CHF

A very interesting side. I just hope that we have the skills across the team to exploit our strengths. Speed is all very well but if we cannot cut down the turnovers we will be in trouble.

A post on here showed a tweet or whatever from Jackson that alluded to Smith playing against the Blues.

Interesting confirmation that Jackson, Rivers and Bennell will play and that it also looks like Smith will be there also. With those players in the team there is a huge amount of conjecture on the structure of the rest of the team. Will Jones and Salem both get back after being unavailable for R1? Will either of Omac or Hibberd get selected? What sort of structure will our forward line have? I can imagine that these and other questions will need to be addressed by the Blues Selectors. It will be interesting to see how they line up.

It is going to be a tough selection to get right for this match. Almost a complete injury free list to select from, no match from to give guidance and limited match sim at training. For the defenders I think that May, Lever, Omac, Jetta and Salem are definitely to be named With Harmes to rotate through there and to possibly take up a tagging role on one of the Blues mids. Smith or Lockhart may be on the bench as cover defenders. Midfield is pretty straight forward. Gawn leading the ruck with Viney, Oliver, Petracca and Brayshaw in some combination at his feet for center bounces. Harmes and Melksham to also be there at times or as required. Langdon and Tomlinson to spend almost all the game on the ground with Fritsch and Salem to roam through there at times. Definates for me in the forwards are Tmac, Fritsch, Melksham, Pickett and Wiedeman, I would look to rest an inside mid in the forward line. Petracca, Oliver, Brayshaw or Viney. All can kick goals there and rotating there may help to change up a tag. Bench: As I said, either Smith or Lockhart to cover defenders. Whichever one misses will be very unlucky. Jones on the bench along with Neal-Bullen and Bennell. With Bennell I would want to be confident that he could spend 60%+ TOG and contribute either in the midfield or as a forward. So, My team is: B: Jetta, May, Lever HB: Salem, OMac, Harmes B: Langdon, Brayshaw, Tomlinson HF: Melksham, Fritsch, Petracca F: Wiedeman, T.McDonald, Pickett FOL: Gawn, Oliver, Viney IC: Jones, Neal-Bullen, Smith, Bennell

Old Dee, I live over in Europe and miss going to the live matches. I am always watching the games live each and every time the Dees play. I would take a win in any match. this season is compromised but I am sure that none of the players will be holding back. If we get to a finals series and a resolved season, I hope that the Dees are at the top, playing in the final and win the bloody thing.

From the AFL website. https://www.afl.com.au/news/441279/curtain-raisers-back-afl-gives-clubs-the-green-light-to-organise-scratch-matches QUOTE: "Teams will have the option to hold these games as curtain-raisers or curtain-closers to senior fixtures, and they must be played at AFL-approved venues."

Serious Answer: Yes. I will be watching when we play Saturday week. Really looking forward to the game. I would also be interested in watching the curtain raiser if it was on in the same way I would watch the Casey games. Like to see how they are developing.

AFL has given the go ahead for possible curtain raiser scratch matches involving the players not engaged in the first team. A good move in my opinion as it will give all the players a hit out and give them a chance to impress for selection This team looks to be close to the one that could be selected. B: JETTA. MAY. LEVER. HB: HARMES. O MCDONALD. SALEM. ? LANGDON. OLIVER. TOMLINSON. HF: JONES. T MCDONALD. MELKSHAM. FF: FRITSCH. WEIDEMAN. PICKETT. Fol: GAWN. VINEY. PETRACCA. Bench: NEAL-BULLEN, BRAYSHAW, VANDENBERG, HIBBERD RESERVES? B: Lockhart Petty Smith HB: J. Wagner. Hore Rivers ? Hunt Sparrow Baker. HF: Bennell Brown Spargo FF: Bedford Jackson Hannan Fol: Preuss Jordan C. Wagner Bench: Chandler, Dunkley, Bradtke, ******** I think that covers all the fit players we have at the moment. If it happens I would like to think it would be televised on some platform.

LT, I like the team and the explanation notes. There is talk of the interchange being expended by 1 or 2. If it was expanded by two I would seriously consider giving Bennell a spot if fit. It would be a good way of giving him a run with limited game time.

