1 hour ago, Lord Travis said:

Happy BBrown is back. Not happy JVR dropped. Would like to see them play together and ditch Smith.

They are different types. Smith is very athletic and just needs continuity to build some solid form. 
 

He will be a difficult 3rd tall to match up on and allows Fritta to take the small defender which is better for him too.

For all the criticism against our forward line, to me it’s not the players as much as it is the coaching and game plan. Fix the later and we are back to a 100+ points per game team.

29 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Tomlinson must be livid and rightly so.

Again, we have too many small forwards.

The correct change would have been to keep JVR in and drop one of ANB, Pickett, or Chandler.

We've potentially got Brown, Petty, Grundy/Gawn, Fritsch and Smith in the forward line at any one time. Don't need another tall on a wet day.

As an aside, didn't Kossie kick a bag last year in Alice? I'd love him to hit his straps on Sunday.

13 minutes ago, dl4e said:

Why do I have such big doubts on BBB. It is like papering over a concrete pillar with wet newspaper.

If his knee is feeling good he makes us a 3-4 goal better side. if it's not good he makes us 1-2 goals worse.

4 hours ago, binman said:

Not sure how long you have been following the dees, but we have a very different definition of what could be considered a disappointing team.

I have been following the dees for aprox 45 years but started going to games regularly in 1978 (by myself back then - no one i knew barracked for the dees).

That year we won the wooden spoon. Fun times. 

We had a stellar year in 1979 and really started our march up the ladder, ending the season in 11th. Not bad until you consider there were only 12 teams. And that time Fitzroy thrashed us by a still record margin was such a gas. 

But boy o boy, was 1980 awesome. We were marching up the ladder! Jumped up to 9th (in a 12-team competition)!

Oh, oh - 1981 wasn't much fun. Yet another wooden spoon. 

So bad were we that we came within a bees whisker of merging with the Hawks and the oldest sporting club in the world almost ceasing to exist. 

186.

The Neeld years.

Et cetera; et cetera; et cetera.

Hopefully, you get my drift. 

In all seriousness, we are currently 4th on the ladder with an ok injury list and a soft run home.

We are currently equal third favorite to win the flag (but will enter the finals as favorite IMHO).

We are $1.40 to make the top 4 (by way of contrast the Cats are next best at $6 to make the top 4 and the Saints, who are only four points behind us, are $7 to make the top 4). For context, we are 1.40 to win Sunday and Winx ran around at that price.  

A serious question - do you rate the Pies?

Well, a reminder, we beat them, the favorites for the flag, just two games ago! Can't have your cake and eat it too - if we are a disappointing side, the Pies must be pretenders not contenders. 

But really, in what universe could this current dees team, premiers in 2021 and finished second on the ladder at the end of the 2022 H&A season (and yes, we went out in straight sets in the finals), be considered a disappointing team?

Not in my universe i can assure you. 

It’s a bit like that, I never thought I’d see us win one.

Yet whilst I understand they are had to win and a lot of luck is involved I do think this group we have with its age profile and potential growth of some of our young group I know by 2026/7 I will think we’ve underachieved if we haven’t won two flags on gone deep in at least 2 finals campaigns 

49 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Tomlinson must be livid and rightly so.

Again, we have too many small forwards.

The correct change would have been to keep JVR in and drop one of ANB, Pickett, or Chandler.

No we don’t have to many small forwards, one of Grundy/Gawn will be in the forward 50 with Brown as the side currently stands , so Smith and Fritta as medium talls means you need 3 smaller players rotating through our forward line to prevent us getting burned on the rebound and we can try and win some ground balls inside 50

Edited June 30, 20231 yr by Pennant St Dee

19 minutes ago, dl4e said:

Why do I have such big doubts on BBB. It is like papering over a concrete pillar with wet newspaper.

Check his career  Goal kicking record and you will see we have no one near his record, thats why!!

I love BBB and I’m glad he’s back. Like others I think our fwd is still a work in progress. But I can’t cop anymore attempted marks with one hand in the air. 
 

Looking fwd to the game.

52 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Tomlinson must be livid and rightly so.

Again, we have too many small forwards.

The correct change would have been to keep JVR in and drop one of ANB, Pickett, or Chandler.

we’d be too tall with 2 rucks with that change imo

54 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Tomlinson must be livid and rightly so.

Again, we have too many small forwards.

The correct change would have been to keep JVR in and drop one of ANB, Pickett, or Chandler.

Mate, you realise the orange wave is back, right? We need to ensure exits are blocked and we retain territory. Best way to do that is smalls. We've lost one small already in Spargo, so this should give us the best chance to nullify them.

2 minutes ago, A F said:

Mate, you realise the orange wave is back, right? We need to ensure exits are blocked and we retain territory. Best way to do that is smalls. We've lost one small already in Spargo, so this should give us the best chance to nullify them.

It's not a very sexy word Nullify. Great word though. To nullify, make zero. ANB the Nullifier. I'm going to nullify you.

There should be more 12 year olds wanting to nullify their opponent. Instead they all just want to kick goals after the siren and win the game.

4 minutes ago, deespicable me said:

It's not a very sexy word Nullify. Great word though. To nullify, make zero. ANB the Nullifier. I'm going to nullify you.

