The first five weeks have produced some....intriguing football so far from the men in purple.

Round 1 v. Port Adelaide: After another long off season that was at least one week longer than it should have been, I was salivating with anticipation for this blockbuster at home to the reigning premiers Port Adelaide. After an intense and tight 2 and a half quarters and much beer drunk, we began to pull away and record a stirring victory over a lackluster Power. The Carr boys starred and there was much talk about Pavlich's impressive debut at centre half forward against the highly rated Chad Cornes.

Round 2 v. St Kilda: On the back of the reigning premiers it was then off to the frigid weather of Launceston, Tasmania to take on the premiership favourites of this year, St. Kilda. In a game played in blustery conditions Fremantle controlled much of the match but refused to win. Practically with his will and determination alone, a hungry Aaron Hamill (who should have been suspended in the game previously and should have been suspended in this game as well for a callous knee in to James Walkers hip) single handedly kept the Saints in the game throughout and then snatched victory with a goal minutes before the siren. Villains in my memory a numerous but the outstanding one was Shaun McManus who fluffed a couple of shockers in the desperate last quarter which would have sealed victory. Put this one down to a lost opportunity, and those invariably turn up for the Dockers early in the season. Haselby, Longmuir (and of course I don't need to add the Christian name now that Troy is no longer with us) and Medhurst performed well for the Dockers.

Round 3 v. West Coast: I knew we would lose: I was personally attending the match. I have never witnessed a live derby victory despite being a member since 1996. Just bad luck? I think not. This game was tough and tight but the Dockers had opened up an excellent 24 point break at half time. Then the Eagles blew us away and although the end margin was only 8 points, I never felt we were in it. It was a carbon copy of our loss to the dirty rotten eagles in the Wizard Cup earlier in the season (and yes, I also attended that game). Josh Carr was the stand out when the going got tough.

Round 4 v. Richmond: Although suffering two consecutive losses, they were also against top quality opposition and neither were we discgraced in either game. This however, was a disgrace. I hate losing to Richmond at the best of times. Never should we lose to that loser club with a loser administration and a loser attitude. We manage to be worse! Richardson ALWAYS kicks our arse and it pisses me off. It wasn't the fact we were flogged though, it was how pathetic we played to get there. What is the point of flying to the MCG if you're going to produce the sort of shit I saw on the TV? This large amount of supposed talent we have on our list was made a mockery of a perpetually mediocre Tigers outfit. Virtually no one played well for the Dockers and Sandilands (and yes Mr Connolly, I understand big men do take a long time to develop) is an absolute liabilty. I don't care how young he is - if a 7 footer can't give us first use from a centre bounce then he is simply not worth it. About the only thing I could take from the game was a willing effort by first gamer Michael Johnson who looks a thoroughbred and kicked a great goal.

Round 5 v Carlton: Compared to the previous week I was in comparative heaven in this game. But objectivity suggests this was a mere solid performance, nothing more. We did what we had to do and then buggered off. Hence, Carlton dominated much of the play for much of the game. Fevola has been suspended for gouging my favourite player - the Cookie Monster - and Nick Stevens should have faced more trouble than he got after clobbering the back of Ding Dong Bell's little Noggin. Pavlich was a star, Farmer is growing in maturity and therefore influence and yet again the Carr boys stood out for me. Matthew is like a new recruit since his widdle bwuvva has come to play with him. It was also good to see T.Lo getting a game for Carlton, I was really sad to see him go and still consider half our list inferior to him and couldn't see why he was not given more of an opportunity.

So that is the first five rounds in a nutshell. More regular updates will be coming from now on, it is only because I have moved house that getting this thing going again has taken so long. Apologies to the faithful. And don't forget to debate the issues on the Bark Discussion board!

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