Je Roos Salem

Yet Garland over Dunn makes little sense

Definitely not. Unless someone else steps up to the plate in defence and overtakes him our defence would be awful.

So he probably shouldn't be replaced by Garland then. At least Dunn can use his body and is a nice kick

I can't understand why Dunn is a fringe player again. I mean he was pretty poor last week, but very good the week before. Dunn has given much better effort than Garland in the past couple of years. I'm sure we should've seen Neal-Bullen before Stretch and especially Michie. Also it seems really weird that Lumumba's now concussed but he played poorly enough to be dropped anyway

Lack of communication was a problem at times. Watts was a bit hesitant again. Lumumba running into trouble twice was really disappointing, Vince made some poor decisions. We were spacing way too close together. Our defence definitely looked like they'd given up a bit and our midfield was easily outplayed. I don't think we're gonna have a top-4 type consistency any time soon, but I think we're as talented as ever and will be able to bounce back from poor losses

Etihad's good for actually viewing the game. Had great seats on lvl 2 today but lvl 3 wing is good too. On the other hand it's pretty depressing to sit under a roof on a fine day, and the way the area is planned out around the stadium is pretty shocking.

We needed fewer bigs out there, playing Dawes would've been a nightmare

He also had a massive say in winning our last 2. I admit he's flawed but he's great at bouncing back from bad games. Drove me crazy concentrating on him and his lack of coverage on Riewoldt though, that said watching Riewoldt's work rate is quite a sight.

That's a pretty good point. Hogan was our one big forward in that game, we even dropped Watts, we used Harmes as a target and he played really well, as did Newton and Dunn who was down there for a while. At the least we could've rested Frost who burnt out really quickly and brought Oliver back

They've only played 2 at Etihad in like the past 10 years. We had a few years off etihad home games but suddenly we find ourselves with one penciled in per year. I've said it before but a few years ago when we got fixtured the club was outwardly upset, but after we were given that cash handout we've probably willingly obliged to what the AFL serves us

This is how I feel. Yes, we all don't like the fact we're playing at Etihad. But let's just come out and support our best team in ages. Members can take a train 2 extra stops. Good Robbo video too

Yeah I was thinking of us in 2007. Their fall from grace has been a bit more spectacular though, when I think of 07 I think of all our heartbreaking losses (Port, North, WB), though it was pretty exciting when we eventually won 2 in a row.

I love that Freo are only rebuilding now that they're 0-5 Ross Lyon must've been done with excuses after the first 4 losses so to get off the hook now they're just suddenly rebuilding They're not rebuilding, they're just crap

The competition for spots is pretty eye opening. I'd love Oliver to be in there but I suppose we can only have so many guys competing for the ball in the middle, which is probably why Hunt/Harmes have been backed over him, for that team balance, also Wagner has come out of nowhere and Tyson is in really good form. Good luck on seeing Salem get into that midfield any time soon too! Bottom line is I guess that we aren't changing a winning formula. We are retaining a good mix of outside run and inside...insideness. Anyway it's great to see so many debutants at this early stage. They've all had an impact and then you can include Bugg and Kennedy who I wasn't 100% sure about. The new interchange cap seems to be providing an incentive to rest our younger guys, playing them only 60-70% gametime, so if anything that lessens the impact of the shorter break. Also, maybe selection is like a game of musical chairs. Oliver gets lowest possession tally- dropped. Brayshaw gets lowest possession tally- also dropped

Towards the end of the game on Sunday I realised I actually like him, and my feelings about Dunn have been unsteady for many years. Starting him on the sidelines this season might have been a mistake but it's probably made him hungrier than ever. They may not be the cleanest duo but a defence with T-Mac and Dunn is definitely a solid one

In- Petracca, Oliver Out- Brayshaw, Harmes (Both quiet and unspectacular but not necessarily poor) I suppose there's a chance Wagner could be unlucky too Structure-wise, not so sure, but talent and form-wise this is what I want I saw a heaps of promise in Hunt. especially his evasive work and the way he hit the ball. I agree that we should keep the bigs for now. Frost wasn't as good as last week but worked his way into the game. Pedo was error-ridden early but really asserts himself all over the field

Exactly, Trengove just doesn't have those smarts. He can compete but he gets caught easily

I hope it's not because of that tree that blocks the broadcast view from a certain angle. I'd rather play there than that sweat hole in Darwin. I bet if we play in China, even if there's a bye the next week our players will under perform because they're adjusting their lungs from the smog, at least that's what everyone will say. It's pretty funny given there's an "if" attached to this game given the media circus that covered the meeting

Update: Petracca probably won't be debuting under lights against Richmond. He'll be playing under lights at Casey. Just a notch down or two

This could be the best game ever. Petracca debuting under lights V Richmond

You should only be allowed to review whether it's over the line or not. Not only is it unfair on players, it's just impossible to see. Plus reviews are such a waste of time and I don't know why the AFL likes as many as possible

It's difficult. Our team really gelled today, but I'm sure Garlett and Vince are shoe ins and I want to unleash Petracca before he does another basketball injury. Plenty of midfield depth now, especially with Tyson back to fantastic form. I like the way we've backed Wagner and Hunt, but I'm not sure who we'd drop from our more senior guys to accommodate for our 18-21 group

Frost surprised me at how comfortable he was around the ball. I've only seen him as a more awkward conventional big. As for Hogan, I think he needs to lead up like that every game. He can dominate more that way, avoid double teaming. I think when he's deep too much is when he gets the most frustrated like against Essendon. It reminded me of his game against the Dogs last year where he had 21 posessions and 3 goals. If they have the tanks, bigs are good to kick to all over the ground, Richo was a great winger in his final days with Richmond

I couldn't help thinking how far Michael Evans had come along today for a split second (it was Bugg)

First half was attack and second half was defence. Wagner has come from nowhere/ Frost easily played his best game today, looked really agile around the ground. Hogan affected contests all around the ground. Bugg's best game. Lumumba's best game in ages. Tyson was particularly good too.Very strong defensive performance, McDonald was the reason the Pies didn't get within striking distance. Interesting that we've kicked so many goals without Garlett in the team, maybe we were kicking it to him too often? We gave the Pies a few goals from poor manning in the 2nd, but other than that we were structured really well around the ground. Hogan dismissed all signs of a lack of confidence/fitting in with his performance today I really hope this is a start of a stellar streak. We're comfortably in our best form in 5 years but I'm worried it'll be a handful of close losses that'll destroy our finals hopes this season. Long way to go though.