Just felt abit bored and thought i'd through some questions out there

who do you think is our most improved player in 2013?

who do you think has gone the most backwards on 2012 output?

Surprise packet?

For me our most improved player is Luke Tapscott, he seems to have finally settled into a position and i love the physicality he brings to the table each week.

I think Tom Mcdonald is the most obvious player who has gone backwards, as people have mentioned this is for acceptable reasons and i'm sure he'll find form

Jack Trengove has been a little up and way down but i am giving him the benefit of the doubt with how serious his injury during the pre season was.

and the surprise packet for me is actually Matt Jones, I wasn't sure if he'd realistically be able to hold his spot in our midfield but not only has he done that, he has probably gone ahead of everyone but Nathan Jones in this area, looks like he and Terlich were fantastic selections in the draft.

Hard to pick a player not on the list before the season.

I'm thinking Gawn, Jetta, Strauss, Tapscott and Fitzpatrick are all having better seasons.

But the one I'd go with so far is Evans.

I sorta didn't know what to make of Garland last year, now i see no reason he can't be our most important player. He has All Australian potential in my opinion.

Most improved - probably Evans but he hasn't played many games to really compare with, so I'd throw Garland, Sylvia, Grimes and Tappy's names into the ring

Backwards - Tom McDonald, James frawley, jack trengove,

Surprise packet - Terlich, matt jones, Evans

This Evans guy is looking OK to me, big watch on Big Maxy.

Most Improved: Colin Garland by a mile. His output this year is far and above what he was giving us last year. Max Gawn is another candidate, but two games doesn't give us enough info to be certain. And besides, I'd still take Garland over him based on performance this year.

Gone Backwards: Sam Blease. He showed great signs last year, but seems to have fallen away a lot. Tom McDonald makes some really glaring errors that tend to stick in your mind, but he is an absolutely rock solid defender. No way should he be the recipient of this award.

Surprise Packet: Definitely Matt Jones. With him and Nathan in the side, it really is a case of "keeping up with the Joneses" for our otherwise Z-Class midfield.

Improved: Evans, Gawn, Garland

Backwards: Everyone else

Most Improved: Colin Garland by a mile. His output this year is far and above what he was giving us last year. Max Gawn is another candidate, but two games doesn't give us enough info to be certain. And besides, I'd still take Garland over him based on performance this year.

Gone Backwards: Sam Blease. He showed great signs last year, but seems to have fallen away a lot. Tom McDonald makes some really glaring errors that tend to stick in your mind, but he is an absolutely rock solid defender. No way should he be the recipient of this award.

Surprise Packet: Definitely Matt Jones. With him and Nathan in the side, it really is a case of "keeping up with the Joneses" for our otherwise Z-Class midfield.

Fair enough about Mcdonald, at some point guys like blease need to go from kids with potential to consistant performers, he has a chance to do that this year and i really hope he can, his speed is an asset to any side

stepping up recently :-

Nathan Jones

Colin Sylvia

Lyndon Dunn

Colin Garland

Jack Grimes

Michael Evans

Luke Tapscott

Max Gawn

Jeremy Howe

Neville Jetta

Troy Davis

Jake Spencer

Rory Taggert

Matt Jones

Dean Terlich

Jack Fitzpatrick

Tailing Off for some reason :-

Jack Trengove

Jordie Mack'

Rohan Bail

Most improved: Definitely Garland. His form this year (excluding WC game) has been outstanding. when the ball has been bombed in long into defence he has been peeling off from his opponent to help his teammates and get the ball out of danger or out of bounds. Lets hope he keeps this up because he is so far this year very realiable backman.

Gone Backwards: I know he is only young, but considering where he was at last year and then to compare this year, he has dropped a lot. All he probably needs is a few things on the field to go his way and then his confidence wiil grow, and hopefully we will see the Tommy Mac of last year.

Surprise packet: Michael Evans. He has come back from his injuries very well. Played a pivitol role in the last qtr against GWS and has shown the form that he had before injuries hit.

