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Underrated season IMO. Goes about his business quietly, quite hard at it and courageous, beautiful left foot and to my relief, taking more kick ins in recent weeks. Doesn't get the credit like Oliver and Gawn etc but has become a very important playmaker for us. This season he's averaging 20.1 disposals per game at 73% efficiency along with 4 tackles and 3.4 rebound 50's to go with his 346m gained. Has had games of 29 disposals, 28 and two 27's. The good thing is he's a "kicker" of the footy and sets up a lot of play. This year he has had career highs in marks, goals, tackles, clearances, goal assists, i50's, rebound 50's, stoppage clearances, centre clearances, contested and uncontested possessions. I quite like him when he plays in the midfield as it provides something different along with Brayshaw and Oliver. From memory the NM game he dominated the midfield and turned the game himself. I like the idea of him playing wing or HF for his delivery, but thank god he's been playing down back while we have been undermanned. Has played 17 games and only missed 1, so is finally getting a decent crack at some continuity and has been developing nicely. Underrated player.

I watched this kid do some ball work with Daniel Cross the other week and when it came to the kicking, he was kicking low flat 30m bullets straight onto Crossy.. not only was his kicking hitting targets with ease, but he had such a fluent kicking action. They did one drill where he would have his back towards Cross and then whistle would blow and he would spin around and nail a 30m kick each time. Dont remember him missing a target at all. I know he's years away from being AFL ready, but he's definitely got the right tool set to succeed if he wants it. Very bullish, but quietly reckon we have a good prospect on our hands.

Tom doesn't get the love he deserves. He's a gun. I've bumped this thread not to knock those that bagged him but to highlight how easy it is to judge players too quickly and how successful the move to the forward line has been.

Casey Demons VFL training Jade Rawlings getting Casey ready at Gosch's Paddock. Professional drilling by Sam Wiedeman, Jayden Hunt, Dean Kent, Tim Smith, Dion Johnstone, Josh Wagner, Harley Balic, Tom Bugg, Pat Mckenna, Harry Petty, Oskar Baker. Declan Keilty, Mitch King, Lachlan Filopovic doing plenty of kicking and moving. Sam looking switched on. Josh strong and kicking well. Hunty clean ball use, restrained run going only 80% acceleration. Pat kicking beautiful snaps and is excited about the contest on Saturday. From kev martin

I've been one of Jack's biggest critics in the past, I reckon he would be so focussed and try to win the game on his own. This focus had him getting in a teammates way, unrealistically trying to break tackles and not giving the ball off to others in much better positions. However, it's a pity the injury flared up when it did as I believe he was just starting to work a more team oriented game with the other boys. They were just stating to gel...when Jack works with the others we will be a much better team and he a much better player.

We were tremendous again for the second week in a row - under-manned, away at a hostile environment against nearly full-strength decent opposition. Of course for the "wins are all that matter" crowd it must be: vs Geelong = bad while vs Adelaide = good. And the "mentally weak" crowd desperately searching for faults against Adelaide to maintain their slippery critical grip.

King on SEN briefly touched on how important half forwards are with their defensive pressure and positioning. Went on to say players don’t need to touch the ball all that often to have a massive impact. He will show some footage of our game tomorrow night on 360 and singled out JKH as one of these players. It will be interesting viewing.

I'm sick of the negative group think on Alex NB in these forums. Nibbler is not perfect but he's had a consistent year and has made a tremendous contribution to the success of the team this year. He's there for a reason and he has a lot to offer. You naysayers can pull your heads in.

I wonder if they have sent him to the US like they did with Petracca. I remember seeing some of the footage when Trac was over there, and thought that they were really getting the best possible rehab in place for him (not that I would know the difference between good rehab and bad rehab for this sort of thing!). Slightly off topic, but watching Scharenberg's knee just buckle on him was quite heartbreaking to be honest. When they slow the replay down, you can see through his skin how his knee just exploded on him. I still hate Collingwood, but it's never a nice thing to see a young player, any player, cut down by injury.

