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Casey came away with a well fought win today. It was hot and windy and by the start of the 4th quarter everyone was cooked but we held on against the wind to finish well. Our inside 50's and shots on goal were pretty terrible and we got hurt on the rebound a lot which will need work throughout the year. We were in control most of the day and should've won by a lot more. Final Score Casey 10 - 17 - 77 to Box Hill 10 - 6 - 66 Melbourne Listed Players (Be warned I wasn't in my normal viewing place so didn't have the best view of the ground and I was focusing on Dec most of the game): Stretch: Good attack on the ball and did well on the inside Kolodjashnij: Took a little while to get into the game, but reads the ball well off half back and has great skills. Could see him coming into the Seniors pretty soon. Lockhart: An average game by Jay's standards but did his usual good work Maynard: Didn't notice him a lot but he was inside all day and its hard to tell with loads of players around the ball who is doing well or not Bradtke: The surprise for mine. Was very quiet the first half but took some good grabs and kicked a goal in the second Bedford: Again didn't really notice him but did a couple of nice things out of the back pocket Preuss: Was a monster in the ruck around stoppages, but did nothing of note around the ground. Talking to him after the game he was running around sore J. Wagner: Solid game but made mistakes with the ball, his attack and aggression was great though Petty: Great game as the main key defensive peg with some good overhead grabs and spoils until he rolled his ankle in the last quarter Baker: I think he is going to be a good winger, runs hard and fast and hits the ball well. Some sloppy disposals though. Keilty: Best forward on the ground by a mile. Jumped well at the ball, took a few strong marks and if not he always bought it too ground. Did some good work at ground level too. Didn't do much Ruck work as Pruess probably did 80-90%. Was stuffed in the last quarter as he didn't come off the ground for the whole 2nd and 3rd quarters but I really liked his game. I am being biased but he played well. Did I miss anyone? Also Jade Rawlings is a great coach. I listened to the 3/4 time huddle and his instructions to the boys were well given and you could see the affect it had in the last quarter to enable us to hang on for the win.

Classic Demonland.

Fought hard and well against the wind to win 10-17-77 to 10-7-66 Will do a write up when I get home

Keilty having a strong game

From one Chook to another please use another metaphor

Thought Stretch was good. Liked Declan Keilty’s game, also. Both looked like they could handle a call up if needed. The 2 smalls were interesting - Chandler and Bedford. Perhaps a little slow to start, but both showed quite a bit as the game progressed. Kade’s got a competitive, hard-working approach to the game and Toby has pace and intensity. Works in progress, but I like their skills sets. Kade likes to fly at times, and will snag a ripper at some point if he’s allowed the license to fly from time to time. It was good to see Oskar Baker getting through the game after the soft tissue issues he’s been having. He was probably even showing a fraction more toe today - his hair stylist has given him a ‘do with less air resistance (and a slightly different colour?). Took me a while to realise who it was in the #56! KK worked into the game, and agree with Drunken that he looks not far off. Can’t wait to see him in the seniors. Wonder if it’s a question of match fitness and conditioning as to when he plays for MFC. (Although the lack of such didn’t seem to stop several getting games yesterday!?) Preuss was a mixed bag. Was quite good in the ruck, didn’t offer much around the ground and was not bad using his strength in clearances after ball ups - although I’m not sure how well he’d get away with that in the AFL. Amid calls to get him in to give assistance to Max, I’m not quite sure how well the twin towers strategy would work. James Jordon was effective in the backline, and took the kick-ins. A beautiful user of the ball.

I think this is a common early-round occurrence and is raised most years - in hot and sunny conditions on dry decks with teams at different levels of fitness, often the outside game dominates and the fitter, faster, harder-running sides do well. But I reckon in every season, once teams are on more of an equal-footing with regards to fitness, the cooler weather kicks in and teams are more match-hardened and with their skills/decision making refined, the better contested teams start to shine through. And there's absolutely no doubt that come finals time, it's contested footy that wins the day. Having said that, it doesn't mean we don't need to improve our outside game (particularly with regards to our defensive spread in transition). We were poor at times in this area last year and have been again so far this year. Clearly teams have identified this as our weakness. But I wouldn't be changing our primary game plan focus on contested footy and winning it inside as season after season has shown that this is a successful formula.

