CHF

PREVIEW - why not??? I have the time at the moment. Melbourne Vs Brisbane Thursday 11th April. 11.30am (my time) Been a while since I have had a stab at a preview, but why not have a crack? Brisbane fluffed their chance in the grand final against the Pies last year and it appears that both of the teams have a bit of a hangover in the early stages of season ’24. Here we are staring down the barrel of Round 5 and the Lions have just one win on the board against lowly North while we, after dropping the first game in the round that has no number, have won the last 4 on the trot against some reasonable opposition and having travelled to Adelaide for two games in 5 days against home sides and come away with 2 wins. That sort of from indicates the punters have it right installing the Dees as favorites. We have an extra day of rest and one less flight than the Lions with them having to fly back home and then down to Melbourne for the game. However….. there is always a However. However, Footy’s a funny game as they say and I hope that the team prepares and realises that this is going to be a tough game. The Lions have a good mix of talent in all areas of the ground, and we will need to have a few ideas up our sleeves to ensure we are ready to react if and when required. I do believe that the coaching panel have been good at working out and reacting to what is happening around the ground so far this season. DEFENCE: This section of our team is recognised as our great strength and as the best in the league. May, Lever, Tmac, Mcvee, Rivers, Howe and Salem can mix and match with the best of them and against the Brisbane forward pack they will need to be at their best. The Brisbane forward setup has good individual players but so far this season they have not clicked together. Against North last round their forwards kicked 15 of their 16 goals while against the Pies the week before at the Gabba the forwards only kicked 5 of the total of 10. Very inconsistent. It will be interesting to see how and who we match up on in the defence. I think we have them covered at this end of the ground. MIDFIELD: As they say… “This is where the game is won.” I think that will be the case in this match. Gawn and Petracca are our leading lights so far this season with good support from Viney and, in the last game, Sparrow. Oliver with his hand injury is down on his usual standards and statistics but I feel he can only get better and will take a few steps forward in this game. We will need to respect the Brisbane midfield with Neale, Mcluggage and Dunkley looking to be the main drivers out of stoppages with their clearance rate. Against Adelaide Petracca, Oliver and Sparrow dominated the clearances and gave us some good drive. Gawn against The Big O will be interesting. Not because I think McInerney will dominate or even challenge Max but because it will be interesting to see what tactics they adopt to try and control Max’s influence around the ground. It is a tough job for any team. Langdon the Windsor winging their way around the G will also be good to watch. Brisbane named Fletcher and Berry on the wings for the North game and, according to the stats, both had reasonable games. Berry looked to be used more in the middle and managed 5 clearances along with 24 possessions. Fletcher might run on the wing with Langdon and Windsor to have a few rotating opponents. FORWARDS: This is where it gets interesting. So far this season we have managed to have a good even spread of goal kickers in the games. Fritsch has been a standout. He is second in the Coleman behind Hogan at the moment. We will present a few problems for the Lions at the pointy end. Brown and Petty will need to be covered because of their potential to cause problems with JVR and Fritsch also needing to be contained. We have a lot of flexibility with our talls at the moment and I can imagine a bit of a chess game with moves and counter moves in our forward 50. I hope that Kossie gets to play as he is such a livewire. If he is not there, we have Chandler and ANB and a rotating mid to cover there. The Brisbane defence, as with their forwards do not seem to have clicked as yet this season. Last outing against North they looked to have an easy time of it and will find the going tougher on Thursday evening. Our small forwards look a bit thin on the ground if Kossie spends a week on the sidelines. Chandler must be in some doubt so if either or both of these miss it will open the door for a couple of others to get a run. Tough opening quarter but I expect that we will get better as the game goes on and run out winners by a fair bit. Say 5 goals. And then on to a week off.

