CASEY: Rd 17 BYE

[Leopold Bloom 346]

On 7/15/2023 at 9:21 PM, Whispering_Jack said:

“However, he did play in Casey's practice match against St Kilda's reserves on Saturday, July 15 at Casey Fields, kicking one goal, gathering 16 possessions and taking six marks.”

That’s not necessarily indicative of him struggling while being tried in a new position.

Some info on the game gleaned through the social media 

• The game between Melbourne and St Kilda was played at Casey Fields.

• It was 15 a side and a couple of Demons were loaned to the Saints to help make up numbers.

• Brodie Grundy was stationed at deep forward but roamed the ground as the game went on. He kicked one goal, had nine kicks, seven handballs and six marks.

• Kade Chandler was the star of the game, Michael Hibberd showed no signs of discomfort as he returns from a kidney injury and James Harmes worked hard through the midfield.

[Demonland 71,622]

[58er 6,395]

10 hours ago, Leopold Bloom said:

Some info on the game gleaned through the social media 

• The game between Melbourne and St Kilda was played at Casey Fields.

• It was 15 a side and a couple of Demons were loaned to the Saints to help make up numbers.

• Brodie Grundy was stationed at deep forward but roamed the ground as the game went on. He kicked one goal, had nine kicks, seven handballs and six marks.

• Kade Chandler was the star of the game, Michael Hibberd showed no signs of discomfort as he returns from a kidney injury and James Harmes worked hard through the midfield.

Thanks Leo for this very helpful post.  
We still have some irons in the fire and Chandler  back might just be the trick instead of Spargy pants. More aggression and hopefully more GOALS. 

[Fanatique Demon 2,642]

On 7/14/2023 at 3:09 PM, Little Goffy said:

Got to stop doing them while sitting on a wheeled swivel chair on a lino floor.

You? Or Grundy? 😃

[layzie 33,752]

How did we go?

[Sydney_Demon 1,175]

The VFL is a strange beast with 21 teams playing (basically because Aspley dropped out of the comp before the 2022 season even started). The VFL was re-configured that year and included 6 teams (which became 5) from the former NEAFL (Aspley, Southport, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney & GWS). Basically it covers the entire East Coast. Port & Adelaide Reserves playing in the SANFL & West Coast & Fremantle (actually their affiiiate Peel Thunder) play in the WAFL:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League_reserves_affiliations

I don't understand why there needs to be 4 byes (Casey's are/were in Rounds 8, 13, 17 (last weekend) & 20). Each team plays 18 rounds so they don't even get to play each other once. Obviously it would be preferable for everything to line up with the AFL but I guess that's impossible with 7 standalone VFL teams. As VFL players aren't full-timers it wouldn't be feasible for them to travel to SA & WA to play. As it is I don't know how you could be on a VFL list in NSW or Queensland and travel interstate nearly every 2nd week (a similar problem in the other direction but there's 16 teams in Melbourne/Geelong, 2 in Sydney and 3 in Brisbane/Gold Coast).

This year there's a Wildcard Round. Accordingly, finishing Top 4 or definitely Top 6 at worst is especially important. It could come down to the last round for Casey against Brisbane to get that 4th spot.   

[Bystander 903]

2 hours ago, Sydney_Demon said:

The VFL is a strange beast with 21 teams playing (basically because Aspley dropped out of the comp before the 2022 season even started). The VFL was re-configured that year and included 6 teams (which became 5) from the former NEAFL (Aspley, Southport, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney & GWS). Basically it covers the entire East Coast. Port & Adelaide Reserves playing in the SANFL & West Coast & Fremantle (actually their affiiiate Peel Thunder) play in the WAFL:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League_reserves_affiliations

I don't understand why there needs to be 4 byes (Casey's are/were in Rounds 8, 13, 17 (last weekend) & 20). Each team plays 18 rounds so they don't even get to play each other once. Obviously it would be preferable for everything to line up with the AFL but I guess that's impossible with 7 standalone VFL teams. As VFL players aren't full-timers it wouldn't be feasible for them to travel to SA & WA to play. As it is I don't know how you could be on a VFL list in NSW or Queensland and travel interstate nearly every 2nd week (a similar problem in the other direction but there's 16 teams in Melbourne/Geelong, 2 in Sydney and 3 in Brisbane/Gold Coast).

This year there's a Wildcard Round. Accordingly, finishing Top 4 or definitely Top 6 at worst is especially important. It could come down to the last round for Casey against Brisbane to get that 4th spot.   

The way I read it, Casey, sitting 5th, has a good chance of snatching 4th spot from hawks. Of course, that would mean no game in first week of finals, 7-10 play for last finals spots. Also, no game in third week if, in second week, Casey beats the team that finished on top.

That's not ideal for player management for the AFL team.

Casey should certainly finish top 6.

[Sydney_Demon 1,175]

On 7/18/2023 at 6:28 AM, Bystander said:

The way I read it, Casey, sitting 5th, has a good chance of snatching 4th spot from hawks. Of course, that would mean no game in first week of finals, 7-10 play for last finals spots. Also, no game in third week if, in second week, Casey beats the team that finished on top.

That's not ideal for player management for the AFL team.

Casey should certainly finish top 6.

@Bystander I can't see Casey getting above Box Hill. BH have games against Richmond (currently 8th), Sandringham (17th), Footscray (10th) & Frankston (18th). They would be expected to win all of them. Gold Coast and Werribee are safe Top 2. The best chance of finishing Top 4 is to get ahead of Brisbane. B have a massively better percentage than C but have drawn a game so their percentage is irrelevant. They play Gold Coast away R19 and GC would be favoured as the top team. They then play Casey in the last round at Casey, so if Casey win all their games and Brisbane lose to Gold Coast Casey finish 4th, Brisbane 5th.

I'd agree Casey are highly likely to finish Top 6 at worst and then would get a week's rest and then play a Wildcard winner. The 5th & 6th teams have a big advantage over the Wild Card teams in my view, even if all sides playing are likely to be Victorian (assuming Casey's one of them).

The VFL & AFL Finals are out-of-sync with the VFL running a week earlier but on the positive side Casey will definitely be playing on the weekend of the AFL pre-finals bye which may help with tuning up players  & finalising selections for AFL Finals.