Older demon

Out of left field. Max in game 2 said that Kruezer had given him grief in the past and was happy to match him in round 2 so maybe the club will return to the JLT experiment of 2 tall ruckmen. Spencer to Kruezer and Max the marking forward. That would put enormous pressure on their back who always play the extra man back. I thought our lack of tall marking power up forward hurt us last week as many kicks under finals type pressure were to a contest and easily defended. Viney will be out as will Bugg and White struggled. Tyson still a slim chance to get up as there was no structural damage to his knee. Carlton strength lies in Kruezer, Murphy, Gibbs, Crips in the middle and run of half back. Goody with strategy will go a long way to deciding this match.

I was at the junior clinic yesterday and the only players excused were those on crutches Viney & Tyson and those at the tribunal. The players have today and tomorrow off and many are still a bit sore from Friday and cumulative games. Friday training will determine player suitability. The kids ask all sorts of questions and Jeffy was direct when asked he expects to play Sunday against his old team. Watts looked after basketball drills and didn't do much I doubt he got out of a brisk walk.

The way Roos and now Goody coach is they bring a player in and give him a role. So for Jack to come in what role would they want him to play? Of late he has been playing half back at Casey and to quote Plapp, "Learning a new role". I don't think we need another half back (quarterback) at the moment. If Hogan returns I expect we will play one less mid anyway. On this basis I would be pleasantly surprised if Jack is selected

Barring other injuries I expect Bugg, Viney Tyson and White to be out. We all wondered why White jumped ahead of the other form players and now we know why, he wasn't up to the task at the moment. If available Hogan, Garlett and Watts would come in automatically and JKH, Ben Ken and Kent may be considered. In line with other weeks, I expect changes to be kept to a minimum

So who at channel 7 and the HS reads Demonland as I assume this is where the story broke! They did the team and themselves no favours and explains why White was selected and Dion Johnstone was an emergency. I am sure when they had the session they didn't know Salem and Kent would be out. I don't think is was a little drink either if they were noticeably untidy at the next training session. Maybe they didn't think they would be noticed. Very brave of the club to draw a line in the sand re behaviour as it was clearly going to impact on the Swans game and team selection.

They did not appoint a vice-captains as we have co-captains never imagining we would lose both. Have to look to the leadership group but in this situation, they only need to nominate someone to toss the coin as the entire leadership group needs to stand up and LEAD. To cover injuries everybody needs to lift a bit

Hibberd Jetta O Mac TMac Frost Trac

Just who was on the tribunal tonight? Ex players who believe in the old code and let Schofield off. Tonight made no sense both for Houli or Schofield to get off so lightly, perhaps Houli getting 2 meant they couldn't give Schofield the same penalty. I think we all believe that a Melbourne player would not have been dealt with so leniently. I think even less of West Coast with their defence belittling both Clarry and the umpire who laid the report. The MRP have no credibility

When he was recruited, Robert Shaw was of the opinion that at that stage Chris was the most influential player in the competition. He understood why Roos targeted him as he was then and is now rarely beaten, very competitive and hard at it as well as being a beautiful kick. I note that in the picture of the top 10 draftees that year, 3 are at other clubs, Boyd, Freeman and Aish have all moved on.

Tippet has been omitted this week

Agree First quarter into a 3 goal wind we kick 2 and are down by 15 points The second quarter start off well and make basic mistakes and turnovers playing dumb, lairising footy. Keep going into the corridor and turning it over and once the ball clears our press it is a GC goal. Poor football, under 18 stuff by a group drinking its own bathwater Third quarter after 10 minutes the leaders stand up and we play accountable football and get back into the game now the wind has dropped Fourth quarter complete domination to kick 9 goals 4 over a team that chucked it in. Give some credit. For years we have watched good first halves and then teams run over us which we have come to expect. Not once this year have we turned it up or thrown in the towel. Yes some players ambitions don't quite match their abilities and there is lots of room for improvement and we still are down on a killer goal to goal line but we are getting better

Zac is a much-improved player and provides run and grunt, but my preference would be to fill the gap we have in key position players before we get another mid.

Agree but will you talk to Salem after Arsenal beat Everton 3-1 or will you mention that Arsenal missed the top 4 for the first time in 20 years?

