Ben

Terrible luck for Turner, for what should be a joyous occasion making your debut taking such a turn. Very interested to see if Daw comes in or Weideman is chosen ahead of him. Either way, time to step up Dogga.

On a side note, and not sure why I’m playing devil’s advocate to defend Collingwood fans; weren’t they booing more because they wanted Cox to win?

In - Bedford, May Out - Turner, M. Brown I really want to see us try the smaller forward line. Bedford’s been pretty good when he’s been in. I don’t think Mitch Brown’s effort warrants another week in our 22. Weideman in I guess if Gawn is forced out. Can we please have Tomlinson or Rivers as the medi-sub. Our three losses this year we’ve been caught out by a defender either being subbed out or off for an extended period. Knowing our luck this year we’ll lose another to concussion on Thursday week. Do we want Tomlinson or Chandler taking the vest off to replace a wounded defensive soldier? Tough call.

I agree, and I wish people would stop pre-drinking so much that they're already off their heads at the first bounce. This guy in front of me stood up at any moment the Pies had a near mark or chance in the second half. I kept telling him to sit down and that I'm trying to watch the game, he gave me the evil eye and mouthed some profanity. Is it too much to ask that people at the footy proritise watching the game, and respecting others around that are trying to do the same?

Play a small forward line, like we had early last year. Ben Brown and Fritsch then the smalls. We don’t have other talls good enough to be in the 22.

Based on tomorrow's starting 22 - Pies 26 years 101 days, 110 games Dees 25 years 148 days, 98 games

Haha yeah fair enough. That's the downside of GA, it requires a big time commitment to get the best seats in it. Hopefully not too bad up there!

If you haven't already, I'd recommend not reserving and instead going general admission for tomorrow. Looking at the seats available to be reserved, the best you can get is Q55 row AA (top level Olympic stand, 26th row back). A considerably better seat will be available in GA. Q1-Q6 are all available for walk up in the Shane Warne/Great Southern Stand. It's top level, but the whole of the bays are available so if you get there early enough (close to the 12:30 gates opening) you will be able to get a seat in the first few rows of the top level, which is a far closer view than the Q55 row AA option. There's no Melbourne area as such given it is an away game (apart from the Demon Army in M3), but at least if you go Q1-6 you'll be directly above the cheer squad, and there'll be far more Melbourne representation at the Punt Road end. The Pies own the City end (Ponsford stand).

Maybe a Daicos, or Henry?

He’s not allowed to take a set shot though! Waste of a shot unless he’s dead in front 20 out.

Thankfully this hasn't been an issue for GA members this year. Plenty of general admission available at games, bar blockbusters like Anzac Eve and Queen's Birthday. The issue this year is I believe you still cannot buy a ticket at the ground. None of the old ticket sale windows are manned anymore. This would stop an extra 2-3% perhaps from attending, like tourists and people who struggle with purchasing things online.

I like the boldness of the changes. Great to see Salem straight back in. I hope Rivers is the medi-sub. Last week we were caught out with replacing our best defender with midfield back up. I know we didn't know May was gonna fall but I couldn't help but wonder how the game would've been different if we had Tomlinson as the sub. As a general rule it would be good to see us play it safe and have a defender as the medi-sub.

I thought that initially too but looking it up Weideman didn’t play. He and Brown have only ever played together against the Blues, when McDonald was also in the side. So yeah first time as a duo tomorrow night.

I reckon their defence is pretty good. 72.5 average points conceded from the first six rounds. They shut down the contest effectively in the last quarter. A couple of times GWS would switch and hope, but couldn’t find a way through. Reminded me a lot of how some teams have no idea where to go out of D50 when they play us. GWS very fumbly and skill errors helped lock the result. Looking forward to our clash with them on Mother’s Day.

Yep. Only VIC and NSW rules are changing tomorrow. The AFL will probably keep the H&S protocols all season citing ‘an abundance of caution’, even if the rest of the states and territories also ease their close contact rules.

The point of umpire fatigue affecting decision making is a good one. Goal and boundary umpires could be used to make calls on free kicks if they're in a better position. Eddie's rule changing suggestions like a goal for hitting the post if it goes through and a goal for a touched ball are crazy. Click bait to maintain relevance.

We just don't have as big a supporter base and we'll probably never catch the Richmond and Collingwoods of the league. The relatively low Round 1 crowd against the Lickers highlighted this (though interesting how much more it would've got if played on a Thursday or Friday). One flag doesn't magically get us thousands more willing to show up on a Saturday where many are away for the long weekend or attending mass.

The problem is 2022 might be another 2019. Or 1999. Or 2001. We've gotta strike while the iron is hot. Hard to win premierships.