AFL 2024 Round Zero discussion

[GVGjr]

Teams are in for the Swans vs Demons encounter tomorrow night

THURSDAY, MARCH 7
Sydney v Melbourne at the SCG, 7.30pm AEDT

SYDNEY

B: L.Melican 43 T.McCartin 30 D.Rampe - C 24
HB:: N.Blakey 22 O.Florent 13 J.Lloyd 44
C: J.McInerney 27 Ch.Warner 1 E.Gulden 21
HF: I.Heeney 5 L.McDonald 6 J.Amartey 36
F: T.Papley 11 H.McLean 2 W.Hayward 9
Foll: B.Grundy 4 J.Jordon 17 J.Rowbottom 8
I/C: B.Campbell 16 M.Roberts 34 H.Cunningham 7 S.Wicks 15 R.Fox 42

Emerg: A.Sheldrick 12 P.Ladhams 19 Co.Warner 37

New faces: James Jordon, Brodie Grundy
Notable absentees: Callum Mills, Luke Parker, Taylor Adams

MELBOURNE

B: B.Howes 22, S.May 1, J.Lever 8
HB: J.McVee 4, A.Tomlinson 20, C.Salem 3
C: E.Langdon 15, C.Petracca 5, T.Rivers 24
HF: J.Viney 7, J.Schache 19, J.van Rooyen 2
F: A.Neal-Bullen 30, B.Fritsch 31, C.Spargo 9
Foll: M.Gawn 11, T.Sparrow 32, C.Oliver 13
I/C: C.Windsor 6, J.Billings 14, B.Laurie 16, J.Bowey 17, K.Chandler 37

Emerg: T.McDonald 25, T.Fullarton 33, T.Woewodin 40

New faces: Caleb Windsor, Jack Billings, Blake Howes
Notable absentees: Lachie Hunter, Shane McAdam, Harrison Petty, Jake Melksham, Kysaiah Pickett

How do you see this game playing out?
Are the Swans as strong as many of the scribes seem to think so or could the Dee's rally against all the distractions they've had over the preseason and beat the Swans on their own dung heap?

[Happy Days]

So can anyone give me a good reason why this stupid split round is happening?

[Grantysghost]

So can anyone give me a good reason why this stupid split round is happening?

Northern states

[bornadog]

Schache to play second ruck role. Looks like an issue for Melbourne. Grundy v Gawn will be interesting.

I think Sydney may win this, I can't see Melbourne kicking enough goals

Edit - Melbourne to win

[GVGjr]

So can anyone give me a good reason why this stupid split round is happening?

Well there are plenty of reasons, ones with any quality reasoning are a light harder to identify.
It's certainly made a complex and unfair fixture process even worse. I was half listening to something on SEN the other day and someone from the AFL mentioned that there is a company in Canada that evaluates how competitions manage their fixtures and the AFL was the most complex but a long way. The major problem is how few grounds we use when compared to most other competitions.

[Stevo]

I still think Melbourne are a strong side and I'm not convinced the Swans have a good enough forward line line to kick winning scores consistently. Melbourne by 15 points. Gawn vs Grundy will be an interesting contest.

[Bulldog Joe]

The Sydney side doesn't look overly strong to me.

Melbourne probably win the midfield but both sides look below par forward.

May and Lever probably dominate the Sydney talls, but Melbourne also have little forward power.

Think Petracca and Gawn make the difference.

[Jasper]

Schache to play second ruck role. Looks like an issue for Melbourne. Grundy v Gawn will be interesting.

I think Sydney may win this, I can't see Melbourne kicking enough goals

This is why I think we have one of the best ruck set-ups in the competition. Lobb is going to be a better back up than Schache and most other makeshift rucks. We lack dome depth without someone like Sweet who had a more mature body than Darcy but if we stay injury free we will have a strong ruck combination.

[Eastdog]

Will be an interesting match. Will be interesting to see how the Demons go with us to play them next week (Mum vs myself next Sunday). Swans have some outs and the Demons despite the horrid off season are still highly rated.

[Dry Rot]

Melbourne look to have the edge on the edge in the midfield. Aside from Fritsch, the rest of their forwards look ordinary.

The Swans forward line isn't brilliant, but it isn't too bad either. Papley, Heeney and possibly Hayward would walk straight into our side. Armarty is crap, MacDonald from all accounts is really developing this season and Maclean is underrated.

[Grantysghost]

Demons looked super sharp v Blues.

I think they'll win.

[Happy Days]

Yeah anyone considering cultural concerns impacting the Demons needs to consider that they’re an organisation, from the fans to the coaches to most of the players, filled with bad people who do not care at all about this stuff. They’ll be fine right up until the second week of September.

[Mantis]

The Swans forward line isn't brilliant, but it isn't too bad either. Papley, Heeney and possibly Hayward would walk straight into our side. Armarty is crap, MacDonald from all accounts is really developing this season and Maclean is underrated.

Is it Hayward or Wayward? He makes Naughts look like Plugger.

I guess Sydney have lots of credits for their consistent performances over the past 15-20 years, but I don't rate them at all and really believe we should be finishing well above them on the ladder.

But I guess you can be confident in what you will get in terms of effort from Sydney, which is a little different with us.

Think Melbourne win this one comfortably.

[bornadog]

My Picks are:

Melbourne
Lions
Suns
Pies, but GWS may surprise.

With a long weekend and no Sunday match, why couldn't the other teams have played each ?? Once more AFL have got it wrong.

[Axe Man]

Schache to play second ruck role. Looks like an issue for Melbourne. Grundy v Gawn will be interesting.

I think Sydney may win this, I can't see Melbourne kicking enough goals

Edit - Melbourne to win

Lol. What changed your mind?