deanox

I've just watched the replay on Kayo, but haven't been following the half time updates. It looked like rib area was hit and that's where he grabbed, but the impact seemed a bit broad (shin/leg against side of body) rather than sharp (ie knee point directly digging in). I'm not a doctor or biomechanist but it looked more like a heavy collision than sharp rib impact. Hopefully bad bruising or stitch from impact rather than anything more serious?

Yeah that's why he came straight back in. I wasn't sure but not many others can pack mark like that.

McAdams did this role against Lever last year pretty well. It wouldn't surprise me if that game either peaked our interest or solidified it. Especially once Melksham went down.

@pingu AFL app, advanced stats, but I customised the stat display options to add it in.

The ridiculous thing is that reducing the number of players to 16, would massively open up play and probably result in more fast play, more running and bouncing, more open forward lines, potentially more goals, etc. Less players will be able to commit to the contest on-ball, creating more open play, and space to run into if they do get too close. It could shift back to more man on man play, as zone defence gets too hard to play with extra area and distance to cover per player. It certainly isn't going to add congestion and stoppages.

This is a real problem, and it's all because the AFL are fixated on the GF being "the one Saturday in September". It makes a lot more sense for footy season to run into October, and cricket to run through March, especially as the climate has shifted towards warmer late summers. There is a big struggle at elite level but especially at grass roots level for sharing of grounds between summer and winter seasons. Local cricket mostly struggles to play in October but loves Feb and March for weather. It just makes sense to shift it all back a month.

Here's the full list.

Yeah this worked for me too. Could not get anything to work but the club sent a text this morning suggesting uninstall and reinstall, and it worked immediately.

I think Tomlinson can be considered a required player, even if only playing 10 games this year in a depth role in circumstances such as: No one is willing to trade anything of value for him: are we better with Tomlinson as depth or pick 85?

Possible. I can't see it because e haven't tended to make those kind of opposition specific changes, but I could see how it would be intended to work.

Hore and Pickett named on the field, so my take is: Pickett for Spargo Hore for Bowey TMac for Tomlinson Fullarton/Brown for Schache Leaves the bench as Salem and Laurie (with TMac and Fullarton/Brown). And Billings as sub. And Woewodin, Tholstrup and Brown/Fullarton as emergencies. You can raffle the last bench and sub spots between any of Laurie, Billings, Woewodin, and Tholstrup. But I can't see us making 6 changes, so reckon Laurie, Billings it is.

I agree they shouldn't have stats. I do think that the umpires should relieve some training regarding the value of roles other than midfielders, and how to notice their performance, outside mass possessions. It might not change the winners but it might increase the votes to other positions and make things a bit more interesting.

Or perhaps they looked at Teake and thought "even if Max goes down, we dont believe he has thebfitness/skills/attributes to play AFL" and noted that "drafting a Teakle means Verall and Fullerton would get significantly less experience and game time and therefote development at Casey" so chose not to waste a pick/money on him?

In his farewell note Angus made it clear (in my opinion) that his retirement was as a result of that incident. I think if Maynard had any intent to "make him earn it", head impact or not, then it would eat him inside. Only if contact was a 100% accidental would he have a clear concious.

We'll be equally placed to offer a big sum with our senior list changes. Crows came early to see if they could pry him loose when we weren't expecting it. After another season we'll know full well how his foot has healed, and we'll have more exposed form on Petty as a forward. By then we'll know if he is worth the massive pay day we'd need to throw at him, and equally we'll know exactly what we'll demand in return.

And if TMac hadn't done a Lisfrac in 2022, we probably wouldn't be lamenting the situation. In 2022 he had 15 goals from 9 games, his best goals per game average other than 2018. Yeah his overall output may have been down vs 2021 and other standout years but he would have given us a focal point up forward for the last couple of years.

A lot as been said in this thread about Tom and if there is any consensus it's that a fit Tom at his best would be a welcome addition, but we are unsure he'll get back to his best. Personally I don't think it is likely that he gets back there but I will add that if he does hit some heights again I won't be surprised. The reason is that he has traditionally been very slow to recover from injury, to regain fitness and subsequently form. The lisfrac injury derailed his 2022 and in 2023 he never got back up and going, with a follow up surgery on his ankle. It meant that by the time we got finals 2023 he'd effectively had 16 months injured, with only 6 games between 21 May 2022 and the 2023 finals series. Assuming this second surgery on the ankle has cleared everything up properly it is very possible that a full preseason means he bounces back really well fitness wise. If he does we'll be a different team that 2022/2023.

I really think our list management thought they'd get another year (2023) out of Brown or TMac, with 2024 being their transition year and Jefferson maybe playing a few games but coming on in 2025 as a replacement. From a list longevity perspective, I'm kind of happy we didn't sell the farm for a 29 year old KPF this year, and instead recruited Tholstrup who we hope will develop into an A Grader (dangerous impact player). But that strategy does require Jefferson and JVR to come on as expected over the next 2 years.

At his best he is a real weapon, endurance running and deadly accuracy. But as with all "high half forwards" an extended drop of form can make them a liability. I expect Chin and Spargo to be competing with McAdam, Billings and even Tholstrup for those spots this year. I think the competition will be healthy.

I think the 2km time trial is more a measure of endurance (anaerobic capacity) than speed (what is define as "fast" on a footy field). It is absolutely one of Tomlinson's strengths, and has allowed him to play on the wing at GWS and to play on half forwards who roam up the ground. Unfortunately his agility (turning circle and direction change speed) has taken a hit since his ACL, which I think is one of the big things holding him back.

I've got limited knowledge here too but yes I expect Sestan and Kolt to be competing for the same spot, at least initially. Sestan is a lovely kick off the football, and absolutely knows where the goals are. I'm not sure he'd have the tank to play high half forward or push into the midfield at AFL level, but that can be worked on. Sestan said in an interview earlier this year his preference has been to play as a deeper forward, I interpreted that as a small/medium close to goal forward where he could use his strength and skill to kick goals, but that we'd been making him play high half forward at Casey and running/working harder. From what I've seen of Kolt has a mix of strength in the contest, explosive movement (lateral around and through traffic rather than pure burst speed) but his endurance running allows him to comfortably play up the field. He seems to have some versatility: in his junior teams I think he was allowed to play with more freedom, get outside, use the ball and kick goals, whereas in his senior teams he played a role less forward and more mid. I think we think his ceiling is a Petracca type player, maybe Trac/ANB hybrid. Both are taller than Tapscott was. I suspect much better skilled as well.

Engagement!

I can't say I've watched lots of game minutes, but from what I've seen, the following has stood out: He marks the ball at a high point in his leap (a bit like Weid, so probably the source of comparisons) and looks like with a bit more size/strength he'll be a great mark. He has a knack for finding goals. Some are out the back. Some are from loose positions away from his man. But I actually think it's really important that he knows how to create that space and positioning, that he knows how to be a threat through uncontested work. Because when you add the size and strength and contested work to that, he'll do both. A bit like Tom Lynch does.

Amazing kick on this bloke, but fitness is probably the thing holding him back. I think he came from a long way back in that regards, so unsure if it is just that he needs longer to build his tank, or if he has a lower ceiling than typical of elite footballers? If he can make strides in his fitness over this preseason, he might earn another year or two on the list so we can see what he's got.

Yeah for me this trade broke even. In fact with Gawn out for a while, having Grundy probably was key to making the top 4. And the trade had so much potential upside that it was absolutely worth the gamble. Pity we didn't quite find a way to make it work later in the year.