CHF

Ok.... just gone 11am where I am.... 25 mins or so to the first bounce. Breakfast finished chores done. Have the house to my self and ready to stream the game. Could someone please assure me it is 4pm somewhere in the world so I can crack a beer?

Good team with the inclusion of Schache as a forward to support JVR. I expected that there would be more changes to the team given the 5 day break and then the travel the following round. The selectors may have taken into account the situation of North with regard to the travel/schedule that they have had to endure recently. If Chandler does not come up Then I would bring Laurie into the team and make Harmes the sub. We have our 7 defenders in Bowey, Lever, May, Hibberd, Rivers, McVee and Brayshaw with Brayshaw able to rotate into the middle as well as the wing if required. Schache can cover a tall loss down back if needed. On the wings we have Langdon and Hunter with Jordon, ANB and Brayshaw all able to run the wings on rotation. The middle we have well covered with Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Sparrow the main drivers with Jordon, ANB, Brayshaw, Rivers and, at times, Pickett all able to effectively move through there. I expect Grundy to take at least 50% of the ruck work and would not be surprised if it was closer to 60% with Max moving in front of the ball or behind it as required. The forward setup is pretty transparent with Schache, Van, Rooyen and Fristch as the talls and Chandler and Pickett working at the drop of the ball with rotations from ANB, and mids such as Viney, Petracca and Oliver. Could also see Sparrow and Jordon in there at times as well. Looking forward to see how Schache goes as I believe that he may surprise a few. If we settle quickly in the match and work the basics well and let the imagination and game come to us I think we will win well against a young North side. I also believe that with our stronger bodies and better fitness, we will pull away from them in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Go Dees!

I think that JVR will develop into a very good forward for us over the next few years but I would be vey careful in placing him in a position of being the No. 1 target in the forward 50 in the near future. I think we saw exactly what would happen if we did that this season in the game against Richmond. he had the Tigers no. 1 defender on him for 3 quarters and did very little. it was not until Balta was moved into the ruck that he had the chance to get off the leash a bit. I would like to see him get support of an experienced tall forward next to him to take off the pressure. Brown would be my first choice for that role as I think the opposition would need to have their best defender on him. TMac? not really going to attract the best defender every week and he is looking very limited at the moment. Might be time to give Schache a run there to see if he can fill the role. We need to support the development of JVR and the best way to do that is to make sure he ha the correct support up forward.

I would like to think that the selection this week is part of a planned rotation to cover this block of three games. It is critical that we get the management of the crucial players right this season. I know that it is a week to week proposition with regard to in game injuries and recovery but I hope that we have some idea to get through this section of the draw. To me there looked to be a couple of NQRs at the end of the game with Rivers 'cramping' and May just looking proppy. There are also some reports of Chandler carrying some injury. Not sure on any of these. but given the 5 day turn around we need to ensure that we have a team of fit and rested players on the ground. Defence - if May is not fit I would give him a rest and this is not because we are playing North. I would rest him if he is not right no matter who we are playing. Petty back along with Lever and Disco. Bowey, Rivers (if fit), Hibberd (if fit) and McVee to fill out the rest of the match ups. Brayshaw can rotate back there if required. Midfield - Pretty much as it was if they all pull up fit and rested. If Chandler does not pull up fit I would look at adding either Harmes, Laurie or Dunstan to the mix to rotate through the mid and also fill in forward when required. Forwards - JVR with Schache and Max resting forward as talls. Fristch the other option with Pickett, ANB and a rotation of Mids in there. We need someone in there as a tall to give JVR a chance to work the second or third defender. If he gets the No.1 defender then he works as a decoy to move them out of the drop zone and allows the other talls to work there including Fristch. I can see that there might be 3 or 4 changes to the team this week and a similar number again next week. We have quality depth in the list and need to use it.

Post match one of the big talking points was that they could have taken JVR prior to our selection of him in the draft. Bagging their draft selection people big time.