Even after a night's alcohol induced slumber, I still am having difficulties getting my head around yesterday's debacle. I'm not quite with @picket fence who compared it to the Neeld nightmare but it was an absolute shocker anyway you dice it or slice it. We were passive. Max got knocked around and nobody appeared to do anything about it. FMD even Jack watts handed out a couple of clips! Frost and Omac played shockers and Hibberd lacked his usual class. May is good but whether he can walk straight in and immediately sort out our defensive rabble is questionable. Our kicking was poor - I was staggered by the number of mongrel punts that came of the boot. What is our plan for going forward and scoring goals? On some occasions our forward line was vacant with no targets, on others we kicked to unwinnable contests. We lacked a Garlett type for crumbing and pace. I can only remember a couple of controlled forward entries. We have given up four points that should have been in the bank. And remember …. as well as fielding debutantes, Port were missing a couple of their guns. It's going to take a masterstroke to turns things around at the Cattery.

Also I’ll be at the game tomorrow and will put a write up of how the AFL listed boys play

I think it’ll take about 6 rounds for everyone to figure what the hell we’re dealing with, with these new rules. Playing lists have been set up and gamplans have been drilled into players, based on certain acts and playing styles giving an advantage - the goalposts have shifted and everyone is now trying to establish what is most valuable and the most efficient game style for this new game we’re stuck with. Granted, we haven’t been fantastic, and we desperately need some true crumbers, but don’t underestimate the impact of the rule changes, with the slightly different stagnation and the coaches tinkering with how to combat that, but not being able to make too many changes in-game to see what works.

I would add, we got smashed on the spread. We got drawn into the contest and they had numbers outside waiting for the ball. As an aside, I coming around to your thinking on Oscar. Not sure he's going to make it now. Frost is a definite no for me, May steps in and I think I would look at putting the development time into Petty over Oscar.

Not sure where or how they would fit him into the side, but if Keilty has a good game in tomorrow’s VFL practice match I’d could see him come in for a chop out for Max. Fingers crossed boys.

I'm not so concerned about the result - Round 1 can be overrated because of the focus on it and both Grand Final sides lost their Round 1 games last year. What was concerning was the way we lost, especially having a middle of the road interstate team run rings around us on our home deck (after the Lions did the same thing in JLT 2). Once again our defensive transition was found out - I know it was only JLT but in both those games and today we were so easy to counter attack against from half back. Chain upon chain of easy uncontested possessions. They have all been like the St Kilda game last year where Goody was furious with our defensive work ethic. After that game we seemed to fix it but it has been back on display in 2019 so far. What was the cause for this? Attitude or fitness? I almost would prefer it to be an attitude thing as that can be fixed up - but it looked more of a physical fitness thing and that's more concerning as it does take time for that to turn around. Our guys just looked like they were running in quick sand for most of the day. We looked terribly underdone (no doubt due to the number of post-season surgeries) and in an even competition with a modern game that relies on pressure you just won't beat many sides when you are giving away a significant difference in fitness levels. How long does it take to get up to speed after a difficult pre-season? Hopefully not too long! We broke even in contested ball and clearances so we were not disgraced in these areas, but we were far from the rabid contested side of last year. We clearly have the personnel so I'm not too concerned about this but it obviously needs to get better.

It's about system and players who can implement that system. Outside of a clearly underdone Viney and a near-past-it Jones, our midfield and defence was close to the same one that saw us get embarrassed in JLT2. That form was a clear indicator of our inability to implement system with basically the same team. It's laughable to suggest that this game was lost at the selection table. Absolute drivel. It does, however, have everything to do with a bunch of individuals not playing to a consistently high level for long enough, which was clearly evident in JLT2. And as if I'm suggesting yesterday's loss has anything to do with you or I. Laughable again. Nor is it a scaredy-cat view. You were proven wrong and either didn't watch the JLT; or you simply don't understand system; or you were arrogant enough to suggest JLT form meant nothing in the context of an AFL season. You're a very insightful poster usually, so I'd suggest it was the latter. JLT form can mean little when it comes to a premiership game, but when modern footy is so heavily impacted by system and work rate, if you're not bringing work rate in the pre season and implementing your system, what makes you think they'd bring it in the season proper? It's not as if we won the flag last year and we're biding our time for the home and away stuff. No it wasn't. Come on, Steve. You're being lazy again. We lost to Port because there was not enough work rate, which is down to three factors: 1) the pre season, 2) laziness and 3) the heat. You look slow when you don't work hard enough to spread on the outside or shut down space and tackle the opposition coming out of their defence. Of course, our skill level and decision making could be better and smarter, particularly going inside 50, but if no one is presenting at the ball and there's not a decision to move the ball quickly and/or spread into space to present an option, then the back up plan is to kick it long down the line and reset at the stoppage. One of our major problems yesterday was that when the ball was brought down by Port to a stoppage or 50-50 in our forward 50 (due our lack of contested marking), there was not enough pressure on the Port mids and half backs, making their slingshot far too easy. And on Frost and Oscar, I thought they were both terrible at times, each running under the flight path of the ball multiple times, but so often Port moved the ball quickly and there was such little resistance from our midfield and half forwards, that our defenders' jobs were made so much more difficult.

