Lil_red_fire_engine

Yep was here then. To be clear I dont see him in our starting 22 and doubt much will change by season's end. However he is the type of player a new coach can turn around. He is also the type of player that it can take some time for the body and mind to mature to live up to potential I have no issue with your view. It is moreso why at this time of year should he be criticised and singled out when there is nothing to base it on. For all we know he ran a PB on Friday, put on weight over summer and is doing his best to absorb a new gameplan. Cant really ask much more at this time than that.

I dont see many people expecting him to be a superstar. They have just chosen not to criticise him at every opportunity. I am pretty sure Cale Morton did not choose to be taken at pick 4 so again I dont see why that comes into calculations. Lets just see how his season progresses and whether he is doing what he can to improve on his performance before we start potting him in 2012.

No surprise here. You just had to read between the lines of his interviews during draft time to see he may not have had as much control as previously.Timing on this is probably good for both him and club. I think most of us could have achieved what he did with his top 5 picks but I think over coming years his expertise will get acknlowledged with the development of less conventional picks as Gysberts, Howe and Gawn. All the best Barry.

Bit harsh. That would be ignoring the pin point passing (3), contested marks (2) and goals (2). The Larke medal was voted on by experts watching the games not a 2 minute highlights package. I am not completely sold on Morton and I think there is fair cause to say his confidence needs to be rebuilt. 2012 with a new coach, game style and expectations on him offers just as much chance that he will have a breakout year and fulfill the potential that was seen back then or just as much chance of him being at Casey all year and disappearing into the wilderness. How every second thread ends up about Morton on here is beyond me but regardless the Morton bashing on here needs to stop and we should just wait and see what the season holds.

There's currently a BigPond channel called Footy TV that shows replays. My understanding is this is unrelated to the Footy channel which will be launch. This sounds like a question for Rhett.

Will really be dependant on the price and how much cheaper it is than having it on normal FOXTEL.

FOXTEL on Xbox channels are currently only in Standard Definition so I assume the Footy will be the same. The service is unmetered with BigPond which I used to have. I currently run it off an iiNet plan metred but have 100GB on/100GB off which seems to suit it fine.

Fits pretty well for me. The only bit he does not demonstrate is performance consistency which is purely due to injury. He ticks every other box.

I have FOXTEL on Xbox. You need Xbox Live GOLD to watch FOXTEL channels on an Xbox. You can buy Pay Per View titles with Xbox Live Silver. I dont know where you get those streaming figures for HD but they seem very low. An hour of SD streaming on an Xbox is about 800MB.

What does leadership have to do with fitness. Who is to say that whoever we name as captain wont do a season ending injury round 1?

Anyone that doesn't think that what a captain does off the field is as if not more important on field is kidding themselves. Captain is the figurehead spokesmen that will be mainly used with media and corporates off field. Of course your captain should be a starting 18 player but they do not need to be a superstar. Look at Harley, Maxwell, Cassisi, The player should have the respect of the leadership group and the playing group as a whole but it is really the whole leadership group that ensures the players toe the line. That is why you have diverse range of age and position. Moloney gives his all but goes missing in big games. No disrespect but his manner and delivery off field to me do not lend him to be captain. Frawley will lead by action but does not lend me to be one to thrive in the media and corporate aspects the job requires. Green was captain in a tough year last year but should just focus on playing his best footy. That is the best way for him to lead. Trengove and Grimes are clearly starting 18 players who will only improve and already tick the other boxes required. If Moloney, Jones, Green do not get the captaincy their is nothing stopping them showing just as much leadership on field than if they were. It just means they dont run through the banner first.

Those that say Trengove is too young but want Grimes consider the fact that Trengove has played more AFL games. Anyone that says that it is either Trengove and Grimes for sure next time consider that you are pretty much saying they are our best leaders now. Why not let them grow into the role. Anyone who says Grimes is eternally injured whose to say the new captain won't go down with a season ending injury in round 1. Anyone that thinks the captaincy so young may hinder their football development - maybe it will do the opposite and push them to new heights. I personally have gone have questioned all of the above at some point over the summer. Choosing either of the two would be a ballsy move, very non- Melbourne. Where I sit now I for one would love it of either of them lead us out in 2012.

