Intraclub Practice Match - Thursday 20th February, 2014

[Outside fifty 967]

First time I've been to pre season training this year so I'm probably not much of a judge.

Fitzy looked super impressive, although his kicking technique still worries me. His marking has improved dramatically. Watts was very effective and seemed to be everywhere. Salem is a lot bigger than I'd been led to believe and will play senior footy this year. Michie was good all game as was Viney. Didn't see much of Tyson though, but that could be me not recognising half the players. Both Gawn and Spencer played well without dominating, and King does show a lot of potential. I think it was Jaydn Hunt (29) who also looked impressive.

All in all a good hit out in very windy conditions.

[DemonOX 8,785]

Roosy was in the middle the whole time and once pulled watts, Tyson and viney together for some quick instruction.

God I love reading this type of stuff.

This is what has been missing over the last 7 yrs.

It's music to my ears.

Bring it on.

[deeko 952]

Did anybody have a good look at the BP/HBF's?

Just curious on peoples thoughts on who looked best out of Nev, Dunny, Strauss,Clis and Terls.

Cheers

[Lil_red_fire_engine 11,115]

Did anybody have a good look at the BP/HBF's?

Just curious on peoples thoughts on who looked best out of Nev, Dunny, Strauss,Clis and Terls.

Cheers

Dunn was rested. Clisby was poor, Jetta so so, Strauss and Terlich ahead of those two.

[Demanding Success 298]

I wouldn't write off georgiou either. He goes hard at everything. Gets plenty of ball too. I didn't see him waste a kick.

[Outside fifty 967]

Fitzy is huge. He has a big arse which defenders will struggle to get past once on a lead.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 11,115]

I wouldn't write off georgiou either. He goes hard at everything. Gets plenty of ball too. I didn't see him waste a kick.

I tend to agree. He is very good at playing to his limitations. His timing of getting body on body mitigates his lack of height somewhat. He gets the ball and does not try and do more than what he is capable (T-Mac should learn from this). Hard to fit him in though in a balanced back 6.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Thanks guys for the detailed match reports and photos.

Well done and much appreciated.

[deeko 952]

Dunn was rested. Clisby was poor, Jetta so so, Strauss and Terlich ahead of those two.

Thanks big red, you're a good egg

[Ouch! 2,258]

I wouldn't write off georgiou either. He goes hard at everything. Gets plenty of ball too. I didn't see him waste a kick.

Is Georgiou capable of being the flexible backman like Garland who can potentially play on smalls and talls? or is he more suited to playing on the big forwards only?

[Bitter but optimistic 22,218]

Training/intra club - some observations

No doubt many will comment on this but the crowd was very large. Certainly the biggest Ive seen at the odd training sessions Ive attended over the last few years.

Notably, the mood and conversations, that I could hear, were very upbeat and positive. Strong and gusty winds.

It was apparent that both teams were instructed to hold possession.

Dawes. In both the pre training and the game he did a lot of running , turning and reversing. He looked the goods fitness wise but I was told later he had suffered an injury I did not see this. I hope its minor. He showed his strength in one on ones with T Mac. However T Mac surprised me with his strength in that competition. Dawes took a couple of strong grabs.

Spencer. Spent a lot of time on the field and competed for the most part against young King. Spencer also took a couple of strong clean marks. There was no sign of Jamar (dont know why) but today strongly suggests that Spencer is one in the rucking order.

Gawn did some ruck work but also hovered close to his teams goal. He also marked cleanly. I just wonder what the plan for Gawn is. He could be very dangerous around goal if Clark is not available.

Just to round off the big man discussion, Fitzy also impressed at times. I was able to see him up close and he surprised me with his ability to compete with the taller Gawn.

It was also interesting to watch Greg Stafford demonstrating techniques and actively coaching both Spencer and Gawn during breaks. He appears a very passionate coach.

Trengove. Carried on from Friday night.

Skill fitness, hard at it and looking far more mature. Dont want to moze him but he is starting to look the player we expected.

