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I wonder if anyone caught sight of Melbourne’s NEXT GENERATION ACADEMY prospect Toby Bedford who was named as Victoria Country’s best player in its Under 18 National Championships game against Western Australia yesterday at Geelong? The Demons have first call on the lively midfielder/small forward from the Dandenong Stingrays. Bedford is just 176cm and 65kg but from all reports is lively, eye-catching and a strong tackler who offers plenty of forward pressure. Given that he’s with the Stingrays, we might see him sometime soon as a 23rd player for the Casey Demons.

Caro is not a football writer. She is a gossip writer, specialising in the world of AFL. Big difference. She has good sources and can and does get "scoops" but it's still firmly in the murky territory of "maybe it did and maybe it didn't".

Lmao.. Plays absolutely nothing like Cameron Ling. If he didn’t have red hair you would have never made that comparison.

I hope he gets to 100 Melb games.

I watch Casey each week. Unless there are a lot of injuries Gartlett is finished. JKH was consistently beaten one on one all day. On the bright side Baker gets better each week. Spoke to him at Willy and he spoke a lot of sense. Also I have been harsh on Frost but the last two weeks has been very good. Dion is also improving Lets hope nothing happens to Gawn because Casey ruchmen are three years away.

Looks just a little less like Ben Brown now .... just a little You obviously didn’t see Melksham last week

Not sure if serious. I thought it was great that they celebrated a hard fought win.

http://www.hpnfooty.com/?p=30343 Some interesting analysis on how we've narrowed our avenues to attack this year without Watts & Garlett, compared to last year with some scoring graphs and how better teams have blunted the attack. Particularly interesting was the contention "Instead of almost completely forgoing the kicks at goal from pockets and low value wide spots, they may need to field players who can plausibly threaten from wide angles. Establishing at least the illusion that leads and shots will eventuate from there should open up other parts of the forward line." And on some defensive issues with getting the right mix, Jetta's contested one on one's: "This year Jetta has lost 39% of such contests, last year his rate was 27.5%" A result of having to take the oppositions second best forward on many occasions. With a lead in to the selection of Petty being one such move to address our defensive mix and help out Jetta.

Que?, Jeff Garlett just lost form at the wrong time, he is doing his role at VFL level, obviously not well enough to be banging the door down to get back into the AFL side Dion was treading water in the forward half, club moved him back, with Nev Jetta tutoring, now enjoying his footy as you can see

Yeah lets pass on the All Australian and Best and Fairest winner whos played in a Grand Final and instead cross our fingers that Stretch or Balic become really, really good.

You clearly didn't see the previous one he was rocking. This latest one's a work of art compared to it. And this is the first time that I've seen his head in the game for the entire game. Exciting.

Loved the Bernie interview post match. However long it takes, he will be banging the door down to get back in the team. He’s not giving up just yet.

It’s a bit like basketball. Shooting from the key gives high scoring percentage 1 on 1, but if all a team does is go there with no outside shooting threats it’s really easy to defend because you just block up the key so it’s never 1on 1. It’s not until the opposition take and make some outside shots that you bother to defend them -which opens up the key for them to take easier high percentage close shots again. This is absolutely a classic coaching game plan problem to solve.

That was an interesting game to watch. Worth noting that they showed some of Rawlings' quarter time talk and he singled out Vince, Pederesn and King for efforts in the first. I think in all cases it was their attack on the man that he was praising. Vince came out at the start and bulldozed his way through a few players to get to the ball which set the tone nicely. I'm amazed that Keilty hasn't had a call-up yet. I see him as the obvious replacement for Lever of the tall defenders in our side. He's a very strong intercept mark, he's calm under pressure and his disposal is as good as any. I'd have him ahead of J. Smith any day. Frost showed a lot today as well, but his hands aren't as good and you can't trust his disposal. I really liked the look of Baker. He seems to use his pace to get into space more than running with the ball. He was able to find room constantly and give an uncontested option for his teammates. Could have had a couple of shots as well, but he seems to prefer giving them off. Definite potential there.

Stick to soccer, pommy.

He had 9 touches in the last term. He was one of their only players not to go missing. At least try and do a bit of research before you're wrong. Again.

28 disposals and six score involvements to 3/4 time. Having another cracking game is Gaff.

