Adam The God

Yep, I agree with Roosy. That is possibly the worst call I've ever seen. Inexplicable.

The Bont is now elite IMO.

I think what will propel us up the ladder sooner than was anticipated is if we can develop the Hannan types into B graders. As long as our Hogan's, Oliver's, Petracca's and Brayshaw's continue to improve every couple of games and begin to show consistency, the lower picks like Hunt and Hannan fill the holes we'd otherwise have in our bottom six. Most people use the bottom 6 of a best 22 to decide the fate of a football team. Our current interchangable bottom 6 would be: ANB/Kent, Hannan/Kennedy/JKH, Frost/Smith/Garland, Weideman/Pedersen, Bugg/Vandenberg and White. Now if ANB can provide Kent with decent competition for that half forward role our forwardline is immediately improved and harder to match up on. If Hannan develops into a good player and JKH can show us something to put pressure on Hannan, that's another string for our forwardline. If Frost and Smith get a good run at the third defender role without injuries, our defence will look a lot stronger. If Weideman continues to develop and starts to clunk some of those marks, Hogan, Watts and Weideman are a tall and mobile set of key forwards who could get in top of most defences. So looking at the remaining guys from above, it means our bottom 3 or 4, particularly with injuries are still a worry. But with another trade/draft season or two, those holes should be filled. If we can make our 2017 picks count and get lucky with a talented FA sometime in the next two years, we'll be superbly positioned in 2018-2019 to make an assault on the flag. As PD says, Kelly would be the perfect addition to our midfield, although I worry about his hardness. I'd like to see how Dion Johnstone develops, because he could also be the answer to our small forward problems. But looking through this bottom 6 shows me that we really have assembled an exciting list.

Agreed, mate.

Not sure the Pies starting 0-2 is that unexpected. I think we'll see Adelaide, Bulldogs, GWS, West Coast and eventually the Swans in the top 5. The rest of the top 8 is up for grabs.

I'm excited by Petracca's potential and Stringer may not be elite, but as he showed last night he's a gamebreaker. If Petracca gets to his level, we've got a good player on our hands. Petracca's ceiling is marginally higher, because his skills are better than Stringer's for mine. Having said that, Oliver is comfortably ahead at this stage.

Yeah, doesn't do it for me. Much prefer Cripps. I just hope he doesn't get ahold of us this weekend.

Not many of those. Tommy Mac does, but most KPDs aren't great set up players. They mostly just defend brilliantly. Rance is a decent set up player, but I take your comment to infer you want a Rance with Suckling-like disposal. Pretty damn rare. I think we'd be stoked to get a Frawley equivalent, which is around where we selected Frawley anyway. But I reckon judging by Goody's comments last year, we'd prefer the extra quality mid and would look to develop role players for our defensive zone as plug and plays (ie Frost and McDonald type athletes).

From how it's been explained by commentators, there is absolutely no way that should have been paid against Mills. If you are in the goal square and under pressure you can rush it. That's the rule and that's exactly what happened, but it cost them a goal. I hope the umpire is flogged this week. EDIT. Mind you, @Deestroy All you're spot on. It's a stupid rule. So perhaps it's the AFL Commission that should be flogged?

Scintillating football from the Swans. Just wow. Franklin is still a star. He's great to watch when he's not playing the MFC.

Yep, I'm with you. We're still an A grader or two down in the midfield.

Really? Interesting. He's an innovator, is he?

If the Bulldogs were a 5 goal better side than us last year, I wonder where we stand this year. I have a funny old feeling we've really closed the gap on Sydney, but time will tell, as they tend to start the season slowly and hit form near the back end.

I'll tell you what I am excited for. Jason Taylor getting another shot at a first rounder at the end of this year. It'd be fascinating to know what the FD rates as our biggest list weakness. I'm not saying we'd recruit on a needs basis. I think you pick the best player and that's been our motto under Taylor and co, but it's an interesting discussion. In terms of the 2017 draft, I read somewhere on Demonland the other day that there are apparently quality talls this year. I'd love us to pick up another midfield bull, but wouldn't say no to another KPB either.

Absolutely, mate. The best teams often push the rules to their absolute limit, but I don't like it when they cross the line and the Bulldogs for two years (like Hawthorn - ie S Mitchell) have got away with throwing the ball, more often than not.

He gives Dwayne a run for his money as one of the more inane and infuriatingly stupid commentators in the AFL media landscape. Just an absolute spud.

I just can't see them being lazy. I just don't think SOS is a talent scout.

The other thing that shits me is that the umpires aren't clamping down on the Bulldogs throwing. That was the whole point of clamping down on that. Libba is one of the big offenders and continues to get away with it.

Okay, I'm over the Bulldogs now. They get such a bloody good go. Ridiculous.

Jeez, Campbell's a log.

I gotta say Bulldogs and Sydney look ordinary. It's typical early season Sydney though. The Dogs are getting a bloody good go with the umps tonight.

Musk has already shown his hand with the SA power debacle. He wants a big push into Australia. What better way than through the sponsorship of a sporting team? $1mill p/a sponsorship for BOJ and MFC polos would be peanuts for Tesla and I suspect PJ would jump at it.

He's a nice kick too. I wonder if they hold hopes of him joining midfield rotations in the future?

Yep, the Tyson whipping is getting pretty tiresome. Our best extractor behind Oliver.

The way I read it is that Kent would be the natural replacement for Neal-Bullen, but as ANB put in a solid shift last week and Kent isn't 100% matchfit anyway, the MC have decided to give ANB another week to see if he can cement his spot. In the meantime, Kent can get some more miles in his legs and put his case forward for selection next week. It's a big week for ANB I reckon. This is his chance, if he doesn't take it, I reckon Kent will come in for him next week (depending on other forced changes).