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Now that we know it is saints and docklands, I suspect we might go 'smaller'. B: Jetta - T McDonald - Hibberd HB: Hunt - Frost - Vince C: Tyson - Jones - Salem HF: Petracca - Watts - Brayshaw F: Kent - Hogan - Garlett Foll: Gawn - Lewis - Viney I/c: Oliver - Stretch - Melksham - vandenBerg Emerg: Pedersen - O McDonald - Harmes We will need a full array of runners at that godawful stadium.

bullet dodged if it's the same day as the grand prix - better to have no home game on that day than have one, as crowds and tv audiences will likely be diminished as a result.

50k? try closer to 80k. it's gone 75.7k, 83.5k, 62k (when it was in round 2, and there was much gnashing of teeth from the carlton and richmond folks about it), 81k, 78k in the last five years. it works well as a season-opener, with two 'traditional' vic teams, one of whose former and most legendary players is the longstanding chairman of the afl, kicking off the season, in a fixture request that both clubs have had for the best part of the last decade makes plenty of sense. it's a 'fixture', not a draw. we put in the request every year to host queen's birthday and to have no docklands home games, and one of two requests is granted...peptides requested friday nite season opener this year and were 'granted' saturday nite against a bigger team (e.g. hawks not us), and you can bet that some of the other requests that teams have made won't be granted. i would always love it if the clubs made their requests public so we knew what it was that they'd asked for had been 'granted' or not. it's all set up for television, ultimately. gotta play everyone at some stage, and i have zero dramas playing saints at docklands as THEIR home game but i'll be screaming bloody murder if we host any of the tenant clubs at that ground as OUR home game. that, and the lack of fixture organisation to ensure that we have a bye / longer break after a game in the nt are my two bigger fixture gripes than anything else.

It should be a good game to kick off the year with. The two sides directly outside the 8 at the end of 2016, both with chances to push into the 8 in 2017, both with some solid recruiting in the offseason. Also it'll be the Sunday arvo game - live broadcast on 7. They're super quick and skilled, whereas we play contested battering ram football - two disparate styles up against one another. It should be a really great contest, on paper, with us the underdogs.

no time like round 1 to get the monkey off the back and kickstart the season with a positive win... http://gph.is/18RTEdl

reasonable source tells me it'll be peptides against the hawks in round 1, either friday or saturday night. we won't get our first crack at em til around about round 5.

i still think he can be 'our hodge' - a player who can play the zoning half-back, move through the midfield, and hit the scoreboard. smoeone insert that gif of final round vs gw$ in 2015 where he brought down cameron on the wing at docklands. loved that.

nah, i'll stick with tom deep and o mac up the ground. joel smith isn't even on the senior list, yet, so still reckon yr putting the cart before the horse with the prediction that he'll replace nev in our back 50 make-up. i would wager that jetta is one of the first-picked every week. dependable lock-down small defenders don't grow on trees, and his rebounding capacity is getting better all the time - worth remembering he's still under 100 games and at 27 at the start of the 2017 season should be in his prime for the next two to three seasons. i rate him so highly. hopefully we're both right and jetta is able to maintain his great form whilst being pressured by the likes of smith, mckenna et al - quality depth is key to success and all that!

harmes will be one of those players who comes in for games and goes out for games depending upon injury and form. and i fully expect that with another preseason under his belt, weideman will be part of the forward 50 mix ahead of pedersen. he leads up at the ball, marks, and competes. he'll add bulk to his frame and become an aerial threat this summer. and to prodee saying jetta's spot is vulnerable...i can't even...no words, man, no words... B: Jetta - T McDonald - Frost HB: Hunt - O McDonald - Hibberd C: Vince - Jones - Tyson HF: Petracca - Hogan - Kent F: Watts - Weideman - Garlett Foll: Gawn - Lewis - Viney I/c: Salem - Brayshaw - Oliver - Stretch Emerg: Melksham - Pedersen - vandenBerg

player ratings comments on his neafl seasons are here. consistent theme is 'hit targets'.

wagner can remain a rookie; there's no need whatsoever to elevate.

no need to elevate. take em all to the draft and let taylor and viney do their thing.

he looks like a good depth defensive option, someone who can play 'small' but also has the ability to impact in the air and from the looks of highlights hit targets by foot.

i think tigers have done okay too. caddy and prestia will help them win contested ball, plus they're midfielders who actually tackle - unlike cotchin, martin, ellis x2, etc.

lewis has played less than 20 games in two seasons of his entire career. he's been incredibly durable and consistent. i'll be surprised if he has a season in the next three where he has less than 10 games in the red and blue. three years is nothing for a modern footballer at the age of 30, and with our plethora of inside mids he's going to get a lot more rotations in / out than he has got at the hawks where he's been the main starting mid alongside mitchell for the last decade. getting lewis and hibberd for effectively a second round pick is one of the best bargains we've ever had.

B: Shaw - Davis - Williams HB: Wilson - Tomlinson - Deledio C: $cully - Shiel - Whitfield HF: Stevie J - Cameron - Smith F: Lobb - Patton - Greene Foll: Mumford - Ward - Coniglio I/C: Kelly - Griffen - Haynes - Corr Emerg: Hopper - Buntine - Mohr And that's not even including their kids that are coming in this year, two of whom are considered top ten picks. On paper, they look set to be a serious, serious threat to win premierships. Here's hoping that threat remains on paper.

that zac tuohy deal makes hibberd look like even more of a bargain - he's a far better half-back flanker than the irishman.

clubs will come for rockliff at the end of next season. book it in. he might not be a leader, but he's a ball-getter. if pies and tigers really bottom out next season, then they'll both offer him decent free agency opportunities - all it costs is cap money, nothing in a trade.

that brisbane press release is pretty interesting. basically, "rocky will remain here for one more year, then he can go wherever he wants as a free agent and we'll take the compo and run".

i think of it as lewis and hibberd for our second round pick. unbelievable result.

wasn't yarran traded for 19 last year? i seem to remember they held their nerve and refused to hand over 12, as the mini-giants (dwarves?) requested.

no. presuming we land hibberd some time in the next two days: B: Jetta - T McDonald - Frost HB: Hunt - O McDonald - Hibberd C: Vince - Jones - Tyson HF: Petracca - Hogan - Kent F: Watts - Weideman - Garlett Foll: Gawn - Lewis - Viney I/C: Salem - Brayshaw - Oliver - Stretch Emerg: Melksham - Pedersen - vandenBerg Vince pushes defensively, Tyson moves into contested situation, Kent, Trac and Watts roll up and push back all the time...actual depth of rotations through the midfield and as run out of defence...man oh man, I would be pretty excited about going to the footy to see what we can do...

Ah, righto. Either way I'm fine with it. Can't believe we got Lewis for so little. Outstanding.

Apparently Mark Stevens on 7 said he's now one of our top five paid players? I personally see him as a top 5 player immediately, so no dramas there...

so happy to bring him in.