The rule change which was most difficult to train for is not having Runners during play. In the first 3 quarters there were large gaps between goals which limited Goodwin's opportunity to impact the play. And in the last qtr there were only 3 goals which again limited the coaches ability to make positional changes, get messages out etc. With Lewis out, Viney on for only 2 1/2 quarters, Max focused on staying on his feet and Jones with his perpetually limited on - field nouse, we had no-one looking at the 'big picture'; marshaling the troops to support each other etc. The result was 22 players playing largely as individuals; the antithesis of teamwork and the 'esprit de corps' we pride ourselves on. We can change team selections but I don't know where our on field leadership is going to come from. The no runner rule may be the one that hurts us the most and probably the hardest to counteract.

The sooner Petty is ready for AFL the better. His disposal and decision making already appear to be far superior to OMAC and Frost's. A back-line with May, Lever and Petty looks so much more appealing (purely for the fact that there is no OMAC or Frost in sight).

The sooner Bedford or Chandler show that they're ready for a call up the better. We need the pressure and zip provided by those types of players. If they're good enough, of course.

It's round 1. Contested footy will win out through the winter months over a long season. Contested footy stands up in finals. Of course you need a bit of pace and skill too but it doesn't call for a dramatic change in style.

Boy oh boy. We were smashed in uncontested possessions and clearly beaten for workrate and pace. There are a few ways that can occur but the most obvious one is that we had a poor pre-season. This is nothing to do with making finals and starting a month later, this is the players who had surgeries or missed periods or started later than the main group. Copping 30+ degrees and humidity when you're not 100% is a recipe for disaster. But that's not where it ends. Gawn was belted in the ruck and around the ground. Without him dominating in the ruck, we were beaten in contested possessions (which only happened twice last year) and didn't dominate clearances. If I were an opposition coach I'd be planning to play two ruckmen and/or to just instruct them to get physical - Lycett's done this twice in a row, we saw Naismith do it well in our game vs Sydney last year, Rhys Stanley did it last year too. Gawn needs support, so I expect to see Presuss play as soon as he's fit. We need to try it. If we're not on top in CPs and clearances, we're not a good football side - our losses last year showed this, and today showed this. That might make us a one-dimensional side overall, but our best last year shows we can afford to be one-dimensional if we work hard and our key players perform. Our forward line is slow and pathetic defensively. If Garlett can't get back into this side then that says more about Garlett than it does about our forward line. Spargo is too slow to play his low-impact role. Sparrow looked OK but doesn't strike me as anything special. We clearly lacked a third marking option and TMac/Weideman were wholly out of sync. Petracca looks too big (both too much muscle and, dare I say it, not perfectly conditioned). He's too slow by foot and isn't affecting the game enough. The time is going to come, soon I think, where we will see him at Casey. Viney isn't fit and if he's a true captain he'll admit it and get fit before playing again. Jones' fitness might have been an issue but the dropped mark in the fourth was just poor football (he turned his head to see if there was someone in the goalsquare before he'd marked it). That drop led to a Westhoff goal and killed the game. But, of all the things to be disappointed by, somehow I'm most disappointed in Frost and Oscar. When we brought in May, they knew that they'd be fighting for one spot (possibly no spots once Lever comes back, but anyway). They should have been motivated to work super hard on their weaknesses to ensure they were the one who got selected in Round 1. Instead, Frost's weaknesses remain the exact same (his push in the back on Ryder in the second quarter when the ball was clearly out on the full was bad, his decision to run into a wall of Port players then kick it after being blatantly caught holding the ball was worse), and so do Oscar's (he was being out-muscled by midfielders FFS). Can't decide which one I want to drop more for next week. A shout out to Salem, who was incredible all day, as well as Harmes, Melksham and Hibberd. Hopefully Hunt gets some confidence, too.

