00:00:00
Speaker 1: Foot is back for twenty twenty six, and so are we the Code AFL show. This year, we're going to be more dynamic than ever before, especially between the arcs. I need some good two way running. I've go Lauren Wood and Josh Barnes with me in the studio. Fantastic to have you both here. Have your summer's been, It's been good.

00:00:14
Speaker 2: It's been busy obviously.

00:00:15
Speaker 3: AFLW runs right through effectively to a week before Christmas by the time we have the draft, so I was busy there. It must have been a family time in between, and then off to the tennis with your great self.

00:00:25
Speaker 2: So many an ice cream consumed along the way.

00:00:28
Speaker 3: So it's time to get ourselves in shape, isn't it for the season proper?

00:00:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had a great time at the Australian Open. Left Josh in the office holding down the fort man in the football coverage.

00:00:36
Speaker 4: How was the tennis?

00:00:37
Speaker 5: I was just here by myself for two weeks, rocking away, trying to keep pre season on, tracking YouTube or just eating ice creams.

00:00:43
Speaker 2: Well, look, I wouldn't put it that lightly.

00:00:45
Speaker 3: I mean the first week, as we know, opening week is so we love Capital Capitol W Opening week. The rest of it was just busy, right, Like every time I sort of rolled in it was absolutely flat stick. They've completely transformed the event, you'd have to say. I mean, we know footy is in a sphere of its own in this town especially, but there'll be other events that are looking to that as the benchmark. Now.

00:01:07
Speaker 1: In terms of the on court stuff, there was a bit of talk about boring tournament, a lot of matches going to straight sets early on, but every match I got assigned was a ripper. Some of them were only three or four sets, but they were fantastic, So I felt like I got good entertainment value from my matches.

00:01:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, you did well.

00:01:21
Speaker 3: You were sort of that late afternoon type operator at Melbourne Park. As we know, there's no siren on the matches, unlike footy, there's no strict finish time on where things can end up.

00:01:31
Speaker 2: But it was pretty quiet, wasn't. I mean Madison English.

00:01:34
Speaker 3: Arguably the story of the Australians making it through to that fourth round, but until that second Friday with the two epis back to back, the tennis itself was largely a little bit quiet, but no two deserving.

00:01:47
Speaker 2: Winners of course.

00:01:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, last weekend was fantastic to cover at the Open.

00:01:50
Speaker 4: And on the Tennis show, that's good stuff.

00:01:54
Speaker 1: We're going to analyze Daniel Medvedev's earlier exits later on in the show. But Josh, while we were there covering the tennis, you would have been in charge of all the little state of Origin snippets. Oh, the Carlton trainers are going to be running water for the Victorian team. Oh, Sam Mitchell and Justin Longmie are going to be manning the whiteboards. But once we actually got to the spectacle, Boonton, Pelly and Crips went out for the toss in front of a packed Perth stadium. It was pretty remarkable. And how do you think it went against expectations?

00:02:18
Speaker 5: It was better than I think we could have hoped for it, to be honest, I was very skeptical going into it that they wouldn't take it seriously. They'd mess around and it would be all star level no defense. There was not a huge amount of defense, but there was enough, and there was players putting their bodies on the line. Dak Butters was fighting. I think he would fight his own mum anyway, but he was fighting. That was good to see and when Wa made a run in that last quarter got back to six points, it felt like a real game. It felt like the crowd was obviously into it. I don't think they could be any more questions about it was as good as it could possibly be.

00:02:48
Speaker 3: Yeah. I wrote in the Predictions as we know we love a prediction at Code Sports that it was the first five minutes and the last five minutes that would be really really telling. And I must have mean I was a bit like you too, Josh. I wrote that with no sort of hope that it would actually occur that way. But I think when we saw the likes of Toby Green, who was absolutely champing at the bit to be out there wearing the big V guys like Zach Butter's as you say, who was well and truly in the thick of it, with Tom Barrass no less for Wa, I think it really did come to the four of how much this meant. I heard Giants coach Adam Kingsley say that Toby was one.

