15 minutes ago, Red But Mostly Blue said:

IF we can actually sort out our a) forward entries (just a little) and our conversion (even just a little), we will be a serious threat

Bit of a mid-season groundhog day post the last few years unfortunately.

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

This will seem petty (npi ) .. look Max is the closest to a living football God I can think of. But actually he's human and humans [censored] up . Tbh.. I'm with May . That couldn't have been any dumber than dog [censored] at that point of the game if you tried . It was a silly lazy kick. Max instead of getting ****ty ... own it. But it was only one of a number of moments that I'm sure a number of players would do differently if given their time over.

The greatest culprit(s) .. well we know who they are.

Whereas I think May should pull his head in.

The rip he gave Lindsay after the garbage 50 wasn't on.
Lindsay was moving away from the mark and got pinged to every-ones surprise.
Then the 1st year kid's got one of our so called leaders giving him a red faced spray in front of 80K people to go with it.

As for Gawn I don't know what May expected.
We all know Gawn can't kick at the best of times, he'd been running and jumping his [censored] off for 2hrs.
30seconds left, if we wanna get down the other end of the ground he couldn't go back through the congestion up the members side.
Had to be the open side and apparently the ump also called play on putting more pressure on the kick.
I'd like to also compare the meters covered during the game between Gawn and May.
See how far Gawn ran and then see how far May ran.
See how often May had to jump into or wrestle some other bloke at ball-ups etc.
Then discuss if the kick was lazy or tired.

Anyway, what's done is done and I'm not gonna roast the guy who give us 100% every week for stuffing up what would have been a Hail Mary play anyway.
Damage to our chances of winning was done earlier.

Edited June 9Jun 9 by Fork 'em

1 minute ago, roy11 said:

Bit of a mid-season groundhog day post the last few years unfortunately.

I know, it might be the positivity of a week off work to get some things done at home, or my brain is fried from the decades of following the Dees haha, but I just think at some point...it eventually has to be fixed, right? Someone, somewhere will take the lead here and fix it.

Like bad kicking/bad footy/bad attitudes, good kicking/good footy/good attitudes are contagious. Very soon, all these shots that hit the post/miss, there will be many that instead go in.

It has to

Right? lol

Daicos 13 minutes ago, jackaub said:


Proved to me JVR is not going to make it
was and observer and passenger most of the day in my view doesn't have a clue about how to play forward Cant ruck Cant mark
Shame really just doesn't get into the game


And whose fault is that? JVR can attribute some of that to him; the coaching can attribute a majority of that to them. Since 22 every year, Goodwin says we have to work on our connection to the forward line, and except for a couple of quarters in games, we have the same problem over and over again. All you have to do is watch Casey, and you can see the problem even more.

Petty is a better lead-up player than a pack-mark player, and it all comes down to how the midfield can deliver the ball. It's just bomb after bomb. Then we had Melk kick a ball to a free Kozzie with Howe having time to get back instead of kicking it boundary side so he could run onto it. But I also blame Kossie for not forcing Melk to kick it there, and that's coaching.

I will give credit for the way they limited Nick Daicos, but they allowed Josh to be free, the same with Sidebottom. If you watch enough of the Pies, there are three players you sit on; they contained one but allowed the other two to go again. That's coaching.

4 minutes ago, Red But Mostly Blue said:

I know, it might be the positivity of a week off work to get some things done at home, or my brain is fried from the decades of following the Dees haha, but I just think at some point...it eventually has to be fixed, right? Someone, somewhere will take the lead here and fix it.

Like bad kicking/bad footy/bad attitudes, good kicking/good footy/good attitudes are contagious. Very soon, all these shots that hit the post/miss, there will be many that instead go in.

It has to

Right? lol

Well honestly.

When the pressure kicks come for goal at Collingwood in the last qtrs for example.
I think the mindset is "We kick these. Cause that's what we do."

I think ours is the opposite.
That's why we got guys playing on from inside 50 to avoid the pressure.

10 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:
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
Whereas I think May should pull his head in.

The rip he gave Lindsay after the garbage 50 wasn't on.
Lindsay was moving away from the mark and got pinged to every-ones surprise.
Then the 1st year kid's got one of our so called leaders giving him a red faced spray in front of 80K people to go with it.

