Skuit

It was only 125 grams of cheezleness in a massive 10 x 25 cm box, so there are serious environmental concerns attached to putting those dehydrated corn and maltodextrin treats on your fingers like they're premiership rings and then eating them off one by one. Toobs with their wider inner-circumference probably have a better carbon footprint.

Just went and bought all the requisite snacks and drinks for tomorrow night now, so no need to be out in public in the lead-up to the game. My local Woolies had boxes of Cheezles on special for $1, which I haven't eaten since 1988, so I took it as a redemptive omen. Should make any Gawn-yawn interesting though if I lose my nerve before kick-off.

The sub is always somewhat of a contingency gamble, striking the balance between flexible coverage in the event of an early injury and a player who can impact if an injury comes in the later stages during a tight contest. I don't trust him, but Melksham probably best fits the bill for both eventualities. Jones can provide flexible coverage but with probably limited impact, while Chandler could impact but without significant four-quarter coverage. Both can be liabilities though. And then there's Jordon. If a KPP goes down at either end, Gawn will most likely have to shoulder the extra load. So then it revolves around any midfield injuries and mostly supporting rotations. My heart says Jones, naturally, while my head says Melksham and my inner-accountant says Jordon. My cocky cowboy however wants Chandler. I see a lot in the kid, and can envisage him causing Geelong some problems if he came on late.

I've only been to maybe two dozen Demons matches. My first was a 1991 loss vs Adelaide at Footy Park as a kid. Darren Bennet was my favourite player - at least for the next two weeks, until Jackovich completely lit up the comp. The worst was probably the three-goal effort against Port in 1997 which finally cost Balme his job. The atmosphere was horrible. The Port fans seemed annoyed that we were so bad, and the few Melbourne fans basically started cheering for Port. Best game; same oval, 2001. Leoncelli kicks the running sealer from an amazing Schwartz tap with four seconds left on the clock (Simon Goodwin was almost the right guy). Some Crows kid might one day consider this year's match-up as one of their best.

We of course don't have to deal directly with Freo in futures dee-tox. Packaging this year's ~34 and next year's first-rounder (let's say 18) to a club for which such a deal makes sense, possibly gets us something in the range of 12-15. Freo might then accept that and one of our semi-fringe players as a list replacement. We are also likely to have an exit or two, and one which could net us something in the mid to late 20s. If we off-loaded ~34, I imagine we would then want to keep a pick in this range, but the extra picks also help us to split and move up the order, or as a further pick-swap incentive for Freo. I think we can get something done. Not advocating it one way or the other - but if our list management team view Cerra as a key ingredient, then I'm not at all worried about future salary cap issues. And who knows, Fremantle still need to fix their key forward mix, and with Rory Lobb possibly out the door we may well see Weideman head directly out west.

I'm taking it now that when posters deflect on the relevance of 2018, they're referring to the relevance of losing or even choking that prelim and how it relates to this one and our current team. I'm not around Melbourne media, so have no idea of the current narrative. I'm talking about about the invaluable experience gained from that loss and participating in general. That's an undeniable positive. Edit: I'm not remotely concerned about any scars from that match, just positive about the 'learnings'.

Not relevant to the entire team. Just half of it's members, and their influence on the other half.

Of course the 2018 prelim is relevant, in any number of ways - it would be silly to argue that it's not. Our core midfield leaders have all played in a previous prelim for starters. It seemed like last time that they had no idea what was coming. This is especially important coming up against a seasoned finals outfit in Geelong. Our approach and personnel has also likely evolved due to that day (despite many still believing that Goodwin never reviewed the tapes lol). We also have a prelim at Optus under our belt to draw from for strategy. Plus, the local Eagles fans will probably be more likely to sit in our corner.

On points differential, we also get the equivalent of about pick 70, or a bonus Ham (Brayden).

I spoke previously of my reluctance to attend the GF (for my own personal reasons, although I bought flight tickets for those dates). Going to the PF is a bit different, and does fulfil my sense of duty to an extent. Flights are cheap for this week also. I'll check my eligibility now to enter the state, but will put my hand up for a barcode if someone wants to sponsor me with a barcode to attend on their behalf. How much are the match tickets? Doesn't matter much, so long as they're not outrageous. Scrap that - I forgot again that I can't go based on current restrictions.

Can't imagine our younger Dangerwood equivalent in Oliver and Trac having almost zero impact and under 15 touches apiece to 3/4 time, despite any tagging efforts, and against what was pretty average opposition. Fully aware that they established a 44-point break on us only a couple weeks ago, but they seriously look like a spent force. Throw in Viney, and we already put those experienced blokes to the sword with pressure and run in a final a couple years ago, and we're developed a much better team since then while they've only got older. Sure, they have a threatening forward mix, but we'll hold our own if it's the same forward entry as tonight. Can't see it as anything but a cake-walk, unless Scott comes up with some serious means of disruption - but they haven't shown much inclination to adjust in the way they want to play, with their method feeding directly into our strengths.

