Lord Nev

100% flinged him. He clearly uses his strength and body weight to change the trajectory of Stratton. https://www.theroar.com.au/afl/video/hawks-players-object-after-jack-vineys-risky-tackle-on-their-skipper-1066528/ And please understand the point that it's the complete action. It's not just the pinning the arms obviously, which is why I made it clear it was the pinning the arms and flinging them head first into the ground that is problematic, not just pinning the arms.

It's not 'the tackle' that is in danger. There's a pretty big difference between a normal tackle and pinning someone's arms and flinging them head first into the ground.

I didn't see him, but I was literally just driving past so didn't have much time to get a good look. He very well could have been there.

Small, possibly 'unofficial' rehab group doing some light work on Gosch's this morning. I was driving past, so didn't get much of a look, but noticed Preuss was doing some running and had relatively minimal knee strapping.

But they collected heads? Unless this is a new tactic we'll see develop, I don't think it was deliberate by any stretch.

The Melksham one is the baffling one for me. Two blokes run head first into each other and one of them gets plucked out for a 2k fine... Bizarre.

Never said they were going to win the flag, but there's lots of comments here implying they're finished before a ball has even been bounced. They have the best coach in the league, have deliberately recruited and have changed their game plan this year. Staggers me that supporters of a club like ours would start bagging them out after a meaningless preseason game. I think they're a brilliantly coached team who have won a premiership on average every 3 years over the last dozen, something we could only dream of and should remember before labeling them the Bradbury's of the AFL.

Reckon similar types of things were being said about the Hawks in 2018. They ended up top 4. Write them off at your own peril.

Based on what exactly? 1 practice game against a team expected to struggle where he was mostly invisible but snagged a couple of lucky goals (mostly from frees too, weren't they?). I think he's handy, I'm glad we signed him up, but "pivotal"? Turn it up.

Backline for now. His best footy (at least numbers wise) might be better in the midfield, but looking at it from a team perspective rather than a personal performance one, I think we will function better as a team with him in the backline. It's about roles and team effectiveness for mine, not individual performance. I'm a Lockhart fan, but let's not get too carried away with his place in the team just yet. Got caught a lot and his disposal wasn't great in the preseason games. I think he will eventually grab a spot in the team, but it possibly won't be this year (would be rapt if it was though).

Sensational production all round by the club. They really nailed everything about it, most importantly the tone of the series. Wasn't too focused on rehashing the negative but didn't overdo the forward looking focus either. Might be too much during the busyness of the season, but would be great to see a mini-doco, about the length of one of these episodes, every month or so, perhaps focusing on a certain player. It'd be great for fan engagement and may even help reduce some of the personal vitriol that gets thrown at players during the year on social media. Anyways, congrats to all involved in putting it together.

Thanks mate! Awesome to hear a bunch of aspects that the rest of us missed on tv. Much appreciated.

Tell him I said hi back.

No, the idea SWYL put forward was in the ruck. As I've said, I don't mind the wing as previously Tom himself has said that sometimes help him get into the game. But moving our best marking key forward away from the 2nd best backline in the comp when we are still dysfunctional going forward, just so that key forward can lose the hitouts for 15 minutes is not my idea of a successful game plan. The best way for a key forward to find form is to sort out the delivery and the forward line structure and get the ball to him where he wants it.

Sorry guys, but just can't agree. Wing maybe, I mean that's where TMac himself has talked about playing as being a way he has found form in the past, but putting a key forward in the middle of the ground to get beaten in hitouts isn't my idea of how you help a key forward find form and improve his 'timing' in the forward line. Plus, taking away our best key forward and letting Hurn and McGovern absolutely slaughter us unopposed doesn't seem like great thinking.

Sure, which means we need to fix up the forward structure and get the ball in there well, not put him in a different part of the ground where there's a better chance he'll re-injure his knee.

A bit of ruckwork for a player who's come back from knee surgery? Not sure that's the best way to find form for a key forward.

They didn't talk about it a whole lot on the broadcast, but I've seen a few people mention the conditions were trickier than what they seemed on TV. Fair wind and quite slippery apparently. None of the tall forwards for either side did much, so I'm hoping it was a factor a little bit. TMac has looked very hot and cold in the two games so far, but he seems to be the type that can find form instantly and then he's on a roll. Not totally sure on Brown yet. I know he kicked those goals against Adelaide, but they were mostly a bit lucky IMO. Given he didn't play yesterday my impression is he might be insurance for injuries/form rather than a starter straight up. Actually didn't totally hate Pig's game. His use was pretty poor, but in general I thought he improved a bit from the first game. Agree it's an interesting year for him where he could play a few out at Casey though, especially with Harmes slotting in and Salem to come back. Spargo, Lockhart and Bedford are the intriguing ones for me. All 3 are probably 2nd/3rd in line for their positions from a list perspective, but they're all showing some really good signs now. Thought ANB was good yesterday too DD, I know he's one you watch closely.

For which player? Jackson? I wouldn't think so at this stage. I would have Weid ahead of him just based on physical maturity and ability to consistently present for a whole game. It's not a huge gap though.

Interested to see how Mutimer goes. Type of player that could be handy for MFC, so wonder if we're keeping an eye on him. Also, what do people know about Andrew Courtney? With our current list/injury situation, he seems an intriguing prospect.

I feel for Weid. Finally gets in a decent amount of preseason, then gets thrown into the ruck for a whole game (Adelaide) and then all over the place in the next one (Hawks). I get the context of the situation with the Gawn and Preuss injuries, but this kids development is at a crucial stage and IMO he really needs to be given a more defined role that he can focus on and grow his confidence in, not get thrown around every week. Think TMac is escaping a bit of focus in all this too. He's only played a half of good footy so far and has been unsighted for the rest. On Jackson though, gee he had a couple of really nice 'footy brain' moments in the game last night to go with some athletic moments in the Adelaide game. Really unique player.

Apparently kicked a player in a contest and was a bit sore so they took him off as a precautionary measure given his history. Fingers crossed it turns out to be just soreness and doesn't develop.

Weid (22 years old) played ruck against Adelaide and had 19 touches. Brown (29 years old) got a couple of lucky goals and was unsighted for the rest. Don't really think he's putting "a lot of pressure" on him.