There should be more 12 year olds wanting to nullify their opponent. Instead they all just want to kick goals after the siren and win the game.

ANB nullified our ability to win last week with his fumble fingers.

Yeah, righto.

42 blokes on the list and we can't find a better nullifier !?

You don't seem to like anything we do anymore, @adonski. Apparently someone from the club ran over your cat earlier in the year and now you're on a downward spiral of negativity.

I don't remember you being so negative, but maybe you went away when we were busy winning the flag?

1 minute ago, A F said:

You don't seem to like anything we do anymore, @adonski. Apparently someone from the club ran over your cat earlier in the year and now you're on a downward spiral of negativity.

I don't remember you being so negative, but maybe you went away when we were busy winning the flag?

You could say I've been nullified

Ahuh... comedy.

Edited June 30, 20231 yr by A F

5 minutes ago, A F said:

Ahuh... comedy.

It's hard to be optimistic when it's looking like 2023 is really 2022 v2, but I shall turn my frown upside down

3 hours ago, monoccular said:

Howes and Joey are in the middle of their second seasons on the list - yes?    Surely one would hope that they at least got a bit of a look in their second year - Laurie did, and IMO didn't inspire.  They could well get itchy feet.  (yes, I know Michael Tuck payed. several years reserves before debuting for 400+ games, but that was way back and he was a very special pier with an endurable physique - will never be seen again)

I agree Mono but it's all about timing and form at Casey.  Plus a little of how much is Simon wanting/willing to experiment.

It's also a bit of a timing issue depending on who we're playing yes?

Rounds 20? (Tigers),  21 (North) ✅️ & 23? (Hawks) might be an ipportunity to debut one or both and manage a few seniors.

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

JVR is just a kid and kids get dropped. We aren’t a teaching hospital anymore - we are in it to win it. 

As I have said through out the year - JVR is promising but he needs development and I just don’t think he is going to get that in the AFL. 

He may push out one of smith and brown and I think he will play more games but I think our best team has him outside the 22 this year.

I disagree. 
I am not against resting him, but competitively he’s been very good and I think he is part of our best 22. 

2 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

I disagree. 
I am not against resting him, but competitively he’s been very good and I think he is part of our best 22. 

I would be surprised if JVR doesn't come back in next week or the week after.

Edited June 30, 20231 yr by A F

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

JVR is just a kid and kids get dropped. We aren’t a teaching hospital anymore - we are in it to win it. 

As I have said through out the year - JVR is promising but he needs development and I just don’t think he is going to get that in the AFL. 

He may push out one of smith and brown and I think he will play more games but I think our best team has him outside the 22 this year.

It's a mistake dropping him. Happy to be proven wrong but Brown can barely turn at pace and will get smoked by decent defenders. You think Brown is going to do better on Moore in a final than JVR would?

Not against him having a spell but I am just lost that people think Brown is a long term replacement for us. JVR needs to play finals. We're going to miss out on key development for this kid while we try to recapture 2021's form by playing a Brown who since the GF has barely lasted on two feet for more than a month. Love the guy and if he helps us achieve glory again I'll take the L with this post but I hope the plan is to get JVR back for finals. 

As for Tomlinson the obvious change for me was Tomlinson for Hibberd, Bowey for Jordan. This again just reeks of trying to recapture 2021 form and it just looks desperate  

2022 v2? @adonski

This is a great conversation propped up against a bar with a beer in the hand.

Do we agree that we played around 8 weeks worth of football with significant injuries in 2022, to go out in straight sets?

If we don't, then we haven't even completed the end of 2023 and you're already assuming we will be significantly injured, and we probably need to walk away from the bar...

If you do agree, then do we also agree that injuries have a significant baring on output and capacity to win? Or is it a view of 'one solider in, one solider out', and it doesn't matter?

11 minutes ago, praha said:

It's a mistake dropping him. Happy to be proven wrong but Brown can barely turn at pace and will get smoked by decent defenders. You think Brown is going to do better on Moore in a final than JVR would?

Not against him having a spell but I am just lost that people think Brown is a long term replacement for us. JVR needs to play finals. We're going to miss out on key development for this kid while we try to recapture 2021's form by playing a Brown who since the GF has barely lasted on two feet for more than a month. Love the guy and if he helps us achieve glory again I'll take the L with this post but I hope the plan is to get JVR back for finals. 

As for Tomlinson the obvious change for me was Tomlinson for Hibberd, Bowey for Jordan. This again just reeks of trying to recapture 2021 form and it just looks desperate  

These last 6 weeks have just seen and embedding of bad habits in how we kick to JVR and how JVR goes and gets the ball. He is 19. It’s not the end of the world so to speak.

55 minutes ago, adonski said:

You could say I've been nullified

About time.

13 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

2022 v2? @adonski

This is a great conversation propped up against a bar with a beer in the hand.

Do we agree that we played around 8 weeks worth of football with significant injuries in 2022, to go out in straight sets?

If we don't, then we haven't even completed the end of 2023 and you're already assuming we will be significantly injured, and we probably need to walk away from the bar...

If you do agree, then do we also agree that injuries have a significant baring on output and capacity to win? Or is it a view of 'one solider in, one solider out', and it doesn't matter?

He doesn't have a clue about the game.