Judd Makes His Return
The moment had finally arrived and didn’t the Carlton fans flock to MC Labour Park to witness the superstar make his long awaited debut in the navy blue albeit in a practice game. And wouldn’t you know it he has a perfect record a skipper: 1 from 1. There was a touch over 10,000 people there to watch and you would have thought it was a game for 4 points !!!. Heck even radio station SEN was broadcasting from the ground.
Just a lazy 20 touches for Judd in his first hit out as the blues won by 9 points over the Western Bulldogs while Aker was best for the Doggies. From the highlights that I saw the roar that went up after Judd got his first touch was unbelievable. In his press conference after the game he said his body was fine and he is looking forward to Round 1. Stock standard answers really what more would you expect I guess.
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8 Players To Watch in This Weeks NAB CUP
While we saw some pretty ordinary and scrappy football during Round 1 of NAB Cup action, Round 2 should see the cobwebs dusted off and some better skills being displayed. We did though get to see some youngsters step up to the plate and show us that they are capable of matching with the big boys. Here are 8 Players that I will be keeping a close eye on this week to see how they perform. All of them had impressive starts last week and look to have had a ripping pre season.
1. Bachar Houli (Essendon)
Houli is one of the youngsters at Essendon that has a big opportunity to become a regular in the Bombers side. From all reports he has had a brilliant pre season and judging from what I witnessed in the intra club game a couple of weeks ago he is not afraid to put his head over the pill while he also has great foot skills. Houli was very good last week is Essendon’ s sin against the Lions mainly playing through the middle of the gorund. He gathered 25 touches last week at it will be good to see him match up against the likes of Scott West, Daniel Cross or Matthew Boyd this week. Read more
Everything You Should Know About AFL Dream Teams
As the 2008 AFL Football Season comes closer all the talk from the footballing public turns to AFL Dream Teams. Dreams Teams are becoming more popular than the regular tipping competitions around Australia. To shed some light on the the latest craze I have enlisted the help of Warnie from Dream Team Talk to take you through how it all works and also talk about their site and how it can help you become the Ultimate Dream Team expert. They run a great site and provide an entertaining weekly vidcast show. You can view the latest episode at the end of the article. So take it away Warnie.
AFL Dream Teams - Written by Warnie from Dream Team Talk
Fantasy sports are taking over the world. Not that long ago the footy talk my mates and I would have was all about who we’ve tipped and how our favourite team went. Now its all about who we have selected as ‘captain’ and how our dream team went on the weekend.
What is AFL Dream Team?
In AFL Dream team, you need to select a squad of 30 players - 9 backs, 8 centres, 4 rucks and 9 forwards - under a salary cap. Your 22 starting players gain points for your team based on the official AFL stats. Kicks and marks are worth 3 points each, handballs are worth 2, a tackle will get you 4 points, a goal is 6 points, a behind will get you one point and a free kick for is worth one, but giving away a free will cost you 3 points. Each week you pick a captain who will get you double points. You can trade players 20 times during the season with a maximum of 2 per week. Players prices are based on form, so if players scores are improving, their prices will increase… and vice versa! Read more
I Know It’s Early But The Tigers Are In Trouble
After watching Richmond on Friday Night against St Kilda I came to the conclusion that they are in real trouble. The Tigers went into the NAB Cup raring to go and all the talk was that they were going to have a crack and I actually gave them a real chance to win, How mad was I. I thought surely they have improved a bit over summer in the skill department and given that St Kilda were fielding a side that was missing about 10 walk up starts to the side they should win. Everything was going well before the game St Kilda had a host of SENIOR Players withdraw from the game. Let me just go through a few names here - Riewoldt, Hayes, Baker, McQuire, Gram, Ball, Gwilt, Dempster, Schneider. And then the Tigers come out and their skill level was terrible, missing simple handballs and their foot skills to their leading forwards was just not good enough.
