oh yeah i sat at etihad friday night and froze my balls off there too

melbourne were more insipid than hawthorn and richmond combined

made the dogs look way better than they were

i saw very little to be worried about -

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

You must have balls the size of peas by now Grro!

Looking forward to this one - I reckon it will be a strong showing and a good chance to try our defenders out against a genuine gorilla (in Hall, regardless of being underdone) before we come up against the filth in a preview of the finals.

Another big statement would will give us a lot of confidence going into the filth match and will make them a little worried.

Blues by 54 points

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"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself" - Henry Ford

I'd agree with this to an extent. I don't rate the Hawks slow chip forward possession game - they do it because they lack the leg speed to run it through. I feel you need genuine pace to undo the Pies, and we have that.

But I also agree with Teknodeejay, the Pies looked mighty mighty good. If we can just push them in Rd 17 it will give us huge confidence.

Tough to make unforced changes to a team that won by 103 points, so the temptation is to bring Duigan (if fit) in for White and otherwise leave things as they are. If Duigan is not ready, then probably Austin (who might also come in for Waite if he is injured, I know Ratts said it was just a precaution to take him off late, but you can't accept that as gospel) who by all accounts was the best of a poor lot of big men in the 'Ants yesterday, Bower doing little as a wingman before being moved back but still not looking much chop.

That said, I am tempted to look beyond the needs of this week and consider Austin in so as to give him and Henderson a chance to show their wares for a shot at the 2nd tall defender job behind Jamison. If Setanta were ready I'd also consider him, but I don't know if his hand will be right and it would probably be wise to give him a run in the 'Ants anyway rather than rush him back into the firsts. If he does well in the 'Ants and Austin flops in the firsts then he could come in as a straight swap the next week, he is certainly one of our few options as a gorilla tamer down back.

If we went that way the question then would be who to go out for Austin? My choice would be Houlihan, despite the fact that he does a good job defensively on running defenders and has elite disposal, he looks slow and we probably should get more games into Tuohy who would be the other logical candidate. Russell has been looking a bit borderline as well but would be hard to drop. So on reflection,

IN Austin Duigan (if fit)
OUT White (inj) Houlihan (unless Waite is injured or Duigan is not ready. If neither is available bring in Armfield for pace).

AJ and McLean seem to be the only other guys who did much in the 'Ants, but both have too much deficiencies at AFL level.

Yarran Henderson Thornton
Laidler Austin Scotland
Simpson Gibbs Murphy
Garlett Waite Robinson
Kreuzer Walker Betts
Warnock Judd Carrazzo
Duigan Ellard Tuohy SUB Russell

If Duigan's fit (and I mean 100%), straight swap for White.
Brock might be a possibility for some extra grunt in the middle, but not sure who I'd leave out.
Can't really think of any other changes right now, and even if Curnow were a chance I'd rest him or give him limited time in the 2's. He clearly wasn't right before we lost him.

Pressure will be the key. The Dogs play their best when given room to run around (the Dees' bruise-free footy played right into their hands), and especially at Etihad we should give them no room to move. We do that, we win. We let them loose, we're in deep shit.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

AFAIK, we've already gone down the cautious route with Curnow?

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

I'm not sure what the fascination is with bringing Austin back in. Can someone enlighten me?

Free beer?

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"I had to eat"

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end of message

We need a tall defender, and he's one of the few fit and in form. Check out TalkingBullants for more info.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

So a massive match against Collingwood in two weeks, and who should we come up against this weekend but the Bulldogs! Seems eerily reminiscent of 2000 (have a look at the Blueseum for any of the young tackers who don't know what I am talking about).

Hopefully we won't fall at the hurdle this week, and set ourselves up for a near-100k crowd at the 'G against the Pies.

We had won 13 in a row coming into that day, this time we are coming off 1 in a row, so hopefully no history repeating.

That game against the doggies in 2000 was Bob Murphy's first game too.

I think we will win, though some of their better players looked to be finding some good touch last week in Cooney, Gia, Hudson and Hall.

Also I think its quite obvious McLean's papers have been stamped, he wont get back in unless we have a horrific run of injuries. Im with Hotcox on Austin, simply not up to it. Also if their is a comparison between Hendo and Austin in defence, Hendo has shown more in the last 6 quarters than Austin ever has.

Setanta is a better tall defender than Austin at this stage when he's fit and ready. I wouldn't go stuffing around with the forward line from Saturday at all (in regard to Setanta and Hendo). Leave it alone and refine the defence and we'll be in with a very good chance of finishing top 3 or 4.

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end of message

I did - but the suggestions there are that he is a bit average. Am I not reading between the lines?

So was Judd

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Ecclesiastes 1:4, "One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but The Blues abide forever."

In: Duigan
Out: White

The only other possible change would be Hoops for Curnow. We'll need all our best midfielders to keep rotating against the Filth, so if he's right to go I'd play him this week. No Dawes (who regularly carves us up) means that we don't really need Bower - but would be good to get a game into him.

Baggers by 36.

They shouldn't have dropped him in the first place. Austin is just as capable and versatile as White who didn't even get near it before he went off. Better kick and athlete than White with his size. A positive comment stating that Mark can play a role is taken as "He's a superstar" and indispensable.

Aside from a couple of games this year where he played loose man late, he hasn't played in defence since the Pagan era. Austin is the guy out of the two to bring into the defence. Setanta isn't fit and regardless, I think it's Bower who's coming into the team.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

In 1992, we had the Collingwood Centenary match (their's) after a game against the Doggies. It was Diesel's intro after his suspension. The Dogs jumped us and we lost badly but then we trounced the Pies on their very special day on a Thurs night.

Good times.

I'd like to win both this time.

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T E A M

bloody give AUSTIN ago! he didnt play well against eagles! not many backs would when the balls getting kicked in every 30 seconds!!!!!!!!!! and u havent played AFL for 57years !!!!! id give him 4 or 5 games in a row! THEN JUDGE THE BLOKE!