BW511

I have no knowledge of the real North/Horne-Francis situation but he’s going to be an absolute gun. This showdown is frantic!

Flew back from the Gold Coast today and Plugger was on my flight, the Gold Coast Suns U/18’s were also on there and had no idea who he was.

Petty is already looking pretty banged up, might need a spell rather than a move forward.

Good get, Andy. I hope @binman is prepared for the loading onslaught, will be good if Selwyn can at least put the deniers to rest I’d like to know what a typical week’s worth of load looks like - how many kilometres run, how many gym sessions?

The bloke is an absolute gun and still flies under the radar of opposition supporters. I admit, there’s some bias attached but he’s the best player in the comp in my eyes. I love watching him go to work

I think this was a particularly tricky game with the slick, dewy conditions and hard surface heavily favouring Brisbane. The local knowledge can’t be underestimated. Given this was somewhat of a grudge match after last years finals exit, plus the talk in the media about the tension between the teams, how did we miss the mark so much with our mindset? We were flat and behind form the outset. Petty and T-Mac have both been way off the pace for the first two rounds, I’m sure they are carrying niggles. Both have had rotten luck in the past couple of years. Petty seems like a real warrior but all these injuries are really limiting his output. Who can we bring in to replace Petty and get him fresh again?

Jaded No More is definitely Jaded Again

Boy, Viney was [censored] in that little interview. Our blokes are playing bruise free, jumping at shadows tonight

Without knowing them intimately, I’ve always thought Danger is a bit too much about Danger to be a great leader. Yes, he can do some amazing things but he can also make the simple look impossible at times. Stewart seems a lot more level in attitude and effort

If Watts was drafted now, with the club in the state it’s currently in, he’d be an absolute gun. He’s the perfect modern footballer.

Will be interesting to see how long before the blowtorch gets turned on Fagan, if this continues. Just shows the margin between winning and losing is not that big in modern footy. If you’re 10% off, you’ll get smashed

Would love to hear how the players have felt through the preseason games and now Round 1. The shackles are off and they are allowed to play , what a difference a little bit of risk adds. No surprise that the HF players like Spargs and Chin were able to get involved when they have some space to move. BBB was much better with the ball not lobbed on his head all night. Wonder how they feel about their forwards being towelled up like that? Lobb/Darcy/Naughton and UH combined for a grand total of 30 possies and 2 goals. Lobb was getting beaten by blokes 2/3 his size all night. On the Smith/Pickett one, my immediate feeling was that Smith threw his head out of the way knowing the hit was coming. The action does not look good though and you’d expect a week to set an example, any more would be very questionable

Any chance Max could glove one! How can Naughton take it out of the ruck and not get pinged

Good to see Chin, Laurie and McVee all get a couple of positive touches first up. Two goal assists from Chin in a quarter is perfect

There has to be something seriously wrong at WC, they have too many players who (on paper) are performing well below their best.

A lot of people were calling for changes throughout the year to gamestyle, personnel or coaching. Looks like rotating more players through the middle of the ground will be our biggest weapon for the year, for unpredictability and also for longevity. We have never had the depth to do this properly and it looks like 2023 is the year!

I thought Saad probably cost them the game last night, he panicked on a few occasions in the last 5 mins

He’s definitely an interesting one (along with Jack Martin) A lot of Individual flair is taken away in the modern game as everything is system based. They don’t possess any standout traits to allow them to express themselves properly on top of the ‘system’ Don’t think he is suited to the role Carlton are playing him in, he’s not an inside player

That was a tough game to watch, pretty ordinary footy from both sides

Reckon the dogs (Bevo) will have plenty of fire for Hunter, hopefully it allows us to get off to a flyer while they target the man.

Quite surprised Fritta is considered a walk up start considering his lead up to Round 1.

Think the change in game plan has come out of necessity but also doesn’t hurt that we now have a few better ball users in the side. I suspect the move of Kozzie and Riv around the footy is also based around a different skill set, as much as needing fresher legs later in the year. Will be interesting to watch the balance if the good teams get a run on, the flip side is we are opening ourselves up a little with this newfound flair. Looking forward to it!

Wow, some real hot takes in that Twitter thread! Max being the most protected player in the comp would be the clubhouse leader

The stats are interesting reading. If Kozzie can be up in the high teens to low 20’s each week we are such a better side. He’s a good user and it may stop him trying to do the impossible. Langdon and Hunter will be spoken about all season long, that I am sure of. To have Hunter get 27 first up is incredible. We have lucked out here - especially when you consider how damaging he can be compared to our second winger over the last 3-4 years

He had a lot of the footy, he’s honest and reliable, same as when he plays in the senior side. He looks a bit thicker in the hips/legs this year. I watched a little sporadically but my main thoughts probably echo a lot that’s already been said: McVee was a surprise - he looks a little more classy and smoother moving than our regular HBF’s. I thought last year Salem might be starting to get found out with his leg speed, he’s now gotta be 100% fit to get in this side with Bowey, McVee, Riv and Hibbo fighting for the medium/smaller defenders roles Chandler added some genuine zip and unpredictably to our forward mix. It was exciting having him up and about even if things didn’t click 100%. He’s an attacking player which is refreshing when we’ve used that spot as a defensive one for so many years with ANB. Bowser is a ripper. He’d be one of my first blokes picked each week, very assured for his age. Love the idea of rotating a few new guys through the midfield, which we haven’t seen in a long time. Kozzie, Riv and even ANB offer something different to the standard Trac/Viney/Clarry mix. This is essential in modern footy. Riv for one could really open games up with his long kicking and power. I’m intrigued to see what our actual gameplay through the season looks like because all preseason we’ve been hearing how quick and direct we’ve been going - this game was certainly not as far in that direction as I’d hoped.