ben russell

I tell you what, I can't bloody wait to see my footy team play tonight after what feels like a really long off-season. Really looking forward to seeing our new look midfield. Obviously it will take time for them to gel and we won't be able to find out the full extent of how they're tracking until they have our forward line to kick it to. Would be great to see the Hogan, Clark and Dawes in action up forward and obviously without them we'll struggle to kick a winning score just like Hawthorn would struggle to win without Roughead, Gunston and Hale. It's not about winning tonight though. I just want to see every one of our boys give it their all and look like they want to be out there. Go Dees!

No Hogan, Dawes or Clark this Friday night but Hogan and Dawes will be available for our second NAB challenge match.

I don't think he'll ever be a high possession getter but just hope that when he does play he brings a bit of spark and magic to the side. Fairly certain he was brought to the club with the expectation that senior footy would be a while away. I still have high hopes for the kid.

Did Dom Barry play and if so how did he go? Early pre-season reports were that he was looking good but I haven't heard a thing about him in training reports for quite some time..

Come on Dees, we got this!

Terrible post. He sustained a serious foot injury. Has nothing to do with whether or not his body is up to AFL standard which it most certainly is. Anybody with half a brain knows that he is one of our most important players if not our most important player on our list. He will come back into the side when fit and will dominate. Your silence will be deafening.

Fantastic report mate. Appreciate it. Dawes will come good once he has recoved from his knee surgery. Will prove many wrong.

Cheers for the early update Swooper but out of respect let's get this right from the start of this young man's career with us.It's Aidan Riley. Aidan with two A's and Riley without the extra E's and extra L's. We get it right to begin with and then hopefully we don't have a high percentage of people spelling his name wrong for his entire career.

So did anybody attend on this fine Summer's day.. ?

No, I'm telling you that there is no way of judging whether it was an awful or successful rookie draft. I am not going to pretend to know whether one rookie will be better than the next, I'll leave that to you.

Ridiculous comment. There is absolutely no way of telling whether this was an 'awful' or successful rookie draft. Just because we didn't select the players on your wishlist doesn't mean that it was an 'awful' draft.

Interesting read provided by Kristian Pisano over at Footy Tragic. He isn't guessing where each player will go in the draft but ranks them in his preffered order according to their ability (in his opinion). He provides good write ups to back up why he has ranked each player where he has. Very interesting to read his take on the midfielders available. He actually rates Dom Sheed as the best midfielder in the draft. His top 10 players in the draft that can play as mids are as follows: 1. Dom Sheed 2. Matt Scharenberg 3. Josh Kelly 4. Jack Billings 5. Blake Acres 6. Marcus Bontempelli 7. Trent Dumont 8. Christian Salem 9. James Aish 10. Zak Jones Here's the link: http://www.footytragic.com/blog/uncategorized/kps-phantom-draft/

Because his best footy is well and truly past him and he is not the type of player or person we need at the club.

No.

B: Garland Frawley Terlich HB: Clisby McDonald Grimes C: Watts N Jones Vince HF: Howe Hogan Cross F: Dawes Clark Kent Foll: Gawn Viney Trengove Int: Tyson McKenzie M Jones Sub: Toumpas Garland, Frawley and McDonald pick themselves. Terlich was terrific in his first year and while his disposal can let him down, I think he is a great back pocket player in the ilk of the wrecker Matty Whelan. Clisby showed enough in his first year to earn a place and his upgrade to the senior list shows that the club has faith in him. Grimes plays his best footy off a half back flank. Watts and Vince on each wing with their good disposal. Hoping to see plenty of inside 50's from the pair. N Jones is obviously the midfield general. Howe no longer needs to play in the midfield so will solely play on the half forward flank and provide a great target with his sure hands. Cross on the other flank and will also play through the midfield. Big Hulk at centre half forward. He will hold his own and won't be intimidated in his first year at AFL level. Too good to be sitting in a forward pocket. Dawes, when fit, provides another great option up forward so will sit in a pocket. Clark at full forward. I pray that he stays fit for the whole season and bags plenty of goals. Will also pinch hit in the ruck when required. Kent showed great signs in his first year and will start his career in the forward line with stints in the middle. Will eventually become a pure mid once players like Cross and Vince have finished their careers. Gawn is the most talented ruckman on the list and with a good pre-season can become our number one ruck with assistance from Clark. Viney is obviously a combative beast and an injury free 2014 will see him make huge strides at AFL level. Trengove without the pressures of the captaincy will become the player that he has always been touted to be. An uninterrupted pre-season is very important for Trenners. Tyson has a stack of potential and is a walk up start in our best 22. McKenzie to be played purely as a tagger stopping the best player from each team week in, week out. M Jones deserves a place in the best 22 after a great first season. Not a big talent but a work horse and not in our best 18 but deserves a spot in our best side. Toumpas to start as the sub after an indifferent first year and will no doubt prove that he is in our best 21 in no time. Michie has loads of talent but isn't a walk up start just yet. Some good VFL form will get him called up to the Seniors. Fitzpatrick will come in to the side as soon as any of Dawes, Hogan or Clark is unavailable. But he is behind all 3 right now. Blease needs to be consistent at VFL level to get a call up to the 1's. Has shown that he can be a player but goes missing far too often. Evans is unlucky to not be in the best 22 but out midfield recruits have pushed him out at the moment. Hopefully he can find a place in our best 22. The remainder of the list are mostly depth players and will need to do a lot to crack into our best 22. If we can avoid injuries to our key players then we can expect massive improvement from our Dees in 2014.

I really hope we get this kid. Explosive speed is exactly what we need through our midfield and from his highlights reel it looks as though he is a specialist at getting the ball, evading opponents, and delivering it effectively into our forward 50. I reckon Mitch, Dawesy and The Hulk would love to see him bursting out of the middle in the red and blue, and so would I.

PCL injury that sidelined him for 5 months. No serious injury history apart from that.

This has to be a contender for worst thread of the year. Pathetic.

Jesse Hogan to be a major influence in his first year at the club and finish 2nd behind Jack Martin for the rising star award. Jack Grimes as captain with Nathan Jones as vice. Jack Trengove to have a full pre-season and be our biggest improver. Jack Viney to be fit for the entire year and dominate in our midfield. Jack Watts to be played predominantly in our forward line and only dropped back into defence when required. Mitch Clark to finally be injury free and dominate up forward. Jeremy Howe to take mark of the year (again) and play more midfield time. Max Gawn and Jack Fitzpatrick to be the number 1 and number 2 rucks. Mark Jamar to be moved on. Recruit the best young midfielder available with our number 2 pick in the draft. The Dees to finish above the Bulldogs on the ladder at the end of 2014 (I have $100 on it)

I have also heard on good authority that following Harry O and Bucks confrontation there were text messages exchanged with the final message from Harry O telling his coach to "Eat a dick". Probably a fair indication as to why Harry O is now on the outer.

I am actually looking forward to going to the game this weekend. Should I go and see my doctor?

Any confirmation on the Terlich injury? Heard he may have broken his ribs..

6 - Terlich 5 - Davey 4 - N Jones 3 - Magner 2 - Garland 1 - M Jones

I have been really pleased with Matty Jones. One of the only players who can truly say that he has had a dip in every game he has played. Knows how to find the footy and uses it quite well too. Firmly cemented in our best 22. Also has been a very handy pickup for my Supercoach side!

I really don't think we will be dropping Matt Jones. He has been a shining light for us this year and actually knows how to find the footy going at 21 disposals a game. He has had a clanger here or there but I reckon he uses the ball well for the most part.