00:03:24
Speaker 2: Oh, he was unnamed initially, but I think we all knew who it was.

00:03:27
Speaker 3: Had tripled the load, the physical load that he was actually supposed to be there, so he'd been sent over to wa with the figures by the Giants fitness team. Obviously, if you're allowed to play this much, you're allowed to push yourself to you know, seventy percent or whatever it was.

00:03:41
Speaker 2: But I'll tell you what put him in.

00:03:42
Speaker 3: That jumper, and there was absolutely no stopping him, So I think it's set a really nice bar. I've spoken to a few players over the last few days, just at training and one at the coffee shop, funnily enough, and they absolutely loved the entire experience, I know had they had their families there as well, which I think only added to it. A lot of them that the kids have budded up from opposition teams and I sort of asking I want to go and have a play with George Dangerfield and things like that. So there might be a few park meetups in the middle of the bay from different teams.

00:04:12
Speaker 2: But I think it just it added to the good will of the event.

00:04:14
Speaker 3: Obviously it was about that sort of three hours on Saturday night, but as you say, boys, it really couldn't have gone better from an AFL point of view.

00:04:21
Speaker 1: How's Toby Green pulling rank on Zach Merritt to get onto the field? Like I'm not sure if it was his intention to pull Merrit off, but that wouldn't have happened if Merritt was still les than captain. Surely you would have would have told Green to go after lockey ash or something to get started.

00:04:33
Speaker 3: Would you try and take on Toby Green, I'm not sure I would. I'd probably say Toby, whatever, you want, to.

00:04:39
Speaker 1: Go for it.

00:04:39
Speaker 5: That's one of the best parts I think in the game you find out who the real big dogs are. Sam Mitchell and Chris Scott demanded that Patrick Dangerld start in the middle. I think that was a late change. They wanted him in there to set the tone. I suppose when Jacob Whedham came off with the injury, it was Max Holmes was sort of sent to the back pocket to play there for the whole game. Nobody else really wanted to go down very younger guy. You worry about that. It's always good to see who sort of pulls rank in those situations and who gets to have their own way.

00:05:04
Speaker 1: I did like that they were training during the week. I was starting to get concerned about the training volumes, like we don't want them pulling together like an eighteen man press or like a Clarko's cluster in the Origin game, but it was unstructured enough that the ball was able to move really freely. Just looking ahead, how soon do you think we'll see the Victorian team again. It's clear right now that Western Australia's involvement is going to be pretty important and me gets South Australia involved at some point as well, and possibly other states. Any ideas for how the format can continue. Do they throw in a second game? What's going to work? Because Victoria seems important from a broadcast perspective, but it's very hard to ignore the atmosphere that was created in Wa last week.

00:05:42
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:05:42
Speaker 3: I mean, we'll be accused, as we are often of being viccentric in saying this, but I think you do need them there. You look at the caliber of players that were in that team. There were stars across every line. So I think, as you say, particularly from a broadcast point of view, I think you do need Victoria there. But looking at the success of it and talking to people who were on the ground who described it as almost like a little bit of a mini gather around type thing. Everywhere that you walked you sort of saw people from around the game and fitness stuff, and media people and families were sort of everywhere. They really lean into the tourism aspect of it too, So I don't see why we couldn't just have whether it was one game Friday night, one game Saturday night, or whether you would almost do a double header, given that you can lean into that Perth sort of time slot a little bit coming into the Eastern States, you know, have a four team sort of extravaganza over there, a double header on that Saturday when there's not a lot of other sport on coming in live that weekend.

00:06:39
Speaker 2: I don't know. I wouldn't mind something like that.

00:06:41
Speaker 3: You get more players involved, the thing only gets bigger, and then it could become a little bit of you know, winners then play each other the next year, and then suddenly there's a prize to go with it. So I think it's built a really nice foundation. As you said, we weren't really sure going in how it would be. I think Gary Lyon leading the charge really helped. The coaches obviously really bought in to the theme of it, and Chris Scott particularly from their Victorian point of.

