Little Goffy

A very young ruckman able to develop while playing a role adequately at the top level is nothing to be scoffed at. Would be entirely happy if over the course of this season he just became enough of a potential headache that opponents have to take him seriously and make our mix of talls even harder to plan for.

Either Dangerfield gets multiple weeks or the concussion campaign is a sham. 50/50 Dangerfield will be allowed to play again before Kelly is. Meanwhile, it would seem Walker has been visiting the same psychologist McDonald has been. I've never much liked him personally, but it is always good to see any player find a bit of form after a long slump. Plus, he's doing a really good job of not being Tom Hawkins.

The little stadium out west is very exposed and the rain up here is going beyond ridiculous for four days already. By tomorrow afternoon the ground could be barely playable.

Right now, we are top of the ladder but that might only last a few hours depending on how heavily the Crows thrash Geelong. ??

Some kids just rise to the level when exposed. A fine debut.

Well, not much fanfare but he probably got a Brownlow vote so he won't be crying.

6 May 5 Lever 4 Oliver 3 Petracca 2 McDonald 1 Spargo (Because bite me) Apologies to Langdon and special mention to James Jordon.

Is it even worth mentioning how unlucky many of our kids have been when it comes to injury? Several of the younger guys who are in that 'might crack a game soon' category have been knocked around repeatedly. Not all of that can be blamed on the club. Oliver, Fritsch and Spargo would be just about only players 20-24yrs old who haven't been seriously interrupted by repeat injuries. Toss in Hore and Smith in the same group, since they were under-25 at the start of the year.

What's going on with the wave of new threads started with one-line 'tut tut tch tch' comments?

Freo's forward line looks very small. It will be basically Tabener as their only true tall, then Cerra (188cm) and Fyfe when he goes up there. that's great for intercepting marks but only if we are putting pressure on the kicker - and that's a significant if for our mids. Real danger if the ball is allowed to get loose in their forward 50 too much. Relying on the wisdom of Lever, May and Jetta to get to the best spots and kill contests before they begin. Our forward line might look a bit makeshift (because it is the very definition of banging something together with whatever you had available) but I think it still matches Freo's defence. It is unlikely Meek will inherit the Earth or much of anything playing against Gawn. Meek is a big lump of a lad so might go okay at the hitouts, but no chance at all of keeping up with Gawn around the ground. Gawn will frequently be free to provide a relief target or able to drift forward without a direct opponent, thus creating that momentary hole and confusion as the Freo defence reorganises every time he comes their way with Meek puffing and panting fifteen metres behind. Both sides will have their midfield depth tested. We've got some vulnerable kids out their while they have more of the Dom Tyson types after you get past their top four or so mids/half forwards. Can't ignore them, shouldn't be too afraid of them.

As always these days, the listed structure never really matches the constantly changing pattern on field. I for one will be hoping to see a quite dynamic mixing of our onballers at stoppages out of that group. I'm still in the camp of 'Harmes is best as a tagger with strong counter-attack ability'. An interesting show of faith in a couple of veterans, perhaps at a dangerous cost of speed. I wonder which of our emergencies will be brought in for the definitely legitimate medical substitute?

Thanks for clarifying that. At first it seemed like you just started a whole new thread to vent some pessimism.

Fitness mattered a lot in the Thursday night game. Taking only the first half of each quarter; Carlton 7 goals, Richmond 4 Goals. Taking only the second half of each quarter; Carlton 2 goals, Richmond 11 goals. (Carlton also had a goal so close to the middle of a quarter I didn't want to split it) That's pretty decisive. I'll choose to take a little optimism out of it because as a team even if our overall skill level isn't so grand, it doesn't seem to get much worse with fatigue!

