Casey Scorpions v Box Hill Hawks

[DeeSpencer 25,477]

Anyway I watched some of the first half and a fair chunk of the second half on TV.

My thoughts were:

Gawn - very good in the ruck, working ok around the ground, needed to do a bit more defensively in the air on McEvoy

Blease - some very good patches and he's having a go, wouldn't get excited about his future prospects but he's aiming for a shot at AFL

JKH - looks mentally fatigued and trapped between trying to do too much and not backing himself, still a handy player

Harmes - moves well, nice size, like him as a prospect.

Michie - hard in an under, needs to hurt the opponent more but it's hard without open targets

Barry - disappointing, mental mistakes

Toumpas - slow, soft, no power. Really doubting him. What a mistake. Might still make it but will be fringe

Fitzy, Evans - apparently contracted but so meh

Strauss, Tapscott, Nicholson - yuck.

For patches besides the longer the last quarter went they did ok defensively setting up as we do but there's no run and carry, no handballs away from stoppages everything is just a slam it forward.

And the Casey players are incredibly average. Besides Jake Best the rest are miles off. Short, lose their feet, slow, look unfit. They really look like a bunch of local footballers not like semi-professional athletes pushing for AFL opportunities.

[STN91 32]

Was watching the game to see how Blease would go and his first half was very good. His ability to run out of congested situations and hit targets was really promising and he looked a level above VFL. He didn't give the same drive in the second half and as I was watching it on Tv I'm not sure if he was getting moved around the field a bit but he didn't have the same impact out of the back half. I'd like to see him get a chance at senior level at some stage

[STN91 32]

Thought Harmes intensity was terrific. He was fighting hard to be out there and you hope a kid like that can continue to develop and make a difference down the track

[rjay 24,887]

One big problem I see with Blease is that he goes to ground too much. HIs biggest asset is his pace and he takes it out of his game when he hits the deck. He was doing this at AFL level and he still does it in the VFL. Keep your feet Sam and use your run and carry.

[Sambo06 222]

Anyway I watched some of the first half and a fair chunk of the second half on TV.

My thoughts were:

Gawn - very good in the ruck, working ok around the ground, needed to do a bit more defensively in the air on McEvoy

Blease - some very good patches and he's having a go, wouldn't get excited about his future prospects but he's aiming for a shot at AFL

JKH - looks mentally fatigued and trapped between trying to do too much and not backing himself, still a handy player

Harmes - moves well, nice size, like him as a prospect.

Michie - hard in an under, needs to hurt the opponent more but it's hard without open targets

Barry - disappointing, mental mistakes

Toumpas - slow, soft, no power. Really doubting him. What a mistake. Might still make it but will be fringe

Fitzy, Evans - apparently contracted but so meh

Strauss, Tapscott, Nicholson - yuck.

For patches besides the longer the last quarter went they did ok defensively setting up as we do but there's no run and carry, no handballs away from stoppages everything is just a slam it forward.

And the Casey players are incredibly average. Besides Jake Best the rest are miles off. Short, lose their feet, slow, look unfit. They really look like a bunch of local footballers not like semi-professional athletes pushing for AFL opportunities.

One of the worst reviews posted in a while.

No facts. Watch the WHOLE game before posting carp like this.

[Samael 560]

I was at the game today and after reading through thie thread thought I would make some comments.

Box Hill had some serious tall boys up forward, but they won it through some outstanding midfield running and a touch of class all over the field that even the MFC players didn't or couldn't match.

They also won it from some of the worst kicking forward of centre from the Scorpions that I have ever seen at VFL level. I reckon the kicking today was not up to Eastern Football League Div 1 here in Melbourne. Poor old Dan Nicholson showed why he is not getting a game. I was sitting with the woman he used to board with when he first came to the club who was talking him up all day so I was watching him very closely. He hit one target by foot all day. Atrocious.

Gawn. Great game. Hard work, gut running and beat big boy McEvoy in the hitouts (I think). But he does still drop some marks that only he gets his hands to.

Barry. Very poor game. Nowhere near it.

Nicholson. Nowhere near AFL standard.

Toumpas. Needs to get into it more but did look a class above when he used it. His tackling and aggression were a real highlight.

Blease. Very good game. In the VFL player reviews he has been criticised for letting his player get goal side, and that did happen twice today that I noticed, but his movement around the ground to set up the next play was very good as was his tackling. The only Dees player who today showed he is worthy of promotion.

