FarNorthernD

It actually would be more than a fair question to ask. There would be so many advantages to playing an intra-club on the weekend and from the clubs perspective it would have been the smarter option There is obviously a good reason that they scheduled it for 3 o'clock in Casey but it must be pretty excellent as they would have struggled to scheduled it a worse time and, perhaps, place. As others have mentioned I am sure they could have tweaked the training to accommodate a weekend match rather than mid-week We have a tiny membership base. We need to be doing things better than everyone else. It was a wasted opportunity

I used to really enjoy the Frawley V Riewoldt match up although I'm hoping this year Sam Frost will be able to bring out the inner petulant, dummy spitting, sulk in Jack

The Ross Brewer?

Yes it is very awful but I would gladly own it if it meant we were back to back Premiers, favoured to do so again this year and had an humungous and growing membership

The interest on here i think is completely understandable. Lets face it we all thought Col would finally pull it all together at Freo and turn out to be the consistently damaging/occasionally brilliant player we hoped he would become with us. Bizarrely it now looks like we actually got the best out of him, let him go at the perfect time and got Vince as a almost direct replacement.

I have a theory that Sylvia is the anti-Norm Smith. When Col walked out the door the 50 year curse went with him. Our Club last year was shaking off the past and this year will begin its inevitable rise But I might be wrong

At his very best with some leg speed restored and with the ability to again kick 50m he would be a walk up start in our best 22. He has shown the ability to be a very, very good AFL player. Jack has been badly let down by both his body and luck given the what this club has dished up over the course of his career here. Being Co-Captain of the MFC at 20 during the Neeld era couldn't have been an easy gig. He showed maturity and leadership beyond his years But the chances of Jack returning to his very best? Remote or at least unlikely you would imagine. But then if he does get fully fit again and can complete the fairy tale comeback it would be wonderful.

How has anyone else not commented on this? Jake Spencer kicked truly.......from on the edge of the 50. When Roos comes up for Sainthood I'm almost certain this will be offered up as his first miracle

That was a great read rpfc. Thankyou for passing it on

Somewhat random Bump Reading another thread today reminded me of Woewodin. The youtube clip below is the "still Woewodin" running goal from 1998 and a chat between Robbo and Woey. There is also that other handy running goal from the Wiz Interestingly 1998 has some parallels with this year; a poor previous year, a few young, good players ready to hit their stride, an injection of players from other clubs (Jeff White and Jamie Shanahan) and a captain who stood down (Lyon) Let's hope history repeats as we climbed the ladder from wooden spooners to 4th. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=loBAS8DPE3Q PS did Shane have another 4 bounce running goal against Carlton or was that another player?

I'm with Old

Hi Saty, Thanks for your reports over the summer. As has been mentioned before they are invaluable to us interstaters A couple of questions Watts. Is he training as a forward? We know his physicality has been questioned in matches. Is his training similar? Salem. Training with mids or backs? Haven't heard much of him lately Kent. I assume he is training as a fwd/mid. Love what he does on the field but it would be nice if he got hold of the ball twice as often as he does. Are there any specifics they are working on with him? Hunt. How far off is he? He can run fast apparently. Can he kick?

I'm a fan of Watts and truly hope the he can put together a very good/great season and shove it up the non-believers. As I've previously said if I was granted three wishes I would use one to watch Jack take mark of the year standing on Nic Nats shoulders. But, in reality, for a bloke his size he is a useless contested mark and doesnt provide any defensive forward pressure as his tackles stick like Teflon (his least appealing quality) I much prefer him playing the quarterback role at half back where he can use his decision making and delivery talents to best use. It is where I think he has played his best footy to date and a position he could make his own.

Would quadruple like if could The only blokes to have played more games for us over the past two years is the other Jones and Howe. Watts and Dunn have played two less than Matt. He has come fourth and twelfth (?) in the Bluey and yet some on here claim that he has struggled for a spot in the top 22. He may not enjoy the same success in the future but whoever replaces him in the team will need to better 20 possessions a game. Matt's record is not too shabby for a footballer who has only played two years of AFL

It is sad isn't it that the actions of a few can taint a whole sport. I greatly admire swimmers and understand some of the efforts they go to to succeed - 5.30am starts, 7-10 sessions per week plus weight sessions for the older groups and only a few weeks off a year. Kids need incredible dedication from an early age. There is pretty much no money in it unless you are a once in a generation swimmer (Thorpe, Hackett, Rice etc)But then the entire sport suffers when someone does this

All teams should get better but they don't. There are so many variables Key football staff leave. If they be coaches or valued assistants or a football manager like Neil Balme or Rodney Eade Coach stays too long. Coach loses players. Poor coaching. Out of date/poor game plan Poor player recruitment Injuries - Long list of out of season surgeries or in season injuries or injuries to key players Board instability. Lack of unified direction. Player leadership vacuum Second class training facilities/fitness staff To some degree all these things can effect on field performances of any club and we have suffered through most of them over the past years plus a few other issues that most on Demonland know well We are now strong across all areas of the club. The opportunity to improve rapidly and ahead of other teams is there and I believe we will. With a reasonable first couple of games and an injection of confidence who knows what could happen

From Adelaide's perspective are they really going to appoint a bloke as Captain who won't commit to the club? How stupid would they look if they make him captain and he then still left at the end of the season. Not great when the leader of the place knicks off as the Bulldogs found out this year. I think they have done the only thing they could have in the circumstances

Yes but what a ripper play it is. It was as good as footy gets; desperate defence, super slick ball movement, brilliant decision making, wonderful teamwork and, to cap it off, beautiful finishing skills. We can play like that. The trick is for Roos to breed the confidence to do it consistently

I know it is well off topic and has been covered before but how cool, calm and collected is Salem taking that kick His kicking action is a thing a beauty

McDonald is a bit like Jones in that he has improved each year. He is fiercely competitive and a student of the game as shown by his study tour of U.S colleges during the off season. Obviously his decision making and disposal need further improvement but he is unlikely to finish his career and wonder if he could have tried harder. He is disciplined and I bet one of the first picked by the coaches each week. A fair chance also to make the leadership group this year And let's face it if he hadn't got injured Rd 1 against the Saints, Riewoldt wouldn't have had free reign and we would have won. He is still only 22 years old and with 60 games under his belt should be now entering some of the best football years of his life So yes I'm one of those happy show Tom some love

Love the bit where Bernie starts to wax lyrically about Hogans running ability and calls him a 'special talent' and then backtracks as he remembers the unwritten club mantra of not building Jesse up too much

Bet you do sign on It is 4 months since we last played and another almost 3 till we do again. Yet here you are on a supporter site talking football and checking out the training notes You are as sadly passionate as the rest of us.

Absolutely. Coming into his fourth season (albeit with some injuries along the way), has played enough good games to have the confidence that he belongs and, to date, hasn't skipped a beat this pre-season. While he will become more of a target for opposition clubs our midfield in general will improve so hopefully the burden shared. He will improve the question is by how much.

And that would be completely correct if written 3 years ago. Nathan has slowly improved every aspect of his game including his decision making. He isn't ever going to be Ablett but to tell you the truth I never thought he would be as good of a Jones that he is. I look forward to seeing how he improves again this season

I'm happy for all players to start with a clean slate this season aside from N. Jones and D. Tyson who both get a gold star on theirs