DeeSpencer

Fitzy going down back will probably work about as well as when Strauss and Blease swapped roles last year at Casey to try and save their careers. That said, when Tom McDonald is an unquestioned regular player you know you don't have a lot of options. Bit of shuffling the deckchairs in the key position spots this year I think. Pedersen, Fitzy and Frost might all have a go forward, back and 2nd ruck, maybe even in the same game!

We used 23. Both teams had 22 and 2 subs. They used both subs. We only used 1. Both teams had rucks as subs. Essendon subbed Giles for McKernan at half time. We subbed Jamar for Gawn at 3/4 time. I doubt that did much for either sides run so really for us it was pretty much having 22 on for most of the game. Essendon subbed off someone to have a sub for the last quarter and brought on Marcus Marigliani, a dominant VFL midfield (think better version of Magner) who had 8 disposals in 25% TOG. 7 were uncontested so really just came on a provided another fresh option. We could've brought on our own VFL champ in McKenzie but didn't. That might have been worth a few points difference and changed the result but a bad night is still a bad night. Essendon had 3 fill ins play (besides Marigliani) - Freezer, a young KPD who didn't do much and Dawes and Frost got space from (but didn't use). Clint Jones who played a lot on Tyson and as he did found the footy but can't kick and Mitch Brown, who had the better of Hogan and really should be on an AFL list. I'm not annoyed we lost to those 3 fill ins. I'm annoyed that next to them were Gwilt, McKernan (the original top ups) and a bunch of kids like Ashby, Dalgleish, Kavanagh, Gleeson, Fantasia, Hams, Langford, Laverde, Edwards and so on. First to 3rd year players of very limited AFL experience. Our half forwards should've had a field day. Our backs cleaned up easily against youngsters and our mids who weren't head to head with Chappy, Goddard, Zaharakis and Jones should've been crushing young and inexperienced opponents. Instead besides Lumumba so many of our guys made their opponents look like the fitter, faster, stronger and more mature team.

I still do think Jones, Tyson, Vince, Lumumba and Cross (as a tagger) are up to AFL standard. I also have a lot of time for Jack Viney despite his mistakes today. He wins the ball, he tackles, he's got enough burst and he actually plays for the team. After that I have concerns about whether anyone else can beat their direct opponent. Salem is a midfielder of the future but is the biggest case of robbing Peter to pay Paul if we move him from half back. Matt Jones runs around and can find it but makes terrible errors. Ben Newton has a nice boot on him and has a dip but I get the feeling he lacks speed, size or endurance to have a weapon. Michie's the same. Toumpas is miles away. Aidan Riley is worth a shot as well but can't get fit. I really think we are looking at playing half forwards like Kent, JKH and Watts and hoping they can contribute some midfield minutes. Then after that we have to wait and see what Brayshaw, Petracca, Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Harmes etc can offer. Vandenberg had a look at the midfield in the 3rd quarter tonight and found it tough going I think. It's a lot to expert a rookie from the NEAFL to bolster your midfield. Shows where we are at. So I'll settle for him making a go of it at half forward for now but who knows after another preseason he might find a gear, he's got the tools. Overall our perilously weak midfields of the Neeld years have probably been balanced out by Tyson, Vince and Lumumba's additions and now I think it's fair to say we have a very even team. The backline and forward line and midfield are all equally trash.

Dropping chest marks, kicking out on the full off a step, handballing to stationary targets. I don't see how these are individual or team things. Simple things like punching the ball clear in a marking contest, they are just so badly lacking. Jetta and Vandenberg both made some strong spoils today, clearing the ball out of the area. So often the ball just runs over the back from marking contests. We've got our main key defender who can't even spoil with both arms, heck he can't even spoil when coming over the top of an opponent for a clear spoil. We've got Garland who can't track an opponent without holding. Key forwards who can't hold simple marks. Midfielders who can't tackle or have no understanding of space and where to dish a handball to help. Half backs with no footskills. Half forwards and wings with no speed. We don't defend the mark with a purpose. We don't even interchange properly. Too often we change at the wrong moments and have 16 on the field. Basic stuff. Defenders only should interchange after a goal or right at the start of a set shot for goal. Same for mids unless the stoppage is right on the interchange gates. We lost our way with intensity tonight. It happens. But then we got it back and had the lead in the last quarter. You could tell we started playing with purpose, got some good forward entries and had saved face. But then simple skill error after simple skill error lost us the game and ruined a few good chances to win it back!

