Dr. Gonzo

Richmond came to play, their season on the line. They challenged us multiple times yet, like the Pies last week, we were never headed once we kicked the opening goal. There's room for improvement but it was still a good win. And now we get to see the blowtorch on Hardwick this week.

Oh please

I thought the same - Gawn has been immense this year, a "follower" in the true sense of the word.

Really? I thought he had a shocker. Yeah he got the ball but missed 2 regulation shots and turned the ball over several times. He was marking well though.

It's only our 2nd home game so fair chance some people may sign up before the game tonight? Let's hope so

Please win please win please win

I would be absolutely staggered if that's the case. Cannot be true.

When we started we were getting 15-17k vs these non-Vic clubs. Now we seem to be able to get 27-28k which might be the difference between having to go to Darwin and not. If we can improve onfield and get those crowds up to 35k then I would assume that would make up the shortfall.

Generally the club won't name a debutante if they're not going to play, regardless of where they were drafted. Same thing happened with Wagner a couple of weeks back. I don't think it's about Petracca being a #2 pick, it's about a young kid playing his first game. Having said that Petracca would have already been told he was in the 25 as an "emergency" and the chances of playing were slim so probably more of a deal for supporters than the him.

Do pet memberships count? Or is it only game access memberships?

I'll be spewing as I have a christening that day and won't be able to go

I agree except for the playing at Casey part. What's the point? If you're gonna rest him might as well give him a legit rest. Probably also best to rest him for the longer away trips to Darwin and Perth.

The way footy is being played at the moment with goals "out the back" someone like Garlett is invaluable.

"If someone wants to sit down and talk to us about that we'd probably be very willing to talk."

I just want whoever is fittest to play.

Demonland will resemble Jonestown

Agreed - before the season I thought we'd be in the group of teams between 7-12th fighting for the last 2 spots in the 8. I thought we'd probably end up on about 10-11 wins and just miss out, but with a bit of luck could sneak in. I still think this. I expected better of Gerard - anyone who laughs at the notion of us making the 8 hasn't been paying attention. These are probably the same people that had Richmond top 4 and the Pies in the finals pre-season. Delusional. I tipped the Tiges to miss the finals and couldn't understand the hype around the Pies. Yeah they have some good young mids but both forward and back they struggle big time, even moreso with Elliott and Swan out for extended periods.

Wasn't Astbury injured against WCE?

Looking at this, the minimum we should be getting year in, year out is 40k. Really 50k is where we need to be to be comfortable. The Dogs must be in a world of trouble. Considering the year they had last year and their start to this year to only have 32k is alarming.

He dropped a couple but still clunked a few pretty decent grabs. Everyone drops marks, Hogan dropped a sitter on the 50 punt road end. His overall contribution was pretty good Sunday. If anything, I'd be focusing on his turnover streaming into forward 50 when he had Watts free on the outside that led to a Pies goal.

Umps hate him, rarely gets a free unless his head is ripped off so unlikely to poll well.

Hope so - I did notice in the post game interview on the MFC website when they asked him about Howe he kind of mumbled something about no hard feelings after a player leaves a club but hopefully it's just my own neuroses seeing things that aren't there.

I would love him to just be a stay at home forward who owns the 50 and kicks bags of goals every other week, but having him roam CHF/wing and drop back towards the goals allows him so much more freedom to attack the game and just be a presence to impose himself. He was great yesterday, dropped one sitter on the flank and missed the snap in the last after I'd already jumped up to celebrate thinking it was a monty, but other than that couldn't fault him.

Me too and I hope he can keep it up for the year to put the doubts to rest once and for all. I thought he was done for but it looks like he may be coming good and I couldn't be happier.

Well based on yesterday's performance I was proven wrong and gladly so. Don't you love it when previous posts come back to bite you on the arse? This is one example of where I'm happy to admit it though