Tapscott. Some of his play was really, really good and he was confident and focused with ball in hand. Just didn't get it any where near enough. He did play a lot better than I thought he would against a very good Box Hill side.

Michie. He may have got a bit of the ball but I didn't notice it during general play. His possessions didn't seem to advance the Scorpions toward goal or hurt the opposition.

Strauss. He does kick well but he did absolutely nothing else. Nothing.

Fitzy. Boy he goes hard at it in the air. Box Hill double teamed him all day with one player body-on-body and another coming over the top or dropping in front. He impressed me as a forward target but it seemed the other players were too dumb to cut out the third man up and give him a better chance to mark.

Harmes. I was impressed with this kid. Didn't get a heap of possessions but he is a good size, makes amazing 2nd and 3rd efforts and has a genuine crack at it. What I enjoyed the most about him is I reckon he can kick well under pressure.

Apart from Blease I can fully understand why Roos isn't changing the 22 too easily. He has few to choose from as genuine AFL standard alternatives.

[Edit] I forgot JKH. He get to the right places with pace and zip but wasn't particularly impressive today.

Bit harsh on Georgiou. Thought he was passable. Or did I have him mixed up with somebody else.

[Samael 560]

Anyway I watched some of the first half and a fair chunk of the second half on TV.

My thoughts were:

Gawn - very good in the ruck, working ok around the ground, needed to do a bit more defensively in the air on McEvoy

Blease - some very good patches and he's having a go, wouldn't get excited about his future prospects but he's aiming for a shot at AFL

JKH - looks mentally fatigued and trapped between trying to do too much and not backing himself, still a handy player

Harmes - moves well, nice size, like him as a prospect.

Michie - hard in an under, needs to hurt the opponent more but it's hard without open targets

Barry - disappointing, mental mistakes

Toumpas - slow, soft, no power. Really doubting him. What a mistake. Might still make it but will be fringe

Fitzy, Evans - apparently contracted but so meh

Strauss, Tapscott, Nicholson - yuck.

For patches besides the longer the last quarter went they did ok defensively setting up as we do but there's no run and carry, no handballs away from stoppages everything is just a slam it forward.

And the Casey players are incredibly average. Besides Jake Best the rest are miles off. Short, lose their feet, slow, look unfit. They really look like a bunch of local footballers not like semi-professional athletes pushing for AFL opportunities.

No mention of Georgiou here either.

This is the 6th Casey Game I have watched live this year. I have read a lot about how the Melbourne listed players are not knocking on the door. I would have to say that whilst they make up a significant part of the team they are hamstrung by the definite step down in class with the VFL listed players. Today they really got found out. Turnovers, dropped marks, very poor decision making. Its not aided by what appears to be a game plan that is just kick it forward and hope. Having said that today I thought JKH was poor and looked a little disinterested. Blease looked panicky. He has great run as many have pointed out but usually ends up getting into trouble because he goes that bit too far. Casey also got the rough end of the pineapple from the umpiring. Some of the fifty meter penalties had me scratching my head. Being at the game they were difficult to comprehend. Would like to know what the TV guys thought. However all these things do not excuse the poor second half and the surrender in the last. I don't know what the plan for all of the players is but one thing that I believe should be asked of the MFC boys is that they take on greater leadership. There are no voices. No revving up on the ground and very little animation when things go right. They might be playing in a sadly depleted team right now but they can contribute. I don't know any players like you guys do but it seems to me that they don't see that they have a leadership role in the twos and they are there for themselves. This is something I notice on this site where people say the result is not important only that the MFC players get better. No skin in the game and if I was a Casey player I would be annoyed. Instead of seeing it as a penalty (not the right word) it should be seen as an opportunity to be the senior in the team as most MFC players seem to be young (everybody is young to me). That's my two bobs worth. Cheers

[Demonland 71,622]

OUTBOXED by KC from Casey

The Casey Scorpions' 2014 woes continued at home against reigning premiers, the Box Hill Hawks who dominated their round 11 encounter at Casey Fields for all but one quarter before crushing their lifeless hosts in the last to record an 85-point thrashing on the public stage in the VFL's televised match of the day.

