DeeSpencer

Is it reasonable force to break a mans jaw because he shapes up to you? I know May is physically bigger but they are both big boys and Brown is older and probably has more boxing training. No criminal court would probably be interested but what about a civil court? But the issue here is not whether or not May got what he deserved. It's that it happened. Brown's choices were not hit or get hit. He had a third option to walk or run away and call someone else to make sure May got back in bed safe and with his jaw intact.

Surely not? How many depth defenders do you need. Last year we had Pedersen, Sellar, Davis and Gillies and how many games did we win through key defensive depth? This year we'll have Pedersen and the option of Hogan down back, plus Garland playing tall (which we used over some of those aforementioned potatoes anyway) and Georgiou can fill in as a medium tall capable of playing deep. That sounds better to me even if Georgiou is no good. But there's always the chance he becomes a dominant mid sized defender in which case who would care than he's not 6'5. Unusually generous for you Ben. Fitzy's kicking isn't suited anywhere.

Not quite a club great but a few more solid seasons and you could call him that. On the field he needs to tackle more, work his play in with other midfielders (which is hard when they are traffic cones) and be more consistent when getting a hard tag, which is true for almost every player besides GAJ. If he does that he'll be an A grader. The lack of support makes it very hard to judge all our players but I don't feel comfortable calling him an A grader but I'm more conservative than some.

Well Sydney are the biggest team of tall forwards likely to stretch a side if they line up with Reid, Tippett, Franklin and Goodes in the one side. But even then I think we'd go with McDonald, Frawley, Garland and Dunn as the first choice options for those 4. If we get one injury then Pedersen comes in. If we get a second injury then yes Sydney might start to stretch us but that's a scenario where Hogan goes back to defense. Any other team we likely bring Georgiou in to cover the type of player that Garland or Dunn had been playing on. Which is my real concern has nothing to do with his lack of height but much more whether he has the speed and agility to mix it with some of the more dangerous forwards in that 180-190cm range who play close to goal. If he does then he could become a Nick Smith or Steven Morris or even Dale Morris type as a gun shut down player and in terms of discipline and establishing a hard, tough playing group that's a great player to develop a team around.

Combine the fact we are short on true defensive talls with the likelihood that the recruiters fancied Georgiou above any key defender available and you get the answer. We've got Pedersen as just a big body and Hogan to CHB for some learning isn't a bad idea if needed. The way I see it is we've probably got 2 first choice key defenders: Frawley and McDonald. 2 first choice 3rd tall defenders in Garland and Dunn. That's 4 guys for 3 or 4 spots. If Frawley or McDonald go down then either Pedersen comes in or Garland moves to the second key defender. In that case with Garland playing tall then Georgiou becomes part of the question for the third tall spot. If either or both Garland or Dunn go down then Georgiou is in line for a spot.

Been to a few sessions and haven't even seen him on the track. I presume he's been in the gym.

That might work at SANFL level but I worry about him doing that same role at AFL. The big blokes are even bigger, move better and are better players in general. I think it's more likely that if a key defender gets injured he steps in to Dunn or Garland's spot as the third or 4th tall and they play on ruckman and so forth.

I hope flash stays in shape so he can play well at VFL level and get through the year unscathed. Anyway the Tigers have an indigenous centre as part of their renovations at punt road and had to tell Shane Edwards he was even indigenous to get the funding. Talk about government expenditure on that. But it sounds like Aaron could put it to work.

Agree on Viney. But I disagree on Pedersen. He clearly looked underdone last year and his training was pretty sloppy as well. He's never going to look the most athletic guy which makes things worse but that should be motivation for him to be in the best shape possible. A guy of borderline talent, poor speed, poor endurance and not the tallest key position guy needs to be absolutely training the house down to play at AFL level. He seems miles ahead this year compared to last so he's getting praise.

I see what you are saying but I think the word soft is wrong for him. He's not soft as in Dan Nicholson wont sit under the high ball, wont put his body on the line soft, but more mentally a bit soft. His tackling is an issue as well compared to Terlich who is very good tackler. If Strauss could average over 20 touches a week then it would hardly matter as he'd then play up the ground and his lack of physical game would go unnoticed. I certainly think if Strauss gets back in the side he should get a long run at it. He's always struck me as someone who wont ever just burst on to the scene but instead will need games to work away at improving his defending and clawing his way up to AFL game speed. When we continue to pick players prone to turning the ball over or with giant other deficiencies in their games like Dunn I really see no harm in playing Strauss for a good 6 week run at least if he's played good VFL and even anywhere near decent AFL.

And most of them have either been right or worked out right. But that was a head scratcher although Gould is one of the best kickers of all time so it's a huge surprise we missed it. Season is over now for the Bears but with our defense it's been over in reality since very early. Tough decisions coming up on Cutler, Melton, Peppers, Tilman and many others for the bears.

No. Grimes' number was his number last year in one of the great Schwab-ism moves and it's unlikely he was going to move back. Has no real bearing on whether he stays captain although I think it's highly likely.

Poor guy actually found some form and was just starting too look like at least a nice back up when he did a career ending injury after only a couple of AFL games. I think he was harshly judged and was a skinny kid who was always going to take a long time like most rucks.

The one positive of being such a rubbish side is that no player should be above some harsh truths which should make the infamous peer review aspects on LT much easier to swallow. From then on it's a time to empower the lads to believe in themselves and lead. From my view of trainings and comments from Roos I'd be shocked if he doesn't have confidence in at least half a dozen who are already set standards outside of game day. I'm hoping LT is much more an affirmation than another big culture changer. It's time to build things up not strip them down.

