19 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Love how a lot of people have jumped of Fritsch, up until yesterday the team had collectively done nothing for five weeks. The one week they have a crack coincides with the week he’s dropped, Fritsch actually stepped it up against the Bombers, wasn’t his best game but did more than others. Now some are calling for him to put a consistent block together at Casey. Seems as though getting back into the team will be harder than a batsman trying to break into the Australian line up in the mid 90’s. Is everyone going to judged the same? Give Fritsch the space and delivery that some of our fwds got yesterday and he will tear up it up, he’s hard to match up on is a one v one. Interesting to see how this plays out.

I’m sure he could have been on the end of some more free flowing ball movement this week but I think he needs at least two, if not 3, weeks to work on his effort.

We can let the team settle into a style of play and then erase any confusion when he’s back.

Edited April 20Apr 20 by BW511

20 hours ago, picket fence said:

Exactly Fritsch and Van Rooyen were absolutely SHIZZEN TODAY AND I WAS THERE! Time to reward the incumbent!! FULLO STAYS

Somebody please check on Ghosty's wellbeing, she actually agreed with me re Fritta, are you ok GHOSTY??

9 hours ago, Demongirl35 said:

Mcvee in surely??

Without watching the vfl game I can’t say with any authority but going over the stats he certainly wasn’t in the best and sharp for Mcvee isn’t like for like anyway, I would think he is competing with rivers, bowey, Salem and Lindsay for a spot, none of whom will be going out, If you moved Rivers mid to make room then who are you dropping from there, probably first one out is sparrow. I just don’t see the whole team being shuffled round after our first win to make way for Mcvee who probably needs more time anyway

Edited April 20Apr 20 by Garbo

36 minutes ago, Garbo said:

Without watching the vfl game I can’t say with any authority but going over the stats he certainly wasn’t in the best and sharp for Mcvee isn’t like for like anyway, I would think he is competing with rivers, bowey, Salem and Lindsay for a spot, none of whom will be going out, If you moved Rivers mid to make room then who are you dropping from there, probably first one out is sparrow. I just don’t see the whole team being shuffled round after our first win to make way for Mcvee who probably needs more time anyway

You get McVee in asap. We bought Kolt in after a long break, McVee comes in this week.

In: May, McVee

Out: Turner (inj), Howes (omit)

No “messages”, no dropping the “worst” player, just simple like-for-like role upgrades.

57 minutes ago, Nasher said:

In: May, McVee

Out: Turner (inj), Howes (omit)

No “messages”, no dropping the “worst” player, just simple like-for-like role upgrades.

I think it’s counter productive dropping Howes. I don’t think May will be fit anyway. I’d consider Fritsch and McVee for Turner and Sharp

4 hours ago, Adam The God said:

It'll be interesting to see what Richmond does to stifle our ball movement if we're as aggressive and run in waves as much as yesterday.

Will that handball game be able to stand up to manic Richmond pressure?

And if we make a few errors and a team really brings the heat, will we go back into our shells or keep going for it?

This will determine how sustainable this game plan is with this group.

May to come back in… no one plays within their shells more than May.

Get. The. Ball. Out. Of. His. Hands.

3 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Love how a lot of people have jumped of Fritsch, up until yesterday the team had collectively done nothing for five weeks. The one week they have a crack coincides with the week he’s dropped, Fritsch actually stepped it up against the Bombers, wasn’t his best game but did more than others. Now some are calling for him to put a consistent block together at Casey. Seems as though getting back into the team will be harder than a batsman trying to break into the Australian line up in the mid 90’s. Is everyone going to judged the same? Give Fritsch the space and delivery that some of our fwds got yesterday and he will tear up it up, he’s hard to match up on is a one v one. Interesting to see how this plays out.

I don’t think anyone is jumping off him. Nobody is saying ‘Fritta is done’, on the contrary, I think a lot of people recognise that he’s been low on form extending into last season and a few VFL games can be a chance for him to find some form.

On top of that the reality is we just achieved our 4th score of over 85 points, in about the last 50 games, in a team that has found scoring incredibly hard.

Will we score that again 1-2 weeks in a row? I dunno! Probably not? Worth seeing IMO.

