Whispering_Jack

Whatever happened to the old adage of taking things one game at a time?

Jimmy's is a great story but I would suggest that he's the tip of the iceberg. I've been involved in junior football and other sports since the very early 80s and come across a number of instances of single parents - mothers and fathers - who have one, two and more kids who they dedicate themselves to during the week and on weekends to get them to their training and games, which often keeps them off the streets where many others become prey to darker elements. That might sound a bit melodramatic but I believe the statistics suggests that single parent families have grown in number since my involvement in sports began and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that some of these people are true unsung heroes in our society.

There is no doubt that the statistic of 28 scoring shots to 20 suggests that had the Giants been more accurate in their kicking for goal they would have won the game and won it well. However, consider another statistic - entries into the 50 metre arc which had us on top by 56 to 50. Early in the game it was even more lop sided and by half time when we trailed by 10 points it was 33 to 20. A few years ago when we were playing ultra defensive, we barely got more than 33 in a whole game and remember - we were finishing with as low as 3 to 5 goals for the entire game. Yesterday, one of our problems for more than two whole quarters was that we were getting the ball within range but weren't getting the opportunities to score. That was a factor of two things - disposal and decision making in moving the ball forward and the fact that the GWS defence, Phil Davis in particular, was playing superbly taking some strong marks and crowding our forward line to make it hard for our blokes to get free with the ball. So we did really well in turning things around in the last quarter which has been a feature of our play this year. I had an inkling even at the final break that we might fight back because GWS spent a lot of petrol tickets with their running up till then. Not every team has the likes of a Phil Davis to scrap away and get on top of Jesse Hogan and get into his head the way he did early in the game and I would suggest that there will be plenty of days when Jesse will be the one who gets the early edge on an opponent. The fact that we have the depth and players in the wings like Brayshaw, Dunn, Grimes, Lumumba, ANB and Billy Stretch with Petracca and Trengove to come into consideration down the track means that we do have the personell to fine tune our approach to goal and our conversion once we get inside 50. So while we might have been lucky to win on an imbalance of scoring shots, I don't think it's a big deal. Looking at the stats after the game, I think we won enough of them against an opponent that many believe to be finals material (one AFL360 pundit has them as potential top 5) to be somewhat optimistic. Yes ... and thanks George - we are taking steps forward - 999 to go!

When Dean Kent came off late in the game he appeared to be limping. He wasn't reported as injured in the media and it could be nothing but I'd like to see if he comes up as fit during the week.

I'm starting to think that we might not be big players in the early part of the draft meeting at the end of the year but FWIW, here's Chris25 of bigfooty's first go at a phantom draft of sorts:- The Big Board 1. Ben Ainsworth - 177cm, 73kg midfielder/forward from Gippsland Power 2. Sam Petrevski-Seton - 180cm, 73kg midfielder from Claremont Tigers 3. Harrison Macreadie - 195cm, 82kg defender from Henty (GWS) 4. Jarrod Berry - 190cm, 80kg defender from North Ballarat 5. Jonty Scharenberg - 185cm, 77kg midfielder from Glenelg 6. Jack Bowes - 187cm, 76kg midfielder from Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast) 7. Sam Powell-Pepper - 188cm, 83kg midfielder from East Perth 8. Will Brodie - 187cm, 80kg midfielder from Murray Bushrangers 9. Jacob Allison - 193cm, 73kg midfielder from Aspley (Brisbane) 10. Brandon Parfitt - 177cm, 72kg midfielder from North Adelaide/NT 11. Hugh McCluggage - 184cm, 70kg midfielder from North Ballarat Rebels 12. Jy Simpkin - 181cm, 71kg midfielder from Murray Bushrangers 13. Noah Hura - 186cm, 72kg midfielder from Peel Thunder 14. Will Setterfield - 189cm, 73kg midfielder from Sandringham Dragons (GWS) 15. Peter Ladhams - 202cm, 90kg ruckman from Norwood 16. Jordan Gallucci - 182cm, 73kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges 17. Alex Witherden - 184cm, 76kg defender from Geelong Falcons 18. Jack Scrimshaw - 193cm, 77kg defender from Sandringham Dragons 19. Jack Donnellan - 185cm, 76kg defender/midfielder from Launceston 20. Jeremy Goddard - 202cm, 97kg ruckman from Claremont Tigers 21. Josh Rotham - 192cm, 76kg defender from West Perth 22. Jamie Hampton - 186cm, 76kg midfielder from West Adelaide/NT 23. Josh Battle - 194cm, 89kg forward from Dandenong Stingrays 24. Jack Graham - 183cm, 83kg midfielder from North Adelaide 25. Thomas Highmore - 189cm, 80kg midfielder from Eastlake (GWS) 26. Mitchell Carter - 196cm, 83kg forward from Norwood 27. Jarrod Korewha - 192cm, 81kg defender from North Ballarat 28. Zac Sproule - 193cm, 81kg forward from Murray Bushrangers (GWS) 29. Luke Strnadica - 199cm, 88kg forward from East Fremantle 30. Daniel Venables - 185cm, 76kg midfielder from Western Jets

Whose idea was it to have Woosha sitting behind an advertisement for alliance pharmaceuticals?

Posters. Please concentrate on the subject. Abuse of each other will be blocked out.

Posters. Please concentrate on the subject. Abuse of each other will be blocked out.

If the Hulk averages three goals a game and plays in all of them, that's 66 goals which would be much better than last year. Just as a reminder, here are his 2015 goals. Hogan was given the royal treatment by a very strong opponent and yet the umpires could have been a little kinder to him early in the game. His comeback around the ground after such a disappointing start was nevertheless pretty handy. There will be better days.