00:07:03
Speaker 2: View, So I don't know why not.

00:07:05
Speaker 1: I like the Lauren Wood State virgin model. Let's run with that, Josh, would you get around Allies team or do you think it needs to be an actual state If they're talking about a fourth team.

00:07:14
Speaker 5: I would be very cautious about an Allies team just because you're not playing for anything. There there was clearly enough grounds well for WA to play for WA and there's history behind that. I mean, we have had Allies teams before, but I don't think it has that history. That's where the fourth team is questionable. I don't know whether we can make that the Indigenous All Stars team. We saw that last year. We could have that team back again as the fourth side. I don't know whether, like Queensland is building a lot of young good players. But is that team strong enough to play against South Australia next year?

00:07:42
Speaker 4: Who knows.

00:07:43
Speaker 5: Clearly the politicians are going to be wrangling about where we play it and when we play. Peter now Malanowska still he's already on the front foot saying he wants to get it in SA. He wants to play at Adelaide Oval, but WA has all the money at the moment. Does w A have to be in the showpiece game then every year? Or are we moving it around the country. I'd also be cautious about expanding too quickly. We've send that in a lot of sports, expanding things. One thing worked really well, and then let's do it five times the next year. I wonder how good it was as a show piece because it was the actual game, or whether it was so good because it was to have it back and then next year we're not having it back.

00:08:18
Speaker 4: It's just state of origin again.

00:08:20
Speaker 5: Do the players still want to play if it was such a career achievement to play for Victoria?

00:08:25
Speaker 4: Do you want to do it every year? Or it' is it just good to have a big jumper in your cupboard one time? That's going to be the question.

00:08:30
Speaker 2: Every second year. Seems to be the go doesn't and run it back?

00:08:33
Speaker 3: I think is the phrase that every player seem to use about it. I think you'd have to shrug off the term allies. I think you'd almost have to come up with something new.

00:08:42
Speaker 2: I'm not sure what that is.

00:08:43
Speaker 3: I'm sure there's people that have paid a lot more than me to come up with that, but I think the al team, well, potentially, I don't try how that'd go down too well at a few clubs in particular one in Bayside Melbourne. But AFLW I think is another layer to it as well. I think we need some representative footy in the WPA. I know they're looking International rules is the front runner, as we wrote last year on that, but things like that that you could just build on top of it and almost make it like another gather round.

00:09:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think international rules maybe on the wild card weekend in the men's competition. I think they'd line up with about round four or something of the AFLW if they find a way to put a pause on the season and they can get that game in because I know they were looking at international rules for gather around initially in the women's but it was a bit too difficult to get the players over. The Irish players didn't necessarily want to be over that early in the year, So maybe that could be a solution.

00:09:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's right.

00:09:32
Speaker 3: I mean gather around it falls effectively before the AFLW preseason has ever even probably begun, so you'd be getting players fresh off a long break, because you say a lot of Irish players aren't even out here yet, but that seems like.

00:09:43
Speaker 2: A prime weekend for it.

00:09:45
Speaker 3: Have it somewhere like Sydney where there's a huge sort of expat population as well. Who'd get around a Hints at Parks type setup. You'd think on the hill with the craft beers and the food trucks. It'd be a great atmosphere.

00:09:56
Speaker 1: Either that or a pop up ground on Saint Kilda Beach. I reckon we'd also go, well, that sounds good.

00:10:01
Speaker 5: International rules and we saw the backlashes started this morning though. You wrote this story about Adam Kingsley on radio saying is now the best time to host this game because he's been smashed? With Sam Taylor out for a very long time. We're all fearful about injuries. Matt Rowe's going to miss the start of the yar, Jacob Weedering he's got busted ribs.

00:10:17
Speaker 4: Does it have to be February or will it move? We were worried.

00:10:20
Speaker 5: Injuries would be the issue about state of ogin Are you going to see grand swell against it?

