Diamond_Jim

Well picked DZ even if it took a howler by the keeper to make it so. While not quite hitting the highs of champagne football it was an entertaining match. I thought Croatia's tactics of soft fouling early and often went a long way to stopping France from getting any breakaways. Croatia should be proud. They played a good game but France were the best team of the tournament. Thoroughly enjoyable world cup and my time in Moscow and Kazan will always be a highlight for me. The Russian people in the end made it their world cup and it was a great one. Thanks to you all on this forum .... it's been great to swap thoughts with you all. Mbappe the fist teenager to score in a WC final since Pele... wow that's a big burden to carry. I will always feel lucky to have seen that France v Argentina game where he announced himself to the world. Now for a new coach and the Asian Cup.

Wonderful analysis Deespicable. While I don't agree with everything (especially Pedersen down back) your thoughts are very well argued and worthy of full consideration. I think your thoughts on picking for match ups are very timely. Can't see us smashing it at the cattery but if we play smart we can grind out a tough win.

cannot be long to go.

the fat lady is definitely warming up in the West !

looking at that ladder is painful. We'd be on top if we had beaten Port, Geelong and Saints !!

'tis a dangerous game we play wanting Norf to win but why not ..... Go Majak !!

draws take percentage out of the equation BB. It's one thing we have in spades. Probably better to take our chances with knocking one of them off

Eagles do some seriously straight kicking 8 goals straight PS: and f course as I post they kick their first behind

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-07-14/star-demon-a-late-out-as-injury-strikes-again Here's a bit more info from the AFL site: "It's a funny one. He was a little bit sore (on Friday), so we had a scan and there were some early signs of stress on that toe and really we didn't want to push him," Goodwin told reporters. "We need to get that right. We don't want to get to a stage where he can't play.

cannot see many changes if any. JKH and Hannan would be under scrutiny but both are likely to keep their spot. If Baker were to have a good game for Casey he could come into the mix perhaps in place of Hannan. Jetta was off for most of the last quarter so there could be an injury worry there

6. Brayshaw 5. Gawn 4. Oliver 3.Hogan 2. Lewis 1.Spargo ( because I like him)

Now a win to the Toiges and the Suns would be a beautiful ending to the day

Amazing second half considering the Darwin game last week. Perhaps we are regaining the mojo

From the AFL site: The Demons kicked eight goals to three in the third quarter on the back of a stellar effort from Max Gawn and Angus Brayshaw. Gawn won seven hit-outs to advantage in the third term, whilst Brayshaw won 12 disposals, three clearances and three inside 50s.

Slowed down in the last 10-15 minutes of the quarter. Need a solid opening to the last quarter to put the game to bed. Darwin anyone ?

from the AFL site: The horror third-quarter season trend continues for the Bulldogs as the Dees pile on seven unanswered goals in less than 15 minutes of football. Max Gawn is dominating the ruck with 12 hit-outs to advantage, 11 more than the next best player.

whatever they had at half time ... bottle it !!

well .. that started well ...Not

Interesting choice with Hannan in front of Tyson. My guess is that JKH will now be played in the midfield which has been his role at VFL level.

describes our recent game plan perfectly ?

matching a six year deal with some form of loading (front or back who knows) would be a challenge for any club. BTW I heard the Hawks football manager on 3AW saying that Cyril Rioli's would not be in their salary cap next year as he had retired. Understandable but it does open the cap up to some manipulation. A retirement job at Visy or similar perhaps. Not suggesting that was the case for Cyril.

couldn't be worse than the Carlton grey or whatever colour it was last night. Looked like Calvin Klein underwear !!

Saints play Giants, Bombers, Hawks and Norf in the the run home. A few wins by them against that lot would not harm our ladder prospects at all. Of the other non contenders probably Brisbane is the only one capable of an upset (perhaps the Dogs and let's hope it's not today.)

Wish him well but it would surprise me greatly if he fires. His VFL form has always been rather good but at AFL level he continually fails. Cannot see why this time would be different. As RBG says although our VFL team wins it has not been very successful in recent times at producing AFL level players. Brayshaw was an anomaly but who was the last player who played say a year at Casey and then established themselves in the AFL side. (Fritsch doesn't count.) Hopefully Petty and Baker start a new trend.

it's the blueprint for beating us as we all know...wonder why the Coach doesn't? It's a bit like the pantomime where you yell out " He's behind you".