Will be interesting to see how we line up. I've had a crack based on Judd missing and Gibbs being fit.

B: Tuohy Jamison Everitt
HB: Simpson Watson Walker
C: Gibbs Bell Thomas
HF: Armfield Henderson McLean
F: Menzel Waite Garlett
R: Warnock Murphy Curnow

I: Yarran Kreuzer Robinson Scotland

Although different players in terms of pace it appears Armfield/Ellard are competing for a spot possibly with Cripps. I've probably missed someone who should be in.

Westhoff will be a tough matchup with his ability to push a long way up the ground.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Walker and Tuohy should be fine with Yarran a 50/50

Judd, Gibbs, Docherty and Carrazzo are highly unlikely to be ready and Armfield is also unlikely. We'll know soon enough on Army.

Henderson is a most likely but what fitness base can we expect?

Gibbs telling people despite his injury he is fine for round 1.

You never know. Highly unlikely but you never know....................don't put any hard-earned on it though.

I won't be. But it sure has thrown a spanner in the works for my fantasy draft tonight. Don't want to waste a good pick if he doesn't play in the early games

But he did tell people yesterday @ the VFL match that it would be fine & was using that hand freely (despite it being in a guard). Guess we'll see.

What's up with Yazz?

Lower leg injury but I don't know exactly what. Armfield has a knee complaint and was last hobbling about.

There's still another practice match to go obviously, but this team looks about right to me Effes. I'd rather see Simmo & Tuohy the other way around, but otherwise I reckon it's a good guess.

Cachia & Ellard did their prospects no harm whatsoever during the NAB Challenge, so you'd think they will be first in line if the likes of Gibbs & Yarran don't come up. It won't be like for like admittedly. One of them might get the nod ahead of Armfield anyway, even if Armfield is fit.

What other possible surprises could there be? How safe are Robbo & Scotland? Could Cripps get a run early? Buckley? Is there a good match up for Boots?

If Hendo doesn't play this Friday, it's hard to see him playing Rd 1. If he doesn't come up, here's hoping that White plays well on Friday and pulls up OK. It has to be White or McInnes because I really don't think we can add Levi or Rowe to a team that already has Warnock, Kreuzer and Watson....

A worry for me is how slow the side looks.

Another worry is that we're crying out for more run, but nobody is calling for Lucas to play...

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Port will be starting favorites. There's not going to be much to take out of the Bulldogs prac match.

Don't know a great deal about Port - anyone knowledgeable enough to have a crack at picking their side and possible matchups ?

Pretty close to the mark Effes although I reckon Mick won't hold back in maybe picking a couple more kids.

I reckon Port will line up like this:

B: Jonas Carlile Broadbent
HB: Pittard Trengove Moore
C: Hartlett Wines Ebert
HF: Cornes Schulz P Stewart
F: Monfries Westhoff Gray
R: Lobbe Boak Wingard
I: Polec Neade Cassisi White

Lots of midfield depth...Polec has been impressive during the pre season games. Carlile/Trengove interrupted pre seasons.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

There is always a surprise come round one. Friday will give a better indication.

At this stage I'm thinking:

Buckley Jamison Walker
Yarran Watson Touhy
Simpson McLean Everitt
Thomas Casboult Gibbs
Garlett Henderson Waite
Kruezer Bell Murphy
Ellard Curnow Menzel Scotland

Wouldn't surprise me to see Warnock & White get a game but just not sure how tall we will go and how to fit them in especially at Etihad.

Still missing Docherty, Judd, Carrots. Lucas, Graham, Cripps on the fringe.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

The exercise of putting our team on paper really highlights to me 1) how weak our KP stocks are; and 2) our lack of run.

We'll need an above average spell of good luck with injuries (not off to a great start in that regard) and in close games to make the finals. We'll also need at least a few of our lesser and/or younger names to have 'break out years'. Most importantly, we need ALL our players to embrace team pressure - every minute of every quarter.

Can anyone see all those things happening at Carlton in 2014?

I would love for a poster who is confident we'll make the 8 (and there are a number of you out there) to make a believer of me. I mean that sincerely. I WANT to believe it. Someone please convince me!!

Otherwise I think there's too many "ifs" and our list just doesn't look strong enough to me. I really hope I'm wrong, but I'm bracing myself for a fairly tough year...

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

That's up to you..................don't ask for help.

Anything can happen in an AFL year and Malthouse has worked out what he wants now.

Let's hope he can get what he wants out of this group....

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

The ambitions are somewhat larger than wanting to milk a premiership this year.

Still trying to get the back-room in order and...................so far, so good.

With a number of senior players under a cloud (Hendo, Gibbs, Yarran, Walker, Tuohy), I reckon there might be a few on the fringes who would want to put in a decent showing - even if just for a half. Eg. White, Lucas, Graham.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Agree with all that.

It's fair to say I'm more hopeful than confident about our short-term (2014) prospects. I'm cautiously optimistic that we're slowly heading in the right direction in the longer term. Certainly more than I was 2 years ago anyway.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

You can never be sure..........What seems right today can fail tomorrow but it is about systems, vision and drive.

Malthouse covers most areas pretty well and to date hasn't a gun to his head.

Disagree with that if it's true we are carrying a number of injuries. Surely an opportunity for Graham, Cripps, Lucas to prove themselves worthy of covering for Gibbs? Yarran?

Port should start as favorites but we will start as favorites due to the game being played in Melbourne.