Apart from his first game, Viney has been a bit dissapointing.

Most Improved: Colin Garland by a mile. His output this year is far and above what he was giving us last year. Max Gawn is another candidate, but two games doesn't give us enough info to be certain. And besides, I'd still take Garland over him based on performance this year.

Gone Backwards: Sam Blease. He showed great signs last year, but seems to have fallen away a lot. Tom McDonald makes some really glaring errors that tend to stick in your mind, but he is an absolutely rock solid defender. No way should he be the recipient of this award.

Surprise Packet: Definitely Matt Jones. With him and Nathan in the side, it really is a case of "keeping up with the Joneses" for our otherwise Z-Class midfield.

Garland was stuffed around last year by being thrown into the forward line, in which he did well considering it was a position he hadn't played for years. Could have been as good last year if he was left in the backline.

Most Improved: N Jones and possibly Garland.

Gone Backwards: the rest have flatlined at best or gone backwards in some cases significantly

Surprise packet:

1. After 5 months of solid pre season, the side was completely uncompetitive against Port and Esse and made little headway since.

2. Our midfield (sans Jones Boy) is worse than it was last year. I did not think that could be possible.

3. The mature age recruits (sans Dawes - unproven) have barely given a yelp. I hope they're great guys around the Club.

I don't think McDonald has gone backwards, his disposal has always been very poor, I just think people's expectations grew.

Most Improved: Got to be Michael Evans or Luke Tapscott I reckon, they're both showing what they're bringing to the table. Nathan Jones, Colin Garland & Jack Grimes have all improved also but we already knew what they were capable of. Evans and Tapscott have made the biggest strides IMO.

Gone Backwards: Chip and Trenners have both struggled a little, but at the same time Chips last few games have been improved performances and I thought Trenners was pretty good in rounds 3 & 4 considering his pre-season so I'd have to say Sammy Blease as I thought he showed some glimpses last year that he was ready to play consistent footy this year. Hopefully he can produce some good footy in the coming weeks.

Suprise Packets: Matt Jones has been far better then I was expecting and Michael Evans has also shown he could be a much better player then I expected of him. I thought he'd be a depth player at best but I can see a little bit of Leigh Montagna about the way Pickles plays, I now think we have a beauty on our hands!

Garland was stuffed around last year by being thrown into the forward line, in which he did well considering it was a position he hadn't played for years. Could have been as good last year if he was left in the backline.

I actually think this is one of the better coaching tactics I've seen from Neeld. Garland was very good when he went forward (I think he was drafted as a forward?) and incase you've forgotten he won us the game against Essendon with those two late goals.

My Most Improved: Pickles, Garland.

Gone Backwards: Jack Trengove, for reasons unknown.

Surprise Packet: Matt Jones, Dean Terlich - both showing to be great picks late in the draft so far.

Most Improved: Garland (over the last 3 weeks) he has been brilliant. I get the feeling there was some tension between him and some higher ups but that has now been resolved. He has really cleaned up his disposal. I don't think he was a natural born leader but I think adversity is forging him into one.
Gone backwards: Jack Trengove, not sure what the go is but, for the kid's sake, this captaincy farce needs to end. I hope the right people are talking to Jack and letting him know that if he drops the captaincy now, it isn't a failure on his behalf. Something is wrong. I'm not sure if it is because he is captain but it isn't helping....

Surprise packet: Matt Jones, Dean Terlich: these mature recruits are paying off. They won't be the one's to take us to the promised land but they keep pressure on the blokes at Casey.

Apart from his first game, Viney has been a bit dissapointing.

To me it looks like he is trying to do too much, love the confidence of the kid, but as much as we need to understand he is a first year player and we shouldn't expect him to save us right off the bat, he needs to understand the exact same thing, will be a great player for us in a few years though

I actually think Mark Neeld is our most improved since the start of the season.

