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Braved the Antarctic conditions Kent left early, calf tightness (I asked)...not confident. Spencer very light session after no show Wednesday, assured me he is fine. Terlich will play. Jamar said a very interesting thing, asked him when he would be available, answer "when I can get around the ground, you get found out". No shows Hogan, Michie, Barry, Tapscott. JKH switched on, one of the last off the ground, just wants to play. Nev Jetta pleased to be upgraded, just wants to bring his good form to AFL if he gets a chance. Asked Chip for 3 goals, big smile, so playing with confidence. And a perfect end to the session Cross and McKenzie last off the ground, after practicing picking up a wet ball off the ground for 15 minutes, asked both in their opinion whether G Ablett Jnr was best player of last 10 years, both said yes, Cross said 6 or 7 and Judd before that, I asked apart from the skill what was so good about him. Cross "his core strength, and he is speedy, you can't catch the little bastard" ... loved it, so not competitive at all.

Agreed. Has always been a player I've wanted to make it because of the way he goes about it.

I love that Jack "Worst Disposal In The History Of The Game According To Demonland Experts" Grimes is ranked 4th for effective disposals. Further proof that people just see what they want to see.

Franklin and Thomas may end up the poster boys for the pitfalls of Free Agency. Building a list continues to prove to be an art form that can't be mastered with $.

Too ugly to coach. That is definitely a new one.

I was watching the replay today (great having a public holiday the week after a Melbourne win). A few things I noticed: - Viney was super exciting in patches. However he really does struggle to cover the ground consistently. He is fast, agile and strong, but he needs to work on his tank. We shouldn't be expecting him to be a top player yet, but I suspect we'll continue to see cameos for a while. - Georgiou gets it. He has a really high intensity attitude to his defensive work. Not just spoiling, or winning the ball in his area, but running super hard to cut off options downfield or chasing down a kicker to make the disposal slightly more difficult. Impressive. - Kent will be a decent out for us. He has pace, but he's also much better and cleaner in traffic than I gave him credit for. - Watts is effortlessly damaging. He creates a lot of scoring opportunities, but he makes them look routine. His pace and work in traffic is so effortless that it looks normal. It isn't. - Matt Jones' pace was important at times. He's not the most talented player, but his combination of pace and endurance makes him important.

On the other hand, the Bombers' ones are easy to read -

I said last week that we would lose to Carlton by 45 points. So this week i'm saying we will lose to Gold Coast by 45 points.

Reckon Bernard Vince can go up a gear. He's been a bit quiet since a good nab challenge and round 1.

Let's not get too carried away... We just won our first game in 12 matches.

That is not really true. He has a bit of sh-t in him, which few do. His form is very good at the moment. He is versatile. He will do the team things, tackle, smother, etc. While far from a star, how many do we actually have? If he plays better than the bloke he replaces, that is a positive.

A player can have 6 effective handballs and 1 effective kick + 3 ineffective kicks(1 out of bounds and two straight to opposition which result directly in goals and costs the game) and the stats say 70% efficiency. Another player could have 40 touches, 24 kicks and 6 handballs which are part of hardball gets/clearances and score assists as well as kick two goals but also have 5 handballs and 5 kicks which don't hit their intended target but don't result directly in opposition goals and he sits at just 75%. I think tackles where the person getting tackled can still dispose of the ball shouldn't count but they do.

Just to preserve it for eternity, when it comes to coaching, you think:

I find stupidity repulsive.

Yes DC poor form I admit but SWMBO was with me and she gave me an ultimatum, if we stayed any longer I would have to go with her tomorrow to watch the Hawks train out at Waverley Park! That's when I really got on my bike!

This is where I would love to see the MFC show some initiative, as well as respect for our aligned team, and broadcast the first half of the Casey game on the big screen at the MCG. I'm not sure if it is done already, but giving score updates on the screen during our game would be great too. Personally, I don't like the "reserves" competition-much prefer the traditional format where every club had its own reserves team that played before the seniors, but as this isn't what's in place, let's work with what we've got, and provide exposure for the Casey team, as well as giving some value to those who attend the MCG.

