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Goodwin backs in his proven players to a point and puts team synergy above most but he is also known to make a tweak between seasons and make change at a point. The B&F votes of Langdon and Hunter second half of the year show they were not meeting expectations. This year more so than others we are likely to be in a position where players who have done their VFL apprenticeship force their way in and players will need to give way. Billing’s and McAdam are also likely to be given ample oppportunity. Some of this opportunity will be created by the retirement of Hibberd and transition out of some of our depth in Harmes and Jordon. However we could be in a position this year where the form of Turner, Howes, Laurie, Woewodin demands opportunity. I think we learnt our lesson with Bedfords departure that sometimes form needs to outweigh loyalty for your ongoing improvement and list management.

Tomo has never played back up ruck for us. When he was recruited to the club, he was trialled as a wingman to little success and then transitioned into defence where he has remained since. I was hoping last year that they would have swung Tomlinson forward in the finals series instead of a cooked McDonald. Some don't realise but Tomlinson was a gun CHF at junior level due to his high work rate and endurance level. Even when he started at AFL level he showed some good signs as a high CHF who could run both ways and blow up his defenders. Tomlinson was fit at the time and felt that maybe that could have added some unpredictability going forward instead of McDonald who was absolutely useless.

I think you probably have the halfest empty glass on demonland... ...but it could be a stiff competition.

Was this your opinion at the time the contracts were signed, or is it just your opinion now? We all love the benefit of hindsight!

No room for logic in here. MFCSS rules OK? You are totally right. It's why the team with least best 22 injuries usually wins the flag.

And it's not just us, by the way. How would Brisbane go if Joe Daniher went down? That would leave them with just Hipwood as a KPF. Collingwood have already lost McStay and would be in trouble if Mihocek gets injured. Etc etc etc

why did smith take the single with 8 runs required and expose hazelwood to joseph incredibly dumb at that stage

IMO JVR should not be rucked at all. He needs to concentrate on his forward craft and not be taken away from his position, confused and increasing the risk of injury. We have others to be the backup ruck, who aren’t as valuable to our forward hopes.

Last year we drafted Jefferson. This year we traded for Fullarton. There are only a finite number of list spots. We still have Petty, JVR, and we do still have TMac and BBB. I don't know how more bullish we can be. As for rucks, no one can replace Gawn. It would have been nice to keep Grundy but clearly it wasn't working out for him sitting at Casey, and both he and Gawn function best when rucking virtually all day. We have two project players learning the trade. Unfortunately, Fullarton, who was clearly brought in for precisely this purpose, is now injured: one of those things that happens but which has had ramifications.

Was Mcqualter the brains behind Grigg as ruck? Gawn out Spargo in?

I was going for an afternoon walk through Ghoshs Paddock and saw Clarry Oliver training on Melbourne's training ground. He was running laps and seemed in good spirits as he replied to me that he was going well. He was there with someone else and they had footballs with them. He looked in good spirits, but I am unsure how far he is behind everyone else in conditioning.

With so many woke wankers telling me what I should or should or should not celebrate, I went and purchased an Aussie flag to adorn The Manor’s dog ute. First time I’ve done that. ( The flag was made in China and purchased from a Lebanese operated thrift shop. That’s multiculturalism at its best! )

Regarding Windsor, no reason why he cannot emulate the same similar year to Ollie Hollands from the blues. Though, Hollands biggest strength is his very elite endurance and work rate. He is a state cross country runner just to prove how good he is at this levelm I'm not entirely sure where Windsor stacks up in terms of endurance levels etc, but going off his under 18's footage, he seems to have a high work rate which will hold him in good stead. Interestingly, both drafted pretty much the same height and weight. Hollands had a great first year and played a crucial last quarter in their defeat against us in the final. It may seem like huge expectations being placed on the kid, but I honestly can't see Hunter being a regular 22 anymore and think he'll start to get overworked by quicker and more pacey wingers such that are coming through the competition. Certainly think there is an opportunity there for Windsor if he can grab it with both hands.