I see that someone used the collective noun 'a murder of crows' in the pre-game thread. Well done that man (or woman). I am a great one for a good collective noun and was a little inspired by this. When history is written it is always by the victors. the Demon written history will show that during Easter of '24 a devastation of Dees descended upon the sleepy village of Adelaide, the city that time forget, and, in the space of 6 days plundered the two local tribes and looted a very valuable 8 points. They left in their wake a puddle of Power and a muddle of Crows. The devastation of Port was very satisfying but the devastation of the Crows I found sweeter. All the more so because of the odds stacked against us. Consecutive games away from home in Adelaide against home city teams with just a 5 day break between the games. Add to that shaded umpiring that and the hometown hoards that were baying for blood at every opportunity. it all adds up to very, very sweet 8 points. Max and Petracca were the pick of our players with full game efforts with staring roles for our defence, both individually and as a complete unit. They must rate as the best defence in the league. We have fully coordinated structures that allow us to slot in players, chop and change as required and cover for both key defence positions and the smaller medium role. May, Lever, Tmac, Petty, Hore, Tomlinson and Turner, all KPP that can slot in tall and play their roles with Adams developing. McVee, Salem, Howe, Bowey and Rivers as the small/mediums with AMW being developed as well. that is excellent cover for a well drilled defence. But I digress. May was great (full stop - no qualifications) and his mates back there did all that they had to do as the game progressed. This game was won for us in the back third. The Adelaide forwards did not find a way through until the last half of the last quarter when we seemed to shut up shop a bit, drop our all ground pressure and become reactive rather than proactive. I liked the way we used our midfield with Petracca leading the charge and Viney not far behind him. Oliver was quiet and that may have been because of his hand injury or because he had someone running with him and tagging. I will have to re-watch the game to see what was happening there. I also liked the way they used Sparrow. He got a lot of minutes in the middle against the Crows where he did not get any time in there against Port. I found that an interesting move by the coaches. The mids contributed their share of the pressure and regularly forced turnovers. It could have been a lot more turnovers if the umps had the guts to call it like they, and every one else saw it. Adelaide's midfield is very one dimensional and one paced at the moment. The forwards again looked convincing to me. Good setup, good movement and good awareness. I am sure that they will assess Brown week to week but he adds so much to our forward structure I would only rest him if there was a compelling reason to. Kossie was good but had a brainf**t that looks to have cost him a week. I hope he sits down and has a good think about it all and curbs his aggression a bit more. We need him in the team. Again, a good team performance where we did what we needed to do when we needed to do it. I will take 4-1 after these first 5 rounds with three of those games interstate and with one 5 day break. I want to see us finish off this first fifth of the season leading into a bye with a good pressure game against the Lions at the G. We cannot undo some of the good work we have accomplished this last week by not doing our best next Thursday. Go Dees! I am sure that the creative members of this forum can come up with some good collective nouns for the AFL teams. A handbag of [censored] (common name for domestic cats - I had no idea it was censored) An omnishambles of umpires A retirement home of Eagles A crash site of Bombers A dribble of Dockers An eclipse of Suns

A professional, workman like quarter from the Dees there. Oliver has lifted and was very good, want him to step up again in the last and run out the game. Billings is not have a good game for the second game in a row. He might get a rest next week I expect Woewoden to take his place early in the last quarter. Sparrow had a good quarter. Like this and would like to see us put three more goals into the lead before the end. Go Dees!

What I am seeing so far. Windsor is all class as is Mc Vee. Excellent game from Petracca so far and the work of the defence is just wonderful. I like JVR's game so far as well. He is moving well and throwing himself about a bit. I also like that the coaching team are using Gawn well. Giving him breaks as required and breaking up Crow's structure. Viney is also having a very good game. Just doing what he usually does. What I am looking for in the second half. More midfield pressure and a bit more teamwork to break Oliver free. Defence to carry on as is. Like that we just pushed on with the game. Go Dees!

We have not got out of second gear in that quarter with not a lot of work or cover out of our midfield. Defence is standing tall with May just amazing with the game he has played so far. I hope he holds up. gave away that late goal which is a bummer but generally not too bad given our lack of pressure and lack of drive from the middle. I expect us to step up in this quarter and get the game on our terms. No panic. play our game.

