Harvey Wallbanger

One loss, one win. Small sample size. Lost to last year's premiers (Footscray) and beat the perenially strong Box Hill Hawks.

The entire group, incluidng emergencies present after the Casey boys. Just noted that the 6 defenders chatting together with Jared Rivers included Ed Langdon (maybe he gets a role on Zac Bailey). I am also worried about Fritta - maybe Cross or Hendo comes in for him (I reckon Cross has more tools than Hendo) - Kentfield would make us too tall (and not enough run for our game plan). Noted that Fritsch started well against the Bombers but then faded - if he is playing through pain, maybe better to give him a week off - particularly going into a 5 day break. Noted that AJ is injured and will not be playing at Casey tomorrow.

Keep that "lauding" quiet....🙂

Possibly - with Salem out and Lindsay looking doubtful.....

Absent today: Salem, Viney, Melksham and McAdam. Clearly still rehabbing: Rivers and Campbell Managed: Lindsay did very little and left early. Fritsch moved to runners and ran with Riv bit and also left early - no match sim - (would still expect him to play). AJ also in and out of training so managing something. Henderson had a glove on and was using his hand (see Ghosty's post re stitches) so should be available. CJ did most of the segments of training, including match sim. CJ's injury was a calf, not hamstring. Camera crew there said they were focussing in on the debutante - given it seems it is not likely to be Kentfield (just yet) we agree it seems Xavier Taylor will debut. Outs: Salem and Melksham (definitely), Lindsay (probably). A big cheer for Bowey towards the end - given the injury and duration of his break from the game we reckon that reaction means he will play minutes in the VFL on Sunday. He participated in the full session, including the match sim.

Funny you should mention him - you may be right that 2028 is a stretch, but watching the game live in Adelaide on Saturday I said to my friend in the third quarter - this is the time when you need Jack Viney! To win a hard contest/ground ball - we just weren't "bending over" the ball.

It was pretty clear from the pre-season and the practice matches (Ballarat in particular) that Plan A was for Kentfield to play as a key forward and relief ruck for Max. That fell apart when "that Richmond player" took him out in an early marking contest. Plan A allows JVR to play as a permanent forward with Petty a permanent back. TMac was an emergency in that plan. We will know soon enough whether King wants to go back and try Plan A this week with Kentfield available. I back this option but some argue that it is time to give Jeffo a shot.....let's see. Heath may figure later in the year - particularly against teams that field two specialist rucks - e.g. Freo and Hawthorn. All Heath can do is keep performing at Casey, as the other Max did for a number of years.

It's a "flush run" so they don't do much. Just a matter of "getting the body moving". Games are brutal. Checkers looked no better or worse than the other times he has trained...who knows how his toe is?...as I mentioned Chandler looked very sore, but I am sure they get a lot of treatment to get up each week.

I think he might be able to tell us when (or whether) he is expecting to play this year....

Jack's on AFL 360 tomorrow night - may learn more then?

As Ghosty reported, 12 out in the first group today and 25 in the second group. The 7 absent were: Salem, Lindsay, Viney, CJ, Melksham, MacAdam and Fritsch. Joining Bowey, Campbell and Cross in the rehab group was Henderson (bandage on the hand) - shame for him given he was listed as an emergency for Saturday. I understand Riv had a run with Casey in the scratch match last weekend but he did not join the "games" today and spent quite a bit of time with Selwyn, flexing his left leg. It seems the "mysterious niggle" is real. So with Hendo added to the injury list, together with Melky and Salem (I presume from the weekend) we are not having a good run at it. Lindsay took a heavy hit on Saturday and Fritsch may be a week to week proposition. Chandler looked sore today, lower right leg, but I would expect him to get up. Official injury list due out tonight.... Let's see who can particpate in T1 tomorrow.

If Heath plays I don't see him "resting forward" although he can obviously take a grab. We have enough down there with JVR, Mihocek and Fritsch. If he played say 15 minutes of a quarter in the ruck it is more likely that Max might go forward given his greater conditioning capacity. King will still want lots of run in the side to be able to execute the new fast movement game plan. Heath might be the sort of player who plays barely 50% game time when he does play. With the 5 interchange but no change in the number of interchanges, some players miss quite a bit of game time - e.g. Rivers played just 53% game time in Round 1.

The official injury report suggests Kalani is now avaialble and that Fritsch is a "Test". Sounds better than it looked today. Disco also mentioned in the report but not on the injury list - noted he ran laps today rather than joining the handball game - but assume he will be OK to go..... GooD to see that injury list slowly reducing.....

I was too shy.

The boys did indeed wander over at 3.30 pm today. The only absentees were Steele (who had done his running earlier in the day) and MacAdam. Rehabbers: first over Cross, Bowey and CJ working together - Paddy lots of running (just the thumb injury). Same for CJ, less so for Bowser. Viney went off with a trainer and did some work on the Anderson St hill - bumped into him on the way home. Fritsch in runners only - did some gentle kicking with a trainer but left early - would not expect him to play this week. Others that joined the gentle work White, Rivers and Campbell all seemed unimpaired.