Many would be thinking that our best 22 doesn't include either Brown or T-Mac ... they are both more so back-up players and you might rather have decent back-up than zero-experience back-up (as key forwards) We are in contention, after all But as others have mentioned, we don't have real cover for Gawn with Fullarton going down but it's hard to justify paying reasonable coin to more than one back up ruckman ( neither of whom may not play much at all) Although Schache had his contract extended so maybe the MC felt a need to have another back up ruckman anyway Many of us were wondering why Schache's contract was extended (if he was surplus to needs) but he now comes into play if Gawn needs proper help around the ground (forward line rucking can be the domain of JVR) Schache as the sub? Well, he's played that role before!

Be still my beating heart. I went to training last Wednesday, and a highlight was may running with the flight of the ball to brilliantly spoil an ANB mark - but Nibbla kept his feet (and May did not), scooped up the lose ball, ran 10 metres and weighted a beautiful, pinpoint kick to Spargs (or Laurie?) who strolled into an open goal. Brilliant kicking and decision making skills, so no change there.

I actually agree that it would go against the logic of selection under Goodwin, and that right now Hunter and Langdon are proven performers. However, and while I'm a big fan, Langdon was completely dominated by Sidebottom in the Qualifying Final - so much so Hunter had to be moved onto his wing. I thought Hunter actually had a good finals series - but was interested to see how low he finished in the B&F. I just wonder if the club feels that some experimentation is warranted - especially if Langdon and Hunter aren't at their very best. Either way - having genuine competition for those spots can only be a good thing. Cheers

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It was a good day at Casey apart from the weather and the wind but fortunately as the players started the match sim both abated a bit and conditions were not too bad. Watching this match sim is so much more informative than the ball movement drills they do at Gosch's as it's genuinely competitive but tackling is very soft and the intensity is limited. Nobody crashes packs for marks much expect JvR who seems not to be able to help himself. There is the occasional tackle but it's more to impede someone than to take them down. In the ball movement stuff on Wednesday's the main players don't seem to dominate and the youngins do well but today was a different kettle of fish. Trac did what he liked and really ruined the game in the first quarter. Gawn, Trac, Viney and ANB were against an assortment of players the most notable being Rivers. But Gawn had no opposition (KFW played forward all day) and the centre group had a field day. Viney is great and looks set for a continuation of last years form, as someone else said ANB was very good and was heavily involved. But again, as noted, Bill was right up there. He's just a very smart footballer who does smart things. One goal in windy conditions from the boundary and another where he dodged the man on the mark and kick truly from 45 were highlights but he was involved inside and dished the ball out with good vision and precision. I'm not sure he'll play because of the logjam for spots but he'd be an automatic selection at most clubs. I know it's easy to get carried away at this time of year so I've got to be careful but keep and eye out for him. Kade Chandler is another to impress. Sure hands, good kick and quick today with at least 2 goals and perhaps more. He ran out of petrol tickets last year but this year he'll be better and better for longer. Problem is he's competing with Kossie, Spargs and a number of others for a spot in the forward line but he certainly put his name forward today. Howes played deep back and started on Fritta. What he did he did well and he looks taller than last year to me. He's got really good skills and seems to have picked up the pace of the game well but of course with the midfield dominating for Fritta's team Howes had his work cut out. He's an interesting choice for third tall because you'd think it means Lever has to play more accountable footy and that's not his go. Another interesting watch. Kynan Brown is also an interesting watch. He certainly gives it his all and can find the ball well. He played the game on Langdon and they were on the side where a lot of the play was (due to the wind). He did some nice things but in a fully contested game he'd be ragdolled I reckon. But his hands are clean, he is quick enough and he's showing a bit. A great Moneyball pick. I was also impressed with Seston. He was involved in quite a lot of play in the wing/back area and found quite a bit of it in one patch. He used it well and was clean, he's clearly made improvements to this game this year although he's not close to best 22 at this stage. But for a smokie he's not disappointing, he's got some really good attributes, his kicking being the main one. Jake Bowey was really really good. His disposal is first class, his ball handling is very good and his decision making was good. He found it a lot today both inside and outside and was a real standout for me. McAdam is a class footballer but he didn't play the whole game. In the third he, Brayshaw, Billings and some others were just running laps and McAdam was the tailender so I think they are still trying to build his tank. But when he was on he finds it and uses it and will be an interesting addition unless his fitness stops him being selected. Rive played midfield for the last part of the game and did well. He just looks to be continuing his confident run from late last year and as I type this I'm wondering if Howes takes his spot if Riv plays more up the ground. Tmac was good today but he wasn't on anyone much. But he found it and much to DL groupthink kicked it well on all but one occasion. By the way, he wasn't the only one to miss a kick. It was a kickout from a point and I don't expect him to take any of them in the seniors. But in my view he was the third best tall back on the field with the caveat that he didn't really have a challenging opponent. Fritta took some really good grabs, Kossie did some Kossie things and Woey looked composed with the ball but struggled against the first picked midfield. The Kolt and Duke had little influence that I saw but Duke played on the grandstand side and I wouldn't have noticed much of his play if he was involved. Best for others to comment. Kolt seemed to have little input and is still picking up the pace of the game. My final point is that the kicking for goal was very good in difficult conditions. As I commented to others, if we'd kicked like that in the finals we'd have won the flag, but enough of channelling Masie. I can't be bothered proof reading this so apologies for typo's and mispellings. @Demonstone will no doubt do that job for me and this report will be covered in red ink.

