dee-tox

Agree. Had a Barry Crocker. As did ANB and some of Rivers' work was less assured than usual.

Will be interesting to see if Lever comes back. He was on half a leg against the Giants. May got a huge corkie but played on. He is a warrior.

Tigers were hard to break down. Threw numbers behind the ball so we were forced to bomb away. Bit like soccer's version of parking the bus. We wore them down eventually. Our one-percenters were brilliant all night. Clayton Oliver take a bow. Amazing game. When our little blokes (Hunt, Rivers, and Bowey) were forced to defend one-on-one we looked a little vulnerable. Same with Smith on Reiwoldt. Loved that we played for four quarter even though we weren't capitalising on the scoreboard.

6. Oliver 5. May 4. Langdon 3. Gawn 2. Sparrow 1. Bowey

We have a few issues. Bombing the ball in fwd 50. Kick straight. Small defenders are struggling. Petracca needs to lift. Fritta needs to lead and demand the ball.

Also a very good cricketer having represented Victoria as an under ager...

You could argue they are currently paid as professionals but only work part time. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think AFL umpires get around 5K per game depending on experience, so around 120K for six months work. Decent money but of course no where near what the top players get. I don't think money is what is holding back every fitness fanatic who wasn't quite good enough...

One way to look at it is may be he'll be the best of the lot. Hard to measure after four rounds in year one. Many of us thought after winning the Rising Star Rhys Palmer was the bees knees. GC are desperate for talls. They have time. It took Max Gawn two years to debut and six years to find his feet. Many here queried whether he'd make it.

I can't see Goodwin making huge positional changes. It is not his style. Smith/Tomlinson play the Lever role. Dunstan plays Viney's. JJ stays on a wing. Sparrow and Harmes continue to play as a defensive forwards with stints in the middle. One might even permanently run with Shae Bolton. Brayshaw plays quarter back until Salem returns. Tmac, BBB and Weed battle it out for the two key forward spots. Bedford is medi-sub.

Agree. Dunstan's last game against Richmond saw him get three Brownlow votes!

Dunstan is a natural replacement for Viney. Looking forward to seeing it.

Again, our fitness seems superior to other teams. That must breed so much confidence.

Mmnn, the dreaded navicular injury. That's Howes done for the year. Will need a good six months recovery. Horrible luck for the young fella. Definitely showed a bit in the pre-season and VFL.

Bit of discussion on the impact of abuse on umpires. I umpired around 150 junior and senior games. I used to do it on Sundays after playing on Saturdays. Yes, you tended to be a bit sore afterwards but it was a good freshen up and great pocket money! Getting abuse is par for the course as an umpire. It mainly came from the drunken bogans in the crowd rather than the players. With the players, they always knew you were the one in control. So, ridiculous threatening or abusive language was always met by a 50-metre penalty. Players are quick learners and if you had a reputation for not putting up with crap, the players quickly adjusted. Also the fact that you played the game to a decent standard is a big factor in how umpires are treated. I found the umps that struggled most were those who never really had an affinity for the game. Believe me there were a few who took it up just for the money! We were always available after the game to have a a beer and a chat and i think that helped as well. I found after a while that the players became very supportive of your efforts on field and actually helped keep everyone in line. A two way respect, if you like. The one thing I will say now is how difficult it is to umpire with all the grey area interpretations. This dissent rule is going the same way. We were always taught to pay the first free kick you saw. That way you set the standard for the whole game and you kept it relatively simple.

It's a farce. A 50-metre penalty should only be given if a player mouths off or is aggressive in their demeanour towards an umpire. Raising one's arms or shaking one's head is not worthy of a 50 metre penalty. It is a poor reflection on Brad Scott and the umpires department that this has been so inconsistently applied and poorly interpreted.

Many had him BOG last week too! Two great games in a row.

Shame that most weekends now the umpiring is the main topic of conversation. It really is that bad.

Think dominant is the word you are looking for.

In, BBB. Out, I really don't know. Probably Weed. We might need to keep an eye on Lever's fitness.

Strange old game. GWS dominated the first quarter with clearances and inside 50s but were kept goalless! Much of that credit needs to go to Stephen May. What a footballer this guy is. Then once our midfield pulled their finger out we had 12 goalkickers. Good time to be alive Demon supporters!

6. Gawn 5. May 4. Spargo 3. Oliver 2. Petracca 1. Viney

Are TMac and Weed just decoy forwards these days? Clearances a huge concern. If Harmes is running with Coniglio he is getting thrashed.

Few harsh comments here. We benefitted from many of these guys. They made us what we are today. We got there in the end so kudos to Lewis, Cross, Vince, etc. Doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there.

A welcome, but surprising inclusion! No more opposition marks in our defensive 50.

The problem with Gil's reign is his lackeys, the Board of Directors and others had this belief that the game needed to evolve through the AFL's intervention. Sports evolve naturally. Some for the good and some for the bad. In soccer, FIFA had this belief that the introduction of VAR would remove the grey area in offside deliberations, serious incidents and goals. All it has done is frustrate millions of spectators and further bring into question the games integrity. The AFL is the same. The game was apparently too much of a rolling scrum. Introduce the stand rule and some extra metres to kick out from. Then there's the nominated ruck, 666 and other abominations. Just leave the friggin' game alone. It will evolve itself. It always does. The game is always bigger than one person's ideas to change it. However, that doesn't mean attempting to remove some of the ambiguities. That's good governance. People are now lamenting they don't recognise their indigenous game. That's Gil's legacy. As others have mentioned the proliferation of gambling is a blight on the game. For Sportsbet.com tune into Damo and Lloydy... or check out the under 18s carnival brought to you by our friends at the TAB...! But be careful gambling is addictive! The MRO is a shambles. Someone in the AFL must be pulling those strings? If not, Michael Christian should be out of a job. The umpiring is more amateur than ever. But who could blame the poor blighters? A rule of the week for 23 weeks. And still not a full-time profession. At least Gil allowed Melbourne to win AFLX and Fritta to be a double AFLX premiership player!