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Firstly, I would love to have been close to listen to the Roos/Jetta talk It looked as if Roos was giving him a few coaching tips.

Secondly, I loved some of the play that I saw from the Melbourne listed players. Bowey and D. Smith in defence look as if they can both develop into good players.  

Bradke looked a hell of a lot better than I thought he would. A couple of years and a stack of Kilos and he might just make it.

Sparrow was very good and I will call it now, In two years time he will be in the first 3 picked in the seniors for the midfield. Harmes was good enough coming off a break of 4 weeks or so. Will be better for the run.

Chandler and to a lesser extent, Bedford are both ready to step in a small forward slot if one becomes vacant. 

When Weid gets a run in the seniors he will be very hard to replace.

Good to see that Casey are playing and structured exactly the same way that Melbourne play.

 

Very good to Sparrow with 31 touches.  Finally got a full game after  barely playing the last month being the sub twice and off at halftime last week.

 

Not sure we can judge too much from tonight’s game North we clearly out classed. To claim anyone should be promoted on their efforts in that game is pushing the envelope. 

The stand out in terms of quality tonight (and last few weeks as well) was Foot.  Looks to be an exciting prospect if we could land him albeit I'm still not 100% convinced and would like to see alot more.

Weid was solid but no cigar tonight.  Work rate great to get to plenty of drop spots/contests up field and up forward but when that ball hits the deck I'm sorry, there's just very little to see here defensively or offensively at ground level.  And it's that last part.  If he could bring a little of that on a regular basis he'd be hard to keep out of the ones.

One could argue BB is no better here, possibly worse.  But what BB does bring is proven accuracy at AFL level and a tad extra in terms of height & leap.  Extra height that will worry the opp and makes him a very difficult match up.  Extra leap that often sees him taking the ball at the highest point, pushing his opponent to try just that little bit harder to spoil and often drawing a few extra free kicks for the cheap goal or two.  Which can sometimes be the difference in a tight match.

Harmes very busy and lots of grunt but as others have said here there just isn't much thinking going on with his general play at the moment.  He'll be better for the run though and not writing him off just yet provided he's played in this similar role from here.  Looks like a fish out of water whenever he goes behind the ball.

Rosman is the other stand out in terms of class and work rate.  Very raw but shows glimpses of 'special' on occasions.  Exciting prospect.

Sparrow was quite good, got involved in plenty and did some lovely inside to outside work but again, not to a level that says (to me) he's busted the door down (again) and a sure fire replacement for someone at this stage.

Bradtke...also has his moments but offsets them with far too many fumbles/blunders for mine and is still super raw.

Chandler and Bedford are good, sometimes very good, at this level but I still don't see either as being up to holding their place at AFL level ATM.  That's not to say either won't play the odd game upstairs either.  I'm sure one or both will eventually get a look.  Just not AS excited with these two YET that some others are on here.  More time needed to develop.

Another very good team effort though and if Maj had stayed on for most of that second half well, that final margin could have ended up blowing out by another 3 to 4 goals i reckon.

Norf's list is a doozy at the moment.  Not much of a tester for anyone today.  Onwards to next week.

Edited by Rusty Nails

2 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Let's be honest.

The standard of opposition was woeful.

One almost needs to mark down every stat by 50%

 

Spot on DJ. 

 
5 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

Weideman is a borderline A grade AFL forward. He dominated the game without getting out of second gear. 

Probably should've got into third or fourth given he's trying to break into a premiership threat AFL side.

Weid was good, but showed absolutely none of the intensity required for AFL level.


2 hours ago, MrReims said:

Really? Watching the same game? He is leading up the ground and working damn hard

Yep. His workrate is phenomenal.

Really liked the work of Harmes, Chandler, Sparrow, Foote, Bedford, Bradke and Rosman

We are building some real depth.

