binman

I agree. His technique is shocking, with his high ball drop (same goes for Grimes) and poor technique will always be exposed in windy conditions especially when trying to pin point a pass to cross. And yes he his kicking was poor. I reckon he cost us 3 goals in a 6 or 7 minutes in the first. But he also saved at least 3 with canny body positioning and cleaver spoils. Far from our worse.

What a load of bollocks.

Well i'm not sure what they were saying on fox as i was at the game but yes it was really windy, not super strong but it went straight down the ground on what was a suburban ground with zero structures to block the wind (the tiny stand was on a wing). We did very, very well to score 3 goals against the wind and in some respects i reckon the coaches of both teams would be annoyed to have to pay a practice game in conditions they would never ply a game in. Made basic things like cross ing the ball or weighting passes very tricky. We were a monty to win once we kicked the first in the last as they couldn't get it forward.

Vince Jones in for dees. Not sure about about that selection. Good muso, not sure how good at footy he is.

I want to see trac in the side round one. He is a gun with a body ready for afl. He'll learn more in the afl than the vfl.

I find the knocks on Garland bemusing. I can see his limitations but he is very consistent, gells well with the other regular defenders (which is critical) and can cover both tallish and smaller types. A lock for best 22

I agree with this. I'd add that the club has made clear the plan is to play best side but use the extended bench and no interchange cap to manage load and injuries that might be fatigue related (eg gawn being off the ground for most of the last quarter - which BTW makes the win all the more meritorious). Changing this strategy now would impact on their planning too much. Besides I'm going and want to see our best players!

Fair enough. It is hard to see both Pederson and Dawes in the team and as you say Peders can clunk them. He is probably better as the second ruck as well.

Ta Webber. Inherited injury risks is an interesting one. I wonder how long it will be before professional football clubs (gridiron, AFL, soccer etc) start exploring using family injury history and even DNA testing as part of their recruiting tools.

As i said our senior coach said a few days ago Dawes is best 22. It is a moot point how long it is before Lumumba or Melksham plays they are both in our best 22 . I agree it is harder to argue the trac is in our best 22 which is why i said in my best 22.

In an otherwise good summary of the dees game by Ashley Browne i found this line interesting: The Demons were missing only Nathan Jones and Bernie Vince from their best team and lost Angus Brayshaw to a knee injury in the opening 30 seconds, but on paper, Port appeared a class above. I would have thought we at had at least 2 maybe 3 other missing from our best 22. Roos said just last week that Dawes is best 22, Lumumba is a lock to come back in when fit and despite not playing a game as yet i'd have Petracca is my best 22. And you'd also have to add Melksham even though he is out for the year. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-02-29/after-the-siren-nab-challenge-week-2

Speaking of highlights this is brilliant. All our goals in full, including build up. No Port rubbish.

The first of those i think was the one Kennedy kicked to him. If that's the case i think you're being a bit tough on Watts. I know he put his hand up seemingly to apologise but it was a crap kick that went too long, giving Watts no chance. The second one he did have a nice sit and it would have been great if he had plucked it as it was in the goal square and would have given him a gimme goal. But if it's the one i'm thinking off he attacked it ok, just didn't take it.

Obviously no injury is good but the upsides of this one is that there are no long term implications, i assume he will be able to do no weight bearing work to keep his fitness up and it came at the end of his pre season so he already has the miles in the leg. And we know he won't be hurt in a NAB game before round one so can just about lock him in for GWS. By the by Webber whilst you're dealing with medical queries what's the go with a hamstring injury as bad as the one Kent got last year in terms of the likelihood of a recurrence (outside the normal chances of doing a hammy of course). I really think Kent is a key player for us and it worries me him getting re injured. The same goes for Gawn now that i think of it.

Sounds like your average descent into ice addiction

I see what did you there.....

I largely agree. His hands were good on the ground and he played the high half forward role well. In addition to some good kicks to teammates his handballs were spot on. The template for his game is the goal he set up for Hogan in the first. Lead out, mark 60 metres out and quickly get it to Hogan. He had 17 possessions which in a shorter game with 8 on the bench is pretty good (i'd like to see hoim avergae 20 per game in the real thing). To put that number in perspective only Vandenburg (19) and Viney (27) had more. He also had 8 marks, more than any Port or dees players. These were mainly as result of leading up the ground, which seems to be the role he will play, but he did clunk a couple of pack marks. He was really annoyed with himself when he coughed the ball up right at the end, which is a good sign. It came after a really nice mark. In fact as you say he took some good grabs, at last two of which were really gutsy efforts. My negatives? Didn't stick a couple of tackles, in fact didn't record any tackles, missed a few targets with sloppy kicks and didn't score a goal. On that last point he took a mark just outside 50, played on quickly and looked to set it up for someone deep. I would have loved for him to instead taken a ping at goals (though perhaps Roos and Goodwin wouldn't want that). Also there was a couple of occasions where he made good position close to goals only to be let down by a teammates poor kick.

Is McDonald going to the dogs?

Took a terrific, gutsy mark on the hb under a tonne of pressure.

He may not have to. I'm sure WC would pay whatever it takes to get him and there is avery strong argument to say WC are much closer to a flag than Freo playing in a winning GF team is one of Fyfe's key motivations.

I agree. Really refreshing and i loved how positive they all were, particularity Harmes who seemed to be buzzing. I assume Neal Bullen is nibbler? I liked his response to the question about where he wants to play: 'í'm an out and out midfielder' or words to that effect. No spin or stuff like happy to play where the coach wants me blah blah blah

I agree with your points in the the first para McQueen and hope you're right with second one. A key psychological element winning teams have is an expectation of winning. I've been fascinated to listen to the recent interviews on Dee tv with Neal Bullen, Kent and Harmes. All talk about the expectation of playing well this season and specifically this weekend against Port. They talk about winning this game and the other NAB games as an important energy to bring into the season. This reflects the very positive messages coming from Roos and Mahoney in the last week about us being successful this year. A far cry from the 'one week at time, focus on on getting the process right and winning will take care of itself' nonsense espoused by Neeld but also a far different tone from Roos this year to last. They are priming the players and this gives me alot of confidence. As does how positively the players are about the vibe around the club. Terrific stuff. The other interesting thing in term of psychology at the club - and one i've mentioned before - is how clear players seem to be about the role they will play and how open the club is about these roles. For example Kent talks about how much he is looking forward to playing forward with Hogan, Frost etc.

I might be wrong but i don't think ratings would be higher with the AFL GF already the highest rated event each year. I think the pay off for channel 7 is they charge significantly more for ad time after 6pm

Funny http://titusoreily.com/melbourne-chat-to-jesse-hogans-manager/