J. Watts: reliable and effective (three words that were never ushered in his time at MFC)

Spargo - has a brain - but it’s too close to the ground

Tyson. Was not noticed

Oh I forgot Jordan and Chandler. Chandler was good, I kept having to look at the name sheet because I kept forgetting who he was but he had some good moments. Jordan was quiet but did okay as well.

Good idea. If you're only following the club because you think we're a realistic premiership chance, then you're setting yourself up for a painful 6 months. Apart from anything else, you need a lot of luck to win a premiership, there are any number of variables that can't be controlled. Personally, I don't think we're going to be genuine contenders for another season at least, and I have to wonder with what's happened over the pre-season and all those operations whether or not the footy department doesn't feel the same way. Been plenty of "something we wanted to sort out so he doesn't have any troubles going forward" type remarks. This is about the next 5+ years, not a single game, or even a single season.

You cannot have 1/3 of your list, including a number of key players, in rehab for 3 months and expect to start playing like grand finalists in round 1. Firstly there are players who are underdone in terms of both fitness and match fitness. Secondly, the whole team suffers because they just haven't had the time together they need - a point which was noted in the pre-season reports in terms of the difficulties of training systems and structures with so many players unavailable. Going to be a rocky first month or two until the whole team gets up to speed and on the same page. Though lord forbid any further injuries.

Essendon has bumped Melbourne off the back page for the next week.

I'm not entirely sure what people want. After the game I was [censored] off. I still am. But there's very little that can be done about the number of injuries and surgeries. I think they pretty much nailed the best available 22 yesterday given the attempt to balance picking experience and the formula that worked last year and making drastic changes. Sparrow as a late in tells me they were getting pretty desperate. The main thing I want Goodwin and Co to change: No more talking about our brand, contested footy and getting the game on our terms. More talk about players executing skills, team first attitudes and disciplined smart football. I want a team that has a style but can adapt and withstand the opposition, not purely bludgeon them because you can't simply beat up on every team every week.

WTF?

peptides have continued on with their preseason form, and look terrible

If vandenBerg is out for the season then suddenly the loss of Kent hurts even more.

Just to reiterate how poor yesterday was: 1. We lost to Port at home, who were missing their main forward target and goal kicker in Dixon. They also had underdone stars such as Ryder. They were also minus Polec and Wingard from last year. They are a weaker side this year. 2. They played four debutants. No team has won a match when playing four debutants this decade... until yesterday. This was an embarrassing loss. No excuses about underprepared, new rules etc. They simply ran harder and wanted it more. That’s an indictment on everyone at the club. We need to turn it around quickly or suddenly we’ll be off the pace from the leaders of the competition. We’re lucky that most of the other supposedly strong teams also lost!

Interesting turn of phrase under the circumstances.

Probably my last comment on the pre-season surgeries issue. This is a list of players who had interrupted or delayed pre-seasons due to surgery: Clayton Oliver (double shoulder surgery) Jack Viney (ankle surgery) Neville Jetta (shoulder/knee surgery) James Harmes (shoulder surgery) Aaron vandenBerg (shoulder surgery) Jayden Hunt (shoulder surgery) Christian Petracca (knee surgery) Mitch Hannan (dual knee surgery) Oscar McDonald (hip surgery) Marty Hore (ankle surgery) Jake Melksham (ankle surgery) Jake Lever (knee surgery) Guy Walker (shoulder surgery) Jones didn't have surgery but had a hamstring issue and, as the linked article mentions, impacted on his ability to take part in a "critical training phase" during the pre-season. Edit: and both KK and May had injuries as well. There may also have been other players with non-operated injuries, I'm not sure.

Seriously any defender trying to defend when the ball comes down unchecked like it it did will look bad. I can’t believe they didn’t score at least 50 more points. It was an alround poor performance. The midfield and lack of forward pressure need to shoulder more responsibility for this debacle. It was the same during the JLT.

Excellent summary and your para on our defence was spot on. Our tall defenders are next to useless. Some here won't accept that Frost and OMac aren't AAs and shoot down anyone that criticises them but how obvious is it when the club recruits May and Lever to fill the holes. They weren't the only reason we lost yesterday but they were terrible at one on one defending yet again. This has been our downfall for the past 4 seasons. May and Lever can't come back quick enough and even then they will be terribly underdone.

First game at senior level and thrown in the deep end with little support down back, I thought he got a little better as the game went on also. I’ve never said a bad word about Oscar however he had a stinker yesterday, depending on how he goes before Lever gets back I wouldn’t be against dropping Oscar and leaving Hore in the side.

