Casey Scorpions v Werribee Tigers

[KC from Casey 7,042]

KC - thanks again for your commentary.

Questions:

Cook in the 2s - how did he go?

McNamara - lots of possessions as a mid - is he due for a couple of games in the red 'n blue this season?

Fitzpatrick - not a lot of possessions but does he look the goods?

Cook - see above. Missed most of the Ressies: not sure if he played.

McNamara - I suppose he might get a game if eligible but again, not sure if he can be played because it's too late to elevate any more rookies.

Fitzpatrick - there were three tall young men with great athleticism out there on the ground. Fitzpatrick and Max Gawn was two of them - Fitzy has great pace for a player over 200cm and Max is very agile for such a tall player and (I know this is going to sound like a broken record) another preseason will do neither any harm. I think both are going to be very good if not elite players in a few year's time. The other athlete was Majak Daw of the Tigers. He's unbelievably athletic but needs to learn a lot about how to play the game.

[Axis of Bob 11,240]

Premiership player?

You have to be pretty special if you are to make it as a slow player in the midfield these days. I don't think Tommy is Greg Williams or Sam Mitchell.

[dee-luded 2,959]

If its not a punt how'd he go at Brisbane? Taking him is a gamble on the impact to your playing list and overall culture not on whether he can play. His form would be starting to make it a consideration for some sides

Recruiting drafting anyone is a punt! There is no guarantees in it, just like crossing a city road.

Drafting Scully is a punt. He may leave.

Drafting/not, Dustin Martin was a punt, he may be a trouble. He has tatts!

Drafting Trengove is a punt, he may go 'Home'.

Drafting Morton was a punt, he may not be good enough.

Drafting Jack Watts was a punt, he may not be tough enough.

Drafting Fevola would be a punt, he may not be good enough.

.

[monoccular 17,340]

Don't forget Scott Thompson premiership player and who had 50+ possies for the Crows today.

Forget all the subjective b..sh.t ( he's slow, he's this, he's that) about these kids, the only way you can find out if they can play or not is to see him in action in the big time. We are prepared give some timid types 60 games+ without any great evidence they can play. Last week we also had two supposedly senior players who looked as if they were terrified.

Tommy Mac just keeps on performing which is exactly what the club would be hoping for.27 possies isn't a bad afternoon. Good luck to him, he's a bit of rough nugget who looks like a sheepdog but he approaches the contest in the correct manner.

From what I hear, Tommy McNamara is no Morton - he has a red hot go every time!

[hoopla 418]

Recruiting drafting anyone is a punt! There is no guarantees in it, just like crossing a city road.

Drafting Scully is a punt. He may leave.

Drafting/not, Dustin Martin was a punt, he may be a trouble. He has tatts!

Drafting Trengove is a punt, he may go 'Home'.

Drafting Morton was a punt, he may not be good enough.

Drafting Jack Watts was a punt, he may not be tough enough.

Drafting Fevola would be a punt, he may not be good enough.

.

Can't see what question marks over 18 year old draftees have to do with question marks over a 30 year old. They might improve - he can only get worse

[MadAsHell 4,209]

Was out at Casey Fields today and saw the Resies and seniors and here were my thougts.

Reserves:

Cook: Didn't play which was a shame as he was the one I was looking forward to watching the most.

Johnson: Played a pretty solid game. Nothing outstanding but covred a lot of ground and was certainly amongst the best. Will be vying for Casey seniors selection come finals time.

Wonaemirri: Was lively early and gave off the handballs that directly resulted in our first & third goals. Did his ankle early in the 2nd term when running down a Werribee player. Was down for some time, tried to get up but then went straight back down again. Didn't look good and I wouldn't be suprised if that's his season but fingers crossed!

Seniors:

Bail: For is first game back was really good and I fogot how much we're missing him. Seemed to be mainly playing across half back and was behing a lot of Casey's counter attacks when running the ball out of defence. Would think he'd play at least one more game at this level before coming back into the AFL but he's certainly put his name up for consideration.

Bate: Was good today Bate playing across half forward. Kicked one really nice goal on the run in the 1st and took some really good strong contested marks which I find frustrating as he can never do it with Melbourne. I still think he may have some (but not much) currency on the trade market.

Campbell: Combined well with big Maxy Gawn in the ruck to have the better of McIntosh, although I still think Werribee won the clearances. Think he'll probably end up on an AFL senior list next year but not ours.

Davis: Didn't see a lot of him but what he did he seemed to do well. Moves really well for a guy his size.

Fitzpatrick: One of my favourites. Didn't have the impact I was hoping for bit I still like what I see. He's lightning quick for a guy his size. Kicked a really nice goal in the 2nd term and twice in the last he turned his opponent inside out near the boundary line in our forward 50 resulting in 1 poster and 1 out of bounds on the full. Another pre-season and watch out. Took a couple of nice marks around the ground.