Razor Ray achieved his aim. He got himself noticed.

Votes please 6 to 1

No subs but they're getting a red vest ready for Billy Stretch so that he can feel right at home during the game.

JKH was also coming back from an injury incurred in the pre season so I'll cut him some slack but I was personally disappointed with him yesterday. I suspect that with the form of Garlett, Kent and Harmes, the likely return to the side of Jack Trengove and the impending debut of Christian Petracca, JKH has his work cut out to get into the team.

Wonderful piece from Carro but she does have form. Like the time she wrote a glowing article on Cameron Schwab and his capabilities as an administrator only to come back a while later to royally stick the boots into him. There are some journos who quite happily do the bidding of AFL HQ. If I were Roosy, I would start watching my back.

And speaking of which, Ron Barassi had a remarkable year in 1964. I always thought he should have won the Brownlow but the team was so strong that he had too many great players taking votes away from him. Here, Martin Flanagan writes about AFL Season 2016: Memorabilia from one of football's most memorable men - Ron Barassi "My first pair of football boots were Ron Barassi boots – single-layer leather with reinforced toe-caps and padding over the anklebone, upon which was signed, in gold, Ron Barassi." My first pair of footy boots were also RDB boots. I cherished them and, after every game, would clean off the clumps of grass and dirt. It was great to be a follower of the club and to have heroes to look up to like Barass and the players of that era. Strangely enough, 50 years later we recruited a player who reminds me most of RDB in terms of strength and stature. I saw him play his first practice game yesterday. Who know what the future might bring?

The last of the list from Football Almanac Top 25's Will Setterfield Midfielder NSW/ACT Plays like: Ryan Griffen A member of the GWS Academy, he ranked second for NSW/ACT for score assists at the 2015 Under-18 Championships. Jye Simpkin Forward Victoria Plays like: Shane Edwards Simpkin is a clever and classy small forward who booted seven goals from his six games at 2015 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. Tim Taranto Forward Victoria Plays like: Alex Fasolo An elite basketballer, Taranto missed the first 10 weeks of the 2015 TAC Cup season, but finished the year with 23 disposals and four goals against the Eastern Ranges. Daniel Venables Midfielder Victoria Plays like: Cameron Guthrie Broke his leg in the opening match of the 2015 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships which subsequently ended his season. He is a classy and competitive inside midfielder. Sam White Defender Victoria Plays like: Adam Tomlinson Averaged 11 disposals and had a disposal efficiency 91% at the 2014 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships. Had his season cut short with a serious knee injury. Alex Witherden Defender Victoria Plays like: Zach Tuohy Played 12 games for the Geelong Falcons in 2015, averaging 18 disposals and an elite seven intercept possessions per game.

The dawn breaks and we're first up today at the MCG. Our opponent has an extraordinary number of top 20 draft choices on its list but, as we well know, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. This game is at our home and, as much as we broke a hoodoo when we beat them in our last game at Etihad, it's time to reclaim the MCG as our home against these northern invaders.

Trengove dares to dream as Petracca shows he's a game-breaker

It's been too long but this is what it was like back then ~ A Review of the 1964 Football Season

No dazzle. Newton took part in a number of drills but I don't think he took part in the match simulations or the practice match part of the session.

A few snippets:- I wasn't expecting Christian Petracca to do anything more than take part in some of the early drills but was pleasantly surprised that he then took the field for the match simulation and continued through the match practice part with few breaks. I was expecting him to be a bit scratchy considering that he last played Under 18 football in the latter part of 2014 and that was the case to some extent. He started off on the bench for a few minutes and then went onto a wing/flank and was patrolling those areas without the ball getting near him apart from the one or two opportunities to tackle. Then all of a sudden, he got his hands on the ball and that was all she wrote. He was in everything and showed out with his strength, tackling, marking and kicking. I will say however, that for the most part, he was allowed to roam free and that won't happen under the pressure cooker of AFL football. It was supposed to be Jack Trengove's day and from a football perspective, it was a faultless comeback. He took a couple grabs early, he positioned himself well and looked very much the Trengove of his early career. He's not fast but then he's not the slouch he appeared to be in the period before his foot injury was diagnosed. I suppose a lot will depend on how he pulls up in the next 24/48 hours. Then, let's hope that there are no recurring effects or issues with the foot. Hopefully, in a month's time he will be back on the G. The others to show out for me were Heritier Lumumba and Angus Brayshaw, both obviously a class above this level. Billy Stretch, ANB and Jayden Hunt did some nice things and will get games this year. Sam Weideman - I saw him struggle for opportunities out at Casey a couple of weeks ago but not so today. He is mobile and very good in the air and I expect him to get some game time this year. When he gets some meat on his body, he is going to be a difficult opponent and if we ever get to see him in full flight in the same forward line as Hogan and Petracca at AFL level, it will be exciting days for Demon fans. Joel Smith has some tricks from his basketball background and will be worth watching over the next year or two. The tall Casey player is Oscar McInerney - he towered over our two Kings. Tim Smith, the Casey CHF who has had some injury problems looks back in town and that should be good for the Scorps. As I was leaving Gosch's Paddock I noticed Satyriconhome chatting with Christian Petracca. I hope Satyr has an exclusive for us on that score.

And it's all over ... Now for the big one tomorrow.

Petracca shrugs a tackle and snags one.

Max King has limped off and his ankle is getting some attention.

Weideman very impressive with his marking.