Good Times Grimes

Goodwin has said that Wagner is at the front of the queue to be upgraded, and also said he was impressed with his game against the Saints. I'm not sure I agree, but I personally don't have either of them near my best 22 so it doesn't really matter anyway.

I reckon Dunn is a better matchup for Patton, while Jetta should probably go to Johnson.

I reckon him making contact with the Saints player's head is just another in a growing list of #PedoMyths

I think DD was referring to his age, not the pick we gave up to get him

Hickey is a seriously ugly person

Oliver is just a natural footballer and I just love watching when he's near the ball. Wagner is having an absolute mare which I'm sure that's largely due to nerves. I've loved Gawn & Watts's games and N. Jones has started to get a fair bit of it in the middle. If our backline was a bit tighter we'd be up by 30-40pts.

Absolutely! It's time to make the AFL great again.

It sounds like you'll be seeing Lumumba, but no Trengove or Petracca for the next two weeks: Lumumba returns, but is he best 22?

I agree. Our new, more attacking style of football suits Jones's speed, whereas he struggled over the past couple of years when our game was largely focused on stoppages and contested footy. He's the type of player that will work hard to spread and create space, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him cement a place in the team this year. This is all coming from someone who has been a Jones detractor over the years, BTW.

I hope McDonald goes to Riewoldt regardless of where the Saints play him. He's always done quite well on Nick.

I absolutely agree that making Trengove and Grimes co-captains in 2012 was terrible (I think you'd struggle to find anybody that didn't), but we also didn't have many options. Bringing in a player and making them captain right away (Dawes) can create a lot of tension in the playing group, especially if you're stripping the captaincy from somebody that's still on the list (Green). I said many times going back to 2011 that Jones should have been captain, however in hindsight I would've left Green in charge until he retired before promoting Jones. It's great to see that our club has finally recovered from the disaster that was the Schwab/Neeld era and that we at least have stable leadership at the top (Jones).

Of course the Saints are interested. They seem to throw their name into the ring for every single player that's rumoured to be available.

One premiership since joining the league in 1925. That premiership was 62 years ago. We've had six premierships more recently than theirs. SIX. Their last (and only other) grand final appearance was in 1961. I think they've suffered.

Safe to pencil in at least 4 losses then.

I disagree. The Boyd contract isn't great, but they have a fantastic young midfield and Stringer is an absolute freak who hasn't yet reached his ceiling. Murphy, Morris & Boyd are obviously near the end, but their leadership will be replaced by their young brigade. I think the questions lie in their backline, but I liked what I saw from Collins on the weekend and I think they'll be able to top up with other pieces. I really don't mind the Dogs. They've suffered as much as we have, so it's hard to not have a bit of a soft spot for them, IMO.

Casey will miss him

Let's not refer to them as that

I don't know about that. You can see Garland taking a few steps after the shove before grabbing the top of the fence and jumping over. I think Garland had the choice of running into the fence or going over it, and I suspect that if he'd chosen to run into the fence then Goetz wouldn't have been charged. Anyway, I don't like unnecessary pushing after the play is dead, so I suppose it's a good thing that he's being sanctioned for it. I just hope the MRP can develop some level of consistency this year, as pushing after the whistle with the same level of force is a regular occurrence and it seems that it's very rarely sanctioned.

To me it looked like Garland jumped over the fence and could easily have stopped himself from going over if he wanted to. I was surprised that Goetz was sanctioned and fully expected him to appeal.

I reckon he'll keep training until the appeal result is in. If the appeal is unsuccessful (fingers crossed), I expect him to pull the pin.

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 think his speed and ball winning ability is why he's valuable. I like ANB, but think he's more of an inside mid than he is a small forward, while I think Kennedy offers more in the forward line while also able to win the hard ball. Not sure it'll stay that way in the future, but for now I have him ahead of ANB. When I make my best 22 (fully fit side) Kennedy doesn't make it. But I think that with Trengove/Petracca/Brayshaw out there's a very good chance he plays round one. I like his endeavour and speed, and see him as being very handy depth over the long term.

You weren't impressed with him last week? I thought he was outstanding after half time and was one of the key reasons for our comeback. Wasn't as impressed yesterday, and his last quarter stuff up was cringeworthy, but I've been pleasantly surprised with him overall.

Mad Monday will be crazy if we can win this thing