And Fritsch is a gun, so scoring 2-3 goals a week for a couple games at VFL level should hopefully be easier for him than averaging 50+ for years and years at shield level.

5 minutes ago, BoBo said:

I don’t think anyone is jumping off him. Nobody is saying ‘Fritta is done’, on the contrary, I think a lot of people recognise that he’s been low on form extending into last season and a few VFL games can be a chance for him to find some form.

On top of that the reality is we just achieved our 4th score of over 85 points, in about the last 50 games, in a team that has found scoring incredibly hard.

Will we score that again 1-2 weeks in a row? I dunno! Probably not? Worth seeing IMO.

And Fritsch is a gun, so scoring 2-3 goals a week for a couple games at VFL level should hopefully be easier for him than averaging 50+ for years and years at shield level.

Fritsch’s form is largely dependent on the delivery he receives. If we had been moving the ball like we did yesterday all season and Fritsch was doing nothing I could then cop him being dropped and having to fight his way back in, but we haven’t been so it’s unfair to judge him on 5 games or if you want to go back further. Not only was Fritsch struggling but all our fwds were as would most fwds in the competition if they played for us.

11 minutes ago, BoBo said:

I don’t think anyone is jumping off him. Nobody is saying ‘Fritta is done’, on the contrary, I think a lot of people recognise that he’s been low on form extending into last season and a few VFL games can be a chance for him to find some form.

On top of that the reality is we just achieved our 4th score of over 85 points, in about the last 50 games, in a team that has found scoring incredibly hard.

Will we score that again 1-2 weeks in a row? I dunno! Probably not? Worth seeing IMO.

And Fritsch is a gun, so scoring 2-3 goals a week for a couple games at VFL level should hopefully be easier for him than averaging 50+ for years and years at shield level.

Fritsch’s uses his body well in a marking contest, play a tall on him and if he doesn’t mark it and the ball goes to ground he’ll beat the tall for the lose ball, play a small on him and he’ll best team in the air. But he needs space to work in, not having the ball being sat on his head and having an opposition defender coming over for an easy spoil.

Guys it’s not that bad, Sydney are 13th… Let’s go!

9 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Fritsch’s form is largely dependent on the delivery he receives. If we had been moving the ball like we did yesterday all season and Fritsch was doing nothing I could then cop him being dropped and having to fight his way back in, but we haven’t been so it’s unfair to judge him on 5 games or if you want to go back further. Not only was Fritsch struggling but all our fwds were as would most fwds in the competition if they played for us.

Yep I totally agree. Rubbish delivery for yonks. And yup, probably being judged harshly. But amongst all that rubbish, he also found ways to kick goals which has dried up. Which indicates to me, that something has changed about his game and he needs to find that again, because our delivery has never been great like you say.

What I can see is different, especially this year with him, is when he gets the ball at ground level, he is apprehensive and he burns players in better positions when he should handball. He’s been caught, corralled or gives the ball off too late and gives the defenders time to close down players near him.

He looks low in confidence to me and in two minds.

And I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said in your post about his skills and need for space.

I personally think a couple weeks in VFL are a good opportunity for him to find confidence again.

18 hours ago, Supreme_Demon said:

Hoping we get a big crowd of around 80,000 for the ANZAC Day Eve game against Richmond!

Both teams are in disappointment mode, this is 60k max

10 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Spargo miss from 20 metres out !!

Spargo clear and no pressure and kicking over Kozzy lead !!!

Spargo missed tackle on Clark and Freo rebound !!

Spargo fighting with milkshake over the footy!!!

Spargo was better but … must be even better next time !!!

Pretty sure he was also responsible for a couple of (thank God a lot fewer) poor inside 50 bombs...

Thought he was OK for pressure, but pretty average with ball in hand

Those lauding his best game in a long time are giving him a free kick considering he's barely played in ages

2 hours ago, Nasher said:

In: May, McVee

Out: Turner (inj), Howes (omit)

No “messages”, no dropping the “worst” player, just simple like-for-like role upgrades.

May or Adams in for Turner. We need a tall KPD in to replace him.

I actually think Howes plays better as a third tall, a bit like Marty Hore. Rather than as a tall small. For a lot of Saturday he was picking up Amiss (from memory), which was probably as a second tall once Turner went down. I don't think McVee replaces that role.

