DeeSpencer

They test the biomechanics in the rehab process. That's been the big issue with Vanders, he's not flexing his ankle right after so much heel trouble that they can't progress him to running. I'm sure they've done a lot of that stuff with Tom and it's why they start (and often stay) in the rehab group for so long. I was a bit angry before and shot my mouth off. Really when I look across the competition I think our guys do a good job, but I also think we've had a lot of foot injuries for a long time and I'm not sure if we have nailed the right solution. There's probably limitations about what we can do with the ground at Gosch's - although I think it's in good condition. There's talk that players have shoe deals that means they have to wear certain brands of footwear. So many variables and I'm not sure the best surgeons, biomechanists, fitness guys, physios etc really understand the feet all that well anyway!

I liked the match up of Tom in the ruck against Blicavs who can make things happen with his running. That said, Cam is probably better once the ball hits the deck. Hard to know which I'd prefer up forward. Tommy more reliable but Cam's good games as a forward - when he's on his bike and tackling are exceptional. My main concern isn't round 1, it's getting Tom healed quickly.

Why would the club release injury information that only panics fans and helps the opposition? Journos work long and hard to chase stories and if they get one you say well done.

Maybe one day we'll give the Misson a missile in to the sea. Tom's as fit as anyone, doesn't need to overdo the running and get a hotspot. Oh well. In Pedersen we trust. Jones is a worry given he's had neck surgery and a broken back. His style of play has taxed his body. The positive is we have an explanation for why he looked a long way off his best in JLT 2. JLT 1 was rust, I wasn't worried, but he struggled last week. Epidural's can work but you're hoping it relieves the inflammation to allow for the rehab not just a short term pain fix. Surely they wait until he's right to play him. That might come in the next 2 weeks but I have my doubts. Not as worried about Lewis, ANB, Harmes and others yet. Think they'll be alright.

What did you like? Were they forward or midfield or both? From training Spargo knows where to go but was sometimes rushed. Baker with the pace to do the occasional eye catching play.

Thanks for the report guys. good to get the win against a decent Port lineup when JKH is about the only experienced midfielder in the side and so many of those who did play have had injury interruptions or are very young. Promising reports on Spargo and Baker sounds good. Anything on Petty? echo what others have said, hope Keilty is ok

No howling down from me. Leaving him out has to be an option. He's probably the weakest of the 4 defensively and he doesn't have the tank of Bugg or the speed of the other two. Hasn't shown any significant midfield ability either. But I like his skills too much to leave him out. I think we just have to play him. I'd be testing all of the small-medium forwards in a heap of defensive pressure drills over the next two weeks. If Garlett and Hannan thrive in those drills then I'd leave Bugg out. If Bugg aces the field and the rest are just mediocre then it's back to the same tough decision.

FB: Hibberd Oscar Jetta HB: Hunt Lever Lewis C: Harmes Oliver Jones HF: ANB Hogan Melksham FF: ##### T Mc ###### Foll: Gawn Petracca Salem Int: Vince Tyson Brayshaw ##### Happy with that 20. Still not sure which 3 out of 4 of Bugg, Garlett, Hannan and Fritsch play. Hannan's midfield burst and important late game goal kicking can be so valuable and he's a bit stronger and maybe more of a tackler this year. Its very hard to leave him out. Fritsch gives us a bit more in the air and a beautiful kick to set up or score goals. Bugg's the fittest player on the list and the ability to keep running is so important late in early season games. I'm wondering if we need Garlett, but if he's at his best he's an automatic selection (I think).

At full fitness Jack Viney might be our best player, but an underdone Viney can be pretty ordinary, we've seen that a few times of the last few years. I'm hoping this decision was really based on what's best for Jack but I also don't think it's a surprise that the call has been made after Brayshaw and Tyson both played well last night. Time to back those boys in for round 1 now.

The right decision. Learning from the mistakes of last year. Hoping he plays for Casey next weekend and can build for round 2 onwards.