All good over here. Had shower and shave..... breakfast over and I am locked and loaded watching the pre-game and there is no Bereton.... life is pretty good at the moment. Expect a tough tight game for a quarter/quarter and a half and then we will look to take charge. Petracca and Oliver to have big games in the midfield with Brown and Fritsch to have good games up forward. Dees by 4 goals.

So, we play the Cows (not a typo) on their home turf on a 5 day turn around after a tough win against Port. Given the 5 days break I will not even begin to try and guess selections. A few sore bodies, a few mending bodies and general aches and pains. We should go right up to the wire and be able to juggle selections right up to and including the warmup. Strange game against Port. Lost it every where except the scoreboard. Mind you, we have been on the receiving end of a few of those types of games so I do not mind an even up. As Goodwin said, we won the critical contests at the right time. Hard to know what we are going to get playing against us given the Cows recent form, or lack thereof. 14 scoring shots to 24 against Freo with 8 less inside 50s for a return of 4.10. You would have to think that they will do better than that at home and with the local press breathing down their necks. Kick em while they are down I say. I saw a headline that intimated there was a problem with Tex. A Problem? A problem??? from what has been written about him over the years I would say that this is an huge understatement. I also fear that the team have a few more problems than just Walker. Midfield looks to have a few holes in it at the moment with them not showing much quality or depth. Their ruck won the hitouts against the Freo wonderkinder easily but still managed to lose the clearances around the ground. I still expect to see a strong response from them but it may come in the form of mis-directed faux toughness. I kind of expect it from them as they seems to do this as their fall back position. Walker will run into someone if he can catch them. Max will get his usual treatment behind play and Viney will run through walls as he does every week. This will be a hard game for the boys after a good win on Saturday. I expect a win in this game with it being close for a half and them we look to our experienced warhorses to bring the game home in the last quarter. Dees by 4 goals but I will take a 1 point win and the 4 points. P.S. feeling quietly confident about the season and I am thinking of putting the bandwagon back together.

Loved that win. Very professional and played with a lot of passion. A very solid team performance with exceptional games for a number of our leaders. Max was excellent. Dominated the ruck, worked hard around the ground and kicked a massive goal when required. ANB, Petracca, Viney and Ben Brown were all at their best with ANB the pick of the bunch. There were more than a few that had the forks stuck into Ben and Tom last season and also this pre-season. Bit of humble pie to feast on for them. Defence: Hibberd retired at the end of last season, May injured, Bowey injured..... there are a lot of reasons to think that we would have lost an edge back there but the structure of this team within a team works just so well. Petty started back there and then the Goodwin moved him forward. I scratched my head over that but the rest of the defence had the three talls in Port's forward line well covered. We even had the ability to have Salem in the middle with Hore and Howe, both relatively inexperienced, working well in the back 50. I found Howe in particular impressed. McVee and Rivers were more than solid. Midfield: A pretty even contest in this area of the ground with our boys shading the Port mids. I thought that in the last quarter when the game was there to be won, our midfield really stood up. Best game I have seen from ANB and I think he has had more than a few good games in the past. Langdon finding form and Windsor just great for a kid of his age and experience. As I said above, Max was close to BOG. a battle with ANB. Forwards: How Ben can play like that with all those forks stuck in him is unbelievable. Great to see him celebrate and smile. I also liked his interview with Windsor after the match. The rest of the forwards took their opportunities and you really cannot fault them. We kicked 15.4 for the match and I think 2 of those behinds were posters. A good 4points to have and it might just be an 8 point win by the end of the season as I think Port will go very well this season. A couple of other points: The TV shots of the Port supporters were priceless. I have seen beaten up old bulldogs with better looking heads and I loved Fristch giving them heaps after his goal. Second point is one that has been raised on here with regard to Brereton. He really is a wordy pompous fool. Went on about Port and their players all night and directly after the game immediately raised the point of the projected scores showing that Port should have won. Trying to claim the English cricket team's mantle of cheer leader for 'moral victories'. I see we easily dispatched Hawthorn last week. Anyhoooooo. Another 4 points and a smile on my face.

