Damo

This may have been mentioned but Richmond blocked Wiederman effectively at least twice in marking contests without a free being paid. If this is not going to be an automatic free as much as it was for him and Hogan last year, we have to plan around it.

Our best leader. Been saying it for a year. But of course once you pick a favourite, you back yourself.

Watched adelaide, gold coast, Bulldogs games from last year over and over. Watched Geelong and Hawthorn finals over and over. Foxtel upgraded my box so lost them all. Family happy. So I concentrated on trying to clear calendar to go to Olympic park for Practice match. No good. Thought about it incessantly. On the day, brain instantly switched to "Its only a practice match" mode and I only watched half. WTF?

really frustrating trying to work out what the guy on the silent microphone is saying.

Gary pert sounds like Rob Walls.

stream and commentary quite good now. Even got replays working.

87 Prelim. Having come from nowhere. Trying to keep it together afterwards waiting to get out for an hour in the car with parents in back. Robbies last game taken out by Dipper. Hawthorn.

Im so, so sick of holding my breath... Ive gotta say it, we have almost made it through pre-season without a bad new injury. This is as good as 2 wins in the bag.

Focused.

Fantastic news. Made my Monday! Congratulations!

My view is you have to be one of the best players to keep the captaincy. Jimmy MacDonalds treatment is a mountain being made out of a molehill. He couldnt run. He didnt show us what for, he had had it. Im all for Tom MacDonald, Gawn or Viney as captain or co-captain with Jones, but I wont be upset if the players and coaches decide Nathan should concentrate on his staying in the ones. If there is a view Jack V wont play most games, that's a shame as he is terrific and truly leads by example. That leaves Gawny and Tom as probably the best options as captain of the MFC since Robbie. Personally I love Toms actions and words but would be rapt if either of them ran out first.

I understand that coaches just before pre-season finishes may say that the injury is merely incidental or that player x has fully recovered. I am never surprised when the player misses 426 at sometime during or at the start of the year. Then the coach will be interviewed. That interview inevitably starts off with "You have to understand the large amount of pre-season player x was incapable of attending". So I get that you are just going on what they are saying. Im just not as trusting.

I like Hibbo but he is the worst one to ask for an interview. Very old school which probably suited Lyon and Watson more than Bob who had asked a question of greater depth. Jack V, Max, Nev, Tommy and the Weid have great vocabularies and give excellent depth and opinions without giving too much out.

I remember in the early sixties when I was with my dad, in with the TPI ex-soldiers in the forward pocket watching Tassie drop kicking the ball almost out of sight from full back.

I think that the rules committee is "overruled" by the Networks who aggresively push in these rules before a new year. Then the Rules committee have to adapt after the coaching departments react to the new laws and try to bend them to their will. The Rules committee in turn, then adapt by extremely small adjustments. This means that I too see KB blowing a gasket. It seems that the rules wont drastically change the game, but lets see what Hawthorn, Sydney and Geelong coaches come up with.

I see Tmac, Jack V and Max as outstanding candidates.

Bit surprised everyone has put Clarry, Melksham and Tracc in our round one teams. Then there is Omac and Viney who also need to join training fully.

I think Omac is a year off his best yet. His brother blossomed late. Frost has different attributes and may not be a smart footballer but his better short passes that he showed late last year and his gung ho make me choose him in big games. I havent seen training this year so Im possibly wrong!

I think we will stop more goals in 2019.

If I was going to guess who is going to have an injury just before the end of Pre-season I would pick the big Pruess. I hope they start tapering him off but keep him fresh soon. I have no inside info BTW. He just looks like he is going way too hard early daws.

I hope there are more articles coming out that have others as the team(s) to beat. Im over the constant hype. We haven't done that much yet.

It is very early to assess where we may land. We have had a couple of years of relatively minimal injuries. We brought back Vanders and Viney isnt out of the woods quite yet. We also had a pretty big pre-christmas walking wounded that although we are reassured that most if not all will be in full training next week, Im not so confidant. I hope Tom Mac is able to play most games. You only need to look at a couple of other clubs, say Carlton and Giants to be reminded of our good management and good luck with injuries lately. I feel confidant knowing that my team of the year 2019 will probably be quite different by Queens birthday but I am really impressed with the apparent struggle for every spot in the 22 coming into the year. Quality on all lines and on the bench. Hmm, Im sure I say that nearly every January.

I like Pedo and he has been good for us but Smith has capacity to have a better year. Its neither a puzzle or a reason for argument.

This is why we need to be absolutely ruthless and desperate to get what is to me is our very first flag. We have bathed in the bathwater of not-quite-right teams so much in the last 50 years. My hatred of other clubs will be uncloaked in 2019.

I cant believe he survived that fall. I hope he is ok.