00:10:24
Speaker 4: What's your read?

00:10:25
Speaker 1: I think I think everyone was breathing a sigh of relief when Weadering was clear of concussion and anything serious to He's looked at one point like there might have been a spinal concern when he was out on the field like that, but it's yes, the late news that's come in Row with the finger. That's a big blow for Gold Coast early in the season trying to get some momentum and now Sam Taylor and GWS had already had a hard enough week. Adam Kingsley was pretty fair handed in his discussion around the game.

00:10:49
Speaker 4: He really enjoyed it.

00:10:50
Speaker 1: Of course it was big for Jesse Hogan and Lockey Ash who claimed the best on ground medals. I think I think it needs to stay in February. Just can't see it working in the middle of the season. Would liven up those sort of dead rounds in the middle of the year where we kind of get through the buyers. People lose interest a little bit when the team isn't playing. But I think in terms of disruptions, it's better to have it at the start of the season than then the middle. And if players are going to crack him like this, you're going to have injuries in the game either way.

00:11:19
Speaker 2: I would have thought it's the risk you take. I mean, we're never going to see it in the middle of the season. I don't think everyone was on board because of now it is.

00:11:27
Speaker 3: I mean, Sam Taylor's a lot worse than anyone probably thought, and his roadback is going.

00:11:31
Speaker 4: To be hamstring awareness. I've ever heard of a long one.

00:11:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, the year he was aware, don't worry, he was very aware.

00:11:37
Speaker 3: So it's incredibly unfortunate, and it was going to happen to someone, wasn't it. And it was unfortunate that it has happened to GWS as you say that had already had those hammer blows in the days that were prior. We didn't know about Finn Callahan either until earlier this week, so that was just another layer to it. So I mean the way Jason McCartney they had a footy up there put it was Kingsley had been one what he'd done, you know, like he walked under a ladder at some point as he smashed a mirror. But as we know in footy, these things sometimes just happen, and it's unfortunate they would have been playing match play anyway on the weekend, as Tom Green was the day beforehand. So I think it's just the risk that coaches take, isn't it when they send players over there to play it.

00:12:17
Speaker 5: The only way it could work in midseason is they had a genuine buy and took a week off the season and played it then. But then again, the star players are not getting a buy in the season if you do that, I think Geelong people still shake their head a little bit about two thousand and eight when they had that Dream Team game. They had about eight players in that. They ran out of gas in that Grand Final. You can't blame it on that, but it was a small little annoyance they had. So I don't think you're going to have it then because your star players are playing through the whole year and they get a single break.

00:12:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, Stuart dud didn't play in that Dream Team game and it's pretty handy in that third quod, Lauren, you've speaking Hawthorne is along, You've been out at Dingley for the first of the match, Sins. We've got a few trips coming up. I'm going to wit Noval tomorrow. Josh, you're off to Casey on Friday. But Lauren, how is Dingley? And how was the clash between the Hawks and Gelong?

00:12:59
Speaker 2: Well, it was hot.

00:13:00
Speaker 3: It was thirty five odd degrees on Monday, so we were in the thick of it one forty five start.

00:13:05
Speaker 2: Obviously, both teams had a lot.

00:13:07
Speaker 3: Of origin players that were in action on the Saturday, so they were up.

00:13:10
Speaker 2: In the air conditioned boxes watching on.

00:13:12
Speaker 3: So you didn't have the likes of Jack Gunston, Josh Battle obviously, Patrick Dangerfield, Max Holmes, Jeremy Cameron's been injured.

00:13:19
Speaker 2: So a lot of them were there watching on.

00:13:20
Speaker 3: But it was certainly a younger outfit for both of the teams, the first real competitive hit out that we've seen out at Dingley, so it was good to give the venue a little bit of a run as well. They even invited some pass players back for a bit of a function, so certainly match seems aren't what they used to be. When twenty five people and a few media along, it was well and truly practice match areas for a workday and a school day. There seemed to be a lot of people who were maybe working from home out from Dingley, but it was a great showing, i think, particularly from a Hawthorne point of view, maybe night to what we're going to see during the season. Obviously, the Will Day injury has been a big one for the Hawks, so we got a little bit of a look at what they're potentially going to do with their midfield set up, of course, led by John Newcombe.

