RalphiusMaximus

If the Hawks go down by 140+ points we could overtake them :D

Holy Hell, Lake gone with a possible medial ligament injury. That's big news, and now the Port talls are killing them.

And so he should. I'll say nothing against him, he's hard, professional and never stops working but the reality is that he's past his prime. There is a very good reason the Doggies delisted him. In our poor midfield he's been a great addition, but as we improve he's going to once again find himself a bit too slow and limited. That's where he'll complete his transition into a playing coach and then a straight-out development coach. As my friend from Doggieland said, if we want to be competitive he can't be one of our best 22 players.

It appears to be a woman wearing a Melbourne scarf for a top. Would that be about right?

Looks like GC is fighting back. We could be in luck after all. Edit: Nope.

He was also 22 when he started playing for us. Meanwhile, the Hulk looks like holding the lead in the contested mark stakes, one ahead of Hooker from the Bombers. They're starting to put a gap on the rest of the field. I think Hogan had significantly harder conditions to play under to get his as well.

Speaking of GWS, Shiel is up to 14 disposals in the first quarter. Damn that kid can play.

We're 0.7% outside the eight after Collingwood leaked a late goal. Slackers. Our only shot now is if GC thrash GWS, and that just isn't going to happen.

Just had a look at the ladder. We're 0.7% off eighth spot. Bloody Collingwood leaked a late goal to keep us out.

Damn you! Just because I got my numbers backwards you have to go and ruin it for me. Does anyone know how long it has been since we won all four quarters of a match? It must have been a fair while ago.

OK.

I think this was the most complete game we've played in years. We won every quarter for the first time in I have no idea how long. We controlled the game for most of the day, and when Richmond were ascendant we closed up on the defence and shut the game down until they ran out of puff and we could take it away again. Whole team defence, some real quality in attack, multiple scorers with no one dominant focal point. This was a close to a modern game as we've ever played. Just an amazing effort from the team.

Viv is exactly what you want from a B-grade player. He works hard, wins his own ball and rarely makes a mistake with it. It's great that he's into the side now and if he keeps up with this form he should stay there for a while.

So how many tipped us?

Someone said he copped a knee from Howe? I don't think anyone had any idea at the time, but concussion is a mandatory week off isn't it?

I'm thrilled at how wrong I've been about a bunch of things this season. I thought vanDemon wouldn't cope against guys he couldn't push around. WRONG. I thought we'd drop the first seven games. WRONG I thought Brayshaw wouldn't be able to crack a game until late in the season WRONG. I thought Jamar wouldn't be able to carry the ruck again this year. WRONG. Never been happier to be wrong in my entire life.

HE didn't get much ball, took 3 marks for the game and had one absolute shocker of a kick, but he actually got involved in the play a lot more than last week. He wasn't good, but he actually put in an effort and put his body in which is the area we all really want him to work on. I agree he probably needs a few weeks at Casey bullying VFL players to build up his confidence, but tonight was an improvement.

As with round one, it's tough because there are many who can get votes. I can't fit TMac in. That's just weird. 6 - Jones. The workhorse. He did what was needed when it was needed. Great captain's game. 5 - vanDemon. 12 (13?) tackles. He was massive, threw his weight around and just impacted the game. 4 - Hogan. Could easily be higher. His presence is insane for such a young guy. 3 - Vince. Again had a shut-down role and kept Cotchin from really impacting. Did plenty with the ball himself. 2 - Garland. Did a great job down back. Got plenty of the ball and rebounded well. 1 - Garlett. Was a massive pest in the forward half and knew exactly how to play in the wet. Any other day he'd have more points.

THe fact that the best defender is going to a veteran of three games while a premiership CHF is running around says it all really.

So, can we sneak a win from the next three?

Some great performances tonight. vanDemon 12 tackles. Hogan of course. Garlett was all over them. Jetta until he went off. TMac and Garland down back were huge. Basically it was pretty awesome.

Jack was ok. He put in the effort, got into the packs and tackled. He needs to keep his eyes on the ball when he goes for marks and learn when to use hands and when to take it on his chest. That being said despite his poor stats this was a big improvement on last week.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

That was a REALLY nice kick.

It is good to see Michie getting game time though. He's a rock. You don't see him doing much that's spectacular, but he always seems to be in a good spot and rarely makes mistakes.