 2 Petracca. 1 Vince. Thought he did a reasonable job on Zorko. 20 touches and a goal, I’d take that from a bloke who’s capable of 35 and 5.

We don’t want them. I reckon they’d struggle to get a win in our failing state league.

He'll be borderline top ten in the league at the end of the year, let alone top 10 under 23.

Oliver very very stiff. Not yet 21, so I imagine when this list comes out in two years time he will be no. 1.

Disgraceful umpiring decision. Would have been extremely hard not to give the umpire a spray out of pure frustration. That little Geelong b!tch, who I noticed on three separate occasions duck his head trying to get high contact, was playing for the free and the umpire was sucked in. A very frustrating occurrence on the footy field and while I bet he regrets I don't blame him in the slightest. Probably would have done the same thing in his shoes.

Rich out indefinitely with a ruptured ligament. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-03-26/lion-daniel-rich-ruptures-ankle-ligament-out-indefinitely

Obliterated them in inside 50s 64-41. Tidy things up going forward and that would translate to an easy win. Had so many passengers yet almost won. Gawn-Oliver-Petracca-Viney combo will be one of, if not the very best midfield combination within the next couple of years.

Gee Brisbane will be getting themselves up for this one. First home game of the year, and they would see us as very gettable. Massive danger game.

Hide. Physically and on social media. There's only so much you can take from opposition supporters.

6 - Petracca 5 - Gawn 4 - Oliver 3 - Hogan 2 - OMac 1 - Lewis First 3 were easy, second 3 were hard. So far off our best yet narrowly lost. Plenty of upside, just hope we can get it together.

I think he must’ve thought it didn’t go far enough.

Defensive transition. They are waltzing it up the field every time they get it. Also, when Cam Guthrie can go from the centre bounce breaking tackles and kicking goals you know you are battling. Need to fix that if we are any chance to get back into.

Roaming Brian makes me laugh just watching the people in the background trying to avoid him.

Don’t like to feed the rumour mill but a mate of mine in Geelong just had an mri and GAJ came in and sat down next to him. Maybe just confirming the tear as healed? Why would a player be getting scans a few days out from a match? Hopefully someone might have a better idea than me if this is something that normally haplens or not. Regardless, despite Geelong’s midfield advantage (if the two superstars play), they can’t penetrate our defence and our half forward line runs amok and we win by 2-3 goals. Gawn 3 votes. Go dees.

He’s still a chance. I think there are some people at our club, myself included, that would like to be definitive now,” Scott said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360. “I guess it’s a good sign in terms of his recovery that we’re not in a position where we can say, ‘look he’s not playing, but we think he might be right for next week or the week after’. “He’s going well in his own mind and doesn’t want to rule it out. I think that’s a really good sign for Round 2 and 3 in particular. “I think more and more clubs are realising that it’s best to resist the temptation to see Round 1 as the finish line; we’ve got to take a bit more of a longer view.” That was Scott on Danger. Makes me feel he's more unlikely than likely.

Has anyone seen him close up in person? I haven't, I'd love to know how big he looks up close.

Spot on. One game that was overshadowed by the debacle of Round 23 was the Brisbane game. We were flogging them, took the foot off the pedal and ended up scraping home. If we kept the foot on the throat, we played finals, simple as that. Hopefully those memories are still fresh in the minds of the players, and they don't switch off for long periods.

The BOM will say there's a chance of a shower even if that chance is the same as the chances of Mark Neeld getting his old job back. Wouldn't pay any attention to it this early in the week.

And all teams (particular the lower ranked teams) will think they're a real chance against us and bring their best. The North Melbournes, Brisbanes, Carltons. We need to smash these teams off the park so they don't get their confidence up when they play us. They always seem to be 'on' against us because they know we are gettable. That needs to change before we are a real threat. Hopefully this year!