Diamond_Jim

Oh what difference a strong pre-season doth make... Sorry if I've heard that before Most of the players in Round 23 had been back for 4-6 weeks ... about the same as a pre-season Just saying the jury is quite rightly out on this team and its coach. Had we made finals last year we would probably have another 5,000 members at this time... we would probably have had a better draw from a FTA exposure viewpoint. By the way for a club struggling like we are, merely making the 8 is not a great thing in an 18 team competition. Time says we have to hit it lucky some time. Success is needed at a high level over a sustained period. PS... and of course we had a great game against Carlton in 2016 when the future was on the line.

It's pretty well the same team as that which played Round 23 and let's not forget they didn't exactly cover themselves with glory against the lowly Bears the week or so earlier. Ask me at the bye how we are doing and hopefully I will agree with you. Remind me by the way of the season .... I think it was 2008 or thereabouts under Bailey where we were glowingly reviewed as the next best thing. Lost badly to Brisbane in the first round and it was all downhill thereafter. Hate to echo SWYL but this team has a lot of proving to do before it gains the confidence of its supporter base let alone the general public.

but can we have both the Suns and the Roos in Tassie?

Tigers v Roos tonight at Princes park. Both team near full strength on paper . Tigers by 50 plus unless North play a defensive game and then it's Tigers by around 30. Caveat.... Tigers "stars" may only play around half the match which would impact the scoreline.

Amongst others we have Wagner , Kent and JKH on their last contract year with the Dees. Hard to see any of those three being on the list next year. If I had to pick in order of those likely to make it my picks would be Kent, JKH and then Wagner. I say Kent simply because on 2106 form he showed he can play to AFL standard whereas the other two have been tried and showed little. Good luck to them all and let's face it there is nothing to be ashamed of in not making the final cut as long as you've given it your all. Would love to see Spargo play. If he has the footy smarts anywhere near Caleb Daniel he will be a very welcome addition.

Cannot see the VFL coming back as the curtain raiser but the double header with the AFLW is a real possibility. AFLW can still have the early start to the season and then they come together etc to bring the season to an end up until say end of May. Grounds will be in good condition etc until that time. Not sure how you deal with AFLW finals which have to move next year to a final 4 at the very least.

Agree with sentiment but after losing a nephew to heroin addiction I am not sure I can agree with the analogy. Let's challenge the clubs and the players to using the next increase in TV rights to eliminate sports betting and pokies. I believe the clubs know they have a tiger by the tail in the form of pokies and are desperate to find a way to get off their addiction. Not so sure about the AFL and their new found friends at the betting shops.

Excellent point but the cynical might suggest as follows: Pokies benefit some clubs and the victims are the "Aussie Battlers" who the AFL pretend to support while lapping at the corporate trough.... betting benefits the AFL through endorsements and increased TV rights etc and while perceived as a problem is not as insidious as pokies. (Given time it may well become so.)

Have no issue with the four emergencies IF the VFL games are reasonably co-ordinated to allow the emergency to play in the VFL game. Not as though ruckmen grow on trees. The other moves I assume are for television purposes .. ad breaks etc. In the main I don't bother with the pre-game anlaysis but if you think about it the TV stations would consider it prime advertising time

Have given it a afair bit of thought. 7pm on a week night with all the traffic on the freeway and zero ability to use public transport given the distance etc. Sorry ... would have liked to come along but even a game at Ballarat or similar on a Saturday would be much preferred. Alternatively we could borrow Port's oval for the night or similar. Casey just doesn't work for me and I am sure it is the same for many many others. Will continue to watch Casey when they come to town to play.

Interesting half time scores between Cats and Suns with Suns 22 points up. Hard to gauge this match as it's in Townsville and I suspect the Cats are far from best 22. PS make that 40 points to the advantage of the Suns after 5 mins of the third quarter !

350 in front with 6 wickets in hand. Touch wood but I think we have this one ....... about two mins after I post this we lose a wicket so I will shut up !!

Understand your sentiments DD but I am trying to avoid MFCSS for 2018. On a serious note though our destiny will always be shaped by others. For example Richmond last year got a home final in the first week. It could so easily have been an away final against Adelaide or GWS.

