thank goodness for that.....

It's that sort of ignorant comment that I hate. Did you see him play today and how many times have you seen him at Casey this year?? For the record I've seen him twice in the past 4 weeks (Bendigo and Werribee) and on both occasions he's looked a cut above. Yesterday after a quiet first quarter he was terrific and mainly around the ground as ruckman - not as a leading forward (where he also did ok).

If Michael Newton continues to play the way he is I'd be astounded if he wasn't retained on the rookie list or even promoted to the senior list. He's 23, he looks like a late maturer to me and could well replicate Mark Jamar's late success.

Well why is he part of our senior playing list shown on the MFC website,if indeed he cannot play..

Extract showing the above...

22Moloney, Brent1828628.01.84Rd 14 - 2003Geelong U18/Geelong1310312410Morton, Cale1928318.01.90Rd 1 - 2008Claremont54522329Newton, Michael1939127.04.87Rd 3 - 2007Murray U1822313015Petterd, Ricky1858424.07.88Rd 5 - 2007Broadbeach (QLD)635123727Rivers, Jared1929018.10.84Rd 19 - 2003North Adelaide (SA)9990431Scully, Tom1827715.05.912010 - Rd 1Dandenong Stingrays12123.

He is a rookie and played early in the year as Luke Tapscott was on the LTI list. ATM Michael is not a promoted or nominated rookie and is unavailable for selection for MFC. My guess is that they will try and find a way of promoting him prior to year's end.

He is a rookie and played early in the year as Luke Tapscott was on the LTI list. ATM Michael is not a promoted or nominated rookie and is unavailable for selection for MFC. My guess is that they will try and find a way of promoting him prior to year's end.

You're guessing the football department will somehow give a senior listed player a long term injury in order to give Michael Newton a game??

There's one or two problems with that.

I missed the first quarter but saw the rest and came home feeling pretty happy. Firstly I was furious that Sylvia has been made to come back through casey and IMO he showed that my feelings were more than justified. That his return was pushed back a week because casey had a bye, makes it even stupider. I will never agree with bailey's cautious approach in these matters.

Bail - outstanding game. strong marking, reliable, excellent disposal. what a great improver he has been this year.

Newton - was close to BOG with Bail. Spent a lot of time in the ruck, and could be a handy backup for jamar. was in everything when on. has to be ahead of miller to come back into the team.

Maric - meh, geot plenty of it but disposal was very hit and miss.

Wonna - copped an injury.

Jurrah - was great. kicked 3, gave 2 off in the goalsquare, yet you can see he still has so much more improvement in him. His hands weren't quite as we know them, but that will come. His second efforts were great. I want to see him back in the red and blue and IMO he is ready.

Sylvia - the usual...goals, strong marks, smart play. should be straight back in.

Warnock - meh. hate the ball in his hands in defence even at this level. defended well.

Miller - a few strong marks and goals. was good but overshadowed by others

Morton - played mostly in defence. I don't think he is a defender but he was quite comfortable down there today.

Strauss - don't think he came back on after half time. didn't stand out prior to the ?leg injury and still needs to get more of the ball rebounding from the back 50.

Bell - didn't notice him much, but he does seem to do a lot of work in the packs which is hard to spot. Good at this level but his poor awareness was highlighted a couple of times in succession (in part due to poor handballs from teammates) where he turned straight into tackles. He got away with it both times, but I think the tackles would stick at afl level. i'd love him to make it, but...mmm.

Fitzpatrick - was thereabouts early but faded in the second half.

On a side note, Wall and McCreadie were fantastic.

I watched the first half of the seconds.

Martin - as has already been said, lots of marks in forward 50 and lots of set shot misses.

Tapscott - liked his first half. got heaps of the ball, tough in the contests (i think he was on the bottom of the first two packs of the game) but disposal was up and down. was lively in forward 50.

Blease - left me with a happy feeling inside. wow! casey seconds...but his kicking was perfect (even under intense pressure), speedy, backed himself, and i think his skills will translate well to afl level. Can't wait to see him at senior level. As mentioned, he was puffing away on the bench, and wasn't doing a lot of running off the ball, but that is to be expected given his preparation. Get excited, seriously!

I would like to see Bail, Sylvia, Jurrah, Newton and Morton in next week. However, knowing the way bailey approaches players returning from injury, i would expect Bail, Jurrah and Newton to have another weekend dominating at casey.

Bail should be ready to go. He only had a fractured cheekbone so running fitness is not an issue.

Thanks for the wrap-up. Two points though.

1 - It is not Bailey who makes the decisions on players coming back from injuries. It is the club doctor/s and physio/s. If you believe you know better than them, well, good luck to you.

2 - Newton is not eligible to be selected for MFC.

Bailey decides if they come back through casey or straight into the seniors.

Has anyone been upgraded for Petterd? I think McKenzie is our nominated rookie.

Bailey decides if they come back through casey or straight into the seniors.

Has anyone been upgraded for Petterd? I think McKenzie is our nominated rookie.

Has to be Spencer, considering he is playing today.

If Michael Newton continues to play the way he is I'd be astounded if he wasn't retained on the rookie list or even promoted to the senior list. He's 23, he looks like a late maturer to me and could well replicate Mark Jamar's late success.

Are you suggesting Newton will rise from the ashes Phoenix?

Are you suggesting Newton will rise from the ashes Phoenix?

Very good!!

I've been like most and written Michael Newton off. I wouldn't have re-signed him last time and thought he was a flat track bully and teaser.

I've been very slow to warm to him again - I've been caught before like that. When someone first mentioned to me that he could "do a Jamar" I thought "no, Jamar dominated at Sandy for a long time in a way I've never seen Newton dominate". Jamar just looked confident when he played at Sandy - got the ball all the time and took marks around the ground. VFL clubs couldn't stop him. He just always looked completely out of his depth at AFL level. Then something happened and we have one of the best ruckmen in the comp. Jamar is playing today at AFL level almost to the same level he played at VFL level.

