Glenn Molloy

Yep - having read the match report, it was clear he was ok in ruck contests but struggled around the ground. Dogs have gone quite tall with Cordy and Boyd in to join Roughead so will be interesting to see how it plays out. Still feel better with a ruckman than without one but let's see...

He had a shocker yesterday, no doubt but I actually disagree with the comment that he's not doing his share of defensive work. Watch closely in the last quarter when Phillips gets their transition goal in the last quarter. Lewis was the only mid that chased all the way down from HB to get to Darcy Moore. The ball came to ground and Phillips pounced but it would have been a simple mark to Moore without Lewis' involvement. I definitely think that a 3 year contract is on the generous side, as I think he might be cooked at the end of next year but he'll still add value prior to that. I do think he's still getting used to our style of play, at Hawthorn he'd wheel around to see guys open on the diagonal kick and nail it, whereas we don't spread the same way. Having said that, there was a kick in the last two minutes to Bugg I think, that he missed from 20m away. He wouldn't have missed that kick in a million years at Hawthorn! Let's just see how he goes over the next few weeks before we crucify him for a bad performance.

Rohan is actually a damn good footy writer. I can recall an article he wrote about Balmey when he joined the Dees which was just about the best footy article I've read. i still enjoy his Monday round up of the weekend's games which is fifteen times better than Slobbo's efforts. And, I don't mind the fact that you see his Bombers allegiance come out every now and then, because it proves that he's a footy fan like the rest of us. Unfortunately, as Praha and ProDee quite correctly call out, his constant commentary on politics and music and love of his own voice means that I find him unbearable on mediums such as Twitter and SEN. I had to unfollow him on Twitter because of the fact that he filled my news feed with music videos, and became so sanctimonious when people disagreed with his music taste that it became unbearable. Rohan, feel free to tweet a great music clip every now and then or something that really gets you going politically, but I follow you for your footy opinions, and when those become completely overshadowed by the other stuff, you become a pain in the Chaminda Vaas!

As David would say himself "Fantastic". Geez he loved saying that word in interviews.... Interesting looking at our list of Legends. I expect J.Stynes to be added to the list at some stage but to me there is one gaping omission. R.Flower. Has to be a legend! Hall of Fame Legends2001 – Norm Smith2003 – Ron Barassi2006 – Ian Ridley2008 – Donald Cordner2013 – Ivor Warne-Smith

One thing Zak will need to remember is that if he plays for us, he'll get suspended for what he did on the weekend - the MRP like handing out weeks to Demon players as opposed to fines!

Agree, whilst it shouldn't matter, we have played nearly every team at full-strength this year - Brad Scott said that it was the first time they'd been able to put their full team on the park and it was against us! Hawthorn was the same when they got Rioli back. Must take full advantage, although I would prefer Lynch out ahead of Gaz!

Agree, and let's not throw Mitch King to the wolves just because we want to have a look at him - he's four games in after coming off a knee reco. Would love another option for Weids (who needs another pre-season or two) but unless they think Hullett is ready I just don't think we have any other options. Hullett has played back anyway most of the year, only went forward in the second half last week. We will need a bit of run this week after a 6 day break and playing in 29 degree heat, which the GC will love. There are a couple of no-brainer ins for mine - Melksham and Harmes. After that, it's whom out of ANB, Stretch and Ben Ken we include and who goes out. I reckon Ben Ken has been pretty consistent in the twos and his pressure and ability to win the ball could be handy (not so thrilled with his ball use). For mine, it's: In: Melkshake, Harmes, Kennedy Out: Salem, Kent, Bugg (bit stiff, I know he kicked 0.4 but he at least got in dangerous positions). Tempted to drop Wagner but think we'll need him at H/B with Salem out and he can also play a little taller than others

Interested to get your take on this now Jaded? I have been really happy with Goody thus far but my one worry was whether or not he was prepared to be flexible in terms of the way we played and in adjusting to the strengths of the opposition. In his press conferences he regularly mentions “playing the way we want to play” and when asked about opposition stars like Dangerfield, Martin etc trots out the “we’ll back our mids to go head to head” line. Whilst I’m comfortable with that for the most part, because we do have to establish our brand and give the players confidence to back themselves in, I do think there are times when you need to adjust. He did this brilliantly on the weekend – the Vince tag was an example and perhaps an obvious move but his move of TMac to the forward line was a game changer. I was a bit perplexed when I first saw it as I thought it would leave our defence horribly exposed but because we were winning the ball, it didn’t – and not only did TMac kick a couple, he set up at least another two as a valuable target. His decision making isn’t as big an issue in the forward line! Goody is willing to take a risk to change things up – the move of Hunt the week before also changed the momentum. I’ve also noticed that we are not getting nearly as many goals kicked out the back against us as we were in earlier rounds, so he’s adjusted defensively as well. I was already pretty happy with Goody before this game but did have a couple of small reservations. Those reservations have gone after this week. We’ve got ourselves a gem.

Even before Hogan was out, I felt like we were going to get poleaxed. They have absolutely smashed all teams at Adelaide Oval this year (GWS, Rich, Ess) and controlled the Port game. Now that Jesse is out, if we get within 7 goals we've done ok.

This. Our biggest glaring weakness is key backs. We need someone to take the big forwards to free up Tommy Mac and Frost to be more attacking. May can do this easily and whilst Lever's body is still developing, he's adaptable and his decision making is excellent

This is one of the most staggering paragraphs I've ever seen on Demonland, and that's saying something....

Jon Ralph is in the top 5 of dud footy media (and there's plenty to choose from) and confirmed it by giving 3 votes to TMac. Overall he was definitely in our better players but the brain fades and turnovers mean that there is no way he was BOG. I'd have Lewis, Hibberd, Pedersen and even Garlett, who continues to chip in with a few goals a week and great defensive pressure, ahead of him in the best this week.

