Maldonboy38

I usually like analysing the game, looking for what is causing teams to rise and/or fall. But I am going for a 'big call'. The Dees would be nearly unstoppable if we had Jesse Hogan still with us. I still love watching him. His work rate and forward craft today v the Bombers has been a tutorial in forward play.

Gold Coast onballers and half backs going hard at it, tackling pressure etc... only for absolute stupidity from Chol, Casboult, Ellis and Lukosius with dud skills and decision making. To balance things out, the Blues mids and half backs also doing all the hard work, but their forwards have been taking goal kicking tips from Star Wars storm troopers.

In season 2023, the reality is that the real contenders make it a top 5, not top 4. And this throws all kinds of spanners into finals calculations. The 5th team - Carlton - are playing finals-type footy, are winning close games, are confident and their power forwards can dominate. Those in positions 6 - 8 are fairly irrelevant in terms of the GF. Any of this top 5 can beat each other, and with the exception of Carlton in recent weeks, the other 4 teams have shown enough weaknesses to demonstrate they are beatable. The Blues are the big variable because they can still make top 4. It comes down to belief and application moment by moment on game day. The Dees and Pies have 1 thing in common above the others, and that is they believe they can win from anywhere, regardless of being behind or momentum being with the other team they play.

Dusty was able to focus on footy and play so well because of Cotchin and the broader Tigers culture. If he goes to the Gold Coast, he won't last a season before going way, way astray. One of the best players I have seen - genuine match winner and the best field kick bar none. But his time has come. Our needs are for a power forward and some speed. Riccardi would be nice, not sure where we get speed from.

With one more pre-season, I can see him starting 22, or at least in our best 25. Great signing - well done Taj, and well done Dees.

Really poor defensive game. Both teams running freely between the two 50 metre lines. It looks even, but at least one of them need to tighten the crews a bit. Not finals standard footy at all.

Huge relief that Tomlinson is in, probably means Smith forward. I know Tomlinson has a big turning circle but he does his job and is a really good kick. Smith is a natural forward and his athleticism can worry defences. Very surprised about Laurie, not sure what he adds. I would have given Taj another go. I feel very, very sad for Grundy but it is the right selection.

Some are dead easy locks - Hardeman, May, Wight, Cordner. Beckwith and McMahen are in the team of the century. Loved Matty Whelan. Bowey in there has to be taking the mickey. No Brett Lovett is an absolute disgrace. I'm not sure who has set it up but it looks amateur-ish, and last minute.

In my mind he is an absolute unicorn, and difficult to place in the rank of club greats. Best ruckman for tap work - yes (just beats Peter Moore) Best ruckman for mobility - no (Stynes was a freak) Best defensive mark - yes Kicking/handballing/ ground ball - no Biggest heart - yes, equal with Stynes, Flower, T Viney and Jones. I don't remember Barrassi at the Dees. But for me it is the influence of his CHARACTER. Everyone loves him ,the players play with him and for him, he is not a d**khead in any way, he speaks with a disarming honesty to the media, and he accepts the quirks of his own story and personality. All these traits combine is some strange spiritual form of leadership that is magnetic and powerful. He is a rare gift in footy. Cotchin changed captaincy and his impact at the Tigers is greater than that of Hardwick. I feel Gawn has had a similar impact at the Dees. Well done big Max - here's to 200 games, and hopefully another Cup or 2!

I didn't rate him as highly as many in the media or past players, but his very best was brilliant, exciting, and sometimes helped win matches. But he only ever played 5 brilliant games per season, and was often overweight and unfit. Great person though - everyone who knew him loved and liked him.

Wet underfoot, high pressure, two teams playing great finals-style footy. A lot of the errors and misses can be understood thinking through all these things. But the Blues outnumbered us around the ball and spread forward with ease far too often. Fair enough, they played better and were much cleaner with ball in hand. But our forward construct = mediocre and problematic. In theory, I am a fan of the Gawn/Grundy du but tonight it showed we simply cannot proceed with it.

6. Brayshaw 5. Viney 4. Langdon 3. Rivers 2. Hunter 1. Petracca and -476 for Salem for his ridiculous dinky kicks, but especially for missing an absolute sitter - not making the distance from 42 metres out.

I have major issues with Salem running into an open goal, unpressured, and not making the distance from about 42 metres. I just don't get it. Furious with that. Great game of footy, but we were beaten at our own game and looked slow around the contest, especially at stoppages.