My favourite thing about round 4 was the turnaround in the 'spread' of tackle numbers. Bad enough that our total was low, but for rounds 1 to 3 it was Cross, Jones, Spencer and fresh air. Those three between them got, literally (actually literally) half our tackles. Viney came in for round 3 that helped a little. But then, in round 4, the whole team got in on it. Opposition players, no matter who their opponent and where they were on the ground, actually had to be aware that they could be tackled. Huge difference. Without arguing the specific merits of tackle counts of a game winning stat, the fact that it went from being carried by three, to being a team effort, tells a sweet story.

On the other hand, you don't want to wait too long before playing Nostradamus.

We've got this! We'll get home by 14 points in a tough, close fought game. Watts will shine brightly, Dawes will continue to marshall the forward 50 and Chip will dominate the GC backmen. Our midfield will have a battle but will come out on top. Hallelujah - our journey out of the wilderness has begun.

For those who wonder why Nev was rookied then elevated, he was in Casey's best 6 for the last 6 games of last season, including the finals they played in, BOG in first practice game for Casey this year then in best in 2nd and in the best 6 for the first 2 games of this year, so showing some form, spoke to him at training, feeling really good and super fit, been enjoying playing down at Casey...absolutely rapt he did the full pre season for the first time....able to finally show what he can do without worrying about coming back from injury or being underdone, body also more mature

2012 Nic Nat 200 less hit outs than Sam Jacobs 98 less disposals & 88 less hit outs than Dean Cox 8th for hitouts 6th best for disposals of the top 20 ruckmen 5th best for fantasy points of the top 20 ruckmen equal 10th best effective disposal % of the top 20 ruckmen equal 11th best cont mark average of top 20 ruckmen 6th best tackles average of top 20 ruckmen equal 2nd best goals average of top 20 ruckmen equal 3rd best goal assists of top 20 ruckmen Edit:- I suppose this proves I don't have a life.

and myki

If TMac wasn't shot Riewoldt would not have had the influence he did late and we would've won.

The next Casey Scorpions game will unfortunately, clash with Melbourne v Gold Coast (although the VFL will be half over when the game at the G starts). The Scorps will be away to their neighbouring municipality of Frankston in what should be another close one for them. The team selections will be posted when available. The VFL has announced its schedule of ABC TV games and, as usual, Casey doesn't get much of a run with the first televised Casey game not happening until mid season despite the fact that the Scorpions are regular top four finishers. The game will be the Round 11 fixture on Saturday June 21 against reigning premier Box Hill Hawks at Casey Fields.

That's a good point Al. That's why many of these publicly available junk stats have to be taken with a grain of salt at times. There is one very loose stat they provide us with where you can also see if a player is prone to turnovers (which might/or might not result in a goal etc) and that's clangers. So the 2 are worth looking at in unison. High efficiency and high on the clanger count might indicate something along the lines of what you're suggesting. Only by watching the match live (replay or being there) would you really get a true indication of a player's efficient ball use when the heat is on. Oh, or a feed into the decent stuff from Champion data.... any talented hackers on here!??

Sensational effort for Jake to be 5th in tackling, considering the amount of work he has been asked to do, alone in the ruck.

I am tracking some stats for the team against what we did last year and how we are going against our opponents. I might do an update next week or the week after. The signs are promising but we are still being beaten quite easily in most categories. Clearances are a worry but our mids are new, young, NQR, or 1 person so that will have to be something we get to see improvement in later.

if nevs playing consistent good footy, he will get a game, simple as that. the past doesn't matter.

he's uncanny is nostry. Always seems to know where the ball is going to be

Never too early... Nostradamus played Nostradamus 500 years ago!

Other than the mids I reckon we've got them covered around the ground so if we can shut down 1 of the mids down we're not without a chance.

Michie had a plate inserted in his jaw and two wisdom teeth removed. Hardly surprising he did not train. Has now been cleared for non contact training (Wednesday)

No, his biggest failing was people management. The fiasco you talk about is tied in with it, he wouldn't take advice. The ego got in the way, and apart from that I don't find him a deep enough thinker of the game. I wouldn't like to see him at Melbourne.

Maybe send Mackenzie to Gaz with a view to harrass him for as long as he is out there. Gaz can be slowed down 'once in a red moon'. Cross plays tight on Omera and allows Jones Tyson Viney and co to hunt the footy . Although I think a contested game with less zoning and more one on ones would best suit the dees, the messier the better . Some great one on one footy was played and won last week against the carlscum.