Selection for round 2 will be an interesting exercise. So many questions that will need to be answered. What sort of condition did the players come back in? How have the injured players come up? Who and where are we playing? In so many ways this is a re-set of the season except we are starting 0-1 This is the Round 1 team that went down to WC sometime last century. It looks as if we will get Round 2 mid-June and I am sure we are all looking forward to it. FB: Neville Jetta, Steven May, Jake Lever HB: Oscar McDonald, James Harmes, Michael Hibberd C : Ed Langdon, Clayton Oliver, Adam Tomlinson HF: Alex Neal-Bullen, Bayley Fritsch, Jack Viney F: Kysaiah Pickett, Tom McDonald, Mitch Brown FOL: Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Jake Melksham IC: Charlie Spargo, Angus Brayshaw, Toby Bedford, Jay Lockhart This is not meant to be a prediction of the round 2 team more a look at who might come into the team given the long break that we have had between rounds. Missing from the R1 team through injury were Jones and Salem who, I would have thought, were automatic selections if fit. They would have replaced Spargo and Bedford I believe. Of the longer term injured we may find Preuss, AVB or Bennell ready for a run. Afterall, if that have recovered and built a fitness base, then they are now no worse off than the rest of the list who will not have had any footy for a few months. A level playing field. I think Jackson and Rivers could only have benefited from the extended break that would have allowed them a little bit more time to grow into their bodies and to build and develop a fitness base. Selections will be based on training form only. I cannot imagine that the playing form in R1 would be considered. If it were Brown, Bedford and Spargo would be on the outer.

Not really the idea I had in mind......

I like the idea that is in the OP but I could see something like that being a trial for the future of the competition. Covid 19 is, of course, having a big impact on our lives at the moment and I believe that this impact will be felt in the medium and long term on all areas of our lives. With regard to the AFL and footy, I can see that the AFL will emerge form this with a tighter control over the footy clubs and finances and also a relatively free hand to reshape the game. So, what might we see? The competition split into two conferences with the teams in each conference playing each other twice and the other conference once? Mind you, with 18 teams in the competition that would result in a season of 25 games before a final series. It would work better with 16 teams as that would result in 22 games for the season plus finals. 25 games per season would not be out of the realms of possibility as that would then justify shorter quarters and an interchange extended to 6 players. All possibilities. Clubs may support that [censored] the additional games would provide additional income. The broadcast media would support [censored] a there would be additional games to broadcast and the players could be won over with shorter games and additional interchange and possibly retaining larger lists. If the conferences were decided on the ladder positions at the end of H&A of the previous year, this is how it would work out. Red conference · Geelong · Richmond · WC · Bulldogs · Hawthorn · Adelaide · Freo/Suns · Sydney · Melbourne Blue conference · Brisbane · Collingwood · GWS · Essendon · PA · North · St Kilda · Carlton · Suns/ Freo You might look at swapping Freo and the Suns in that case so that the two Queensland teams and the two WA teams are not in the same conference.

Footy in the time of Coronavirus HEADLINE: Dees practice ‘social distancing’ whenever West Coast get the ball. my take aways from the game. 1. worst game I have seen from Max in a long time. Half paced and lack of contest. Not just against Nic Nak but also the WC back up. Very poor first game as Captain. 2. Viney was very good. 3. Oliver half paced and lazy. 4. Spargo? Spargo? If Spargo is the answer then you are asking the wrong questions. Very poor. 5. Forward structure is non-existent. It is all very well selecting three small, one dimensional forwards, but if they are not at the fall of the ball in the forward 50, th e they are a luxury you cannot afford. 6. kicking is as bad as I have seen. Both field kicking and goal kicking need to be a focus for the next two months. 7. key defenders were good. OMac, May and to a lesser extent, Lever, all played their roles well. We were let down by the medium sized defenders, Yes, I am looking at you Hibberd and Jetta. 8. Lack of pressure, awareness and accountability, hence ‘social distancing’. Poor poor poor. 9. Brown must have taken over Chris Dawes’ locker and found his brick gloves. Please give Weideman a chance. 10. Lockhart was ok but in the first quarter left his opponent and drifted towards the contest. Result? He is caught in no mans land, ball flipped over his head to his opponent unattended in the goal square. goal.

I see him as part of the 'ínside' midfield rotation along with Petracca, Viney, Oliver, Harmes, and occasionally, Melksham for a bit of variety. Gus, when in form, is one of those players that seems to have plenty of time to sort through and select the right option. I find it difficult to judge any of our players on last season form. The players were not properly prepared and the team structure, fitness and form made it impossible for any player to play to their potential

I could see Harmes given the job on Kelly first up with Viney running a loose tag on Yeo. I love it if we could force them into being reactive rather than proactive.