Great post To me GWS play in the classic mode (call it old fashioned). Like Adelaide they are susceptible to a team that harasses them and forces them to the boundary line. Carlton showed that they can be closed down at Docklands last year if you want a great example of game plan beating talent. GWS need a small forward. Stevie J when he was on song added enormously to that team. They have two monster forwards in Cameron and Patton. Greene could probably play the role but he would be wasted up forward. The MFC game plan worries me simply because we press too hard which has the dual affect of crowding our own forward line and making us easy to score against on the rebound. If we have a winner in Lever that could make the game plan a lot better.

both good pints Dees but you could argue that there is merit in playing either of the two groups. The kids because it gives them a taste in a non pressure situation and the veterans as you in that it keeps their hopes alive. Let's hope it's all part of the club's plan to make sure we are still cherry ripe at season's end. I see that there are 4 practice matches so it will be interesting to see the mix for the next one on 10 March. Pity our last one is against frankston as I think that by then we will be in serious game mode. (Not to belittle Frankston but I would like to be up against a fully fledged AFL aligned side).

They have just finished a test series at home against India which was a very exciting series. If you think about it a Test series played at this time in Australia would not rate that well either. Not sure how you solve the problem that other than England most of the Test teams are in the Southern hemisphere and in India they like to play in their winter when it is a little cooler. Was in Kolkata last week ... 33 degrees every day at the end of winter !!

Is Winx still heading to Ascot later in the year? Good luck with your selections guys

Sorry of course it was Wearmouth with those long flowing locks. My mum actually taught Tony and Ray at Kindergarten level. I went through a lot of primary school in classes with their sister. The Shaw mum was a lovely lady.

Could not help but chuckle when I saw that today's JLT game between Hawks and Dogs is at Mars Stadium. Who needs Hong Kong and China when we are already taking the game to Mars !!

Just wondering what some would accept as a passable win loss ratio as the competition turns for the bye round. I have the figure at 7-4 but one could argue that on form we should be 8-3 with the Bombers game being the questionable one. Of course the world is an uncertain place but in reality our first half of the season is a soft draw by comparison to the second half (particularly four of the last five games). No room for second half of season fade outs etc and certainly no room for the... " they are young and tired" line. Goodwin and his team are paid big bucks to manage the team and he needs to do so in a manner that delivers success. I measure success as the final 8 with one or two finals wins. A premiership requires luck something our club has not had in large measure for over fifty years. These are the rounds: 1. Cats at MCG (loss) 2. Lions at Gabba (win) 3.Roos at MCG (win) 4.Hawks at MCG (win) 5.Tigers at MCG (loss) 6. Bombers at Docklands (win)? 7.Saints at Docklands (win) 8. Suns at Gabba (win) 9.Crows at Alice Springs (loss) 10. Bulldogs at Docklands (win) 11. Pies at MCG (win)

Boy some of you guys must have spent a rather disinterested time for the last 50 years if you had no interest beyond the MFC. Following MFC has taught me you have to have an interest in a second club. Mine changes from year to year. I can even admit to following Collingwood in the late 70's when they had Hafey as coach and Ronny Weideman etc were playing electric football. Also loved West Coast when they were at their top. Who could fail to get excited by the run and carry of that midfield of Cousins, etc (albeit what we now know they were juiced on). My second team these days is GWS ..simply because they are an experiment in building the perfect football team. As an AFL member it's no extra cost to watch these other games if they interest me. GWS v Carlton last year was a fascinating tactical battle played at a one third full Docklands. Easy seating and change your seats to follow the forward or back play as the mood takes you. That does not decrease my passion for the Dees but it does help pass what would otherwise be some rather disinterested seasons over the years. Hopefully the MFC delivers this year.

IIRC Collingwood did this a few years back after they had a lot of injuries to senior players. I like the VFL but it seems that it goes out of its way sometimes to increase its irrelevance. Two things I would suggest: Increase its budget and play a longer season. When the AFL team is playing interstate the VFL team should play a home game (how about scheduling the VFL game as a curtain raiser timing wise to the interstate game )

Strange..... Given that the first VFL game is not until after we have played our third AFL game you would think the fringe AFL players would be desperate for a chance to show their wares

Must have been done before Collingwood played last night

Losing to the cellar dweller North not once but twice was what killed our season. North only won 6 games for the season and was one game and percentage away from the wooden spoon. We also just fell in against Carlton and didn't exactly shine against the Lions and of course we lost to Freo. Have to toughen up this year. Our run home in 2018 is not easy so we had better be around 7-4 at the bye if want to be comfortable.