The Saints on the other hand unearthed some good youngsters in Eddy and Geary while Clinton Jones looks ready to become a permanent fixture of the side. Charlie Gardiner was very impressive roaming the half forward line and looks set for a good year. Their Forward line is shaping up to be one of the best in the comp with Kosi able to spend a lot more time there given the inclusion of the two big fellas King and Gardiner. Mind you Kosi could have been cleaned up a couple of times due to his lack of awareness, it is only a matter of time before he gets really hurt again.
St Kilda look set for a big year while Richmond look set for a long one.
Friday Night Football is Back !!!
At long last Friday Night Football is back, even if it is just the NAB Cup (check out the NAB Cup
Draw). This Friday will see St Kilda v Richmond at the Telstra Dome at 7:40pm and also Western Bulldogs v Kangaroos at TIO Stadium at 7:40pm.
ST KILDA VS RICHMOND
Broadcast on Channel Seven at 8.30pm (MELB, ADL, PERTH), Live Fox Sport Plus (SYD, BRIS).
You can bet your bottom dollar that the Tigers will be out for a win, while ST Kilda will be missing a few key players and may be just using the game as a building block for Round 1. The Saints look set to play the two 
big fellas in Steven King and Michael Gardiner, it will be good to see Gardiner back out on the park again. The Saints will be looking to improve in that area. The Tigers will be disappointed with the Trent Cochin injury, while the fickle Tiger fans will be exited at the inclusion of Superstar Nathan Brown.
As mentioned The Saints are going to be missing a few including CO-CAPTAIN Nick Reiwoldt who hasn’t come up after his corked thigh resulted in knee tendonitis and will be rested. Others too be ruled out at from the released team will be Steven Baker, Sean Dempster, Andrew McQualter and James Gwilt. They will join Luke Ball, Leigh Fisher, Brendon Goddard, Lenny Hayes and Matt Maguire who will all miss because of injury or limited preparation. Read more
Bolton Named Swans 3rd Captain
I wonder what Nick Davis thinks about this? after getting on his high horse and publicly announcing he is ready for the Swans Captaincy. It was announced today that Craig Bolton will join Brett Kirk and Leo Barry as the Swans 3rd captain for the 2008 AFL Football Season. Paul Roos said of Bolton:
“Craig has shown outstanding leadership qualities around the club and also the community for many years and we believe he brings to the table attributes which will complement those which we already have through the other two captains, Leo Barry and Brett Kirk.”
Bolton was averaging 15 possessions, 6 marks, and just under 2 tackles per game in 2007 and from all reports is avery well respected person amongst the players. A better choice than outspoken Nick Davis in my humble opinion!
Ominous Signs for AFL Defenders
Well the Big Fella Jonathan Brown is in great shape and ready to tear up the opposition backmen. Brown is generally behind eveyone else by this time during pre season but this year is much different. He has come off a full year in 2007 and has had an uninterupted pre season to date. Brown is one of my favourite players to watch, there is nothing better than seeing this guy run flat out into packs take the mark and get up looking like it was nothing out of the ordinary which is something to behold (there is a short video highlight at the end of this post).
Brown was all set to play in the Lions intra club game th other night but the game had to be called off due to a waterlogged ground at Coorparoo. Brown declared himself raring to go saying“I am physically feeling really good, no hiccups. I will go into 2008 in better shape than I have in years,” which all AFL defenders will be cringing at. Read more
The Swans On The Slide in 2008
It has all been quite in the Harbour City with not much talk coming out of there over the pre season. With an average age of 24.7 the Swans are in the top 3 in the AFL for the oldest playing list. After five consecutive final-eight finishes I think the Swans may just miss their chance this year.
Let’s have a look who they have gained and discarded.
