Diamond_Jim

If speed is his only weapon and in the main that is straight line speed he will have difficulty when there are 36 players in about one sixth of the field. He has to reinvent himself... he's young enough and has the basic skills. Perhaps give him some midfield time at VFL level to start finding the ball again. Unfortunately I can see him slipping slowly out of sight but I very much hope not. Same with Billy Stretch.

It will always be 31 (tbh we should retire that number as it carries such enormous expectations). Perhaps we will when RDB leaves this mortal world. (But hell let's do it during his lifetime!)

He's in ... end of story if there ever was one. The only way he misses if his body readings or whatever they use to measure fitness etc were out of kilter after the VFL game and that is low. Not sure we can expect him to tear it up first game back though. Tag or no tag he was only reasonable last week at Casey but what else do we expect after 9 months or so out of the game.

This year we may have struck it lucky in that two of the teams we play twice are the Saints and the Suns. We also have the Dogs twice which if we are trending we should win. That by itself is 6 wins. The other two are Geelong (next time at the cattery) and Adelaide (once in Alice and once in Adelaide). Freo at Darwin instead of the MCG turns what should have been a 70/30 game into a 50/50 game of Fyfe remains on song. Other than the obvious of winning everything I am more interested in how we can make top 4. I suspect we missed that chance with not winning one of our 50/50 games so far this year. Our opponents for that 4th spot are Hawthorn, Geelong, Swans , Adelaide and Port so watching how these teams go over the next few weeks becomes important. Adelaide playing Port twice makes for a plus for us .. I think.

OOOh... love the arrogance........ almost Hawthornesque

If correct I think you've hit the nail on the head there Ouch. You have to love the AFL when it enters the judicial world .... This could detract from the build up to the big China game

wow... interesting dynamics

Just to add... if you are an MFC member (including AFL with Melbourne support) entry is $5. Still looking for car parking info on the venue if anyone has it. Cheers

No wonder the Age is struggling. Couldn't really find anything in this article worth quoting but to give you an idea: "Shanghai is the biggest city in China, home to more than 25 million people. China has a population of over 1.3 billion. Shanghai is also home to several big Chinese businesses who just might be interested in introducing themselves to the Australian market by leveraging a sponsorship with a club in Australia's most popular football code. And if only a quarter of a per cent of all those living in the greater Shanghai area became members, they'd end up with more than 60,000, far from the worst membership tally in the AFL. The team would not need to be the biggest sport in Shanghai, just big enough to establish itself." https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-as-a-true-global-sport-don-t-laugh-it-could-happen-20180515-p4zfdx.html

C Curnow The footage is being shown in slow-mo. Curnow accepts he looked at the ump before touching him.

please don't remind me .... please

Bulldogs chairman was asked last year how much he would want to play in China... he said $1M.. (not sure if it was $1M plus expenses or all up.) Watch it though ... while the weather on Saturday is not too bad at 25... it is 36 tomorrow and the humidity can also be high. Frankly I'd play it during the split opening round thus getting over the weather issue and giving you a few days extra rest afterwards.

ET .. that's a fantastic idea..... All it needs is an email from the powers to be to the Chinese students in Melbourne and you will have 20k at the drop of a hat. Fly in some movers and shakers from the Big C and you will have the local corporates drooling Run a few lotteries or similar in China on their TV with free trip to Melbourne etc and we could be on a winner. Finally beam it back to China and have a big prize for picking who kicks the 8th goal. Can Demonland claim royalties as well for the idea !!

But surely it's a key opportunity to talk about the taking of AFLX to Hong Kong Mind you I have always preferred Cantonese food to Shanghainese !

That is one of the amazing things ... it's a Port money spinner but they wouldn't do it at the expense of one of their own home games. The AFL scheduling contrivance is mind boggling even if you agree with the revenue maximisation philosophy.

They even have a website .. worth a look to understand who in reality they are marketing to (think corporate) https://shanghai2018.com.au/ Seems that the actual spectators seats are at either end of the ground which explains why the wing located cameras show an almost deserted stadium. (Opening for a virtual crowd projection perhaps?) My search of the Shanghai Daily did not turn up anything on the big match.

Thought I'd start this thread early so we could participate in the build up to the big game in Shanghai. Hopefully the Reverend and others can come on and tell us about the build up in China's business capital. The stadium is known as Adelaide Arena at Jiangwan Stadium. Read a few weeks ago it was a sell out but then again last year it was a sell out and the TV coverage showed a lot of room around the ground. As it's AFL money subsidising the event it's worth a chat. (No business case as yet.) Last year they complained about the big blow out.... may be even worse this year.

Fritsch in the Lewis role or similar? Could make sense. Thanks for noticing it Saty.

Has a real feel of scapegoat here as others have mentioned. Not often you see an assistant coach moved on mid season. The press release talks of allowing other members of the coaching staff to have input into the game plan.. sorry that responsibility sits squarely with the head coach and head of Football.

I know it's stupid but Charlie's gone ... he was going for the pack... saw the umpire getting into his path and gently pushed the umpire out of the way. He almost certainly knew it was the umpire as can be deduced from the strength of the push... an opposition player would have got a forceful shove. His obligation there was to avoid the umpire .. but then again this was the rule last week and this week...play on !!

last year at Round 9 the Bulldogs and Freo were in the 8. Tiges were 7th with saints 9th. In 2016 the 8 was settled very early with only North going on its losing streak and just about falling out. it was probably the earliest it has occurred in recent years. (Just go to the AFL ladder site and you can search the ladder for the last several years at any time of that season.) Like your thinking though !!

Of course the conspiracy theorist in me says that no way will the AFL ruin Carlton's glory week.... (remember Cotchin) Now if it were the MFC ... well.....

agree... the thread was mainly to consider Lewis and Vince but as I said in my OP Nev is now 28 and not that many players go much beyond 30. Sure some do but they are the exception. He has another two seasons at least ... injuries aside... but as there are 3 players that are in the window it is not insensitive to have the conversation. Wanted more to look at what is coming through and whether the club is being pro active in identifying the talent from within.

Might be time to fit the umps with beepers like they have on trucks when reversing

Fair summary Drunk'n but it tends to support my view that there is certainly no one smashing it down back at present. Will follow the boys down back closely.