dazzledavey36

He was also highly rated by our recruiters in his draft year due to his high leadership qualities. Would be a great pick up for Casey.

Well there you go.. here I am thinking all this time it was called Princess Park 😅

Back in my TAC Cup/VFL days I had the pleasure of playing on ground's like Optus Oval (Princess Park), Whitten Oval and Victoria Park and Waverley. Then there's a couple of current VFL grounds as well like Port Melbourne and Sandringham which are just amazing to play on in terms of surface. Out of all the grounds my favourite was Princess Park. It's still like a mini stadium compared to the other grounds and the surface is a lot softer compared to Vic Park which I found ground to be quiet hard. Wish they brought back Princess Park into the AFL for official games. I like the heritage old school feel about it and its a ground that's still rich in history. You get a decent enough crowd and the atmosphere is pretty exciting.

Yeah. My initial answer was to your question. That's why I'm pretty sure the doggies didn't go into 2017 flag favourites. Someone has already mentioned that GWS may have been tipped as flag favourites that year instead.

Well Yeah? I know this already. Who's making comparisons between our 2021 year and doggies 2016? I certainly wasn't. Our 2021 has been one of the best premiership team seasons probably since Geelong 2007 when they only lost 3 games for the year. My answer though was in relation to clubs who have been reigning premiers, but may not have gone into the following year being flag favourites automatically.

Not sure if the doggies were exactly flag favourites going into 2017.

May be best to call the club mate? They should be able to tell which training day are closed sessions (usually Wednesday?), and which are open. @picket fence might also be able to assist as well as he is now a handy regular down at Casey.

Thanks Durango.. Without wanting to state the obvious it didn’t help anyone’s cause at all. We we all affected in some way.

Yes

Just saw it on another platform. Incredibly sad.

Surprise there has been no talk of potentially extending the list numbers for this year alone. There is no doubt Covid will ravage through AFL clubs meaning that there will be at times up to 10 players unavailable from covid alone. This is even taking into account the extra injured players on top of that. My covid-19 plan would for the clubs this year alone: Extend the list numbers to allow an extra 10 players onto the playing list. Invite train on players as early as end of January with a deadline by 1st week of March to have your list completed by then just in time for the season. Also gives potential train on players opportunity to impress for a month, and even play some NAB challenge/practice games No draft scenario, more like a SSP design in terms of recruiting. My only concern in this though is the salary cap situation. Obviously with cost cuts still hitting clubs this plan may not be feasible.

Ben Brown didn’t play the brand of footy the club wanted when we recruited him. At North, Brown was just a a stay at home forward who barely moved outside the 50. This year Brown spent more time playing higher up and even he’s been on record stating he had to change his style to fit into the team structure. Just because Dunstan may not play the brand we want as a club doesn’t mean he can’t change to suit our structure. The club have already said he brings a lot of strengths to the team and is a ‘cultural fit’. I think I’ll put my faith in the coaching staff that’s just delivered a flag in 57 years..

Haha!

I remember that. Josh Mahoney is another who got nothing either. Seems like only the players get special treatment.

Grand final form does not carry into round 1 next year. Its a completely clean slate going into the new year. This was the key message that was given to Luke Dunstan by Simon Goodwin. If there is an opportunity there that a player can make us one better then the grand final team then I'm taking that over anything. That means a fully fit Jayden Hunt replaces Hibberd, and pending pre season form and injury, Dunstan could easily mount a case over Jordon, Sparrow, and potentially Harmes.

Round 1. I think getting Dunstan is such an underrated trade. I have always admired him as a player right from his junior under 18's days at SA where he captained the state team and even throughout his career at St Kilda. His early days at St Kilda he was highly rated by the club to the point where they offered him jumper number 7 straight after Lenny Hayes retired. He started his career well until Ratten came along and it was obvious that he just didn't rate him. I don't buy into the whole St Kilda got rid of him because he's a crap etc. St Kilda's list management is seriously all over the shop, and some of their recruiting of recent is pretty questionable. I see this as a Luke Ball type recruit where a player does not feel valued at all, loses confidence, and then is picked up by another team where the culture is about embracing your strengths as a person and a player which results in him back playing to his best football and hopefully help the team back up a top 4 finish. Dunstan will want to prove a point also. As Alan Richardson said, he's a culture fit for our club and will drive standards hard and push others along the way. Where does he fit? history will tell you that you're not going to play your best 22 from the last game the previous year so I certainly think there will be players who'll miss out on form or injury come round 1.