As I said in the game day thread, it was a frustrating game to watch. In the first quarter we were second to the ball and wayward with our passing by hand and foot. Looked to overthink and over work the situations. We improved once we got back to the basics and looked to move the ball further from the base of action a bit cleaner and quicker. I think the coaching group did a good job to turn it around after the first quarter, we did outscore them in each of the last 3 quarters and in the second half we scored 9.4 to 3.8. A significant turnaround after quarter time. All this on a big stage in front of almost 84,000 crowd. As a lot of people have said, in defence, May looked a bit proppy, not 100% in my opinion. Slow to react and half pace at the moment. If he is not right, give him time on the sidelines to recover fully. we have to learn from last season where we played NQR players and suffered for it. The rest of the back 50 held up very well with Lever working his way back into good intercepting form and Hibberd doing a good job after quarter time on whats-his-name. the rest did as they were required to do with McVee just looking settled and more than competent at this level. Mids took a bit of time to get to work except for Viney who had a very very good game. Tough, direct and well used by the coaches. Sparrow and Jordon filled their roles and contributed very well. Forward 50 is a work in progress as Goodwin stated during his presser. I would not have Petty as a forward, to my mind, he is too valuable in defence and we were crying out for an experienced forward target for the first 3 quarters. I liked the game of Chandler who really shows the value of a small crumbing forward prepared to work the contests at the fall of the ball. Liked the way JVR came good in the last. A lot of people are praising him for his performance in the last but we need to weight that against his work and performance in the other 3 quarters. Hardly sighted. I want to believe that his last quarter performance will give him the confidence to present the way a bit more of the time in more matches. I also think that if he has Brown beside him he will get the freedom and space to do it more. I love the way we came back and took the game away from Richmond. I think that the first half is a good as Richmond could play at the moment given their list and injuries whereas during that time we looked as if we were a 50%. A good 4 points to take way from that game and always good to beat the Tigers. A word on the umps: Rubbish!

Damn frustrating game to watch with the performance of the umps and our dreadful disposal. backs look better with Lever there but they are suffering from the same as the rest of the team because of the Tiger's pressure their disposals are off. No forward line to speak of. Very dysfunctional. let's try playing an experienced forward sometimes soon. Mids.... so many superstars and so very little results at the center bounces. Who is our midfield coach?? Work harder at the basics, bring pressure and look to secure and keep the ball. We can win this.

We all like happy endings, DZ

I can see that the selections for the team this week have more than an eye on the North game 5 days later. 4 named in the team, Petty, Lever, May and Rivers I would imagine would play both games. Brayshaw and McVee are named in the team and I would imagine Hibberd will be on the bench for the match. I might be tempted to drop Bowey back to Casey for this weekend and bring him in for the North game. Possibly for either McVee or Hibberd. It would depend on injuries during the Richmond game and how the players recover. In the midfield, If we go with Hibberd and Grundy as two of the bench I would like to see Two of Jordon, Sparrow and Dunstan named on the bench with the other one as the sub. Forwards is where we are a bit thin on the ground for mine. TMac and JVR as talls with a resting ruck there some of the time. Fristch as a third tallish doing what he does and then the smalls in ANB and Pickett with a rotation through there of resting mids. Either that, or they bring in Laurie to fill out the smalls up forward but then they might be robbing the mid rotations. From what I saw of Laurie in his first game he did not do all that much in the midfield when given a run there. There seems to be a number of options to try in the Forward 50 and we may see a couple of these options come the North game. I hope so. We do have a number of players that can play a number of different roles and I think that is a good thing. will keep the opposition coaches guessing a lot more than messing with the team sheet. Will be interesting to see the final team once it is decided. Dees to bounce back and win this one by 30pts.

Just my inclination on the cautious side with a second game against North 5 days later. we will need to rotate some players between the two games. with his recovery from the knee, I can see Max as one that might be good to slot into the north game after the workout against the Tigers. I can see your point though.

Gus was far from the worst against the Bombers. He was playing a role in a badly beaten team and he mainly did what was asked of him. Personally I think he should be part of the inside mid rotation predominantly. With his flexibility and experience he cover through the back half, on a wing or even having a run in the forward 50. He is a smart footballer. For mine, play him in the mids a majority of the time. I would have liked to see him given a run in there last game. it does not matter where he plays on the ground if he is one head know away from retirement, he should give it up now and think of his future.

