RalphiusMaximus

Goal Davey! Crumbed off a smother. They didn't say who but I think Spencer.

Sounds like Port are doing what we used to. Handballing in circles in the back half.

It sounds like the infringement was called and then they realised they had it wrong and called it back again. I actually like that. I wish more umpires had that sort of integrity.

Looks to me like someone needs to sit on Kane Mitchell. He's the one doing the damage.

I suppose it's too much to hope that there's another station taking this game somewhere?

They'll be charging for parking, but have a free bus from the train station. Not exactly a good thing for those of us who have to drive. Also, it looks like the arrive before the game thing is shot given they have a big get-together planned for the families beforehand. I still plan to go along of course, but it is a minor annoyance.

I have one thing to say about this game. I really hope nobody is expecting a win. They're taking the kids out there so Port don't get a look at the side they'll be playing in round 1, and I think there's very little chance of a result in our favour. I will however enjoy seeing Fitzpatrick getting some game time.

Absolutely. He's tough as nails but has no skills. Incidentally, Hawks lost to Doggies

The AFL has said over and over, if we want better timeslots an TV schedules, we need to win games and draw crowds. Have we done any of that? At all? Nope. Until we start providing them with some value, the broadcasters will continue to ignore us.

This is one of the few rule changes I actually agree with. I would prefer them to just admit that they made a mistake with their "the head is sacrosanct at all times" rule which led to players diving headfirst at their opponents' legs and repealing it, but given that the AFL is never wrong and as such every single rule they introduce is good and right and proper and for the betterment of the game, I can accept this as a decent way to remedy the issues they created with the aforementioned rule.

I have to say, having finally seen the Richmond game, the Umpires actually did kill us. There were several incidents that directly contributed to either us not having a scoring opportunity or Richmond getting one. The score in the first half would have been far closer had they not made those howlers.

I've just been downloading the games and I can't find the second half of the North game on the AFL site. Anyone else think that;s odd? I also can't see the second half of Rich vs North. Is it a conspiracy? Looking forward to watching them now, but I'd love to see that second half since it would seem to be the time when we played our best footy.

How bad a sprain?

Incidentally, Wayne Carey has just said that Watts was "superb" tonight and could be in for an AA season.

Funny. You'd think some of the people on here were expecting to win tonight. Personally, I'm thrilled to get that close to North, given what they have done to us every time we've played them in the last decade or so (anyone know when the last time we beat them was btw?). We knew that Richmond was well ahead of us and once they got a bit tired we held them pretty well and won the second half of that game. I say there are more positives tonight than negatives.

Seems to me that we are still hurting ourselves when we try to move the ball through half forward. From the sound of it we are rebounding from the backline, turning the ball over at HF and then being hit on the rebound in turn. Their midfield is moving the ball more quickly and delivering to their forwards better.

I have to agree that this was one of the best episodes I have witnessed. Jeff spoke well and logically and made a number of very good points, both regarding the integrity of the AFL and the length of Tenure for the CEO. His assessment of the culture of inconsistent and semi-corrupt dealings within the AFL hierarchy was damning and not one other panelist could find a hole in his reasoning. I wish he were on the show full-time to make the hard points like that.

I disagree with this on pretty much every point. I think Don has been doing an amazing job in very difficult times. He has kept the club moving in the right direction while things looked like going to hell. He's maintained the solidarity of the board and the club as a whole through this entire mess, all the while resisting the temptation to do an Eddie and make it all about him. He's doing exactly what the club president needs to do and keeping the focus on the team while deflecting negative influences (such as a recent pseudo-investigation) and keeping the club running smoothly. This guy has been awesome for the club and now that we appear to have weathered the storm, he deserves to keep on with the club while we move onwards and taste success.

I think a lot of people are looking at this from the wrong direction. This isn't about what the AFL charged us with or the penalties they imposed. It's about WHAT WE LET the AFL charge us with and impose upon us. This is a case of the club standing up and telling the AFL "we're willing to cop a fine, but if you try to do anything that will have an impact on the team itself (charge players, take draft picks etc) we will take you to court and we will destroy you." Look at the wording of the press releases. The meeting was held yesterday, and then our lawyers sat down and pushed them into a release that absolves the club of virtually all blame. Make no mistake people, we have just dictated terms to Vlad and co. and forced them to accept the only route we were willing to allow them to save face. This is a great day to be a Demons supporter.

I'm not that fussed. We might be able to DL the games from the AFL site. The round three game against the Saints is at Casey so I might head over and watch it live.

So basically you're saying that the AFL has turned into Italy.

Now, reading that article he appears to want to come back to Melbourne someday after he has sorted out his family issues. In a way out hypothetical, if he were to beat the charges against him, head back home, his community find common ground and stop feuding and he went and played a season or two for Darwin and dominated before putting his hand up for the rookie draft, would you want us to take another punt on him? Would he be considered too high risk/maintenance given that by then he'd be 26+? Given that we would be well and truly into our dominant run at 5 premierships in a row by then, would we have a place in the side for him? We know he has a son and that he wants that son to play AFL. Would we (fans) want to squeeze 100 games out of him to get a potential FS pick down the track?

It was an interesting morning. Blue team was clearly the "A" Side, although they put a couple of the senior guys in white to be the leaders (Frawley and Sylvia to start). They often pulled things up at stoppages and moved the ball to somewhere else on the ground to do a different drill/set play. It made things a touch hard to follow at times. Also, there were so many new faces out there it was sometimes hard to know who was doing what. Saw Dawes, Howe and Bail (I think it was Bail) heading to the running track at the start of the game. It was a little disappointing to not see Dawes but better to keep him fit and healthy for the real thing I guess. I was very impressed with Hogan. He looks to be a really good prospect. Did some great work early on, clean hands in one on one marking contests and showed great vision spotting Davey in the goalsquare and hitting him from the boundary with his left on the run. He suffered a little when Frawley went and sat on him later in the game. Viney is an animal at the contested ball. He was doing really well in the stoppages. I do think his kicking under pressure let him down a bit today. Toumpas is every bit as classy as people have claimed. Some of his kicking was awesome, although on one occasion he tried to be too cute and kicked a soft ball right into the man on the mark. Watts put in well. Made some very good spoils, set up play and had a dashing run through the middle where he showed that he still has pace to burn. He and Dunn look to be hte designated kickers from defence. He also looks to team well with Tom MacDonald. I didn't notice Pedersen all that much. He beat Fitzpatrick in the ruck when they went into the centre, but I don't know that he did too well as a forward. I admit I wasn't really looking fro him, so he may have had more of in impact than I realise. In the last quarter he joined the Whites and seemed to break even with Davis. Fitzpatrick took a few strong marks, but I don't think he goaled. He did do some good work on the ground fighting for the loose ball and trying to release teammates. Obviously Byrnes was very good today. He just managed top be in the right place at the right time, always giving the option to be the last man in the chain and converting his chances. He's going to be real value for us this year. Strauss, like Pedersen, I didn't notice all that much. Looking at other reports he had a good game, but I just didn't see him do much. I suspect this is due to my focus on other players more than a comment on his play. All in all, it looked to be a significantly improved team to last year. I don't think they are in the same league as the big boys just yet, but they are certainly getting closer.

It's nothing more than Eddie blowing his own trumpet (and who'd have thought the guy was that flexible?). They are welcome to call themselves "Anchor Tenants" as much as they like. It's still our home, and our home it will remain.

Oddly enough, It has flown by for me. It dragged leading up to trade week, but once we knew what was happening I was happy and everything else has been a blur. I can't believe it's NAB time already. Looking forward to next week and our first hitout, even if it will be an understrength side.