00:14:03
Speaker 2: We had Josh Weeddele in there.

00:14:04
Speaker 3: Josh Ward played really really well, particularly in the third quarter, and Nick Watson attending a few center bounces as well, so he's obviously adding more strings to his bow. Kicked a couple up forward as well, so he was moving thereabouts. Lloyd Meek and Ned Reeves were pretty even split as well in the rucking sense, so you would have to think that that's something that they're looking at doing with that role. We weren't too sure how they were going to go with that, but of course the SSP spot is the watch for clubs like Hawthorne at the moment. So Flynn Perez and Jack Riding were both in action out there on Monday, and Perez in particular was really eye catching off that half back line and then managed to boot a goal from fifty five odd meters. It was absolute super gooal areas, so both of them really stake their claim really really well. Obviously the deadline's approaching for that, but the battles well and truly on out there.

00:14:52
Speaker 2: From a Gelong perspective.

00:14:53
Speaker 3: Jay Polkinhorn kicked four goals, so he was looking really good. Henry as well was in really good form too, so we'll get a bit more of a look obviously the two teams and all of the teams in their proper and I use that term loosely at practice matches next week as part of the Amy Community series. But it was an interesting look both at the facility where they want to play w games from as soon as this year, but also the teams from a set up point of view. Jack Innovan two was pretty eye catching with the new Bleach Blonde here. He was in the thick of it in the coach's box, no less, so it's obviously something that he wants to pursue. After his finished playing, got a little bit of a different perspective on it.

00:15:28
Speaker 1: And how's your perspective on Dingley the Venue because some interesting scenes with the driveway and melting at the end of the game there were.

00:15:35
Speaker 3: Well, Dingley's a venue suits me very nicely because I live Bayside, so it's almost a home game for me, so I'm more than happy than some other staff members we have here who potentially live on the north side of town and don't want to trek all the way out there. So it worked beautifully from a logistics point of view, but in terms of hosting games, it was the real first test of it.

00:15:54
Speaker 2: It was the first time I'd been put under any strain.

00:15:56
Speaker 3: As I say, you know, seven hundred odd cars filled the car park very very hot conditions. As you say that, that melted the driveway as we were leaving.

00:16:05
Speaker 4: So what the tr was going on?

00:16:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, so you could see it.

00:16:08
Speaker 3: I mean I walked out with Michael Klein out our photographer here at CODE, and I said, oh, the ground's wet before I even really thought about it, and he said, can't you smell it? It was well and truly melting, And then of course as all the cars drove on it, it was almost crumbling away as we went, so you could you could really hear it on your cars.

00:16:27
Speaker 2: So'd be really.

00:16:28
Speaker 3: Interesting to see what they do with that, because, as I say, it was the first real test, and unfortunately the driveway didn't stand up to it.

00:16:34
Speaker 4: So happened with tires?

00:16:36
Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm not going to check.

00:16:38
Speaker 3: Actually, So now that we've talked about it, it's reminded me now two days later that maybe I need to go back and have a look at the undercarriage.

00:16:45
Speaker 2: Of my of my hold.

00:16:46
Speaker 3: But it's it's it's an incredibly flashy setup that they've got out at the Kennedy Community Center. Obviously I got two ovals, Marvel and the MCG effectively. Don't mention the wind, I believe is the phrase that there are out there it is very, very windy. That is something that they're contending with and looking at how they can I guess combat.

00:17:06
Speaker 2: That a little bit, but largely largely very impressive.

