Set down for Saturday at 1300 at Coburg.
In theory we should win, but the reality is that we don't have a lot of talent to put on the park. The VFL has been strengthened by 2 new players, including ruckman Luke Goetz, but we still have very little height in our line-up and not a lot of inside ball-getters.
I assume the team will come out soon, but it hasn't been seen yet.

https://www.nknews.org/2021/06/everyone-...ate-media/

Too much smoking, way too much booze, living the high life, now huge weight loss.  Reckon he's stuffed.  Something to celebrate.  Hopefully.

The team list is as follows:

4. Lochie O'Brien, 16. Jack Carroll, 17. Brodie Kemp, 24. Nic Newman, 26. Luke Parks, 29. Corey Durdin, 31. Tom Williamson, 33. Sam Ramsay, 36. Josh Honey, 37. Jordan Boyd, 46. Matthew Cottrell, 50. Ryley Stoddart, 51. Tom North, 52. James Parsons, 55. Toby Wooller, 57. Cody Hirst, 60. Aaron Gundry, 61. Luke Goetz, 62. Ben Crocker, 64. Cooper Stephens, 71. Stefan Radovanovic, 74. Ben Caluzzi, 77. Ed Delany, 78. Joel Trudgeon, 79. Dale Marshall, 80. Matt Shannon

In: Ed Delany, Luke Goetz*, Aaron Gundry, Dale Marshall, Nic Newman, Luke Parks, Sam Ramsay, Joel Trudgeon* (Northern Knights)
Out: Levi Casboult (suspension), Alex Mirkov (knee), Marc Murphy (AFL selection), Sam Petrevski-Seton (AFL selection)

Supposing Josh Honey is medical sub - it could be any of the 4 emergencies but he's the one I'd like to see rewrded, then the line-up could be something like:

Josh Honey – seniors medical sub

B Nic Newman Stefan Radovanovic Ed Delany

HB Lochie O'Brien Brodie Kemp Luke Parks

C Tom Williamson Joel Trudgeon*         Jordan Boyd

HF Jack Carroll         Toby Wooller James Parsons

F Aaron Gundry       Ben Crocker Corey Durdin

Foll Luke Goetz* Matthew Cottrell Sam Ramsay

INT from Ryley Stoddart, Tom North, Cooper Stephens, Ben Caluzzi, Dale Marshall, Matt Shannon, Cody Hirst



New names – Joel Trudgeon Northern Knights skipper an inside bull (185cm 90kg) who works hard tackles hard and uses the ball beautifully by hand.  Lot to like about this kid.
Luke Goetz 201cm 97kg ex Dogs rookie who “failed to find his feet” and was let go 5 years ago with the comment:
“It was mutually agreed that the level of commitment required to be an AFL player was too difficult for Luke at this stage of his life” 
Now 23yo has a mature body, might be worth looking at as a cheap option to have on the list in case of an injury plague to rucks such as we now have.  Perhaps the added maturity could have solved the commitment issue?  Don’t know what he has been doing in the interim – he signed at Altona then played 4 games for Essendon reserves in 2019 but I don’t know since then.

The team as structured at least has decent height back and forward and in the ruck - not a bad start, Newman gives experience and O'Brien run and hopefully precision delivery (he has the reputation as an elite user but I see way too many bad disposals from him mixed in with the good- perhaps halfback launcher works for him), Williamson and Boyd to the wings to use their wheels and disposal, Trudgeon in the middle to see if he can bully grown men like he does U18s.  That bench I reckon is mighty strong for a VFL side.
Bullants squad (some familiar names)
Tom Wilson Zac Hart Jean-Luc Velissaris, Liam Mackie, Billy Murphy, Glenn Strachan, Dylan Stone, William Mitchell, Sunny Brazier, Matthew King, Tim Jones, Jack Murphy, Hisham Kerbatieh, Paul Ahern, Tynan Smith, Mutaz El Nour, Douglas Lawrence, Nathan Honey, Ben Hurley, Jack Boyd, Ben Silvagni, Harrison Kennedy, Matthew Gundry, Tom Mills, Kye Quirk, Daniel Hughes

We comfortably defeated Freo last time we played. But what are we going to produce this time?

Yes, this weekend we take on former partners, Preston at Preston. The game is set for Sunday at Preston City Oval. The first bounce is at 1305.
Our team is still something of a question. Injry and suspensiin have robbed us of our ruck options, so we have named young Gundry again. We have also named a former Bulldog in Luke Goetz, as we are very short on ruck talent. He looked impressive a few years back, but couldn't handle AFL life and was sacked. Hopefully he can get the taps.

Our line-up:
4. Lochie O'Brien, 16. Jack Carroll, 17. Brodie Kemp, 24. Nic Newman, 26. Luke Parks, 29. Corey Durdin, 31. Tom Williamson, 33. Sam Ramsay, 36. Josh Honey, 37. Jordan Boyd, 46. Matthew Cottrell, 50. Ryley Stoddart, 51. Tom North, 52. James Parsons, 55. Toby Wooller, 57. Cody Hirst, 60. Aaron Gundry, 61. Luke Goetz, 62. Ben Crocker, 64. Cooper Stephens, 71. Stefan Radovanovic, 74. Ben Caluzzi, 77. Ed Delany, 78. Joel Trudgeon, 79. Dale Marshall, 80. Matt Shannon

In: Ed Delany, Luke Goetz*, Aaron Gundry, Dale Marshall, Nic Newman, Luke Parks, Sam Ramsay, Joel Trudgeon* (Northern Knights)
Out: Levi Casboult (suspension), Alex Mirkov (knee), Marc Murphy (AFL selection), Sam Petrevski-Seton (AFL selection)

* denotes VFL debut for Carlton Reserves.

We are also playing Northern Knights player and brother of one of our AFLW girls, Joel Trudgeon for his VFL debut.

I haven't seen the Northern Bullants team, but I do expect to see Ben Silvagni in a key defensive role.

Voting has obviously been something of a pain in recent weeks. The continuing disappointing performances have reduced the number of voters recently.
Unfortunately, no matter how angry we may get at the under-performances, we cannot actively change them. I hope, however, that out coaches and players can respond to the negatives and get it better on the field. It would make voting a much more pleasant task.

Voting is as usual: you have 15 votes to award pretty much as you will, with the following provisos:
[1] 15 votes in total, no more, no less.
[2] No more than 10 votes for any one player (even Cripps)
[3] Three players at least must get a mention.
[4] A grade for the game, A+ (what I want to see) to F-.

And what sort of response did we manage to produce?

If we do not respond this week, we never will.

However, we really do have structural problems with this team. St. Kilda showed last night what a dominant ruck combo can do.

This is a game where we are expected to win. The game is in Melbourne against a team that has been up and down. However, Adelaide beat Melbourne recently, which is better than we've done.
I don't know if we will start favourites, but I don't think we should. We do not have enough runs on the board.

Last year wooden spooner Adelaide embarrassed us. And it was an embarrassment. Are we willing to give them what they deserve? I hope so. But my confidence in our ability o do it remains slim.

If we win, I might change the name. But then, the probability of us winning does not appear to be high.
That in itself is enough to frustrate me!