Preview Today!!! Rd 1v Freo at Perth

[Snake_Baker]

No

Even though Timmy will now make one with that ****ing cat?

 

[Gasometer]

Even though Timmy will now make one with that ****ing cat?

It’s too hot

Ain’t got time for that

 

[Groin guru]

Rd 1 Game Preview

SUMMARY
North Melbourne is the next challenger to step up to the plate and attempt what no interstate team has been able to do in 2019 - knocking over a WA club at Optus Stadium, this Sunday against Fremantle. The in-form Kangaroos will back themselves, too, after an impressive Ansett Cup pre-season trophy win. With Coleman Medal leader Ben Brown in outstanding touch, a lockdown tagger in Ben Jacobs who could target Nat Fyfe and a watertight defence (AFL No.1), North shapes as the toughest opponent the Dockers will face at home in 2019. With their season teetering at 0-0, the Dockers will be desperate to defend their home turf after another disappointing season in 2018.
WHERE AND WHEN: Optus Stadium, Sunday, March 24, 3.20pm AWST
TV AND RADIO: Click here for broadcast guide

LAST FIVE TIMES
R10, 2018, Fremantle 8.10 (58) L North Melbourne 12.14 (86) at Optus Stadium
R16, 2017, Fremantle 3.8 (86) d North Melbourne 12.10 (82) at Etihad Stadium
R5, 2017, Fremantle 9.13 (67) d North Melbourne 9.8 (62) at Subiaco Oval
R4, 2016, North Melbourne 20.12 (132) d Fremantle 14.17 (101) at Etihad Stadium
R21, 2015, North Melbourne 14.10 (94) d Fremantle 12.11 (83) at Etihad Stadium

THE SIX POINTS
1. Goldstein has been dropped for this game after a lacklustre pre-season. Sandilands often towels him up so the resurgent Campbell gets a chance to show what he's made off.
2. Thompson is not playing due to suspension but North Melbourne supporters will have him listed as a starter right up until the bounce.
3. McCarthy is a bum with s**t tattoos. McKay will man handle him with ease.
4. Freo's walters is dangerous but a fully fit Marley is the best lockdown small in the league. North may opt to put EVW on walters highlighting his versatility.
5. North's won't be trouble by the fast track thanks to recent additions Pittard, Polec, and Hall (all expected to start). Pittard's run and gun approach was been a highlight throughout the pre-season. Many have tipped him as a shock AA selection.
6. North are the team to beat this season and will probably go undefeated.

IT'S A BIG WEEK FOR …
Ben Jacobs. Dockers superstar Nat Fyfe stands between the Kangaroos and their chances of winning by over 10 goals at Optus Stadium. Fyfe is overrated and is hoping Garner isn't playing as he still has nightmares about that time he was hunted like a gazelle. North's lockdown tagger will have an easy time of it.
PREDICTION: North by one hundred points

 

[Reginald0]

Fixture loves punting us interstate for the first week. I partially blame that.

Oh no
Not the fixture
Not where we play
Not the 22 on the park
None of that.

Just the Coach

Absolutely nobody else in the slightest degree is in any way responsible for nmfc losing every first round game since he came on board

 

[Waussie]

I'd rather watch this game than sit through another Round 1 2018 Gold Coast Suns type game.

Rock hard ground and bloody hot weather awaits, different enough.

 

[Billy Not Really]

Rock hard ground and bloody hot weather awaits, different enough.

At least the footy will actually bounce, marks can be taken and kicks won't fly off to nowhere.

And best of all, you're not losing to the Gold Coast ******* Suns.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Fyfe strife: Top Docker 'sends scare through camp'

FREMANTLE superstar Nat Fyfe says he has avoided serious damage to his troublesome elbow after being forced from the training track at Cockburn on Monday. The Dockers were concerned for their skipper after he was tackled and landed heavily on his right arm, which has been bandaged in recent weeks to protect an inflamed bursa.

"(It's) not too bad. Sent a bit of a scare through the camp," Fyfe told Perth radio station 6PR. "I've got an inflamed bursa on my right elbow, which I'm training with strapped up at the moment, and I got tackled and landed quite heavily on that exact spot. "It's pretty painful, but not lasting damage. It's just something I'll have to manage for the next couple of weeks."

The news is a relief to the Dockers, whose depleted midfield stocks can ill-afford another injury setback with Connor Blakely (hamstring) out until about round seven and Stephen Hill (quad) sidelined until at least round three. Fyfe expected 33-year-old veteran David Mundy would be shifted from his predominantly forward role to help cover dual Doig medallist Lachie Neale's absence in the early rounds.