I think Petty will start back and Hore will be the sub. This will be a tough one to win. A lot of pressure on the midfield to keep the pressure up the whole game and to lighten the load on our defence. Dees by 20 points in a tight last quarter.

Tough test against Port this Saturday. A big night at the selection table as well with the injuries we have. I have to say that I would bring Tomlinson in to replace May and keep Petty in the team as a swing player for either forward or back as required. The interesting part to that is that we also have TMac able to swing between the two ends of the ground depending on requirements. There might be some interesting mixes in the personnel making up defence and attack on Saturday evening. Looks likely that Lever will be available. this is good. What we do need to see is our midfield really turned on and bringing the defensive pressure and fast twitch turnover reactions. While I do not see us putting a hard tag on Butters I do see the coaches putting a bit of work into how to curb his game. Maybe Sparrow to run with him at some stage or maybe to utilise ANB to have a role with him around the ground. I am sure we will need a Plan A, B and C. I think we have the depth and well drilled structure in defence to cover the loss of may for a week or two. It is a critical time for May not to be available with the two games in Adelaide just with a 5 day break but it is what it is. I love the fact that the young players back there have stood up and slotted in so well over the past few seasons. It is a testament to the structures that are in place and the training and development that is going into the players. While Ben Brown just kicked a point last week I think he has been of great value to the forward group. the opposition just cannot afford to cover him and pay respect to the potential damage he is capable of. It gives a lot of freedom to the rest of the forwards and in particular the smaller forwards at the drop of the ball. I would look to the same personnel this week as long as there are no niggles. Chandler has been heavily strapped during the week but is not mentioned in the injury list so I assume he is good to go. Midfield is looking deep and strong. Petracca is on song, Oliver is getting there and Viney is in great form. We have variety and flexibility to rotate through there so I am confident we can play our game through the midfield and not theirs. I do want to see them putting the pressure on and hunting the ball and the ball carrier. Not give an inch. Just on the injury list, There are seven names on it at present including Lever and Mc Adam that I would say are first team 18 capable. That is a pretty long list and is set to test our depth and flexibility over the next three weeks. given we have a bye the week after that, we should have back 5 of them after the bye. I see the game this way. Port to dominate the first quarter with us taking the next two quarters to lead by 2 or 3 goals. A tight last quarter with us winning by 20 points. Go Dees!

Another 4 points and I enjoyed watching the game over breakfast. Love the fact that we have a good long winning streak against The Hawks. May it go on for much longer. That first quarter was just bizarro. The last thing Sam Mitchell must have said to them before the bounce was "keep possession at all costs." What he forgot to add was "Try to get it inside 50 and score." ANB had a good game and was excellent in the first in particular. Overall the team stood up well and made the necessary adjustments a required when we lost May and then Lever. I was one that was baffled by the Petty selection but I have to say that given the injuries, it was inspired. I do wonder what sort of game Petty would have had if he had been left in the forward structure for the whole game. Leading and marking look ok but the kicking was not much chop. With 20/20 hindsight, giving him this game against the Hawks was the right thing to do. A soft game to bring him up to speed before the week and two games in Adelaide, The City that Time Forgot. Big, big game from Petracca and the pressure and support of the rest of the midfield was exactly what was required. Hard not to be impressed by the Melbourne team game throughout and in particular during the second half after losing may and Lever, our twin defensive pillars. shuffled the pack, made the adjustments and business as usual. very impressive even if we were playing a team that will be in the bottom 4 come the end of H&A. Good to see Fristch getting his kicking boots back on. Anyway... onwards and upwards Dees! I liked Petracca's comment after the game that the boys were enjoying their footy. during the Sydney game I recall thinking that they did not look like they were enjoying it. Not just because of the scores, the whole way through that game they seemed to be out of sorts. So we roll on to two Adelaide games with a 5 day break. It will be tough. I would like to think we have the team and the attitude to run out winners in both..... that is what the heart says. head is a little more realistic and would take 1 out of the two, Port the preferred win for me.

