DeeSpencer

McKenzie, Trengove, Gysberts (or Moloney/Jones) - done.The cats didn't win the flag last year. Collingwood did with one bullocker - Ball, and a couple of other strong bodies who have so much more too their game than Moloney and Jones in Swan and Pendlebury. Jones and Moloney look like they are carrying too much bulk. We've seen James McDonald tough it out with the biggest in the centre square for a decade with no weight on him. Why have slow players in Jones and Moloney appeared to have bulked up over the preseason - Good call/Bad call The fact that when our mids win a centre clearance all they seem to be able to do is bomb it forward is a massive issue. The lack of handball to open runners is so far below the required standard - Good call/Bad call

Hell no. Both too slow and too short. They don't have anywhere near the speed or prowess in the air of Bartram or Grimes.They are hard bodied inside mids. That's where they should be played and if they are forced out by Trengove, Scully, Sylvia, McKenzie and Gysberts then so be it. I didn't think Moloney was too bad, and getting your hands on the footy is still vital. For a preseason game I thought he was ok.

Couple of out of character performances. Bail and Trengove both a bit rusty at times with simple stuff. Garland stuffing up every short kick! Bartram sloppy defensively as well as with ball (as expected). Jones along way off but it was his first effort. But I do agree he should only come in as a back up to best 22 inside mids ie. Moloney (who started pretty well). Warnock rubbish but it was his first go as well. He needs to play the next 2 to be ready to cover Frawley. Martin I thought wasn't horrible. We have to stick with him at the moment. Certainly showing more attitude. Spencer - the less said the better. Jamar should now be rested for the next game. He made a couple of mistakes but still worked tirelessly. A leopard can't change his spots re: Bate people! Take the good with the bad but no point knocking him. Maric the big positive. Lack of forward pressure and tackling pressure the massive negative. Should be not negotiable by now. We're still in a strong position I think. We've got a core group healthy and with 2 runs under their belt. Others aren't too far away. Some problems just won't be fixed over night - second ruck, tall forwards, class in the back half, speed - but we've drafted in an attempt to alleviate them. Even if we drop off personnel for one or both of the next 2 matches if we can get the work rate up a notch and sort some simple disposal errors out then I'm confident we can get off to a winning start.

It's the NAB Cup, but all our loses highlight the same things over and over. It must be very frustrating for our coaches. Minor Concerns Lack of tall forwards - not overly concerned about this as we've got to be patient with Watts and Cook. In the mean time we have to be smarter using the ball into the forward 50. The MCG will help. Jurrah/Green/Petterd firing will as well. Back up ruck - Again we've got Fitzy, Gawn, McDonald in the pipeline and I think Martin showed enough to be reasonable but they can't come quick enough. I'd rest Jamar for next week to let Martin and Spencer have 50% of the game. Use of the ball from the back half - Frawley helps here (so much better than Warnock). Garland was off tonight. Playing at the G helps. Strauss needs more games and FFS play him on the dud forward so he can get into the game! Let him play to his strengths. The umpiring - my god they are [censored]. Speed - we need to play a fast squad. Where is Blease? He needs to be out there. Same with Wona if he's anywhere near fitness. Major Concerns Lack of forward pressure. We need to get this right if we are going to win games. Watts needs to give up corralling (sp?) and switch to tackling only. I don't care if he gives away frees for holding the man. All our forwards need to avoid getting sucked to the contest. Bate!!! Jurrah needs to lift his work rate. If that means he has more spells on the bench then so be it. I believe its a major reason why we leak inside 50's (and as a result get put under pressure in our back half). Linking up in close with handball. Was shocking tonight. Even from a centre clearance, if a mid gets it they have to get it out. Our wingman always seemed second to the contest. Tackling - Along way below par tonight. All in all I think our biggest problem is we leave too much to too few. We are a team of brilliant individuals more than a brilliant team at the moment. Jamar has to ruck long periods. Frawley/Garland/Rivers/Grimes have to be our backline. We need Petterd and Wona for forward pressure. We need Davey to clear the backline. We need Moloney/Sylvia/McKenzie to win a clearance. We need McKenzie or Sylvia to lay a proper tackle. We need Jurrah and Green to kick bags. Scully is vital to the pace of our midfield. Bennell has to generate run. Bate has to get involved at half forward. It's a feeling I've had for much of last year and I will continue to have for this season. It seems whenever too many parts of the chain break we start having fatal error. Every player has strengths and weaknesses but at the moment its seems so dependent on who's got the footy and who they are giving it too. I want to see us play as a unit.