The match was in stark contrast to the previous encounter between these sides in the final home and away round of last season when they were battling for high stakes at the top of the ladder and an errant shot for goal by Dom Barry in the dying moments saw the Scorpions go down by 2 points at Box Hill City Oval, a result which consigned them to an opening finals game at the Cattery.

This time, a far superior Box Hill took a stranglehold on the game early in the piece when it outscored Casey in the opening term despite kicking into the face of a strongish breeze. The home side lined up with fourteen Melbourne listed players but the Casey contingent was relatively inexperienced and missing Troy Davis, Mitch Gent, Will Petropoulos and promising youngster Ed Morris who returned from injury this week through the development league team.

B: Welsh Georgiou Strauss

HB: Nicholson Panozza Toumpas

C: Byrnes Tapscott Barry

HF: Blease Smith Harmes

F: Best Fitzpatrick Kennedy-Harris

FOLL: Gawn Michie Evans

IC: Drew Page Rennie* Saunders Shiels

* 23rd player

Casey was on the back foot early and it was a bad sign that it could only penetrate the Box Hill defence twice in the opening term for goals to Smith and Fitzpatrick at the 17 and 19 minute mark respectively. The Hawks let them off the hook with their poor finishing in front of goal but such was their dominance that the game was virtually over at half time when they led by 38 points and the Scorps had managed to add another two measly points to their score.

With Smith and Byrnes injured, it took quite an effort for Casey to fight its way back into the game but it did so in the third term on the back of strong work in the midfield from Michie and some hard efforts from Gawn in the ruck. At one stage the gap had been narrowed to 23 points before the visitors steadied with a late goal. In any event, the Scorpions of 2014 are not known for stirring final quarter comebacks, least of all against the wind and it was almost inevitable that they would finish again without a whimper. The Hawks simply ran away with a nine goal to nil final quarter to complete the humiliation and substantially boost their own percentage.

It was hard to find any positives from the game other than the form of Michie (30 disposals) and the valiant defence of Georgiou and skipper Panozza and some running efforts from Blease who finished with 28 touches.

In truth however, they were simply an inexperienced line up that was fighting an opponent in a different weight division. They face Williamstown next week at the same venue with very little about which to be enthused.

2014 Peter Jackson VFL

Casey Scorpions 2.0.12 2.2.14 6.6.42 6.8.44

Box Hill Hawks 3.4.22 7.10.52 10.11.71 19.15.129

Goals

Casey Scorpions Fitzpatrick 2 Smith Evans Page Smith Toumpas

Box Hill Hawks McEvoy 5 Cust 4 Kelly Willsmore 2 Grimley Hallahan Iles Langford O'Donnell Simpkin

Best

Casey Scorpions Michie Georgiou Barry Nicholson Blease Panozza

Box Hill Hawks B McEvoy Lock Woodward Simpkin Cust Kelly

The development league team fought hard against a team which thrashed it by a three figure margin a fortnight ago.

2014 AFL Victoria Development League

Casey Scorpions 2.4.16 3.6.24 5.7.37 5.9.39

Box Hill Hawks 1.1.7 6.6.42 10.11.71 13.16.94

Goals

Casey Scorpions Davidson Gawley Lang Rutherford Symons

Box Hill Hawks McEvoy Papadopoulos Thompson 2 Bond Franetic Goodwin Murphy Northe Soccio Tobin

Best

Casey Scorpions Scott Rutherford Jackson West Waters Corrigan

Box Hill Hawks Tobin Murphy Soccio Miles Andrews Thompson

[Coq au vin 755]

Looks like a fair number of MFC delistings coming up at season's end.

[Maldonboy38 6,390]

Sorry, I forgot all about Georgiou. His defensive work was outstanding. He played on much bigger opponents and was able to spoil and use his body to great effect. Also, if he was involved in play as it moved up the ground, when that play was over he sprinted back to his player/position ready to defend again. He was very good.

[Demanding Success 298]

I don't want to be mean to the Casey listed players but there are obvious issues there. I have seen quite a few of their games this year. They are young and small. They have lost too much experience over the last couple of years and went young this year. Due to this the whole side lacks any structure. Fitz was really the only tall guy to kick it to in the forward line and gawn was the only tall guy around the ground. This is pretty easy for the opposition to counter. Especially when they have an abundance of talls themselves. With Clark retiring, hogan injured, spence out for the year and all the injuries to tall players in the preseason and early season Casey has hardly any tall players.