6. Salem Daylight 1. Sparrow for his endeavour and taking the heavy knocks. Sparrow took a knock to the head early on, had head over the ball, low to the ground, when Powell-Pepper rammed his knee into the side of his the head. It was obviously deliberate (P-P made no attempt to bend down or go for the ball). P-P won't get cited as they will argue it was accidental in the course of play. Sparrow took another heavy knock in the head area late in the game. Credit to Sparrow that each time he just bounced back. Like the roughing up that Oliver received, it was disappointing to not see teammates remonstrate for Sparrow's treatment. Senior guys need to stand up for the kids.

This got me...they had a tactic to run into Max at any time, any player around the ground & it worked. Max did nothing, didn't react and played poorly. He can expect to cop it every game he plays unless he can reverse the trend. He doesn't have to play the tough guy & react to every push, shove or bump there & then but it must drive him to perform better. Coaches know the easy targets, Max is one. There are some players you just don't do this kind of thing to as it drives their performance, Max needs to be one of these. ...and while we're on this. Where were Max's teammates? why didn't they start throwing a bit of weight around. Surely we should have been bumping & making life hard for Ryder, he had a broken cheekbone. This was the nice Melbourne playing yesterday & that doesn't win games.

Perspective: ever fancied team this year has underperformed in round 1. Richmond was uninspiring. Collingwood was disappointing. Melbourne was lethargic. Adelaide was poor. West Coast were comfortably beaten.

Instead if drafting VFL or NEAFL half back flankers, its time our recruiters put some work on recruiting quick outside midfielder or speedy elusive small forwards. Cannot continue to stock up on inside mids or half back flanker every single year. Watching someone like Zac Butters completely out run our more senior mids was embarrassing. Unless its a big name star that we can potentially bring over, our first round pick needs to go to the draft this year.

Agree. Crucial misses. Momentum killers.

The two set shots that ANB missed in the first quarter made a difference, making it a four goal opener instead of a six goal flyer.

People complaining about Jones and Viney doing nothing after 1 game at Casey yet wanting KK to come in if he gets through 1 practice match?!

Oh, Melbourne, my Melbourne. You promise so much, but deliver so little. Disappointing day, especially when you have to hear those Portdelade supporters singing that awful song. If there is a wall to be built, I propose there should be one across the Vic/SA border, to keep them out. On the serious side, someone mentioned the reason why Jones dropped that mark was because he looked to see who was in the goal square. He need not have bothered, because Watts had already sprinted down there. I was disappointed by Tommy Mac kicking it to Jones in the first place. He took a mark and should have pretended to be having a shot at goal (he is a forward!) to give time for his team mates to get down there, because Watts was the only one there. Instead he had a brain freeze, played on and passed it to Jones. It was all downhill from there. Watts played well, Melbourne did not, dang it. Also disappointed to see poor Marty Hore standing next to that big galoot Westoff. Hore was smaller and less experienced. Westoff was damaging. Needed May to be on him. I cannot say anymore, too disappointed. I am even disappointed I had to overuse the word disappointed.

In what way do you think it's impacting? We stopped playing the +2 off half back late last season. Our issue today was more around workrate and intelligent play. I don't know if this was due to being underdone or just an off day. Our decision making and ball use was horrid. Long kicks down the line to contests where the opposition easily out played us to regain possession. 3 or 4 players all fighting each other for the footy while the Port guys sat off the pack and took away easy clean disposals. I hope it was just an off day because if it was due to a poor preseason it doesn't bode well for the year. I kind of thought we may have a bit of a down year before challenging next year due to the number of players having interrupted preseasons and the fact we've had steady linear improvement since 2013. Not many teams keep improving year on year on year. We've also got a tougher draw this year. I'm not throwing the season away it's only round 1 after all. We've seen a number of interesting results already and plenty of teams having poor touch. I'll give them a chance to redeem themselves over the next month and see where we are at then. I still think we're on the right track I have faith in Goodwin and the list. We just don't seem finely tuned at the moment.

Kent - would be handy

Pick 1? *ducks*

Melksham was probably among our best.

Goodwin is blaming the surgeries - well OMac and Frost didn’t have surgery unless craniotomies were performed on the sligh. That may explain their performance. Likewise Trac had a full pre-season so no excuse there. The loss was attitudinal and due to poor work rate pure and simple.

I’ll be there