ignition.

Hope you all enjoy it. I recommend you get to the game early (at least 1 hour early) and as others have said, feel free to adventure around. Try and get down to the fence or get behind the goals with the Melbourne cheers squad. You will get a rush seeing one of our goals come through. The main thing is to surround yourself with other club members, cheer, and have fun. Feel free to yell "ball", "man", "GO Dees", etc. Just follow what the rest of us do... as a sports lover you'll be a natural. Enjoy P.S You may find it strange that supporters of different teams often sit alongside each other. It's hard to explain but we just do it. I think it's because so many teams grew out of the same areas so we show little malice towards one another. Sure we have our banter and light teasing but ultimately we're all friends (after the siren).

Incredibly tough one to call this week. But here goes. (7) - Goodwin (excellent and well-executed game plan by all) 6 - Hibberd 5 - T. McDonald 4 - Garlett 3 - Jetta 2 - Pedersen 1 - Oliver Hannan, Lewis, Watts, O. McDonald and Salem also very stiff to miss out. Very little separates my six above.

Well said. The stats for Melksham are a lie today. He's done a fantastic job shutting down JJ off halfback.

Brad Johnson should NOT be commentating a dogs match. He's ridiculously biased. Generally, I like him but f*** he and Hudson (bias too) are just painful to hear.

Listening to these bias commentators (exc. Brown) are driving me nutty.

6 - Petracca 5 - Jones 4 - Hibberd 3 - Viney 2 - Watts 1 - Oliver

Bugg hobbled off with a handstring. They transitioned while we were one down. Keep going Dees. We need to capitalise.

A stupid brain fade from Bugg. Nearly very costly.

Bloody Oscar. Perfect chance to go back with the flight and spoilt but instead he watched it. The McDonald brother can be liabilities.

Trac and Jones the only two keeping us alive in this quarter.

Salem is having a stinker. Not composed and shrugging at contests.

Agreed. She does a fantastic job around the club and on the television.

"Doesn't possess anything we need" or "we have too much of that type" are the biggest cop-outs I read on here. Steve you stated the same thing regarding the previous proposal for Tom Mitchell (and he's killing it if you haven't noticed). Are we or are we not trying to build a team worthy of winning a premiership? If YES, then we have two major windows approaching. The first includes Vince, Lewis, Pedersen, and Jones, while the second does not due to their respective ages and forthcoming retirements. It will be led by our young-bloods coming through. Thus, we will need to find replacements for the above players, while also continuing to generate depth. This will be done via a combination of developing our current crop, as well as drafting and recruitment. To maximise success we need to make the best use of all our draft pick assets (especially the late ones where Balic fits the bill). I'm not proposing Balic as the next ball magnet like Tom Mitchell or Clayton Oliver, but from what I saw he was impressive. He's certainly no worse than our own Stretch, ANB, Bugg, Harmes, and even Brayshaw, and he's certainly better than those at the bottom of our list. Consistent with the fact he averaged 31 possessions as a 19 year old in the WAFL last year makes him a very promising long-term prospect.

Cameron McCarthy is going quite well for them. With any late pick (draft selection or trade) there is some form of risk or deficiency. At his current market value, the pros vastly outweigh the cons.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. That house ought to be heritage listed.

Reasons why?

Sorry I cannot conclusively confirm it as just homesickness. Interestingly, I just watched one of his U18 "draft me" videos where he mentioned he was coached by our own Justin Plapp. Surely he should help provide the club some greater insight into his character and current state.

Harley Balic: age 20, height 187 cm, weight 82 kg, outside (predominantly) midfielder originating from Victoria. Out of contract (2017). Some of you may remember him from 2015. He was touted as a top 20 pick who slid to Fremantle's pick 38. He's since taken leave several times, currently on permanent leave, due to homesickness. I was quite impressed watching him play against us this year. I recall him winning some tough contested ball and hitting some rather difficult targets by foot. Overall, he didn't get a great deal of it but he did do enough to stand out. At the moment his market value is as low as it can be, and we (or any other Victorian-based club) should be able to acquire him with a 4th round pick. Considering the probability of those late picks coming to fruition is quite low, whoever acquires him will have themselves a steal. A few years ago I made a thread proposing the selection of Shane Biggs as a rookie (now a W.B premiership player). I hope we don't miss this opportunity. Observations and thoughts? (I think dazzle saw a bit of him in his U18 year?)

Last year we targetted Michael Hurley (27 y.o, 193 cm, 92 kg) as a KPD. This year the names of Jake Lever (21 y.o, 195 cm, 93 kg) and Steven May (25 y.o, 193 cm, 102 kg) have been thrown into the works. Jackson Trengove (26 y.o, 197 cm, 97 kg) of Port Adelaide is out of contract at the end of this year and is a more than capable key defender. I rate him higher than May, and at this point, Lever is only a prospect (still targetable for the long term). What are your thoughts?

Hi all, If you are not aware of it yet, for about a week now the AFL has presented a survey on their site. It covers the continual changing of rules, umpire interpretation (kind of), twilight/night grand final, and the proposal of another Tasmanian expansion team and suggestion of a current team relocating. I for one hate the continual rule changing proposals (e.g. abolishing the bounce, the concept of a finals "wild-card", last-touch OOB, etc.); I swear I hear a new one everytime I tune into SEN. The polo-playing punce Gillon McLachlan is starting to destroy the essence and unique nature of our game. The survey can be found in the link below: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-29/cant-land-dusty-or-kelly-north-reveals-plan-b

Most kicking and goal practice, since young, the players (or us) wouldn't have worn mouthguards. E.g. Kick-kick with friends, and running around the backyard, street, park, or oval. So taking it out best emulates the conditions they've practiced in most of the time E.g. that relaxed state of mind while lining up trying to hit a target or send it between two objects.

6 = Garlett 5 = Jones 4 = Hannan 3 = Hibberd 2 = Oliver 1 = Melksham

OUT: Wagner, Weideman, Salem (suspended) IN: Melksham, Tim Smith*, Stretch *Dave Misson stated in last week's injury report that Tim Smith should be ready for selection this week. At this stage, he's a better option than Weideman. In time I have no doubt Weideman will come good, he at times has shown some promising signs. He just needs to develop his body, tank, and game in the seconds.

If I ever hear that at a game, that person will now be asked "Adam Farr....? (with one raised eyebrow)"

There are always going to be losses. There will be times we'll perform badly and lose just like there will be times we perform badly and win. Conversely there will be times we'll perform well and get out played to lose and of course times we'll perform well and win. It doesn't matter how you look at there are always errors in every game. Other options could have been taken and things could have been different. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I don't think yesterday's game was insipid. In fact it was far from it. Like many of the games I've seen in recent years, particularly grand finals, there were swings in momentum. I like many of you have seen insipid and poor performances over the last few years and that wasn't one of them. To be fair the umpiring was atrocious and we're lacking a quality ruckman and forward (Weideman isn't ready). Many of the skills need to be tidied up, particularly kicking long and to space for easier transitions, but at least we're seeing the players crack in. If we would have got the win yesterday Demonland would be singing praises and people would be yet again talking us up as premiership contenders. P.S on Weideman people need to lay off him. I would hate to see him become the whipping boy. Yes he is not ready for AFL footy and needs a run at Casey. Keep in mind he's a tall in his second year who generally take longer to develop. He's shown some promising signs to date. He just needs to fill out and transition from a skinny boy to a man.