Redleg

Last week against the Hawks many would have given us a chance and the disappointment of supporters was clear. This week we probably are given no chance so the result and reaction should be interesting.

Congrats on the 200th Brad. Hope it is a great game for you and that the boys really put in an extra effort. Young enough to play many more for the Dees. Has been a great Demon over his career so far.

You are not serious are you? Every AFL club uses video of games to show players.

Having now seen the vision, I can understand why the footy department is seething that Kennedy got off. I am sure I saw his elbow raised and he came from the side and broke a guy's jaw who was 10 metres from the ball. End of story. High contact, heavy impact, deliberate bump not an accidental bump = suspension.

Agree absolutely. I hope the karma bus delivers the culprit straight to jail.

Agree. The problem I see is at the centre bounce his timing is completely off. He ends up standing on the ground while his opponent is in the air near the ball. He needs a lot of work in that area. He also is not a good mark at the moment and needs work there as well. However he is big, raw, willing and young. His co-ordination will improve and he has plenty of time to prove himself.

Round 1 forward line: Half forwards:J.McDonald, M.Bate, R.Petterd Forwards: B.Green, B.Miller, J. Spencer Forward line later this season: Half forwards: B. Green, C. Garland, M. Bate or R. Petterd or C. Sylvia Forwards: L. Jurrah, J.Watts, Aussie. And a centre line of: Morton, Grimes, Trengove/Scully.

Agree. I note that two rookies one from right under our nose in Silvagni and Barlow played for the Dockers tonight. Barlow had 33 possies and starred and is BT's new love child. My point is that they cost nothing yet they have mature bodies and can add something immediately. You don't need to draft babies with every single pick. I certainly agree you get the best kids with the high draft picks, but you need to mix it up with trading and drafting including rookie picks, in looking for talent/experience/maturity that will have an effect on the team and help the younger players through. We did take one mature player in MacDonald this year and I hope he gives us value.

Bob, Dew, Croad, Gilham and Guerra as some examples were recruited by the Hawks as older players and then they also drafted two key forwards and we know who they are and they won their flag. I never said we needed a star player like Fevola, who would cost plenty, but rather someone who would not cost much and maybe nothing in a pre season draft, or a minor trade and I used Leigh Brown as an example.

Unfortunately Hodge, Brown, Lewis, Guerra and Osborne don't play for us.

I don't know if I agree anymore Jaded. You won't have a team that is mildy competent if it has no forward line and does what we did yesterday. This "cycle" and "premiershipclock" or "window of opportunity" sloganism is starting to give me the irits. Clubs should be trying to perform well all the time and while doing that the younger players get a winning culture, sorry for the slogan, and learn a game style. What harm does it do to draft/trade a big body forward who can give us 3-4 years and a target while Watts, Fitzpatrick etc develop. Getting smashed and playing crap football is not a way to learn or develop a team. I used Leigh Brown only as an example of a big strong forward who actually can also have spells in the ruck and backline. I think the Pies are happy to have him and there must be others around. This policy of we are only looking at youth for every pick and deal is in need of a little fine tuning. We seem to have plenty of young immature footballers and a couple of big bodies to give us some strength and leadership on the field may be worth its weight in gold. I suppose I should add that we have been a little unlucky in some picks like Molan, Meesen, Smith and you could probably add Dunn and Newton. Unfortunately we need to wait until Oct/Nov to further address the issue.

Agree. I thought all last year that he is now playing like a rabbit caught in the headlights. He will just handball anywhere as soon as it looks like someone is near him. He appears to fear any body contact. He would have turned it over 10 times today.

Garland and Sylvia will help our forward structure as will Jurrah when he finally returns. Even Aussie is sorely missed. I wish we could ram 6 more kilos of muscle onto Watts overnight.

Thought the skill errors were rife through the team. Bruce, Bennell, Dunn and Strauss, who I forgive as it was his first game, were the leading culprits. Agree, there was little sense in keeping Jamar away from the forward line.

