I wanted to start a thread on this because I am surprised how little we are talking about him here on Demonland.

Even though he hasn't been a matchwinner at VFL, I would put his kicking in and out of defense on par with that of Aaron Davey. I honestly think he has the engine, ability and determination to be an out and out superstar. He moves well, has good hands, good fitness and he kicks like Trav used to (on a good day) because he kicks those deadly accurate and penetrating drill passes directly onto their chest.

I have a feeling he is going to get a call up soon. We may as well play him in the seniors soonish if you ask me. Bennell, Jurrah and Strauss are all almost ready to play a consistent amount of senior games.

I agree on a lot of those points but all said and done he got about 7 touches for casey yesterday and that doesnt deserve a call-up.

I agree on a lot of those points but all said and done he got about 7 touches for casey yesterday and that doesnt deserve a call-up.

The reason we're not talking him up yet is that he's only had about 3 games with the Casey seniors after being injured at the start of the season. He was dropped back to the reserves after a poor first game and hasn't had that much game time in the last two weeks. He started on the bench yesterday and was on and off (more off than on) until half time. I suspect he got more chances after half time because of Bail's injury.

I think he showed a fair bit after that but he's clearly not ready for the hurly burly of AFL and I think there's a plan not to put too much of a load on him. It seems to me that the club has learned a lesson with previous early draft picks not to put too much pressure on them too early and by managing them properly at this stage of their careers we'll get more from them later on.

That said I thought his disposal and decision making skills were exquisite yesterday and a couple of his passes inside 50 were to die for given some of the rubbish disposal we've seen at Melbourne in the last couple of years.

Looking foward to Strauss making a debut

from what i have seen he has good vision and with his already sublime foot disposal that makes him a very effective player

If he learns to kick a fraction lower his kicking will become elite

Already the best kick on our list

Designated kicker IMO

The reason we're not talking him up yet is that he's only had about 3 games with the Casey seniors after being injured at the start of the season. He was dropped back to the reserves after a poor first game and hasn't had that much game time in the last two weeks. He started on the bench yesterday and was on and off (more off than on) until half time. I suspect he got more chances after half time because of Bail's injury.

I think he showed a fair bit after that but he's clearly not ready for the hurly burly of AFL and I think there's a plan not to put too much of a load on him. It seems to me that the club has learned a lesson with previous early draft picks not to put too much pressure on them too early and by managing them properly at this stage of their careers we'll get more from them later on.

That said I thought his disposal and decision making skills were exquisite yesterday and a couple of his passes inside 50 were to die for given some of the rubbish disposal we've seen at Melbourne in the last couple of years.

I agree, I don't think he's near yet.

Sounds great, kicks like Flash and Trav (when he was on) don't come along all that often. The ability to hit the target is rare in our team at the moment - to do it consistently with power and precision to both static and moving targets (as Aaron does currently) is priceless.

Strauss is going to be a great player for us. But he's not close to a call up yet.

I hope he doesn't play solely of half back either, as I'd love to see him delivering the ball to our forwards at some stage.

Strauss is going to be a great player for us. But he's not close to a call up yet.

I hope he doesn't play solely of half back either, as I'd love to see him delivering the ball to our forwards at some stage.

Exactly, with Davey playing off half back a lot more it's given us one brilliant kick down there, but taken it away from the other end. If we could have two (or even more!) blokes in the side who could deliver like Davey it would make such a massive difference. The movement of the ball from half-back to half-forward is one of our biggest problems (among others!).

I will go out on a limb and say I think he might get a call up sooner than we all expect, but in a top 8 team, he would still be a fair way off..

edit: Here is a quote from Jaded who I think sums it up quite nicely.

"Strauss: didn't get much of the ball but is a great user of it. Kicking is superb. Don't think the VFL style of play suits him so much, especially since you don't get paid the mark when kicking backwards in the defensive 50. He'll be better in the AFL when we can feed the ball out to him and he can run down from HB to create a contest. He played a bit up forward in the last."

I stand by my comment that he will be a much better AFL player than what he has shown at VFL level thus far.

He is being under utilised at Casey, either because of a lack of fitness, or because it is apparently better to watch Wheatley turn it over 60m down the field.

I was a bit annoyed that he wasn't on the ground more, but I suppose Bennell and Wheatley had the back pockets covered.

Wouldn't mind seeing him get 2-3 games in Rounds 20-22 just to give him a taste. Our forwards (I don't know who they are either) are going to love him!

I think it's a bit early to be saying that he'll be great, so far he has demonstrated anythign to suggest he'll get to that level. I'm not saying he won't just that we should wait for him to actually do something before getting too excited.

Really looking forward to seeing him play for he dees, for some reason i just really like the boy.

watching him for casey he didnt get that much of it but when he gets it he uses it perfectly.

I really liked his game last week and am a bit disappointed he didn't have more of an impact this week. But i'm happy to wait. Just the glimpses i saw last week were enough to suggest he'll be a good one in the future. Foot skills like his are a rarity (or have been for us anyway), and i was surprised to see him compete quite well aerially against Marty Pask, who is a strong one-out marking player. Straussy's a good size with nice pace, moves a lot like Scott Pendlbury IMO. Round 18-22 for a debut for mine.

I really liked his game last week and am a bit disappointed he didn't have more of an impact this week. But i'm happy to wait. Just the glimpses i saw last week were enough to suggest he'll be a good one in the future. Foot skills like his are a rarity (or have been for us anyway), and i was surprised to see him compete quite well aerially against Marty Pask, who is a strong one-out marking player. Straussy's a good size with nice pace, moves a lot like Scott Pendlbury IMO. Round 18-22 for a debut for mine.

Good call, reminds me of Pendlebury a lot, the way he moves and holds the ball when he kicks.

I really liked his game last week and am a bit disappointed he didn't have more of an impact this week. But i'm happy to wait. Just the glimpses i saw last week were enough to suggest he'll be a good one in the future. Foot skills like his are a rarity (or have been for us anyway), and i was surprised to see him compete quite well aerially against Marty Pask, who is a strong one-out marking player. Straussy's a good size with nice pace, moves a lot like Scott Pendlbury IMO. Round 18-22 for a debut for mine.

Personally I wouldn't pencil in any dates/rounds. As soon as he starts getting his hands on the footy more, he's in IMO, be it next week, round 22, or next year. He won't be useful to the side before that, but once he's getting more of the ball his elite kicking will be essential.