If we lose, it’s because Head and Labuschagne were abysmal this match. Interesting also that we declared behind the WI score and we are within that deficit now.

Langdon had a down season. It happens. Doesn't mean he's going to have a down season this year. I think he will be back at his best. ...but at this stage we're all guessing.

Interested who the experienced ruck back up that was available in the draft that we didn’t look at ?

Surprise surprise, we don't have a backup ruckman. What did you really expect? What's next? Not enough key forward depth?

Can we please stop all this risky talk of players being rucked? It's rrightening.

The old jewel in the Crown eh.. Do they still bring tiffen out for those that like to safari? Might organise a hunt . Looking for Rickshaw and Pallanquin operators as we speak. Bitters prefers the pallanquin. I think the bumpy roads play havoc with his gout. Me-I rough it in the rickshaw and hunt straight from the seat. If theres a duck at 12 O'clock and I yell DUCK It can really slow down proceedings.

I would have any of those players you mention on the wing before Hunter. Agree with you our wing positions are a weakness. I hope Hunter doesn’t play many games and I won’t be surprised if Langdon gets dropped at some point this season. I think we have other players who can be upgrades.

You're right 'dazz', but he has spent some time in the ruck for GWS.

Tomlinson has played back up ruck for us previously, from all reports he has had a great preseason. Schache has also had experience as a back up ruck at the dogs. Obviously not the preferred options but opportunities have presented for players to step up and grab their chance.

All of which is true, plus they probably also had a role to play in playing at Casey and teaching the young forwards/rucks there, as well as being ready to play in the firsts if necessary - which strikes me as forward/strategic thinking.

BBB is probably ready to play again in about 8 weeks, probably at Casey, but Fullarton might be months.

Interesting that it is against Richmond where they have Yze as Coach and we have McQualter in our den. Should make for an interesting fight.

I’m assuming you mean BB & TMac. If so (& I’m sure this has been said ad nauseum) they are premiership players & deserve to see out their contacts & more importantly for the club to honour them. I still think the JMac decision all those years ago broke our club at the time …

I like watching Thursday night footy on the TV. Don't like attending though. gotta work the following morning.

There goes my punt on Tommy being 2024's Judd McVee... (That's all the catastrophising I got, this early on a Sunday morning!)

Needs to be our “quarter back” this year. He needs to use his elite kicking from defensive 50 and make that surgical pass into the middle of the ground to set up our next goal from defence. I’ve got a feeling that he and Laurie are going to have big years.

