1964nowMORE

Good on him. Seems pretty simple though. Give a physically strong and athletic footballer the structure, instruction, feedback and confidence he requires and look out. The boy has many skills capable of performing at AFL level. Is he any better or worse than LRT or Ted Richards! I wouldn't have thought so, and they both looked good with a premiership medal hanging off them. Roos is clearly one of a small group, maybe 4-5 "elite" coaches who are capable of achieving greatness. He will prove a lot more than Pedo over the coming years. Right now I bet the Tigers wish they had one of the 4-5 not one of the mainstream capable. Things are looking up, now we see the boys play with confidence, look out Bulldogs.

No change. Unless injury requires it. Reward the group, keep them together, make the rest pound the door down.

Pretty sure roos has some idea of what he is doing! also pretty sure our skills are average at best and we desperately need anyone who can kick and hit a target! pretty easy to work out why Watts is in and Mckenzie is out.....maybe also why Salem is in. Good on Salem for earning a game, haven't we all changed our tune, even considering keeping him in the VFL to keeping earning it. Simply age didn't matter, form as rewarded,a and thank god the boy can kick. On a side note josh Kelly has done a hammy this week! reckon we've got the trade deal covered now! Two for none this week! Jamar is big and experienced, exactly like the swans, a good in, maybe a sideways move but we simply don't have a gun young ruck man like the Suns or Saints. Sneaking suspicion we will go alright this week, can't wait to see us Saturday night. Go dees.

Read this with a smile......great idea and has strong traditional heritage behind it. Be nice to make another event for the dees!

In. Salem as sub Out. Terlich if injured Heard a whisper yesterday that Salem was getting close, almost an emergency this week. If he does well again today give him a taste as the sub. Also heard someone who has known him for 15 years say he is clearly the best footballer he has seen, has much better skills than josh Kelly and expects him to become an elite mid.

Rapt with Dunn, had a good year last year and has come forward even more. A bit of Ted Richards about him, better kick. We desperately need 2 players to straighten us up, not only tall players but tall players who can crunch a pack. We only have 3 of them on our list, Dawes, hogan and Clark. Fitzy is tall but plays smallish. Maybe Gawn can go here also. Till we get 2 real bigs in we are stuffed.

Am I the only one who thought Pedo was really good when in the back line? Terrible on the forward line, but good down back. Didn't get beaten in the air, won some one on ones.....then was put back forward in the last qtr so Howe could play CHB. Fitzy must out for me, and Michie too. Ideally Gawn if fit and one of the runners, Blease over Evans ideally.

The game plan. Over a few beers last night I had a good chat with a current AFL assistant coach, who's been doing it a few years at least, and was a very successful player. I won't say who he coaches or played with to be fair. When I asked about the Dees he said he had seen the Richmond game, and without wanting to be "too technical with me" his club had analysed the new Melbourne approach at length, from out first hit out. He was effusive in his praise that "back of centre and behind the ball" our approach, skills and plan were first class elite - a very clearly structured plan that was extremely effective against the Tigers. We got onto the Dees after he showed some cynicism for the Carlton approach under Malthouse of "give me five years and the boys will be playing my way successfully" compared with the Hinkley model at Port that had "instent success and a clear new game plan and approach that worked". He didn't think ports list was all that strong, but loved how they played all together. Fair to day I left the discussion pumped about Roos and co and super keen to see us with a forward line that could take the next step approach. Go demons!

Fantastic.....great quality airline with a serious presence based in Guangzhou. Well done

Bernie Vince.....loving it. Argh, Toumpas.

The one and only positive about being asked to de-board the plane in Dubai, and wait four hours to see if they can fix the door......the Demons clash. Go dees

Had a good chat to a former Richmond board member today, he was thrilled for us and very positive in his praise for Roos. Simply said the Hardwick plan, which he doesn't like, crumbles against really good coaches in pressure, his view. He thought roos out coached Hardwick by miles and we would go somewhere. As he stated, Christ malt house has a shite collingwood team in grand finals ten years ago..... Ah, a real coach, he can coach, teach and earn respect all at the same time!

Spoke to fitzy today and he said he would play next week, expect to see him vs the cats.

If we are a bit excited, some more than others, imagine how the players feel. Over a quiet beer tonight or a latte tomorrow a few of them will get together a mutter words like "geez he was right Roosy! It does work", "wow how good is it having Bernie and crossy", "bloody hell we have a new flash", "gonna make sure I play next week, don't want to miss out".......and so on. So who gets dropped for Viney, Dawes, Watts, Fitzy and Hoges to come in next week?