ADDITIONS:
Exchange period – received: Martin Mattner (Adelaide), Henry Playfair (Geelong)
Rookie elevation: Ed Barlow, Luke Brennan, Kieren Jack
Scholarship elevation: Craig Bird
NAB AFL Draft: Brett Meredith (Northern Knights), Patrick Veszpremi (Northern Knights)
NAB AFL Rookie Draft: Brendan Murphy (County Carlow, Ireland), Jake Orreal (Western Taipans)
DELETIONS:
Retired: Stephen Doyle
Exchange period – traded: Sean Dempster (St Kilda), Adam Schneider (St Kilda)
Delisted: Jonathan Simpkin, Simon Phillips, Luke Vogels, Matthew Davis (rookie), Matthew O’Dwyer (rookie), Sam Rowe (rookie), Earl Shaw (rookie)
No Depth
Well the word around the traps is that the Swans depth is no good and the youngsters they have are just not up to it. In season 2007 the Swans just didn’t seem to hit their straps like I had expected them to. They did have a few injuries but the depth at the Swans was tested and I think failed. The didn’t really pick anyone up that stands out although Mattner will slot in on a Half Back Flank probably but Henry Playfair will struggle to play senior footy and is just a player. I just reckon they looked flat for the entire year and is something that they need to snap out of in 2008. Ed Barlow looked like a player that may eject some much needed enthusiasm into the side when he debuted late in the season, he has pace something the Swans need and can also play in a number of positions. Paul Roos has stated that the Swan have 12 months to have another crack and then all may be over for a while as they may need to start a rebuilding phase. Read more
The first ACL Injury for the Year and Collingwood’s Captaincy Debate
It has been the hardest period in the clubs history and now young Kangaroo Draftee, 22 year old Nathan Grima has become the first victim of the dreaded ACL injury for Season 2008. Grima who played in the Central Districts Premiership Team last year had big wraps on him and was expected to play senior footy this year according to coach Dean Laidley. Now he will have to sit it out on the sidelines for the rest of the year. Nathan Thompson will no doubt be giving some much needed advice and support.
In other Pre Season News, the debate still goes on regarding who will succeed ex Magpie skipper Nathan Buckley, already you can see that there will be comparisons made between who ever takes over and Buckley which will be extremely unfair and difficult to the new skipper. Malthouse has said that there will definetely be one Captain “Collingwood will not have two captains or three captains or four captains — Collingwood will have one captain,” It is probably the biggest job in terms of Captaincy you could have and is something the Pies are not taking lightley. The person doesn’t need to be the best player in my opinion but they certainly have to be able to lead by example on the field which a Nick Maxwell does extremely well, but also they will need to represent the club and be the “FACE” of the Collingwood Football Club for years to come. Which Buckley was fantastic at.
I just don’t think they will go for a Rocca, Burns type as they are in the latter part of their career, i think they need to go for a Nick Maxwell or a Tarkyn Lockyer.
Anyway time will tell and they are said to be making an announcement during the latter part of the NAB Cup.
VOTE 1 for Lockyer.
Fremantle Dockers 2008 - Promise Lots Deliver Little
Many would say that Fremantle are a frustrating side that always promises a lot during the pre season but do not deliver the goods. Will Season 2008 be any different from the boys from the West? Being an Essendon supporter I could be a bit biased considering the strong Essendon contingent at the Dockers at the moment.
Let’s take a look at the Additions and Deletions from the Dockers list for Season 2008:
ADDITIONS:
Rookie elevation: Andrew Foster
NAB AFL Draft: Kepler Bradley (Essendon), Clayton Hinkley (North Ballarat Rebels), Mark Johnson (Essendon), Chris Mayne (Perth), Rhys Palmer (East Fremantle)
DELETIONS:
Retired: Troy Cook, Justin Longmuir, Shane Parker (veteran – outside list)
Delisted: Clayton Collard, Ryley Dunn, Robert Haddrill, Calib Mourish, James Walker, Benet Copping (rookie), Darren Rumble (rookie)
Free Flowing Style of Play
Fremantle are another side that seems to play a free flowing style of game which, when they are on song is great to watch. The have proven to be capable of kicking some big scores and their forward line seems to have what it takes to mix it with the best in the competition. The Dockers were the 3rd highest points scored per game in 2007 proving their forward line can kick some goals. With the superstar that is Matthew Pavlich then he is certainly a man to build a forward line around. He will certainly be the go to man again in season 2008. Read more