Pretty sure the clash strip is also our NAB cup/challenge strip. It means we have to see more of it but it also means more exposure and therefore more $$$ in jumper sales. It's a necessary sacrifice I think.

Bail's kicking is a weakness in what is a very good game. Strauss needs to get more ball especially in space. At the moment he is struggling to be creative, he is too worried about defending as he is not a natural defender like Bartram/Grimes/Garland. He had a good intraclub, was ok in limited time against the crows and was pretty poor against Port. I hope he gets a full game in our next match. A lot of people judge him on his first 2 games. The first was a shocker against Hawthorn but he wasn't horrible in his second.

Bate - still got work to do before round 1. Just doesn't have the agility to put on the forward pressure so needs to take advantage of every opportunity with the ball. That doesn't just mean kicking long bombs but also linking up effectively by hand. He's looking very trim but has serious competition in Jurrah/Dunn/Petterd/Green as marking mid size forwards. You couldn't play all 5 of them in the same side. Howe is another in the same category. Cook - very promising start. Moves nicely, uses it well and showed a decent set of hands. I wonder if he can show a bit in the VFL this year whether he is worth getting into the side very early (end of this year and 2012) to play along side Watts as true tall forwards. I don't think you can win a flag just with Jurrah/Watts/and a resting ruck. I think you need a permanent marking forward with a big body and for that reason I'd think of fast-tracking Cook if he shows enough. The other 2 young guys to impress were Dan Nicholson and Michael Evans. Both made enough of a first impression to make me think they are a good chance at getting off the rookie list at some stage. Evans looks a clean player, similar to a mini Trengove. Athletically he might be a trick short, but he looks a naturally classy type. Nicholson reminded me of a first year Bartram with his speed and hardness. His kicking looks acceptable as well. With Bruce gone there is a spot to take in the backline and being a bit older than most recruits he could be a chance to grab it.

Really impressed by Garland, Bartram, Grimes, Macdonald down back. They along with Rivers and a couple of others should hold us steady down back until Frawley returns. The midfield I thought was a bit poor in both games. Sylvia had a good second game. Every time he went near it Trengove showed his class. But not much from Moloney except free kicks against. Still have Jones/McKenzie/Scully and Gysberts as inside mids to come back in. Jetta seemed to play a bit up the ground and was another to impress. As for the rucks Jamar struggled to win a hitout (but was his usual strong presence around the ground). Spencer dropped a few easy marks, but kicked something close to a reasonable drop punt a one a few impressive hitouts. Martin looks good and his versatility was on show. Up forward Green looked a handful at times. Jurrah was his usual amazing self. Maric has improved his work rate and the rest of his game might come with more AFL exposure. Dunn I didn't see much of. Bate looks fit but his forward pressure is still not adequate for my likings. Cook was a big tick on debut. He moved pretty well and appears to have nice strong hands. McDonald we didn't see much of but he looked ok same with Howe. Enough has been said about Watts already. I think that leaves me with just 2 of the rookies. Firstly Evans looked great. Kicks on both sides of his body, reads the play well. Not sure what spot he'd go in the team but he seemed to show a bit of class. Nicholson also looked very good. Head over the ball stuff was good from him.