The old ‘I know someone at the club’ trick - Nek minnnit

old dee, cast your mind back to the Melksham trade. He got rubbed out for the season a few short weeks after the trade was done. The outrage and frustration at trading a valuable second rounder for a player who couldn’t play was palpable. Now nobody gives a toss, because he’s playing good footy again. When you recruit a player with a huge amount of footy ahead, the value plays out over their entire career, not just year 1. Lever will more than repay the cost. He had already started before the injury. If short term success was the measure of success for a trade, Mitch Clark was the greatest trade in history.

What absolute bullsh*t. Really lowered your colours on this one mate. You don’t just walk into a position of leadership.

But we have an AFLX title to defend ...

I've changed my mind. B: J.Wagner, Pedersen, Petty HB: McKenna, Keilty, Lockhart C : Hunt, Vandenberg, Baker HF: Balic, T.Smith, Kent F: Scott, Hutchins, Hannan FOLL: King, Bugg, C.Wagner IC: Johnstone, Filipovic, Munro, Gent, Hiscock

Omac will make plenty on here look just as silly as this soon enough. In fact in my opinion its already started.

What were people's thoughts of O Mac's game? I thought he played well. I was on the hill so watched him closely in Q1&3 and he was rarely beaten, fought hard and tackled well. Aside from that shot on goal!! I find it to be the defender's lot that you are bagged when your opponent kicks 7 on you and when you convincingly beat your opponent, you do not get any praise. I think he was one of the players that kept us in the contest in the first half. Jenkins took 1 mark and Tex 2 for the whole game

You are all wrong about ANB. He has the capacity to be elite. He is only 22 improving every year. More importantly he has elite vision. He has the ability to spot the short option. Currently his execution lets him down but he will tidy that up and become elite assist player

My thinking calming down after the match and watching the replay is no changes until: - Viney and Hibberd become available, then decisions have to be made, - there is injury - or someone absolutely demands a spot, putting in a series of blinders at Casey. Until any of these events occur let’s keep the current 22 in place so they learn more playing together. Yes maybe it could be better but I think there are more short and longer term advantages sticking with a stable team coming into the finals, if we manage to get there. Tyson played well. jKH has earnt another game, I think. J Smith is worth the gamble, he is learning, has great potential and he will improve.

The so called 'premiership quarter' has been a strength of ours this year. One of the things I am enjoying about this season, is the 3rd quarters, I slacked off at work and checked and we have won 14 (and lost round 5 Tiges and round 15 Saints by 1 pt each). My memory is fuzzy but even in our salad days between 2000 to 2006 (relatively speaking) we never had such a good run with 3rd quarters. Following conclusions: 1, When Goodwin says the playing group is not caught up/in history(Pre Roos/Goodwin), I believe him. Our percentage this year shows the team took round 23, 2017 to heart. 2, Everyone bar Richmond has been cruelled by injuries (GWS might just get all its players back, which sucks). The dance card for the grand ball is open. donc We get to the finals, lack of experience will mean nothing for us. Our 'on' switch is terrifying and I expect cricket scores. If HUNT shows form at Casey swap him for Vince, but might want Vince for hardness if we get there. My favourite finals team: B: Michael Hibberd, Sam Frost, Neville Jetta HB: Christian Salem, Oscar McDonald, Jordan Lewis C: Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver, Angus Brayshaw HF: Jake Melksham, Jesse Hogan, Bayley Fritsch F: Christian Petracca, Tom McDonald, Charlie Spargo Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson I/C: Jeff Garlett, James Harmes, Alex Neal-Bullen, Bernie Vince Emg: Cam Pedersen, Aaron vandenBerg, Jayden Hunt, Sam Weideman, Jay Kennedy Harris,

Garlett is our only small forward that gets to the right spots from an attacking POV. I would do all we can to keep him in there.

Completely agree VP. I was a bit worried going to this game, especially standing on the hill and it being a Sat night game. But the crows fans were great, I was more annoyed by some Dees fans that were trying to egg on the home fans into a confrontation for some reason. Was out and about after the game with my scarf on and had many chats with crows fans with no dramas. quite refreshing!