Scott Pendlebury is the other one who owes Jesse an apology. For him to sanctimoniously come out and say that he was "staggered" that an AFL player would have a smoke when it had been reported that Hogan had some family issues was pathetic. Maybe Pendlebury's rigid approach to life and leadership is one of the reasons why playing at the Pies in recent years hasn't seemed to be much fun.

He won't be coming back via Casey!

I agree with you re: Hogan - although he was goalless last week he's so valuable as a hit up forward and doesn't need to kick a bag to make a difference. In regards to Lewis, what I've noticed is that he's looked up a couple of times and not seen a target that he might normally see at Hawthorn, and found himself under pressure...he's playing in a different team and game style. What people forget with the Hawks is that part of the reason that they hit targets is because those who received it made it so easy for the kicker - their running patterns are so predictable to one another. Even Chip Frawley hits more targets at Hawthorn now! I think you'll find that Lewis makes less turnovers the more games he plays (starting from round 6 unfortunately!!)

I'm quietly confident as well - there was alot of pressure on us last week to make sure we didn't "choke" against a bottom team. We nearly did, but getting the result will give the players plenty of confidence, and they will go into the game with freedom given that the Hogan/Lewis suspensions have most punters writing us off. The other thing that is notable is Geelong's selection - they've bought back two inside mids (Guthrie and Menegola) and Zac Smith, because they are very worried about our brute strength around stoppages. They were on the canvas last week against North and it's a sign of a good side to come back and win but I just think their depth isn't quite what it used to be. Need huge games from Tommy Mac on Hawkins, and our small forwards (Kent, Hannan, ANB, Garlett) to combine for at least 6 goals for us to win.

Bit of a storm in a teacup. Wait till the ratings during footy season and then we'll know more...I rarely listen to SEN in the summer and I suspect there are many others who are the same, although I can't say I turned the dial to Radio National! Hamish is a wet blanket and I wish he'd get off both the radio and the TV, just loves to hero worship and gets paid a squillion for it.

And that's what I won't miss. The regular brain fades that had one of my mates calling him "Lynden Dumb".

The reason that they kicked it better than us is because they were rarely under pressure when they turned it over, and had players in acres of space out the back. The prime reason they beat us in both games last year wasn't their kicking, it was their exceptional pressure. I reckon Richo said to his men both times "if you harass and pressure them like mad, they'll cough it up with 1m handballs to no one, or blast it on the boot and we'll zone off and turn it over". We never adapted to it. In both games we started quite well but when they really put the heat on, we couldn't handle it, and we struggled to get the ball back due to their pace and our press being far too high. The other thing they have is a decent ruckman who knows how to nullify Maxy - Hickey isn't a star but he's mobile, smart, and broke even with Max both times. We didn't get as many of those dominant clearances that he so often provides. I subscribed to the theory a couple of years back that they'd drop off when their old crop retires. I'm not so sure now. Montagna is still handy but not as critical as he once was, same for Gilbert. They've drafted well in recent years, and now have some midfield depth with the likes of Koby Stevens and Jack Steele, who aren't first choice but handy second tier mids. Of course they will miss Sir Nick but if McCartin can stay healthy, they have a very exciting forward set up with Bruce and Membrey and some very classy small forwards - Billings could be a genuine gun and Gresham looks the goods. I wish we had one of that ilk up forward. I do think that on our day, our midfield is better than theirs and can get a hold of them but round 1 will be really interesting to see what we've learnt from last year. The excitement about the Saints is based on real evidence, they beat some good teams last year. I'm just as confident in our own list build and can see both sides having a genuine rivalry over the next few years, although that is only possible if we actually start beating them in a game!!

Why would Kelly want to come to us given that we overlooked him in both the mini-draft and the following year's national draft? I reckon he'd love proving us wrong playing with GWS and if he moves on, to another Victorian club.

David Cockatoo-Collins Darren Louttit Peter Kiel Brent Grgic Brad Sparks Damian Gaspar John "Horse" Ahern and of course, Glenn Molloy

UP: Saints (6-8), Gold Coast (8-10), Essendon (8-10), Melbourne (6-8), Freo (9-11) DOWN: North (12-14), Geelong (6-8), Adel (9-11) Port (bottom 4), Hawthorn (6-10 - praying for them to miss!) Richmond, West Coast, Pies to tread water.

Rhys Matheson. Never been more riled by a first year player than this [censored], absolute expert at ducking into the tackler, and also did that stupid shotgun thing. Let's see how good he is in 2017. Toby McLean from the Dogs is another who won't be happy.

The guy's ego is off the charts. Glad it's been taken down a peg or two.

Injuries are going to be key - we had the best run we've had in a while last year, we had the odd key player out for a couple of weeks here and there but really, all our guns were fit and available for most of the year. Some of our promising youngsters (e.g. Brayshaw, Salem are two) that didn't have such a great run and they will play an important role this year in our improvement. As others have said, if Gawn goes down, heaven help us! Don't forget that what was most amazing about the Doggies flag was their ability to cover multiple injuries throughout the year. By finals time they had 90% of their best team on the park and only had a couple of injuries to fringe players (Suckling, Jong) so availability at the right time of year is key. Melksham, Hibberd and Lewis make us look so much better straight away. But it's still a very competitive league, and a few of the easybeats of last year (e.g. Brisbane, Gold Coast) and the "easybeats" that we couldn't beat (Carlton, Essendon) should be stronger this year, meaning that there are very few gimmes. I think given a reasonable run we could finish 7th or 8th but I can't see us finishing higher. Less than 11 wins would be a disappointing year - more than 14 would be a fantastic year.