Demon17

Thanks Skuit. Best summary for a while on here. The foundation is in place but will be a rocky ride.

Hawks had Gunston forced into defence in the 2nd 1/4 and no inside mids and the saints beat them by a lousy 5 points. I'll be very disappointed without a win this round against them.

I agree SWYL. Jones hasn't been in our top 4 mids for several years now and last night just exemplified there CAN be a role for him forward for the remainder of the year. Thus having a respectful year for him, but being realistic on his abilities. No room for sentiment necessarily unless your last name is Flower or Stynes IMO these day. I would expect nothing less from Goody as coach

Dermot brereton gave a succinct analysis of tom on sen on saturday crunch time. Basically Tom's a defender trying to be a forward but without a true forwards trick bag. Runs straight at the ball and thats about it. Derm was being fairly honest and instructive and worth a listen.

oliver and gawn are our A graders. And nev on his day which is most of the time.

Yes, and lets pass by on this. Cornes needs traction in the media and has developed this persona as differentiation. If we don't discuss him he's back to the fire brigade.

Squibbing is a terrible word and did not occur here by Nathan. But he did drop a mark at a critical time that would not have been fumbled by Selwood, Cotchin, Pendlebury, Hodge, Hurn, Lyon, Viney(T), etc......

Interestingly DD that's the opinion too of most if not all commentators. 3 of the 4 prelim teams lost, Matthew Lloyd pointed out last night training didn't start till 7 December and he's not concerned about any of last years prelim finalists. The main thing is to grab a few wins and then in second half they should be up and about. Optimistic but lets see. I saw the 2 MCG finals in 2018 - the talent is there for sure.

They had every right to be. At the game we thought we couldn't believe the performance we were seeing and although engrossed in the game spent the time discussing whats going wrong rather than mindless cheering

My reliable information on tmac is that he is meticulous in foot management. He has been known to take a bucket with him socially so he can ice his foot if needs be. Last year this occurred. Does nothing without medocos sign off.

Thanks steve for this. I noticed the limp but the tail wags the dog here and has done for 2 years. Thats not supposition. I have just recovered from PF after 5 years. Soon as i heard the diagnosis i felt sick for jack. I trust goodu takes this in hand. If jack plays this week then we know the answer.

Thanks RJay - I agree with all but the comments on Lever. I can see him being huge value , and TMac. The scene was set for Trac also but nothing much. I fear he's a fringe/cameo player only.

I missed out on concerns re; max which west coast worked out in the prelim playing 2 talls and Preuss being left out, or anyone else that can ruck apart from Weid. I hope they think about what appears to be an Achilles heel for max on a smallish sample size so far but relevant.

Jones performance in yesterdays last 1/4 put him not in the best 32? Let alone 22. The game was still up for grabs at the time the ball came in board to him. I'm very concerned.

Good call. At the risk of criticism the heat at the ground in the stands was uncomfortable. I hate to think what it was like playing. No water carriers until goals. Midway through 2nd 1/4 gus was in trouble and attended by the doctor. Max was off for slabs of time. Not an excuse but the 4 week gap in training program against port always meant these conditions were to be an issue.

Agree. The humidity will see to it that the ball will seem slippery. In Darwin last season it looked like wet weather football to me from the boundary. Preuss is important and will get his chances.

Gold!

Yes, and that perennial thorn in the side Justin Westoff, at 199cm , tests our height. Danger game big time for me. Love Fritsch being in as he can play tall.

Excellent summary. Gil says last year was the best day in sport he's seen. Apart from the game, that was because someone finally booked a fabulous pre-game performer - Jimmy Barnes, and the National Anthem was the best ever, sung without backing music by the beautiful voice of Mahalia Barnes. That is the gold standard fro future GF's. use these 2 each year from now on. It will become a tradition quickly

Nailed it Deespencer

So you missed his 45m angle goal against the hawks to kick start that session of play? Beautiful field kick also. My 5 cents worth

Correct call, but history tells us most years 2 to 3 teams drop out and are replaced by new contenders and most of the serious pundits have adopted this approach. Only Malthouse has the Dees as a dropout - a huge plus for the team IMO.

Just the same I'm sticking up for Robbo's big Call: Brendan Gale to take over AFL Can't happen too soon and he will be the best AFL leader since Sir Kenneth Luke.(yes I know that was VFL but the guy was a visionary).

Standing behind the goals it appeared melb had outriders in the pockets to prevent full back playing on out of the square to the boundary. May be wrong on this but spargo seemed to have this role.

Brighton Grammar must be so proud right now.