P-man

I'm excited for him. He has 8 weeks to show what his football future looks like. If it doesn't pan out, so be it, but he finally his chance and I reckon the majority of the Demon faithful are right behind him.

I agree, and it's much ado about nothing. He didn't even support Freo as a kid, he was a Crows supporter as I recall. But one innocent photo sure has caused a lot of noise and high hopes coming out of the Docker camp. You have to wonder why West Coast are almost never mentioned in the discussion about him going home. They are also based in Perth last time I checked.

Many won't share your frustration, but I do. The counter argument says that the faster game plan has moved past Dunn's capabilities. Whether or not this is the case, which I'm not so certain it is, he has experience that can be relied upon and a role on Pavlich who has recently shown he still has something left in the tank would've made me feel a lot safer than another week of constant heart in mouth with O Mac. Neither Dunn or Garland reportedly forced themselves into consideration on the weekend which also works against them, but I doubt it would've made any difference.

It's not perfect, certainly not over the last decade. No doubt there are improvements that can be made. However, the AFL is far more, and I mean FAR MORE, equal than the EPL. There is no comparing the two.

I sometimes wonder if all the fuss over him leaving would've been halved if that photo of him in the Fremantle scarf had never gone public.

T Mac would be better. Whether we can afford to take him out of the backline at an early stage in the game is another matter.

Haha..had the same thought when reading it.

Overly harsh. He's had some very decent games this season. Last weekend was not one of them. A run in the seconds won't do him any harm and it'll be interesting to see how he goes.

I take some heart in their top three possession getters yesterday being Hodge, Mitchell and Lewis, with it falling away after that. The cliff is coming. They'll drop all the way down to the depths of 7th or 8th soon enough.

Almost fell off my chair when his name was placed as a nominee in the Herald Sun poll for "Most popular player". What planet are they on? To add to it, Viney wasn't a candidate for toughest player. So the whole thing was basically null and void.

Not sure if this one slipped through to the keeper. Max was on TFS recently and based on this reception, there will be many more appearances to come. Fantastic to have a player with his personality and escalating profile at the club.

I like the way you articulate what I'm thinking far better than I ever could. If I have any concern it's what you say re no direct replacement for Dawes. The backline does look a bit tall when you consider their forward threats, so one of Frost/T Mac swinging forward could certainly be an option. Based on recent history it would be Frost. Let's hope not. The conditions may mean that Hogan, Vanders and a fleet of crumbers could be enough. I remain nervous about this one. As is standard.

I like those two changes. Looking forward to seeing what each of them bring.

He has some decent attributes - fast, tough, decent goal sense. None can compensate for his average skills. I want players who can be relied upon to hit targets. We have enough of the alternative.

Not overly interested daz, unless he's acquired cheaply which probably won't happen. He did have a promising start to his caree but has gone in reverse ever since. Literally. Tends to run around in circles and chip kick sideways and backwards. Lowest metres gained out of the top 100 possession getters last season. Plus there are some of the off field issues to consider. He's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. Is what we are seeing the player he will become, or has the coaching, instruction and playing culture at Brisbane been that detrimental to his development? We've seen how Collingwood have been burnt by Aish under the belief that he was jweighed down by Brisbane. Turns out he just wasn't that good. Also, there's the fact he's another midget. We already have Kennedy, Viney et al. I'd prefer we target some slightly bigger bodied mids. I want to intimidate the bejeezus out of the opposition.

As a complete performance, and considering the calibre of opponent, I think it was his best game for the club. Certainly better than his game against Collingwood this season. They are rubbish, for starters.

This already looked to have improved again on the weekend. If he gets that part properly sorted, look out.

