Diamond_Jim

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".

Another of those nothing games... Meh if we win as Geelong are the real challenge... and if we lose... well that's it if it's not already over. Hope Goodwin has done his tactical homework and has a plan B because his plan A has not worked of late.

Drafting at 20 makes some sense and we have talked about it before. The trouble is that unlike the US College system which provides ultra high level coaching we do not have the equivalent base here. Somehow there has to be a secondary path to AFL. Although we see the occasional draftee from VFL I am not sure that is the best system.

Did Oliver ever play in the VFL? If my memory serves me correctly he played the first round in the seniors after he was drafted.

That's a shame ..the food in Malaysia is pretty good but after a while you can get tired of it. The fresh produce is great value at the local markets. Must say my favourite for Asian street food is Vietnam ... the flavours are so wonderful. If want to live on the wild side try India ... have been there a few times now and lived on the street food without problems. Mind you sitting in the gutter watching the pigs scavenge nearby as you munch on your puri can be a little off putting for newcomers ?

winds of 20-30kph predicted for Sunday. Hopefully it doesn't affect the game too much. Would be good to see Balic, Baker and Petty have a solid game. Also interested in the ruck as there's a lot of improvement needed there. PS: Just saw that Drunk'n has posted Balic out ...pity he needs a solid run

found an even worse franchise at KL airport the other day... MarryBrown.... desperate so I had a chicken burger... it literally had no taste whatsoever.

tickets to the finals are in the main easily got except for the GF and buying a normal membership is really no help in getting a GF ticket. For example in the first few weeks of the finals AFL members can normally buy 5 guest tickets. Melbourne v Richmond in a prelim final is probably the only scenario that would get close to a sell out.

care to expand. I didn't really notice the umpires other than the strange free kick to Ablett in the centre.

23 years... 1964 to 1987... and 2006? (cannot remember but I think that was when we were last in the finals) until ???. That's a long time by any measure

Was a very good game to watch last night. Didn't seem to be over umpired and the game flowed. The break aways on the scoreboard followed by Geelong reeling it back added to the excitement in that it wasn't your classic arm wrestle where only a few points separate the teams. Just wondering if anyone knows why it felt so open as a game? Was there a particular tactic or was it just luck.

England should have iced the game in the first half. Their second half was woeful but they seemed to wake up a little in extra time. Well done to Croatia. They were the better team probably. If France play to potential it could be a big win but somehow I don't think that will be the case. France 2-1 in normal time. PS: The success of Belgium and Croatia in this World Cup augurs well for the smaller teams. Did we beat or draw with Croatia in 2006? Interesting comments on the academy systems in the guardian. People suggesting that by putting your money into so few(often identified at age 8-10) England is effectively limiting its talent pool.

Happy for Adelaide to win tonight. Have little desire to stagger into the finals. Would do us good to win a few against the better teams to see if this game plan has any legs.

the great JFK returns.. Ask not what your team can do for you but what you can do for your team. Just DO !!

nah ... be like Hawks supporters and plan for your GF attendance and bbq. Hard to think that 1964 was over 50 years ago. I'm sick of losing.

If Stretch is injured (big If) I would give JKH a go. Not a great fan but there isn't much else at present at VFL level.Baker perhaps but I think the result would be the same as Petty...not quite ready yet. Tyson anyone ?

no sauce..no post on a rumour like that

Good first half between France and Belgium but the game seemed to fizzle out a little after the France goal. England v Croatia ... who knows? Must say I was taken aback by Croatia in the black shirts against Russia. Very reminiscent of the days of Tito etc. England in extra time is my wild guess.