Until the last few games I've never seen Juice be so comfortable in his surroundings at VFL level the way Jamar was. But the last two games he has. He just knows he's better than them - he uses his strength confidently and say what you like - he's got great skills.

The worry of course is that this is an indian summer for Juice. A couple of good games that never translate to AFL level. It took The Russian 3 or 4 years to translate that VFL form to AFL level. But Juice has some things going for him - not least the changing landscape of AFL footy. Rather than a leading goal kicking forward, a role Juice may always have struggled with, there is the second ruck, mobile around the ground player who goes forward and can jump at the ball, bring it to ground and apply pressure (Jamar and Spencer would always struggle with this role). The query I have is whether Juice can do the second ruck role well enough because I think he's got the skills to do the rest. We invested about 6 to 8 year in the Russian and are finally being rewarded. I'd hate to invest 6 years in Juice, see some signs, drop him and then look at him in another teams colors doing a good job in a specialist role all for a one year contract.

The ruck/forward role is a new thing and I reckon the players that can do both aspects well will be like hen's teeth. Juice is possibly one of them.

If Michael Newton continues to play the way he is I'd be astounded if he wasn't retained on the rookie list or even promoted to the senior list. He's 23, he looks like a late maturer to me and could well replicate Mark Jamar's late success.

So of our six rookies, Jordie McKenzie is covered by the rule that allows you to elevate a rookie after 11 rounds, Jake Spencer is presumably covering the Ricky Petterd LTI and then there's no more room to elevate Juice (our only other LTI being a rookie in Meesen) or the injured Danny Hughes and Rhys Healey for that matter?

Hi guys, I was at the game yesterday. I just thought I'd mention that Wonna's injury came about cos he ran 15m at full tilt to lay a massive shepherd for LJ who was streaking down the wing. Fantastic courage from Wonna but he picked a bloke who

was about twice his size, and came off second best from the bump. He was in hands of trainers for a bit, and then left the field. It didn't look that bad, ie he wasn't cradling his arm like they do when they've done an AC joint. Hopefully he'll be back next week.

For what it's worth, Jurrah was excellent yesterday especially in the 2nd Q, and made Marty Pask look like a second rate player. Silvia was a class above, and the other bloke I was really impressed with was Wall, who is a great reader of the play, a good size (197cm) and from the Scorps games I've seen this year, is definitely capable of cutting it at AFL level. I would love it if we rookied him next year.

Quite agree on Wall. Have seen Casey play about 6 times this season and Wall has been in the best each game. I think maybe he is not playing AFL because he is not the thick set ruckman type a la Mark Jamar, but is an excellent mark, very skilled for a big bloke a good kick and doesn't seemed intimidated by bay opponents. How old is he? Is he eligible for a mature age rookie? I think given the rigged draft in the next two years he is certainly worth a go. IMO just as much value as the three reserve grade ruckmen we have on our list now. If we don't get him I bet some others might. It would be a pity if that were the case just as we had young Sylvani sitting under our noses for so long.

This Is poor.. Who's looking after the ground?

I agree. The werribee ground was in excellent condition on Saturday. With all the money so recently spent setting up Casey, surely getting the playing surface right should be a high priority. Drainage systems are very sophisticated these days. If werribee can do it, so should we be able to.

Very good!!

I've been like most and written Michael Newton off. I wouldn't have re-signed him last time and thought he was a flat track bully and teaser.

I've been very slow to warm to him again - I've been caught before like that. When someone first mentioned to me that he could "do a Jamar" I thought "no, Jamar dominated at Sandy for a long time in a way I've never seen Newton dominate". Jamar just looked confident when he played at Sandy - got the ball all the time and took marks around the ground. VFL clubs couldn't stop him. He just always looked completely out of his depth at AFL level. Then something happened and we have one of the best ruckmen in the comp. Jamar is playing today at AFL level almost to the same level he played at VFL level.

Until the last few games I've never seen Juice be so comfortable in his surroundings at VFL level the way Jamar was. But the last two games he has. He just knows he's better than them - he uses his strength confidently and say what you like - he's got great skills.

The worry of course is that this is an indian summer for Juice. A couple of good games that never translate to AFL level. It took The Russian 3 or 4 years to translate that VFL form to AFL level. But Juice has some things going for him - not least the changing landscape of AFL footy. Rather than a leading goal kicking forward, a role Juice may always have struggled with, there is the second ruck, mobile around the ground player who goes forward and can jump at the ball, bring it to ground and apply pressure (Jamar and Spencer would always struggle with this role). The query I have is whether Juice can do the second ruck role well enough because I think he's got the skills to do the rest. We invested about 6 to 8 year in the Russian and are finally being rewarded. I'd hate to invest 6 years in Juice, see some signs, drop him and then look at him in another teams colors doing a good job in a specialist role all for a one year contract.

The ruck/forward role is a new thing and I reckon the players that can do both aspects well will be like hen's teeth. Juice is possibly one of them.

Agree with you entierly Phoenix. The 2nd ruck/forward role is becoming a very important role in AFL and Nweton very well could fill this role.

At the start of the season I was hoping Martin would fill this role, however Stef has unfortunatly sufferd from injury and lack of form. Jack Fitzpatrick is another who I believe could be made for this role, although he's still at least 2 years of development away IMO.

Juice however is mature enough to give this role a crack. We know he has a good leap and has decent strength, it will just be a matter of whether or not he can compete with other teams 2nd ruckmen at the centre square.

I will say it, there may be hope for Juice Newton yet!