This will get ugly irrespective of who Gold Coast role out. Why? Because we remain such a flawed side, with players who lack basic skills or work rate and therefore FB: Jetta Dunn Garland HB: Howe McDonald Salem C: Vince Jones Lumumba HF: Kent Pedersen VandenBerg FF: Frost Hogan Garlett Foll: Jamar Tyson Cross Int: Newton Viney Watts S: JKH Out: Dawes, Toumpas, Grimes, Bail, Matt Jones, Gawn (who really was only subbing for Jamar anyway) In: Pedersen, Vince, Howe, Kent, JKH Pedersen for Dawes Vince for Matt Jones Howe for Grimes Kent for Bail JKH for Toumpas If we can get those last 4 fit and back in the team we might be able to pick up a little more than the slop we provided tonight, but really it's looking ugly.

Our development makes players worse. They lose confidence terribly. Dean Terlich was a great example. He needed to tidy up his kicking from his first year and he needed to work on his defensive game. But last year in a team that was still anaemic in attack he lost his belief in his run and carry and started making even worse decisions. Same goes for his defensive work. Vandenberg doesn't spend it before he has it, he actually backs himself to get the ball, then he runs forward and tries to get it to an open target. Watching him closely he's got a bit of work to do in making sure he's motors at the right level both defensively and on the spread, but if we coach the talent out of this bloke like we have so many others then I'll be sick.

Right at the end of training when the forwards were practising goal kicking Garlett speared a ball across behind the goals and right in to JKH's right hamstring/glute. He jokingly apologised and other players had a laugh, but come his turn to kick JKH shanked a couple of shots and clearly looked uncomfortable before walking off. I didn't want to alarm anyone if he was going to be fine anyway but now he's out of the side I'd like to give some explanation for mystery injury of the week. Also Garlett's a freaking moron and our players are stupid. But we knew all of that.

Cheersquad to major company board. That's hollywood stuff. A rags to riches tale if I've ever heard one. I hope he remembers the little guys. And no reason to complain about crappy fan involvement and communication stuff ups with a communication expert on board.

They've got it wrong though. All this talk during the season actually distracts from the product. A proper free agency period at the end of the year prolongs the interest in footy. It should be part of the October/Nov action. A lot of people dislike the meat market because so far the rules are trash and the small clubs get rorted. But with proper free agency rules and trade rules things can work out pretty well. We were all happy to get Frost, Lumumba, Newton and Garlett, imagine if the system was on level pegging and clubs could make beneficial trades and free agency deals more often. The NFL has got it down perfectly. Playoffs in Jan. Superbowl in Feb. Free agency in March. Draft in April/May. Training camp in July. Preseason in August. Season in Sep. I think June is the only month without significant action and the players take care of that by all getting arrested on holidays. Of course there is talk during the season about player movements but most of the time it's on what is actually happening on the field. Because there is a gap between the end of the season and free agency the playoffs aren't hijacked.

How about a compromise? Free agents who don't sign before round x (start of year, mid year etc) have to wait. Uncontracted non free agents (by the way this designation will eventually change to restricted free agents) can sign with their current clubs at any time. That way young players who aren't established are free to secure their future at any stage. Older players who will become free agents have to wait it out.

Interesting. Can't say I agree. I think players deserve the right to let their footy do the talking towards the end of a contract and then sign on with their current club. I'm hoping both Howe and Garland do that this year. But there's merit to your ideal. Certainly we need strong rules against other clubs approaching players, signing them to contracts etc. Geelong shouldn't be allowed to have done half of what they have with Dangerfield, even if they are playing it cool now.

