3 hours ago, george_on_the_outer said:

I'm also thinking we will see Corey Maynard in the seniors in the not too distant future if he keeps up his contested work in the middle. 

Yes, Justin Plapp's assessment of Maynard is fairly glowing but you have to wonder what it would take for him to get into the AFL team. 

In the first instance, I assume he would have to be promoted off the rookie list (not sure if the usual rookie upgrade procedures apply to Category B rookies) and secondly, who does he replace and if not this week, then how does he get into the midfield when Nathan Jones returns? 

I've been to a few Casey games this year and he's shown improvement every time I've seen him play. His time is definitely coming. 

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-07-26/vfl-player-review-round-14

I thought this was an interesting comment from Plapp:

"In really trying conditions for footy, we had a really clear way about how we wanted to play against Essendon. They play a completely different style to the way we do and we felt that if we were able to put those things in place, then we'd go a fair way to winning the game - or at least being really competitive. Our players were really diligent and absolutely fantastic around the way they executed those plans. Overall, it was a tough night of footy, it wasn't pretty, but it was very effective in the way we were able to grind out the win - after a couple of below par performances in the past few weeks. It was good to get back on the winners' list and play the type of footy we know works. We didn't have any passengers - we had 22 contributors and full credit goes to our players. The win keeps us on track."

I wonder if that difference in style extends to seniors?  I expect it does and it will be interesting if we play the Bombers in the finals.