Essendon v Casey Scorpions

[Whispering_Jack 28,005]

Thanks Jack. Surely Aiden Riley had a tackle!

My bad. 5 tackles.

Apologies to Aidan.

Now fixed.

[Scipio 5,868]

My bad. 5 tackles.

Apologies to Aidan.

Great first up effort from Pig Dog. Hopefully we'll see him in the firsts in a couple of weeks.

[old dee 22,928]

I was not as impressed with his game as a lot on here and I am well aware it was his first game back from serious injury.

My problem was he got caught with the ball a lot , I think that was a from a combination of being a little slow and sometimes trying to do too much.

Very early days but my impression on Sunday was he looked to me like a classic VFL player.

Time will tell as it was only his first game for the year.

Jury is out for me if he is good enough for AFL level.

[DeeSpencer 23,189]

3 Dees players in particular put a smile on my face on Sunday.

Jetta played the best game I have seen him play.

Everyone of his possessions was important. He seemed to have some real belief that at this level he is one of the best players on the park. Was also barking orders and offering encouragement to teammates throughout.

I thought McKenzie was also very good. Used the ball cleanly and kicked an excellent goal hemmed into the boundary line.

Jamar looked very rusty and frustrated around the ground. He fumbled a number of marks he would normally one grab. When the game was on the line in the last 3 centre clearances he was just fantastic, match winning ruck work.

Needs at least another week to regain touch (probably 2) but it was great to be reminded of what he can do.

Jamar hasn't taken those marks since 2011. The difference compared to Spencer is at least he gets his hands on them to start. Then again Spencer has better speed and follow up work so no ones perfect.

[DeeSpencer 23,189]

I was not as impressed with his game as a lot on here and I am well aware it was his first game back from serious injury.

My problem was he got caught with the ball a lot , I think that was a from a combination of being a little slow and sometimes trying to do too much.

Very early days but my impression on Sunday was he looked to me like a classic VFL player.

Time will tell as it was only his first game for the year.

Jury is out for me if he is good enough for AFL level.

Thing is he's allowed to look like a VFL player, he hasn't played enough AFL games yet to be expected to look a cut above. All signs point that as he regains his fitness he'll start racking up touches like 30+ a week easily which means the more times he gets it the more practice he'll have of doing something with it. I'd be looking just as much at his skills and athleticism. But his athleticism is likely to improve with a preseason where he can actually run as well. Anything we get from Riley this year is a bonus. Anything we get full stop is pretty good considering he was a free pick up.