Petracca and Oliver to play Batman and Robin. Max to play Bond.

Expecting and hoping for a win. I will take any win and the 4 points. I would prefer an easy win as it will make my breakfast all the more palatable. Dees with another 40 point win. Go Dees!

Binny, we made 5 changes from the Round 1 team for the round 2 team. One, Bowey, was forced because of his injury. There was discussion around this, but to my mind the selection of Hore to replace him was not contentious and was generally accepted. Three players, Spargo, Schache and Laurie were dropped from the team because their form was questionable. I do not recall much discussion on them being replaced. One player, Tomlinson, was dropped and replaced by TMac and there was a lot of reaction to that selection as the general opinion was that Tomlinson had performed adequately. I was reacting to this comment of yours .... "As BDA notes his selections last week, much ridiculed on here, turned out to be very good decisions." I do not agree that the decisions of last week were much ridiculed. Four of the five selections were accepted without much, if any ridicule.

nil all draw anyone?

With due respect, I think there was just one selection last week that was questioned and that was the dropping of Tomlinson for TMac.

Ok, I'm trying to make some sort of sense of the Baffling Selection of the Week. Not easy as an outsider looking in. Big Question is "How many cheese boards did they go through making this decision?" Gotta be three at least. Maybe they will sub him into the game at 3/4 time and also give him a run at Casey the following day for a half. They may 'Schach' him and have him on the pine for the whole game. FIIK.

Petty …. Baffling Selection of the Week. GMF??? (Scratches head)

True. I would hope that they will not make the same mistake twice in three rounds.

I find it hard to understand why some are calling for Petty to come into the team for the Hawks. He has had one run in the practice match for Casey where, from reports, he played for 3 of the quarters and did not get very much of the ball. Meanwhile, we beat the Doggies by 7 goals in a meaningful 4 point match with a well functioning forward structure. I would hope that the selectors put together a team to win this Saturday by looking at the possible structure of the opposing team, the expected conditions and the form of the players and their ability to execute the game plans. Petty does not have any sort of form line that would justify selection and I would doubt his match fitness at this stage of his comeback. I would play him at Casey until his form improves as I would a number of other players.

A pleasing response by the club against the Doggies after the game in Sydney. It was a club wide response lead by the coaches and the selectors, the players as individuals and the team response. The reaction of the coaches to the first 10 mins of the game where the doggies came out firing was quick and decisive. They worked out what the doggies forwards were doing, adjusted the matchups and the positional play and the results were immediate. very good to see. Defence. I was one that doubted the decision to drop Tomlinson for Tmac. The decision worked out well with Tmac doing his job well. The rest of the defensive make up worked very well led by May in his '[censored] off' mode. Howe and Hore worked well as did McVee and Rivers. The defence has skill, structure and personnel depth that makes it a great rock to build on. The success of the defence on Sunday was also partly the result of all team pressure that was brought to bear all over the ground. I loved the pressure on the ball and also off the ball on the next kick/receive. An excellent game in defence. Midfield. Nothing to complain about in this area of the team. Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Salem as our main men in there at the feet of Max. It is a daunting task for the opposition midfield to line up against. The rotations and mixes that we can run through there must be a nightmare to coach and play against. Sparrow, who did not really get a run on the ball on Sunday, Pickett, ANB and Rivers all offer differences when used at stoppages. Langdon and Windsor on the wings look to be in form and I loved the run down by Windsor. Chop out for Max by JVR worked as well as expected. The midfield is now purring along as is the Defence. Forwards. I have said a few times that I will not write off any player on our list. I loved seeing Brown out there doing 'Brown' things. He is such a valuable addition to the team and the forward structure. He not only popped through a couple of goals but he also allowed JVR to have a bit more freedom to move and position himself in better places. The structure of the forward line also helped to bring the smaller forwards into the game. It did help that the positional play of the smaller forwards was a hell of a lot better than last week with Chandler in particular working hard at the drop of the ball at the contest. The other ting I enjoyed watching the forwards was the application they brought to defending the forward 50. I expect the same team to line up against the Hawks as played against the Doggies [censored] long as they have all pulled up ok. Might be temped to brin in Sestan or The Kolt as sub to give Taj a full VFL game. Next up is Hawthorn at the G. would like to see the team carry on where they left off against the Doggies. An all team performance with pressure and decisiveness on the turnover. I look at this as a fairly critical game with some tough travel and games in the next three rounds with a trip to Adelaide to play both Port and Adelaide with just a 5 day break between the two followed by Brisbane at the G a week later. A big ask of the team. A couple of good things re the Brisbane game is that they will have one less day to prepare and will be travelling back to Melbourne after their game in Adelaide. Go Dees