As for Gawn I don't know what May expected.
We all know Gawn can't kick at the best of times, he'd been running and jumping his [censored] off for 2hrs.
30seconds left, if we wanna get down the other end of the ground he couldn't go back through the congestion up the members side.
Had to be the open side and apparently the ump also called play on putting more pressure on the kick.
I'd like to also compare the meters covered during the game between Gawn and May.
See how far Gawn ran and then see how far May ran.
See how often May had to jump into or wrestle some other bloke at ball-ups etc.
Then discuss if the kick was lazy or tired.

Anyway, what's done is done and I'm not gonna roast the guy who give us 100% every week for stuffing up what would have been a Hail Mary play anyway.
Damage to our chances of winning was done earlier.



Expand to Edit

I won't criticise Gawn, but I will criticise the fact that everyone knows that Gawn isn't the best person to pull off pinpoint kicking, so why wasn't any player running past for a handball? Why weren't players creating space to give him an easier out instead of doing that.

18 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

Our players tried their hardest yesterday. They lacked polish and finishing skills going inside 50 but the game plan was sound - which I said pre-game I thought Goodwin had adapted to beat teams like the pies that run frenetically from the backline

The umpiring was deplorable - why was Max called to play in in the last minute? Why weren't he Coll players hot with a 50m penalty for encroaching the mark?

But on Langford I thought he looked very tired yesterday as well. Said to my mate that he shirked a few contests. Could have run straight line at the ball but didn't and instead tried to put one arm out and spin around the Coll opponent.

I really like him as a player but he needs to get that out of his game IMO

If he is tiring he's not showing huge signs of tiring IMO. He did shirks contests a few times, particularly against Cameron who he could have halved with his aerial prowess. His role model is Trac who regularly shirks going back with the flight.

I made this point very early in this season and was told the game was changing and that going back with the flight and potentially getting injured is less of a priority these days. I take that point and admit my viewpoint was dated.

I think that's the way the game is going. Players are regularly dropping out of aerial contests to protect themselves.

It is what it is. The players are human after all and have lives to think about after footy. Trac suffered a near death experience and there is an article in the press every couple of months about former players with concussion symptoms and likely CTE, which btw is very likely contributing to suicide amongst former AFL players.

The 2025 game is a different beast. It's an aerobic game that impacts decision making and the difference between being top of the ladder or outside of the 8 is executing under fatigue and under pressure.

4 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

Well honestly.

When the pressure kicks come for goal at Collingwood in the last qtrs for example.
I think the mindset is "We kick these. Cause that's what we do."

I think ours is the opposite.
That's why we got guys playing on from inside 50 to avoid the pressure.

Yeah I reckon there's an element of that for sure.

Most frustrating of those was Fritter and it probably emanated more from confidence and adrenalin that lack of confidence/ability to handle the pressure, but had he drilled that, we would be glowing about a hard fought win.

It's annoying, that's for sure!!!

We can go over various incidents that occured throughout the game and individually allocate the "fault" onto one because it was the last chance. ( and about a .5% chance anyway)

There were around a THOUSAND incidents during the game.

My incident was the one where Pendelbury ran through the centre bounce and fed it down the ground to ........ who goaled . Perfecto !!! And it came at a time that it was needed.

Show that to Xavier ,Caleb ,Kyle, Rivers & Langford to encourage & incentivise them, not blast them all ( the whole team) for singular incidents.

Bowey plays above his height.

I will tell you that we miss ANB . One of the above players will fit that category at some stage.

2 minutes ago, Red But Mostly Blue said:

Yeah I reckon there's an element of that for sure.

Most frustrating of those was Fritter and it probably emanated more from confidence and adrenalin that lack of confidence/ability to handle the pressure, but had he drilled that, we would be glowing about a hard fought win.

It's annoying, that's for sure!!!

Nah, look at our set shot kicking as a whole.
They've all got the yips in front of goal.
They all go for the round the corner kick or play on.
That's lack of confidence IMO.

Who do you look at in our side with a set shot and think .... " this one's going through."
Me , I can't freakin' look when we need a goal and they're having a set shot.... At any of 'em.

