Maldonboy38

I reckon this will be a year of big change and big surprise. The ladder is really tough to predict and I have no confidence in my predictions at all, with my biggest confusion being around Collingwood, Richmond and Carlton. But here goes: Hawthorn Fremantle Richmond Sydney Collingwood Essendon Port Adelaide Gold Coast Geelong Western Bulldogs North Melbourne Melbourne Adelaide Carlton West Coast GWS Brisbane St. Kilda

JKH is the find of this season. I continue to be surprised at his speed and agility over the first three steps and he has genuine goal sense. But I don't reckon he will play in the first few rounds because Roos has been very strong about protecting the young er players' development.

Just listened to Paul Roos talk at the season launch. Like many others I am waiting for actions more than words, but Roos' speech reminds me that words can be powerful and motivating. Roos acknowledged all the key people at the club - from board members to families to staff - and the work they do, but he made it plain that most responsibility/accountability rests with the players, with special emphasis on the leadership group. His confidence is a major factor in our performance this year. Why? Because it is infectious. Also, he "thanked" Hawthorn for giving us a hiding at Casey, because it is clear the standard we are pursuing, and the Hawks did it with class and physicality.

He is still the best CHB I have seen. Call me biased but I don't care. I place him above Jakovich from WCE, Chris Mew, Leppitsch or anyone else. He played in the era of Hudson, Hart, McKenna, Wade and on most occasions came out on top or equal. Absolute gun. And he was seriously robbed of the 74 Brownlow. Keith Greig was a gun (very soft though) but he didn't play a Brownlow-winning season in 74 and he got 3 votes on the last round of the year and jumped past Hardeman.

From where I sat: Trengove was ok, but better in the first half. Watts was very poor Viney was a sub and only got a few touches before I left at 3/4 time Toumpas was poor.

1) It was a huge class difference, defined by cool decision making under pressure, and amazing kicking skills by the Hawks. 2) Roos' two way running mantra is yet to get full purchase with the players. Trengove and Vince seemed to get it but Tyson, Jones and Michie were all at sea. 3) We need a forward line. We will be dysfunctional up forward until we get at least two talls who understand forward play, who can be the structure around whom we place Howe, JKH, Byrnes, Trengove etc... 4) Spencer was actually quite good but we need 2 active ruckmen.

Just got back from Casey Fields - had to leave early for my son's birthday. Quick jump onto Demonland for an update. Getting absolutely monstered around the packs. Our stoppages seemed to be planned around stationary players getting th ball THEN spreading. Hawks have players running through the stoppage, getting the handball receive, and either running through or kicking through with ease. Roos has talked a lot about 2 way running. Our defensive spread has been terrible. Midfield horrible today, probably with the exception of Trengove. The inquiry above about Spencer: both Spencer and Pederson have not had a heap of the ball but they are chucking themselves in and at everything. Their physical presence has been impressive. We have no forward line in place today. I don't know if it is something Roos is not focusing on, but time after time the ball goes in to our froward line in a Pagan's paddock manner, and it is 1 Dees player to 3 Hawks - over and over again. Hawks field kicking is pure and perfect. I hate the modern day Hawks but their kicking is lime watching a very clean form of footy. Glad I had my son's birthday to come home to!

I was playing footy in the country in the 70's and some of the players were still using drop kicks and stab passes. One bloke almost made it to the VFL and his stab passing could cave your chest in. It used to hurt like hell on those cold winter nights at training. Ankle high boots, woollen jumpers, collars, plastic numbers on the back, and endless circle work at training. I reckon I would have liked to see the real Bobbie McKenzie play.

My mother would say "anyone who asks others to rate him either isn't as good as he thinks he is, or is an absolute w**ker"! No, honestly, she reckons Bobbie McKenzie was referred to as "a bit of a magician" by Ron Barassi. He was a great goal kicker in an era when individual goal kickers didn't shine at the Dees, Norm Smith 's mantra was teamwork.