Gawn: Played well I thought and again combined with Campbell they had the better of McIntosh. Out of the three ruckmen I thought big Maxy did the most around the ground. Although on one bad note he missed a sitter of a set shot in the 3rd term and on a lighter note at one stage in the last term when I'm sure he was having a snap from our pocket the ball ended up being marked by another Casey player about 40m out on the opposite flank.. How he kicked it there I have no idea, haha.

Jetta: Was very good rotating through the midfield and forward line. Kicked 2 really nice goals and hit fev on the cheast a couple of times which looked really good. Again his tackling was great and how he isn't in Melbourne's team this week I don't know?

Lawrence: Had a fantastic 1st quarter kicking two goals and laying plenty of tackles and putting on a lot of pressure. I reckon he'll certainly stay on the rookie list next year and could be a roughy to land our roving forward pocket role. Needs to improve his fitness base to run out games but I like what I see with him. Just needs to keep himself involved throughout the game.

Maric: Was good. Seemed to rotate between the forward line and midfield . Again he's frustrating cause you can see he has the ability to be as good as someone like Stephen Milne but I just don't know if he wants it that badly.

McDonald: Started poorly, made a couple of mistakes and looked like Daw was going to run him around in Werribee's forward line. Was taken off Daw and then played solid game playing across half back. Did well after a poor start.

McNamara: One of our best today in the midfield. Used the ball well and went in hard. Was probably our leading clearance player. I reckon he has the tools to make it at AFL level, if it's with us it'd be in Cale Morton's role, although McNamara uses it better then Morton and goes harder also. I'm concerned another team might snatch him though and capitalise where we'll miss out. Highlight for me today was Tommy Mac running down Majak Daw in the middle of the ground in the last quarter and catching him holding the ball when it looked like he was about to have one of his customary run and bounce goals.

Nicholson: Was good today I thought and still reckon was unlucky to get dropped. Had a couple of really good runs where he left his opponent for dead setting up some attacking plays. His defensive efforts were good and I reckon he'll be a good player for us.

Warnock: Played a good solid game at FB as he always seems to. Think he was on McKinley and I have no doubt he'll be picked up by someone next year.

Some Casey Players:

Fevola: Kicked 6 and I would of said until the last quarter played the good team game. Had given off some good handballs and created space for other forwards for most of the game. However late in the match (when 50+ points up) he seemed to get very agitated. Gave away a couple of silly free kicks and swore quite adamantly after missing a shot and then after having a ball kicked into him where the delivery was poor. Was a bit of the Fevola of old which was concerning, as I hadn't seen it all season and being 50 odd points up I didn't see the point in it. Was in the process of being dragged when the final siren sounded which was good to see that Gotch had seen enough. I'd still like to see Melbourne take a punt on him, although I wont lie, there were some alarm bells going off inside my head when I saw his last few minutes.

Wall: Played a good game today I thought. But more importantly is that I met his girlfriend before the game today and she's really hot!!! Just thought I'd throw that one in there.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Was out at Casey Fields today and saw the Resies and seniors and here were my thougts.

Reserves:

Cook: Didn't play which was a shame as he was the one I was looking forward to watching the most.

Johnson: Played a pretty solid game. Nothing outstanding but covred a lot of ground and was certainly amongst the best. Will be vying for Casey seniors selection come finals time.

Wonaemirri: Was lively early and gave off the handballs that directly resulted in our first & third goals. Did his ankle early in the 2nd term when running down a Werribee player. Was down for some time, tried to get up but then went straight back down again. Didn't look good and I wouldn't be suprised if that's his season but fingers crossed!

Thanks TD for the in depth report.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,861]

Recruiting drafting anyone is a punt! There is no guarantees in it, just like crossing a city road.

Drafting Scully is a punt. He may leave.

Drafting/not, Dustin Martin was a punt, he may be a trouble. He has tatts!

Drafting Trengove is a punt, he may go 'Home'.

Drafting Morton was a punt, he may not be good enough.

Drafting Jack Watts was a punt, he may not be tough enough.

Drafting Fevola would be a punt, he may not be good enough.

.

Fevola has proven to have a negative impact on two clubs. There is a big difference between prior knowledge and the unknowns you mention above. To compare Fevola is ridiculous.

[Red and Blue Bloke 20]

Outstanding report Tall Defence, a big effort and much appreciated.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Fevola has proven to have a negative impact on two clubs. There is a big difference between prior knowledge and the unknowns you mention above. To compare Fevola is ridiculous.

Absolutely right. To allude that the risk of a Fevola is same as the risk on a Watts/Scully is naive in the extreme.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Fevola has proven to have a negative impact on two clubs. There is a big difference between prior knowledge and the unknowns you mention above. To compare Fevola is ridiculous.

