[Hbkj89D2]

Claremont looked to have flexed a bit of familiar muscle in the practice game against Souths of Saturday. With a Tigers winning scoreline of 17.20 to 6.5 , that is one belting imo. (37 shots to 11). It will be interesting to see given the tigers have an abundance of AFL listed players available, how many will be available for them in the opening round against East Fremantle. If under AFL player management constraints they are unable to play (the AFL have a bye this weekend before Rnd 1) then East Fremantle may get the tigers at their best time during 2011. An upset win could be on the cards.

Same applys to East Perth who will probably not have Zac Clarke available. My gut feeling is the Dockers may rest him up just in case he is required in Brisbane the week after...who knows. Zac Beeck is under a cloud I suspect so EP may go in with a less potent ruck combo. Gary Moss on the ball roving will be good to watch. He looks ready to go and would still have ambitions of being re-drafted in 2012. Expect big things from him this year. Swans will be fresh given they had the weekend off to prepare. This game could be on from the start. I am not sure how much Hunter has played this pre-season.

Peel have not been too bad this pre-season. Given West Perth a run on the weekend is encouraging, but they have a problem with sustaining anything for long periods. The munchers have had a great pre-season and look to be getting something out of their players, which is all anyone can ask. They will be a tough first up game for Subiaco in a fortnight.

I hope for Perths sake they dont replicate some preseason form. They have struggled to kick scores, though they had a win against Subi in that oppressive heat a few weeks ago. I sense they will get better and the additions to their list are probably more encouraging than brilliant. I just cant see that being enough and a few key recruitments wouldnt have gone astray. Along with them, Souths will be content with this weekend off and watching how the top four sides from last year battle it out on Saturday. The Bulldogs still have some work to do, and may look to blood younger players along the way. They will hope blokes like Haselby dont just bide their time and go through the motions. He needs to stand up and it wont be that easy for him I suspect. Subi will suprise a few during the season. I think ALi Picket going around again will help many of their younger players, including his son. Their Melbourne recruit will be one to watch.

Anyway its great some real footy starts this weekend. Hope the heat is moderate and the media give it some (any) exposure. The last two seasons have been generally competitive. Like all comps it would be good to see some lower sides lift a notch. This could be a season where some real exciting talent comes to the surface. I know EP have recruited a few promising aboriginal players from the Imperials at Manjimup. Keep an eye out for one of those .... he looks ok.