It's been a dramatic month and a half. I think something has changed. I'll not be looking at things 'clean slate', but I will be separating my perception of 'past Neeld' and 'present Neeld.

Can someone explain to me what I am missing with Tapscott?

I actually think Mark Neeld is our most improved since the start of the season.

It's been a dramatic month and a half. I think something has changed. I'll not be looking at things 'clean slate', but I will be separating my perception of 'past Neeld' and 'present Neeld.

He seems abit more assured these past couple of weeks, after the Essendon game it looked as though he was understandably having doubts about his plan and his ability to do the job, but now he seems like he has turned a corner and things are falling in line abit.

Most Improved: A hard call. I agree that Garland, Evans and Tapscott have all gone up a notch or three. I would throw in Col Sylvia as well, given his more consistent output so far. In the cases of Evans and Tappy they've really cemented their spot in the side with some really good form, while Garland has ironed out a lot of his errors and seems to have bulked up a bit which is allowing him to dominate contests. Probably have to go with Evans given he's gone from an injury-plagued rookie to a regular starter.

Gone Backwards: It's hard to look past Trengove here. There has to be something very wrong with him to explain the way he's moving. As numerous commentators have mentioned, he seems to have no power or energy. His kicking has lost penetration, he's unable to run or even jump properly. Something has gone wrong here and the club needs to figure it out and fix it. Mentions to Tommy Mac who is playing more like a 20 year old this year after an outstanding 2012, and to Frawley, who is still beating his opponents but seems to have lost his attacking mojo.

Surprise: Matt Jones was known as a very consistent and dependable player in the VFL. I don't know why we should be surprised that he's turning out to be a consistent and dependable player in the AFL too. He hasn't set the world on fire, but he keeps working away, getting the ball and using it. I think it's worth mentioning Evans at this point again as well. After the start his career had, for him to be playing good football and starting in the side is a great effort. There was some speculation that he was only promoted because of an existing deal with the club that had to be honoured. I think we can now say that he had a few other things going for him.

Can someone explain to me what I am missing with Tapscott?

Tapscott is getting through a lot of work around half forward. You need to look for him a bit (you'd think a guy built like that would be easier to spot), but he's turned into a very good contested mark, his defensive work is very nice and his field kicking (aside from a little problem with not seeing the man on the mark) is good quality. If he had converted he'd be close to leading our goalkicking as well, but he's having some massive issues with his set shots for some reason. He still has some work to do, but hes coming along very nicely.

Also, huge congrats to DF26 for the thread. It's nice to have a generally positive and constructive thread to join in on once in a while and this is doing the job very well indeed.

Tapscott is getting through a lot of work around half forward. You need to look for him a bit (you'd think a guy built like that would be easier to spot), but he's turned into a very good contested mark, his defensive work is very nice and his field kicking (aside from a little problem with not seeing the man on the mark) is good quality. If he had converted he'd be close to leading our goalkicking as well, but he's having some massive issues with his set shots for some reason. He still has some work to do, but hes coming along very nicely.

Getting through a lot of work? What does that mean? I like his 'physicality', but he's averaging 11 touches, 3 marks and less than a goal per game. He's only kicked 2 behinds so it's not like he's missed a slew of shots either... Fewer than 2 tackles a game.. I know stats aren't everything, but what's he actually doing other than muscling up?

Getting through a lot of work? What does that mean? I like his 'physicality', but he's averaging 11 touches, 3 marks and less than a goal per game. He's only kicked 2 behinds so it's not like he's missed a slew of shots either... Fewer than 2 tackles a game.. I know stats aren't everything, but what's he actually doing other than muscling up?

For a start, a lot of his set shots aren't registering scores. I would also say that even when he isn't getting a stat he's putting enough pressure on to impact the contest. I bump won't get you a stat, but its still a contribution.

Edit: Just checked the figures. If he'd converted the set shots he should have he'd be first or second in our goalkicking depending on what you consider to be a shot he should have made.