00:17:09
Speaker 1: I was out there for an open training the week before Christmas. I think it was actually called Hawthorne's Dingley Christmas or something like that. Sander was there. There was a band playing Christmas Carol's. It was actually about eight degrees it was raining sideways. It's a completely different climate out there. It's like they've managed to find the equivalent of Waverley Park out on the south side as well. It's just different, different weathers everywhere else in Melbourne, very exposed, and that they're going to need to work out a way of sheltering the AFLW ground if they try to play there, because it's even windy than Frankston would be.

00:17:38
Speaker 3: Well, that's exactly right. They've been playing at Frkson the last few years. And that's been the argument put to me by different people over the last few weeks is, oh, well we play at Frankston, what's the difference. Well, my argument, and I've had this with the AFL, is maybe you shouldn't be playing at Frankston either, maybe particularly for the women's game as it continues to develop skill wise. You're playing with a lighter ball as well, So let's play with a lighter ball at really windy venues. What do you think is going to happen. The ball's going to fly everywhere. So all of these things don't really add up. And I know the AFL has been looking at things like wind over the last couple of years as they look at sort of the metrics around the game.

00:18:09
Speaker 2: But yeah, it is something that they're going to have to look at.

00:18:12
Speaker 3: I know they've been training a lot on the pavilion ground for want of a better term, out of Dinglely too, because it is just that little bit more protected. But I am told that inside the four walls, to use a footy terminology, it's not to be spoken about.

00:18:25
Speaker 4: The outside of the four walls.

00:18:27
Speaker 5: I had one person from a different club, so that they'd heard rumors they couldn't shut the doors it was so wind spoken of outside the four walls, it is super exposed out there, particularly that mcg sized oval is just out there's nothing around it at all. They're going to have to plant some trees or build a wall or something, because like you and I went out to training a few weeks ago and they were kicking the ball up and was just flying across the screen. It was so windy, and it makes it really hard to train. And strangely, they've gone from Waverley Park, which is known as horrible weather, but that's probably one of the most enclosed training grounds of any in the AFL, just because there are apartments right on the Andrew line there. So now they've got nothing at all. So it's a completely different atmosphere for the players. I don't know if it will affect them at all during the season, but it means that they're missing a lot of targets or training at the moment.

00:19:09
Speaker 2: Now we know what will happen.

00:19:11
Speaker 3: You never know if it'll be mentioned, but if you're two and eighted, it'll be all about the new facility.

00:19:18
Speaker 4: We'll be mentioning it.

00:19:20
Speaker 1: Yes, this is probably my favorite week of pre season, just with the chaos of the unorganized, the artificial match seams. There's no stats. We've got to do the stats ourselves if we want them. The clubs sometimes invent little rules during the matches. It all looks pretty uniform in terms of what the clubs are disclosed quarters. Anything caught your ard, Josh out of these match sim matchups.

00:19:42
Speaker 4: No, nothing has jumped out so far.

00:19:44
Speaker 5: I mean I was at a Collingwood North Melbourne game a couple of years ago where they just paused it halfway through the three quartered did and tell us in the media or filming it okay anything, and then suddenly players running everywhere and the scoreboard had changed that Colin is up by ten points and they're playing scenarios. So that can just pop up out of anywhere. So I think we might see a little bit of that, but who knows. It's been pretty pretty standard so far.

00:20:04
Speaker 4: It was interesting.

00:20:05
Speaker 5: I noted that Geelong has a little bit of a longer injury list, but they had twenty seven players on thirty in the team list in the first game, so I think we'll see a fair bit of change in difference as a team's progress Tanner Bruin.

00:20:18
Speaker 3: I forgot to mention too he was a late out due to illness, so obviously plenty of people were looking forward to seeing him in his first competitive hit out in more than a year. So I've got to wait another week for that. But they are getting a bit gentrified the old match sims, aren't they. I remember going to one a couple of years ago. When how do you spend your maternity leave by going to practice matches?

00:20:37
Speaker 2: Isn't that a bit.

00:20:38
Speaker 3: Sad when I say it out loud? But it went to one Richmond and Melbourne. I think it was out of casey. The old six quarters used to get a run at this time of year, but no, they're straightening up well and truly it's git boring.