It is interesting that you have espoused the theory of certain peevish coaches that fatique causes injury. They want more interchanges and/or shorter quarters. My anecdotal recollection is that ACL injuries happens in no particular quarter. Anyone out there sitting on a million dollar report?

In other words you haven't the faintest idea so why suggest a mismanagement of running loads ?

Upside? Having experienced, senior players around is a key part of developing for the future. We should be thankful that we still have players like Melksham and BBB around. And no doubt the club is.

Billings, McAdam, Tholstrup and Windsor all come in with pretty good height (185/186) and styles to match, which makes for interesting times for how we use our shorter players. As others note, Bowey isn't the type to truly shut down an opposition small forward and he makes his best contribution as the calm head probing for cracks as we move the ball forward. If his fitness continues to build I'd love to see him moving up the ground a bit while retaining responsibility for getting back hard to defence and providing that lovely kick out of chaos and into a safe mark that settles things down. I'm still left a little concerned about our ability to truly shut down fast, agile small forwards. Maybe Kynan Brown over time? By all reports he would have the mobility, tenacity and aggression for it.

They're celebrating by having a national day of telling Muslims they don't belong. I wish I was kidding.

I liked this post - it’s a good reminder of how far we have come. Remember when Scully and Trenners were setting the standard in their first pre-season? It’s great that our very high draft picks aren’t the best 2 out there, unlike at the other clubs with top 10 picks 😀

(Continued) TRAINING NOTES • relatively mixed teams for the match sim, with the white team possessing the 'probables' defence and the blue team the 'probables' midfield (with some exceptions). • Angus Brayshaw building into his pre-season and will be back in full-contact drills this week. Today, he started in defence & pinch hit in the midfield at times. Was the primary ball user off half back. • Adam Tomlinson and Tom McDonald both in defence for the blue team, while Blake Howes lined up alongside Steven May and Jake Lever in defence. Howes also had a difficult job on Bailey Fritsch, conceding a goal but held himself quite well. • Trent Rivers ran through the midfield, often on Christian Petracca and at times beating him. • Caleb Windsor spent most of the session on the wing, lining up on Jack Billings and had some run in the midfield. • ANB spent time in the main midfield rotation, starting alongside Jack Viney and Petracca. • Tom Fullarton (before the injury) and Will Verrall rotated through the ruck role against Max Gawn, but were no match for him. • Jed Adams played deep forward (although elsewhere here it’s been reported he played in defence). • Steven May received a corkie near the end but played on. HIGHLIGHTS • Christian Petracca comfortably slotted his set shots both during the warm up and match simulation, despite the windy and wet conditions. • Shane McAdam popped up at times, kicking an opportunistic goal & laid some strong tackles early. • A deft kick in traffic from ANB that hit Brayshaw streaming through the centre square, with the switch of play sparking a set shot and goal. • Jack Viney starred through the midfield, winning contested ball and laying bone-crunching tackles ABSENTEES (apart from those already mentioned) • Matthew Jefferson completed a running program along the boundary side. • AMW & Tom Sparrow did their own modified program early in the session, then ran laps. • Christian Salem started the session with the main group but was pulled out about an hour in and sent for sprint work with AMW. • Harrison Petty was pulled out of the session just before the match simulation, instead hitting the exercise bike with Jefferson. • Lachie Hunter ran messages for both teams and called players for interchanges.