Blimey. Is that picture safe for work?

Unlikely, I can't imagine that all their supporters would all turn up.

Quarter won: 1Q: (equal 6th or 4th depending on how you look at it, which is down to 10th) Rich, WCE 13 Syd 11 Frem, GWS, Melb, Haw, Adel, NM, Coll - 10 2Q: (2nd) Rich 13 Melb, WCE 12 3Q: (equal 1st) Melb, NM 14 Coll 13 Port 12 4Q: (equal 3rd) Rich 14 WCE 13 Melb, Geel 12 Quarters won: (equal 1st) Melb, WCE 48 Rich 46 Coll 43 So basically we are slower starters.

In one way I agree. I just dont think Jones has the talent of a selwood or a dangerfield so in my opinion he shouldnt be compared to them. Its a different sort of inspiration he brings. He stood tall pyschologically when the club was falling backwards . He held a light up to the young players showing by example how to prepare your body and all the extras needed to get the most out of yourself. I dont know as Im not around the club but I imagine that when Jones talks standards players listen. THAT type of leadership is what has improved this club and in part what will help drive the Brayshaws, olivers and Petraccas etc to be elite ...let them "drag the team over the line" now Jones may not dominate games like he did, or like Selwood or Danger have, " drag the team over the line" with individual brilliance. But, as a player that has got the absolute maximum out of himself, became a a battering ram to protect the younger bodies coming through, and driven others around him to reach their potentials , then he IS elite. I, for one, feel is one of the best leaders we've ever had.

This is a great point. I think if we do make it we need to back the boys and not worry about defeat. Doggies had no fear because they were happy to be there. Richmond almost played with no expectations because of their past performances in the finals and when they got that win they became a wrecking ball. We can turn it on and nobody bar Richmond will want to face us because as we have shown so far this season we are hard to beat. Yes we can look at the dissapointments of both Geelong games and the Hawthorn/Saints games. I was so gutted after the Geelong game and i was fuming after the St Kilda game because i didn't think the group was learning the lessons from past experiences. After the natural anger period wore off after those defeats i was able to find positive. Speaking for myself here, when i look at Goody and the players in the team i refuse to believe they ain't trying to improve. I don't believe they drink their own bath water (i think that's just phrase people here use to justify why we lose). I also don't believe the top 8 scalp is playing on the minds of players or coaches. Looking back on the season i can say we did learn a lot from the Richmond and Hawthorn games. More so from Richmond because i think the Hawthorn game was an aberration of players not playing to the base standard we expect. Since round 5 against the tigers we've gone 9 and 4 with 3 of the 4 defeats being close defeats. We also had to deal with the loss of Lever, Viney and Hibberd in that time while having everyone in the football world hype them up one week and tear them down the next week. One game at a time, but if we make it i sure as hell hope we get Geelong. They survived us twice, but i don't think they will a 3rd time.

Huge game this one. Not for the season or anything but coming into the back end of the year there’s a few boys that’ll need to play some great footy if they don’t want to find themselves traded or delisted at the end of the season. Hopefully Keilty did what he did against the Blues this time last year and has 10+ intercept marks.

The knives out for Nat Jones is disappointing... I know he has been down on form but he has been solid this year and is adjusting to a different role with the emergence of two of the best young mids in the game. He is well ahead of anyone we have down at Casey. I would love to see AVB play again for the Dees but as a supporter I don’t know whether he is in our best forward line... Kent intrigued me but has to be at his best. Garlett has to stay as he is our only natural small forward who can crumb. Spargo has had an excellent start to his career but if Kent displaces him and brings his footy IQ, his toughness, and his left foot - we would have a devastating forward line.

The ironing board that happens to be really really good at footy. Missed 5 games and is somehow only 13 goals off the coleman. That is unbelievable and should it continue, he has to be in the AA squad and for goals per game would be in the side. That is absolutely extraordinary in modern footy, the trajectory of this guy.