What risk, for a cheap pick over 2 Years, with a performance based contract. What risk???

You wouldn't use your Rnd 1 & 2 picks. So, what risk???

[DeeSpencer 24,813]

What risk, for a cheap pick over 2 Years, with a performance based contract. What risk???

You wouldn't use your Rnd 1 & 2 picks. So, what risk???

Akermanis at the bulldogs - signed on for a cheap deal so decided to do other media work, ended in one hell of a disaster which ruined their season and effectively closed their premiership window.

We won't go near Fev. There is only one club who should remotely entertain the prospect and as crazy as it sounds that is Carlton.

[Trengove the Magnifique 9 23]

1. He's a rookie

2. He's to slow to be a midfielder at AFL level

Alright so the decision to upgrade Campbell would have to be one of the most idiotic I've ever seen, considering how Jamar and Martin are doing fine, and Gawn is adequate back up should one of them go down.

And too slow? God give him a crack. If he's turning in games like this consistently, surely he's worthy over a Morton? Even if you think they are only VFL standard, he's putting his hand firmly up for a run in the seniors, and is very disappointing it cannot be given to him.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Akermanis at the bulldogs - signed on for a cheap deal so decided to do other media work, ended in one hell of a disaster which ruined their season and effectively closed their premiership window.

We won't go near Fev. There is only one club who should remotely entertain the prospect and as crazy as it sounds that is Carlton.

Cheap deal does not insinuate Money, cheap deal is about the draft pick.

I certainly wouldn't pay him peanuts at all. But I would give him a big, heavily incentive weighted offer. The kind he needs to attend to, and the kind he needs to be reliable to, to earn his Family Fund.

If you throw 'Em peanuts, your asking for monkey business...

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,861]

Cheap deal does not insinuate Money, cheap deal is about the draft pick.

I certainly wouldn't pay him peanuts at all. But I would give him a big, heavily incentive weighted offer. The kind he needs to attend to, and the kind he needs to be reliable to, to earn his Family Fund.

If you throw 'Em peanuts, your asking for monkey business...

I have no doubt that on the cheap as a late draft pick Fev would perform well above expectations. However it is negative impact on an impressionable young list that would be the biggest risk.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Can't see what question marks over 18 year old draftees have to do with question marks over a 30 year old. They might improve - he can only get worse

Easy, the difference is the 18 year olds may not like playing with the Big boys. They simply may not make it. They may be too soft. They may not Go, when it's their turn.

The answer Re the 30 yr old is he's only needed for 2 years, and he won't be on the Huge money he once would have commanded. and he won't cost a 1st Rnd Pick. We know he's an elite capable Full Forward.

So it's really simple, if he mucks up we sack him & it hasn't cost us much at all.

If he was needed for 6 Years and we were putting all our Drafting eggs in this basket, he would be a considered risk. But for a 3rd Rnder or at most a 2nd in this poor years draft, little outlay.

So the comparison is easy, we have too high a ratio with youth, and Need some Size and Weight and experience, and there is none better and available atmo.

[dee-luded 2,959]

I have no doubt that on the cheap as a late draft pick Fev would perform well above expectations. However it is negative impact on an impressionable young list that would be the biggest risk.

Well, he and the players @ Casey beg to differ.

The real impact on the List and the Casey side recently has been the Off field kerfuffle, which seems to have left both sides Dees in disarray. And looking for the End of the season.

So you'd have to ask who really is the one disrupting things. It's not onfield. Thats for sure.

[tonatopia 278]

I think scully or Sylvia leaving the MFC, would do much more damage than fevola arriving. Draft picks can be dangerous even if you grab a clean bloke like scully.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,861]

Well, he and the players @ Casey beg to differ.

Unless you are in the inner sanctum I cant see how you make that call. Either way there is a big difference between seeing Fev for 2 training sessions a week and 4 hours on the weekend than the full time involvement of an AFL list.

Your username seems quite apt at present.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Unless you are in the inner sanctum I cant see how you make that call. Either way there is a big difference between seeing Fev for 2 training sessions a week and 4 hours on the weekend than the full time involvement of an AFL list.

Your username seems quite apt at present.

Ah, brfe, you seem to have run out of Ammo.

It's not the end of the world, at least not at Melbourne. Not in footy terms, but next year is 2012, after all... Go out with a bang?

We are just beginning, but the long getout missing, when we're being pumped by older bigger and better Midfields, has been crushing, and not the least because we lack faith in adding scoreboard pressure of our own.

OK, lets change our focus a bit & look to draft Hall for 2 then. Get him out of retirement, before Sheedy does. The point remains we need a Big old dog deep forward.