No point playing Watts at Casey unless he is unfit. He is far to skilled for the VFL and as such does not need to work hard enough to get his 25 possessions and be in the best.

He must be brought in place of Tompus, he must play forward, rotating on the wing.

Toumpas, bail and jordie out

Blease, Kent and watts in

Let jetta go have a run in the middle for a tag,

Can tackle and hit the contests hard enough, and slightly better with footy than jords

Kent and blease in to rotate around wings and flanks, get a bit

More dash on transition

Watts outta the square, and opefully on the end of a few leass

Can't bring in Blease *and* Kent; too many little tanks in one side. I am of the belief that Davey and Blease are playing for the one place in the side and at the moment that one is a no-brainer.

I'd keep it fairly simple: Watts in for Toumpas. I am happy to drop Bail if there is an adequate replacement; but I remain to be convinced that there is a suitable swap waiting in the wings at Casey. Any change to players like Bail, Nicholson et al has to be "run neutral" at worst IMO; we can not afford to cover net less ground than we currently are.

If we had been playing any better than absolute garbage this year you'd almost give us a sneaky chance this weekend with Fremantles never ending injury list

They'll be without Pavlich, Griffen, Sandilands and probably Hill & Walters too.

I'm guessing match ups will be somthing like;

Frawley - Hannath

Garland - Mayne

Sellar - not required due to the lack of height in Fremantles forward line?

Strauss - Ballentyne

McKenzie - Barlow

Dawes - McPharlin

Perhaps play Dunn as a defensive forward on Michael Johnson?

Garland's been our best defensive backman this year so he has to get serial pest Ballantyne (yes I know he's a small but he leads up well like a tall forward).

That allows Terlich to play on one of their lesser lights and run off as he's been doing.

Frawley gets Mayne and Sellar gets Hannath.

Davis is unlucky but there's no real match-up for him this game unless he plays on Mayne and Frawley is used more as attacking defender.

Given we are on the biggest ground in country, then Blease has to come in and play on Hill (if fit). I'd take J Mac as the one emergency because of his versatility and let Rodan, Davis and Co get some VFL game time v Geelong on Friday night.

Anyone who saw Watts play in Brisbane knows he can no longer play down back - that experiment is over.

The good thing is that if he plays forward it allows Howe to play as sweeper or as a midfield lead-up. Howey could even play on Fyfe.

Gawn's game was shocking v Richmond, but Fitzy didn't look that good v Box Hill and that leaves Pedersen! So I'd take Gawn and hope he lifts.

So my changes are:

Out: Toumpas (inj), McKenzie (too slow for Perth and I hate to think what Freo will do with his turnovers), Nicholson (has lost confidence to take game on).

In: Watts, Blease, Byrnes.

7 def: Garland, Frawley, Sellar, Strauss, Terlich, Dunn, Howe

9 mids: Jamar ®, N.Jones, Magner, Evans, Blease, Trengove, M.Jones, Byrnes, Bail (sub)

6 forwards: Gawn, Dawes, Watts, Tapscott, Davey, Jetta

Reckon we are a sneaky chance this week, dont ask me why.

A win in Perth would be the spark this group needs to give them belief and confidence to start winning games of footy.

In - Watts

Out - Toumpas

Watts must play forward, he will have protection from Dawes and he is wasted down back.

Reckon we are a sneaky chance this week, dont ask me why.

the "relaxing" is starting early this week....

Garland's been our best defensive backman this year so he has to get serial pest Ballantyne (yes I know he's a small but he leads up well like a tall forward).

That allows Terlich to play on one of their lesser lights and run off as he's been doing.

Frawley gets Mayne and Sellar gets Hannath.

Davis is unlucky but there's no real match-up for him this game unless he plays on Mayne and Frawley is used more as attacking defender.

Given we are on the biggest ground in country, then Blease has to come in and play on Hill (if fit). I'd take J Mac as the one emergency because of his versatility and let Rodan, Davis and Co get some VFL game time v Geelong on Friday night.

