Leaderboard

Joel Smith training as well

The main thing I took from the game is that Weid isnt far off from tearing games apart at VFL level. He was involved in a lot action and threw himself into contests. He was inches away from having a really great game. Once he starts clunking those marks, look out. Hes a 19 year old KPF in his second season and the signs are promising.

Got a rare look at Casey and my thoughts: Jack Trengove - made a few bad kicking errors in defence but was generally neat and composed and still has bit of class. Without any speed and a middling inside game, he is limited and it would be impossible to pick him in the same side as Vince and Lewis. Billy Stretch - I thought was a solid game gathering a fair bit of it both inside and out and generally OK with his ball use and decision making. Lacked a cutting edge to his game but still handy in reserve. Dean Kent - looks unfit/carrying condition and definitely looks injured (playing like he has lower back issues, could barely stretch for marks and was very upright when attacking the ball at ground level.) He had some good moments but if you were watching the game in isolation you would say he is a long way off his best AFL form. Jay Kennedy-Harris - won a fair bit of it in the first half and was probably in the best four or five Scorpions to half time before being sacrificed to be the holdover on Monday. Probably a better midfielder than he is a crumbing forward but probably too small to play that role at AFL level. Sam Weideman - over four quarters played really well. He is still so light that his best moments are Jack Watts type pieces of play, leading up to the ball carrier and being a link man. I think he had a direct hand in five goals with his ground level play, (the bit of play to set up Lewis-Smith's goal was exceptional)and could have kicked five or six himself. Still a fair way off being a consistent AFL key forward because he can't take compete physically to take the dominant marks fan crave, but this game suggests he is on the right track. Probably needs to be shielded from AFL footy for a while to build confidence and strength. Liam Hulett - where Weideman's game gives cause for optimism, Hulett's does the polar opposite. I thought he looked a likely type last year but he was practically invisible for much of the game today and when he was involved he looked rigid and trickless and unable to make anything of half chances. I don't know if he is playing injured but he seems to have a lost a yard of pace compared to last year and didn't seem to be able to present to contests in a meaningful way. Jake Spencer - fair task for him to come in and first ruck off lengthy break and he was serviceable without bashing the door down. It's going to be an interesting conundrum for the selectors whether to bring him or not off an OK game where he rucked manfully but had no other influence. Ben Kennedy - was very busy and played with more adventure than most, to be one of the Scorps better and more damaging players. Again just lacked that bit of polish to be confident he could be anything more than a serviceable AFL contributer. Dion Johnstone - did some good things in a very blue collar crumbing forward type game. He harrasses and competes really well and he kicks with penetration. The query on him is whether he, like a few others, has the tricks and craft to be able cause trouble for defenders at ground level and hit the scoreboard. I don't think a good finals-type AFL side can play a purely negating forward. Worth persevering though. Tim Smith - coming back from injury he had a few meaningful moments before getting injured in particular a quality centre clearance and some good leading patterns up forward. Not sure there is enough athleticism/tricks there? Mitch White - I thought he was excellent and looked a bit quicker than usual. He probably didn't win that much of the football, but his kicking off half back was flawless to my eye and his composure and consistency though the game was very good, including some very important contest wins. Problem for him is that he is in a crowded position group on the list and he is probably too good for VFL footy and maybe lacks the athleticism for AFL. I went into the game thinking he was probably the lowest ranked player on our rookie list and perhaps the entire list, but he's definitely a better player than that. Josh Wagner - best on ground - brilliant reading of the role of the rebounding half-back - defended well, offered run, was creative with his kicking. His AFL form this year has been below his play of last year, maybe he was recalled too quick off injury but this was a game of a player who can step it up a notch next he gets a chance. Declan Keilty - he was a decent contributer. He competed well and has frame that will always keep his opponent honest. As a ruck/forward seems a bit limited too me and maybe he will best as a key back. Corey Maynard - hard at it, works hard and is tough. Certainly worth persevering with. I don't think he will let anyone down in the intent stakes and with the competitiveness, it's just whether he has the skill level and the hands in close to be able to make it at the level above. Overall, I though Wagner and White looked a class above there team-mates and Weideman the most promising. Those three and Cox and Blair (can't believe I typed that) for Collingwood seemed to be the only genuine AFL standard players on the ground going purely off that game.

I think posters are more scarred over what occurred in Watts' debut than what Watts is.

Good to see Gus out there also.

Weeds has good clean hands at ground level for a big. I know he wasn't great in the 1s, but there is plenty to like about the kid.

While it's frustrating that Bugg misses shots at goal, it's good he is getting so many shots. Shows he gets to the right places and beats his opponent, unlike some of his teammates such as Kent or JKH. If only they had his work ethic and smarts...

I might be the minority, but I'm a big Wagner fan, we need to remember how many games some of these guys have played before we critique them harshly. Wagner is good by foot and by the time he reaches 60 games will match Hibberd. This lad is yet to do a full preseason, he reads the play and he will set us up off half back as he grows in confidence for many years the come.

