Roger Mellie

Agree about the 50m penalty. In this setting 25m would be more than adequate. 2 very dodgy frees to to Carlton Lite in front of goal. You might want to amend your final score Georgina - you're selling us a bit short! Great report

We should give it to Josh Kelly then

Goodwin has said all along he would be fielding strong teams. He needs to get the group playing together as much as possible, particularly Hibberd, Melsham and Lewis. I expect this to continue and for players only to miss through fitness (Hibberd, Tyson, Kent, Frost), discipline (Watts), form or resting. I could only see the old codgers (Jones, Vince and/or Lewis) being rested plus possibly Hogan. If he was experimenting/trialling I'd expect to see Smith, Hulett and Keilty out there (for eg.)

Q. What's better than one thread sinking the boots into Jack Watts? A. Two Glad I coud contribute

Humour

Very happy about Salem and Brayshaw. Salem isn't soft and never has been. Polished is the word you're looking for

Paging Webber

I thought the skill level (whilst still not great) significantly improved over last week's effort across all games - the one's I watched anyway. It's quite refreshing to see games without the constant staging for frees and whining about free kicks (even though we were slaughtered by umpire no. 5).

I'm starting to think if Kent's some way off, JKH will get the nod. Harmes for Tyson (but I think Tyson will be right) and, Wagner or Melksham for Hibberd (who also should get up)

Any comments on Maynard? Thanks

A caller on SEN claimed the bulk of play (congestion) happened on the interchange side of the ground. His solution was to have one team's interchange on one side of the ground and the other on the opposite. It would end teams trying to keep play on one side of the ground to minimise the distance to the interchange. The flow-on would be less congestion. That's his theory anyway.

Brayshaw - calf Jetta - NFI

Great work RABF. Just a typo - Jack Trengove has played 84 games. Hope he gets to 100 then 200. Cheers

Nup. The only tall forwards to finish top 5 in the last 8 years or so are Franklin and J Brown.

Binman, just FYI, there is an underground carpark next to the Demon Shop. If you tell the guy on the gate that you're there to go to the shop, he will find a spot for you to park. I've done it about 4 times.

I assumed he was a close friend or relative. Viv Michie wouldn't say boo to anyone (although he may have been more chatty with the keyboard)

I remember watching his action a few years ago and noting his hand position. Back then (and possibly still) both hands were at the same height, with his motion being not unlike the 'dropping the ball' signal from the umpire (without the theatrics). Quite comical

Agree on Harmes too. Training reports suggest he's taken his fitness to new levels at the very least.

Jake 'The Tongue' Spencer

VDB, JKH, ANB, Spencil, Kennedy, Bugg I find these players hard to squeeze in and I wouldn't be surprised to see any 4 of the above request a trade if offered better opportunities. If we struggle with injury this year the list should shrink. I hope JKH gets a good run at it.

Exceptional photography! The close-ups of the ruck and all contests are just brilliant. Thanking you and I will revisit and enjoy these pics again and again.

Can you clarify if Salem is training with backs or mids or a bit of both? Thanks - most reports to date have noted him with the mids.

Jetta T Mac Frost Hibberd O'Mac Hunt Brayshaw Viney Stretch Petracca Hogan Kent Garlett Weid/Ped* Watts Gawn Lewis Jones I) Tyson, Salem, Vince Oliver E) Harmes, Smith x 2, Melksham, AVB

Deeluded?

Great article!