Edited June 10Jun 10 by Fork 'em

Very proud of the boys

3 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

Nah, look at our set shot kicking as a whole.
They've all got the yips in front of goal.
They all go for the round the corner kick or play on.
That's lack of confidence IMO.

Who do you look at in our side with a set shot and think .... " this one's going through."
Me , I can't freakin' look when we need a goal and they're having a set shot.... At any of 'em.

True, can't argue with that.

Normally, I'd have said Fritter, but that's not the case right now.
And Melky who is normally a lovely kick, but he has not yet got that kick going.

But yeah completely agree. They need to just practice set shots all day (if not already - and if not, why?)

Increase conversion rate to 60% and we are laughing.

Then the conversion will become contagious.

23 minutes ago, Jjrogan said:

Name one forward that doesnt go in and out of games or even weeks. Its not a valid reason to not try something. We dont need someone to dominate. We need someone to just lead correctly and take a mark. In any case, we have 10 weeks to try something different. We cant keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Im not big on jvr, but if he is to play, he cant be ruck. Give him a chance as a pure FF. Goodwin has to swallow some pride here and admit hes got things wrong.

Maybe. I think he's our best defender now. Not only does he regularly take third man up marks, he moves it on quickly and for the most part retains possession for us with his kicks.

We've tried playing him forward multiple times. The way the ball came in yesterday was too high and long after quarter time. I felt we changed the angles long really well in the first but couldn't capitalise without a real winner forward. So I get the call to move him forward.

But I find I no longer trust Lever and in many situations I don't trust May either. So Turner is our reliable defender.

However, we very rarely score goals from our back half, we mostly score goals from the central area of the ground. So despite offence starting from defence for many teams in the modern game, perhaps we're an outlier there.

Haha, I'm arguing against myself and flipflopping within the one post. I'd like two Turners.

Maybe the move is to bring back TMac, though he now seems horribly out of form. And then play Turner forward. But who rucks?

I think Turner forward gives us problems with our forward mix. JVR is our best second ruck. Petty and Melksham are our most experienced forwards and can be relied upon to halve or win most contests. Having another tall crowds the forwardline. That's I think where I land.

Keep Turner back.

14 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Maybe if he was played as a key forward he'd have an opportunity to kick a goal. I'd love to see him get as many opportunities as Petty has had over the last 3 years.

I'd doubt it. No forward craft, cant mark, plays from behind every time. Happy to call him a bust now. Which leaves us with a major hole

10 hours ago, old dee said:

JVR, should never had been played this week. Form at Casey was average against the two bottom teams. IMO he only came because Johnson was rubbed out.

He was better than average against Preston, he took 13 marks across half forward. Yeah, he came in for AJ who was hardly setting the world on fire. So stick with him for a couple more weeks. Then make the change to Jeffo if he continues strong VFL form against better opponents

9 hours ago, dpositive said:

Ive said before and will say it again Jeffo and Fritta rotate off the bench both play time while hot and off when not happening. TMac into defence with Disco in forward rotating off bench with JVR forward only not rucking. Campbell AJ or Fullarton or Verall rotating with max off bench even if only play small nimutes . Petty is Sub only. can relieve forward or back and wont have to play the whole game .

Using half the bench for tall forwards, great strategy that!

Disco is settled down back, let’s stop this idea of moving him, he looks legit down back.

Jeffo’s time will come when he demands a spot over the likes of Fritsch and Melk. Not some made up bench role that doesn’t exist

18 minutes ago, dimmy said:

My incident was the one where Pendelbury ran through the centre bounce and fed it down the ground to ........ who goaled . Perfecto !!! And it came at a time that it was needed.

Yeah that was an instant reply to a goal that put us level pegging I think.

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

Nah.... snot'em all 😉

Was going to suggest the same but been to our power crazed HR dept a few times over the last couples years so.
Maybe not.

3 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Pretty much summed up JVR at Casey if you ask me.

We ve had quite a while to assess Roo and I for one am not particularly convinced. Yes he's only 22.

We're not playing finals.Folk just need to take that on board imo. So time for "live" examinations.