That was one of the highlights of the game. No longer as we handballing ourselves crazy around in circles and instead we are making other teams do that. We are a side designed to move the ball with kicking. We aren't a run and carry handball team. So the ratio of kick to handball should be much closer to 1:1 with some extra handballs around the clearances when needed. For the first half we had the same amount of kicks as the Saints and far less handballs. That's good efficient footy.

I thought Dom was solid last night. Especially given he's a game behind the others. Frost, Jetta, Garlett - the others who missed JLT 1 were also a bit off the pace at times. If we play 7 backs, 8 mids, 7 forwards then I think he's in the 8 best mids. If it was up to me: Gawn, Viney*, Oliver, Petracca, Salem, Jones, Harmes, Tyson. With Brayshaw playing as one of the 7 defenders and Salem going back at times as well. With Viney 50/50 for round 1 I'd say Gus takes a midfield spot and Vince takes the 7th defender. As long as he's not matched up on a speed/endurance running machine type I think he can play wing as well as on ball. He probably finds the most uncontested possessions for any of our centre square players in that he's very good at making himself an option for a short corridor kick. Very reliable hands in that situation as well. Oliver (for short rests), Petracca and Harmes are the mids who will go forward with Hannan, Melksham, ANB maybe moving in to the midfield. We don't need to be spinning all the midfielders forward and vice versa. I'm not that in love with versatility in rotating players. He's not an automatic pick all season, but I think he's pretty safe for round 1 and almost a certainty if Viney isn't right.

Pedersen - good again when given a chance but still can't see him playing alongside Hogan and Tommy Mc. Unless the niggle that kept Tom out is more than that I'd expect Pedersen to miss round 1. He's more natural forward than Tom, a better tackler, better in the ruck but Tom's endurance is hard to ignore. Wagner didn't make a mistake in the first half when the team was rolling. Couldn't do anything right in the second half. Really looks to suffer from perceived pressure. Maybe trying too hard to get a spot in the team? Maynard - gets caught out when he's out in space or unfamiliar positions but he certainly qualifies as a tough player in tight. Round 1 is probably far too soon but at some stage I think he gets a go as a midfield tagger. His athleticism and tackling around a stoppage should be put to use. If he was picked to play round 1 in Viney's role I'd be very surprised but not exactly shocked.

You could tell from the moment the 3rd quarter started we were flat after half time and stuffing around with the ball. Bernie - who was otherwise excellent all night - started doing all sorts of dinky kicks. The midfield couldn't win a clearance. The backline started bombing it in and the forwards weren't defending at all well. I don't really care that we came out flat thinking or knowing we were ready for round 1 and in some ways it made the 4th quarter a better test to play the game out. What kills me is that we can't bottle it up once we've started poorly. You have a bad 5 minutes and give away a couple of goals to start a quarter - every team does - but then you have to find a way to get control of the footy. Take the pace out of the game and switch the ball around a bit and get numbers to the contest. Every team has bad quarters. The difference between the good, the bad and the ugly is shutting those quarters down and getting back in the game.

Was one of the best trainers at the club in his first year. Since then - just hasn't wanted it enough IMO. Should be right up the front of the running groups instead of just another also ran. Goodwin showed him a lot of faith last year, picking him as soon as he was fit, same with ANB. ANB rewarded that faith getting super fit and giving his all on game day. Jay knows where the footy is going and can be a beautiful kick. With some toughness and real desire he could be a handy high half forward despite his lack of size and only average pace. I remember I'd see him out on the town a fair bit (in my and his younger days). Not that he'd be doing anything wrong but some guys desperately want an AFL career, others are so good or so bad it doesn't matter and some have enough talent and work hard enough to stay on the list but not to really get the most out of themselves.

For those who haven't seen by now. So yes, he had a stroke, but it was relatively minor and caused by a not uncommon congenital heart condition and he should make a good recovery from both. Stroke awareness is a very important message. FAST.

It's an interesting opinion coming from Blight given he sacked a bunch of Crows legends as soon as he got there in order to play younger players. Including a teenager who was fantastic in their first grand final win. The young player back then is now our coach!

