Skuit

Leave his goal-kicking as it is and we can satisfy ourselves with a $4M saving on his next 10-year contract.

Using the word 'disgrace' to describe a kicking style is far more of a disgrace than said kicking style.

Degrees of bacon? Piggy Dunstall - Darren Jarman - Sean Wellman - oh I seriously can't. Whoever comes up with the longest, most circuitous route from Jason Dunstall to Prestia with as many degrees as possible wins.

New NT supporters/members? - close to absolute zero. Everyone who lives there has a team already. They're mostly economic migrants from the southern states. Their children have teams. The opposition we meet there conduct the same community clinics that we do. We have been outnumbered in support for every (home) match I've ever attended up there (inc. randoms like Brisbane and Freo). There will be no generational boon as to membership in a growing market a la the vague GWS blueprint or whatever. We've been playing there for $ and nothing greater. They (the NT gov) can get more benefit economically by signing someone else (like a big fat Essendon injection while the Bombers are in a bottom-out phase) and we, right now, should be looking at richer sponsorship deals in the lead-up to our current ones reaching expiration. Simply: The deal has kept us afloat in the past few years. But we're on a serious marketable upswing now and they can do better and we can do better closer to home. Handshake and done and dusted. Pretty sure that's exactly what's already going on behind and in front of the scenes in the past few days.

I did some some maths. If we improve 10% on our best offensive and defensive NAB results in our fixture v. St. Kilda we will finish top of the Nab-ladder. I left school at 14 though: math may be inaccurate.

If we beat the teams we beat last year and in the '16 NAB along with those minnows that finished below us on the ladder we go into the break 10-2. Simple. Apply the same formula to last year's top four and we head to the sheds in equal third* *Probably not if I could be bothered properly working it out.

I understand the betting odds don't represent statistical odds but there's still a personal logic behind where people put their money. If it's just Saints fans distorting the figures then fair enough because they do seem from the outside to be fairly misguided re. the state of their list. Dees by four and half goals. Go Dees!

I'm curious as to on what logic the Saints are favourites? We're shorter priced v GWS for round one of the real stuff. ?

Terlich: Jack Oatey medalist who can find the ball. I really don't like the spate-of-midfield-injuries premise of this hypothetical thread.

Back-peddling nonsense. NT News is the NT News but there are direct quotes from the Chief Minister from a radio interview that he is unhappy with the MFC. The NT government is a bigger rabble than even we ever were.

Things that I have little doubt about: That the MFC have shown very close interest in Prestia at some previous stage. That this is hardly a secret and the Suns know full well about it. That GC expect Dion to likely leave and would expect a first rounder in return. That we have colluded frequently with at least one of the northern start-ups in the past. Things I can't quite work out just yet: Gold Coast's list strategy. What relevance as to all of the above if any does our pick swapsies last trade period hold.

A quick question for the regular track-watchers. It seems the marking bags are out a bit lately. Is this more so than usual? Are they drills that everyone partakes in? Is it a light spot of frivolity or are the players given a decent amount of instruction on technique/positioning etc.? Cheers.

"I'm not looking at it like I am leaving. I am looking at it as if I am going to be here for 10 years. I am the vice captain so I am not just sitting here taking a back seat thinking I might not be here, I might be here," Prestia said. Wow. Just wow.

Hogan? It feels quite bizarre that we also have another top 10 KPF who is being largely ignored on here for the time being.

Cash grab. Even against Freo we had a smaller supporter base at the game. Port and Essendon are the two most followed teams in Darwin - the NT gov shifts their sponsorship $ over and they get more exposure as well as a greater economic injection with the larger influx of tourists.

They were going to put Bernie in charge of vice but thought better of it.

And this one has its charms. 'Draftees Sam Weideman, Liam Hulett and Mitch King . . . – they’ve actually had a really good pre-season most of them.'

I agree that we're twelve-eighteen months behind in development but it's hard to quantify in just months as I think we'll be launching from a more solid base in 2017. Dogs recorded 8 wins in 2014 to bring up the rear of the mid-table crew and followed it by 7W in 2014 before hitting their straps. Last year we had the Dogs 2013 - moving out of the bottom-rung basket-cases to the arse-end of the pretenders. But if we steadily improve to 8-10 wins for 10-12ish on the ladder this year then 2017 could see a serious assault on the top 5 from a better launch-pad than what the Doggies had established.

I like the idea of more specific divisional leaders. Captain: Jones Vice: Bernie Junior Captain: Viney Defensive Marshall: Tmac Rehab Mentor: Dawes

I agree that we're twelve-eighteen months behind in development but it's hard to quantify in just months as I think we'll be launching from a more solid base in 2017. Dogs recorded 8 wins in 2013 to bring up the rear of the mid-table crew and followed it by 7W in 2014 before hitting their straps. Last year we had the Dogs 2013 - moving out of the bottom-rung basket-cases to the arse-end of the pretenders. But if we steadily improve to 8-10 wins for 10-12ish on the ladder this year then 2017 could see a serious assault on the top 5 from a better launch-pad than what the Doggies had established.

If you forget the scars and conversely have a close look back over the past couple seasons I think we're getting close to cracking the Swans. Dour affairs where we managed to hang with them at times. Open a surprise can of Goodwin on them and with a five-goal turnaround we might be pushing for the line.

Max's woo eyes are also rather unnerving.

Though I'm sure it would have been tempting to photoshop some of Gawn's excess beard onto Nat's head. And it seems they gave something of a smile to Col without making it look too unrealistic.

We prefer to call ourselves Garland detractors. And I'm mildly disappointed rather than livid.

VC?