praha

And what about Brisbane at the G? I think that is a possibility. Like I said, Collingwood is the only certain loss I think.

I wouldn't replace Wonna in there. He hasn't played a good, full game during the home and away season for over a year.

Thanks for the round-up. The game against Essendon showed signs of brilliance I thought. It wasn't a terrible game, we just made inexperienced errors that were bordering comical. They weren't shocking, but the whole team just wreaked of inexperience. It was blatantly obvious, more so than in any game over the past three years. It's like we're a puppy going through training: for every obedient and precise act we do, we do something silly. Grimes was the biggest perpetrator of this. Did some absolutely outstanding things, but then also ran straight into traffic a few times and botched a few kicks. Inexperience and concentration. Like DB said, 40-60 games into these players and these silly errors will be almost non-existent. They have nothing to do with football brains or skill, it's just adapting to the pace of the game and becoming aware of the surroundings, which our team as a whole lacks the ability to do at the moment. And our kick-ins have been a problem since the mid-90s. We can win games without fixing it. Least of our worries atm.

Honestly? I can see us being anywhere between 0-6 to 5-1, with our only certain loss being Collingwood. I am confident we have the potential to win all but 1, but I am not confident we actually will.

Healthy crowd there on Saturday too.

I suppose you'd think we'd beat Geelong too, then

The fact that you've judged a successful team against a team that has lost two pre-season games in pretty bad fashion kind of debunks your entire post as nothing more than a biased opinion from a fan who overrates their own team. If Melbourne win the first 10 games of the year, then I might agree with you. In the mean time, while they continue to over handball, run directly into traffic and struggle to kick goals, I will disagree with you and laugh at the fact that you've compared a team that had one of the best starts in a season ever to a team that has finished last two seasons in a row. I have faith, but really? Really?

I think that a "lack" of intensity in a pre-season game is hardly anything to worry about. If they lack intensity in round one, then we worry. But that's not really something to consider in practice games. Maybe if first-year players are lacking intensity, which none of ours did.

Had to leave mid-way through the third, but some things I noticed from while I was there. - Stefan Martin is essentially what Al Nicholson would have been like had he played in the forward line from the start of his career. Yuck. - Miller led well and plays like a leader. - Sylvia, Jones and Moloney lead the way in the middle. - Grimes is a superstar. - Trengove looks like he's been playing for 10 years. Didn't do anything sensational, but he looks like he feels at home. - Scully didn't do much. - Jurrah is very unselfish: passes the ball when he needs to and knows he probably won't score a goal. Isn't a show pony. - Petterd had a nice game. When I watch this team, I get the impression that they're genuinely learning as they play. 2007 and 2008 were just bad all-round years. 2009 was a mixed-bag: some promising signs, but bad overall football. Now, it's quite obvious how inexperienced this side is. It's more evident than either of the past two years. For every 1-2 brilliant things that Grimes, Trengove, Scully did, they did 1-2 small mistakes. It's as if they get the ball and know exactly what they want to do with it, but they just turn in the wrong direction, directly into traffic. That's just a matter of learning more and becoming more aware of your surroundings. Really, really promising signs.

The league is in the stone-ages. It has been regarding trading and free agency for a loooooooooong time. It's quite simple. The salary cap should include all payments that don't classify as official endorsements and match bonuses. Very, very simple. That's how they do it in the NBA and NFL. The AFL is actually quite amateurish, and it's practically being run by the AFLPA and football agents. The league needs to grow some balls and get nasty, just like David Stern of the NBA: if you don't like the way things are run, then BAM! 10 game suspension and $15,000 fine. I mean really, do you think Ball wanted to go for Collingwood just for their facilities? What about Judd to Carlton? The AFLPA has far too much power, and I'd love to run that little Wiesel in Ricky Nixon over with my car.

As much as they grilled him, I can't see us making extraordinary leaps in 2010 or 2011. We'll win more games, no doubt, but I don't expect us to make the finals until 2012. I honestly believe that by that stage we'll have a more experienced coach take the reins. This guy is essentially our Peter Rhode. I've always looked at him like that.

I think it's actually a pretty unbiased review, albeit a little misinformed. He wrote it based on what he knows, and even though he probably should have done a bit more research, at least he didn't let his own support get in the way of writing a review for an opposing club.

Old school. I always thought Drake made paint for some reason.

If you're a successful club, players won't want to leave. ATM, we're pretty crap, and all the players who have been at the club for 8 years, if 1 of them bolted for free agency, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference. So either you're a great team and players want to hang around and/or sign with you, or you're a crap club that is rebuilding and it won't make a difference. It is important that players can't leave whenever they wanted. If that was the case, we may as well be renamed to the LA Clippers.

I don't think a sold out game with Sydney is all that to brag about. I mean, if Brisbane was playing on the Gold Coast, they would could a pretty decent crowd. And Blacktown is way more closer to Sydney than GC is to Brisbane.

We've been smashed out of the stoppages since Round 1, 2007.

J. Mac was great I thought. I think our backline is as developed as any other position on the field, in that it's closer to where we want it to be. Our midfield is still growing and our forward line is a shambles. With Rivers, Joel, Garland, Frawley and Warnock down back, our backline can be impenetrable in 3 years if they all improve.

I'd expect someone who has been on these forums as long as you should know that no one jokes on Demonland. In saying that: BRING BACK BROCK!

What a silly thread. Clearly Michael Newton is the future of this club. /thread. B)

I'll be there.

If we don't win 5+ games this year, Bailey will be gone at seasons end. And I doubt Lyon will replace him.

Clearly I'm joking

Bring back Brock. THERE. I SAID IT!

Hooray.

We literally don't have a player over 6"0 that can lead HARD out of the goal square and take a big, hard, strong, contested mark. How can you even hope to win games when your only real option for goals are midfielders like Sylvia, or running playings like Green and Moloney? Jurrah is great, but you can't build a forward line around him. History has shown that a player of his type can be too inconsistent. Arghh