Agree with most but would offer this Oskar Baker looks ready but where does he play, deserves a game with recent very good form and excellent game today.Reminds me a bit of Cameron Ling the way he plays Sam Frost is too good for this level hardly made a mistake and unless Petty is one out of the box He also deserves a game . He was top notch today Bernie was irrepressible as he was impassable also too good Stretch started very well faded a bit at the end but again was consistent. Still not convinced though but he has definitely improved. Jeffy some good pressure acts classy goal but this standard does not suit him I believe. Not sure he would ever dominate a game.

Good hard fought win STRETCH - Prolific but done nothing to suggest he can take the next step KENT - Poor really rusty. FROST - Really good game. PEDERSEN - Serviceable game, took a few good marks. VINCE - Fantastic game, too good for VFL level. KENNEDY HARRIS - No real impact. BALIC - In and out of the game. BUGG - No real impact as well. BAKER - BOG must be close to AFL selection. KING - Still developing took a nice mark and kicked a nice goal. GARLETT - Poor really struggling at VFL level. JOHNSTONE - Done some good things developing nicely as a backman. T.SMITH - Started like a house on fire, but died out of the game late. KEILTY - Mr. Dependable the best backman on the ground. FILIPOVIC - No real impact.

Baker was terrific! Good size too. Could certainly see him on a wing in the AFL side

Casey are ferocious and smashing Essendon at the coal face. They just need to lower their eyes going inside 50. Sound familiar??

Usual process- a board sub committee involving board members and external specialists define the role need, then identify candidates. They propose preferred candidate(s) to the board. Board as a whole decides. My assumption is a process like this was followed. the current CEO has no role in the process, unless he is invited onto the sub committee. There is so much p!ss and wind in Caro’s article. For a CEO to stay in the one job for 11 years is remarkable. Usual tenure is 3-5. Perhaps he has the ideal skill-set for the next phase of our organisation. All the rest is froth and bubbles. I assume appropriate due diligence was followed. After that, asking every toothless idiot and their dog for an opinion is a waste of time and effort. Good luck to Pert in his new role.

Goschs is effectively by a road in the middle of nowhere. Yarra Park IS the MCG...the home of Football....our home. Despite only being a kilometre or so apart they are worlds apart. Only a diehard D will ever go to Goschs....no one else cares or knows. Family day is often at Luna Park or somewhere kiddy friendly. The club obviously dont think that much of Goschs either. There's no sense of belonging...on the south side of swan st.

Well, the Doggies just upset the Cats. Everyones ladder prediction just went up in flames.

Tellingly, the bloke that was most rapped for Petty was PEDO! Just watch the vid on the official site! This is the hallmark of not only a great spirit but hopefully a great mentoring program!!

AFL is a farce! It’s a horrible game too watch these. And the AFL shiuld hang there heads... The umpire paid it for Hopper being too close to Ceglar who had the mark. Hopper wasn’t even close to Ceglar and was running boundary side. Absolute rubbish!

Second week in a row Billy has had a hard tag in the second half. I'm not sure it's something he'd have to cope with at AFL level.

Reckon Baker and Stretch must be given a go very soon, Stretch has become a lot tougher

Nick hind from essendon is certainly worth a look in at the draft, might be a good fit as an outside runner that we so desperately need and bog imo

I have pushed that game out of my memory.

Pederson hit high, tripped, got rid of the ball, pinged holding the ball. Worst umpiring decision I've seen in a very long time.

Sam Frost has been fantastic again today. Strong in the contest, both in the air and at ground level.

Yep that's right. "Under the draft bidding system, all clubs have the right to bid for academy and father-son players in the draft but a club with priority over the player has the right to match the draft pick with their own draft pick or picks to achieve the points required to secure the player (all draft picks are given a points value)." https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-draft-pool-drained-by-academies-20180502-p4zcxn.html Here's an interesting map that shows which clubs have access to what across Australia. I'm sure there's going to be some unfair advantages. http://www.afl.com.au/news/game-development/nab-afl-rising-star-program/nga-clubacademies Next generation AFL club academies – Victorian clubs region allocation Western Bulldogs – Western Melbourne, Wimmera, Mallee, South West Victoria, Ballarat, (North Ballarat Rebels & Western Jets) Essendon – North West Melbourne (Calder Cannons), West Arnhem (NT) Melbourne – South East Melbourne (Dandenong Stingrays), Alice Springs (NT) Collingwood – Central Melbourne (Oakleigh Chargers), Barkly (NT) St Kilda – Inner Southern Melbourne (Sandringham Dragons), Frankston LGA North Melbourne – Melbourne and Wyndham LGAs (Calder Cannons & Western Jets) Hawthorn – Eastern/Whitehorse LGAs (Eastern Ranges), Gippsland (Gippsland Power), Katherine (NT) Carlton – Northern Melbourne (Northern Knights) Geelong – Geelong /Hampden (Geelong Falcons), East Arnhem (NT) Richmond – Goulburn Murray, Bendigo, Sunraysia, North Central (Bendigo Pioneers and Murray Bushrangers)