Don't think so. While he was an honest battler, he was also a diabolical kick and barely had other strings to his game other then being a one paced tagger.

I can see Jordon becoming our version of a Daniel Cross/Brad Sewell type player. Sort of a no frills midfielder who isn't flashy but quietly goes about his business playing the team first role, but also getting his hands dirty to release our more Hollywood style midfielders. Wont win a lot of external praise, but will be incredibly valued internally by coaching staff and players.

Great get for the footy club. Filling in for Shannon Byrnes who I'm actually surprised that there was no mention of his departure by the footy club at all? no acknowledgment or anything? unless I have missed it. I know there is no mention of this, but would be handy if Conca was playing a few games for Casey same way as i think Byrnes did in his first year as his welfare officer role?

Able to get down to training today Fence?

I agree with @PaulRB. I would like to see the next wave of up and coming midfielders start to stamp their authority next year and beyond. There is always talk of Gawn, Petracca and Oliver as the 3 big dogs, but there is never a mention of that 1 extra midfielder who clubs should be putting time into also. Viney is probably that extra 3rd mid, but just hasn't been on the park on a consistent basis. There are two names imo that have the potential to really thrust their names as that genuine 3rd A grade midfielder and that's Tom Sparrow and Trent Rivers. I do know for a fact that Sparrow is rated enormously high by the coaching staff for his work ethic and professionalism. I heard Adem Yze get interviewed after the GF win and he stated that his favorite player that he loves working with was Sparrow and James Jordon just because of their willingness to just do the teams things and their off field standards was extremely high. He went on to mention that Sparrow has the potential to be an A grade midfielder and i genuinely believe this also. I reckon his finals series was hugely underrated and even the Geelong game in round 23 where he took some really crucial marks to get us going again. He's an absolute brute and an animal around the contests, and some of his tackling pressure was immense. He's got that real power to be able to break away from the contest and roost it 60m dead straight. Having watched the grand final over and over again, his game just stuck out more, and he could have easily kicked 3 goals for the day. What i also like about Sparrows game is that he has shown that he can also rest up forward and kick goals. I love midfielders who are able to add an extra layer to their game by pushing forward and kicking goals. Sparrow imo has been developing just fine under Petracca, Oliver and Viney, but I think next year will be the year he steps up and becomes more of a solid midfielder for us instead of a bit player like he did this year. I would like to see his midfield time increase significantly, and at times start games in the center circle. I mentioned Rivers because I think he's the full prototype package as a midfielder. 188cm 88kg who's tough, courageous and has some genuine speed and power to be able to break away from the contest and once again roost a footy 60m forward. Those meters gain midfielders aren't easy to find. I think River's does play down back next year, but Goodwin/Yze have shown this year they aren't afraid to throw a different mix in the midfield rotation like a Kozzie or ANB. I would like to see Rivers get some midfield minutes next year just to really throw teams out wack, but also add another layer to his game. I do remember that when River was playing as a midfielder for WAFL colts level at East Fremantle, he was nearly averaging 30 disposals a game. So he's obviously shown that he's certainly capable of playing in the midfield and winning some big numbers.

Death, taxes and playing WC in Perth.

2 months later.....

Unbeliebe mate and honestly felt like i was sitting there! Thank you so much to everyone on here who provided some great stories and vision. I really do get chills when i watch that cup presentation with all the past players. Thank you all once again.

I'm actually glad to see our players fainting at training. Means our players and coaching staff are driving elite standards so that there is no complacency, and premiership hangover.