Indomitable, spirited, courageous – the same adjectives still apply. The Roos showed what they were made of when their social rooms burned down last August, after a thrashing from Adelaide. Maybe the new facilities have sent out a message to the team that they are valued after all. As volunteers, players and staff worked together to rebuild their ramshackle home, perhaps it was a valuable cultural event. Dean Laidley has publicly admitted that his team was caught short of tactics, players and breath in ’06, and has looked to turn that around with the acquisition of a couple of accomplished ruckmen/ forwards in David Hale and Aaron Edwards. Defender Jonathan Hay is looking good for the new season – a much improved and emotionally stable version of the shell of ’06. All this is great news for a team that seemed to lack the ability to score goals, or to stop them, in ’06. They have only 14 games on Victorian soil, but in “reality” have 17 home games, because three are in Carrara. That should please their diehard Melbourne fans.

The addition of Mal Michael means Dustin Fletcher might be able to do some damage at centre half-back – something he’s been itching to do for years. However, there’ll be unprecedented speculation about Sheedy’s tenure. The Dons have a nightmarish draw, which won’t help. They play three of last year’s preliminary finalists and spend a lot of time on the road.

They have a reasonable draw, with 13 games on home soil, even though one is their “away” game against Melbourne, and another against North Melbourne at Carrara. The acrimony surrounding the departures of Akermanis and Michael have only served to worsen the perception that Brisbane’s culture, and therefore its team, is in rapid decline. Michael Voss, too, is gone, but they’ve no lack of talent. It all comes down to Matthews’ ability to prevent the further liquefaction of a once solid club.

Cain Ackland is first-draft pick, but what does it mean for the ailing team? Gifted Bryce Gibbs might find himself in the firsts sooner than expected, and why not? He’s mature and skilled, like Luke Hodge and Judd, and not unused to playing against men. But it’s hard to get excited about a club that still believes 19th-century business practices, secrecy, boardroom bloodletting and egocentric power mongering are the way to run a club. Denis Pagan should be nervous, as there are a million indications that he’ll be shafted this year. Their draw is difficult, despite a lack of games against last year’s finalists. Wooden spoon.

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