GHDB I think we spoke briefly at today’s session before you took a phone call and left before the heavens opened. I only stayed for the first hour (until the hail) and would agree with most of your thoughts. Just some general bits to add: Bail and Jetta did about half the session Bartram, Davey, Gawn (obviously), Grimes, Jurrah, McKenzie, Morton, Petterd, Spencer, Evans did not train at all. Jamar, MacDonald, Strauss, Tapscott, Trengove, Magner, Williams did fitness work separate from the main group. All other players did all the work I saw with the standouts being Clark, Howe and Sylvia for mine. Tynan and Taggert did not look out of place in the drills and were crisp by hand and foot. It was also good to see Cook involved in the main session. Focus was on decision making by hand through traffic and readiness for the next contest. There was also a fair amount of work on short kicks to space both on the lead and over the player to run into space. Not once did Neeld speak to a player in my time there, he observed and occasionally mentioned something to an assistant. It is good see the assistants stop a drill immediately when something goes wrong to educate on the spot rather than continuing and then discussing it at the end. That’s about it. Not much more you could read into what I saw but happy to field queries.

Not made up. Look up their pricing. Its pretty common sense to me. Granted packages could be more tailored but a pay per channel model just wouldn't create the savings people expect.

Looking at what is charged for other events ie: Boxing lets assume a PPV match is charged at $20. So watching one match per round would cost you $80 per month. Rather than access to 36 matches per month plus footy shows plus plus a whole bunch of other channels you could choose to watch (or not) for under $70 per month.

Its not about set up costs its about what FOXTEL would have to buy the channel for from the distributor if it is potentially going to 80-90% less people. Its also about how much less advertising revenue they could obtain from advertisers when there is less opportunity for people to be watching a channel. This is without considering other complexities like managing and marketing individual channel options for 200+ channel service. Higher channel costs and less advertising revenue would mean you would likely end up paying a similar price for the handpicked package that you want.

In order: Grimes, Blease, Clark, Jurrah.

I would say the cost of individual channels would probably mean you ended up paying an equivalent amount or thereabouts.

McGuire may be the face of the channel but is not head commentator. He is doing one match of nine per round. Say what you like about McGuire but Collingwood games aside he is a fantastic commentator.

Rjay my view is the same but my understanding is that Neeld sees him as a backline starter and not backup. I would personally not have him in my best 21.

Did Ball play as a primary tagger? Has McKenzie suddenly matured into the body of a mid-late 20's Luke Ball. All I am saying with McKenzie is his body hasnt matured for the role he plays. I expect he will play games but spend a fair chunk at Casey while more mature bodies play the inside role he plays and while he rounds out the other parts of his game.

Then dont read them. Pretty simple really.

Good discussion Sylvinator. Bartram is a lock to play down back all year and I dont think is seen as a back up. My personal preference would be Bennell in the small defender role and not both in the back 6. Disagree with your views on Bennell, he did some fantastic stopping roles second half of the year. My issue is he struggles at this time to get the balance between stopping and using his natural traits to get the ball and counter attack. Grimes is seen as the key driver from half back (ala Enright, Shaw, ) with either Garland or Frawley seen as the other running back dependant on match up. I really think we will see less of Chip on the key forward and more so in a Scarlett like role where he comes off his man and can attack more. I do not have high expectations for Morton (hope to be pleasantly surprised) but his best football as a junior was across half back. Putting him where he played his best may see him fulfill the hope we had when we drafted him. I think the consistent injuries to Grimes, Strauss on the come back and Sellar being an unknown creates concern. However if Grimes can stay on the park and Sellar fits to play a key role then we will look good. Otherwise we will get the opportunity to blood Davis or Tynan or another youngster which may not be a bad thing longer term.

It is no surprise that there is less running and more drill work. This was mentioned by David Misson in training updates pre-Xmas that after the break the focus would turn to game plan and ballwork rather than miles in the legs (focus pre-xmas).

Likely someone that offers similar defensive traits but additional flexibility to the side and a stronger set of attacking attributes. I would think both Bail and Nicholson will be ahead of him at start of the season. We should also consider based on the clear plan for bigger bodied mids that likely one of Couch/Magner/Bate to be played as an additional big bodied mid.