Bowey and Salem doing little dinky kicks, making the receiving player have to stand under the ball.

We are very unclean tonight. By hand, and especially at ground level.

Tight, hard, contested, brutal. Great contest without being much of a spectacle. We aren't taking our moments well, and I reckon the winner will be the team who makes the most of the limited opportunities given by opposition. We need Fritsch back. After the Matildas game, I'm not sure my heart can take much more.

I hate the Bombers with a rabid passion.

Might be too big a call to be realistic, but there is something about the Roos 2023 that reminds me on Dees 2017. Emerging talent, some old time clubmen close to the end and others about to be delisted. The Cheezel and Wardlaw look really good, LDU is the next skipper, and a handful of emerging surprises. They need another forward to help Larkey, and another large gorilla backman but I would be hopeful if I were a Roos man.

Tonight's game will be a cracker - can't wait but also nervous. Pros Gawn and Grundy will dominate tonight's game. Apart from Cripps their midfield is tepid I am hoping Kozzie tears the game apart - they have no-one who can go with him. Concerns Curnow. May has been far below his best for a while now. Weitering will blanket JVR (no way do they risk playing him on Grundy) Cripps Opportunities Viney will love 2 teams going head-to-head over a contested game and will be BOG. Oliver is back. The best Dees player I have seen and I can't take my eyes f him when he plays. Go Dees - by 16 points

Re Josh Daicos - he is part of a whole new type of young player who have stunning kicking and decision making skills. I rate his kicking ability up there with Dusty, Tex and Lukosius, and his decision making is better. I hate the Pies but I like watching this bloke play. Some of his kicking last night was ridiculous in its brilliance. With one exception. He plays wide and sometimes chooses not to go in when it is his turn, head over ball, and smash in for the contest. Now this might be coaches instructions because McRae does keep Pendlebury, Sidebottom and the 2 Daicos boys about 10 metres off most contests so they can us their kicking ability without pressure. He doesn't need to be tagged, but if in this year's finals he is played one-on-one (both the Dees and Port did this to the Pies this year) his impact is lessend because he doesn't get time for his elite kicking.

Both teams having a red hot crack, but the Cats are chasing jumpers most of the time. Pies are getting +2 to almost every contest which means the Cats midfield has totally lost its defensive running. Umpiring in general has been good, but LOTS of throws not called. I reckon Tom Mitchell has done it 3 times on his own. Any game in which McStay gets multiple goals, you know the other team is struggling. Daicos can kick alright, eh! I simply cannot understand how Ginnnivan doesn't get a regular game. Natural footballer. Seems to have dropped all the ducking and d**head stuff too.

Nev Jetta in a Pies guernsey and Daisy Pearce in Cats gear. Great people to stay in football post playing career, but it's just not right.

I have tipped North to beat the Bombers - at Marvel, Bombers not playing great footy, North can challenge but rarely for 4 quarters. Tonight, they will do it for Cunnington. Collingwood tonight. Cats out of the finals is sweet, sweet bliss.

The "despised" descriptor makes it quite difficult by making it much narrower. So, just like our gameday votes I am going to rate them from 1 - 6, with 6 being the highest priority: 6. Tom Lynch. Our only genuine list hole is a power forward at this peak. And this bloke is a faux-thug, sniper, brilliant forward. 5. Toby Greene. Although now his stupidity and thuggery have diminished, I like watching him more and more. 4. Tom Papley. Worst over-celebrater ever, but a very good (maybe great by the end of his career) footballer. 3. James Sicily. I feel Steven May is just starting his slow decline, and Sicily is a star. 2. Horne-Francis. He did to North what Buckley did to Brisbane and I hate it. And he is a gun, star and 300 game match winning midfielder. 1. Draper. If he was still playing, Selwood by a mile. But I would have one of Fyffe at his best, Dusty 2019 version, or the Bont over all of the above.

I have watched a fair few Casey games, and really like him. His output isn't great yet, but he comes across as a genuine footballer, rather than an an athlete who plays footy. I don't think his size will hold him back, it is his base fitness. One more pre season and who knows what could be? I think of him as a young Jack Gunston - rangey, a bit lighter than most his height, mobile, smart. Not ready yet, but maybe as first call-up if there is an injury in our AFL team forward line in 2024.