The opposition have much better experienced VFL listed players. Caseys have had a very ordinary year. They don't seem to be able to get their hands on the footy and turn it over very easily when they do. A lot of the time the turnovers have really hurt the team as everyone has been caught out of position.

I don't really mind whether they win or not. I just want to see the players learn their roles. I have no doubt that is what our coaches are after.

Of yesterday's game some players had good patches and some put in for most of the game. Some are really struggling.

I think blease played his best game this year. He still made a few mistakes but it was a 4 quarter effort.

Gawn tried hard the whole game. Dropped a few marks he will take in the future with more footy under him. Has missed heaps of footy with injury and hasn't done a full preseason. Was competing with big bodies the whole game rotating on him and was knackered at the end. I think he will be a better player in the future playing under these pressures.

Jkh needs a week off imo. Been a long season for him. Would be close to having already played more games than last year.

Michie also played his best game imo.

Strauss is a friend of a friend and a good bloke but i don't think he is going to make it. He really lacks confidence ATM.

Georgiou played a terrific game. His opposition was a lot taller and he was rarely beaten 1v1. He made a few mistakes but tell me a player t our club that hasn't. Would be nice if he was 10 odd cm taller.

Fitz is playing on his own in the forward half, most outnumbered with some poor delivery coming in. Another big forward would change our perceptions on him.

Evans is struggling imo. Fades in and out of the game too much.

I thought toumpas played ok. Was much more aggressive in his tackling and at the ball.

Nicholson had a shocker.

I don't know what to make of Barry. He was tagging again and it will be interesting to hear what Brett says about his game

[chook fowler 19,446]

I wonder if Nicho has had his eyes checked. Only catarracts or astigmatism could account for his inability to pick out a team mate.

Surely he can't play senior footy again.

[dee-luded 2,959]

You realise Box Hill are top of the ladder and working brilliantly for the Hawks. They have a few things that Melb-Casey don't.

1. A proper alignment where Box Hill are willing to give a lot of power to Hawthorn in return for the glory they get back

2. A strong allied coaching set up

3. VFL players who are the right mix of past/future AFL prospects, a sprinkle of experience and then full depth down to the reserves with guys who are there for a real shot an AFL career and committed to work their way up

Casey can work for us and I haven't heard anything disparaging from Casey of late towards the MFC and nothing the other way either. It's just a weak AFL club (in us) working with a weak VFL club which is why things aren't going so well.

Yes I do, & also the Hawks at the moment, after a great period of list management & an extremely well run club,, could succeed thru playing they're Reserves in the Gobi-Desert competition.

... and they are virtually the one club, spiritually. & a very strong 'decades long' communal link. they are pretty much an independnt VFL team, apart from the name.

We are Melbourne, from inner Melbourne; looking for a home base, & playing with a foreign VFL club, running it ragged, & searching to find our own Identity, miles from our home areas.

.... No problems in expanding out to the Sth-East, great Idea... but not at the expense of an existing VFL sides identity. We should form our Own, & let the Scorps look after they're own interests & Identity.

I don't want to go to games in the future, thinking we swallowed the Scorpions like a Boa-Constrictor, after slowly strangling them to death over a decade.

.... We need a clear conscience moving forward, with out the Blood of the 'Scorps' on our hands; the results of the former boards & administrations thinkings.

The people of the 'Scorps'; & the Casey region, & Greater Gippsland, deserve a better start to a partnership than the way this is happening currently.

* Separate now, & form our own Identity, with the Demons monika & nickname, on Our jumper, & a theme song to Our Club Music, with possibly modern VFL words that represent us & the South-East.

Don't leave it too late as we normally would do... Conservatively, we are always the last to jump, & its always become low tide when we finally take a plunge.

.

Edited June 22, 2014 by dee-luded

[Satyriconhome 10,731]

So the Scorps are being run on shoestring, MFC will just about break even this season, so where do we find the minimum $500K needed for a standalone VFL team, or do you want to take it from the AFL teams footy department budget?

[rjay 24,887]

So the Scorps are being run on shoestring, MFC will just about break even this season, so where do we find the minimum $500K needed for a standalone VFL team, or do you want to take it from the AFL teams footy department budget?

This is part of the development strategy so whatever way we go some FD $'s will be spent.

Apart from the football side of things we seem to have been spread thin in the past trying to develop relationships with the NT, Casey and China.

