Jaded No More

Haven’t seen you around here in a long time. How are you feeling about this game? Confident?

I also prefer to play Port in a granny.

The one thing I think we can all agree on, is that Jonesy is a team player. He has put in loads of work into his body and I have no doubt he wouldn’t be putting his hand up in what he knows is the most important two games in our recent history, if he didn’t think he could make it through. He wants to win a flag as much as anyone, and if he does play he will absolutely give us everything he has left in the tank.

Pretty simple to see who has been around for a while and who hasn’t. Just check their profile. It has the joined date.

He doesn’t offend me. Browne though is a dweeb.

I wonder if the sub is picked for versatility or if we know there’s someone going into the game a little sore so we bring someone in to cover that role? JJ can play a few midfield roles. So can Melksham. I assume it’ll be one of them.

As important to them as May to us. We wouldn’t win a final without May.

Gutter journalism is an essential profession it seems.

Neutral supporters are silly.

Port can literally not have an easier trot to the grand final. If they lose the prelim it will be the worst choke of all time!

Hibbo in for Smith according to channel 7

I am hoping the 8-10 minute period in round 23 where they smashed us in clearances has given us enough of a wake up call to realise that we absolutely cannot get smashed in the middle. We need to, at the very least, break even in clearances and make sure that when they do win a clearance, we pressure them enough to ensure they don't turn clearances into goals. They kicked 4 or 5 goals from centre clearances in round 23 which opened up that massive gap in about 5 minutes of play. That is unacceptable, and I presume Viney, Clarry and Trac will be on this to ensure it doesn't happen again. If we can pressure their ball carrier enough to get the ball bombed in high inside their 50, we should be able to nullify enough aerial contests down back, and run the ball out. Our ground ball game in defence isn't great, but Geelong's isn't much better. They have a tall forwardline that is largely immobile, and bringing in Ratogulia only makes that worse. While Scott wants to stretch us in the air, it is actually the ground ball that can really hurt us down back. This is where someone like Grey and Rosie would really worry me if we make the Grand Final and play Port. Their tagger (I forgot his name) is out injured. I don't think they will try to hard tag us, but I would like to see Viney do a job on Danger and really limit his involvement. While Selwood can still do a lot of damage, Dangerfield is their creative mid and playmaker. He is not at his best physically right now, and Viney needs to really exploit that.

On the other hand, their first quarter record this year is also quite poor. If we come out firing like we did against Brisbane and get a good 5-6 goal lead going into half time, I really just can't see how they run over the top of us. While none of us want to let them open up a big lead like in round 23, Geelong will not feel at ease if they are just 4-5 goals up at any stage of the game, and that will mean their star players will have to motor for 120 minutes. My only concern with this game is our lack of experience. Will we let the occasion get the better of us? Will we let Geelong rough us up as they so love to do? Will we let the bias Geelong umpiring get into our head? If we play at our best, we will absolutely win this game. But even being 2 or 3 percent off is enough to lose this against a very experienced side that is desperate and knows this might well be their very last chance. And then you know, there is plain old bad luck like Hawkins breaking May's face "accidently", or some lucky goals etc etc that can swing a game. But so long as we control the things we can control, and play at our best, we should win.

The main training session was Tuesday. Today is just a captain's run. Generally a bit of skills and getting mileage in the legs.

Worst possible result for the Dogs, who already have a dodgy defence, and an attack down on firepower. Weirdly I think they can cover Bont more easily given how many star midfielders they have, but no Keath will make it virtually impossible to win. I also can't see how they kick a winning score against the Port backline, especially with Aliir just mopping up the high ball.

We can put to bed any scenario involving trading Gus, Jackson or Rivers. That will not happen, unless those players come out and request a trade. While Gus may not be highly rated on these forums, he is extremely highly rated at the club and is part of the leadership group. Zero chance he is getting the flick. In fact, I would suggest we are looking at Cerra to enable Gus to play more time on ball.

Losing to Geelong in a prelim final is the second worst possible outcome of any footy season. The first being losing to Geelong in a grand final.

We are missing out on SO MUCH 😭😭😭

Today is R U OK day. Ask me tomorrow at 11pm.

Tmac has gone on record to say his form was bad and he understood where the club was coming from and that they’ve been nothing but wonderful to him when a trade couldn’t be done. And he’s played every game since. So I doubt he’s still unhappy.

The way the umpires fawn over the Bont, you can already tell he's got it in the bag. Oliver will be lucky to finish top 3.

Are you sure? I thought he was out of contract. My mistake. Either way, a third round pick would suffice. And I doubt we would prioritise him over Cerra.

Gunston is irrelevant to the conversation as he’s a free swing. Won’t cost us anything.

If Cerra nominates us, Freo will need to play ball. Very few players don’t get to their club of choice these days.

True but I would say JJ is the closest to selection in the 22 if we get a midfield injury to be honest.