Let's see what some have, or don't and we can sort the list prior to the EOS circus. Can also start shopping 😉

Go Us

The ceiling for Roo has only ever been a role player and whilst he’s a strong lad he’s still got plenty of physical development left - especially once he’s stopped adding bulk and then can trim him up and focus on refining his movements. Plus he clearly lost all confidence early this season, you can see he’s not playing with any instinct.

And our expectations are high. Mihocek and McStay barely touched it at their end either. Mihocek is the player I want Roo to be too. They’re over similar stature and athleticism, the one thing Mihocek has is confidence to lead hard at the ball because he has a team that can kick.

I thought he made a step forward on previous occasions in terms of actually jumping at the ball.

We need to shop if we can. We need a main man up forward to take over from Melk but they’re nearly impossible to find.

Good news all!

We won the expected score again 71 to 64!

We would surely be top of the ladder for expected score by now

30 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

If he is tiring he's not showing huge signs of tiring IMO. He did shirks contests a few times, particularly against Cameron who he could have halved with his aerial prowess. His role model is Trac who regularly shirks going back with the flight.

I made this point very early in this season and was told the game was changing and that going back with the flight and potentially getting injured is less of a priority these days. I take that point and admit my viewpoint was dated.

I think that's the way the game is going. Players are regularly dropping out of aerial contests to protect themselves.

It is what it is. The players are human after all and have lives to think about after footy. Trac suffered a near death experience and there is an article in the press every couple of months about former players with concussion symptoms and likely CTE, which btw is very likely contributing to suicide amongst former AFL players.

The 2025 game is a different beast. It's an aerobic game that impacts decision making and the difference between being top of the ladder or outside of the 8 is executing under fatigue and under pressure.

I get the going back with the flight - partic Tracc

Thats not what I was referring to. there were a couple of ground balls and the Pie player run straight through to collect the ball we shirked it. Maybe they are worried about the tribunal now as well?

But there were balls to be won and we didn't win several.

Still happy with our teams endeavour. They should have won but for a lack of calmness or composure -eg Fritsch, or Clarrie running in to goal.

18 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

He was better than average against Preston, he took 13 marks across half forward. Yeah, he came in for AJ who was hardly setting the world on fire. So stick with him for a couple more weeks. Then make the change to Jeffo if he continues strong VFL form against better opponents

So it is ok for jvr to take 13 marks against a Preston who aren't even of a VFL standard but ignore Jefferson's 5 goal game against Sydney. It seems we have 2 standards here. Let's not kid ourselves JVR is getting games because he is useful as a back up Ruckman, his ability in 2025 as a KPF has been poor. Jefferson deserves games in the senior side now. If not let him go to a side that will give him a chance at senior level.

41 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

If he is tiring he's not showing huge signs of tiring IMO. He did shirks contests a few times, particularly against Cameron who he could have halved with his aerial prowess. His role model is Trac who regularly shirks going back with the flight.

I made this point very early in this season and was told the game was changing and that going back with the flight and potentially getting injured is less of a priority these days. I take that point and admit my viewpoint was dated.

I think that's the way the game is going. Players are regularly dropping out of aerial contests to protect themselves.

It is what it is. The players are human after all and have lives to think about after footy. Trac suffered a near death experience and there is an article in the press every couple of months about former players with concussion symptoms and likely CTE, which btw is very likely contributing to suicide amongst former AFL players.

The 2025 game is a different beast. It's an aerobic game that impacts decision making and the difference between being top of the ladder or outside of the 8 is executing under fatigue and under pressure.

It’s a much overdo change. Full respect for the players who now don’t back blindly into oncoming but also for the guys who when oncoming don’t clean up those backing in unprotected. The games better for it.

1 minute ago, old dee said:

So it is ok for jvr to take 13 marks against a Preston who aren't even of a VFL standard but ignore Jefferson's 5 goal game against Sydney. It seems we have 2 standards here. Let's not kid ourselves JVR is getting games because he is useful as a back up Ruckman, his ability in 2025 as a KPF has been poor. Jefferson deserves games in the senior side now. If not let him go to a side that will give him a chance at senior level.

JVR can cover the ruck, Jeffo can’t. It’s pretty simple.

24 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

Was going to suggest the same but been to our power crazed HR dept a few times over the last couples years so.
Maybe not.

Ignore them, that's my small piece of advice.

Pitty them for they follow the filth. 😎