Wow, we have a game plan and it's possible to see and we aren't even at Rd5 yet.....thanks Roosy, already under promised and over delivered. Pity Tyson is off, might make a difference in this last quarter. Very happy to have Cross. Thrilled for all the players, plus the boys not playing would be feeling "maybe I might not get back in" for the first time in like.....ever!

So the good news it seems is the large majority of our squad, and thankfully our on ball brigade are getting good pre seasons and running hard game like at training. Not ideal that the big boys aren't out there yet, but I'm much more comfortable knowing Jones, Grimes, Michie, Tyson, Cross, Watts, Howe, Tappy, Evans and even Blease are getting great hit outs. Our back line and mids seem to be up and about, a few issues in ruck and tall forwards....but we did know about Dawes and Hoges is back in a few weeks. Agree with other posters we need them on the track by late Feb for games. Pretty exciting to read, the fact we have so many players to report on is great, didn't read a thing about Watts on the track, or how Dunn training etc. nice depth finally. Go Dees.

Very pleased to see Strauss and Blease will learn an enormous amount in the locker room sitting beside Cross. No cutting corners now.

If McCarthy becomes a gun chb like Carlisle has at essendon then me thinks not a bad selection.

I'm loving the fact that in Rd1 quite a few from Dunn, Clisby, Salem, Michie, Strauss, Blease, Gawn, Terlich, Evans, Spencer and Jamar will miss out. Roos is a big fan of strong mature bodies, I expect therefore Dunn to play a lot more games this year than Salem or Toumpas as an example. I don't want Salem playing Rd1, I want him looking at Freeman, Billings, Aish etc and thinking how come they get a game and I can't yet! I want him to earn it after 5-6 strong consistent efforts at Casey and Demonland to be in meltdown cause he can't get picked despite the potential and form we all see at the time. Then I believe we will be sitting 4-2 in 7th and starting to believe.

Reckon he'd get a game at Hawks, such a nice kick ala guerra. Freo as the 3rd tall back behind. That's a nice start for him. He is good one on one, a good kick, has some speed. Wow we are critical, it's fashionable not to like him. Will have a good 2014 under roos and maybe we will ease off th criticism.

Great pickup Dees, a player about to enter his prime 4-5 years with experience of the system, knows his own game, strengths and limitations, is a proven hard nut and coming back from injury has something to prove to the doubters. Seems just the type of player to know how to prove doubters wrong, certainly won't be for lack of having a fair dinkum crack. Now Viney and Toumpas will look around them and think "geez I better perform or Riley, Michie, Evans, M Jones" might take my place. That can only be a healthy thing. Also means Casey midfield will be more than Couch and Magner. Seems a much better addition to our list in 2014 for immediate impact than Taggert, who for all his nice skills simply didn't get it enough. Maybe he gets a rookie spot, but maybe he needs to pay some games like Riley in the VFL.

If we win a flag in 2014, unlikely but November is our dream time, I'm prepared to give Roos all the credit, not the base he took over from Neeld!

I was in a marquee two years ago, with a heap of a hawks in there including Buddy, Gibbo and Sewell. Hammered was an understatement, plus some nice white powder getting about, to even that late in the day. Was very obvious and completely inappropriate. I compare that with last year and seeing Nicole Kidman up close who was nothing but class, a level above all others in how she carried herself and was approachable. Smoke and fire, seems it torched the blue mountains (sadly) but is now smouldering under the SCG stands. Roos is a proven guru, icon, legend, superstar himself......we simply couldn't ever have a better coach for what we need in culture and playing style and belief. Love the pickup of Riley, was talked about a bit 12 months ago and he's now ours.

China Southern would be fantastic, just a pity our sister city of Tianjin doesn't have one of the big 3 Chinese airlines operating out of it, rather its the small down the road cousin (like Geelong) of Beijing and Air China, it does have 9m people though!

Anyone, anywhere, anytime....brings on the Saints in Rd1, pretty happy we get WCE early also, a nice test as they try bounce back, much respected footy club. Happy we get the Swans early and Crows away, would have liked a Bombers, Pies or Hawks early also. Test us hard and often, time to harden up! Sounds like our players attitude is already up and about, I mean Christ if its not we are stuffed. We will win in Rd1, and by a comfortable six goals going away.......from there lookout we must just get momentum, and its bloody hard to stop. 8-10 wins my minimum expectation, similar to this time last year but now confident not hopeful we can deliver. Go Dees.