That's a load of crap. The new CBA will increase wages but we will not be offering Scully 1 million a year even if that is what GWS do. It would make him a top 10 player in the league and by far our highest paid player. It simply wont happen. I doubt we will offer him 6 years either. Likewise 3 million a year is not a true figure. We have to remember we are talking about Tom Scully here, the guy is good and has potential to be a great midfielder but not a combination of Ablett/Judd/Franklin/Goddard in one, and even if he was it would be on potential anyway.The most important thing I believe that we can do as supporters is to support the club in its operation and support Tom Scully. I don't think Scully has signed any deal yet and we should take his managers word for that at this stage. The more we support the club the better atmosphere it will be for Scully to play in and the more chance that he will sign a new contract with us. If he does leave we will have 10 years to taunt him and express our disgust so we should refrain from doing that at the time being.

Some of it is coincidence, but others isn't I think. Like the Morton/Evans one. Both went the same school in WA but I don't think that has anything to do with Evans' recruitment. Same with Watts/Scully/Strauss/Gysberts etc playing Vic metro, they were talented juniors from the home of football. For example Stef Martin and Tom Scully both went to Haliebury College, that means nothing. The two that are probably the most suss are Bennell/Jetta and Trengove/Tapscott. Considering how close both of those guys were its a bit strange they got recruited to the same team. But I also think the fact that you watch more of one when watching the other helps and the natural bias of wanting to recruit a players mates. I think its more a natural bias than a deliberate plan.

Just saw Scully going for a walk with a young girl who could be described as having "inner beaty" in a nice leafy suburban area of Eastern/South East Melbourne. He had the footy in hand. Regardless of whether it was his gf/sister/female friend he wouldn't want to leave her for glum western Sydney I'm sure.

Personally I couldn't make either date so I'm just hoping some guys are able to go along and give us a report. I was thinking about possible intraclub matchups to help determine the round 1 side. Obviously a lot of players won't play the intraclub and some will only play small amounts. I'm not worried about the midfield because I think it will be heavy rotations and little care for the opposition in there. But the backs v forward interest me. With Frawley out for a while and Bruce gone there are 2 spots in our backline available. The rumour is Martin will play centre half forward/ruck this year and Newton will play back at times. I'd give him a shot at Jurrah to see if he's worth trying there in the NAB cup. I'd like to see Rivers V Watts to see if both of them can fire up in intensity before the NAB cup. What does everyone else think, any matchups they would like to see. Garland V Green Rivers V Watts Warnock V Martin Newton V Jurrah Bartram V Wona Macdonald V Dunn Grimes V Bate Davis V Cook McNamara V Petterd Strauss V Jetta Nicholson V Tapscott Bail V Bennell

Don't really see that as interesting. Of course Grimes is no certainty because it's footy and their are 1000 variables. There are so many possibilities that could stop Grimes being captain but overall I'd say the main threat to Grimes being the next captain is Tom Scully, who on training work rate alone would have to be considered for the leadership group in the next couple of years.

Firstly can I say (whilst not a geebung regular) I must have heard you guys a few times and you are pretty good to my uneducated musical ears. Although there is an area between the bar and windows along Auburn road where either the volume is too loud or the speakers are inferior quality and the music becomes quite a bit painful.Back on topic, it sucks doesn't it. We finally get some more night games this year and get shafted on Saturday games. I like Sundays better so it doesn't both me too much but I'd prefer for an even spread.

If you have a few too many drinks and get caught in an uncompromising situation, do you have to give your consent for a photo or is your consent taken for granted? Who then owns that photo and what are their rights in distributing it? Personally I think the St Kilda players should cop their right whack (excuse the pun) for being stupid, I'm all for the players to get some time and space away from the limelight but they have to realise the world they live in. The girl needs some kind of help because she is obvious a very bitter individual to feel the need to publish these photos. I'm not sure she would benefit from learning her lesson via the courts, because really I doubt she has much to lose (financially or morally).

But the start of 09 is a long time ago now. He's had a season and a half of being right at the top of the leadership pile. I'm willing to look past both. I'm willing to forgive Davey because he's done it what 3 times in 5 years or something and every time he's had zero support from team mates.