Must mention Jack Watts. He looked very classy. I did not see him waste a possession. He was cool and had plenty of time to choose his option.

Anyway must head home, the lads are still disturbed by that violent cat video that DC posted.

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

A few immediate things that came to mind.

Kingy is 2 years and 15kg away from playing AFL.

Hogan is lacking some serious match practice if he doesn't get that over the next couple of weeks, I can't see him lining up Round 1.

Tyson & Salem look ready to go.

With the doubts on the Big Three. I can see Gawn and Spencer lining up Round 1. (Spencer should teach Jamar how to palm the ball to a player and hit them on the chest)

JKH played all over the ground. Reads the play well and sets up plays.

Hunt has speed to burn, actually looks faster than Blease.

Don't be surprised to see Fitzy at CHF Gawn at FF Howe at FP Round 1. ( don't think the other 3 are any where near right yet)

[Demanding Success 298]

Is Georgiou capable of being the flexible backman like Garland who can potentially play on smalls and talls? or is he more suited to playing on the big forwards only?

He did it in the sanfl. If he can block their run he could do it. No way a smaller guy will out mark him. He will be a good one to watch for his progress. Maybe he might get garlands job until he comes back. He may even make Dunn think a lot more which is what he needs to being a better player.

All I can say is its good to have options.

[CHAMP 347]

Jack Watts looked an absolute natural in the midfield and had a lot of the ball and used it very well. He has time in the same way Travis had time. I'm not making any further comparisons but will be interested to see how he develops.

He's still available at $501 for the Brownlow.

[rpfc 28,262]

The other observation is that Jack Fitzpatrick will be very difficult to keep out of the team. His leading and marking was good and I thought he was the most impressive of the tall forwards. How we deal with the talls in the forward line will be one of the more interesting things to see this year.

I have wondered this myself, and I think he may benefit from the possible inability of a ruckman to stamp their claims.

If Clark comes back it seems he may be used as first ruck, at the moment Spencer has that spot but if he doesn't impress, Roos has the opportunity to give it to Clark and that will free up Fitzpatrick to play his role in the forward line.

Dawes, Hogan, Fitz/Clark and Howe can work but I don't think all five can work.

[djr 1,433]

The game was played in blustery conditions but I thought the skill standard was pretty good. Having said that the tempo of the game was nowhere near AFL level.

I had two major observations from the game. The first is that Jack Watts looked an absolute natural in the midfield and had a lot of the ball and used it very well. He has time in the same way Travis had time. I'm not making any further comparisons but will be interested to see how he develops. It's ironic that he was drafted as a KP forward which is what we really needed at the time but may well turn out into a quality mid which is exactly what we need.

The other observation is that Jack Fitzpatrick will be very difficult to keep out of the team. His leading and marking was good and I thought he was the most impressive of the tall forwards. How we deal with the talls in the forward line will be one of the more interesting things to see this year.

On Salem I wouldn't get too excited about a debut early. He played little cameos that were full of class and might earn him a practice game. But I think Roos will ease him in and I'd expect blokes like Toumpas, Viney, Kent, JKH and Salem to all spend some time at Casey.

I agree BB. From what I saw today I wouldn't be rushing Viney and Hogan into our side Round 1.

Hogan didn't create too many opportunities for himself and was rather static. That said, his off-the-ball work was very good.

Viney, as we know, is a great tackler and burrows in for the ball. This year he will develop quick hands and will become a smaller version of Tyson.

Tyson was clearly BOG followed by Watts and Michie.

Watts played as a second-back mid (outside mid) and appears to have a very good understanding with Dom T who fed him a number of times. Watts disposal was excellent.

Players that impressed me were:

Hunt - will be dominant for Casey this season off half back with his speed and skill.

Max King - Natural footballer that appears to possess a lot of self confidence and would not be surprised if he is rated next to Brady Grundy over the next two seasons.

Fitzy - I think he will be a permanent fixture in our forward line. Leads well and more importantly marks well. Would have him ahead of Jesse H at this time.