Didn't work for Josh Gordon - http://beta.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11281430/josh-gordon-legal-team-say-second-hand-smoke-reason-positive-marijuana-test But they did end up slashing his penalty as well as increasing the threshold from 15 nanograms to 35. And he then got suspended under the alcohol part of the substance policy, which is actually very harsh. The NFL off season drug policy is kind of hilarious. One test over the off season break between April and June I think it is. And if you're dumb or unlucky enough to not wait until you've had your test then you might get caught and the 3rd strike used to be a heavy suspension. It's now 3 strikes just with fines before any suspensions come on board.

Lumumba can't afford to cause a stink at his new club by using the law. Barrett probably knows this (or doesn't). Either way, HL will more than likely let it slide which is unfortunate.

AFL leaks and breaks confidentiality to their own AFL.com.au employee who then breaks it on Channel 9. What a joke. I don't really care if Lumumba loves weed and it's a cover up. If that's true then break that story. But don't just denigrate him and attack his story including a definition of what Rastafarian is, throw in the line about Collingwood players self reporting and all the other crap unless you can back it up. I hope H can laugh it all off as the joke that it is but I'd also fully supporting suing Barrett any way he wants. Maybe with this Joe Hockey case going on there might be a few more will to hold to account journos who print or speak trash.

Highlights of today: 1. Bail, Matt Jones and Stretch taken aside for some tackling and competing work. Why? Because Matt Jones seems to give away a free kick whenever he goes near someone. Stretch is a skinny body who will need to be taught to tackle and ride tackles to protect himself in the VFL (although did play SANFL last year) and Bail seems to slip off tackles as well. Just made me happy that the coaches have noticed players weaknesses and are actively involved in fixing them. 2. Just how much work Vince got through. Seeing Howe do a fair bit and Kent do plenty as well. 3. Nev Jetta's voice in drills. Very positive. Confident By the way. When they went in to full ground match simulation (with token pressure only) the team was; FB: Garland Dunn Jetta HB: Grimes McDonald Salem C: Toumpas Jones Newton HF: M. Jones Dawes JHK FF: Frost Hogan Garlett Foll: Jamar Lumumba Tyson

That's good news. Shame he isn't in the squad v Essendon but he still gets a chance to impress at Casey this week or next and I'm sure they get more flexibility at Casey with playing time than v Ess now it's down to 4 plus 2 subs on the bench.

I'm not doubting your source nor am I really sticking up for Saty and I realise Howe's hamstring injury is a sporting injury and public knowledge not a private medical condition, but I would consider the confidentiality issues regarding talking about medical imaging. I know the TV cameras park out the front like vultures that they are but I don't really think it should always be public knowledge.

I'm actually more worried about the Queensland clubs than GWS. GWS is a strategic long term investment by the AFL and doesn't need to turn a profit as a club to make money overall for the league. If they take 10 mil more per year to get to break even then it's probably enough to be viable. It takes about 20mil per season to prop them up now, but if they expand quickly to getting 10k average attendance and eventually closer to 20k then they'll make enough money. Very soon (if not already) the WA (new stadium), SA as well as Ess, Rich, Coll, Haw teams will be averaging close to 50k attendance and have TV drawing power. Carlton run properly could produce the same. Sydney and Geelong wont be at that level due to their stadiums but will be consistent, Geelong will make money running their own stadium and Sydney have TV drawing power as well. The Queensland clubs need to be doing well otherwise they fall in a hole quickly. See Brisbane's debt. And they aren't as strategically important as GWS. They don't need to be at the level of the big clubs but if they aren't drawing solid crowds and memberships things might get ugly. That leaves us, St Kilda, WB and North. If the Queensland clubs and GWS get it together then there will be a lot of very strong AFL clubs both inside and out of Victoria and huge pressure on the smaller Victorian clubs. I can see mergers as well as partial and full relocations. The bigger clubs wont support smaller clubs and any down turn in league revenue will see the heat applied. The time is perfect now for us to somehow work through the inequity in the competition and re-establish ourselves as a strong club. We've probably got 5-10 years to get a training base organised, to make sure our smallest crowds are still above 25k and that we are regularly drawing 50k+ against fellow Victorian clubs and to build the membership over 50k as well. If it doesn't happen soon then I wonder if it ever will.