Anyone who saw Watts play in Brisbane knows he can no longer play down back - that experiment is over.

The good thing is that if he plays forward it allows Howe to play as sweeper or as a midfield lead-up. Howey could even play on Fyfe.

Gawn's game was shocking v Richmond, but Fitzy didn't look that good v Box Hill and that leaves Pedersen! So I'd take Gawn and hope he lifts.

So my changes are:

Out: Toumpas (inj), McKenzie (too slow for Perth and I hate to think what Freo will do with his turnovers), Nicholson (has lost confidence to take game on).

In: Watts, Blease, Byrnes.

7 def: Garland, Frawley, Sellar, Strauss, Terlich, Dunn, Howe

9 mids: Jamar ®, N.Jones, Magner, Evans, Blease, Trengove, M.Jones, Byrnes, Bail (sub)

6 forwards: Gawn, Dawes, Watts, Tapscott, Davey, Jetta

I think Blease when he learns to defend will be given his chance, he does not play both ways at the moment, that is not criticism that is fact, that is why he is at Casey, Hill would tear him a new one

the "relaxing" is starting early this week....

Pedo will work in the middle, stuie.

You can't get drunk on tea.

Pedo will work in the middle, stuie.

You can't get drunk on tea.

No. He won't. Pedo and Sellar play the same role as either spud forward or defensive stopper. There is 0 chance Pedo will play in the middle, and I'll take whatever bet you like on it.

Pedo will work in the middle, stuie.

You can't get drunk on tea.

Is this serious? maybe for one ball up or something, anything else and he'd be exposed bigtime, and we'd be done with tanking knowing our luck.

His defensive efforts in the ruck were the reason Id consider dropping him. He let Vickery get goal side twice as let Smith do it last week.

I have little faith in Pedersen or Fitzy which is why I didn't drop him but if Gawn isn't on the list of potentials to have a run in the 2's then we are struggling

Just with Gawn's defensive efforts, I'd say that is more of a fitness thing than effort.

Is this serious? maybe for one ball up or something, anything else and he'd be exposed bigtime, and we'd be done with tanking knowing our luck.

I was just thinking that with the loss of JV and Sylvia, a big body in the middle wouldn't hurt.

You never know.....

two changes In Watts, Byrnes(if fit or Blease) Out Toumpas, McKenzie

Line up

Strauss Frawley Sellar

Terlich Garland Dunn

Davey Jones Evans

Trengove Howe Watts

Jetta Dawes Gawn

Jamar M Jones Magner

Bail, Byrnes, Nicholson, Tapscott

I reckon Bail needs to be turned into our defensive midfielder. He can run, reasonable speed, to me a better option than McKenzie.

Yep. No sign of that tweet on his account. Bogus rumor-mongering?

If anyone watched Freo's game last night, our backs will have it all over their forwards. I think Walters is out injured, so as long as Garland can do a job on Ballantyne we should be good...until the inevitable avalanche of ball comes in courtesy of their star-studded midfield.

EDIT: Turns out I missed it and the rumour is true. Viney out for 4-6 with a toe? Man that sucks!

I watched Freo draw with Sydney at the SCG !!! "our backs will have it all over their forwards" Are you dreaming ??? I'll bet their forwards kick many more goals than we could dream of this week ..We will need more than Garland doing a job on Ballantye !!!.Sadly They will cane us

Mckenzie wont get dropped, hes the teachers pet and hes also the only tagger we have

although i would drop him and give Dunn the tagging jobs

Garland's been our best defensive backman this year so he has to get serial pest Ballantyne (yes I know he's a small but he leads up well like a tall forward).

That allows Terlich to play on one of their lesser lights and run off as he's been doing.

Frawley gets Mayne and Sellar gets Hannath.

Davis is unlucky but there's no real match-up for him this game unless he plays on Mayne and Frawley is used more as attacking defender.