As a paid up member who has been waiting their whole lives (like most MFC supporters) to see this footy club to have some success, can I please ask you to stop talking to the players at training. They are there to work and get better. They aren't there to be bothered. Every time you bug them you're setting the club back and hurting their preparation for the upcoming game. I ask you nicely to please stop interrupting them while they are at their place of work. Thank you.

I feel sorry for Lin Jong, poor kid, had a cruel run. Also dropped before 16’ finals series from memory and starred at VFL. Has talent

He’s never been in the botanical gardens.

It’s a big game for the Casey Demons this week. PETER JACKSON VFL 2018 ESSENDON VFL v CASEY DEMONS Saturday 30 June 2018 at 2.10pm at RAMS Arena, Cragieburn ESSENDON VFL B: 29. P. Ambrose, 36. M. Hartley, 30. B. Zerk-Thatcher HB: 41. B. McNiece, 10. A. Francis, 14. J. Ridley ? 32. T. Colyer, 57. N. Hind, 39. T. Mynott HF: 34. J. Long, 38. S. Draper, 20. J. Merrett F: 15. J. Green, 17. J. Stewart, 40. L. Lavender Foll: 22. M. Leuenberger, 37. D. Clarke, 19. K. Mutch I/C (from): 61. W. Berry, 51. A. Boyse, 76. L. Collins, 75. T. Crosbie, 63. M. Darby, 59. A. Heppell, 77. H. Hocking, 24. J. Houlahan, 79. J. McQueen, 72. J. Ottavi, 70. J. Sheahan, 55. D. Younan 23P: 62. N. Lazzaro In: L. Collins, J. Ottavi, M. Darby, J. McQueen, W. Berry, J. Green, T. Crosbie, J. Sheahan, A. Boyse Out: J. Laverde CASEY DEMONS B: 37. D. Johnstone, 17. S. Frost, 42. J. Wagner HB: 33. J. Kennedy-Harris, 21. C. Pedersen, 63. B. Vince ? 56. O. Baker, 71. D. Tyson, 11. C. Spargo HF: 31. B. Fritsch, 26. S. Weideman, 16. D. Kent F: 36. J. Garlett, 38. T. Smith, 43. J. Harmes Foll: 34. M. King, 12. T. Bugg, 15. B. Stretch I/C (from): 54. H. Balic, 47. L. Filipovic, 9. M. Gent, 1. J. Hutchins, 45. D. Keilty, 41. M. Lefau, 18. J. Lockhart, 22. G. Lok, 24. C. MacHaya, 6. J. Munro, 27. A. Scott, 13. C. Wagner 23P: 49. C. Stockdale In: J. Harmes, D. Tyson, B. Vince, D. Kent, A. Scott, B. Fritsch, L. Filipovic, T. Smith, D. Keilty Out: H. Petty

Keilty has been good

Well I would cop Etihad instead of Darwin. We have to put winning games first and money will follow. This game just stuffs us up and it is for more than 1 week.

Here you go ~ U18: The father-son candidates linked to your club

What a great read. Thanks for sharing. Imagine if mainstream media wrote stuff like this. What a very different media landscape it would be and how better off we would all be as a result.

I posted up the following link on the podcasts thread but seeing this particular podcast is about the World game, I may as well post it here ... Game of our Lives Well worth a listen and comes highly recommended.

They thought they'd lost mate. Come on, of course they were going to carry on like pork chops in that kind of win. Their reaction reflected how I felt for them about it.

I can recall the golden goal but I can never recall the player reduction. Funny because I have suggested for years that is the way to go. Perhaps it is too shambolic in reality. When many of the knock out games are decided on penalties the WC seems to lose just that little bit.

Because I said.

Yes. Follow Ralphy's comment on Twitter, don't repeat it here.