What annoys me is the "experts" never really mention Salem. I think we accuired just what we needed - a potential star in Tyson who has already been in the footy world for 2 years and could come in and have an immediate impact. We desperately needed immediate improvement for fans and the club and Kelly would not have provided that. We also received Salem at pick 9 in a draft where picks 4-12ish were apparently much the same. The thing I love about getting Tyson and Salem at pick 9 means that Salem has had very little expectation put on his shoulders and can just develop at Casey until ready. I have hardly given Salem or Toumpas any thought this year as our midfield is no longer crying out for help. I think it would have been a different story with Kelly as we would have been putting all our eggs in the one basket and that hasn't worked out well in the past.

Nah Adelaide are as up as down as Daniher years Melbourne and Bickley doesn't inspire me. I don't think he even wants to be a senior coach.

I'm not a fan. Doesn't ooze any real qualities.

I wonder if people have a different opinion of Frawley now. His value is going up. The thing about losing him is not just losing a very good player (that's bad remember - you always complain about that), you are also hamstrung in Free Agency once again. We won't want to go after players as it will dilute our probable Pick 3-5 compensation for Frawley. I hope we keep him and he will be well paid - we don't have much talent to pay, so the talent we do have is overpaid. Deal with it.

An ordinary midfield lead by Chris Judd! bloke didn't win 2 Brownlow's for nothing

You forgot Mark Neeld, Julia Gillard, Schwab, the global financial crisis, pink batts and aliens.

We are in this game up to our eyeballs. I'd like to think that, at home, if we're close enough at three quarter time we can run over the top of them.

Fair call Some are trying to claim both!

We kicked 6.15 not so long ago, so turn that around and we're square with the universe, I reckon. We should have beaten St. Kilda and Carlton should have beaten us.

Great to hear that he sees it the same way as many of us have, a sense of "thank god, an answer". If we thought we were frustrated with how he moved, it wouldn't hold a candle to how frustrated Jack must be. Now that the dust has settled, I'm excited at the thought of seeing a reinvigorated Trengove in 2015.

Egan is the only player I can remember not to come back from this injury. Garland and Grimes are prime examples of players who can come back, lost no speed and actually got better (especially Garland!). Doesn't mean he won't always have issues, but this is far from the end of his career. He's very young and has plenty left in him.

I am very sorry for jack. He's committed himself to us, and done his best in very tough circumstances. He was a victim of a very poor decision to appoint him co-captain, but tried his heart out. I wonder if this injury has taken a long time to declare itself, or be diagnosed. So many people have potted him for his running ability, and it's possible that this injury has slowed him down over the last year or two. Perhaps it's related to the foot injury that required Danks's controversial cream. Meanwhile it must have been distracting having the possibility of an ASADA interrogation hanging over his head for so long.....though I think he's been exonerated officially. I wish him all the best for a complete recovery. He's a very impressive young man.

I see Murphy still has N Jones on his shoulder. Edit: Scroll back up to the picture for this to make sense

No. Just No. once upon a time the jumpers had nothing on them except red and blue! now they have sponsors, afl logo, mfc logo, and the apparel sponsor just on the front, with another sponsor and a number on the back. some clubs also have their initials as it were. Too much garbage. I hate the rugby league jumpers and how much stuff they have on them. if its a case of not being able to recognise the players (esp on tv) HOW ABOUT THE CHANNELS USE HD INSTEAD OF SD

jmrmac Thanks for the info. I was not aware the players ever actually had names for the AFL to disallow it, would love to see old photos! Maybe Americanised is the wrong word. How about "dis-Australianise"? My problem is that the jumpers are two busy. No other sport has the combination of: - Size of ground - Number of players at or around the ball - Mixed positions around the ground (ie compared to rugby or NFL which have a clear out half / your half separating the players from each team) even soccer has a demarcation between teams. - Fast movement in close in all directions Which make identifying who is who difficult. We need jumpers with broad patterns, solid colours, and minimal details to enable identification. Numbers with outlines, club mascot/logos, investing size of sponsors logos and now player names all make this difficult.

Hate it. Americanised. No need for it. Jumpers are hard enough to distinguish in the modern era, this will just make it more of a blur from the back. It's hard enough to tell us apart from Essendon and dogs and blues even. If the red on our back is covered it will be worse.