speed demon

Grand Old Flag on the didge - I think you're onto something! I love the trumpeter. I especially love how much opposition supporters hate it.

Predictions of Demons losing should be disqualified! Frawley has career-high possession count and is BOG

Last year was a big step forward. Shame about the toe holding him back this year. Very difficult player to match up on, as will be Jurrah and to a lesser extent Petterd and Watts. That could be the key to our forward line in years ahead.

6. Green 5. Sylvia 4. Jamar 3. Moloney 2. Frawley 1. Dunn

I've always been a fan of Bruce. He's reads the play well and is useful linking player. Concerned about his disposal and lack of pace this year though. Could be another to have an early retirement. I was on the edge of my seat when he went on that run in the first quarter - he was going so slow I thought Bailey was goiing to run past for the handball! Wrapped when he finished it off.

Full credit to Dunn. Needed to improve this year and he has. Has shown he can tag or play as a defensive forward very effectively. Watson is Essendon's best player. That Dunn broke even with him on the day was a huge win for us.

Dees win and our forward line gets a big wrap from all

I've been asking around in Yuendumu and apparently Jurrah's family are coming to Melbourne this weekend... Here's hoping.

'24 great work mate, I appreciate what you're doing. Still remember going to the G as a boy the feeling I got seeing 18 players in red & blue on the field. I still get that today and I'm sure all passionate fans are the same. The AFL fails to respect this. I like #70 the best. Could a blue "1858" be incorporated onto the back? God forbid any team should ever play a grandfinal in a clash strip!

I'm hoping to see a rotating forward line of Jurrah, Bate, Dunn, Watts and Silvia all pushing up the ground and dropping back. Test out the match ups and isolate the mismatches inside forward 50. In regards to Jurrah, he should have still being doing plenty of running during his rehab so i expect his aerobic fitness to be fine. If the medical team are happy with how his shoulder's pulled up then play him. He can learn more at AFL level than VFL and he only needs to get the ball a few times to have an impact. Ofcourse, I'm slightly biased...I'm working in Yuendumu this week and I'd love to be here when he's named in the team!

Trying Newton as a second ruck is a good idea. As it currently stands he is not going to make it as a forward and is likely to be considered for delisting. If he turns out to show ability as a second ruck then we've gained something for nothing. It would make him more valuable than Meesen, PJ and Miller and, for the sake of depth of talls, I doubt we'd delist all four.

I like the idea of Bate in the ruck for the reasons you mention, particularly when he goes AWOL. However, I'm not sure I've ever seen him jump... Ins: Bail, Sylvia and Jurrah Out: Grimes, Jetta and Spencer

Great insightful article! Two points really stood out for me: 1. How important it was for a young player to have the coach's confidence in his ability 2. When Rivers was at his lowest point the assistant coaches put the hard word on him, rather than going soft, and to Rivers' credit, it worked. On the first point, that's a good argument for coaches giving young players a descent chance to prove themselves and avoid reactionary mass axing of players after a poor performance. Show confidence in the players ability to bounce back...like, hopefully, today! Obviously, serial offenders are a different matter (yes Brad, I'm looking at you).

Agreed. Sure it's a "deadend" game but it's also such a great game that people keep coming and no one ever leaves. I like the socceroos too but honestly I care more about Silvia's big toe...

From a developing team I expect inconsistency but I don’t accept it and nor should the players and coaches. So this week I expect a demonstration of their real character. A major problem last week was winning contested possessions. Directly attributable to the absence of McDonald, hard tag on Moloney and less than dominant Jamar. I expect all three will be factors this week. So I expect some innovation from the coaching staff. Perhaps Cheney in for Rivers and release Grimes to the midfield. McKenzie hasn’t been involved enough lately so let him play the tagging role Jones has been playing (very well) and learn about where to run. Set Jones the challenge of proving he deserves a spot in the midfield in the future.