M_9

And Petty would perform similarly at centre bounces. That's why, IMO, it's imperative that AJ is in the team each week. Probably against Ladhams tomorrow.

We need AJ to relieve Max. Apart from the fact that he's significantly a better ruckman than Petty or Turner, Petty is too prone to copping a cookie or similar when rucking. Viney for Sharp. Disco forward. Petty back - far more accurate than Petty. BTW I was disappointed with Sharp's performance. Three dropped marks albeit that included a contested overhead.

You pearler.

It’s not you I quoted. It was part of Spirit of Norm Smiths post that I quoted.

No way will Spargy Pants be dropped. ANB was our best link player. Now it's Spargy. Not prolific but not wasteful.

I think you find that the average attendance at Dees v Hawks games over the past 5 years or more has been around 40k. They turn up when it's a Hawks home game, and for the past 5 or 6 years (maybe more) it's been a 'make up' game given they play 2 or 3 home games in Tassie.

Nah. I reckon he marks the ball coz he's too lazy to bend down and pick it orf the ground.

Chandler, Bowey ... Well know in Sept or October. Hopefully it's the latter as it means we made the finals.

I've attended numerous Blueys. There's a strong emphasis on players carrying out their role. I'd reckon Salem and TMac might round out that top 5. We are only eight rounds in so ...

I'd have AJ ahead of both.

Exactly the reason I reckon he'd be top 5 in the Bluey at present.

I'm not so sure. The Cats have two billionaires as major sponsors - Nigel Austin (Cotton On) and the Costa group. Player payments are not an issue ($millions under the table via land, houses, cars and jobs to family members). I know this because I've lived on the Surfcoast for 48 years, taught Dangers and worked with his dad. I'm mates with a former CEO mentored by Frank Costa and so on. The Cats get whoever they want and whoever wants to go there. Having said all that, I too believe Ghostwriter and what she said about Clarry not wanting to go.

Agree with inclusion of AJ for Fritsch. Disagree in dropping Kolt. He's our future, not Sharp. Kolt won't improve playing at Casey. Confidence is a wonderful thing. Also he's more versatile than Sharp. If JvR is to return he plays purely as a forward. In the history of the VFL/AFL how many players his size have succeeded as a ruckman and sole key forward?

Just getting a senior game with the MFC is hardly a measure that your skills have improved. It may just be we've no one else on the list to fill that spot. If Max goes down we're likely to play TC. He's older than Max, at his fourth club, and I'm not sure he'll perform any better at the Dees than at his previous clubs. Then again, maybe our coaches can turn it around for him.

I said 'young talent', not 'good young talent'. In the last 12 months have we seen any marked improvement in the skills of Laurie, Jefferson, Adams, Verrall , Fullerton, Howes, and Brown? IMO minimal if any. JvR was playing better footy in 2023. Sparrow ...? We do have good young talent and they'll progress irrespective of who is coaching them, as did the likes of Clarrie and Trac. I'm saying that our overall record as regards player development is poor. Let's see if we can develop AJ, Henderson, Sharp, Kentfield and Culley. That's 25% of our list I've mentioned, all under 25.

IMO the main reason we've fallen in a hole the last 12 months is due to the fact we've failed to develop our young players. There's not one player at Casey pressing for senior selection. Most of our young talent have failed to progress their skills. Again, IMO, our assistant coaches, including Jones, are largely to blame. If Max gets injured we're no hope. We've got three young ruckmen on our list. Plus TC. Are any capable of playing first ruck? No way. I'm predicting our next win will come against North in round 15.

Our best in rounds 1 and 5: 127 AF points (highest) v Giants: 24 disposals, 46 hitouts. 118, 22 and 49 v Bombres. Poor rounds 2 and 3. OK round 4. Also best last two weeks as you have said. Bluey voting a bit difference - there can be large margins between 1st and 2nd in a game.

Pretty confident it'll be closer to: Max (by a fair margin) Clarry (strange I know) Salem TMac Chandler Bowey

'we have lots of good back up and support players' - I'm not sure we have that. I assume you mean the likes of JvR, Turner, Howes but then who? I think we've got a lot of dead wood, fast becoming list cloggers.

Jed Adams says 'Hi'.

Not strictly on topic, but related: It's an indictment on our player development that JvR isn't playing seniors. Looking at his stats he has not improved one iota in the last two and a bit years. Average disposals from 8.7 (20 games) to 10.2 (21 games) to 7.8 (5 games). Less than a goal per game on average. Casey is full of players who'll be delisted with few or no senior games. Youse all know who I'm talking about (Carl Barron/Shane Crawford,).

Turner an/or Petty I guess.

TMac was 7th in the Bluey last year. I reckon would be top ten currently, possibly top 7.

I go with Sparrow on Reid. He went OK on Holmes. Limited him to 17 disposals and no score.

Judging by his performance against Xerri I'd certainly agree. But where does he rest? It would have to be on the bench. Like TC, AJ would be competing against the opposition's second ruckman. David King, Gerard Healy et al have shown, with stats, there's absolutely no correlation between ruck dominance and clearances. I posted those figures elsewhere on this forum. We had the same number of clearances as Cats and Freo despite Max dominating.