[dee-luded 2,959]

So the Scorps are being run on shoestring, MFC will just about break even this season, so where do we find the minimum $500K needed for a standalone VFL team, or do you want to take it from the AFL teams footy department budget?

excuses excuses, same old same old.. 45Years of not much, and still they keep kicking. take off your Plaid glasses & take a deep breath of semi-country Air.

We will grow with the right decisions to expand in the right directions, with the transparency that the supporters can not only live with,,, but feel bloody Proud of, to boot.

This (going independant) will see us grow, & will see the Casey region grow, & we will reap what we've sown. doing it in the right manner will earn the repect then the love of the locals, & we will become a power in the Sth-East.

Doing it the way we are currently, is only turning people away from Casey, & the game of footy. Us, killing off the Scorps, & wearing they're skin, will be our final nail in our own southern coffin.

You have to invest things, & money to achieve a deesired wish.

.

Edited June 22, 2014 by dee-luded

[T-34 409]

Yes I do, & also the Hawks at the moment, after a great period of list management & an extremely well run club,, could succeed thru playing they're Reserves in the Gobi-Desert competition.

... and they are virtually the one club, spiritually. & a very strong 'decades long' communal link. they are pretty much an independnt VFL team, apart from the name.

We are Melbourne, from inner Melbourne; looking for a home base, & playing with a foreign VFL club, running it ragged, & searching to find our own Identity, miles from our home areas.

.... No problems in expanding out to the Sth-East, great Idea... but not at the expense of an existing VFL sides identity. We should form our Own, & let the Scorps look after they're own interests & Identity.

I don't want to go to games in the future, thinking we swallowed the Scorpions like a Boa-Constrictor, after slowly strangling them to death over a decade.

.... We need a clear conscience moving forward, with out the Blood of the 'Scorps' on our hands; the results of the former boards & administrations thinkings.

The people of the 'Scorps'; & the Casey region, & Greater Gippsland, deserve a better start to a partnership than the way this is happening currently.

* Separate now, & form our own Identity, with the Demons monika & nickname, on Our jumper, & a theme song to Our Club Music, with possibly modern VFL words that represent us & the South-East.

Don't leave it too late as we normally would do... Conservatively, we are always the last to jump, & its always become low tide when we finally take a plunge.

.

If we walk away now we will definitely have their blood on our hands, the Scorps would not exist for long if we just default on our contract.

We do not currently have the means to have our own side and Casey certainly could not exist long without us.

As things currently stand we need Casey and Casey need us, the sooner we all accept this and work towards making this successful the better off we will be.

[old dee 23,781]

So the Scorps are being run on shoestring, MFC will just about break even this season, so where do we find the minimum $500K needed for a standalone VFL team, or do you want to take it from the AFL teams footy department budget?

That covers Saty and if we had our own team would we be able to afford more than the current VFL listed players?

No IMO

[dee-luded 2,959]

Yes I do, & also the Hawks at the moment, after a great period of list management & an extremely well run club,, could succeed thru playing they're Reserves in the Gobi-Desert competition.

... and they are virtually the one club, spiritually. & a very strong 'decades long' communal link. they are pretty much an independnt VFL team, apart from the name.

We are Melbourne, from inner Melbourne; looking for a home base, & playing with a foreign VFL club, running it ragged, & searching to find our own Identity, miles from our home areas.

.... No problems in expanding out to the Sth-East, great Idea... but not at the expense of an existing VFL sides identity. We should form our Own, & let the Scorps look after they're own interests & Identity.

I don't want to go to games in the future, thinking we swallowed the Scorpions like a Boa-Constrictor, after slowly strangling them to death over a decade.

.... We need a clear conscience moving forward, with out the Blood of the 'Scorps' on our hands; the results of the former boards & administrations thinkings.

The people of the 'Scorps'; & the Casey region, & Greater Gippsland, deserve a better start to a partnership than the way this is happening currently.

* Separate now, & form our own Identity, with the Demons monika & nickname, on Our jumper, & a theme song to Our Club Music, with possibly modern VFL words that represent us & the South-East.

Don't leave it too late as we normally would do... Conservatively, we are always the last to jump, & its always become low tide when we finally take a plunge.

.

If we walk away now we will definitely have their blood on our hands, the Scorps would not exist for long if we just default on our contract.