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

May to come back in… no one plays within their shells more than May.

Get. The. Ball. Out. Of. His. Hands.

Yeah, May really worries me. As does Lever. I just wonder if we're actually going past them as a team. Controversial perhaps.

I'd be trying to get Adams in there. He's a nice kick and quick. The beauty of TMac as a defender is he's super quick to move it on and with movement ahead of him (with further belief in the new system), he's the sort of KPB we want. A neat kick who moves it on quickly and efficiently.

Edited April 20Apr 20 by Adam The God

JVR and Fritsch didn't do much in the reserves and therefore should not be rewarded. The best way to get JVR to gain form is to play him in the ruck. Jefferson must play FF for Casey. Blooding new players for the seniors against Richmond is not a bad idea. Sestan for Salem (not playing well), the inclusion of Adams at FB is worth a try. May can have another week off.

21 hours ago, old dee said:

Surely Blunt is at Casey next weekend. Milkshake must have been close to our worst today but there is no one else at Casey to take his place.

If May is fit then Sharp gets dropped. Not sure who will be the sub.

Fritsch just needs the proverbial kick in the backside to get hiM going again. I’ve no doubt he’ll come back into the side and kick plenty of goals and be better defensively. That said he has to do it at Casey first. Goody needs to follow through and make him earn it.

57 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

Yeah, May really worries me. As does Lever. I just wonder if we're actually going past them as a team. Controversial perhaps.

I'd be trying to get Adams in there. He's a nice kick and quick. The beauty of TMac as a defender is he's super quick to move it on and with movement ahead of him (with further belief in the new system), he's the sort of KPB we want. A neat kick who moves it on quickly and efficiently.

Ive wondered how much removing May/Lever from the backline helped us speed up the transition game as well.

I think Lever can adapt, but I'm worried that May is too predictable and slow with ball in hand.

I think Fritsch and JVR out of the forward line also helped, because they had been so stagnant they were encouraging the ball to come to them quickly.

4 hours ago, Garbo said:

Without watching the vfl game I can’t say with any authority but going over the stats he certainly wasn’t in the best and sharp for Mcvee isn’t like for like anyway, I would think he is competing with rivers, bowey, Salem and Lindsay for a spot, none of whom will be going out, If you moved Rivers mid to make room then who are you dropping from there, probably first one out is sparrow. I just don’t see the whole team being shuffled round after our first win to make way for Mcvee who probably needs more time anyway

They took McVee off at 3QT, so judging him by his stats might be a bit skewed.

Goodwin in the presser mentioned that we needed to bring the ball to ground more, and compete at ground level more, in our forward line.

There's no doubt JVR and Fritsch have been dropped to work on those two things (JVR the former, Fritsch the latter).

I'd like to think that we won't see them back at AFL level until they demonstrate improvement in those areas.

45 minutes ago, deanox said:

Ive wondered how much removing May/Lever from the backline helped us speed up the transition game as well.

I think Lever can adapt, but I'm worried that May is too predictable and slow with ball in hand.

I think Fritsch and JVR out of the forward line also helped, because they had been so stagnant they were encouraging the ball to come to them quickly.

I don't think that's impacted our transition game much at all. The stats had us moving the ball quickly, and getting from D50 to forward 50, better than most prior to yesterday's game. The biggest change yesterday IMO was forward half pressure and our stoppage work. I don't think May or Lever in the side impact either of those things at all, but would have provided us with a stronger back half.

is it safe to assume that balta wont be playing thurs? was very good last night although

3 minutes ago, jaydenh10 said:

is it safe to assume that balta wont be playing thurs? was very good last night although

No idea. He shouldn't have been playing last night - it's a complete disgrace that he was.

On 19/04/2025 at 19:41, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Fritsch is a gun, the day we decide to move the ball quickly just so happens to coincide with the days he’s in the VFL. If we are now committed to playing this way we need to get him back in asap. Do we honestly think the delivery is going to be that good at Casey.

Two players who have been applying very little pressure inside 50 being dropped also coincides season high tackles inside 50 numbers - a key element of our win discussed by both coaches in their pressers.

Edited April 20Apr 20 by binman