P-man

The only part of that lineup that holds any genuine interest is Buckley who's always worth listening to. The other saving grace is that they have chosen the slightly more tolerable Scott brother. Laughed out loud seeing Riewoldt's name. It seems that self imposed media ban has well and truly been turned on its head. Will be worth watching when Richmond's season inevitably falls short of expectation.

I'm quietly very excited about Max King. It may not even be justified excitement, but someone of his size with his skills is a rare thing. Strength and endurance can be developed.

Christ their team looks good on paper now.

He just seems extremely humble to me. I wouldn't be reading too much into it. Judge him on performances.

Unlucky Tiggers. hehe...

The thing with the team this season is there are so many individual X factors, e.g. VB and Kent having a greater running capacity with a full pre-season under their belt. No-one knows exactly how they will go but almost everyone acknowledges their high ceiling. It makes for an exciting year at the very least. 10 wins and no thrashings will be a pass.

It is kinda funny that Terlich having a great game in a match sim can cause a minor freak out. Players can elevate their game at almost any stage of their career. He no doubt knows it's now or never and full credit to him. If his training and performances warrant selection, he gets selected. It's not a cause for panic or necessarily a sign of the team going backwards.

The draw is my main concern. Comparatively speaking, the Saints have been kissed on the genitals with Essendon and Carlton twice, us at Etihad twice and a dream second half of the year. If we had the Saints' draw, I'd be a lot more confident about reaching 10 or more wins. As it stands we will need a lot of things to go right with improvement in youngsters, game plan evolution and of course injuries. I do however think we'll be noticeably better than last year. Gawn alone having a consistent year putting it down the throat of our mids will make a difference.

Clarko has barely changed since 97. He looked 40 then and he looks 40 now. It would've been nice if they played a few more games that went back further than the last few years. Ones that are actually memorable. Pretty token effort but was still fun to watch.

The game against Freo in 97 was actually a joy to watch. Hopgood a surprising standout as nutty mentions but also.. Viney senior attacking the ground ball like his life depended on it in a BOG display Robbo ("from the Tassie Mariners..") playing in his third game and aweing the commentators with his clean hands and goal sense Junior impressing in just his fourth game leading Drew Morphett to observe, "this boy can really play" Ooze's exquisite skills Shaun Smith doing what he does - a hanger in the goal square, 3 kicks for 3 goals Wiz kicking six, the sixth being a goal on the run from the boundary which was the best of the lot, leading Morphett to mourn that "he'd have kicked ten if he hadn't spent 30 minutes on the bench!" Jimmy Stynes getting in the ear of a young Jeff White after he misses a goal, White of course is playing for the opposition but not for long Was a great stroll down memory lane.

You're definitely not alone. If there was a bad time to play them I reckon it's exactly when we play them. Kids and oldies will be fit and firing. Even if they have a loss in Round 1, they will be looking to bounce back the following week. The likes of Kelly and Stokes weren't even putting up bad numbers last season. Their defence is where they will get seriously tested snd where we need to take full advantage, but I'll be relieved to walk away with the four points, As for Ralph, he's more a Richmond fan in a suit than a journalist to me.

Yes, well done stu. Pedomyths etc. All deeply fascinating stuff.

He's also in the 25% of fans who would opt for Dawes over Pedo. Actually 25% might be too generous. Limumba has to be better this season simply because it's hard to imagine him being worse. He started off promisingly. I watched a replay of the GC game and he made some important plays that day, both defensively and offensively.

Dunn is a serviceable forward. He has turned into an excellent lock down defender. The bloke has been thrown around over the course of his career more than a tv remote. He's finally found his position and other than the occasional forward stint as circumstances dictate, that position is where he should stay imo. Re Frost, I wouldn't say he isn't ready to slot into the back six. The issue is whether he is comparatively the best option, and if he can be slotted in whilst maintaining the right balance. I don't see Garlo as a HBF option. Having all four of these guys is arguably both too tall and too many liabilities by foot. I also don't see Frost as a long term option forward, but it may not be the worst thing for his development playing on the opposition's seasoned defenders. The NAB will hopefully reveal a lot more about what the best setup shall be.

Quality argument.

The Chunky Tulips will be returning, cheers DV. After a year that was best represented by the decision to draft Harley Bennell and wait all season for him to come good, it looks like I'll be dropping to Div 2 for 2016.

Did Freo not offer two first round picks? Pick 22 and future first rounder is what I read. If true, I think that would classify as half decent. A show of strength is one thing but this was inevitable when the kid wants to leave that desperately. Now they are a man down and who knows what his value will be come season's end. What a mess. All part of the circus that is the AFL's brainchild.

Very good movie. Deserved more recognition at the AACTA Awards. Nice little cameo from BT, as limited as it is.

I had to actually listen to the audio to understand what he means. As I understand it, the top 12 after 17 rounds play off in the last 6 rounds to form a top 10. Bottom 6 play off for an 11th wildcard spot. The NAB Cup winner takes up the 12th spot in the finals. I don't know what happens if the NAB Cup winner finishes in the top 10. I assume the team finishing 11th comes in. I immediately hate the idea of 12 teams in an 18 team comp playing finals, and the pre-season is meant to be a hit out rather than competitive. A team that wins the NAB could potentially spend the rest of the season preparing the team for finals. Teams on the edge of the bottom six could tank in order to play weaker teams for a wildcard entry. There are so many potential downfalls. I don't mind the teams playing each other once for 17 rounds as a starting point, but there should be no more than 8 teams playing finals. History tell us it's invariably only the top 4 that has a chance of winning it.

I dunno about that. What was the story about Parish playing out an entire game with a broken finger? Being Parish's size, competitiveness would likely be one of his strengths. I'd be more inclined to call that one even.

He had some reasonable competition in the young midfielder stakes at GWS. He's actually a decent ball user from what I've seen over his career which includes several games at Manuka, and that aligns with the view of Giants fans I've spoken to. DE isn't everything but 76% suggests he's not exactly spraying it everywhere.

Hehe..nice attempt to save face. 5/10. You never have been one to shy away from the grand statement. That is what got you in hot water on the subject of this thread if I recall... The comparison right now is of slightly more interest to who you'd pick in 2012. Hence why 2014 is a reasonable means of comparison, given what we now know about Jones' injury affected 2015. Anyway, back to Oliver.

Over their careers, Cotchin gets the nod. We're talking about present day, assumedly. Right now I'm picking Jones and it's not a difficult choice.

On the same page too.

+ vandenBerg and Stretch. i know we shouldn't get overexcited about our youngsters, but this crop make it very hard not to.