 

1 hour ago, Deeoldfart said:

North being so poor made it almost impossible to know what to take out of that match.  My conclusions:

-  nobody smashed the door down tonight;

-  Casey played the Melbourne way, which is a very good sign

 

For me this was the most pleasing aspect of the night, North aren’t particularly competitive even with a full list so it was hard to see anyone bashing down the door demanding to be picked. 

But seeing the forward pressure and the structures that we appear to be using at senior level is really pleasing. 

Just as an aside, Chandler is a Melbourne listed player isn’t he? The commentators were talking about the mid season draft being an opportunity for players like him. Dwayne Russell rates as one of my least favourite commentators. 

Really impressed with the hiding but boy were Norf poor. Hasn't Tyson fallen from grace. Sparrow and Harmes were work horses, Bowey and Rosman showed polish and flair. Chandler and Bedford were dangerous as crumbing forwards. Bradtke and Daw combined well in the ruck and Weideman should have kicked 7. Great performance and really looking forward to the rest of the season.

I'm looking for a similar scoreline on Sunday - we owe these campaigners.


Dom Tyson has certainly fallen from grace and it's a bit sad in a way.

Came to the club and was definitely one who gave his all and contributed well from 2014-2016. Then obviously with the natural growth and improved from our current mids this pushed him out onto a wing where unfortunately he was found out for his lack of pace. Went to north hoping to restart his career, but yet cannot get a spot in one of the worst sides we've seen in a long time.

All the best to Domma.

10 hours ago, monoccular said:

Only saw bits and pieces of the game but, at least to me, Sam Weideman just seems to lack intensity and the ability to get involved.

I watched the whole game, and while Sam was a great offensive threat, and he definitely worked up and down the ground with a great deal of effort, I thought the the effort wasn’t the same about his desire to pressure, cover space and tackle.

tmac and Jacko have been really good in this area, and our start to the year has been highly dependent on this buy-in. I haven’t seen the other Casey games, but was BBB better in this area when they both played? Maybe this was why he got into the seniors before weid ?

 


10 minutes ago, Pates said:

For me this was the most pleasing aspect of the night, North aren’t particularly competitive even with a full list so it was hard to see anyone bashing down the door demanding to be picked. 

But seeing the forward pressure and the structures that we appear to be using at senior level is really pleasing. 

Just as an aside, Chandler is a Melbourne listed player isn’t he? The commentators were talking about the mid season draft being an opportunity for players like him. Dwayne Russell rates as one of my least favourite commentators. 

It doesn't surprise me that Dwayne would make such a mistake. His mind would be made up pre-season that Melbourne would be cellar dwellers again.

10 hours ago, JimmyGadson said:

Harmes is extremely overrated on demonland. 

Had one good year in 2018 playing as a stopper but he makes far far too many mistakes. Fumbles, miskicks and handballs and tries to take everyone on. 

Even before his injury, he had a really underwhelming start to the year. 

Likes his instagram account a bit too much imo. 

Yep

He will get a game if we need to tag someone or injuries occur 

Great depth at the Dees.

And for all these posters that think Weiderman should be in the side instead of TMac, try going to a game 

TMac deserves his spot & I’m so wrapt for him after not being wanted by the club he’s dug deep & completely turned his career around, shows fantastic character 

 

10 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Let's be honest.

The standard of opposition was woeful.

One almost needs to mark down every stat by 50%

 

Yep, the only thinks to take from that game

1) North are in for a long period of pain at AFL level

2) D Tyson Trade is a win for Melbourne

3) Bowey can kick the ball at elite level

4) D Smith can move well and a year or 2 of development and he will be in our AFL backline mix

 

 
10 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Let's be honest.

The standard of opposition was woeful.

One almost needs to mark down every stat by 50%

 

Betting line was 90 points...

North basically had to find players this week to form a team including flying some in

Only half heard this; but only 4 players last night are North listed?

50 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

The new look VFL with its 22 teams is beginning to look lopsided and problematic. The fact that each team plays 16 matches and therefore won’t play 5 of the other teams during the regular season could lead to inequities when it comes to deciding the finals. 

This is not the ideal competition.

Like AFLW this year. 


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