So a big weekend in pre-season football, but sadly most of it was played behind smoke and mirrors.

Thankfully, the Freako will come to our aid in the coming days...

But until then, we can review what weve seen.

Collingwood V Essendon (1.17.5 116 - 3.6.10 73)

Daisy Thomas. Playing in defense. Racked up a more than decent 121 and might have done enough to secure himself a spot in a few squads 22.
That said, his first few weeks saw him playing below his average. So I guess it depends on if he comes through with his promise for "More midfield time".

Definitely *the* player Ill be watching next week.

The other interesting player on the weekend is Cloke.
A 107 in round one got him on a lot of radars, then amusingly, a 56 (on 86 DreamTeam points) in round two dropped him straight back off them. Come into round 3, and 13 kicks, 3 handballs, 9 marks and game topping 7 inside 50s show that he is playing the exact role he needs to, to breakout this year.

Stanton had his first hitout for the year, and I must say- he played clean for once! 97 off 67 DreamTeam points. not a bad return for ol stants.

The other good news stories revolved around rookies Steele Sidebottome and Dayne Beams - both must have put there names into the mix for round one selection.

And now the bad. (Apart from the Dons losing!)

Skipworth had a night to forget! definitely brought himself back to the "keep an eye on" list, instead of the "lock" list.

Lucas had another shocker. honestly, I didnt expect him to set the world on fire in the preseason, but he just looks lost out there! Very worrying signs.

And finally, Ricky Dyson put a 75 on the board. Ready to burn a whole new generation of punters!

Geelong V Carlton (2.9.12 84 - 9.13 67)

Paul paper-hammy Chapman. Has thrown his name into the ring for another year. A tasty 148 this week shows his potential, though remember- he has averaged 18 games for the last 4 seasons.

And suprise packet Harry Taylor. had 100 points up half time and finished as top scorer with 153 Supercoach points. Might be too expensive to consider, though I will be closely following his role in the granny.

Strangely though, these were the only two players to crack the ton. Which is strange for a Geelong squad.

Of interest though, Ottens had a resonably solid hit out with 69 - Though I hear that it was played mostly up forward.

Yarran finally had more than two touches in a game, and pending on next week (and selection in round one) might still just scrape in a place in my squad...

Kreuzer hit a very solid 74.

Around the other grounds,

I here that my former smokie - Nathan Krakouer is going to be outted some more this week. (Just when I though he had gone through last week a little under the radar.)
Shaun Higgins has once again put his hand up for selection in every team.
Brennan did something to his quad - and the eery silence is deafening...

arg, its getting close to the business end. very exciting times.

Also, one last thing - Im hooping to get my live scoring up and running for the game on this weekend.

Further announcements upcoming...