Demonland Player of the Year: Unofficial Tally Votes (games polling votes/games played) 1. Gawn - 369 (11/14) 2. Viney - 336 (9/13) 3. N Jones - 312 (13/14) 4. Vince - 264 (11/13) 5. Watts - 260 (11/14) 6. Jetta - 208 (10/13) 7. Tyson - 197 (7/13) 8. Hogan - 173 (9/14) 9. Kennedy - 114 (6/13) 10. Hunt - 108 (6/11) 11. Garlett - 97 (5/10) 12. Stretch - 83 (4/9) 13. T McDonald - 79 (8/14) 14. Bugg - 69 (5/14) 15. Petracca - 56 (4/9) 16. Oliver - 48 (4/10) 17. Harmes - 38 (4/12) 18. Kent - 34 (4/13) 19. Wagner - 31 (5/11) 20. Lumumba - 24 (2/5) 21. M Jones - 13 (2/5) 22. Frost - 12 (3/9) 23. Pedersen - 8 (4/7) 24. Salem - 3 (1/7) 25. Trengove - 3 (1/2) 26. Garland - 1 (1/6) Best per round (vote order) Rd 1 (GWS): Viney, Watts, T McDonald, Kennedy, N Jones, Oliver, Gawn, Vince, Jetta, M Jones, Hogan Rd 2 (Ess): Kennedy, Garlett, N Jones, Vince, Tyson, M Jones, Jetta, Harmes, Pedersen Rd 3 (Nth): Viney, Gawn, Vince, Lumumba, Jetta, Oliver, Hogan, Kent, Salem Rd 4 (Coll): Watts, Viney, Gawn, Wagner, Tyson, N Jones, T McDonald, Lumumba, Kennedy, Pedersen, Frost, Bugg, Hogan, Jetta Rd 5 (Rich): Gawn, Viney, Tyson, Vince, Garlett, T McDonald, Watts, Kent, N Jones Rd 6 (StK): Hogan, Viney, N Jones, Watts, Jetta, Gawn, Vince, Tyson, Bugg, Kennedy, Pedersen Rd 7 (GC): Gawn, Viney, N Jones, Jetta, Harmes, Oliver, Bugg, Hunt, Vince, Wagner, Pedersen, Garlett Rd 8 (WB): Jetta, Tyson, Viney, Kennedy, Stretch, Vince, T McDonald, Watts, Hogan, Jones Rd 9 (Bris): Hogan, Stretch, Bugg, Petracca, N Jones, Watts, Garlett, Oliver, Harmes, Wagner, Vince, Garland Rd 10 (PA): Gawn, Jetta, N Jones, Hogan, Watts, Hunt, Stretch, T McDonald, Viney Rd 11 (Haw): Vince, Tyson, N Jones, Jetta, Watts, Gawn, Hunt, Frost, Wagner, Petracca, Trengove Rd 12 (Coll): Gawn, Vince, N Jones, Tyson, Kent, Bugg, Hogan, T McDonald, Petracca, Frost, Hunt, Kennedy, Watts Rd 13 (Syd): Hunt, Vince, Gawn, Watts, Petracca, N Jones, Wagner, T McDonald Rd 14 (Bye) Rd 15 (Ade): Watts, N Jones, Hunt, Garlett, Jetta, Harmes, Stretch, T McDonald, Hogan, Gawn, Kent, Viney

I hope in vain that we bring in an experienced defender in to replace O Mac and provide a little bit more surety back there but I know it isn't going to happen. However Garlo for O Mac would be my preference. Not withstanding the return of his crunching tackles, Vanders is providing very little outside of that. He doesn't look like he belongs at the level at present. He'd be the one to make way for Grimes but who knows when or if he'll get the call up he's earned. I'm a Bugg fan, but if one poor game sees you out of the side, I wouldn't mind Neal-Bullen being given another opportunity at his expense. Dawes had a mare. He couldn't possibly be any worse next week. I'm not sure a trip to Darwin on a six day break is the best way to introduce Hulett. Spencer isn't a bad call. We looked a bit all at sea when Gawn went out of the ruck contest. On gut feel I'd give Dawes one more week to make amends, but I wouldn't mind seeing the return of Spencer and Gawn together out of curiosity as much as anything. Out: O Mac, Vanders, Bugg In: Garland, Grimes, Neal-Bullen

Watts comfortably the best player I thought. That was reflected on the stat sheet but his want to compete all day was top notch. 6. Watts 5. Hunt 4. Garlett 3. N Jones 2. Jetta 1. Stretch

Matt Jones seriously looks a different player. So much cleaner with his ball use.

Yep. Objective is get it up the other end as much as possible for as long as possible.

Unbelievable.

We did beat them the season before last on their home turf in a game where they fielded a lot of the same key players - Sloane, Thompson, Crouch, Laird, Smith, Jacobs, Talia, Betts, Jeknins, Lynch. I know it's not a lot to hang the hat on, but as good a run as they are having, the last two encounters have been close and fallen either side of the ledger. And we're at home. The Crows are as good as any team going around at either end of the ground, but when Brad Crouch is your second best midfielder, that is a battle worth taking on. If we can win enough ball out of the middle and work hard enough to place their defence under pressure, we give ourselves a chance. Lose the midfield battle and their forwards will have a day out.

That reaction to the Treloar situation, if what Niall says is true, is quintessential Richmond.