I can see that the coaches and selectors will be looking at structures for the next two games against Hawks and North given that they are only 5 days apart. After the bombers game and how bad we played, there will be a lot of intense discussion on the best team for each of these matches. I also hope that the coaches have a good review of their performance leading up to the game last week and during the game it's self. It is not all on the players. The team did not look to be properly primed for the game and there looked to be no attempt by the coaches to change the course of the match when it was going against us. All the talk in the pre season of how the team and coaches had worked on ways to turn around the momentum in a match proved to be just that, talk. Spargo will be an out and possibly Sparrow - both to concussion protocols. I can see a number of other changes over the next two matches with Schache, Laurie, Howe and even possibly Sestan getting a run along with some returning injured players such as Lever, Hibberd and Brown. I might be inclined to hold Gawn back until the North game. Interesting situation for us given the ladder this round. We lie 6th on the ladder with the top 4 teams playing each other. 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3. The 5th placed team, Swans play the Cats down at the Valley of Death. A win by us this round will see us jump a few spots......... if we win.

We lacked leadership both on and off the field today and that resulted in being dominated in all aspects of the game. They applied more pressure, were harder at the man and the ball and were better organised. Without proper leadership on the ground we had no direction or drivers. Our coaching team were out thought and lacked imagination to try and arrest the momentum. This is in the face of all the talk about the way they have worked on this aspect of the game over the off season. We had a back line that was misfiring and a forward line that was also a shambles. We have players able to switch between those positions but the coaches did not use them. Early on the midfield was getting beaten and we persisted withe the same setup. individually there were some below par efforts. May and TMac come to mind as they are more experienced players that should have a solid baseline to work from in these situations. Gawn and Lever are strong on field leaders in two critical areas of the ground for us and we need them back as soon as possible. disappointing game and we got the result we deserved given the rubbish we dished our today.

I liked the game and the result. Took what WC dished up in the first quarter, beat them at their own game and then showed them how it really should be played in the second half. Coulda? Shoulda? Woulda? Yeh, whatever. I will take a ten goal win on the road any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Aspects I liked from the game included Viney showing improved form, when he keeps it simple and relies on his strength at the contest he impacts the game in a big way. I liked the way the forwards connected and worked for each other. I liked the way our senior mids worked into the game after slow/contained starts. I liked the way our forwards hit the scoreboard..... Spargo, Chandler and Pickett all playing the way small forwards should..... TMac, Frisch and JVR all doing what they needed to do.... all this scoring is a good reflection of better delivery into the forward 50. A few questions being asked on this thread so I thought I would give my OPINION..... I would have last Sunday’s Viney every round and not bother about his IQ , footy or otherwise we are a better team with him in the team and in form. Salem or Gus? The position is Gus’s at the moment and he is filling a role very well. Salem is/has been injured/unwell and until he is back in training and played a couple of games at Casey to show his form, there is no question. By the time he is back to match fitness and in form there may be some others that may not be performing. If both Salem and Brayshaw were fit and playing their best footy I would have them both in the team. A shout out to the team structures and culture as it is these things that allow our young players to develop and mature in the right way. McVee, Sparrow, Jordon, Bowery, JVR, Chandler...... all successes when they were brought into the team. A big part of that success was the fact that there was no pressure on them to be superstar saviours. Just told that they were ready to come in and do what is asked of them. 4 more points......

I have the view that Petty’s last game in defence was pretty ordinary and he was a bit lucky not to have been dropped and Tomlinson retained when May came back.

Hard decision over the cheese board this week. Pickett had to come in and we needed another tall into the side in place of Brown. The choice of the tall was between Tmac and Tomlinson a toss up. I would have gone with Tomlinson and given Tmac another run with Casey. The out for Pickett meant that we were always going to drop one of Jordon or Sparrow. Hard selection for the one dropped. Jordon to be sub? Strong team none the less. Dees by a lot. Go Dees!

I have a feeling that there will be positive movement on this within the next month. There are a few whispers around that I have heard, but that is all they are; whispers. the club is a tight ship these days with very little getting out. Good to see. Would not surprise me if the contract was for 3 years with weighting towards the back end. Might even be options attached for the following years leading up to free agency.