Not meaning to have a go but thought I'd correct this so it doesn't become a recurring theme. I've got Josh Kennedy for that purpose and if needed Kelly and Swallow can help on the flanks. Dale Thomas and Griffen also both win a lot of their own ball.

Cheers. Also going from an earlier photo he looks a bit stronger this year which is good. Certainly no Frawley, but not a kid anymore in terms of build.

Yes. Not many teams require 2 big boys (eg. both Warnock and Frawley). Most require just Frawley and Garland/Rivers who whilst both a tad undersized can make do. Collingwood have Brown (taking Presti's role) as their only big key defender and get by with the slightly taller than Garland but not hugely stronger Reid and Maxwell. Same with St Kilda with Dawson at full back and Gwilt stepping up as their main CHB late this year.

Thanks for the update. Welcome and I really hope you can get out there more! Any update on McKenzie or Garland would be appreciate. 2 best 22 guys who seem to go under the radar with training reports. Hopefully that means they are just going about there business well and are readying themselves for strong seasons. I'd love a report on the new rookies as well but understand if its hard to spot them because I wouldn't be able to.

I heard Roos decided to retire when Jesse was his best option at full forward. When you picked White I was hoping it was Mitchell.

22 games 4th in the B+F in the wooden spoon team. Should be awarded to Cam Bruce award for consistent mediocrity. He's finished judges, you know it!PS Jesse White is a big girl.

North are solid, and we wont be ahead of them on the ladder unless we can beat them which we haven't done in yonks. I don't think there is much between our best sides (but I think our list is stronger). The dogs have too much young talent for an extended bottom 4 stay. I think they will drop and maybe we will overtake them if we are very lucky.

BB I don't think their is an easy answer. I think you just have to make judgments. E25 has gone with multiple rucks so I'd give him a couple of bonus points there. But you have to look at where they will be playing the rest of the game as well. With players coming off injury and form dips I think its fair to make whatever judgment you this is appropriate on how much below their best you think they are. For the youngsters I think you can do some research on their VFL form and other form and then look at their role in the team. I'd say Toy was a top 5 draft pick and Patrick a rookie prospect. I'm pretty confident my team would beat Collingwood but there wouldn't be much in it as Collingwood's grand final 22 comprised 22 very capable AFL players with no weakness in the side similar to mine. Anyone who thinks there team would smash a premiership side is ahead of themselves I believe.

