Gator

I'm not a fan. $1 at best. 175cm is OK. Papley is only 177cm and Kosi just 171cm, but for me Chandler's tricks at VFL level don't translate to the AFL. He lacks a little pace. And it's that lack of pace that finds him out in the higher grade.

I suspect ''Pickett'' will tell you that all had their moments without being prolific. Jordon and Woewodin struggled in the first half, as did the whole White team. They got more involved in the second half, especially Jordon. I thought Sparrow was relatively quiet overall, while his teammates in Blue - Oliver, Petracca, Viney - won more of it.

They call McVee ''Knuckle''. I don't think it was preceded by another infamous word.

Smith was quiet. He has AFL attributes (speed and evasion), but he hardly touched it today. Adams didn't play.

Have I ever told you the story of the scorpion and the frog ?

Someone you wouldn't like.

There were 4 x 20 minutes quarters between teams Blue and White. It was controlled by AFL umpires. The first two quarters comprised of the probables in Blue versus the possibles in White. Blue included: Gawn, Grundy, Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Sparrow, May, Lever, Petty, Rivers, McVee, Langdon, Neal-Bullen, Pickett, Spargo, Brown, McDonald, Bowey, Chandler White: Farris-White, Verrall, Schache, Hunter, Jordon, Hibberd, Dunstan, Harmes, Howes, Jefferson, Laurie, Sestan, Deakyn Smith, Tomlinson, Turner x 2, Woewodin, van Rooyen, Trent Burgoyne, plus 2-3 other Casey top-ups. As you’d expect Blue dominated. At half-time they’d kicked 15 goals to one. At half-time quite a few in Blue swapped to White, including Oliver, Brayshaw, Gawn and the first choice defenders – May, Petty, Lever, Rivers, McVee and Bowey. Harmes, Tomlinson and a few others went from White to Blue. The ‘new’ White got away in the third quarter, while Blue almost pinched it in the last. Final scores for the last two quarters were 41 to 40 White’s way. Ben Brown kicked 3 goals in the first on his way to 5. He’s moving and marking very well. McDonald kicked 3 and was also good. Grundy kicked 2 and handed an easy third to Pickett. Grundy was busy and had a good game, including a nice contested mark for one of his goals. He really gets involved around the stoppages. He seemed a little sore in his leg in the third quarter but he stayed on and completed all 4 quarters, so I’m assuming it’s minor. Spargo was very good and kicked 3 goals. Chandler did well and kicked 2. I wonder if McVee has been earmarked for Salem’s position. He looked very comfortable in the back 6. Both Langdon and Hunter got plenty of it. van Rooyen had a quiet day not helped by Blue’s dominance in the first two quarters. He led well in the second and did take one good contested mark, but also dropped an easy chest mark in the last. He ended the day goalless after missing a very gettable 30 metre shot in the second. Schache was quiet early but kicked 2 goals in the second half and became a target. Viney spent some time on ball but played mainly forward in the first half. He hit the scoreboard and actually played very well from a HFF. Rivers played mainly defence but also started in the centre square a few times, as did Brayshaw. So it looks like they’re going to mix it up. In the first half the preferred centre square setup was Oliver, Petracca, and Sparrow. Jefferson kicked the only goal for White in the first half and ended with 2. He took one excellent contested mark i50 (goal), but also dropped a couple he should have taken. He looks a player. Gawn looked a little rusty but was OK. I would have given Grundy the honours, but they both won their share of hitouts against each other in the second half. They were on the same team in the first half. Gawn spent time forward but was ineffective. For me the three best players were Oliver, Petracca, and Viney, but Spargo, Langdon, Brayshaw, Bowey, Rivers, Grundy, Brown and McDonald all did well. Petracca and Oliver can both extricate themselves from very tight positions. Some of their midfield craft was superb. Both fast, big and powerful. Oliver took a nice contested mark and was completely unhindered by his thumb. It was great to see Petracca mark forty metres out in the last, dead in front, and kick truly. He was also very happy (“Let’s go boys !!!”). This was the most involved I’ve seen Sestan. He took a couple of very strong marks and got quite a lot of it. He also kicked truly from 51 metres out. He’s one of those players with a low centre of gravity. Shortish legs and a long torso in the Daicos and Jesaulenko mould. Quick ball movement was the order of the day. There was a strong wind, so conditions were challenging, but there were also some excellent pieces of play. Lots of turnovers too, as is the hallmark of the modern game. I’m sure van Rooyen will get games and he’s had a great preseason, but he may just be behind Brown and McDonald for round one. Verrall competed well in the ruck. He’s raw but didn’t look out of place. Howes was very busy and mainly used it well. Even though Hunter played the first two quarters for White I’m sure he’s in the best team. Neale-Bullen also played well early. He was playing on a wing. Dunstan pulled a hamstring. Unlike Gawn, who jogged off with his, Dunstan was in pain as he gingerly limped off. Fritsch was a no show but may have been inside. Moniz-Wakefield and Melksham were there but didn’t participate and nor did Joel Smith.

If someone starts a training thread I'll add a few thoughts.

Grundy was good. Kicked 2 and gifted a goal to Pickett that he could easily have put next to his name.

There 4 x 20 minute quarters today with AFL umpires. Dunstan hamstring. No Fritsch.