Contrary to the media reports I am sure that we are looking at JUH and have made enquiries.

From the club's injury report it would seem that our tall froward stocks are suddenly looking much better. Fullerton and BBB are available for selection and Petty is to undergo a test later in the week and may also be available for selection. Mind you, being available for selection and match fit are two different things. BBB and Fullerton have both had trots around with Casey and may be ahead of Petty even if he gets through the test. Personally I would bring in BBB for Schache and possibly look at also including Fullerton. It will make selection interesting this week.

Selection this week will be interesting. Not just for the team that they end up selecting but for what it might suggest about the selections last week. I hope that they just write the Sydney game off and start with a clean sheet. Bowey injured and out for 8/10weeks will test the smaller man depth in defence. As others have suggested, I would move Salem back into defence with Howe on the IC to make up the 7-man defence group. If one of those goes down during the game, we will be tested. If May is not right, then TMac or Hore comes in depending on matchups. Midfield will require a change or two. While I would send Laurie back to Casey till he is bashing the door down and full of confidence, I think the selectors will retain him for this week. Windsor and Langdon on the wings with backup from Billings who gets a start. If required, ANB to fill in there. Oliver, Petracca, Viney and Sparrow primary rotations with Pickett, Rivers, Salem and ANB getting a run or two in there as well. Moniz-Wakefield to get a debut. Either that or Woey to get a run there. He looks to have put on a bit of muscle, and I would be interested to see him through the middle. Our forwards are always going to be a talking point of each and every match we play this season…… so? What to do? After last week I would drop both of Chandler and Spargo. It won’t happen which is unfortunate in my opinion. Neither of them was anywhere near good last week both look out of form and a bit lost out on the field. You bring in Pickett for one of them and I would give Sestan a run to see how he has developed and if he fits the team. The Medium is Fritsch, of course. For a tall I would like to see BBB if he is anywhere near fit enough. From training reports he is on a modified program to nurse him through the season and will most likely be a game to game proposition with his knees. I would also have Fullerton on the bench as back up forward/ruck. Not sure how good he is in the ruck but from reports he gets around the ground well. If one of Brown of Fullerton are not match fit then we look to Tmac as he could cover both ends of the ground and even contest a ruck or two. So this is the team I would like to see. FB: Lever, May, McVee HB: Rivers, Tomlinson, Salem C: Windsor, Oliver, Langdon HF: Neal-Bullen, Ben Brown, Sparrow F: Pickett, Van Rooyen, Fritsch Fol: Gawn, Petracca, Viney IC: Howe, Fullerton, Billings, Moniz-Wakefield, Sestan (sub) Not going to happen – 5 changes? More chance of me getting pregnant.

I seem to recall that we played Fritsch for at least half a season at HBF and it did not work out too badly for his forward work.