Vipercrunch

The Demons have opted to give Christian Petracca, who injured his toe playing basketball at Christmas time, a full month of solid training before having him ready to play. A torn anterior cruciate ligament at the start of last season also factoring into the caution Melbourne will show with Petracca. "He's training fully with the group and he's essentially recovered from the toe injury but he's only done two weeks of training coming off an ACL," Misson said. "We want him to have at least four weeks of full training before we let him play." From the weekly injury round-up quoting Misson a few days ago. Sounds like maybe (and just maybe) he will play some sort of football on the weekend of Round 1. They appear to be very conservative so could be a half in the Casey 2nds first up and slowly, slowly after that. Round 4 perhaps for an AFL debut all going well.

And hair grew really fast on his legs.

Very good question. I hadn't noticed any training reports saying he's had significant injuries or been in rehab.

People aren't going crazy here, they are just saying it wasn't a great performance and they hoped for and expected better, based partly on the quality the opposition had on the park and partly because of how we played. We over used the handball, had far too many costly turnovers and weren't as direct as we were last week. And PD, you can add the Bont to your list. And I really question this... 10. To state the obvious, for the sake of confidence, winning is always better than an "honourable" loss. To draw too much confidence from yesterday would be concerning.

Unless Frost improves this week I can't see him making the round 1 side. Hasn't been good enough to warrant a spot as a defender, forward or back up ruckman. He's been out a long time and maybe needs more games to prepare.

Unless Frost improves this week I can't see him making the round 1 side. Hasn't been good enough to warrant a spot as a defender, forward or back up ruckman. He's been out a long time and maybe needs more games to prepare.

I think we need a poll. That will solve it once and for all.

Blind loyalty is terrifying. Luckily most Bomber supporters I know are either very critical of their club or just make jokes about the whole thing. Plenty of the other type out there, especially on social media. I hope we are capable of smashing them Round 2.

Sorry what was your point then? We played them both in two NAB games when they seem a fair way off, while ANB and Stretch are at this stage drastically underdone as far as match practice goes. I'm questioning (like others have) why that's the case.

If Hunt and Wagner are required realistic options for HBF before mid-year, we are in some trouble. Neither are close at this stage although Wagner has some very good traits. Stretch played some HBF last year I recall anyway. A NAB Week 1 and 2 side doesn't need to be fully balanced. In all likelihood both ANB and Stretch will miss out this week too as the bench drops down to 4. I expect them both to be carrying an injury or illness otherwise it seems questionable omissions from everything we saw last year.

You can read far more into a game than Win or Loss. We played below many of the posters expectations. Perhaps those who are talking them down and reacting to negative posts have lower expectations. I expect us to finish somewhere between 9-12, and yesterdays performance falls short of that. It's not the end of the world though, and I don't think anyone is saying it is. It is pre-season game and it would have achieved much of what was required, but it wasn't a overall solid team performance. If we had performed like that 2 years ago, I would have been far happier simple because I wasn't expecting as much as I am now. And I also have to wonder why Stretch and ANB didn't play yesterday. Unless they are injured or something was affecting them I think they should have been played ahead of Hunt (who I don't think is ready) and Wagner (who I really like but would prefer the other two play ahead of him at this stage).

I still haven't found the interchange numbers. If we used 130 again while they stuck to 90, then our comeback really does lack merit imo. We won, but it was far from impressive. I'm think we played better all game last week. Perhaps the wind was a factor. Maybe the type of pressure the Dogs applied really got to us. One more practice to get things right.

Has anyone got the interchange numbers?

My ex-wife barracks for North. I hated losing to them when we were married. Now.... Please, please smash them this year.

Right now, the games I 'fear' the most are the ones we are the favorites for. The losses to Essendon and Carlton last year were very hard to swallow. Until we can regularly win (and win well) those games, they will hold the biggest fear. When we become a consistent performer that wins those games, then I'll start to worry about teams that seem to have the wood over us like Geelong did for so, so many years..

I thought Wagner was far more impressive than Hunt on Saturday. Yes, he does need some more size, but has the required frame to do that. Just seemed to have time and composure, some creativity too.

Not picking Gawn wouldn't necessarily be to 'rest' or 'protect' him. It would be because he has had a great pre-season, performed to a high standard in NAB1 and we need to look at our other ruck options and our ability to still win clearances without winning the hitouts. The NAB series is a tool to prepare the entire squad for the season proper, not just your best 22. Leaving Gawn and Viney out this week in order to make the room required to keep preparing other members of the squad that need it more is good management. NAB3 should be the real dress rehearsal for Round 1.

I'm with you Nutbean. No surprise with the verdict at all. I won't say I like the weight put on the outcome (injury) instead of the action itself, but that's the way its been for a long time. The ground can no longer be used to hurt the opposition in the tackle. The game (like most work places) has changed. The players will modify their techniques to prevent penalty. The game will survive. There isn't anything wrong with protecting players from serious injury.

I think we have to play Spencer (if fit) in one NAB game. I think this week would be the one to do so and make the final game the real dress rehearsal. If Spencer comes in, do we want to play two rucks in the one side? I think Gawn's form showed he probably doesn't need to play all three NAB game. Hogan and Salem, however I think do need to play. I don't think they got involved quite as mush as they and the coaches would have liked. If we were to rest any other guns other than Gawn, I would rest Viney. I think he is our best player now. He is fit and in apparent very good form. Who needs to come in this week? Vince? Jones? ANB? HarryO? JKH? To fit them in, we have to leave some out.

Very mixed reports on Grimes. A Bigfooty report made out he was terrible but he got a lot of praise here. Case of same old, same old, with people viewing things with their minds already made up?

No, I said it would require a tightening of how quick they call play on for deviating off the line. Shots a t goal would probably have to be an exception unless attitudes in that regard changed. Also, no team-mate of the player with the ball can go anywhere near the position of the mark to shepherd once play on is called.

I can only hope it means that the player standing on the mark has to actually STAND RIGHT ON THE SPOT. No lateral movement. It would require more stringent and quicker calling of play on but would improve ball movement and open up downfield and the corridor substantially.

We are 22 days away from our first NAB game against Port. Any news on when we will play an intra-club game or two? It would be nice if the rehab group was a little smaller, but hopefully it is because they club is now ultra-conservative with injuries. It is going to be very interesting to see how the Round 1 team takes shape over the next 7 weeks.

I think people are fooling themselves if they think allowing Essendon top up players is for their benefit and is a "reward". It is to keep the other players safe and to try and keep them somewhat competitive, which benefits the entire AFL. To rain down more and more punishment on them weakens every team. No one will benefit if they are crippled for decades or are forced out of the AFL. The deterrent is now there. They will be hamstrung by the draft and financial penalties for several years. Reputations are forever tarnished. Big deal they get VFL and State league level players to come in for one year. Are they really going to get anywhere because of that? Good luck to those players, who after this year will no longer be EFC players unless they draft for them in the free market.

AFL players, like all professional sportsman, have both rights and responsibilities. Unfortunately, the AFLPA led by example and have cared far about their rights and neglected their responsibilities. You can't expect to be paid like a professional and treated like a professional if you then don't act like a professional. The AFLPA have completely failed to represent the entire playing group. I'm getting sick of hearing that there are no winners out of yesterdays verdict. Clean footballers are winners. Sports fan who want as fair as possible playing field are winners. People who want to ensure "the dog ate my homework" defence gets given the treatment it deserves are winners.