Cunnington's was NOT a jumper punch. It was a punch to the guts and the MRP get out was to grade it low impact. Someone please do an experiment and deliver the same blow to Jimmy Bartel and Nathan Burke in the street. You would be charged with assault in an instant. I hope McLachlin is true to his word and does something as punching is not a good look. Condoning punches to the abdomen is unacceptable

Until we can settle our goal to goal line we will be up and down. The Roos had Tarrant, Thompson, Cunnington, Waite and Brown up the spine and they all took a lot of contested marks. Hawthorn beat us boasting Frawley, Stratton, Burgoyne, O'Brien and Gunston. Essendon have Hurley, Hartley, Merret, Hooker and Daniher so unless we play keepings off these guys dominate. We have yet to settle the spine with loss of Garland, both Smith's (in their first year) and Hogan. Weid, Oscar, Frost and Hannan is going to struggle from time to time. In the JLT we were using Spencer as the other big body and we rely on Gawn to take the contested marks down back. Our key postion playesr need time to develop or we need to recruit. I love the way Frost plays, Tommy Mac is are main key defender and Hoges the key forward but who else would get a game elsewhere. Gold Coast and GWS both were able to get all the best key position players in the last 5 years. I hope Joel comes in and develops into a key back, I hope Weid develops into a key forward but both are 2 seasons away.

All year changes have been kept to a minimum. Salem will accept the week and Kent will have a rest ANB and Melksham in I would like Harmes to come in but after a week as emergency the club often sends them back to Casey.

This is purely opinion but Jake Spencer is a RFA at years end and is a Qld boy. I would be loathe to see him go but he has been forgotten in the rush to get Max back. We need a back up ruckman but Gold Coast rely heavily on Witts and GCS may target Jake if we start targetting theirs. As an RFA we don't have much bargaining power either. As we know from other threads all clubs have the next 2-3 years planned for recruiting from under 18's, free agents and others who cannot get a game but may fill a role. I find Lyon's comments unhelpfull. We need to shore up our own stable and look after our a grders and reserves before we look too far afield

6. Hibberd 5. Hannan 4 Pederson 3. Jetta 2. Frost 1.Tyson

Exactly I pointed this out elsewhere he backed out of that contest and the ball went sailing past him. For all the vitriol JKH got Kent has not been any better. Give me ANB, Harmes or Stretch any day of the week

Things that annoyed me today. Oliver is not playing under 18's and some of his handballs may have worked at that level but not AFL. He is a kid but today his handball was ordinary and of low percentage, he was much better when he kicked it. Petracca, likewise is not playing under 15's where he can shrug opposition off and run and carry. He is still trying to do too much. His best is awesome his worst is school yard stuff and puts pressure on downfield. My old coach said do the first thing that presents. Kent, lots but in the last quarter I am sure he stopped and waited instead of going for the ball (as in didn't go in hard enough). Not a patch on last years efforts. Bugg, for leading for the ball in our forward line when we all know he cannot kick for goal. 4 behinds from gettable shots and the momentum changing miss after the 3/4 siren Much as I love Jones, he burns us on those turnovers and it happens way too much. Umpire Nicholls refusal to pay any free kicks especially to MFC. You could drop it, throw it, trip someone and manhandle someone with no penalty. His deliberate out of bounds in the last quarter that actually came off the body of Wood was laughable. Ziebel punching Clarrie behind play and Cunnington punching Bernie on the umps blind side. Hope they both get a week off. Other observations are that Norths goal to goal line dwarfed ours and took too many contested marks. We made too many skill errors and North kicked 11.9 from turnovers. I liked Hannan's game and Jetta is so under rated

All I asked for was for the players to contest and boy did they contest. I cannot remember a Melbourne team going that hard for so long, hunting in packs and tackling. Maybe have to go back to the days of John Northey coaching. That is an awesome result and a great return for Bernies 200th. Go Dees

The Scott brothers tactics used successfully is to not press up too far. The Crows especially Eddie like to sit back and get the easy one over the top. This will be a real test for our defensive structure. Tag Sloan and limit his touches and tackle and apply pressure in the same way the Hawks did to us last week. remember the hawks pushed the Crows early in the season.

Everbody talks about teams coming out after a bad week in the press. Hawthorn got belted in the papers last week jst as we have this week. I want to see some effort from the team leaders. We need to show the football world we care and can bounce back and take it right up to Adelaide. Go dees

So far this season every team appears to have its week in the limelight, for all the wrong reasons.The coach, the game plan the players all spend a week under intense scrutiny. This appears to be our week. I hope we respond as others have by coming out this week breathing fire. Collingwood has had the most publicity for underachieving and in 2 games have come out punching and Adelaide are expected to come off their first loss with and angry attitude. Well, I hope the Demons are even angrier and more committed. All I want is a 4 quarter effort. I hope the ex-member who wrote that letter is known to the club and not a setup by Ox to give the club a prod.

Changes will again be minimal unless Goodwin has specific targets who didn't turn up to play. Only those in the club will know. I think Ben Ken will come in with either ANB or Stretch coming in for JKH and Bugg.