Redleg

Cripps threw the ball 3 times for no whistle. Dropped it at least another 3 times, for no whistle. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that the umpires don’t have favourites. That said, he is a great player.

He also pulled out of a few contests.

I always thought Zac Williams was ordinary and heavily overpaid.

Interesting last 7 rounds, 4 away, 1 home and 2 byes.

The Dogs don’t draw big crowds.

Yes but this is 4 individuals who include our best goal kicker, our tough vice captain, our best back flanker and defensive play starter and our back general. 25% nearly of our best starting 18. But I get the point, adversity brings challenges that if overcome, strengthen the team and improves future depth. Mentally, a win would be a big boost for our confidence too.

They have lost Dunkley and Hunter and despite not having JV this week, we have added Hunter and Grundy , so that won’t hurt our chances in the midfield.

Well this is now looming as a big challenge. A win in this game, with our outs, will lift the club’s confidence in their ability to bring in depth and still win. Winning the clearances will become even more critical than usual, as defensive rebound may not be as strong.

If May is out and Tomo is in poor form, it could be Tom back and Schache in to play against his old side. Schache can play back as well and you would hope he has something to prove and could play to his best. If not him then JVR forward. Also, while I wish Laurie and McVee well, I can’t believe Laurie might be preferred to JJ.

The manor’s wine casks have been re stocked in preparation for the coming season.

Yes, but this different, this is an important game.

Yes the thread helps fill in boring days while in the off season, as well as providing serious footy commentary during the season.

No I wouldn’t. But you would hate to drop a game you should win because of injuries to star players. We could have 25% of out starting 18 missing. Anyway we just need to win.

Never fails to amaze me, how we always have good players missing before the first game.

Again Luci, there is a caveat on that, as these players had been in the system for a number of years. Top picks won't always keep their value throughout their AFL career, it's just impossible, unless you are an absolute star. There generally comes a time when they start to lose value as a trade for picks.

Well yes, I was commenting on us hoping Freo drop, which is the theme of the thread.

TBH, we all know that after the first couple of standout players, often the next batch are fairly even, or not the players they will later become, with maturity or development. In other words, a couple of spots up the order in the draft doesn’t guarantee success with picking future players. There are countless examples of this. We might be playing one new player this week and he was our absolute last pick that year. While we have Freo’s first pick, it is unlikely to be very high and at best mid fist round but still very useful.

The doom hopers for the Dockers may be disappointed in round one, given the Saints injuries.

Not a lot, but I don’t believe I would see “hatred”. I would imagine “dislike” for footy ability, but not “hatred” for a person. If people are hating a player simply because of his sporting ability, that is pathetic.

No doubt about whipping boys. I just don’t accept the word “hate” as a description for how posters on DL feel about certain Dees players.

I don't think Jake or any Dees player gets "hate" on DL. Yes, they might not be seen as great, or being in the side each week, but not hate. Hate is very personal about a person and most of us don't even know the players, other than what is seen of their footy, so I don't see criticism of their current footy ability as "hate".

You mean 4-6.

Perhaps Salem will be back inside the first 4 or so games, which is very good news.

Hunter has always been a very good player. He is a steal, as many of us have posted since the trade was announced.

Or that he wants to look more like Goody and is staying.