RalphiusMaximus

I'm allergic to those little bastards. Or a strong wind blowing one way? Looks like Casey did all of their scoring at one end and the other lot just didn't do much scoring at either end.

I have to say, when I saw that I would have to pay extra to sit on level one I very nearly pulled the plug. That's a disgrace. I'm glad I did go, but I pay for my membership so I can go to the games. Why am I being asked to pay twice to sit in the same place I normally would?

I don't think he likes pushing forward. In the second half he went back to playing ruck and dropping back into the hole and he started looking much better.

Tommy will wind up on the wing using his aerobic capacity to cruise up and down the ground all day. He took some really nice contested marks today as the outlet from defence.

I just got home a few minutes ago. I have to say that it was a great afternoon for football, not too hot or cold, slight breeze, overcast. Basically as good a day out as you could get. SO WHERE THE HELL WERE ALL THE DEMON SUPPORTERS? This game should have been a sell-out. The AFL backed us in and refused to let the Hawks and Bombers pinch our home game, and we get a pathetic 21000 on a perfect Saturday afternoon? That's shameful. Now that that's off my chest... How good were our backline today? 22 marks from our three tall(ish) defenders. May BOG. Lever was impassable, although there were some poor efforts when he pushed into attack. Tomlinson hasn't had the love he deserves, although admittedly he didn't have much in the way of opponents. He still dominated them. That back six a gelling nicely. Also huge props to Spargo and Pickett. They are both firmly in the best 22 at this point. Spargo's creativity and play-making are becoming really important, and Picket's pressure play created opportunities for everyone around him. Also love how Pickett upped his attack in the fourth and went looking to crash some bodies and land some hard tackles. Someone fed him angry pills at 3/4 time. Jordan had a very solid debut. Nailed a couple of beautiful passes and should have had two goals. He's another one who needs to work on his set shots. I'm not entirely sold on the midfield mix we had today though. Our output was pretty low, with only Oliver really racking up the disposals. Very happy for TMac. He's had a lot of pressure after last year, so to come out early and clunk a few contested marks on the wing was a great effort. Could have used a better conversion rate, especially since his misses were pretty easy shots. Overall, pretty happy with the game. They missed a lot of opportunities in attack, but the skills were much better than expected and our backline kicked their [censored].

And we're officially on top of the ladder. For now.

I couldn't agree more. Things just seemed to click for him. Possibly on the back of that big chase and contest for the loose ball on our 50 that ended with him giving away a highly dubious high contact free? That was awesome to see him just put on the afterburners and charge through. Now we just need someone to chat with him about his set shot routine...

6. May 5. TMac. 4. Lever 3. Oliver 2. Spargo 1. Pickett

I disagree. Our skills are so poor already, I don't think you will be able to see a difference. ? But the doggies look like a pretty good side this year. They have a lot of really good mids there, and more who can't get into the side. Their talls are still a weakness, but not as much as it used to be.

Oscar again!

How odd. I was going to say that Weideman is younger, but he's actually six months older that McKay. He really doesn't have the excuse of being a young KPF any more.

I dunno, he's faded a bit after that blistering entry to the game.

Harry has another brain fart.

Goal to Oscar!

Where do they put Oscar in? He can't play the same role as Silvagni.

If we persist with the high bomb into the forward line Carlton will eat us alive. Their entire game is built around intercepting the forward ball and fast transition. It couldn't be better designed to make us look bad.

Really? I thought it was quite decent when we beat Richmond despite having half a dozen of our first team sidelined. I do agree that we were smashed by the Doggies, but Fremantle don't have anywhere near that level of class on their list.

With Viney out there's a spot in the guts for him. That's where he needs to play.

Franklin's best is long behind him. Daniher is worth far more if he can stay fit.

Saints and Carlton are both "run and gun" style sides. You're always going to see big scores when they play each other. The question is whether they can hold up against a side that puts them under more pressure.

It's not a terrible list. Looking at the top 20, there are a few players in there on reputation rather than output, but it's mostly solid. I think Dangerfield, Ryan, Grundy and Pendlebury are overrated based on last year's output.

I want to see a discernible forward line plan that doesn't include kicking to the hot spot and hoping for something to happen.

Funny to see so much negativity around Farmer. I don't think he was that bad in his first ever game at that level. He showed some good pace and agility, he has a longer kick than I expected and he was certainly willing to chase and tackle. The big issue I had was his kicking. I'm not sure whether it's an issue with his skills or decision-making, but his kicks went to bad places. Still, that is something that can be worked on. More importantly for me, there were a couple of glimpses where he was almost magic. Only a couple, but again, give it time to develop. Edit: Also, we have another open list spot due to the latest LTI.

He just couldn't live with himself if he'd been forced to speak positively about that idiotic man on the mark rule during a game.

44 can play, whoever he is.