And the other 30 or so who did the full session would’ve got the loads needed to get through matches so they don’t all ping them in round 1

Great day out to watch. Ground is in fantastic condition. Lots of lines on oval at both ends at various angles to goals. It's part of Williams set shot kicking where they stay on the line in approach over dummy on mark. Rained half way through but didn't appear to affect ball handling. Great to see so many spectators, especially so many young kids. About 6 Casey players there to make up the numbers especially in match Sim which had proper umpires in control. The Casey boys were not as clean but still did some nice things and the rest of the group made sure they were involved. A lot of the run through drills prior to the match sim were at a high intensity with reflex give offs. I suggest anyone going to watch to take some binocculars so you can pick up players on opposite side of ground. Before match sim they went inside the rooms and could see through the windows doing close in drills in the indoor kicking area for about 15 minutes, but it was all possession and handball, close contact stuff and no kicking. Petracca is so far in front of anyone else, it's not funny. Kozzie was great and his run down tackle had the whole crowd applauding. Verell will be the back up ruckman - along way ahead of KFW, Fullarton and Schache Feel sorry for Laurie as he really impressed, but basically has to take ANB's spot and he was good as well. Hard to see taking Viney and both smalls into the midfield. Howes, Hore and Turner all did good intercepts TMac and Thomlinson also did but the other 3 are more nimble and could play on smaller opponents. McVee was very good. Brayshaw marked Tholstrup for a while and they are both similar body shapes. McAdam for me is the pick of the recruits. Just so quick with every thing he does. I don't know who the fitness guy is, but he spent a lot of time with the guys doing boundary runs. All the coaches being very involved. May was the most vocal and giving directions to everyone. I think Lever did the whole match sim and looked ok. Fritsch and JVR were the best forwards. The main forward line looked good and you still have Jefferson, Brown, Melksham and Petty to come into consideration who didn't participate. Didn't notice Schache at all. Noah Yze has a big build already for a young kid. Looks like Rivers will play midfield. I hope Bowey gets a licence to go through the middle of the ground wherever he plays as he is so dangerous. Quick and brilliant disposal. Midfield looked good and still didn't have Oliver, Sparrow and Hunter involved. Billings spent a lot of match sim doing boundary runs with fitness guy. Tholstrup and Windsor showed enough although only a few touches. Just hope they hold them both back for a while. Spargo covered a lot of ground and hit up some good passes. Woewodin did a couple of nice things but not much else. Langdon covered a lot of ground and got a bit of it. Chandler was lively and kicked a couple of goals but missed an easy right foot snap from end of goal square. AMW ran laps after some short kicking at the start. Sestan hardly noticed, but you can't see everything. Seems to second guess himself instead of doing.

In a sport like soccer especially, the issue of players being contracted but not being very productive is an old, old story On a much bigger scale to the AFL, soccer has learned to live with contracted players that are past their prime. All the USA sports as well. There are countless individual stories, not just a few It's just a part of pro sports that we're not used to in Australia. Once the money became much bigger and the contracts water-tight, the timing of the contracts became more difficult In terms of value, both Brown & T-Mac have been productive from an overall perspective Both were integral in 2021 when we won the flag. And without that flag, it would be 60 years and counting instead of 57 years So if someone had have said (before the flag) that Brown & T-Mac would become unproductive post 2021 but you'll win the flag in 2021, who amongst us wouldn't have taken that?

Why not? They work in an industry that "works" on weekends and public holidays throughout the season.

A lot has been mentioned already but a few additional points from me (noting I left at half time of match sim) … • Kingy and Montagna spotted so look out for their updates on whatever platform you follow! • Shane McAdam and Marty Hore had a great battle and both genuine Rd.1 chances. McAdam quite impressive • Jeffo, JvR, KFW + Will Verall have all put on some size • Tommo looks a little leaner which I believe will be good for him • ANB was involved in a couple of really great set plays that he was integral too via a kick, handball or tackle • Trac seen doing Trac things • Not sure if it was a set play but Steven May handballed to Jake Bowey from a kick in who then kicked to the opposite flank Gawny was present at … good to see us at least try something different from a kick in • Trent Rivers really looks to have started 24’ where he left off in 23’ • Charlie Spargo and Kozzy ultra physical in a tackling drill at the start of the days session; was great to see the boys mean business even at training • I didn’t spot Lachie Hunter • Great to see the good attendance. Shame the club didn’t promote it somewhat given it fell on a PH. Good morning out …. Go Dees!

Happy Australia day folks.