binman

There was at least one - to here I think - and as dc suggested it was confusing as to whether he played on or not as he was sprinting forward. Presumably it wasn't as he didn't run off his line but then he did play on by kicking the ball well short of where the mark would have been (which the umpire never got to set). As I suggested I can't see why player wouldn't run quickly forward and play on. But there will be scenarios where they run quickly but don't play on and the oppo player impedes them because they think they have or are about to. Possibly resulting in a second 50.

Spot on ds. Particularly in regard to the confected moral outrage. Particularly from ex players from 80s and 90s when the prevailing culture was excessive alcohol use. II care about how players prepare, train and perform. If they can do those things well I could care less if demon players use recreational drugs. My view is the players should never have agreed to include testing for recreational drugs.l in the first place Just stuck to performance enhancing only. And the AFL made a rod for it's own back including testing for recreational drugs. Stupid. I understand their motivation (getting treatment for players) but they should have stayed well clear of something that is none of their business. That said I as applaud the hark min approach they have taken.

Agree. His strength is incredible running capacity - as was so evident in the first half of last year. Opposition defenders could not go with him. And his footy smarts. A natural. I have to admit though that early doors i had expected him to develop into a better pack mark than he has become. One on one he is brilliant as reads the ball so well and times his body work but he doesn't clunk that many park marks and doesn't really launch at packs the way say Weeds does.

Agree on both points. The one advantage Tmac has over Hogan - and it is an important one - is that he is a much, much more reliable set shot at goal and not coincidentally has better technique, one that is more likely to hold up under pressure. I know which player i'd like to have the ball shooting for win after the siren. I also think tmac is a marginally better one on one and contested mark. Though perhaps that's bit tough on Hogan.

50m penalties The player with the ball: Must be allowed to advance the mark by 50m without the infringing player delaying the game. Will be able to play on while the 50m penalty is being measured out. Impact on competition: once players get used to this rule i expect players to play on at almost every opportunity, except when the 50 gives them a shot at goals (and even then sometimes) Why not? Will be one more factor speeding up transition. Impact on dees: no specific impact - I wonder if players with genuine speed like Hunt will really try and exploit this change Potential implementation and interpretation issues: i'm curious how the umpire will determine when a player has played on. yes the rule remains play on when running off the line but a player bolting will be almost ahead of the umpire and running to yet to be determined mark. Will it be play on once a player passes the umpire? If so that would require a rule change. Will a player bolting forward confuse the umpire and make it hard for him to work out where the mark should be? I suspect there ill be some confusion with this rule. The other issue is that it will make a 50 metre penalty potentially even more of penalty and therefore the impact of any poor 50s by umpires will be magnified. It was already often such a harsh penalty for small indiscretions - this will make that worse. Kicking for goal after the siren A player who has been awarded a mark or free kick once play has ended: Will now be able to kick across their body using a snap or check-side kick BUT must kick the ball directly in line with the man on the mark and the goal. Impact on competition: marginal i would have thought. Particularly given the second part of that rule which meaning they players still cant creep across like Franklin does with his arc. Players using the snap and checkside almost always take step off the line, effectively playing on but won't be able to d that so will have to adjust their set up (eg start their run up behind the boundary line Impact on dees: nothing in particular Potential implementation and interpretation issues: the only issues i can see are the same as the ones now - correctly adjudicating if a player has ran off his line and played on

So i guess he has had no interruptions to his interrupted preseason.

Yes to TMac winning the Coleman. Won't play in the ruck at all i wouldn't have thought (except for some forward 50 throw ins) Hogan won't take goals off him (though he will get the opposition's best defender), He uses his hands a lot to push players so that rule change will help him Any increase in one on one marking opportunities as a result of other rule changes will help him He is the best kick for goal of any forward We are the highest scoring team in the league, a trend that i have little doubt will continue this year We will win more games this year and therefore kick more goals If the rule changes do make blow outs more common (which i'm not convinced about) we could kick some big scores this year By the by currently $10 on Sportsbet so reasonable value and worth a flutter if you are that way inclined. Daniher is $12 which is ridiculously short given he practically didn't play last year and bombers will struggle this year. Kennedy and Franklin share favoritism at $5. Also way too short as that price would be fair enough if they play the whole season but a lot has to go right for that to occur. A bookies sucker punch, akin to long range bets on favorites for the Melbourne Cup.