FB: J. Surjan (Port) N. Grima (NM) S. Hurn (WCE) HB: J. Kelly (Geel) L. McPharlin (Fre) J. Adcock (Bris) C: D. Thomas (Coll) S. Thompson (Adel) S. Hill (Fre) HF: M. Morton (Rich) L. Henderson (Carl) D. Swallow (GC) FF: A. Monfries (Ess) L. Franklin (Haw) A. Schneider (StK) R: M. Jamar (Melb) J.P. Kennedy (Syd) R. Griffen (WB) Captain - S. Thompson Leadership group - Thompson, Thomas, Kelly, Jamar, Monfries, Adcock, Surjan 7. L. Franklin (Haw) Find me a more exciting player in the competition? There isn't one when Buddy is on. Capable of kicking bags at full forward and also changing up and using his strong endurance and work rate. He hasn't had the strongest last two years in terms of figures but he's still the premier key forward in the competition. 14. M. Jamar (Melb) Everyone has picked a quality ruckman. But how many of them can turn games of football and play whole seasons without getting clearly beaten. Besides big Sandilands I challenge anyone to find better than Jamar. He's strong and works hard and provides some muscle for the rest of the team. 27. S.Hurn (WCE) An early pick up due to the nature of this draft but not undeserving. He's a big strong young man with a monster 70m kick with precision. Will provide run from the back half as well. Possible one of only a couple of WC players who can kick the footy and that's why he's gone early. 34. D.Thomas (Coll) Pendlebury and Swan are class players, but Thomas is more dangerous by foot and with run than both of those and stepped into their league this year. Fantastic particularly in GF 1 and will never stop running. Doesn't shirk the hard stuff and a luxury to have on a wing. 47. S.Hill (Frem) Excitement machine. Breaks lines, kicks goals and also wins his own footy. On track to be the most exciting wingman in the comp if he's not already. Will only be fitter and better in 2011. 54. D.Swallow (GC) Played WAFL, VFL (top 5 league medal), best player in the under 18's as 17 year old. Fit and good build. He's more than ready to come into the AFL and will get all the opportunities. Clean hands, clean by foot and with the size to be able to play on a half forward flank. Another luxury. 67. R.Griffen (W Dogs) Near elite midfielder in a near elite side. A bargain for pick 67. Never stops working, a good kick, wins his ball and tackles and has great speed. Fits my midfield perfectly. Really came of age in 2010. 74. N.Grima (Nth Melb) If you don't think this guy is seriously good yet, you will know all about him by 2011. His 2010 was like Frawley of 2009. He's mature, strong and fit. Good user of the ball and can play on talls and smalls. 87. A.Monfries (Ess) Went a bit high due to Essendon's depth, but this guy is all class and played some good footy in a bad side this year. Works extremely hard, is a great mark for his size and provides excellent forward pressure and can play the defensive forward role. Good leadership as well. 94. L.Henderson (Carl) A perfect fit for CHF due to his size, endurance and work ethic. Will continue to improve after 2010 as this was his first full season of AFL (although he still spend some time in the VFL). He compliments Buddy brilliantly and I just can't wait to watch him this year. 107. S.Thompson (Adel) Gun midfielder. Strong, hard and can use the football. Compliments my lighter bodies. Can even tag if required. Really is a top class midfielder and a bargain after 100 picks. Has been elected captain 114. L.McPharlin (Frem) My wildcard selection due to the fact I think he is a premier CHB of the comp. Athletic, a good mark and rebounds the ball. Really controls games like a Nick Maxwell at times (but also takes a man). An experienced head in my young side. 127. J.Kelly (Geel) Skilled, hard, fast, strong, can defend and attack. A perfect half back who can go into the middle. Premiership player. 134. J.Kennedy (Syd) Controversial selection but this guys finals this year showed he is becoming a serious football. An extractor to go with Thompson to make sure my midfield and the skilled players outside him get to use the ball. Uses the ball within himself and another player coming off a breakout year. 147. A.Schneider (St.K) Kicks both crumbing and marking goals, provides forward pressure and is a silky user when up the ground. Premiership player and grand final veteran. 154. J.Adcock (Bris) Had injuries in 2010 but has played over 100 games and is still young. Hard as an axe, has shown he can do it in the midfield and another back flanker who can attack or defend. Courageous and skilled. He'll take a man if required and shut him down whilst still getting his 20 touches. 167. J.Surjan (Port) Strong and hard defender who is a back pocket specialist. Good leader. Sound skills and will give it 100%. 174. M.Morton (Rich) When I got to this pick I had to choose between a safer choice and going for someone who has shown talent in patches. At 23 Morton has had a breakout season with 40 odd goals, as well as played Coburg 2's. He's been labeled arrogant and lazy by fans. But late 2010 with it all on the line he started to show some form for the tigers. In the mold of Colin Sylvia and I believe he'll show his worth next year. You gotta have faith judges! Philosophy My team is very simple but adaptable. Despite featuring some top line talents my aim was to build a team of All Stars, I've build an All Start TEAM. I've crafted a group experienced enough to win the flag right now as well as winning for the next 5 years. Every player in this team can run, use the ball and most importantly win their own footy. There are a minimum of big ego's (probably Buddy but you can't deny how hard he works and Morton - who I think calmed down late this year). It's not about collecting a bunch of superstars who get the ball fed too them. All the best sides have guys who do a job and who work for each other. When judging my team I hope judges keep these points in mind. An exciting, hard working and brilliantly skilled side without a weakness