praha

I hate this. We weren't "lucky" at all. Their pace and spread was amazing but we defended superbly. Their inaccuracy was a product of our defensive awareness, pushing them to the flanks and pockets, forcing them to kick for goal at an angle. We deserved to win.

I am utterly astonished at how dumb the AFL can be at times. Truly gobsmacked. 1. The rule is that if you are under pressure, you can rush a behind. 2. At the end of the second period of extra time, if scores are level the coaches box is going to get out to the players that "next score wins". 3. A player will have the ball in defense, will be under pressure, and may rush it out of habit, or may hold onto the ball and be forced over the line by desperate opposing players trying to get the extra score. 4. What you'll get is a Grand Final won and lost by a defender from the losing team. Moronic. 5. Golden goal is no better: you could have a team kick 7 behinds in a row before their opponent scores a goal. They'll have a higher score but will lose because they didn't kick a goal. Moronic. Minimum of two extra periods, with additional periods until a winner is declared. It's like the higher-ups at the AFL have never spoken to another human being before.

Looks good.

Updated North record. Updated two-in-a-row record.

Unless you're in the MCC members, it doesn't matter where you sit, you'll be surrounded by a mix of Richmond + Melbourne, mostly Richmond by a ration of probably 3:1.

Wouldn't be surprised if Garlett gets a run at Casey, but doubtful. IMO In: Garlett, Vince Out: M.Jones, Oliver probably for a rest. Jones probably doesn't *deserve* to be dropped, I don't think anyone explicitly does, but he has to make way. Now that Brayshaw is back, Wagner and Bugg had good games, he has to make way. If Brayshaw is concussion then swap him for Oliver.

Collingwood looks a little like Melbourne circa 2007. Any wonder why Howe wanted to go there. All this talk about them pre-season. They were never going to be better than 10th, may well finish in bottom three based on yesterday's performance.

Jesus... What could have been...

I feel that he went down and got injured at the worst possible time. He was one of those guys, like Watts, that needed to play through 2014, 2015. They have been career defining years for Watts and much-needed experience in a team that can win games. Trengove is coming from further back than the club was. It'll be hard to crack the 22 but I suspect it'll happen at one point this year. Hopefully it's at the MCG.

Firstly, to the Pies fan on level 4 of the Southern Stand who yelled out, "Shut up you losers, you're all losers!" to the Melbourne supporters booing an umpire decision, only for Kent to run on to an errant Pies kick for an easy goal mere seconds later, STICK THAT RIGHT UP YA! Secondly, we *could* have won by 10+ goals plus but the ability to stem Pies' comeback is telling. We played in second gear for the 2nd, third and fourth quarters. Really was the quintessential Roos win circa Sydney 2005. Thirdly, Hogan today demonstrated he is much, much more than a one-trick forward. He is going to be a star CHF. Fourthly, loved Wagner's confidence. Fifthly, McDonald needs to add some attacking flair to his game. I liked him today and he is reliable enough in patches but he is unreliable with the ball. Sixthly, Our forward pressure is something I don't think I've seen since 2000. Garlett in that side and we win by 10 goals, easily. Seventhly.. YOU BLOODY BEAUTYYYY

Nah, we are toying with them but playing complacent football at the same time. We should be 12 goals up.

We should we 12 goals up. Good to hold them to only 2 goals that quarter considering how long they had it in their 50.

Yeah well that means he'll get the 3 brownlow vote today.

Not great...

I'll give it a shot.

Hard to beat Hawthorn when they have the umps on their side. Saints are on the way up. Great drafting, kept experience around to ease the youngsters in. Saints and Dogs setting standards on how to rebuild after falling. That was a great tussle.

They'd be in crisis regardless. If we beat the Pies, a finals-bound team is 1-3. If we beat the Tigers, they're 1-4, with both teams' wins being very unconvincing. Irrespective of who played them, they'd be in crisis. But Melbourne, losing to Melbourne would just compound it.

Even with only 2 talls (maybe 3), we don't have a middle ground where we can go undersized and still manage taller player. GWS, Essendon and North talls have all had a field day with marks inside 50. We need to match them as best we can with height down back.

Our best is 10 goals better than their worst. And so goes the other way around.

You won't make any ground in China until you draft a China-born national and have them actually play. The next best bet is getting into the minds of Chinese students in Australia who are trying to assimilate. Playing in China for the sake of brand growth for a club is futile. From the game's perspective, broadly, sure, great idea, but this won't benefit Port all that much in the long run. At least not more than it did the teams that played in Toronto, LA, Chicago etc in the 80s and 90s and helped establish the sport over there. I think Kochie is greatly overstating how beneficial this is going to be for Port. The one and only way to win China is to feed into their insane sense of national pride. And to do that, you need one of them. But hey, good luck, Port.

This week's game reminds me a lot of the Brisbane game in 2010, under lights at the MCG. Brisbane were undefeated at that point but we were coming off two wooden spoons and looked to be improving. It was the game that was going to determine if we had turned the corner. Granted we all know what happened after 2011, and Collingwood is down and out compared to that Brisbane team, but lots of eyes on Collingwood atm and we need to turn a corner. I honestly think this game will shape our season. If Essendon was a must-win, this week is an absolute do-or-die match. We need to put them away. No excuses.

Last time I courted someone I ended up with a ring on my finger and a child, so no, no we shouldn't be courting him.

We should smash them but I predict Cloke to kick 5.0, Pendles to play back into form, Sidebotton to destroy Hogan and Melbourne to kick 3.12 for the day.

The challenge with China is getting Chinese students on board, not necessarily aiming it at the Chinese market in China. The one and only way you're going to make it in China is if you draft a Chinese-born player. I think Melbourne has done a decent job of getting into the eyes and ears of Chinese students in Melbourne, which has among the highest density in the world outside of China of Chinese nationals living in a 1-2km radius. Port simply can't compete in that regard. We have already done a lot of what Port is doing now. Koch is two years late. Nonetheless, China is big enough for more than one team. But I can't imagine Port gaining any more traction with locals than Melbourne have. The key is attracting Chinese nationals at home. Expansion into China is hard without one of them to represent what you're doing (think Yao Ming and what he did for the NBA in China).

Lots of people don't notice this and call for Kent's head. Defensive pressure has been relatively good so far in 2016 thanks to these two.