00:20:49
Speaker 1: The six quarters is fantastic if you're a VFL top up player. It's quite difficult for anyone trying to make sense of what's going on out there. Luke Beveridge was doing a bit of a half half thing. The Bulldogs VFL and AFL squads in a six quarter last year. One thing to look out for for North and Demons fans. It's the same match up as last year. They've carved out a bit of time for scenario training. They're going to have three minutes at halftime and at the end of the game. I think they'll do something similar to last year. They put a team up by eight points the other team's chasing. Last year it was deadlocke. Neither side was able to chase down the other. So that's one to look out for. Finish off with some quick hands. One of our segments making its return in twenty twenty six. The other segments haven't returned yet, but we'll work on that. One player from you both that not many people have heard of who could actually tear it up this season, and we got to get the calls in early before they do something in the match team games. But might start with you, Josh, we've got anyone in mind who fits that.

00:21:40
Speaker 5: Bill NRT for me. Noah Roberts Thompson kicked three goals in a Richard match. Sim I was at before the I was open while you guys preparing for your tennis. Very very smart around goals. One of those players that just popped up in the pock and I said, who's that? Then five minutes later who popped up and took a mark?

00:21:54
Speaker 4: Who's that? He just kept doing it.

00:21:55
Speaker 5: So he's a player that I don't think we'll play very early, but I think maybe halfway through you who definitely get a guernsey and knows his way around goal.

00:22:02
Speaker 4: So that's a random name for you.

00:22:04
Speaker 2: We're without notice here. I want it noted here.

00:22:07
Speaker 3: So I've obviously got Hawthorne and Gelong on the brain after being out there Monday.

00:22:10
Speaker 2: I mean I spoke about Flyinn Perez earlier.

00:22:12
Speaker 3: I don't know fucking pump him up anymore, but if he does gain that SSP spot, I think he's got.

00:22:17
Speaker 2: All the attributes to really have an impact straight away.

00:22:20
Speaker 3: He's got the big body, as you said, we saw it doing him do it at both ends of the ground last week, so whether.

00:22:26
Speaker 2: He can do it another one.

00:22:27
Speaker 3: He's a name that we know, but I know what Geelong Joy Clark is one that they're really hoping can take the next step this year, and I guess have a little bit more of an impact. So sticking with my Hawks and Cats theme for now, but give me some notice next time and I'll bring three names for you.

00:22:41
Speaker 5: They've been big on Mitch Edwards for a couple of years there. It's good to see him out there in the match, so I mean he moves really well for a massive man, so I think he might get some time this year given recently is injured. Now Toby Conway's perennially injured, so that's definitely recommends. The blick Sale is injured right now as well, so they're running out of soldiers.

00:22:58
Speaker 1: Let the record, so this segment was on the bottom of the run sheep Lauren and I've got a prepared answer that I think people on the Eastern Seaboard wouldn't be too familiar, but it's actually a former Danny nong Stingrays captain Cooper Simpson at Freemantle three games last year, two really impressive games as a high half back and.

00:23:14
Speaker 4: Made his way in my supercoach team at that point too.

00:23:18
Speaker 1: Apart it's a super coach and yeah what happened? He was looking like the value the rookie that would bump, wouldn't he wasn't he? And then he did his ac joint really early in a game against Port Adelaide's third game. So he got back at the end of the season, played a bit of waffle, but obviously Freemantle in their finals campaign. I think he's someone who could potentially really benefit from that fifth spot on the bench. Even though they brought over Jude mcvah, I reckon there's a role there for him, so look out for him at Fremantle and.

00:23:42
Speaker 2: Look out for me doing my homework. Run cheap.

00:23:46
Speaker 1: Fantastic to have you with us on the first episode of the cod AFL Show for twenty twenty six. We'll be back with more next week. I hope everyone's getting excited for match teams. You can follolong all our coverage of the preseason matches on The Code, Sports and Herald some websites