RalphiusMaximus

If we had D. Schwartz circa 1994 we'd be close to the top of the ladder right now.

I have no problem with the notion of Junior playing for another year provided he is ready for the possible downside. He needs to look at the other guys who have stayed on that one extra year and decide if he wants to find himself playing a part-time role as a leader and captain who isn't really in the best 22 anymore. That's the worst-case scenario for him and he needs to think about it. The possible upside is of course that he could have another year like this one and be one of our best inside mids with his clearance and tackling work and proudly lead us to a semi-final. There's a lot of middle ground between those two extremes, and probably the reality would be somewhere in the middle. I really hope that if he does stay around it's closer to the good than the bad. I also really hope that he's taking both scenarios into consideration when thinking about his options.

I was watching him at Casey a few weeks ago and he was still limping slightly when he came off the ground. It didn't seem to have much impact when he was actually running, but once he stopped it was like he remembered that it was supposed to hurt. I think we can expect another 2 year deal for him, and with luck with a full pre-season and some time he will regain the confidence that he can do this.

No way would I drop Bartram. We were really struggling to find a good small defender until he stepped into the role. His kicking is never going to be a strength, but he almost never gets beaten one-on-one. As a stopper on the mobile small forwards he is worth his weight in gold.

Make it 300 and you've got a deal.

The free kick count was a little in our favour, but given the advantage in tackles you'd expect that.

Not Bruce. He went pick 64 in the main draft. Although he is listed as having been drafted from the Melbourne Reserves. Odd that. Even odder is that our first pick in that draft was Brad Green at 19 and we traded for that pick. Why didn't we have a first round pick that year? We certainly didn't trade it away.

I think we need to keep in mind that the big wins we've had this season have come on the back of superior running. If we look at removing one of the running players like Maric or Bail in favour of Warnock, we reduce our running capacity. If we do make changes, they need to be lie for like. Hence if we think that Warnock is needed to keep Fev down, then one of the other tall backs needs to make way. If Moloney is coming back in, it will be at the expense of a midfielder who is a little less damaging. I hate to see people talking about dropping Maric or Bail to get Warnock into the side because this will reduce the effectiveness of our gameplan overall. Personally, I don't think we really need to make any changes. If Moloney is fit he would be hte one to come in, but I find it hard to say that anyone should be omitted. I think our backline has enough height to hold both Fev and Brown (as well as Brennan) without making changes, so that is less of a concern for me. It comes down to which of our tall defenders is in the best form as to which gets to play the game. One thing I will say is that Joel Macdonald and Bail absolutely must play this game. Joel will love the chance to have a go at his former club and Rohan can play in front of a more or less local crowd. I think both will lift for this one.

Even better if we beat them after someone conceded a 50 and we kicked the winning goal

Wasn't Junior a rookie as well?

Dammit. That was where I was going. He's gone 5 twice in recent weeks. Sooner or later he'll break his record and nail the 6th.

Ah, but you're forgetting that Watts is going to the GC. That takes care of the extra spot on the list. :D

Close enough

Heh. I thought it was K for Kasperski.

I look forward to next year for the RS. Watts should still be able to take it by then, and we'll have Blease, Tapscott, Gysberts, Straus, maybe Fitzpatrick and Gawn depending on their pre-season work. We could have a record breaking year for our nominations. Edit: OK, so Watts will be out of contention by then. I thought it was more than just 10 games. Still, the rest of them are good chances. Add to that whoever we pick up in the draft this year and it could be fun.

Awesome wins all round. I am thrilled to see that Big Stef worked his way into the game for the reserves. He's obviously been struggling, so to get his name into the BOG list in his first hitout after a break is a great result. I still have high hopes for the lad.

How do you drop anyone after a win like that? I suspect there'll be an extended bench named and taken to Brisbane with the final call made on the day.

15 tackles, 5 goals and 10 contested marks in a 47 disposal game would about do it.

Correct on all counts. Although I think you should be docked points for rating our start only "good".

Really? Who? 26 disposals, 4 goals and 7 marks is a pretty bloody good game. I honestly wouldn't be upset if he polled votes for this game even though it would be taking them away from a very deserving Demon.

I don't think Maric warrants any negative comment. It's his first game of the year, he kicked a goal and had a hand in a few others, and he did some really good work up the ground. He also had a very nice play in the last quarter in which he somehow managed to elude everyone in the pack, dance to the outside and kick to a teammate in Sydney's forward 50. He's showing us plenty. Correction: He kicked a point and had a hand in a few goals.

They've both agreed to join Richmond?

I can't wait to see what you lot say if he becomes a Queenslander.

I thought BT had a great comment in that article. He points out that she's starting at the highest level when most of them have worked through various radio gigs calling VFL and the like before getting to the point of calling on TV. This doesn't make her voice any better to listen to, but it does excuse some of her skill errors. Perhaps with a few years of experience she might get the hang of it.

I'm not too worried by the gold coast this draft. As has been said, there seem to be a lot of good talls available. How many will they need? I'd expect them to take 3, maybe 4, but mostly be stocking up on midfielders. That seems to be the trend. They will need to trade and/or recruit at least some of the spine and ruck division other wise they'll be pitting teenagers against men in all key positions for at least two years. Bailey has said that we need another big powerful forward, and I'm sure there will be some left to pick from by the time we get a pick.