Roost it far

You fell a little short, about the English Channel gap

Whether or not we drafted to cover Gawn we still have a massive over reliance on him. The Pies beat us without Daicos. Had Gawn not played that night it might of got ugly

That’s just waffle

Didn’t they play Howes on Bolton? He had no chance but I bet he learnt plenty about what it takes to make it. It’s all upto Blake. McVee looked just as out of place against both Bolton and Dusty last year but he had a fantastic season.

If any other club had had our preseason we’d be dancing on their graves.

My flag is in the ground. Somewhere between 1 and 12. Our list says 1, our preseason says 12. With the preseason and injuries I’m not sure we have enough improvement in us to keep in front so I’ll say 6th. To say I was flamed is very likely an exaggeration but there’s many on here who don’t like reasonable criticism of this club. I think having watched the train wreck that this club has become over preseason it’s more than fair to apply the blowtorch. Here’s a question for you, If Gawn goes down where do we finish?

Probably because you get flamed for doubting. I actually don’t understand how you can presume it’s just going to happen again considering the preseason we’ve had. It’s been a shocker and it keeps on coming. Let’s see how you feel if we get pantsed by Carlton

I find it extraordinary that the club couldn’t negotiate a retirement out of either Brown or TMac. Wasted list spots.

The only reason it’s not seen this way is because the list we have needs at least one more flag. Until we get it we’ll be seen as underachieving, it’s that simple.

I stopped scanning the team at TMac……really, what does he offer?

Problem for most around here is you can’t handle criticism of the Dee’s. The fact we’re largely going into the season with the bulk of our forwards with little or no preseason, an aging ruck who we lean way too heavily on and a fullback who’s 32 certainly has me concerned. We’ve also got a tough draw.

We have no idea what role Sparrow and ANB were asked to play when it came to clearances. They may well have exceeded the expectations of the coaches.

Chandler has this season to cement a spot or there’s a possibility AMW may jump ahead. Both need improvement.

Did Jefferson play? Did he show any inkling of being an AFL player?

Surely any serious competitor would make light work of a tigers seconds team?

Spargo’s carrying an Achilles injury, has been for awhile.

As I said it’s triggering. I’ve also said we can win it. It’s just my belief that we’re on a knife’s edge. By the reading of the replies to my posts and the private messages I’ve received I’d say some don’t agree.

I don’t agree that I’m glass half empty. We just need several things to change if we’re to win it.

Find it interesting that so many on here deny the fact we crumbled under pressure in the last 2 years of finals, especially 23 and that our culture is not all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe take a listen to Christian Petracca talk about it. He flat out admits both. I know many of you can’t bare to think we’re not the best and talking about it triggers you but we’re not. We’re in it but we need a lot to go right and some very important things to change.

Spot on however I’m not worried about other clubs.

Petty has had very poor preparation for the season and could easily be out for the next few months. On top of that everyone seems to forget that he’s played a handful of games for us as a forward, he’s still a forward in progress. TMac…..if he’s in the team we’re playing a man down. McAdam, I’d love him fit and in the team but that seems unlikely to be consistent enough for true synergy to develop. Melksham is 32 and coming back from an ACL, he’s 50-50 at the very best. On top of all this you’ve got our heavy reliance on Gawn and also May. I actually still think we can win it but with the improvement of clubs around us we can’t afford much to go wrong. For mine our season is on a knife edge. I know that triggers people around here but that’s my thoughts.

It's also exactly why we might be headed for a fall. The margins are so fine and with Petty, Melksham and likely McAdam out who exactly is going to kick the goals?

I think you're forgetting the costly reversal due to poor discipline, several 50's gifted and Viney burning Petracca and instead setting up carlton's final play. Not to mention the basic kicking for goal errors in the QF. You're way to kind IMO.

This is what I’ve been talking about! Not a natural reporter but they’ve had a good honest crack.

I'm really not. What you're conveniently forgetting is there's 4 or 5 other clubs who have had better preseasons than us, have a not dissimilar level of talent and aren't carrying the baggage or the injuries that we are. Plus they're not relying on their 32 year old ruckman to literally carry them to the top 4. If you think I'm being over the top in relation to Gawn's importance take a look at the QF against Collingwood. He played out of his skin and we couldn't win. I've been very bullish the last 4-5 years but we're on a knife's edge atm. Personally I'm ok with that but I also recognise it. I will say having read the training reports I believe the club is taking a different approach to the year ahead. For the last few years we've been training with a higher level of intensity than this year. I think we've recognised the difficulties in playing our brand for a full season. I've got a hunch, all going well getting players on the park we might just come home like a steam train. I'm expecting a hearts in your mouth kind of ride, or a complete trainwreck.