We do not currently have the means to have our own side and Casey certainly could not exist long without us.

As things currently stand we need Casey and Casey need us, the sooner we all accept this and work towards making this successful the better off we will be.

that's rubbish.

The people of the 'Scorps', the supporters,,, don't like what is happening, & the pulling of Our players just when we were entering the front door of the Finals, is all but killing off the supporters of the Scorpions.

... They have all lost the passion, & only the rusted on few remain from a few years back, & they're angry with this coalition.

If we keep on doing the same, they will cease to be, & we will start taking they're skin as our own. This won't work, & the Casey Region will have our stink on it.

... Causing our birth into that region, as that of the "Alien". the Stick again,,, instead of tempting with a Carrot... that old Horse thing, you can bring it to water, but can't force it to drink from Our well...

If we agree to end it, with Them, at end of 2015,,, then they will have time to put their plans into place, for their own survival. And we will leave under an umbrella of Good Will.

Casey Scorps will survive in some form, either in the VFL or in a Sth-East footy league. the choice can then be they'res. and not by Our hand.

.

Edited June 22, 2014 by dee-luded

[Macca 16,923]

Why break the alliance? It's a perfectly fine union that our club doesn't seem to have an issue with. The Casey area has tremendous potential in a whole bunch of different areas. These things take time and we should be viewing the whole concept as a future investment. I'm almost certain the club would be viewing things the same way.

If indeed we did have a "reserves side", would we care too much about the wins and losses? From a lot of points of view, it's all about development with these sort of things and always will be. However, from Casey's point of view, it is about the wins and losses.

Over riding all that is that our club would be better off if Casey became a successful, on field, winning team ... especially when considering that we're serious about picking up a level of support in this huge growth area. The positive flow on effects would be there if it's all done right.

The Casey team itself would be better placed if it could attract some better players. Rather than seeing that as a conflict, the best of both worlds could quite easily happen. In some ways, it's good that most or all of our players are playing for the Casey firsts but a bit more competition within the ranks never hurt anyone.

So ... what if our club was to throw a bit more money Casey's way so that they can attract some better players? That can really only happen when we start posting profits again but why not? Same as if we were subsidising a reserves side, Casey may need to be subsidised in a similar way. If we had a reserves side, we'd have to pay the non listed players a reasonable fee to play for the side. It all amounts to the same thing.

The key here is to get the balance right.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Macca

[Samael 560]

Yes I do, & also the Hawks at the moment, after a great period of list management & an extremely well run club,, could succeed thru playing they're Reserves in the Gobi-Desert competition.

... and they are virtually the one club, spiritually. & a very strong 'decades long' communal link. they are pretty much an independnt VFL team, apart from the name.

We are Melbourne, from inner Melbourne; looking for a home base, & playing with a foreign VFL club, running it ragged, & searching to find our own Identity, miles from our home areas.

.... No problems in expanding out to the Sth-East, great Idea... but not at the expense of an existing VFL sides identity. We should form our Own, & let the Scorps look after they're own interests & Identity.

I don't want to go to games in the future, thinking we swallowed the Scorpions like a Boa-Constrictor, after slowly strangling them to death over a decade.

.... We need a clear conscience moving forward, with out the Blood of the 'Scorps' on our hands; the results of the former boards & administrations thinkings.

The people of the 'Scorps'; & the Casey region, & Greater Gippsland, deserve a better start to a partnership than the way this is happening currently.

* Separate now, & form our own Identity, with the Demons monika & nickname, on Our jumper, & a theme song to Our Club Music, with possibly modern VFL words that represent us & the South-East.

Don't leave it too late as we normally would do... Conservatively, we are always the last to jump, & its always become low tide when we finally take a plunge.

.

I think this whole discussion around the relevance or value to MFC is just shifting the blame somewhat. After all North has no one team acting as its reserves with their two players spread around a few teams in the VFL. Yet they are in the 8. Casey up until this year have been finalists for years. At least we have just one team to concentrate players in and nurture. As I said (poorly) before the difference is the VFL level Casey players that remain from last season and the fact that we seem too treat them as second class when they are integral to the development and maintenance of our reserves. We have to get our players to buy in when they are in the Casey team. I think JKH illustrates my point perfectly.

