Go the Biff

I'm hearing after training today we are likely to have at least one more enforced change

Halfway through the last quarter Mitch Duncan receives the ball in open space & starts running it towards Geelong's forward line. Langdon gives him 25 metres start and is no hope of catching him. But he puts on the jets & bloody near gets him just as Duncan takes his kick. I thought that summed Langdon up. Unconditional effort given no matter what.

@PatesFourth post on Page 2 of this thread

Suspect he's at home playing with his trains, having erected another picket in the fence He has been on the Clarrie Choo-Choo (worst nickname ever) Train since before the kid was drafted by us. So he will be a very happy Fence tonight I'd reckon. Good on him

The Robbie comparison might have been over the top but don't be too hard on yourself @dazzledavey36. To be fair, in his first two years you couldn't have asked for much more from poor old Cale. He was tracking beautifully as an outside mid. Fair to say it all went to hell after that but the start of his career was good. Something that's usually forgotten

He's improved week on week this season. R1 was pretty ordinary to my eye. Overran the ball several times & let it get out the back. R2 he tidied that up and tightened up his defensive game but his disposal was pretty shoddy. R3 his disposal improved & his support running & defensive running got better. His dashes forward see to have more purpose now & I suspect he & Langdon get quite a kick out of combining & putting on the afterburners. He's always going to throw in the odd clanger but as someone else has pointed out, we're better at dealing with that now. Let's hope he continues to consolidate & improve. In his current form he makes us a better team. Also makes us even more fun to watch

You need to ask @WERRIDEE

Goodwin reckons a few weeks away for he & Weid. Wants them fit and in form before throwing them in the team. That's an approach that should let them hit the ground running when they resume at AFL level

Petty can slot in

No doubt a committed Melksham somewhere near the top of his game make us a better side. Forward of centre I think I prefer the ball in his hands more than anyone's. He makes good decisions and his delivery is sound & sometimes superb. However last year he took short cuts & played like a bloke who was frightened of getting hurt. Disappointing from a supposed leader. We aren't privy to the info the match committee has but personally, I'd want to see a demonstration that he's got that [censored] out of his game before I could trust him again. Hope he gets his act together. His best is very good

Tough read indeed and I hope he can find some peace & fulfilment in the rest of his life. I find it strange that this story seems to have fizzled so quickly. Were it Collingwood involved it would be news for weeks if not months. For those who can't remember Owen's brief time as a Demon, here's a minute to savour. The boy could play. Rod Owen - Melbourne v North 1991

Thanks for the reminder @demonstone. I'd not listened to "Live At The Regal" for years. Cracking album & his band is amazing. They make a couple of horns sound like Count Basie's Orchestra. As live albums go I'm also a big fan of "Ya-Ya's". It's a great example of the differences in Mick Taylor & Keith Richard's guitar playing and how they complemented each other. Brilliantly showcased in "Sympathy For The Devil" My "go-to" live albums though are Sam Cooke's "Live At Harlem Square" and Lyryrd Skynyrd's "One More From The Road". My most prized vinyl possessions.

Good pickup. Both rolled up the sleeves and grafted hard until we could start getting the game back on our terms

Good plan for Stewart. Bloody good player. Fritsch was superb against Haynes in that R17 game and shut him down after a good start on Sunday. If Cameron plays I'd probably give Thomo first crack at him. He's probably trained against him at the Giants and seems to perform best with a specific task. We'll need pressure across the ground against Geelong. They will chip it around and look to change angles to open space up forward. Last year there were so many times we nearly forced them into a dump kick to a contest, only to have one bloke slip the chain & present up. More often than not that bloke was Grian Meirs. We didn't pay him & his workrate enough respect. 112 marks later, they beat us. We need to force them into contests & get the ball back.

Need targets to present. Workrate.

Slowish start to the season. She's lit it up since going into the midfield

The "natural arc" was a Jeff Gieschen invention when he was the umpires' head man. Bloody clod that he was ! I'll be spitting chips if they give an exemption to one player again

At 75 he's still an intimidating looking dude. I remember his last game. If played today the outrage would generate headlines for weeks !

It was called but too late. TMac had got well off his line before the ump released the bloke on the mark

This. There were a few shots from both teams where the ball swung violently to the left as it got near the goal line. Looked like someone left a door open !

Jim Cardwell

Gutsy win. Especially given that a good chunk of our midfield in Zanker, Hanks & Mithen were down on their normal production. So there's scope for improvement on today's effort. Huge games from McNamara, Gay & Paxman. I want to give a shout out to a few defenders. The loss of Cordner to Richmond, Downie to injury and the pretty ordinary form (by her standards) of Libby Birch this year could have left a massive hole in our backline. The combination of Gabby Colvin, Casey Sherriff & Brenna Tarrant have improved week on week. Not only defending but setting up scoring chains as well. They're a huge part of why we'll play finals

In the light of Tex Walker winding back the clock yesterday there's been speculation that leading forwards may be among the main beneficiaries of this rule. Will watch with interest because if this proves to be the case, having recruited Sideshow Bob might end up a better move than originally thought. Once he gets back from his dodgy knee

Smothers will happen if the umpires are quick to call play on the second the kicker steps off his line. Which they must do or the advantage to the player in possession is too great.

That was the main reason the 50 metre penalty was introduced. Sheedy figured it was worth the 15 metres you'd cop for holding a player down if it meant you could delay him long enough to get set up ahead of the ball. So his Bombers mastered it & other coaches followed. Unfortunately in addressing this tactic, the powers that be applied the 50 to every transgression.