Definitely not stirring the pot, I just see the current landscape this way. In similar fashion I don't see Viney playing round 1 because of the same principle. Roos sounds dogged when explaining how his coaching regimen will manage young players. He will protect them, he will take them slowly, and "make it hard for younger players to get a game". I reckon he sees a decent team maybe 3 years away and wants our young guns to be front and centre of this bunch. In the NAB challenge, look at Dunn, Bail, Pederson, even Georgiou - used extensively while some of the younger, inexperienced players were used sparingly. It is a bit sad because I am dying to see Viney, Toumpas, Hogan, Salem, JKH, Harmes and Hunt get a sold run for the Dees but I am having to wait.

With Roos repeating his words about young players earning their place, and older bodies "protecting their development", I reckon Byrnes will play round 1 instead of JKH. Both on display at Casey on Saturday so it will be interesting.

Parking and entry/exit: There are now multiple lanes and traffic lights. It won't be smooth, but then it has taken me 40 mins sometimes on Queen's Birthday to get out of the MCG. Also, don't go via Cranbourne, but stick on the Freeway until the Narre Warren exit 404, travel along this unti you get to Berwick Cranbourne Rd 407. This leads straight to Casey Fields. Be wary of parking in the new estates. Some are not as close to the ground as you think, and the police will book you if you park half on a nature strip. Why play the 2013 Premiers? Because that is who you measure yourself against, and it will expose those who cannot play under pressure. Being the last game before regular season we will get a clear picture of how/if we have progressed. What to look for? Which talls are fit and ready for round 1. Who will complete the back six: Georgiou, Strauss, Clisby, other Running forward role: Bail or Blease, Small forward: JKH or Byrnes Question: Reckon we can get on the ground for kick to kick?

My mum's in her 80's and is 3rd generation MFC follower. She has Stuie Spencer and Ian Ridley as the 2 best rovers we have produced. She can still recount all the great players and finals through the late 40's - mid 60's. She rates Flower very highly, but never rated Neitz. She loves Nathan Jones and reckons he would have a got a game in the 50's under Norm Smith.

Always glad to see Essendon suffer. But I feel for the players who have their names publicised. That is just plain wrong. Modern journalism strikes another nail into the coffin of public information and integrity. They hide behind the ethos of "publicly beneficial information" when the names of the players is simply not for the public's benefit, and the story does not require names for the story to be told.

I am loving Jake Spencer's aggro. The way he came in after the Toumpas whack is great to see, after pushing the pathetic Dustin Martin away against the Tiges. After a very long period of softish big men following the Neitz era, we have protection for younger, slimmer players. Even Blease went in after the Toumpas whack, knowing big Jake was there. We have a functional midfield (that needs to watch its kicking at half-back). I can now watch a game thinking we can win.

I don't buy newspapers anymore although I miss the quiet 2 hours on Saturday morning with a coffee reading the paper from front to back. I don't subscribe to any online newspapers. 3 reasons why: 1) The standard of most writing, grammar, expression and general phrasing has slipped so far it is now pitched at 16 year old girls. Most written journalism is magazine/soundbyte in style. 2) Many journos now report rumour because they can't be bothered investigating sources. 3) Many journalists prefer their own fame to being silent middle men or conduits for public information. The above three reasons scream the loudest from sports journalists, and in particular AFL people like Barrett, Wilson and co. I have to tolerate sports journalism or I get no news at all but I just read results game info and stats. The rest of it is fairy-floss sugary carp.

Our injury list looks as good as it has in years, but I am beginning to think that Tappy and Mitch might be bonus players. They just can't seem to get their bodies up to a 22 game season. If - and it is now a very big if - they can get fit it is a bonus to our season, but we might need to fit our future plans around a team without them both.

Roos loves experienced ruckmen. Jamar will hold onto number 1 spot for most of this year, but he will probably be overtaken by Gawn or Spencer by year's end.

