Jaded No More

Norf look a lot less incompetent than previously. At least they move the ball with some logic and purpose.

Hunt in those horrible colours is really upsetting. Hope he has a great career moving forward. Always loved him at the Dees!

Plus an unwavering belief they can win. Always. No matter what. That belief won us a flag in 2021 (plus obvious talent). It’s very powerful and very hard to stop!

It’s because we won so many flags….

The weather is wild. It’s like 9000 degrees with a gale force wind. Good luck kicking goals 🫠

Pies will be a real threat this year. We already can’t beat them at the best of times…

We can only hope. It’s the least horrible outcome.

You’d think so. That looks horrific.

Umpires making sure Geelong don’t miss a goal by giving them unexplainable frees in the goal square

Neither can I. But I know for a fact that he’s a really lovely guy off the field. A family friend who is a mad Geelong fan got the Geelong players to visit his 5 year son in hospital when he was battling cancer. Hawkins has since personally reached out to him multiple times to check on the kid. He might be an [censored] on the field, but these guys are still human beings and most of them are completely different off the field.

Absolutely. Anyone screaming in pain on the ground is shocking. It’s a game and someone just suffered a horrific injury. You just don’t wish that on anyone.

The grass looks shocking. Let’s hope we don’t see a Melbourne player do a knee tomorrow

This could well be a grand final preview and I wouldn’t be surprised. The skills are unbelievable.

Go read the comments. They’re not far off. Pretty good.

This game is a class above. Both these sides look set for a top 4 finish.

Both these sides look good

We still live rent free in their heads. I love it.

If there is one thing I hope we took away from last season, is that we have got to better manage the load of our best players, and stop trying to push them so hard until they fall apart at the most critical time of the year.

I think we will go easy on May. Calves are very tricky injuries especially at his age and especially with his body size. He is just so important to us, if he does it again it could well be a 2 month injury. If it’s just a strain now then surely they take no risks and get him cherry ripe. We cannot win the flag without him. I don’t care what anyone says. As a defense first team, you can’t afford to lose the best defender in arguably the competition, and not have it ruin your season. He is up there with Oliver in terms of critical importance. We looked [censored] horrific when he missed those mid year games last year.

I think this was purely about experience and not wanting to go too experimental. Had we known May was gonna blow a leg, we may have stuck with Hibbo over McVee and given Turner a go. But given the premium we put on defense, and having both May and Salem out, we probably want some calmer older heads down there to steady the ship. It is always less risky to give young kids a go in non KP spots. It’s probably why JVR isn’t being rushed. It’s easier to debut a back flanker or a small forward pocket with only mild success, than to throw a kid at FB and be like “good luck son”. While Tomlinson has had some shocking games recently, I think they have a matchup in mind for him, so I’ll wait and see how it pans out before I judge too harshly. Turner is very much in the frame if May is still not right and Tommo doesn’t blow us away.

Stiff competition from Dusty... who also did nothing... but is Dusty.

I hope that after a full year recovering from the knee, he feels confident enough in it. While he looked horrible against the Saints, I am sure he is well aware that his time is limited and he has to impress if he wants to get back into the best 22. If he has a stinker and May's calf needs more time to heal, I think Turner will come straight in. I think we went with experience over potential, and we probably feel like Tommo has worked so hard to get back from his injury last year, he deserves another chance to prove his worth at this level. I wish him well, because that would be the best outcome for us and him.

You obviously didn't watch the Richmond game. McVee was 'invisible' because he was playing on Dusty. Dusty did SFA, and hence McVee won the day. He was super impressive against the Saints too. The reality is that Hibbo is 32 with a history of bad calves, and Salem is injured. We need to have ready made replacements for these guys. Chandler had a brilliant year at Casey, and absolutely deserves his chances. What do we do if Kosi leaves? You have to keep developing these guys, unless you prefer to keep going with Melksham who is in his last season? And lastly, I bet that when Bowey debuted you thought "who and why", and he turned out to be a gun and best 22 players. You have to keep developing your list, even when you are in your premiership window, or else you will end up losing quality players and end up with a very old list.

A draw so everyone is sad would be delightful

Do people really think Richmond can win a flag?