Little Goffy

Low impact cardio for sure, yeah. So his heart and lungs wont have been asleep all this time. Who knows, maybe he'll have done a Jamar and spent his injured time learning all about his position. Injury list has him three weeks away. Which is so, so much shorter than 12.

Essendon seems to be the hovering potato club again this year. Not a contender, not down, just meh. I'm looking forward to our game against them, with a little luck it'll still be the proverbial '8 point game' and a look at the fixture and injury lists would suggest that Jurrah will be back right on time for the big home game at the 'G against them, too.

heh heh, I guess he figured phantom drafts just would be fun when it goes... player a - pick x - Gold Coast player b - pick y - Gold Coast and so forth... then next year player a - pick x - Western Sydney player b - pick y - Western Sydney I mean, seriously, where is the fun in picking apart a top then based on diffferent club's needs, if more than half the top ten is is all one club?

Interesting choice had to be made, trade for Seaby/Mumford or aim to draft Gawn/Fitzpatrick. In the end we got both Gawn and Fitz. Our long term ruck stocks look alright. But yes, right now we are very heavily reliant on Jamar, and he has given everything he has and done well for us. Unfortunately, the 'current second tier' of rucks look like where we'll be opening up spots on our list in the coming draft... Other thing we need to find/develop/see emerge is a small defender/tagger capable of shutting out and pissing off players like Brent Harvey, Milne, Ballantyne, Davey and so on. That guy that every supporter of every other team just thinks is a [censored]. That's the main thing we need on our list.

Phew. Who'd haev thought, back when Sylvia was drafted all those years ago and people said he had more talent in his big toe than some people have at all, they actually meant his talent was literally fixed into his big toe? After a difficult slump, with circulation now restored to the critical area he should fire up a few more 30+ disposal 5 goal games for us

There's no question that Gold Coast and West Sydney have a superb run at the drafts - basically six or seven year's worth of drafting in one hit. Other clubs have had the consolation of experimenting with year after year of late picks and rookie list selections to top up their list, so at least there is that. But a whole team full of first round picks, plus a few established stars poached through the salary cap concession, plus a few depth players selected in their PSD priority picks, plus bonus players switching from Rugby League... Basically, it is going to be up to the Melbourne Football Club to hold firm and represent history and the sport against the new commercial entities. It's club vs franchise and we're the good guys.

But to give the other side of the thread some thought - Richmond and Melbourne both hit gold in the middle of the first round of 2006. There's probably only three players more valuable than them in that draft - Boak, Selwood and Gibbs, with Kurt Tippett being a possible until each time he actually takes to the field! That draft also netted us Petterd at 30 and Garland at 46. - DRAFT WINNERS 2006 - Tell you what though, if we had one win for the season, were scoring 8 goals a game, and six of them were from Watts... Woop de doo. Bailey wouldn't last half the season. Which reminds me, isn't the whole Riewoldt family fairly linked up to Queensland... man, that'd kill Richmond right there. In fact, that is so horrible to think about that I'm going to purge it from my mind. Imagine the last ten years of Richmond without Matthew Richardson. Oh hell, don't. Oh, it's ugly. I've seen the abyss.

Right now it's honestly hard to imagine a future where we haven't come out well ahead in that deal. And for the record, my opinoin at the time was that it was unfortunate and a shame to lose someone who was so apparently commited to the club, but would be a win-win for everyone. I guess I was half right about the win-win. Wow, thinking back on it - he had all the limitation of Luke Ball without the stirling record. Only a little younger, even more injury-limited, even slower. I wonder if us getting 11 for Mclean had a hand in the Saints expecting more for Ball? That'd be a good bit of comedy.

Probably too late now but Lauren Jackson on a HFF, with a couple of preseasons to shift into AFL shape. 192cm agile as hell, good endurance, disciplined trainer and natural leader. Even more marketable than Naitanui, too!

Good that Mclean is out. Let's us focus on Gysberts and how the whole thing was a win-win but we won more. Also doesn't dim our dignity by pathetic booing.

