Please I studied him today... He is a hang out...... Granted he played better in the second half....Hardly reason to sing all the praise... Then again we love mediocrity. :\

Go back and watch the run and play that set up his mark and goal in first quarter. That was not mediocrity, but as good as anyone.. Perhaps fyfe like

I was just reading the "priority pick" thread over breakfast, and this gold from someone who will remain nameless "can't see us winning to many more games"

Who is Olisik for $500.

No doubt, Pedo > Dawes.

I didn't see the whole game but it looks like Spencer had a good one.

Monty on fan footy gave him the star "Set up the Dee win by engineering a big clearance advantage... 40 hit outs... also 12 disposals and 8 tackles." Those tackle numbers have been consistent since he's been in the side (7.6 per game).

Spencil just might be our man. His tackle numbers were up prior to this obviously but he not only dominated his lessor opponents, he actually took the game on with great flair and attack. He was even hitting up a few leads lace out coming i50.

Don't underestimate that game... we dominated the clearances as a result of his effort and great follow up work once the ball hit the ground. Something u could rarely ever say in the last 8 years watching us with a few exceptions when the Jamar/Moloney combo got going.

One of the best all round ruck games I've seen from an MFC ruckman since big Jimma was running around.

Hats off to Spencil. I seriously had my doubts he could deliver at that level other than in VFL.

Edited May 24, 201510 yr by Rusty Nails

Spencil just might be our man. His tackle numbers were up prior to this obviously but he not only dominated his lessor opponents, he actually took the game on with great flair and attack. He was even hitting up a few leads lace out coming i50.

It will be interesting to see how he handles Lobbe and Ryder.

I'll bet my left nut.

Bookmarked.

It's not just turn overs, it's poor decision making. Once in the third he tried to kick a goal from an impossible angle, instead of centering the ball. Then in the fourth, he kicked it right into the goalsquare and it was rushed through. He's a dumb player, with ordinary disposal. We can't carry him past this season and if we don't delist him, he'll only ever be depth.

You are carrying enormous burdens in life to offer such a distorted assessment.

It is a very good Monday morning, and not just because we had a win.

Roos & Co have been talking up list improvement since the moment he arrived and this win over the Doggies shows that even when we have Viney, Salem, Tyson, Kent, Trengove, Frost etc... all out injured, we have enough depth to be competitive and win games. This win is only 1 win but the TEAM performance is the most impressive part of the win. Roos has also been repetitive about players finding consistency at Casey before earning a place at senior level, and it means blokes like Riley and Fitzy can play at senior level with a degree of confidence. It also means that we can trust the long drawn out development model being used for Toumpas, Stretch, Petracca, Newton, JKH etc... We are beginning to see that for the first time in too long, most of our list can compete at AFL level. The epmphasis on a big group of midfielders to choose from week in, week out is bearing its first fruit.

When we do make finals again - whether this year or next - I can't see players like Pederson, Bail and Riley being part of our best 22 or best 25, but if we have injuries or runs of poor form, they can come in and play a role.

I would never have foreseen Fitzy playing down back, or Spencer impacting a game so much, or 2 years ago Pederson playing like he does.

We will be beaten gain this year and we might even get another flogging or two, but all other terams are going to have to plan well to beat us.

We trailed the inside 50s by 15 at the half

Ended up winning it 53-51

Winning the i50 count doesnt mean much if u dont mark/convert very well. Marks i50 PLUS conversion % will win the day, even if ur opponent dominates the i50 stat.

U can have the best mid field in the AFL (aka arguably the Hawks) but if u aint marking much i50 or kicking accurately ur toast.

Coaches who say kicking practice on goal and adjusting techniques to get an edge on accuracy are over rated/unnecessary at AFL level need a brain transplant.

If ur a crap kick at goal as a forward (consistently) u are not a genuine forward and should be playing elsewhere on the ground or just playing... elsewhere (ie, not AFL).

Edited May 24, 201510 yr by Rusty Nails

Pedersen and Hogan soooooooo much better than Dawes and Hogan

Pedo actually gets to many more contests and impacts them along with playing the high forward role that Dawes should be doing but doesnt (effectively).

Agreed much better combo. Roos tinkers with this at his peril. When ur on a good thing (and its been evident in other matches that our forward structure is better without Dawes)... fricken stick to it!!!!!!!!

Edited May 24, 201510 yr by Rusty Nails

Coaches who say kicking practice on goal and adjusting techniques to get an edge on accuracy are over rated/unnecessary at AFL level need a brain transplant.

That's good! I'd love to hear a golfer saying something like that.

"Oh, putting isn't that important. It's a waste of time even practising it." LOL!

The whole point of the game is to kick goals and outscore the oppo.

I saw this posted on BigFooty

Can someone tell me who Tom McDonald played on?. Was it Tom Boyd and why he was benched. Was this another scalp for Tom?

He'll be resting anyway. Broke his arm a bit later

I think it was Vanders who kicked Goodes. He might be in trouble for the kick.

Can someone tell me who Tom McDonald played on?. Was it Tom Boyd and why he was benched. Was this another scalp for Tom?

Firzy destroyed him

Can someone tell me who Tom McDonald played on?. Was it Tom Boyd and why he was benched. Was this another scalp for Tom?

Tom was on Stringer, Fitzy wiped the floor with the $7 million potato.

Beveridge: "we didn't see that coming".

Oh dear.

Was it Fifty5 who posted at the time Neeld said this; rule #1 when managing a high performance team - "no unpleasant surprises"?

Pedo actually gets to many more contests and impacts them along with playing the high forward role that Dawes should be doing but doesnt (effectively).

