P-man

Nev Jetta is superhuman.

Pass. His kicking in front of goal would do my head in. I like the dead eye dick thing we’ve got going.

Vanders will be an intriguing one as you match his versatility, size and strength up against his dodgy kicking. We’ve seen that if you struggle to hit targets by foot you will find yourself being squeezed out of this side (see Bugg, Hunt etc). How he performs at Casey will determine his future but as it stands I think there’s enough to persist with him for another year. Kent I’d keep on the back of what he was showing before he got injured. Both he and Vanders will have a fight on their hands to break into the side but as depth we could do far worse. Given the timing of entering a “premiership window” (horrible term) I’d opt to keep decent players in this age bracket rather than replace them with a couple of kids that are unlikely to provide immediate competition for a place in the side. Spargo has hit the ground running but he’s the exception, not the rule.

No, that’s the point. There doesn’t have to be just one. They’ve picked two ruckmen in the past. It’s rare, but it can happen. Gawn and Grundy on form would be amongst the top five players in the league right now. It’s stupid omitting one of them. Grundy is racking up midfield numbers and deserves a bench position. As far as key indicators for a ruckman are concerned, Gawn is a pretty clear first choice.

Also, Martin is not having an All Australian year. In fact he’s arguably not even close to it.

Blatant attempt to attract attention and discussion. Gawn will be one of the first players picked.

I understand Hardwick wanting to defend his player, but his reaction to the criticism was almost as embarrassing as Rance’s act itself. This is absolutely a stain on Rance’s career to date whether Hardwick wants to accept that or not. And no, players don’t pretend they are on a 10 metre platform “four or five times a game”.

It’s also crazy not to have Tarrant in the squad of 40. Of course Rance is in there though. Permanent marker.

This was never really in doubt but it’s still great to have him locked in. My hair is thankful for Tommy moving forward.

Yes.

Roos thinks Frost will come in with Hibberd to play the loose intercepting role.

Josh Smith... These numpties really don’t deserve what they get paid.

Jones is also playing great footy this year but hoping for him to be picked in an AA side is akin to hoping for a lapdance from Natalie Portman.

Jetta runs rings around Laird as a defender, but the media’s obsession with disposal numbers will see Laird get the nod. Gawn and Hogan are locks barring any drop in form which seems unlikely. I’m tipping Oliver will make the squad but not the team, with the rationale being he needs to “be more damaging” or “kick it more”. I hope to be pleasantly surprised. T Mac is the wildcard. If he keeps kicking goals for fun he will be hard to ignore but the delayed start to the season might cost him a spot. Here’s hoping he doesn’t get moved back this week.

It’s going to be genuinely interesting to see what solution the coaches come up with. I don’t mind the Hibberd/Hunt idea although I have more faith in Hibberd’s footy smarts than I do in Hunt’s overall form. Still turning it over with some regularity by all reports which we can’t afford to do against a decent side. Frost would be an option as a replacement for Oscar but less so when it comes to replacing Lever’s intercepting (11 intercept possessions against Adelaide), disposal and decision making. it’s a pity Dec couldn’t follow up his previous week’s game with a strong performance on the weekend, but he may still be in the frame. I think many Demonlanders would be happy to see him get his chance having vicariously followed his journey. It seems a case of no option being perfect, so the coaches will need to pick closest to the pin.

Dogs supporters are a good bunch. Was genuinely happy for them in 2016. Ruchmond supporters on the other hand...

Riewoldt was very fair and measured. He balanced his view of wanting to see us remain consistent and perform against better quality opposition by saying that we’d done everything that could be asked of us against the last five opponents.

Seriously, if we added Gaff to this group... Wow. Wowee.

Well done Neita ?

I wonder if next season they will finally, FINALLY learn their lesson and stop allocating every other Thursday and Friday night to Carlton. Live in hope.

Lol so true. What’s funny is I’ve edited it to make it seem more coherent but there’s only so much Roos speak you can edit out.

I take your point but look at it from another angle. How will it appear to the players if fireworks are being let off over the re-signing of T Mac and Gus and the contract extensions of Fritsch and Spargo are a lot more ho hum? The players may not care but they’d be entitled to feel as though they are less worthy. I kinda like that they are given equal weighting by the club, at least outwardly. Leave it to the media outlets to make a bigger song and dance accordingly.

Roosy in his On The Couch appearance tonight was asked for his reflections on when he first came to the club in 2014 and what was important in the turning the ship around. He mentioned two things. The first was everyone at the club from top to bottom being on the same page regarding where the club was at. The second was the importance of Bernie Vince and in particular Daniel Cross. The below is a transcript of his comments. “I think getting Bernie Vince and Daniel Cross, two experienced players, don’t underestimate their importance. Bernie is still playing but I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of Daniel Cross. The reason I say that is one of the things they really struggled with was game day. Just knowing how hard to work on game day. And that was the biggest thing. The two way transition running was very difficult for them. We walked off, Round 2, 98 point losers at the MCG, and with all due respect to the Swanny’s boys I brought, Ben Matthews, Daniel McPherson, Brett Allison and Georgey Stone, we were like wow, we haven’t seen this before. So having Crossy and having his GPS numbers, and having his vision, the way that he would play, we still put him on some of the best midfielders in the competition and his GPS numbers were through the roof. So the ability to explain to players with his vision, and obviously showing vision from other teams that did it really well was just imperative. But also Bernie and Crossy saying, ‘guys you do a lot of things right’. I think in those dark days it’s easy to get caught up in all the bad things going on. But Crossy, Bernie, Dawesy as well saying ‘guys you train as well as Adelaide, you train as well as the Bulldogs’...” As we enjoy the ride over the next few years, spare a thought for Crossy ?

Continues to perform with almost unparralled consistency and would again not be out of place in an All Australian discussion. The bloke is a star and I can’t wait to see him in September. Try winning a contest against someone whose waited as long as he has for the opportunity.

6. Brayshaw 5. Lever 4. Hogan 3. Nibbler 2. Viney 1. Hibberd Could have picked 10 more.