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I'd say it was a big concern. Despite the Saints only having two on the Bench for most to the match they won the Inside 50 count by 6, Overall Possessions by 26, Contested Possession by 8 and despite winning the Hitouts by 21 we broke even at the Stoppages. Imagine what would have happened if those 3 Saints players didn't go down and they weren't wasteful in their possession and timid in taking the game on. I'll absolutely take the 4 points and there were some minor improvements in our game but we were by no means impressive considering the carnage on the Saints bench.

6 May 5 Jordon 4 Viney 3 Petracca 2 Salem 1 Sparrow

Selection will be interesting this week. If Petty returns as a permanent forward this week against the Giants will the Dees bring back Adam Tomlinson into the side after he was unceremoniously dumped after his great Kings Birthday showing so that we retain the 3 genuine talls in defence? Or could we see Ben Brown make a triumphant return as a good showing in the 2s?

The Cats have a number of tall defenders but could that work in our favour with our smaller forward line?

Can we take anything away from a game like this against an opposition like Hawthorn?

We had the luxury this week to experiment with a lot of different players running through the midfield. Do any of you have the stats ie: % of time in the midfield?

Props to Demonland's trackwatcher Kev Martin for providing us with the early mail on Petty in the Forward line. I thought it was a masterstroke particularly with JVR debuting. It really took some pressure off Rooey because having Petty up forward required a decent defender. If you would have told me that we would be without TMac and then lose Ben Brown by half time and still kicked over 130 points I would have called you crazy. I don't think we've seen the last of TMac or BBB but I'm not worried about the future of our forward particularly because I see young Matt Jefferson kicked 3 in the twos. All hail Jason Taylor.

It will be interesting to see if Tom McDonald lines up for Casey. Word is his foot has come up sore after each match. Not sure why the club aren't just being honest with supporters if this is the case. Rumours that May will be a late out too.

We didn't adapt to the slippery slick ball and we were fumbling it all night. Conversely the Lions didn't seem to have the same problems with the conditions. Perhaps they are used to playing and training in these conditions. My question is why don't we train to the conditions? I'm not suggesting water logging Goschs or Casey but surely knowing that we might be playing in humid conditions why not lather up the ball with soap or oil at training? Why not train more at night in the lead up to night games? Am I being silly?

Players Definitely on the Flight to Brisbane. May, Harmes, Petracca, Grundy, Viney, Lever, Spargo, Brayshaw, Gawn, Hunter, Oliver, Hibberd, Langdon, Bowey, Melksham, Tomlinson, Jordon, Rivers, McDonald, Smith, Neal-Bullen, Fritsch, Sparrow, Petty, Chandler, McVee, Brown

I didn’t eyeball every player but Chandler is here and I didn’t see Laurie.

Bayley Fritsch & Steven May are here

James Jordon in the house.

Interestingly Joel Smith is here too.

Judd McVee here too so will be interesting to see whether Hibberd plays.

Tomlinson here. No sign of May. TMac here too.

Viney and Hibberd are in the lounge on the way to Brisbane.

This one’s gold too

I didn't make this. I don't condone it. The kid is a premiership player afterall and I will be forever grateful yadda yadda yadda. Having said that I did get a chuckle when I saw this on social media this morning. There may have been some coffee spat.

There was a lot of fear pregame on Demonland about the prospect of coming up against the 4 talls in the Bulldogs forward line especially with May sidelined. Nobody was expecting Tomlinson to get the nod. Many of Demonland, including the panel on this podcast, had penciled in Disco Turner as the next cab off the rack. I thought Tommo did an excellent job? Feel for him as it’s a LIFO situation upon May’s return.

Tomlinson?

How do all the teams that don’t have Steven May in them cope without him playing each week?

Rise - Adelaide Fall - Tigers Who will be our defender who takes the oppositions dangerous small forward? The Papleys, the Stengles, the Camerons etc. Judd McVee looks set to debut in Rd 1. Is Hibberd done? I don't think we should write him off just yet but I feel that a big statement was made not playing him in the praccy matches.

It is just conjecture and probably not true at all. Probably.

There is a good possibility that there was a bait and switch employed here. Perhaps this was intentional so there wouldn't be any track watchers watching from behind the fence at Casey. It's relatively simple to pull off. Advertise an Open Session at one venue, have the rubes turn up at that venue and then bait and switch so no interlopers at a tactical session. Bloody genius move by the club. Not very nice to the fans but we all want to win a flag afterall.