100 games is a very arbitrary number given the way modern teams and lists are made. Experience defenders: Hibberd, Jetta, Lewis, Vince Young defenders: Oscar, Hunt, Lever, Wagner, Brayshaw Should be lots of leadership and the young players aren't babies anymore. Experienced mids: Gawn, Jones, Viney, Tyson Young mids: Salem, Petracca, Oliver, Harmes, Stretch Again, a mixture and no super young players. As are the forwards Experienced forwards: Garlett, Melksham, Bugg*, Tommy Mc* Young forwards: Hogan, Hannan, ANB, Fritsch, *new to the position How many guys are physically under developed? Fritsch and Stretch are skinny but they have games that don't rely on crash and bash. Oscar and Lever aren't full formed. Petracca and Oliver hopefully keep building on their tanks each year. Where we have a lot of room for improvement is in the team cohesion from guys playing with each other year after year. But that's true of a lot of teams and the Richmond forward line came together very quickly last year as did the Dogs entire side the year before. Inexperience is an issue come finals but I don't think we can use that as a reason not to make them. 8/18 teams make finals. Not every one will be full of 100 game players.

I'd extend Jetta but I don't think that's a huge issue. I wonder if Harmes isn't worth getting done before the season to get him cheaper so to speak. Obviously the club would want to sign Brayshaw and Oscar but I'd probably let them play and earn the bigger deals if they want them. No idea what to do with Tom McDonald.

Didn't see enough of him really. All I can say is it was nice to see him in the main group.

Any good defensive system will always rely on defending as a team AND defending as individuals. Just as any good attacking system in a game of footy should be based upon attacking as a team AND winning one on one match ups. Richmond last year - great team defending and great individual defending. Good enough team attacking, often used Dusty one out when they needed a goal. The system worked and Lever did well enough one on one - better than I expected - that I'm now in full agreement with the 2 talls. And I've stated I'd play Frost just for a half as one of the 23-26th players to get him a run as a depth player for early rounds. My reply here was in reference to a poster asking what the Saints will do to test us. North did not have a legitimate 3rd tall marking option like Membrey. I'm not worried about the cm's so much, the guy can mark a footy - on the lead or one on one. That makes him a test for our zoning defenders who at times will have to win those contests.

Maybe Jetta trained the other day. I probably missed him! I'd play the best 22 as part of a team of 24 with a little extra rest and have Frost, Pedda, Maynard and one other play half each. Full strength Saints is good to see. Will be a good test.

If Bruce, McCartin and Membrey all play then it tests our match ups if we don't play Frost - with Wagner, Hibberd or Hunt playing on Membrey. Might test Lever's ability to balance attacking and defending at CHB. Oscar will be FB and so probably spend most of the time on McCartin. I believe they played against each other in under 18's so it's a good test again. A lot of McCartin's game still looks below AFL standard but his ability to clunk a big pack mark is very good. So that's a good test for Oscar who needs to be more consistent in big aerial contests. Billings (if fit), Gresham and a new kid in Hunter Clark actually provide the Saints midfield/forward line with some polish. They were rusty as could be against Carlton but could improve quickly and have a lot more quality than North did against us. Their midfield depth is solid as well. Gawn is really the advantage around the packs. Their biggest weaknesses are isolating their defenders and then pressuring them with the ball and forcing skill errors. It should be a good test of Hogan/T Mc etc. ability to work together and for our pressure game plan.

I'm not a physio but groin muscles - the adductors - go from the pelvis to the thigh. If you were to put a compression bandage on a groin strain it would wrap around the thigh.

I'd imagine they wouldn't look to make any forced changes given there's a couple out and couple of best 22 in Out: Lewis, ANB, (Harmes) In: Tyson, Garlett, FB: Hibberd Oscar Hunt HB: Wagner Lever Vince C: Jones Oliver Stretch HF: Bugg Hogan Melksham FF: Garlett T Mc Fritsch Foll: Gawn Petracca Salem Int: Brayshaw, Tyson, Maynard, Hannan, Pedersen, Harmes/other Frost a reasonable option if they are looking for something different and I'd take a chance on Dion Johnstone but I'm predicting they keep the same group.