Can't imagine what life is like for Miers on being introduced to people. My original given name is Ryan and that's hard enough. Hi, I'm Ryan. Hi Brian. No, Ry-an. Hi Warren Like Brian, but without the 'b' Hi Graeme. Stuff it - just split the difference then. I'm Gryan. Cryin' about what? The quality of this football match. Oh, I thought you were going to say your hairdresser.

Indeed.

Hopefully it will inspire an inkling of temporary loyalty for the grand final, should we make it. Any mention if WA residents are buying up other team's memberships in the same manner?

Would Holmes have gotten a run in our team this year? I highly doubt it.

I'm bored of this bye already and the weekend hasn't even started.

Martin, Saad and now Cera - is this some elaborate MFC plot to drive up the price of Carlton recruits, get in the ear now of some young player we liked but couldn't draft (why not let Carlton deal with Kemp's rehab, right?), and then swoop when the Blues ultimately go the way of Collingwood last year?

Hate to say it, but I'm pretty convinced the knee injury he picked up at our miserable 2017 pre-season camp caused the steady decline in his career after so much early promise. His kicking penetration and agility in close never really looked the same again.

Listening to the opinions of plenty of ex-players in the media makes me think that most of the current players probably aren't that bright in actually analysing the game either.

I would prefer our president to be in Perth right now. For what is a seriously important commercial opportunity should we get the chocolates. I love that our squad are all there bonding, but did we really need Austin Bradtke et al on the bus?

Was surprised to read he has kicked 30.22 for the year. I recall about two of those goals. If he kicked at 2017-18 accuracy he would have bagged 40-plus. But unfortunately only seven of those have come in the back half of the season.

Did you write an electronic mail to AFL.com.au? I answered one and got a red mark and frowny face with no other explanation. Also, what was it was it like seeing those 1928 and 1948 draws live? Must have been crazy.

I don't personally think this is a particularly nuanced write-up, considering what might amount to be one of the boldest rebuilds in modern times. Roos had a simple task of stemming the bleeding and setting the basic cultural foundations, but while some peripherals remain we spent a lot of draft cookies in doing so. That includes Vince, Dawes, Lumumba, Kennedy, Frost, Melksham and Hibberd all for picks effectively in the early to mid-20s while sacrificing decent young talent - some who have been serviceable and helped lay the foundations but are not in the current team. The current crop is a post-Roos mini-reset, built on the strategic nous of Goodwin, Mahoney and Taylor (and probably others who should receive some credit), together with some good and bad luck. First step was to rebuild the engine room, in which we scored two serious hits (eventually) in Clarry and Trac, but they were landed on the back of high draft pics. The real genius has been in the MFC's manipulation of future trading, with a trade-up, get-em-in-early strategy for high-end talent. The willingness to then spend big on two KPFs was a masterstroke, and unheard of until now. Goodwin devised an exciting but flawed game-plan in his first two years as a senior coach, and then immediately identified how to fix it - almost completely flipping the script. Get rid of two two beloved members of our high-scoring forward-line and replace them with what has turned out to be two AA defenders, with the team now boasting the most staunch defence in the league. That done, with the structural basis in place, we went back to the talent pot (admittedly helped by bottoming out in 2019) and have plugged other gaps since. Taylor has nailed a number of later picks along the way. I'm not sure what my point is now. Maybe that the Roos era of rebuilding list-wise is still questionable (but maybe somewhat necessary). And that the actual rebuild of note has occurred in just the past three to four years, with Goodwin the visionary, Mahoney the master at the table, and Taylor getting the selections right both high and low? Consider this, 14 players in our last outing arrived at the club post-2017, with I think 9 finals debutants. This is a quick-fire rebuild.

(!) I bought mine for a $108 each way from Cairns with Jetstar a couple of days ago - which I'm assuming is the longest domestic leg in Australia. Looks like I might struggle to get a gf ticket now though - but definitely don't cry for me, just making a point about airline extortion. Maybe Adelaide/Hobart to Cairns to Perth would be a cheaper option, however insane that sounds. Anyways, happy to discuss putting anyone up on the way through if that's the case. Go Dees!

Yes, indeed (although compared to Jack the others had arguably greater extenuating circumstances - one of which will cause a life-long sadness in me). Just to be clear though, I've bagged JV many times on here, but never for being a 'wasted' talent or not getting the most out of himself - his career ambition and commitment was always entirely up to him. I'm fiercely competitive when it comes to sport (often to my own physical detriment), so I never warmed to Jack in that sense. But the notion of being paid well to play competitive sport and not worry about putting in the extra yards and just enjoy the swimming and [censored] that comes with it sounds pretty pleasing to me also. And I'm probably a wasted talent too - just thankfully not the most ever scrutinised and badgered individual in my field. So I'm not without empathy for Watts. But as a fan I have a different agenda. Goodwin's clear-out of probably our two most beloved players was highly ballsy, and is now reaping the rewards in more ways than one.