I was there at Dallas Brooks Hall in 1996 and the amount of people locked out with no merger signs was incredible. They never got to vote. The emotion in the room is something I'll never forget. It was overwhelmingly anti merger. The vote was close - 4,679 to 4,229 - and this would have been challenged in the courts if needed. The process was a sham, including Billy Guest getting employees who didn't even support Melbourne to sign up and vote pro merger. A dark period that thankfully we're well past. But I don't thank Hawthorn supporters one bit.

Over 30 metres May would still be faster than 90% of the list. He should easily have 2025 covered if the mind is willing. At the end of 2025 he'll be 7 months younger than Tom Hawkins is now.

Hunter is a far better wingman. Hunter is a better outside link player with better delivery inside 50. It's not close. I suspect Jordon is a far better inside midfielder, because that's not Hunter's go. Jordon has done well to showcase abilities that probably don't best suit his skillset. With Petracca, Oliver and Viney earmarked to play less ''inside'' minutes Jordon and Sparrow should get opportunities that better suit their attributes.

The players were given the ''day off''. Obviously some wanted to do some training.

This is an incorrect assertion. The VFL changed its name to the AFL in 1990. As the AFL, formerly the VFL, expanded with new teams, ie Port Adelaide in 1997, those entering the competition knew it had derived from the VFL. They also knew their premierships from the SANFL had no currency in the expanded VFL. Any additional premierships have no bearing whatsoever on Port Adelaide or any other clubs that entered the new competition post 1990.

Viney trained, but wore a different number (24).

They trained at Casey this morning.

Don't know dollars. Contract expires end of 2029.

I noticed 46 at Casey on Friday and Monday and also had no clue who he was.

It's pretty obvious that we recruited him because we were confident he was over his personal issues and that we were recruiting an historically very good player. Afterall, he's only just turned 28 and is smack bang in the middle of his prime. I've watched plenty of Hunter over the years and his ''normal'' is one of the best wingman in the league. An A-grade wingman. It's hardly a stretch to think he plays to his normal in a new environment where he feels refreshed. Having seen the last 2 training sessions he's been the standout along with Pickett and Viney. My eyes are confirming what commonsense tells me.

On Friday, a supporter by the name of Gus, who's now either a volunteer or on the payroll and helps out at training, said next week's (now this week) training was at Casey on Monday and Friday and Wednesday was at Gosch's.

All in all, I thought it was a pretty sloppy training session. Inferior to Friday. Mainly poor kicking. Jefferson and Farris-White both took great contested marks, which earnt them praise from the players. The highlight for me was there not being any wind the last two times I've been there. Extraordinary.

Lots of targets missed in the modern day circle work pre match sims. But it was pretty frenetic and there were some great passes too. Match sims: Standouts were Petracca, Viney, Pickett, Hunter, and Salem is moving like Salem of 2021. Spargo was very involved also, while Grundy got better the longer it went. He isn't a great contested mark, but he'll pluck them occasionally and he fights tooth and nail once it hits the deck. Don't write off Hibberd. He's moving well and contested strongly. Schache took one good mark. He played as the red team's alternating ruckman, along with Farris-White. Does he compete like a big man? The talent is there. Oliver looked good. He's physically looking imposing. Brayshaw played in defence. It was a ''high'' back role. After match sim the fwds, backs and mids all did extras within their own groups and Brayshaw stayed with the defenders. Of the younger brigade Woewodin was great early, Kye Turner really impressed me, Rivers is looking strong and intense, JvR kicked a couple and took one excellent mark. He turns 20 one month into the season, so he's not some skinny 18 year old who'll take a long time to contribute. He'll be good in 2023. There's something about McVee also. He's a really nice kick and has footy IQ. Disco Turner took a nice grab but had to be helped off later after a marking collision. I'm not sure if he came back on, but I don't think there was much in it. Bowey was busy. It's going to be a tough team to crack. They finished off doing 100 metre sprints, then 80 and I think 70. They were still going when I left. Some were doing it tougher than others but Sestan was doing better than I expected. Unfortunately, I barely sighted him during match sims. He found it hard to get involved. But those sessions happen, especially with a young player. And he may have got more ball than I realise. When they've got caps on, like he did, you miss things. He lined up at HF. Chandler was OK. He tries to do a bit much at times, but is clever. I can't get excited by him, but I appreciate why others expect him to get games this year. All in all it was a good session with a few of the young guys impressing. I wouldn't take much notice that a few senior guys were in red. They have to balance it out from a competitive point of view. There was plenty of good play and plenty of turnovers, but that's what happens when you play yourself and both sides know what each other is trying to do. Adams, Verrell and Burgoyne did a lot of boundary running. Jake Lever was in good spirits. He was repeatedly walking up and down the outside steel steps in front of the pavillion before heading over to a stationary bike. Once or twice he was vocal in his encouragement to those training. No doubt he'd prefer to be out there, but he was walking freely and seemed in good spirits. Gawn ran off at good speed and I didn't even suspect an injury at the time. He didn't return. We've all seen players hobble off by two trainers after bad hamstrings, so I expect it's not severe. Let's hope at worst it's a regulation hamstring with a 21 day recovery.

How people can not think Hunter is a lock staggers me a little. He's exactly what we've been missing. He's one of the best gut running wingman in the competition who knows how to hit a target inside 50. This was perfectly demonstrated yesterday when he laced out Fritsch. He makes the side better.

I can confirm Monday & Friday are both at Casey. A few of us were lucky to get in today, as the gates were shut. After being shut out for about half an hour they were kind enough to let us in. No guarantees.