So, looks like we will be playing the Casualty Ward next week in, what will be for us, a no win game. We take the 4 points and it is against a team that had no chance because of injury. We lose to them...... well we will get beaten up by the media and our supporters. Worst of both worlds is if we win but just scrape home. Ah well....... whatever happens, happens. The most interesting thing for me this week will be what happens over the cheese boards at selection. We have a couple of injury niggles that might mean a week or so rest could be in order for Brown and Hibberd. I would err on the side of caution for both of them. Rest them and let them sort out their problems without a couple of flights and a game in between. I believe we have enough depth and flexibility to cover them in this game. Possible team: B: Lever, May, Rivers HB: Bowey, Brayshaw, McVee C: Langdon, Oliver, Hunter HF: ANB, Petty, Spargo F: Chandler, JVR, Fristch Fol: Grundy, Petracca, Viney IC: Jordon, Sparrow, Pickett, Tomlinson SUB: Melksham Defence is pretty much [censored] is was last week except Hibberd to be rested to fix his injury. Tomlinson on the bench as defensive cover. Petty to stay forward except in case of emergency. Having made the switch give him a proper run there to see what he can do. I like his mongrel. Mids to do what they did last week. Beside the ones named in the center in the above side, Rivers, Brayshaw, ANB, Jordon, Sparrow and Pickett can all rotate through there. Petty, JVR and Tomlinson can all fill in the ruck role when required. Forwards have a couple of talls with Petty and JVR, a third tall in Fristch and a bunch of capable smalls to feed of them. I can see us leading by 4 or 5 goals at 3/4 time and them easing away with better fitness and skills in the last to double the lead. Go Dees!

A good team wide response to the game they served up last week. Midfield was much sharper today with excellent pressure and intensity. It really does make a world of difference to the team performance in the forward and back 50 arcs. The selection was spot on this week and the team was well coached on the day. Goodwin played them to their strengths and they stood up when challenged, both as a team and as individuals. What to say about JVR's debut??? Really, all you could ask for. Put himself about, tackled tirelessly and kicked a few. A lot of good games in there. Chandler, Spargo, Jordon, Sparrow, Rivers, McVee and Hibberd....... lesser lights but all had telling contributions. Liked Grundy's game. It improved the longer the game went on. Viney will need to find some form to keep his spot. In a strongly performing midfield and with depth knocking on the door, you need to be 'on' every week. A lot to like from this game. Kossie back next week??? Who do you take out of that side for him? Tough decisions to make. The performance of the small forwards this week shows what my lie ahead if he walks at the end of the season. I would have him in the team next week and want him to sign on for another couple of seasons at least but today's performance gives me high hopes for the future. Nice one Boys!

Not a bad team for this weekend given the available troops. Quite a few options and flexibility in the 26 named. Strange back 6 named with Chandler and Hunter back there. Looking at the team I think they might line up a below at the first center bounce. B: Lever, May, McVee HB: Bowey, Petty, Rivers C: Hunter, Oliver, Langdon HF: ANB, TMac, Spargo F: Chandler, Brown, Fritsch Fol: Grundy, Petracca, Viney I: JVR, Brayshaw, Sparrow, Dunstan SUB: Melksham Mind you, if the Midfield play the way they did last week then it will not matter who is in our front and back 50m arcs. I hope the midfield respond to their collective game last week and lift the intensity and really keep the pressure on the player and the ball. Will be interested to see how the coached use JVR. Tmac to be second ruck and JVR to slot into his role when he is in there? JRV to start closer to goal when TMac is rucking? Will be watching carefully. Dees by not very many in a close game at the G!

