Good Times Grimes

From my viewing (all on tv, so I appreciate that I may be very wrong), he seems to prefer to get into a one-on-one contest rather than to lead at the ball carrier. I don't know whether this is a result of the poor delivery to him last season or whether he thinks he's a better chance of marking in a contest rather than getting a nice laces out pass when he leads, but it has choked up our ball movement a bit this season when entering 50 as players often fall into the trap of bombing it long onto his head rather than trying to hit the target properly. It also doesn't help that opposition defences know that he's a good contested mark, so when they see the ball coming in high and deep they double, triple and quadruple team him, making it nearly impossible for him to take a mark. After half time last week we seemed to really open up our forward line and not bomb it long to the top of the square every time we entered our 50, and we reaped the rewards of doing so. I think ultimately it's best to have Hogan playing in his more natural CHF position to prevent these goal square wrestling matches and to force him to lead at the ball carrier.

A bit of a delayed response (haven't posted in a while), but how nice was Shanahan's [censored] eating grin when he discovered we won the first pick?

Been absent from this thread for a while, but I'll throw my picks in too: Washington vs Philadelphia (5 Games) Florida vs New York Islanders (7 Games) Pittsburgh vs New York Rangers (6 Games) Tampa Bay vs Detroit (7 Games) Dallas vs Minnesota (5 Games) Anaheim vs Nashville (6 Games) Los Angeles vs San Jose (6 Games) St. Louis vs Chicago (5 Games)

The commentators (not usually known to dabble in hyperbole) were saying it one of the greatest first halves of a debut of all time

What a great debut. Looks right at home in our midfield.

I think we're a very safe bet to finish last, however I recently read that whoever finishes last has about a 45% chance of slipping to fourth overall in the draft. I think the lottery system is fantastic and should be introduced into the AFL, but it would be devastating to not get the top pick after being so terrible.

Agree with everything you say. They make them now so that you barely even notice you've got one in. Not too sure how many teeth mouthguards save, but they can also be very effective for preventing concussions

I'm not concerned. If it was anything serious the club wouldn't have let him participate in training.

What really irks me is that when Peter Wright signs a one year extension with the Suns to stay until the end of 2017, the media spins it as "Wright Stays Loyal". When Hogan, a player who extended last season for TWO years and also comes out of contract post-2017, delays negotiations until the end of 2016, the media spins it as if he's ready to jump ship.

It was a very exciting game. I was there sitting next to Larry Tanenbaum, who seems very optimistic about the future. I'm not sure I'll be as optimistic as him until I see how well this drafting strategy plays out in the summer and early next season.

Trenners also got done a few years ago for a fantastic tackle on Dangerfield

Wow, 5 years for Hooker?! Freo really are desperate for more talls. He'll be 28 and fresh off a year out of the game by the time he laces up the boots for them.

Yeah, wasn't thrilled with the return for Reimer. Parenteau didn't find a suitor so he'll be around until the end of the season. Nylander, Kapanen and Hyman to debut tonight against Tampa Bay. Can't see the Leafs winning more than 5 games for the rest of the season. Exciting times....

It was a Good win.

We made the right call with this guy.

I did...one of the best interviews I've seen in a long time. If only he could play haha

I doubt that; it's had the opposite effect.

Can this post be pinned to the top somehow? The hand wringing by some in this thread is ridiculous.

I don't think the Leafs are going to have any players left by this time next week. One of the biggest clean outs of a team in any sport that I can recall. Being a Dees supporter I feel a great deal of sympathy for Edmonton. Their struggles are almost identical to ours and they are playing without any passion at all. I hope they can turn it around...it seems like McDavid's the only one trying, and despite his best efforts, the team isn't improving.

I was actually searching for a gif of lemmings going off a cliff, but found that one to be more appropriate. I think it's from a Spanish tv show.

No need to panic.

Looking forward to seeing what he can do. The ball's in his court: if he can string a few good games together, he'll play round one.

What I like about him is that he seems the type of player that would crawl across broken glass to get the footy, and he seems to have great awareness to know when he has time to dance around players to get a better disposal off and when he needs to get rid of it quickly. He also won't shirk any contests, which will make others around him walk taller.

As the AFL strives for multiculturalism and inclusiveness, I predict it'll fall under the soon-to-be-revealed Religious Reincarnation Rule