CHF

Now let me dream a little....... pies win tomorrow and we march to the flag with wins against cats, hawks, pies an tigers all on the MCG. hmmmmmmmm nice

Well, that was very, very satisfying. Now for a,drink.

Damn. I wish I was doing the same. Watching it live will be the best I can do from where I am. Hope you have a good evening.

I have a lot of confidence when I see Gawn, Harmes, Oliver and Brayshaw walking together towards the center square bounce having a chat. It also gives me confidence that we have a lot of quality rotations that can more through there. Jones Tyson, Petracca, Viney plus a few others.

Add Viney to those three and the holy trinity become the Four Horsemen.

For me it will be interesting to,see,the first few contests around the ruck. We will need to work out very quickly the tactics Geelong intend to use. They will know that Max will dominate the taps and will need a tactic to shark them to win the clearances. We will need to be super aware and react quickly.

So,after,12years we get to play another final. I had forgotten that feeling of win you play next week.....lose and you are done for the season. Interesting to get the head around. Off to bed soon a bit of a,sleep.... breakfast. A bit of work and watch live over lunch. looking,forward to this with a clear mind that we will win and win well. go Dees

I will celebrate too much.

Well done Max, having a great year. i love the visual on the games when, after a goal, Max walks back to the center for the bounce and is with Oliver, Brayshaw and Harmes. Such a good strong unit. They are obviously chatting about where to place the ball.

No change for me but it will be interesting to see who they carry over as emergency. Bugg?

Just a great feeling to see the win in Perth and to look forward to a crack at the finals. What makes it even more noteworthy is that we got the win without our best key forward, our best key defender and one of our most critical midfielders. Of those three only Viney looks a chance to return for the first week of finals. The way we played on Sunday in the absence of these three players and with other depth players also out injured shows me that we have the critical depth to take on a challenge any team in the finals. Go Dees!

I like the selection this week. It looks as if they may have started with a blank sheet of paper and a list of available players and sorted it out from scratch. Good to see Hibberd and Melksham back I believe they will give us more drive from defence and better quality F50 entries. Will be interested to see how Kent and Weidman go. Personally I think Weideman should have been in last week. Hannan needs to have a good one. might have been a toss up between he and Garlett.

I will be interested to see how Pedersen is used by Goodwin in his match as he does bring a lot of flexibility to the team. I could see three uses for him. If the defence needs bolstering he can slot in there to be a cut out for Frost on Franklin. He can also relieve in the ruck to make sure that Tmac is still in the forward line at all times. I could see that if Franklin is cutting loose I hen he could rotate into the forward line and free up Tmac to have a crack at Buddy. will be interesting to watch.

Good to see that Hogan finally found a way to remove Chris Dawes brick gloves.

Hibberd and Hannan out J. Smith and Tyson in

Disappointing game. We were half a pace behind most of the day and looked flat. It is a concern that for te second week in a row we were killed in clearances, the difference this week was that this team had the firepower to take advantage of their position. they out pressured us around the ball and therefore the midfield could not give cover to an under performing defence. Good thing there is a break as it will give us a chance to re-charge and re-set for the second half of the season.

Off to sleep now in my part of the world. 7.20am game time for me. I will watch the first half and then shower and get breakfast ready during the half time break. Dees by a lot.

Interchange selection will be interesting. with the Casey game on tomorrow we should get a clear idea of the bench. I would go with ANB, Pedo, J. Smith, Hannan/Garlett depending on Hannan's fitness. Stretch as emergency.

I am in the camp that says to give him more time to develop before pointing him to the door. I think he has the potential to become a handy player for us. it is great that he has the opportunity to develop at the proper pace rather than be thrown into a 'sink or swim' situation. The context I put his situation into is to look at the development of Gawn. He was drafted 6 years before Wied and is 6 year older. it is not until 2 1/2 years ago in mid season 2015 that it clicked for him that he may have the game to be something above average. I could see the same sort of development profile for someone like Sam Wiedeman. To me he just looks like a person that is going to take longer to mature.

It is strange not to be worried about injuries this season as much as I have worried about them in the past. Last season we had a raft of longer term injuries to critical players and only just missed out on the 8. After a good solid off season we seem to have developed a group of players that are very flexible in the way they can play. there is also as evenness about the group. Viney did not play any JTL but our midfield stood up well without him. TMac did not play JTL2 and we had 13 goal scorers. I think we have the players and game plan to cover a few injured players.

I am not fussed about injuries. I, of course. would prefer that we did not have any but it is an unreasonable expectation to go through the season without any. We are going to have injuries right through the year from Round 1 through to Round 23 and beyond. Looking at our, list and the development we have invested in the players and the coaching group I am confident that we will be able to put competitive teams out each and every week. No Viney in the JLT and we have a more than competitive midfield in both games. TMac not there in JLT2 and we have 13 goal kickers in a strong win. We have a good group of players that have the flexibility and desire to cover for one another. Looking forward to this season and do not see R1 as defining the season.

From the highlights package this kids looks to move really well. Seems to have plenty of time to get to the right places and knows what to do when he gets there. Will be interesting to see how he develops. If we get a good run with injuries I can see us running deep into finals in both seniors and Casey.

Maybe Gil can get the Fat Lady to perform as the half time entertainment

Lot to like about this kid and how he plays the game. Overload of skill and vision, looks to enjoy himself out there and if you watch him when he lines up at centre bounces he is always into his player and giving him a little to think about and go on with. Always a nudge,a bump or a bit of a push but when the ball goes down he is all eyes for the ball. Another preseason and I can see him being one of the best,if not the best, in the business. The only thing I fear is that by doing the extraordinary week after week the extraordinary will be accepted and the ordinary. I have watched replays just concentrating on him to watch how he moves when off the ball and he always just has eyes for the ball and looks to get to where it is going to be. His goal was a good example. He contested the ball and then when the play moves to the boundary he trails the play at a jog. As soon as he saw the opening and that it was his turn he was so decisive.

Loved when he took a mark inside the 50, loved that Petracca broke quickly towards goal and loved that Oliver did not hesitate to honour the run and delivered a beautifully weighted kick to him for a goal. Great combination I want to see more of.