Not sure what to make of this game. Missing a few key players and then Max going down in the 1st Quarter gives a reason for a below par performance but it will not wash in this instance. No idea why but the midfield just did not fire at all. Showed no intensity and exerted very little pressure on the lions. Without that midfield pressure, our defence was put under a lot of pressure with the ball coming in a million times. We lost the centre bounce clearance as a consequence of a lack of pressure and the worst thing about that is that we did not have any answers. We did not look to adjust. so very strange. Of the mids, Harmes looked the most out of sorts and looked to give away more frees than the number of possessions he had. drop him for a run with Casey and bring in Jordon. May back next week will help the defence but I think there will be a close look at Petty's game. not one of his best. Would not be surprised if he had a run with Casey and Tomlinson is retained. Would not mind Brayshaw given a bit more time on the ball. Max to be replaced by????? JVR looks a possibility given the rucking he did for Casey over the weekend, Schache is a possibility. They may both come in if TMac does not come up. Hope that at training this week there is a clear message given as to the reasons why we underperformed and a clear message on what needs to be done to ensure it an aberration. I see the selection this week as an indication as to how the selectors are going to perform this season. We have a lot of depth and the players have to accept that if they do not perform, they are going to be replaced. Go Dees!

I was on a flight to Doha that took off an hour prior to the bounce. I know….. bad organisation but it was not my decision. Good thing was that Qatar Airlines has on board internet. Joy oh joy. I can tell you that my fellow business class travelers were bemused by the advice that I was giving to the umps, our players and the doggies even though I was restrained. I am sure I was restrained….. really I was….. The game reminded me a lot of the way we played games during ‘21. Apply a bit of pressure early on, assess what the opposition brings to the game, come out after the halftime break with the coached instructions clear and step up our game to cover the opposition. Good to see. As with the Richmond Practice game, the team looks confident, fit, mature and well drilled. I believe that any team sport needs to concentrate on defence and transition both ways. It is critical that a team has the fitness and structures to do this 100% of game time week in week out. Loved that we ran out the game so well and did not let up. Our defence without May and Salem was excellent. They reduced the Doggies tall timber to kindling. Tomlinson was very good in the defensive team. He did all that was asked of him and slotted in very well. Petty did well and Lever played his best game in a long while. Seemed to mark everything he could get to. Bowey just does it all very well. Brave committed and skilful. McVee’s first game was great and Rivers looks to be in excellent form. I think he is the natural replacement for Hibberd as he looks to retire. Brayshaw looked like the replacement for Salem. Always in the right spot and distributed the ball well. The movement out of defence into attack was very good. The running in waves and passing by hand and foot good to watch. Others have commented but I also want to highlight the way we paced our attack at times. Sometimes holding the ball and passing it around looking for a weakness in the opposition and at other times moving the ball quickly when we have the defence disorganised and scrambling. Good decision making. I recall early on in Goodwin’s coaching term that he stated that he wanted to build versatility into the players and the playing group. He and the coaching team have done that in spades. I always take note of the players we send to the centre bounces and yesterday we had a variety of players effectively moving through there. At one stage, Rivers, Kossie and Oliver were there at Max’s feet. I think we had 9 different players attend there at some stage in the game. I also noted at times both our wings in Langdon and Hunter came into the centre square after the bounce when required with one of the other players covering the outside for them. Good coaching and it must be a headache for the oppo coach. The forward setup worked well, and Brown looks very fit and bouncy. In the game yesterday we led the tackle count by 12. And all 12 of those additional tackles were in our forward 50, 21 to 9. You cannot ask for better forward 50 defensive pressure than that. Gawn, Petracca, Oliver Brayshaw all excellent and a very good team performance. I will temper my expectations a bit as I do not rate the Doggies or their coach, The Pornstar. I would have them mid table at best with a spot in the lower reaches of the 8 possible. 4 points and a warning to the rest of the comp…… a good way to start the season.

Sitting in another £&#@@ing airport waiting for another &£#@ing flight. Takes off an hour before the bounce and lands 3 hours after. An hour stopover before another flight. Then a 4 hour stopover before the final flight not even sure there will be internet coverage at the final stopover. it’s a great life...... at least that is what I keep telling myself. confidence in the team to trot out winners by 5 goals go Dees PS. Sorry about the underline. Brain fade

If Voss is watching this game he may want to revise his statement that the Boos and the Tiges will be thereabouts at the end of the season.

A lot of negativity with regard to the Tomlinson selection but we will not know how good or bad the selection is until the game is played. We could see Tmac and Tomlinson swapping ends if the game is going against us. Will be watching a replay during a stop over in KSA.