Agreed much better combo. Roos tinkers with this at his peril. When ur on a good thing (and its been evident in other matches that our forward structure is better without Dawes)... fricken stick to it!!!!!!!!

I'm an unabashed Dawes fan - his tackles, his blocks, his spoils ,his 1%er's are valuable - unfortunately it is not enough if you are a key forward and not taking marks, kicking a few goals or at least handing them off. Pedo doesn't add as much pressure as Dawes but when Pedo is playing as he is now he takes marks and kicks goals and that is the prime aim of a forward. Kick 2 goals a games and you are a 40 goal a year forward - yes please.

Was nice that Vince kicked the virtual sealer after catching Bontempelli with a great chase and tackle.

Goes some way toward countering Bont's great match winning goal against us last year.

Was a super goal, but geez I'm sick of seeing it replayed in AFL promo ads!

I've got a long memory too. I loved that moment seeing that blue eyed boy brought down. He did get a handball away at the end of the 360 degrees (reckon it was at 357) which if he were Chris Judd would have been enough for 'play on' to be the call but the umpires had turned by then.

As for those who were calling for Roos' head last week, are you now over yourselves?

Roos totally out-coached the novice Beveridge who admitted he 'didn't see it coming'. What he didn't see was how comprehensively Roos would shut down the Doggies' running game with a patched up side. Credit to M Jones and Bail for much of that running pressure, although Bail did cost us with his lack of instinct (the fail to tap forward just before half time) and his lack of skill (missed shot at goal on 3/4 time). Still, this pair played their role, as PR would say.

I for one thought Murphy and Johannessen would chop us up but the Swede was ineffective, and last week's Doggies hero Dickson was barely sighted.

All that said, if Stringer kicked straight in the first term the atmosphere of the game would have been entirely different. Our guys got some confidence from leading at quarter time but Stringer should have put them a couple of goals up.

Edited May 24, 201510 yr by pitmaster

Who is Olisik for $500.

Settle down champ. That's a different thread and a fair comment coming off a 105 point loss.

I'm glad we won yesterday however this time last week I didn't think it was likely we would win anymore. No need to get personal to to fellow supporters mate, that isn't on.

I'm an unabashed Dawes fan - his tackles, his blocks, his spoils ,his 1%er's are valuable - unfortunately it is not enough if you are a key forward and not taking marks, kicking a few goals or at least handing them off. Pedo doesn't add as much pressure as Dawes but when Pedo is playing as he is now he takes marks and kicks goals and that is the prime aim of a forward. Kick 2 goals a games and you are a 40 goal a year forward - yes please.

Pedo adds "scoreboard pressure" ... the best kind.

The thing most impressive about Spencer's game for mine was his willingness to get involved around the ground. He ran to make himself a link up option in the middle, and didn't shirk his responsibilities to keep the ball moving forward i.e. none of those stupid kicks across half back that go to the opposition, or a handball around the back to Jonesy from stationary. I've thought in recent weeks he was a player all too aware of his own limitations and was scared to kick it.

I doubt he'll get the hitout figures he got when up against a more quality ruckman, but I don't see why he can't bring those other aspects to his game every week. It was truly like watching a different player.

To put this in to context, Spencer's 8 kicks yesterday was a career high. His previous best was 6, and in the previous two rounds he had 1 and 2 respectively. In his 32 games, it was only the fourth occasion where his kicks outnumbered his handballs, and it was by far the highest kick:handball ratio of his career as well (2:1).

I hope the message to him is, "nothing ventured, nothing gained". We all know he has a funny action and will probably fluff the odd one, but I hope he continues to take risks like he did yesterday. 2 out of 3 decent kicks forward is definitely more valuable to the team than his previous mode of operation.

Couldn't get to the game, just finished watching the replay .... so good. Bail, from what I could see, played ok. He needs to get more momentum up when kicking for goal. Toumpas was pumped after that positive goal review - great to see. Nice pressure and work-rate from the backs. Forward contests had the dogs worried. vandenBerg. Double win with the girls getting up pre-match.

So. Good.

Setting benchmarks are about setting levels that are achievable. You do know how rarely teams get to 100 tackles. FYI - our 88 tackles was the highest of any team this weekend.

A very simple target that one of my old coaches used to set us for tackling. Everyone had to lay at least one tackle per quarter. You do this, you will lay 4 tackles per game. If EVERY player does this, you lay 88 tackles for the game. The sub has to work extra hard to get the 4 tackle target due to restricted time, however, as a sub coming on in the last 40 mins or so, you would expect them to make more contests.

I'd expect most posters on here would accept that as a realistic target.

Settle down champ. That's a different thread and a fair comment coming off a 105 point loss.

I'm glad we won yesterday however this time last week I didn't think it was likely we would win anymore. No need to get personal to to fellow supporters mate, that isn't on.

Bit of an overreaction there, Oli. He didn't get personal, he just mentioned who it was that made the call just 7 days earlier. A call that was forcefully questioned at the time, which was justified at our very next opportunity.

Love all the optimism.

Moses. Loaves and Fishes. Straight from the bible!

Good to have the blessing of the big 'G'!

'The Reverend' moniker is quite apt!

I think I gave him that title some time back LH

I thought the "Pig Dog" was sensational the last quarter his run down and tackling pressure were exactly what was required ! He stays in at the expense of Bail or Matt Jones!

Without Bail and Matt Jones we may not have won the game.

The WB main weapon this year has been Murphy and Johanasens run from half back. Bail and Jones both played defensive forward roles on these two and where a huge reason we won the game by limiting the dogs run.

People need to take the blinkers off at times and stop looking at super coach scores.