No they don't. Ever. For a start training is almost always in the morning. And any day where the temp is even mid 30s they often make training even earlier. If you can show me some evidence of the dees training in 40 degree heat i will be most impressed - not to mention very surprised.

Could not agree more. The dees should complain. Appalling. That last one against mithen was inexplicable. I assume it was for dragging it in and not getting out. Please.

On preuss, I'm sticking by my prediction he will play around 70% of games and at least once twice be the sole rock with gawny getting a rest (perhaps after or before a bye). As another poster posited when he does play will likely spend a fair bit of time on the bench.

Brain fade. No wonder I stuffed up the tri last week!

My best bet is avilius race 8 at caulfield. Good price too and should be odds on. A class above.

Ok, thanks. Not sure we will be disadvantaged though in so far as our positive points differential is a function of the fact we are the highest scoring side. As you say it will be easier to take the ball the other way but the increase won't be enough to offset our scoring advantage. I think Wells11 (apologies to the correct poster if i got that wrong) noted that the the lead league average of scoring chains from kick outs last year was under 10% (and we led the league with 13%,) so even if there is big increase the it still might only be say 15% scoring chains (not goals by the by) from kick outs. Also helping us is whilst Maxy, Weid, Tmac and perhaps Pruess will help us offensively with marks across the centre from kick outs they will be equally effective defensively from teams kicking long from kick outs . Already last year clubs were having to go around Maxxy when transitioning such is ability to take contested marks. That was on display today with maxy taking a number of chop out marks on the wings and stopping the pies efforts to move the ball forward.

Sorry, i don't quite get your logic from that stats why the kick-in rule might be a negative for us

Do you mean flooding back into the opposition's 50? They may do but essentially if so they are allowing their opponents to march the ball up the ground with little resistance. Iwhich will gift teams inside 50s, help their opponent trap the ball in their half of the ground and make it very hard for their own team to score. Flood were phased out in favour of the press for these reasons.

I'm back fellas. Started up last week but forgot to post my bets bet. Which by the way was In her time. Had an ok week last week, with three winner in Melbourne. But not single one in Sydney. Bad does of Punters lament. Accidentally left out a number in my only trifecta bet for the day - Its Invincible, which i really liked - and missed out on a a return of 1700 (would have had the trif 1.75 times). So frustrating. Got the first four in the next (in her times rce) - but only a third of a paltry 395. have not done my form yet. Will do this arvo as i have the day off.

Hard to see impact of 6 6 6 rule, though Maxy did get the ball to his mids cleanly a few times. But this game really reinforced my belief that the biggest impact will be the changes to the kick out rules. Having the man of the mark 9 metres from the top of the square and not having to kick the ball in the air almost makes the square redundant. it really opens up the field and will make clear the back 50 much easier. At one point Jetts took the kick in, played on and ran diagonally towards the boundary. Gus (i think) put small block on the man on the mark , Jetts ran his full measure and by the time he kicked it was probably all of 30 metres from the goal line. His kick to the wing was pretty much halfway up the ground. I think we will have big advantage with maxy because it means he won't have to push so far up the ground and will be in position to take a lot of marks on centre wing. With players running pat him we will get a lot of quick inside 50s. I can see Weids and TMac and Preuess all pushing up to centre wing at times to provide options. The other impact - and one i hadn't considered - is that i reckon there will be way more play ons from kick ins, way more. This will create a much faster transition game. Teams will also need to set up their presses across the center of the ground the widest point, so hard to trap the ball. I will be fascinated to see if more scoring chains start from kick ins. I am predicting there will.

Vdb is a take no prisoners footballer. At one in the last q omac poleaxed a magpies player (not sure who - young player I think) who took a while to recover. When he did finally fully stand up vandersloot bumped into him deliberately.

A block. Tough call

Josh mahoney confirms smith up forward this year

Great goal set up by a ferocious tackle on beams by vdb. Vandersloot has been incredibly hard at it for a practice game.

Pert interview interesting. Speaking about the stream he said fans want content, access and an inside perspective and they are going to provide that this year. Perhaps he hasn't sent the memo to his comms team yet but situation sounds positive

Today? If so i agree. Hss been really good. Clean hands, pace and has a goal

Smithy screamer!!!!

Frosty looks lost