Given we are on the biggest ground in country, then Blease has to come in and play on Hill (if fit). I'd take J Mac as the one emergency because of his versatility and let Rodan, Davis and Co get some VFL game time v Geelong on Friday night.

Anyone who saw Watts play in Brisbane knows he can no longer play down back - that experiment is over.

The good thing is that if he plays forward it allows Howe to play as sweeper or as a midfield lead-up. Howey could even play on Fyfe.

Gawn's game was shocking v Richmond, but Fitzy didn't look that good v Box Hill and that leaves Pedersen! So I'd take Gawn and hope he lifts.

So my changes are:

Out: Toumpas (inj), McKenzie (too slow for Perth and I hate to think what Freo will do with his turnovers), Nicholson (has lost confidence to take game on).

In: Watts, Blease, Byrnes.

7 def: Garland, Frawley, Sellar, Strauss, Terlich, Dunn, Howe

9 mids: Jamar ®, N.Jones, Magner, Evans, Blease, Trengove, M.Jones, Byrnes, Bail (sub)

6 forwards: Gawn, Dawes, Watts, Tapscott, Davey, Jetta

I like your reasoning,, but I'd have slightly different In/Outs.

I think Byrnes if fit is a must, & pity about young Viney, this match was made for his Vigour.

I want Davis In for the Hawks game, so he either goes back for one match, or he Plays this week... either Or.

I'm worried about Jack w's robustness against a team like a RLyon team. but I want his Skills, so he's my Sub: so watts sub: for Toumpa.

Hard runners are the Go against the Freo team & spread & presenting is imperative over there. So I want either Pederson in for CHF, or Sellar comes back to the goalsquare & Dawes plays CHF.

To me I don't want another first gamer in for this away game, so I'd go for Pederson, who can play either end of the ground, giving us some versatility.

so my Ins are Byrnes if fit, Pederson & watts... Byrnes for Bail, watts for Toumpa & Pederson in.

Pederson can be rotated with Sellar,,,, Dunn can come into the middle for McKenzie if needed? & Byrnes for Bail. I don't want watts on in the first half so he subs,,, wait til the legs are weary.

(emerg: Kent)

I was just thinking that with the loss of JV and Sylvia, a big body in the middle wouldn't hurt.

You never know.....

If you want that verstility & for the middle, go with JMac... he has played in the guts & wins ball. has a ferocity.

I was just thinking that with the loss of JV and Sylvia, a big body in the middle wouldn't hurt.

You never know.....

The basic thought is good, but i think we have better options than Pedo, geez i'd even take Rodan over pedo.

I like your reasoning,, but I'd have slightly different In/Outs.

I think Byrnes if fit is a must, & pity about young Viney, this match was made for his Vigour.

I want Davis In for the Hawks game, so he either goes back for one match, or he Plays this week... either Or.

I'm worried about Jack w's robustness against a team like a RLyon team. but I want his Skills, so he's my Sub: so watts sub: for Toumpa.

Hard runners are the Go against the Freo team & spread & presenting is imperative over there. So I want either Pederson in for CHF, or Sellar comes back to the goalsquare & Dawes plays CHF.

To me I don't want another first gamer in for this away game, so I'd go for Pederson, who can play either end of the ground, giving us some versatility.

so my Ins are Byrnes if fit, Pederson & watts... Byrnes for Bail, watts for Toumpa & Pederson in.

Pederson can be rotated with Sellar,,,, Dunn can come into the middle for McKenzie if needed? & Byrnes for Bail. I don't want watts on in the first half so he subs,,, wait til the legs are weary.

(emerg: Kent)

Hard runners are the go against Freo. Drops teams best runner in Bail. Seems legit!

Watts may not deserve a spot straight away but I think we have to play him.

Hopefully he gets played deep forward. He's had enough time in the backline and it isn't working anyway. He's a great kick for goal and lets face it, if he gets 6 or 8 kicks in the forward line, he'd probably kick 4 goals.