Did you account get hacked? I can't believe I just read this.

The Bulldogs intensity in the first half was absolutely zero. Probably only our effort against Essendon in 2013 comes close to intensity that low in any game I've ever seen. So we didn't really have to step it up much to lead 8 goals to 1 in a half. As the dogs came back we got caught napping. Maybe if the dogs brought more from the start of the game we could've dealt with it and still won pretty convincingly, but the lack of intensity then increase whilst we went the other way did seem to have an effect. Essendon with the VFL replacements might not be quite AFL level and nothing replicates round 1 intensity either. So there's no real way of knowing if we have improved until the season starts. The Essendon game will provide some more evidence as to whether the first or second half against the Dogs was the true indication on how we will play. With the Roos game plan so much does come down to how good our pressure is combined with how good our skills and effort with the ball is. A simple 2 way running plan that means we have to give everything to defend and then give it again to attack and have enough skills to pull it off.

And you don't think that even with a light penalty that AFL Players wont be deterred by the Crowley story? He's out there running laps at training whilst his team mates gear up for round 1. Doesn't look fun to me. He's going to miss out on a bunch of match payments, miss out on playing the sport he loves and he should get a really big fine and a suspension (presuming he's guilty) that reflects the error he made. But the 2 years is a number that is relevant to Olympic sports suspending athletes for world championships and half the Olympic cycle. If it was a once off then then a 2 year suspension is completely unjust. I have no idea how your analogy is relevant. Armed robbery is armed robbery no matter how much you steal. A better option might be white collar crime stealing 50k compared to armed robbery for the same amount. Without getting side tracked I do believe white collar criminals get let off very easily, but even still I think most would agree that the arm robbery is a much worse crime as a it has violent intent and puts people at risk of physical and psychological injury. I'd certainly expect that the malicious and violent crime be punished much more than the other.

Review what he has tested positive for. If it's clearly from a prescription medicine then you can trace his medicare and script history and find out. If there's any doubt at all about if he's done it for longer then extend the ban. If you've done a bunch of research in to the situation and it's a once off then treat it that way. Your name getting dragged through the mud as a drug cheat, combined with a hefty fine and a suspension of something like 6 matches is more than enough deterrent for the wider competition when all signs point towards not getting any advantage from this.

Of course there's no excuse. There's also no excuse for speeding. No excuse for running a stop sign. No excuse for shoplifting a CD. But none of those crimes result in massive penalties. 100% serious. Why do you get satisfaction for ruling a guy out for so long for stupidity? Will it cripple Freo? Will it lead to Melbourne winning games? Was the slight edge that Crowley maybe (or maybe not) obtained for one game against the Giants so monumental that he should be banned for 2 years. Come on.

Ridiculous. We already know he's taken something on the 'specified substance' list which means it's probably not a proven performance enhancing drug like a steroid but more likely something with some qualities that may or may not even provide the smallest of assistances. There's every chance a 4 week suspension would probably be fair enough and a fine to cover the costs of testing him for anything and everything in to the future. Why are athletes subjected to a draconian law with absolutely no room for discretion based on the facts of each case?

Scenario A is he's just plain stupid. Scenario B is the following: club doctors just aren't independent. They give him pain relief then they also report to the coaches that Crowley has pain, all of a sudden he's out of the team with an injury. Very silly, but now there's so much at stake for players in terms of finances etc these issues come up. Management of complex injuries, personal illness and decisions on when to have surgery will see this issue come up more and more for professional athletes who work for a team.