Taj played 21 more games in the Red and Blue than any of us did. Well done young man!

9 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Quietly discuss but Casey is a virtual graveyard for player development.

Why.. I have my own theories (four years of imitating Goodwins boundary line defensive model) but is it deeper? Is the VFL itself a graveyard

This is where Geelong for years Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn recently have a leg up on the competition.

10 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Quietly discuss but Casey is a virtual graveyard for player development.

Agree, yet the Casey coach is now our development coach. Something about this doesn't sit right with me.

On Woewodin, I think he's a little unlucky and I would have loved to see him get a run in McVee's lockdown defender role.

1 hour ago, poita said:

Agree, yet the Casey coach is now our development coach. Something about this doesn't sit right with me.

On Woewodin, I think he's a little unlucky and I would have loved to see him get a run in McVee's lockdown defender role.

Definitely players should be tried in different roles and given separate match tasks. The VFL should not just be about imitating the AFL gameplan. Even winning is secondary to development

2 hours ago, Salems Lot said:

Taj played 21 more games in the Red and Blue than any of us did. Well done young man!

Yes farewell hope you enjoyed your time.

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Definitely players should be tried in different roles and given separate match tasks. The VFL should not just be about imitating the AFL gameplan. Even winning is secondary to development

he played HB in 2024, after initially being played across HF, and then this year he went back to inside mid at casey and didnt dominate or star there

17 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

Another good decision

If you couldn’t get a game in front of Billings or Spargo, your days were numbered

Your right but it's sad given who his dad is.

But looks like the club is not only prepared to make the hard calls they are to their credit doing it.

There's always the allure of father son continuity for a club. Ashcrofts at Bears and SOS at Carlton are the two that spring to mind.

Of course we have Viney and Barassi as successes .Stretch a recent not quite.

AFL participation is a difficult career and subject to many influences. As has been stated Taj has played 21 games which is more than many. Was he given enough support/ opportunity? Only he and the club can know. Its a pity for him and I hope he has alternative options to pursue. I also hope he does not leave with bitterness and can speak positively of his experiences at the club. Would be good to get some insight into his feelings, perhaps he could be invited into Demonland podcast etc.

13 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Quietly discuss but Casey is a virtual graveyard for player development.

Why.. I have my own theories (four years of imitating Goodwins boundary line defensive model) but is it deeper? Is the VFL itself a graveyard

I do agree that our development has been below par for a number of years. I maintain that there is only enough talent for 2-3 A Grade players at every club, and most of those players come like that, you can't really turn B Graders into A Graders, but you can certainly turn C graders into B Graders.

Not everyone is going to make and and we've had some success players such as AMW and Culley, but not a lot else. Sestan, Woey, Fullarton, Schache, Brown are all names that come to the top of my head.

Hopefully things turn around under King

Oh yeah, thanks Woey

Woewodin to Collingwood again?!

At the very least that is top shelf trolling.

But on the other hand, if he joined the Pies he'd start next season as their best player under 23. (His birthday is just after the start of the season so he scrapes in, while Daicos is a January baby.)

If he can survive on their list for a couple of seasons he will become a core midfielder even if he doesn't really improve much.

24 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

At the very least that is top shelf trolling.

But on the other hand, if he joined the Pies he'd start next season as their best player under 23. (His birthday is just after the start of the season so he scrapes in, while Daicos is a January baby.)

If he can survive on their list for a couple of seasons he will become a core midfielder even if he doesn't really improve much.

Training with Collingwood vfl. They’ve used that pathway with Ned Long but I wouldn’t be thinking he’ll be on their main list just yet.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Good luck to him!

Always was a great fan of his dad - the family once lived in our street. 😀

On 17/10/2025 at 08:31, poita said:

On Woewodin, I think he's a little unlucky and I would have loved to see him get a run in McVee's lockdown defender role.

Agreed that it would have been good to see him get a greater run, although I also thought his positioning and ball use as a half forward was quite good.

On 17/10/2025 at 07:29, Salems Lot said:

Taj played 21 more games in the Red and Blue than any of us did. Well done young man!

It's just a pity that a whole bunch of those 21 games would have been as a sub, where he got very limited or possibly no game time.

Thought he showed a lot more in his breif game time at AFL level than Laurie who has been given significantly more time on the list for somewhat lack luster performances at the top level to date.