My first Supercoach selection for this year was Frawley because with a decent coach, and some midfielders who know how to defensively spread, he will be back to his arrogant, monstering, attacking football. But Trenners will be our most improved by a long way. A full preseason, no captaincy burden, and some other good footballers in the midfield to help him and Jones. At his best he is intelligent, has great vision, is a very good mark, is a great kick for goal, and a mongrel when he tackles.

At Sydney Roos loved midfielders kicking goals built around a central, strong forward in Hall and a gun 2nd forward in O'Loughlin. I can see a similar set up for us, but with more options for pack marking. Although Clark, Hogan, Fitz, Dawes provide great options for contested marking I still reckon we will see Bail, Trengove, Jones, Vince have many running shots for goal near 50m.

Like what you are suggesting here. Pederson will be unlucky. He ran his guts out on Friday night, crashing packs with attempted marking but Hogan needs to be tested. I would play Gawn against the Cats, and then Jamar against the Hawks. I thought our poorest player on Friday was Evans so maybe he will be left as as well as Barry/JKH. So, making a slight adjustment: OUT IN Max King - Dawes Perersen - Hogan Spencer - Gawn Evans - Viney Nicholson - Watts Barry/JKH - Kent/Tappy/ Again, these games are not about winning so it is likely that more rotations could happen.

Have a look at Trengove's game and he was doing a lot of his hard work in the 2nd half and even more so in the last quarter when everyone was getting tired. He is perfect for midfield/half-forward due to strong marking and a very good kick for goal, and then late in the game he still has a lot of miles left in his legs.

I was at the game last night and watched the reply this morning. Still feeling good about it but the replay did bring a dose of reality and perspective. Apart from some moments of great tackling from both teams there was very little tackling/swamping/pressure applied over and over again in the same moment of the game. Both teams seemed to focus on running, defensive structures, and controlling possession. So I ask myself, how will JKH, Pedo, Bail, Michie etc... do when they try the same things under main season pressure? It is this kind of question that just can't be answered until that pressure is applied. Our kicking a times was horrible (Richmond's was worse) so Roos is right in saying we still have a lot of work to do. What I am really pleased about is we can already see a game plan emerging and we played as a team.

Dees website says 9:30am Thursday at Gosch's paddock. My new job means I can't get there. Bugger.

I was at the game last night and this is my first opportunity to post. Sat near the interchange bench and it was a great experience. The players interchange at precise moments according to computer GPS readings of time spent on the ground, all co-ordinated by Dave Misson. First time driving to Etihad and got a bit lost, meaning we had to park under the ground. Bugger me, it's expensive! $8 at the MCG but $30 at Etihad. Stafford's work with the rucks coming on and off the ground was brilliant - he is a really good acquisition. First NAB cup game I have ever been to. Very different. More interested and looking at new players, game plan that the emotional barracking I get into during real season. Notes from the game. Strauss, Barry, Nicho and Spencer made some mistakes but their other hard work made up for it. Evans was very quiet, probably the only player who didn't contribute to the overall team performance although some of his tackling and blocking was good (e.g.JKH goal) People all around kept on yelling out "kick it long, don't go backwards" etc... when the players were kicking exactly the same patterns they have been doing at training. Some of the kicking skills were poor. Welcome back Ro Bail. Two years ago I had him as my favourite player on the rise (remember the two games under Bailey against Essendon and the Swans) but thought his concussions meant the end of his career. Very glad I was wrong. Man crush re-emerging. OUr mid-field was magnificent, but defensive spread needs a little attention We won the possession count - wow! Frawley's reading of play etc... was excellent, his decision making ok, but execution often dreadful. Our backline were outstanding. Trengove will be an absolute bolter this year. a big 2014 looms for him. Round 1 from here likely to include Bail and JKH. Persevere with Blease. I get out of my seat every time he runs near the ball. He will get more of it. I have no rsied the bar on my expectations, but hope just might be rekindling.