Rab D Nesbitt

With both of our home marquee games next year coming in the first half of the season it's imperative that we are very much a live finals prospect when they are played in order to maximise our earning capacity.

As he stated it's equally significant that the entire backline have been able to train together as a unit. He also appears to be in a good place both mentally and emotionally which wasn't necessarily the case at times last season.

Yup, they're good points DP. Key injuries aside our biggest hurdles lie between the ears as the talent is there.

If a preseason is all about a club instilling some belief and a sense of anticipation into their fan base then ours has done it in spades this time around I think. This is part of the short game that should stem any potential bleeding of members that could threaten our bottom line. The longer game will play out as our new recruits are bedded in to the game plan and draft picks begin to find their way in the AFL system. If I were to try and pick out an area of possible concern this far ahead it might be our two key forwards, one of which hasn't yet returned to full training and the other who appears to lack in self belief. If this proves to be unfounded however then I see no reason why we couldn't rack up enough wins to snatch a double chance.

I can see the Head in the Clouds segment on the big scoreboard being the first casualty of this decision.

Popped down for the first time in a while and was pleased with what I saw. The lads all look ripped and thought there was good intensity throughout. After all of the spectators had pretty much gone a group that had left training after the second match simulation came back out for another short session which included the 'roll over' drill described from Wednesday. Everyone looked pretty spent at the end. My only lament was the amount of missed shots at goal in the two match sims.

Anyone serving up this load of cobblers deserves the boot.

Is this what actually constitutes a story these days? Three or four unrelated facts cobbled together under the headline of an unspecified current year financial loss. At this rate my thirty free monthly online articles will be gone in no time.

The tone and level of expression in a post is more a reflection of the writer than their intended target I think. I've seen many a scathing comment and thought, gee I wonder what's upset them enough to write that.

To be fair he really should have seen that coming.

Has there been any announcement on the club astrologer yet? The autumnal equinox falls on the same weekend we play in Perth whilst Mercury will be in retrograde. They still haven't reviewed the spring equinox debacle over there in 2018.

This is almost interesting.

Does anyone at the club still have Pedo's mobile number?

Giddy up!

The long and the short of it is it'll be Max & Jack.

I'm not sure if he enjoys the limelight enough to be on tv Dazzle but certainly radio or the print media could beckon. Not in Bob Murphy's league yet mind you.

One of the more articulate and honest voices within the playing group. No mention of the dreaded toe injury can only be a good sign.

Did the other one get lost in the wash?

From the outside it appears that both Hardwick and Buckley took some time to transition from the ruthless mindsets they had as players to the renaissance men they have become as coaches. Both were given the required time to do this (but only just) and their respective clubs are now better for it as a result. Personally, I think Goody was a little further down this road at the time he joined us which gives me hope that we won't have to wait quite as long to see the benefits.

Afternoon, McQ. I've deleted almost all of the supporter FB pages from my news feed. The toxic comments being one reason but more so because they are just downright bland. On DL you might have to mine a lot of ore to get to the gold but it beats wading through a thousand reposts of the latest club announcement, pictures of the $5 Demons beer mug someone bought at Coles or their pet wearing a red & blue scarf.

Very happy with this. He's the consummate professional and a born winner. It would be nice to turn the appointment into a more expansive role at some later stage.

I come in peace Dieter. It's just a little observational humour. My background is no less humble I can assure you.

I'm concerned about the effect on our players. This could end up a pyorrhic victory.

The poor lad should have a meeting with an orthodontist first. He has a smile like a row of condemned houses.

It's not unreasonable to guess that he wasn't on much coin on his current deal and there's nothing to suggest that his new one is on really high numbers either. What we can say with some certainty however is that should a rival come sniffing in the short term they will now pay a high price to prise him away. It also provides us with a little more clarity on our cap space in the short to medium term. Much ado about nothing methinks.