Ted Lasso

Sounds a bit conspiracy theory ish.. but.... i don't think the AFL were ever going to let all these kids walk out of a club they're already copping heat for, the AFL will be working on getting them to stay

Something i think the club would speak about is winning a flag with melbourne after all the hard times would mean so much more than effectively selling out to get one at another club, PAV played his whole career at an average freo side and stayed loyal despite big offers, he's now gaining the chance to finish with their first every flag.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-06/dons-banned-from-drills

I agree, and i really don't think he is going anywhere, i think his manager has stressed to him the importance of this particular contract, it's the biggest decision he will make in his career and told him to really take the time to make the right decision here, which is totally fair enough and well within his rights. i think GWS are the ones who are going to offer him way overs if anyone does, and if that happens i'm sure we'd be well compensated but it would be extremely disappointing.

Watching the replay, the whole first half the side really went away from what they have been training in terms of kicking into the 50 with purpose, it's okay to kick in high to the talls if you're in trouble or under pressure, but if you have time and space they really need to lower their eyes and hit targets which is something they have really improved over the pre season, it's just a shame they went away from that at times.

IF jeremy desides to go we aren't going to let him go cheap, from a marketing sense he offers any football club a lot, combined with his huge level of talent. if we lose Jeremy i think we will get something good back anyway so it shouldn't be a huge loss but i think he'll stay on

Positives 1. Nathan Jones keeps on keeping on. 2. Jesse Hogan on the park 3. much improved team effort 4. Vanders and Newton start well 5. Jeff and H add a lot of Zip 6. still got some strong players to come back into the side ( Vince, Howe, Watts, Trengove, Petracca ) Negatives 1. we lost 2. lacked composure 3. lapses in intensity, when we were up we were the better side. 4. some of the skill errors were awful 5. thought the umpiring was a big ordinary 6. pretty sure picket started this thread to have a dig at Toump, despite him being okay and others clearly worse.

I thought we were alot more physical than i have seen us in the past, every player seemed happy to put his head over the ball, all tackling, all chasing hard and hunting the ball, the whole team looked quicker and quite dangerous in space. and to be honest, that should be non negotiable of AFL, the fact that is a positive shows how far back we were. others have knocked the Toump again, and maybe rightly so, but personally i thought he ran really hard, laid some tackles and when he had the ball he was happy to take the game on, and he built into the game, he just needs to keep on building. Hogan smashed contests, took marks, created alot of scoring options, i can't remember a 0 game player who has been more vital to the structure of a team ever, and this isn't based on hype, it's on what we have seen the kid do. I was quite impressed with frost when he went back, to me he already offers more than what frawley did. I thought we were the better team, but Fremantle sensed our lapses and went bang, which is probably something we still need to learn, seeing when we have the momentum and making sure we impact the scoreboard as much as possible.

It seems that way, although i think we have done pretty well out of the Giants so far anyway, the took scully, gave us a few compo picks that got us Hogan and co, and then we snagged Frost and Tyson who both look really good. is asking for one more a bit greedy?

He looked good, but as Roos said they were going to go with strong bodies, Billy will get his chance this year I think

Disagree dazzle, watched Billy train up close and while he has talent I don't think he is quite ready for senior footy, Matt Jones will fill the void while the next wave develops naturally. Billy would have only ever been sub if he had played

Will announce Devon Smith has also signed on tomorrow.

His manager said today talks weren't on hold... I reckon the age is incorrect here. Apparently had a chat with Josh and were going away for a week or so to think before speaking again.

Some of the comments here you would think we list by 186 again. Thought we were pretty good

Dawes has been moving seriously well at training and again tonight, i think he is in for a good year.

I think kicking out of the backline is more important than ever in modern footy, if Grimes is constantly missing easy targets it's a real concern, especially when our bloke is out and a simple kick is missed.

I think howe will add a lot when he comes back, alot of freo's long bombs in are exactly the reason Howe was put back, big intercept marks and big pack marks

Good effort first up, imo we already look much better than last year, great to see the boys taking the game on and a couple of good targets up forward helps. really impressed by Frost

Much more attractive footy to watch, Vanders looks very good, as did Newton, Salem classy off half back, Hogan.. wow

so can't do it on the laptop?

bought an AFL.com subscription, how do i watch the game with that?

I'd be far more happy to see dawes kick 5 tbh

Hypothetical question, is the Essendon picking the four players from their 2012 list who weren't involved in the supplements saga an indirect breach of confidentiality? it certainly seems that all of a sudden protecting the identity of those players isn't such a priority, why threaten to boycott games, and then do this.

Calling it early, Kent, Garlett and JKH to be very dangerous in this game, if they all play well i'm not sure freo have the small defenders to cover them, they will be more worried about Hogan, Dawes and Gawn

he is 196 cm, and has kicked bags of 3-4 playing as a key forward, i'd say he very much qualifies, I rate Fitzy, but it is a big year for him. I think Pederson, Gawn, Hogan, Watts is plenty of tall targets for round 1, even without Dawes