It’s almost an invisible ability that the top players seem to have. Brayshaw is getting better at it as well. Personally I like having Salem off half back for a bit of class coming out of defence. He has that ability to hit that crucial pass into the centre of the ground that opens teams up.

You know what they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. I don't care what the line says ... I want us to be in front at the end of the game and hopefully, a few of our competitors fall down this weekend as well.

perhaps this is part of the reason we and a bunch of other clubs were so keen on him: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-07-31/lack-of-ruckmen-could-leave-clubs-short

You are welcome son.

Thanks dad

The last two weeks have been “finals like”, intense high stakes games in the opposition’s ground. We lost one, learnt and won the next. Now have a two weeks of games we should win to ensure we’re in the finals (13 wins + %). Then the final two rounds will again be finals like with us and our opposition looking to cement a top four spot. Couldnt ask for a better preparation, and if we end the season in the top 4, we’re a legitimate chance. But as we all know, first, beat the Suns... ?

Pig and Captain Jack are nice additions in the lead up to finals. If Hunt can build some form we do have some options to strengthen the lineup. I'm not getting ahead of myself, but we could be a sleeper if we make the top 8.

SWYL: You forgot mention that we won the third quarter in round 23 2017 against Collingwood.

Yep, definitely proven his worth. Surely we can look past a few gaffes here and there.

"As a testament to his standing within the team, Neal-Bullen has been given a leadership position in the forward line, with Misson saying the unofficial title was indicative of his attitude." Can we stop slagging him off now?

Paul Hasleby was on SEN a short time ago and stated a story was breaking over in the West about J Kennedy possibly missing the next 3-4 weeks for the Eagles.

One away game was 80 k's away in Geelong. It will be 31 days since Darwin this Sunday. Do you really, think that game has any significance on us at all now?

I was sitting in the cheer squad 6 rows back and got to have a close look at Jenkins and more significantly Oscar on Jenkins. Jenkins was rag dolling him early. Oscar couldn't match him one on one and was just knocked off his feet. Sitting there looking close up at him and Walker and Lynch and McGovern and Betts and seeing Oscar getting monstered so easily I was thinking early on this is daunting this forward line looks scary intimidating. But Oscar held Jenkins goalless and did enough in enough contests to negate his influence. Stats can be funny things. He only had 4 disposals but there's no stats for the amount of times he beat Jenkins punching the ball away and stopping him marking. They need a stat for that for stats to have any relevance for a backman's role. Jetts only had 4 stats but you wouldn't have thought that either with his influence. On the other hand Frosty had the physical strength to take Tex on one on one and beat him and once he took off Tex didn't even try to catch him. Frosty has a very rare X factor with height, strength and speed. His decisions, brain fades and skill can be scary but I'm surprised he hasn't been given more of a go. He played a significant role in the win. I have no doubt there's at least two games we would have won if he'd been selected.

Very pleased ive got Deeluded/DV8 on ignore.

Jack Viney - sole captain for the next 5+ years if I had my way

Pretty embarrassing thread. You'd think that after the period we've been through there would be some humility in supporters. But no let's lay into 60 and 40 goals per year forwards who have achieved more than any of our current forwards have.

We should lock him in a cage in one of the MCG light towers between now and the end of round 23 and play the Rochmond theme song throughout the night. This will help deload his foot while also ensuring he is primed to go. The only problem with this plan is finding a cage that will hold him.

If he wants to bamboozle opposition coaches, go all out with Spargo in the ruck

Happy to offer him the job of Environmental Ambassador of Demonland.

Does anyone else think that Master Lewis has got a great kicking action for his age! Look at the nice foot position and body balance. Sign him up now!!!

The more games Smith gets the better. I was terribly frustrated with him on Saturday night but I still have a lot of faith that he is going to be a valuable part of the back 6 in time. Maybe needs another pre-season but I do feel it will come together for him once he gains some more 'football sense'. He's got some great natural tools.