monoccular

Jake is probably more likely to be far more available than the Mr Clark you mentioned earlier in the thread, and has much more loyalty and dedication to OUR cause. Good luck to him. (I doubt that he will ever be half as good a forward as the aforementioned, but at least he is heading towards getting on the track in the mighty R&B)!

Chris' body has let him down repeatedly, so I am not sure whether long or even medium term plans can include him, as an on field player. He has been very important as a mentor and if he is interested I suspect he could be offered an assistant / specialist coaching or mentoring role.

I can't speak for deever but I took it that he was complimenting the fitness staff on our ability to keep running better than our opponents in the fourth quarters, and I agree totally with that sentiment. I didn't see him comment on soft tissue injuries (which incidentally don't seem as prominent, at thus stage, as in previous seasons Chris Dawes' chronic / recurring problem excepted).

I guess the days of sentimentality at the club have passed with the new regime. Good.* * and that is nothing against Gus, or Trac, or being a tightly knit group

olisik - maybe you are being a little too negative. As the year progresses, and maybe others may miss with a niggle or (hopefully only minor) injury, and they develop stamina I would be a bit surprised if we did not see them all together once or twice at least.

...presuming that he was fit to play. We never really heard why he missed the preseason and rounds 1 & 2, did we?

Would be if......but they are not and he isn't. IF they (Hunt and Wagner) continue developing as they have started, the selection table will be even more interesting and difficult than it is becoming now. A great place to be.

Which may well explain why he is, at the moment, NQR. He will be back with a vengeance sometime soon. Maybe his knee still isn't 100% as well as general fitness. Far too good to be out for any other reason.

Hopefully Big Max won't do what he did to $cully - don't want to scare this one away.

FCS just beat whomever is there! Absolutely no point in lamenting who the opposition have available. Who knows, they could get it wrong and he redoes his hammy in the opening contest? I am sure pickett will have a view. Maybe they are wanting to mismanage him too?

That is far too simple. It will not be an aberration until it has been well and truly exorcised by showing the mental toughness, indeed ruthlessness, winning games that we are expected to win. Hopefully starting this week.

So very different in my view. CP5 is being welcomed as a cog in a young developing TEAM, not in any way as a saviour. He has had to really earn his spot and has real competition for it. Fantastically different.

Having found the link, and being shown a couple of lings too, I must say for once Slobbo wasn't too bad. On the wagon? And what a character is our Gawnius maximums PS Just saw a clip on DeeTV - Max standing as the interviewer for Matt Burgman interviewing Nev Jetta. Very funny. One of his questions was "how easy is it when you have a dominant ruckman?"

I think it is so very different this time: not expecting him alone to be the great saviour but just making up part of a great team!

I have finally watched the entire game and must say saw very little of him. Was he tagged by a particular player or was it, as we are happily becoming accustomed, an overall team effort?

If he can kick the goal to beat the Pies in a GF I will be forever happy.

Is Lindsay Fox still involved with the Saints?

He will tear up my eye if he lives up to the expectations

The interchange restrictions means that Jake will have to work on his forward skills as well as his rucking, and even then there won't be a lot of games when there would be room for a ruck and Hogan as well as the midsize and smaller forwards.

Put what value you wish on stats but here are a few for what it is worth : League (averages) rankings: 5th in rebound 50s 8th in one percenters -- often an unnoticed stat 8th in effective disposal % (90%)

Is there a ling to this? Preferably with a Robbo filter.

There seems to be a lot of genuine positivity around the club now - fantastic to see. As far as I can recall there has really only been one match in which their tandem efforts really clicked, that unexpected win at KP last year, when Jesse was "rested". It isn't always going to work and Max has claimed the number 1 spot, clearly, but as we have seen particularly with the midfield, pressure and competition for places, and having ready made replacements chomping at the bit lifts the whole team and the whole club. Good luck Jack - welcome back. Get yourself match fit for if and when you are required.

Maybe he will want to defect to get a game in the midfield....but would he ? :-)

Lets not get too crowded :-)

Speaking of whom.......do you get any special buzz when someone wearing #32 playing, and having an influence on the game?