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

i think the biggest difference is that the players who are currently playing in the vfl are much younger than those who have in recent times. Couch and Magner were VFL magnets and older with stronger bodies, they were replaced on the rookie list by younger players (Harmes and King) and also Nev who is playing ones. Not to mention that the good VFL players over the last few years at Casey have been replaced and this means that yet again the depth of the team has dropped.

Spencer and Hogan are two big losses for Casey aswell, whilst it is a good oppourtunity for Gawn to play number 1 ruck and Fitzy to play number one forward, a forward line of Hogan, Fitzy and Gawn is much more dangerous than Fitzy rotating with Gawn.

From the Melbourne listed players on the weekend i though Michie was very good at the stoppages and defensively aswell, he just needs to find the mix of running forward and watching his opponent.

Sam Blease took the game on, and it is hard to see much of his defensive work from the tv, but he seemed to be a bit more switched on. That said i think he is just developing a defensive side of his game so he will be able to run both ways

Gawny seemed to be on top of mcevoy in the stoppages and was often in the right spot around the ground. He would have had 2 goals apart from stupid free kicks that werent there, he did get beat once or twice when he was pushing back but most of the time McEvoy did his damage when playing as a forward not ruck.

i think Barry played as a tagger on Iles and really only got beat once or twice, but didnt get too much of the footy.

Georgiou was very solid, and really without him it would have been a 100+ loss.

Fitzy showed his potential, he just needs to get a metre or two more away from his opponent on the lead, that said ball use to him was pretty hopeless for the most part.

Tapscott was hard at the football, just needs to get on the outside more.

I personally thought Strauss was our only other defender who defended well, he just needs to find the footy a little bit more. I think Roos and Allison have high hopes for him as he is able to defend strongly and just would like to see him take the game on a bit more.

JKH struggled, i think he often switched off and really was unable to benefit from the hard work that fitzy did to bring the ball down due to the strong defence that box hill did have.

Nicho made many mistakes on the ball, but also provided alot of drive from the backline.

Harmes looks like he is going to be a player, tried hard all day and was one of the few who consistently battled it out

Byrnes injured too early

Evans, again just was up and down, a few good things and a few odd things. i think he needs to spend more time up forward but looked like he was playing in defence.

Toumpas i thought he was pretty solid and other than being caught out once or twice defended well. just needs to be a bit more decisive with his disposal at times because the indecision led to a few turn overs.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Mad_Melbourne

[Whispering_Jack 29,805]

The match stats:-

* Dom Barry 9 disposals 3 kicks 6 handballs 1 marks 2 tackles 30 Dream Team Points

* Sam Blease 27 disposals 18 kicks 9 handballs 3 marks 83 Dream Team Points

* Shannon Byrnes 2 disposals 2 handballs 4 Dream Team Points (injured)

* Michael Evans 1 goal 1 behind 24 disposals 15 kicks 9 handballs 4 marks 3 tackles 90 Dream Team Points

* Jack Fitzpatrick 2 goals 10 disposals 7 kicks 3 handballs 5 marks 2 tackles 12 hit outs Dream Team Points

* Max Gawn 23 disposals 9 kicks 14 handballs 8 marks 3 tackles 52 hit outs 137 Dream Team Points

* Alexis Georgiou 17 disposals 11 kicks 6 handballs 10 marks 1 tackles 78 Dream Team Points

* James Harmes 1 behind 14 disposals 8 kicks 6 handballs 4 marks 2 tackles 58 Dream Team Points

* Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 behind 17 disposals 10 kicks 7 handballs 4 marks 3 tackles 64 Dream Team Points

* Viv Michie 1 behind 32 disposals 23 kicks 9 handballs 7 marks 5 tackles 128 Dream Team Points

* Dan Nicholson 25 disposals 15 kicks 10 handballs 9 marks 3 tackles 98 Dream Team Points

* James Strauss 20 disposals 16 kicks 4 handballs 4 marks 1 tackles 73 Dream Team Points

* Luke Tapscott 22 disposals 12 kicks 10 handballs 3 marks 6 tackles 91 Dream Team Points

* Jimmy Toumpas 1 goal 21 disposals 15 kicks 6 handballs 5 marks 6 tackles 100 Dream Team Points

[dazzledavey36 54,285]

Jimmy Toumpas and Luke Tapscott were our leading tacklers with 6 each.

Jimmy Toumpas is developing just perfectly.

[Whispering_Jack 29,805]

VFL Player Review - Round 11