The guy who was critical of the Casey players is well off the mark. I thought their presence made the practice match more realistic and they seem to understand the game plan. yes there were a few more turnovers but no more than what we saw last year with MFC.

[Je Roos Salem 661]

Great turnout today.

I thought Michie was easily best on ground, but no mention of him in the article. Got in every contest and I would estimate he had at least 20 possessions in roughly the hour of gametime which the game went on for.

I thought there was good pressure applied in the game, Blease was hitting packs quite hard and Dawes and Fitzy playing strong games as forwards was promising (2 goals each). Gawn also took a few clean marks inside 50.

Salem kicked 2 (one off the ground in a contest and one snapped from the boundary) and looked completely natural. Kent was very promising and Viney got devastating as the game went on, as did Tyson. Watts was solid, but I don't think he was that amazing. I liked the look of Terlich too, seems a much freer, cleaner player than last year.

Unfortunately Hogan was very quiet and I didn't see him until he kicked a point at the end. JKH seemed limited (knee was taped).

Anyway, I kept score and it was Blue: 7.4 46 to White: 3.3 21. White were up 1 to 14 in the first quarter but I think blue had the better team and were destined to win.

I was a little bit disappointed at all the players who sat out and were replaced with VFL players, would've been nice to see everyone there, but I can understand the thinking.

The umpiring was ridiculously soft at times too, lucky the game was so improper.

[Vipercrunch 2,826]

I really can't see Clark playing ruck for long stretches of games for a very long time, if at all this year. Unless I've missed something, the times he has trained with the full group he has trained as a forward and although I'd love Dawes and Hogan plus whoever else be able to consistently kick bags, they are all a fair way back from what we saw Clark provide in 2012 before his injury. He took big marks and converted at a high percentage as well as being very dangerous when the ball hit the ground.

Clark would only be played as number one ruck if:

• He regains full fitness and then some,
• The remaining tall forwards really do the business. We hope for the best but we must remember Hogan is yet to play an AFL game, Dawes has struggled with fitness, Fitz has taken some great strides but he is not yet 2012 Clark...
• The actual rucks are not providing what we need. They are not ruck superstars but perhaps our game plan doesn't need them to be. Halve the contest and make a path for the mids. Do we need them to get 25 possesions, and kick 3 goals a game? I'm confident Jamar, Spencer or Gawn will be able to provide enough.

I just want to see Clark fully fit and playing some of the footy we saw before his injury. And with better and more frequantsupply, it will be a great show.

[ManDee 7,124]

Thanks for all the reports and photos. You guys do a great service for all of us who cannot attend. I'm excited.

[P-man 13,366]

Great stuff fellas.

Must not get excited.

Must not get excited.

Must not get excited...

Ah hell. Move aside Big Kev cause I'm freakin excited!!

[DeezMan 4]

Braved the blustery and cold conditions to attend this!

I too am excited... but I can't help but feel a little less optimistic with those worse-than-grey clouds hovering above Clark and Dawes. Those too are PIVOTAL to an all encompassing forward structure when 100% fit, yes? They are key!

Short-term pain, long-term gain? It seems to be all about match fitness and conditioning for those two now... happy to see them rehab and train hard until Round 5 if need be. then play a stint at Casey. Hard work ahead still. Cannot be rushed by any means.

[Young Dee 1,303]

Tapscott injures knee, Watts stars

Tappy - 2 weeks (damn but don't see him in the 22 this year anyway - still would like him to have the chance)

Doesn't mention Dawes injury so lets hope he is alright.

Hoping Dawes, Jamar, Fitzy, Watts and Viney play Geelong.

[dazzledavey36 54,285]

Did dom barry play?

[DeeSpencer 25,477]

Did dom barry play?

Yep, mostly on a wing where he pushed back and got involved in the chip around. Very hard to make any real comment on his talent from what I observed as I was focusing more on the guys I think are in contention for round 1.

[DeeSpencer 25,477]

No, he is playing for St. Mary's 2's in the Geelong Football League Reserves.

EFA.