Neale led the Dockers for average disposals (30.1) and clearances (7.1) last season, and ranked second for contested possessions (15) and tackles (4.2).
"Lach's a big loss from a leadership capacity and just his general ball-winning, that contested-type player," Fyfe said. "There is a bit of a hole there. Reece Conca has come across (from Richmond) and he's putting his hand up, as is (ex-Bomber) Travis Colyer.

"(Adam) Cerra and (Andy) Brayshaw in their second years are players we're putting a lot of time and effort getting them into our midfield. "The obvious replacement is Dave Mundy, who has played as a forward for us the last year, year-and-a-half, but he's an established midfielder and most likely, particularly in the short term, he'll come back in and play as a midfielder."

Fyfe is expected to captain the Flyers in AFLX on February 22 at Marvel Stadium and will draft his squad of players on Wednesday.

 

[Snake_Baker]

It will be "inflamed" when Cunners & BJ get hold of it.

 

[FlyHigh18]

We're a better team than Freo but there's a number of factors which may go against us; the unpredictability of Round 1 games, lots of new players which requires time to gel and settling into the rule changes.

But at the end of the day, if Jacobs plays then we win

 

[Mav]

We're a better team than Freo but there's a number of factors which may go against us; the unpredictability of Round 1 games, lots of new players which requires time to gel and settling into the rule changes.

But at the end of the day, if Jacobs plays then we win

why would any of those go against us more so than against Freo?

If Round 1 is unpredictable then it makes it 50/50.
Freo have just as many new players as us.
Rule changes are the same for both.

 

[Firestarter]

Three things would wreck us before getting into the players side of it: Round 1 curse, interstate trip, weather.

 

[The Warlord]

Maybe if Fyfe wasn't such a massive w***er his elbow would improve.

My tip - if we win Lyon sacked by Rd10

 

[the big lebowski]

Maybe if Fyfe wasn't such a massive w***er his elbow would improve.

It’s a tough condition to shake

 

[Waussie]

Maybe if Fyfe wasn't such a massive w***er his elbow would improve.

My tip - if we win Lyon sacked by Rd10

Yep, yep, yep

 

[Waussie]

It’s a tough condition to shake

Surgery may fix it, cunner will really fix it

 

[marklovesbeer]

Think you're forgetting that Thommo is suspended.

At this point I'm expecting the team to be:

B: Williams McKay EVW
HB: Macmillan Tarrant McDonald
C: Polec Jacobs Hall
HF: Simpkin Wood Garner
F: Atley Brown Ziebell
Foll: Goldstein Cunnington Higgins
Int: Dumont, Ahern, Tyson, Anderson

Emer: Davies-Uniacke, Wright, Turner, Thomas

I like this team.
Could LDU take Atley’s spot though? Rotate with Cunnington or Higgins FWD/MID.

 

[shinboner magic]

Win the clearances (looking at cunners to match Fyfe in this ) and it’ll push through to victory.
Will be interesting with the new rules - will brown have more space , I doubt it.
Need to give him the support up there and better delivery. Probably more run forward and less of the long kicks.

 

[marklovesbeer]

Oh no
Not the fixture
Not where we play
Not the 22 on the park
None of that.

Just the Coach

Absolutely nobody else in the slightest degree is in any way responsible for nmfc losing every first round game since he came on board

We beat Adelaide by ten points in Round 1 in 2016.

 

[Firestarter]

We beat Adelaide by ten points in Round 1 in 2016.

And then blew a 9-0 starting record if memory serves me correctly.

 

[Hootini]

Win the clearances (looking at cunners to match Fyfe in this ) and it’ll push through to victory.
Will be interesting with the new rules - will brown have more space , I doubt it.
Need to give him the support up there and better delivery. Probably more run forward and less of the long kicks.

dear god yes less of the long kicks. He gets ten centre metres of separation on a run with a good kick it's impossible to stop him clunking it, put it on his head and 4 guys get to jump, 2 pretend to mark it while grabbing him, 2 others go for it.

 

[Snake_Baker]

A training observation from the Freo board:

Hogan joined in with main group until some contact drills started when he peeled off and put the runners on and ran some slow laps.

I'm backing he won't play round 1.

 

[Groin guru]

Banned from the Freo board already. They're a soft bunch. Season hasn't even started yet

 

[the big lebowski]

Banned from the Freo board already. They're a soft bunch. Season hasn't even started yet

Join the club.

 

[Waussie]

Banned from the Freo board already. They're a soft bunch. Season hasn't even started yet

Sensitive bunch, lifetime of losing does that to them.

 

[Firestarter]

Sensitive bunch, lifetime of losing does that to them.

Their DVD sets consist of Pavlich's greatest breakfasts.