We have to get our hands on the ball in the middle to have a chance of stuffing it up like that.

Hmmm Bulldogs have been talked up a bit this pre-season........

IMO we have made a mistake in selecting Spargo, Pickett and Bedford together in this team. I don't think any of the three can rotate effectively to play on the ball. We will be down in Midfield rotations and WC will exploit this. I think we are at least one, maybe two rotations short in the midfield with this team. if we cannot win the ball in the middle or force turnovers we have no use for a quick, small fleet of forwards as the ball will not get in there. I would have taken Wiedeman over Brown.

I have him unwell with what ever it is they say it is. If he is fit I would have him in instead of Hore. (oops. I mean Sparrow. Sparrow to replace Hore in Emr.)

It will be good to see some meaningful footy played this weekend. Have been hanging out for it and after the last few virus weeks it will be a welcome distraction. It will be an interesting selection this weekend. We have a good strong list to elect from and only a few key injuries. In defence we have OMac, May Lever Jetta and Hibberd all locked in there for R1. Harmes i being groomed for the HB and I could see him rotating with Lockhart through there for this game. We may need to swing him into a tagging role in the middle if it is required so I can see Lockhart named on the bench. We need TMac firing up forward. Fritsch and Melksham will be there and I think will cause a lot of headaches for a lot of defences this season. I would have Weideman and Pickett in the team. Weideman as a support to Max and Pickett because I think he has shown enough to get a crack at small forward spot. Max to spend some time in the forward 50 when resting. Shorter quarters will allow this to happen more. Midfield to spread its new wings Tomilinson and Langdon with a mix of Petracca, Viney, Oliver and Brayshaw to run around at Max's feet. Melksham and Harmes to get a run in the middle a well at times. Jones and Sparrow on the bench with Lockhart and i would have ANB there as well for his ability to run all day and to cover a few different roles. B - Jetta O.McDonald Hibberd HB - Lever May Harmes C - Langdon Petracca Tomlinson HF - Melksham T.McDonald Brayshaw F - Pickett Fritsch Weideman R - Gawn Oliver Viney IC - Jones Lockhart Sparrow Neal-Bullen EMR: Jackson, Bedford, Hore, Hunt.

Is there an argument to reorganise the fixture so that there is not travel in the first week? Freo Vs WC, Port Vs Crows, Swans Vs Giants........ you get the picture. That would at least rule out infection on flights.

I did a search and could not find a topic on a tipping comp for the board this season. Have I missed it?

B: Jetta May Lever HB: Hibberd Omac Harmes C : Langdon Viney Tomlinson HF: Melksham Wiedeman ANB FF: Bedford T Mac, Fritsch R: Gawn Oliver Petracca interchange: Jones Brayshaw Lockhart Spargo/Pickett Salem not considered at this stage because of illness. It is going to be a tough first up selection for the WC game. I think we need to play all three of OMac, May and Lever. Jetta, Hibberd and Harmes make up the rest of the back 6 with Lockhart to rotate through there. Midfield picks its self to a large extent and I noticed during the Hawks game that at the center bounces we seemed to have Petracca and Oliver there a constants with the third being Viney, Brayshaw and, in the second half, Harmes. Generally I like to see at least 1 players that can rotate into midfield positions during a game. I feel we are one short in this team but that is a reaction to the WC forward setup. In the forwards I think we have a very good, flexible mix of players that we can use to our advantage. All of them have good engines and can, according to matchups, use this to advantage. I have preferred Bedford to others for this very reason. He has surprised me this preseason with his fitness and general play. Spargo or Pickett in the I/C but I could have also thrown in Sparrow who I have a lot of time for. Wiedeman to to relieve in ruck and I would look at Max resting forward.

I would commit to Wiedeman 100% for the first few rounds of the season and make sure that there is complete clarity about the structure of the rucking/forward setup and the role that he is required to play. I believe that Jackson will develop a lot better and quicker if he is given time at VFL level. He is 4 years younger than Wiedeman and needs time to fill into his body and find his feet. In the past we have been very critical of the club's inability to develop young players properly so that they get to their maximum potential. I would like to think that the lessons have been learnt and that we have a few experienced heads that will structure individual development for each player. Jackson is a long term player with all the ability to be developed into a star on the AFL. We need to get it right and in my mind that does not mean pushing him into situations that he may not yet be equipped for.

Gotta smile with Max