The way I see it, we keep ourselves 'thereabouts' for the bulk of the season and then aim to finish off with four in a row to storm into the finals with the full team sorted out, back together and with several weeks of match fitness behind them. We finish with Richmond, Hawthorn Port (aami) North Melbourne It is do-able. Hell, we could be knocking three other teams out of our way in the last three rounds. That is how I see the fairytale, anyway.

Cale did look taller, and did look like it was his first game back from injury. Wonaeamirri didn't look taller than I remembered but also looked like he was in his first game back after only a brief VFL stint following over a year off. Jetta... didn't look taller AND didn't look like he'd had any time away at all. So many quality tackles! So many young players and so many players coming back to AFL level in those conditions - we all saw the effects tonight. All three of those guys will be fitter next week, provided recovery is done well. From the top end to the erm... bottom end. Skilled Stadium next week to find out if we're genuine contenders for the 2010 premiership.

Poor Miller. 5 goals, no love. At least he's set himself to stick around a bit longer. Deep down, we all want him to tear it up, but we're snarky because we can't let him under our guard for fear he'll let us down again!

From under a concrete umbrella? Those catters are gonna be mighty upset when they slip up against a bunch of no-hoper 'should be relgated' 'don't deserve to be in the AFL' 'club is gonna die off' losers like us. I don't know where that outburst came from. But it was fun.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa We've got them both. Cop that, everyone else!

Getting back on topic - I bet Jack Watts knows a whole lot more Latin than Nic Nat.

I'm just feeling all the love tonight - GO AUSSIE!!

I just... I'm all teary Seriously, Ricky Petterd is one of the great images of the Demons. Not particularly big but his intelligence using his body, the little hip/butt bump at the last moment of the marking contest, the unquestionable general effort and the visible courage, the solid skills and continuous improvement. He is the exact kind of character we want at our club, at every level of talent from star to fringe. 22 Rick Petterds! Unstoppable!

Rivers did claw his way back into the game and did a couple of classic Rivers marks from opposition kicks. Jury out. Would I be speaking for everyone if I wrapped the various opinions into - "Concerned about River,, he is looking vulnerable, I'm really hoping he adapts and refreshes, I'd be really dissappointed to see him have to try again at another club because I believe he is genuinely devoted to the Demons"

Some interesting names, for PSD or token trade. Top of my list would be to steal Ricky Petterd from under the Gold Coaster's noses! Watts, Jurrah, Petterd, Bate... then the horde of midfield/HF players and a variety of crumbers. Nah, I don't think we need a forwardline Joel MacDonald.

Yeah, been worried about Sylvia ever since I snuck him into the dream team. I thought he would be good for the occassional massive game with a few goals for icing, while delivering regular solid standard games. Hasn't done either for a few weeks and, yeah, it's a concern. Still, a slump ain't a collapse. (or pick your own platitudes)

Hair pulling... Might not be a dangerous as the head-on bump or as violent as the punch in the head, but I think we can put it on the list with scratching and biting as just not what is supposed to be going on out there.

So in summary... Bruce has a questionable hamstring for a few weeks while Gysberts is tearing up the VFL, and the forward line is looking worn out and short of repeat-lead marking targets and Miller is BOG in the VFL. Depending on how Bate's ankle goes, it could be as direct as Gysberts for Bruce and Miller for Bate. Has Miller been doing any ruck-helping at Casey? Because PJ hasn't added too much. Thinking out loud, the players most likely to come in this coming week would be - Miller Gysberts Morton Plus Aussie in for luck up North. Which might make Maric cry or might make him get some traction at last.

Cheney a spud? Ho hum. Sometimes I think that when people have red hair it makes it hard for some people to remember their age. Cheney goes alright and may yet take another step. I'm not gonna go over the top because there's no need or point to. He's alright, worth keeping an eye on and giving a run when others are out of form.

Give it another 18 years, there'll be Matthew Jack Green coming into the list. I swear, the middle name must have been picked just to make sure the kid became a Demon. Looking forward to seeing James Jack Neitz, Harry Jack McDonald, David Jack Whelan, and in particular Jack Jack Robertson.