I'm not sure what I want to see more: Essendon go on with it and annihilate Port, or see Essendon squander such a big quarter time lead and choke. Shame the two are mutually exclusive.

Stretch and Wagner very good and very AFL interchangeable. Weid much better today. Maynard looks a real prospect.

A special guest at training today http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-06-10/photo-gallery-saturday-june-10

There's seriously not one single winner on the ch7 commentary team.

Beat Collingwood today. Do it again on Monday. Twice in three days! That would be my idea of a wonderful few days of footy!

It will all come together Patience Grasshopper

Finally home, the most impressive part of the session was definitely Maxy. As mentioned by previous posters the man is a powerful beast, looked free in his movement and doesn't appear to be restricted at all. He completed the session with the main group in drills and at one stage won his own ball and sprinted clear from a couple of more nimble teammates with ease. Also stayed back to continue training with Gus and J.Smith. From what I witnessed he could easily have played on Monday. The main group participated in the usual short drills of quick ball movement for about 90 minutes with not an excessive amount of intensity. Everything seems like going to plan, they were clean and precise most times. Great crowd, I got my fix after a couple of weeks without seeing them, bring on Monday. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try and answer.

Flanners is a rare one. He won't be left wanting for places to publish. He may even get to writing books again. I dare say there's a Booker-winner in him like his brother's. I had a painting exhibition a few years ago, within which I had painted a series of Tom Wills themed pieces. I had read Flanners' novel The Call, a fictionalisation of the Tom Wills story (everyone here should), and got in touch with him to ask if he'd consider opening my exhibition with a bit of chat about Tom Wills. He accepted the invite without baulking, and left everyone at the opening believing Tommy Wills was the great forgotten hero of Australian history, sporting and otherwise. You would too if you heard his passion for the man and his legacy. I sold all bar one of the Wills paintings (the one with Ned Kelly in it - pretender) and gave Flanners a painting I hadn't exhibited as thanks. I reckon he's the great Melbourne sports writer of our time, and not for disappearing.

I like that the Weid is adding ruck time to his skill set. He'll come good in next couple of years as a serious asset if he can also ruck pt as well.

We were screaming out for midfield depth at the time, I'd have gone with Angus. If we stocked up on young defenders instead, we'd be arguing that we are going back to 2012...and we need midfield depth. i haven't written off Angus just yet. He's 22 in January. Give him time.

Confucius say when Hunt wear blue headband at training, Demons win.

I'm off to see my local team. Looks like I'll e tuned to Demonland all day. BTW jetlag has hit me bed. It's 2am but I'm not long off a 14 hour flight (from the Greek Isles) where I slept much of the way (in an A380 less than one quarter full). I'll take the liberty of re-posting this from my fb page: I'm staying at a small family-run hotel in Athens. My first conversation with the young manager went something like this: Me: 'your English is very good Steve'. Steve: 'yeah, well, everyone at the school I went to learnt English'. Me: 'where was that?'. Steve: 'Adelaide!' Steve turned out to be Steve Parthenis, a very handy golfer who has represented Greece at three world amateur championships, including in Adelaide a few years back. He was written up in the papers over there as 'the returning Aussie'. He left Oz when he was 6!

Siren and Casey wins by 19 points Peter Jackson VFL 2017 Casey Demons 4.4.28 8.8.56 13.11.89 15.12.102 Collingwood VFL 3.1.19 5.4.34 8.5.53 13.5.83 Goals Casey Demons Fritsch 3 Kent Stretch Weideman 2 Johnstone Lewis-Smith Maynard T Smith Trengove Wagner Collingwood VFL Mayne 4 Cox Kirby 2 Daicos Hellier Keeffe Lane Sier Best Casey Demons Wagner Kennedy Stretch White Weideman Munro Collingwood VFL Blair Keeffe Ramsay Hellier Mayne Cox Statistics Liam Hulett 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 marks 2 tackles 2 hit outs 24 dream team points Dion Johnstone 1 goals 7 kicks 4 handballs 11 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 74 dream team points Declan Keilty 1 behind 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 7 tackles 15 hit outs 72 dream team points Ben Kennedy 15 kicks 13 handballs 28 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 100 dream team points Jay Kennedy-Harris 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 1 marks 6 tackles dream 61 team points Dean Kent 2 goals 1 behind 13 kicks 9 handballs 22 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 1 hit out 102 dream team points Corey Maynard 1 goal 3 behinds 9 kicks 13 handballs 22 disposals 3 marks 8 tackles 94 dream team points Tim Smith 1 goal 1 behind 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 50 dream team points Jake Spencer 1 behind 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 35 hit outs 68 dream team points Billy Stretch 2 goals 6 kicks 18 handballs 24 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 90 dream team points Jack Trengove 1 goal 7 kicks 12 handballs 19 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 82 dream team points Josh Wagner 1 goal 12 kicks 15 handballs 27 disposals 6 marks 1 tackles 88 dream team points Sam Weideman 2 goals 3 behinds 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 8 marks 4 hit outs 99 dream team points Mitch White 16 kicks 2 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 71 dream team points

What has been annoying me is how he's been going on the past fortnight about how Geelong have the right know how and template to beat the Crows. Does not mention that we beat them on their own turf and also neglects to mention that beating them with their own huge home dung hole advantage may be a factor.