Pretty sure I've seen the same headline but with 'Can Gawn save the Demons?" in a previous year. Petracca may well finish the season recognised as the best player in the AFL, which is nice. But we all know that real success will come from getting consistent quality out of the players who can be very good, never mind any superstars. We have a long list of the type and they could just about all be having much more impact with just a few tweaks and improvements. Just doing a quick head-count to consider if we could, in theory, have a best 22 100% filled with at least well-above-average players if they each manage just that little extra step. Already there; Petracca, Oliver, Gawn, May, Langdon. There if refreshed, returned to their better form, or otherwise tidied up a bit; Viney, Lever, Brayshaw, Harmes, Salem, Brown Young players I'd feel confident about; Jackson, Rivers, Pickett. So that's 14 players I feel confident will be 'good' at the Demons in 2021. Somehow we have to find eight more (plus injury cover) out of that big bundle of mature but not presently reliable players and the dozen still relatively unknown younger players. For some reason I think it'll happen. There's space for multiple solid role-players to do their thing without needing to be spectacular. THAT is the benefit of having a couple of guns who can dominate.

Oscar at Carlton has 'cult hero' written all over him. What a birthday. Not only do you come out and play some of the best football of your life on debut for a new club after being delisted, but you also get your own trivia night question forever by being the first ever 'medical sub'. Hugely happy for him. I don't think it was a mistake to delist him and it's not like he is going to kick a goal every quarter for the rest of his career, but he never deserved the whinging hate that was aimed at him and I'm really glad he's made a good start with the nuffies off his back.

OSCAR! Woo! Superstar!

Premier: Melbourne Demons Runner-up: Brisbane Lions Wooden spoon: Kangaroos Moving up: Melbourne, obviously, but also Footscray Set to fall: Cooooollllingsplat. Brownlow Medal: Christian Petracca Coleman Medal: Charlie Cameron NAB AFL Rising Star: Matt Rowell Best new Demon: Ben Brown, or one of Jake Bailey or Laurie Bowey, y'know) Demon All Australian: Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, May, Fritsch, Langdon, Demon B&F: May, Oliver, Petracca, Fritsch, Gawn, Langdon, Pickett, Viney, Salem, Lever Big call: Big call after tipping us for the premiership? Hmm... Gawn, Petracca and Oliver will be considered the top three players in the game by the end of the year. Legends will be sung. At some point Charlie Cameron will kick 30 goals in a run of six or seven games. Edit: Adding one more thought - there will be a lot of teams with very few wins and very poor percentage this year. Think 2016; seven teams with 15+ wins, a couple of stragglers 3 games behind that competing for the also-ran status in finals, then nothing worth remembering Ladder prediction: 1. Brisbane 2. West Coast 3. Richmond 4. Melbourne 5. Geelong 6. Footscray 7. Port Adelaide 8. St Kilda or Carlton or loose change

I guess the Supercoach administrators forgot to make their brown paper bag delivery to HQ.

There's a solid set of Rising Stars who go on to be just 'good' players rather than best of their draft. Just since Palmer you can point to Stephenson, Mills, Hogan, McGrath, Taylor, O'Meara, Talia. I doubt their clubs are regretting drafting them (not even Melbourne, who ended up with May despite everything) and I doubt Fremantle will regret having Serong. It's a shame Kysaiah played over the ten games in his first season and isn't eligible, or he could have mimicked his uncle and grabbed the award in his second year. Of course, ol' uncy Byron turned out OK despite only getting two disposals in his first season. With the condition Pickett seems to be in, there's a real chance he'll be twice the player he was in 2020. Being involved in that many more contests, being that little bit less fatigued when taking shots, being that little bit harder and heavier when tackling. We all know he's got the alertness and initiative to be great.

The clue is "66 = zero", so why not any other number as well? Also, if 66 = zero then clearly zero must equal sixty-six. Ergo, We are in the same position 'time since premiership' as Richmond. Seems about right. Both clubs are "?" seasons from their next premiership.

And then the plumber said, "I see the water isn't running. Don't need to know anything more here."

And then the doctor said, 'Is the patient alive or dead?" and no further details were required.

One of them, for sure. But definitely not Daniel.

Pickett is looking downright sinewy in some of those. Not often sinews are a testament to good character but clearly we've got a kid who takes his training seriously here.

At least we know he's going to go home unhappy while we are laughing.