IMO we are being punished for not drafting or trading for some key forwards over the last few seasons. Leaving Watts aside as he still may become one, we are as a result a side that can't go forward with any confidence. One Leigh Brown type while no champion would at least help straighten us up. As a consequence when a player has the ball and looks up to see Petterd with two on him, the result is a sideways handball and probably a quick turnover. The small forward is then made redundant because the ball is not coming down quickly to the key forward, who if he can't mark it, can still bring it to ground for the small forward. The answer to all of that is you don't score much, as we witnessed today against an undermanned hawthorn. Two other things that I see as major problems are a total lack of disposal skill across the whole club and what appears to be a lack of direction from those in charge. Our skill errors cost us possibly 10 goals today and some were just unbelievable. Dropped chest marks coupled with an inability to pass a football by either hand or foot, even over a small distance have become the norm for us. It looked like a B grade amateur team against an AFL team. With skill like we saw today there is no way they can win a game. Hopefully it will improve in the coming weeks. Lastly as to the lack of direction I will state a few reasons for my conclusion. To play Spencer forward when he doesn't take marks and is cumbersome and yet not keep Jamar down there while resting to provide a big body and a contest was IMO a big mistake. Spencer was actually beaten in the ruck twice by a first gamer who is 183cms, that is sick. To ask a first gamer in Strauss to take the kick ins was an admission that we had no one else who could and then we watched him destroy a lot of his confidence by constantly fluffing his kicks and turning it over. To see players who do not know what to do when they get the ball, but always go the handball option even when it is the worst option, is testament to a lack of pre season coaching as to pressure situations. A great example was Frawley who instead of clearing the zone kept looking for the handball until he gives it to a player under pressure who is closer to goal and hey presto another hawks goal. This happened continuously today with a number of players. I actually think we looked far worse than last year today.

Personally I leave the booing to the hypocritical cretins at clubs like carlton and collingwood. They boo anyone who leaves them but cheer like rabid dogs for anyone who comes to them, like Judd and Ball.

So would I, only thing is i would have used it on a tall, like Talia. Hopefully I will be proved wrong in time and Jordan will become a star for us. On Brock, I thought he played well as we know he can, but it is a long season and he has had a few major injuries, we will see at the end of the season. On Richmond, they were pathetic and gave carlton no contest at all.

While I am happy that we will soon have excellent facilities close to the G with a training ground nearby, Pringle is right when he says that having to use Casey as it is and where it is, is a disadvantage and disincentive to some AFL players. I understand the reason we are at Casey and if our membership grows heavily as a result it will be a suceessful decision. The fact remains that teams like carlton with a top facility and all staff, next to their training ground, in inner Melbourne and available 24/7 all year round, have a distinct significant advantage over those that don't ( us ).

I think your eyes did deceive you as they had the two McDonalds on the back flanks and Jordie on the bench. This as has been mentioned was a squad, not an official team list.

Well that should improve the numbers.

We have the chance to get a bumper crowd to the first game even after a disappointing pre season. We are the only game in melbourne on saturday and the weather looks ok. Hawthorn has a big following and both clubs' supporters will be excited to start the season and see their team with some new players making their first appearance. Being the only AFL game in town on saturday might draw some other AFL supporters, who are happy to see a game, as well as some grand prix visitors from interstate and overseas. A good turnout of Dees supporters should also see Membership numbers rise and more so if we win, as interest will spill over to the next week against the pies. Hopefully we win in front of a big crowd, we need a kickstart desperately.

As to the first one which I attended, that is impossible. Assuming 200 people for food and drink,some small souvenirs and including room hire, all up at say $100 per head, that would be $20K.

I don't want to be too agreeable, but i agree with that as well. The MFC doesn't need to comment and can get on with the season, but it would be nice if we all saw exactly what happened. Then any further comment by the footy public on the topic of head high bumps has some foundation.

I agree with that. What starts off the conspiracy theories though, is that the AFL is refusing to show the vision of the actual contact. If it was just a good bump with accidental injury why won't the AFL show everyone, so the issue can be laid to rest. One might be led to think by that action that the powers that be feel the Review Panel made a mistake and they don't want it exposed publicly.

Boston Legal did an episode on it.