He'll have Dawes and the resting ruckman (Jamar or Gawn) for company so he could easily be used in a floating/decoy type situation. Jack's name did come up in the after match press conference, so he's a possible starter.

Byrnes and possibly Blease will push for selection. You can't have too many in your team with poor disposal skills so there a few likely candidates that could make way.

I agree, but sadly the big bossman doesn't agree with us:

But Neeld said Watts was likely to return next round, after missing the past three matches with a hamstring injury.

“Jack Watts should be available next week, so that’s good,” he said.

“That gives us another player coming out of the backline like Dean Terlich. We certainly like having the footy in Jack’s hands.

If you want that verstility & for the middle, go with JMac... he has played in the guts & wins ball. has a ferocity.

Maybe its just becasue he has been injured so i havent seen him play for a while, but when i think of JMac i think of over enthusiastic tackles that almost alwasy result in free kicks against us (in the back, head high etc) and turnovers by foot!!

I agree, but sadly the big bossman doesn't agree with us:

But Neeld said Watts was likely to return next round, after missing the past three matches with a hamstring injury.

“Jack Watts should be available next week, so that’s good,” he said.

“That gives us another player coming out of the backline like Dean Terlich. We certainly like having the footy in Jack’s hands.

Well, if Freo employ the 'press' as they would be expected to do, there ain't gonna be a lot of room in our backline to clear the ball out

If Jack is in the backline, he's probably in for a lot of work. If he wants to work. It's up to Jack. It's not a coaching thing in his case. He's been given every opportunity to play well.

I'd still prefer him in the forward line and hope like hell we can get the ball down there enough. We need more targets in our forward line right now.

Hard runners are the go against Freo. Drops teams best runner in Bail. Seems legit!

Hard runners are important, but that isn't enough on its own. Bail has been not in great form, so is a tossup amongst him & Nicholson to me. I don't want to sacrifice the teams amount of tenacity & hardness for the contests, so I'd keep McKenzie.

Bail is a great runner, but he's just not giving enough. He's too outside for me, & gives little re the contested ball & hardness, so I'd replace him with Byrnes if he's fit.

On the longer ground IMO the opposite applies to the SCG, so structure is a key to help the mids kick longer. So to me Pederson or Dawes to CHF to help the structure.

Maybe its just becasue he has been injured so i havent seen him play for a while, but when i think of JMac i think of over enthusiastic tackles that almost alwasy result in free kicks against us (in the back, head high etc) and turnovers by foot!!

* Best > Casey Scorpions: Pedersen, Couch, Best, Macdonald, Spencer, Nicholls...........

Bigger ground DWA... but I think you'll notice, I've put Pederson in my team.

With Sellar holding down one of the key defensive posts quite well, and Tom McDonald struggling with the play down back this year, I like the idea of playing Tom as a tall wingman.

We all know that he's one of the best runners at the club and was drafted as a forward.

With that in mind I'd like to see him be told to start on the wing, anyone that could run with him would most likely be shorter, if that's the case he could push forward late to create a miss-matched marking forward.

We also know that he can defend. Pressure on the oppositions kick into their attacking 50 has been an issue for us. Tom also has the runs on the board as a defender, so he'd be handy dropping back in the hole like McEvoy has been this year.

A straight swap of Nicholson or Bail would see McDonald on the wing.

What are people's thoughts on this?

I'm not sure why you would want McDonald on the wing... especially this year we have seen him turn the ball over consistently and butchered the ball by foot. He does have good endurance but how can we play a player on the wing that has very poor disposal efficiency. Especially in our midfield who already struggles with ball movement. If he played on the wing he'd be causing too many direct turnovers which would definetly turn into direct goals against us.

I think that Sellar played a good game down back. He has a bigger body, has a bit better disposal efficiency and can play on those bigger body, taller forwards and resting ruckman unlike McDonald so far this year. I think we should give Sellar a go for longer to see what he can produce as a consistent back man.