deanox

JKH for Hannan is the only change I expect. JKH has had his second chance and didn't do enough. Maybe I'm being harsh because he missed that shot, but he doesn't get enough of it at AFL level to miss opportunities. Any other changes will be done for structural reasons (ie decide we want that extra tall etc). If Hibberd is fit he comes in for Vince or Smith. IMO it is Bernie because he played Hibberds role, while Smith is playing Levers role. I don't understand the Smith hate tonight I thought he did well. Bernie is playing attacking off HBF. Lots of meters gained, inside 50s and score involvements etc. Smith led the team for intercept posessions, and equal 2nd in contested possessions.

Also Tyson 13 disposals (4th for us) and 3 clearances (= 1st for us), but third least TOG.

Time on ground stats are interesting. Our talls have been constantly on leaving a couple of key mids on the bench a lot compared to Geelongs mids. May give us some extra run towards the end of game.

We have the best ruck in the competition who loves to ruck all day. We have two gun KPFs. We have a young third KPF whom we're grooming as a back up ruck but we're can't fit him in. We've shown a reluctance to play a second ruck and have even preferred to pinch hit smalls. Which AFL ready ruck is stupid enough to come and play at Casey in the hope that we get 4 injured talls? Anyone who fits that description will be looking to move to aclub where they get more game time, not less.

This weekends results have really helped us with respect to the other teams' runs home.

I'm not sure anyone is talking about retiring him but we do need to start thinking about it. He is nearly 31 and will slow down soon, if he isn't already slowing down. So it is prudent to prepare for replacing him. Our headache at the moment is that we have another inside mid on the list (Tyson) who would take his spot if he left this year. But as he will stay another year or two we'll probably lose Tyson as he seeks opportunity. That'll be a real issue if Viney also continues on/off foot injuries. We're can't afford to play without all three of them. Also if next year happens to be his last, then we are looking at replacing all the of Jones, Lewis and Vince in the space of 2 seasons, and we don't currently have replacements for all of them.

In 2015 he was 28. I agree that was probably when his public recognition peaked and when he was aconsistent stand out for Melbourne but most players hit their prime earlier, around 25. What do you think his trade value would have been at 25 or 28? What is a 25 year old midfielder who averages 25 disposals and 4.5 tackles worth? I love his effort and he'll go down as a demon legend, and as someone who stuck through with us in the darkest times, but I'm not sure he was ever AFL top line. But that's hard to say given the lack of quality on the list at the time!

So you're suggesting his improvement lifted the team? He was leading the tackles at half time. 1st game this year, and only 7th in 3 seasons at AFL level. He deserves a chance to work his way into the speed of the game, the same way we would for a senior player returning.

Well obviously. But from player 15-30 is generally depth. You need those to be readily replaceable on form or in injury and be able to perform. If they are much better you won't be able to give them game time or $ and they'll leave, worse and you lose. We don't want players 23-30 to be kids, we're wanting competitors who can play a role without leaving us a man short. Can he become that for us for the next 2-3 years? Perhaps. He's shown alot of improvement at VFL, shown ability to find the ball and competitiveness and tackling. We still have a number out of contract who aren't performing to that level. So it'll come down to JKH or a very low pick. Today was a pass, let's see how he goes the next few weeks.

Currently leading our tackles...

The 6 clangers includes the 3 frees against and may include the 2 50s.

Even if wet get another home game in Melbourne they'll find away to make us play an extra interstate away game to even it up!

Got it. Ihad problems with Howe the image displayed on mobile so it looked cropped I could only see the NE corner.

In the OP out says the article states northeastern corner, but the image shown in the next post is the northwestern corner... Can someone clarify?

I watched that replay and for the life of me I can't work out a) how he saw Hogan, through traffic, from 50m away (because he doesn't have time to scan and look for options, he only looks up for a fraction of a second) or b) how he managed to thread the kick through everything, under pressure, in the split second he had. It arguably should be goal of the week just for the quality of the assist.

I think you're probably right about boat and sailing, and looking back he only averaged 15 disposals in his 28 games, im wondering if i remember him better for his effort than his output. I think Brayshaw's rise has made things hard, pushing Tyson out and putting VDB down the end of the line. That being said, I personally think he had more upside than Maynard, who got games this year. Similiar hard at it inside mid but with the additional bow strings of strong over head and knows where the goals are. He has had a run of injuries over 3.5 years though: shoulder, hamstring, ankle, hip, heel stress fracture, ankle again. Maybe it just isn't meant to be.

Where do you see him fitting? There are a few ahead of him in various roles right now: Tyson as inside mid, garlett as a small forward, if garlett pushes back in for one of the mid forwards, they'll be there too. VanDemon plays strong overhead but Pedo and Weid/Smith are playing well. I feel he plays a similar role to Tracc, but with a better engine. When he broke into the scene he got to play almost anywhere because we were terrible but what will his role be when he returns, and who will he be trying to push out?

Still one of the most dangerous and most dirty acts i have seen on the field in recent times. Should have been 6 weeks, elbowing a bloke in the back of the head while he lies on the ground in a disgrace and a dog act.

Of course they are. There are hundreds of millions of dollars of design and marketing and science brought together for the sole purpose of trapping people into addiction. The machines aren't fun to play and provide no entertainment value. The fact that only a small proportion of people even use the machines demonstrates this. They are designed to exploit. If you think that people choose to do this, that they have any control or that they have the abilty to out smart the hundreds of millions of dollars then you lack understanding of the situation.

Pokies are designed through neuroscience to entrap and addict people. People can't simply "take responsibility" these machines are so advanced they will always catch a certain percent. The government should represent the peoples interests when they can't represent themselves. That is why government should step in to protect people even if it unfortunately limits the "rights" of others especially when the rights in question are inconsequential (who really cares about being on the pokie??).

Hogan is a god contested mark, when he has a bit of form behind him. He isn't the strongest overhead; that is Weeds thing though. Weed attacks the ball high info the air. Once he gets the pace of the game he'll complement well.

Having Gawn and Hogan out for most of the year has really hurt us in this department. But looking at it subjectively, we are the 6th highest scoring team in the competition; the lack of marking hasn't hurt our ability to hit the scoreboard.

I think I disagree. Ice got a theory that our defensive zone works better at Ethihad as it is narrower than the G, where the extra width opens it up allowing teams to find a gap. Subiaco is 15 m longer, but narrower than ethihad again. "Bigger" in this case doesn't affect modern defensive. I'm really interested to see how it works for us.

Hibberd > Melksham Pretty happy with this. We paid overs last year and unders this year. Both are best 22 and I think Hibberd will be close to top 12 for us for the next couple of years. At his age he is effectively a very good quality upgrade on Matt Jones. Make our list run much deeper.

Id love us to say that publicly.