I'm sure Steve appreciates the reminder that what he posted was his opinion. I'm not sure whose opinion he thought he was posting.

Seriously does not add one single thing to the coverage other than blocked-nose, Geelong-o-phile, over-exposure. Anyone who is enlightened by Ling, probably thinks the footy is round. Ling talks as much as Bruce and BT. Give me Jack Edwards or Bob Skilton or Doug Heywood over this guy. Too much quantity, and not enough quality. Waiting for Ross Lyon or Bevo to retire FCS.

Thought I'd spend the afternoon in the hotel room editing training shots (mostly taken by my son) and watching the Casey game. Off to watch the drug cheats vs the Deliverance crew at Etihad this evening; you do these things when you get to Melbourne only on rare occasions. See post below for link.

He's a baby, playing Key Position Forward. In reality it shows how special Hogan's first couple of years were.

I really cannot stomach seeing Essendon thrashing any team.

The whole competition needs swabbing !!

I'm glad Basil reminds us twice a minute of Essendon's lead, I'd forget otherwise.

We forget, fer crissake, he's only 19!!!!!! He'll be a gun.

No question here, Essendon loss would be superb.

Kent looked/moved like a player with back issues/soreness.

I'm more worried about Kent than Weideman. Weideman's work rate is there & you can see he is presenting to the ball, crashing packs where possible & also doing things at ground level. Kent has looked pretty poor today from watching on TV anyway. Can anyone at the ground comment on Kent's work rate off the ball?

Jeez Hawthorn are rubbish. Absolutely embarrassing losing to them this year. Currently 8 goals down at the MCG to Gold Coast in the 3rd quarter and don't look AFL standard. That loss to them this year better not cost us finals.

Losing to Whorethorn this year Grrr

The blue headband is all in a good cause.

It's good to see Jack Watts moving freely and seemingly unencumbered by the rolled ankle he experienced earlier in the week. Max Gawn looks good to go ... the snags are of the usual high quality and Jayden Hunt's sporting a blue headband.

That incident when Watts was targeted by their players seems to have been greatly overrated and overhyped ever since to me, with all the "haha welcome to AFL football Jack" talk. At the time he wasn't actually crunched or hurt or anything, he just got up and took his free kick and played on.

A pack of clowns. Ling is one of the worst.

Spot on BT

Here's a story he wrote about my dad. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-beer-with-dummy-puts-sport-in-glorious-perspective-20140501-zr2lu.html

Its disappointing Hogan did not get up. It was expected he would last weekend. I never said Hogan was an absolute, just that the club was confident he would come up, that he was likely to play. For those who seem to be obsessed with what I write on this forum, knock yourselves out. Not everything I hear eventuates. I only write what I hear, you can choose to accept that it has come from within the club or you can call it BS. Frankly I could not give two hoots. I will continue to write what I am told when this is appropriate to be discussed on this forum. This is after all a rumor forum. This is what this site is about. My advise to those of you who choose to believe I am full of sh*t and seem to get upset by this:: Don't read my posts, problem solved. Surely you have far better things to do with your time than write endless posts on which snippets of news have eventuated and which have not and abuse an anonymous poster for giving gossip on a gossip forum???!?!? Are you people unemployed? If so I can see why! It is truly insane!

I'm pretty pee'd off by this news, Flanagan is a master of the English language and I will miss him. The Age is in decline but what alternative is there? The Hun and Aus are simply mouthpieces for Murdoch's extreme libertarian views, with the former little more than a comic book and the latter intellectually warped in its pursuit of any media outside the Murdoch purview. At least Ross Gittins, Peter Martin and Mark Kenny are still (I hope) with Fairfax. Otherwise may I with respect recommend The Conversation. It's an online journal hosted by a number of academic institutions and the place where you can read Michelle Grattan. Excellent analysis today of the Finkel Review and a piece on proposed changes to sport anti siphoning laws.

He wasn't trying to get off the ground, he'd waved the trainers away and stayed on.

For those complaining about St Kilda's 3 Friday nights. Just remember we have a couple of pretty big "marquee slots" on top of our 1 Friday night game, in Anzac Eve and Queens Bday.

Cheers for one of the funnier things I've read in a long while. Jack Watts is going to go and intimidate the newbie!? Even his wildest apologists wouldn't make a case for this ever being a possibility. But my god, it would be entertaining to watch it unfold and see the response. I'll become a monarchist on the spot if it does. Long live the Queen!

I am pretty glad Ling didn't want to coach us. Would much rather Goody. Best special comments is Pavlich - everything he says is a worthwhile comment.

He's special, no denying that.