Ladder-leaders Melbourne were unexpectedly tested by bottom-of-the-pile North Melbourne on Sunday and although the Demons managed to win, their victory came at a cost, with defender Adam Tomlinson all but certainly tearing his ACL.
Tomlinson went down early in the first term, which closely followed the pre-game withdrawal of former captain Jack Viney (toe), who will be out for two to three weeks.
How the f... does Dan Andrews escape massive scrutiny re the bush fires (ditto the NSW Premier). No fan of Scomo but forests are a State Government issue....his head should be the first to roll. I guess the Libs have been silent as they don't want to rock Gladys' boat....
Shame on the lot of them.
The 2010 Victorian Royal Commission recommended the “state fund and commit to implementing a long-term program of prescribed burning based on an annual rolling target of 5 per cent minimum of public land” - equal to 385,000ha annually.
It appears the State Government here abandoned hectare-based targets in 2015, opting for a ‘computer modelled measure of residual risk’ ....WHY?
Using the Royal Commission’s target of a minimum of 390,000Ha of annual hazard reduction burns across Victoria, the actual planned burnt areas were;
I note Port play Melbourne tomorrow. Dixon and Wines big out. We'll win this one if Charlie C. puts in.
Their injury list:
Joe Atley Knee Available Matthew Broadbent Hamstring TBC Charlie Dixon Leg/ankle TBC Riley Grundy Knee TBC Sam Hayes Knee TBC Jarrod Lienert Knee TBC Jake Patmore Knee Season Paddy Ryder Cheekbone Available Ollie Wines Shoulder 2-3 weeks
Updated: Thursday, March 21
Early prognosis Ryder has been given the all clear to take on Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday. The ruckman will wear headgear to protect his cheekbone. Co-captain Wines looks set to miss at least the first two rounds in his recovery from shoulder surgery. Vice-captain Hartlett will play in a SANFL trial game on Friday night in his first game back from a torn ACL, while young midfielder Atley (knee) will also resume with the Port Adelaide Magpies. Broadbent will miss the SANFL game after experiencing hamstring tightness at training. The club isn't putting a timeframe on the return of key forward Dixon, who had a clean-out of his right ankle on Tuesday afternoon. He's likely to miss at least the first month of the season and possibly longer. Defender Lienert is sidelined with medial damage to his knee sustained in the second JLT Community Series game against North Melbourne. - Lee Gaskin
ok. Looking at 2017, to make the 8 not only did you need the wins (12 minimum) you also needed to score about 2000 points or more over the season (22 games). Or 91 points a game. 15 goals. Richmomd scored 1992 in the H & A games.
We scored 1594 points. 71 points a game. We exceeded 91 points only twice in 2017 (with a few others in the 80 point range).
So roughly 400 or so extra points are needed, loosely.
3.5 more goals a game, 1 goal a quarter.
I note we scored 89 and 97 points respectively in the two recent JLT games.
Factors that should improve our scoring (potential) in 2018:
1. A less defensive mindset/system - very evident Bolts has removed the handbrake...
2. A more even, deeper (emerging) midfield - (led by Special K) Cripps, Murph, Kennedy, SPS, Fish, Cuners, Lang, Curnow (x2).
3. Organic development in players - Charlie C (20g in 2017), Levi (34g), Crippa (expect 10+), Harry Mc (the great unknown), SOJ (19g, 2017), Pickett (10 given injury), Fish (10+ expect), Wright (good for 25 odd).
4. New additions - Dow (10 goals +), Lang (15 goals), Garlett (12goals), Kennedy (10 goals).
Looking at the basic numbers, an extra 20 points (3.5 goals) or so a game is not really that much to attain.... in my opinion.
My summation? If Big H steps up and kicks close to 20 goals in 2018 (and/or Charlie goes nuts and kicks 50), we'll make finals.
Experts' picksRANK Jake Niall17th Michael Gleeson17th Peter Ryan15th Jon Pierik15th Daniel Cherny12th Warwick Green17th
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Why they can make the eight The Blues will hope for eight wins this year, which means the finals are a further four unexpected victories away. That looks like a big leap but, remember, they lost six matches by 19 points or less last season. If Jacob Weitering, Sam Petrevski-Seton and Charlie Curnow can become consistent, strong performers and Harry McKay kicks goals, the Blues could build momentum quickly.
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Why they can't make the eight There is still so much work to be done. The Blues had only seven wins in 2016 and six last year, including one from their final 10 matches. This list does boast great promise but it is still too early to expect a consistent, hardened side. Sam Docherty's absence is a major blow.
Summary Min 13 Max 27 Partly cloudy.Chance of any rain: 0% Launceston area Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming north to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening.
The Hawks? Meh.
Blues by 37. In a canter.
Hawks (with no Rioli for sometime I gather) look ordinary everywhere. A few good kids eg Ryan Burton but no real stars (Roughy fading, Mitchell a possie machine but....).
Siciliy and Gunston as defenders? Surely robbing Peter to pay Paul? Frawley and Gunston at 193cm their key defenders. Who stands Harry at 203cm and Levi at 201cm? Let alone who runs with Charlie?
Looking forward to seeing SPS hook up with Crippa, Kennedy, Paddy D., and the cousins!