That might have some merit if we were drafting based on players who were developed for AFL football by their school teams but that's not the case. Junior clubs, TAC cup;and metro championships have played a more significant role in these boys development than whatever school jumper they put on. Dawes missed most of his final year at school with a knee injury I believe. Watts wasn't even primarily a footballer at school regardless of what school he went to. You can't say he would've been tougher if he went to Xavier or any other school because he coasted by on extreme talent and physical gifts whilst playing basketball. Salem has been in the Vic Metro state squad since age 12. Jayden Hunt is the one who's truly a product of his school team having missed out on TAC. And yes I'd have doubts as well about picking a guy on APS form and from BGS but the biggest vote of confidence is that his school coach wasn't just a random sports teacher but Robert Shaw.

Sydney 2012 grand final team - Richards, Johnson, Hannebery and Kennedy all Xavier. Roos has simply shifted schools! Maybe he's planning on having some more kids and getting cheap school fees, not that he cant afford them now with the pay package he's on.

Sounds like he needs extradition back to WA.

So many cheap shots dished out in that article. Only for the end conclusion being that scholarships have increased some what, private schools are often using teachers supplementary skills in football and what might be the biggest change is that the good footballers of the 80's, with some correlation between footballing income increases are now sending their kids to private schools. Pretty typical Jake Niall. Good thoughts, rubbish delivery. Strikes me as a bit of a petty chap who probably doesn't have many friends and might smell.

Delaney and Bruce are second stringers sure but they could very well curtail Dawes and Clark, both of whom are unlikely to be in top form. It's Dempster, Fisher, Geary and Roberton that I rate in the defense. I thought Steven got the tag most times this year. He'll certainly miss Montagna and Dal Santo drawing attention regardless of who got the tag. Hopefully he's quiet against us but I'm hoping Lenny Hayes can get back to some decent form despite his age. He played last season coming off heart surgery. That's full on commitment right there. And yes all stats are better that way! But I would say adding Vince and Cross only seems to get us near the ball park of other teams. Adding Mummy and Shaw has taken GWS above us. It's the fact that the impact Michie and Tyson particularly could have as ready to go midfielders that hasn't shown up in the rankings yet.

Ironic that he saved his career by getting suspended in the VFL, therefore Daniher noted he stuck up for his team mates and gave him a few games. His bad hair cuts were his other specialty besides totally trolling Fraser Gehrig.

Well you know that is not strictly true. If Nick Riewoldt has completed 5 long leads and lost his opponent only to mark 30m out from goal that is of the same value as Jono Brown just taking a contested mark 30m out from goal. Same as if Kieran Jack has run 100m away from a stoppage to get on a chain of possessions to leave his opponent 30m behind. Their opponents might be filling in space in another part of the game but if the ball isn't there then that's no use. The simplest bit of this argument is to say all plays start with contested possession when the ball is thrown up and all finals are played with intense pressure and contests. Therefore it all starts with contested possession. But over the top statements dont mean anything.

I think about soccer sometimes. 2 holding midfielders will give you contested possession. You'll win the ball back in one on one in your back halve. But then to move the ball forward you'll need uncontested possession (unless you have a really good striker who you can belt it long too). Geelong this year played counter attacking just as a soccer side does. Let a team advance the ball under pressure by them winning contests in the middle of the ground, then sweep it from the back in to open space and score. Above all the very good teams have very few players who can't win contested possession but also who will contribute to uncontested possession and ball retention. From the Hawthorn Grand Final team I think Sewell is one who I don't want getting many uncontested possessions (even though he still will run hard and link up and provide options) and Brad Hill is one who wont win too many contested possessions. Probably the rest of their team is adept at both.

Your club's best 22 for round one, week two Lists the best 22 with a comment then adds up the player ranking points for a grand total. By the way we are second lowest above the Saints and obviously only lower than them due to Montagna being suspended. As for the ranking points it sure shows how important it will be for us to get young midfielders games and playing well. We'll hopefully have Viney, Tyson, Toumpas and Michie all playing from very little AFL experience this year and Watts with no midfield experience but by the end of the year they all have the talent to be the foundations of a great group. Another thing I'd say about the rankings is they show how important Jack Steven is for the Saints. Especially with Montagna out he really is there number 1 midfielder and is very dangerous. Back on to the best 22 I think the saints defense can be above average and curtail our improved forwards while at the other end we can stop their forwards. So it will come down to winning the midfield battle. If the rankings are anything to go on it should be an even game

The general tone of Arrow's post is pretty obvious to me.

Agree with that. Although I'd say Hawthorn (Birchall, Burgoyne, Guerra, Hodge), Sydney at full strength ie 2012 not even most of 2013 (Malceski, McVeigh, Smith) are the only 2 off the top of my head who do. Freo do well with Lee Spurr, Johnson as 3rd tall but then Duffield and Sutcliff get shown up in the grand final. Hopefully Grimes can be that defensive general who's responsible for 3rd man up, zoning off and helping in the air. Terlich is probably leader for the other flank and duties as a possession getting half back due to his ability to actually find the ball and run. Clisby might be the best lock down guy we have but only for true small forwards as he is very small and slight and might not be big enough in the air. Dunn is just too dumb to feature in any ideal plans. I see why they took a chance of Georgiou in the rookie draft if he's an elite stopper he could be our Nick Smith. Certainly the priority remains the midfield and therefor should be the focus for our better players as well as midfield development for guys at Casey. But if we improve the midfield then it wouldn't surprise me if Vince moves to half back. Even now I'd play him as a sweeper from the midfield. Developing Toumpas or Salem as half backs are other options but I'd leave that for now.