stinga

Does anybody else think Verrall can play the petty role down back so Petty can become permanent forward. Verrall is 199cm, athletic and can take a mark. I don't think he'll ever be tall enough for a ruck, other than as a secondary.

Tmac is best when he is jumping for marks. It would be good for him to have a run and just have a go at some. Even just hitting packs hard.

Melk deserves an extension. I thought he was a one trick forward - wanting the ball over the back or trying to muscle against an opponent to take a mark. But he's showed how flexible he is as he how runs around creating space and leaping for marks (even if he doesn't mark it, the ball comes to ground). If he gets back to play ones it would be great but even at Casey, his experience would be invaluable to young forwards.

I agree with the Sparrow comparison. Jordon is a very good VFL player. He there racks up large numbers of possessions, puts himself in great positions and finds targets. But so would most AFL players going back to VFL. I recall Hibberd getting midfield possession numbers off half back and Thomlinson does it regularly from Full Back. But where Sparrow has physicallity, can take a good mark and is a penetrating kick, Jordon is none of those things. He is not super quick, nor has he height. He is often left to kick to shorter distance packs and the ball returns further back from where he is.

Can't see a future for Jordon either.

I like that only he and Brayshaw kick naturally with the opposite foot.

JVR is reasonably accurate and Jefferson is super accurate. Jefferson's body is filling out and often kicks 3 or 4 goals at casey when he is the main man (no brown and no TMac). He also has a great pair of hands and is around the 200cm mark. I think they might both be in the side before the year is out.

If you can't kick straight you can't win games. No bulk in the defensive half. The only melbourne players that look like they will play AFL to me are Farris White (leap and height) probably 2 years Jefferson (height, marking and kicking) probably next year Howes (height, leaping, running, handball receives, kicking) probably next year but might get a game this year. The rest don't show enough or have been tried and found wanting at the next level. Maybe Verell might improve, and Sestan lost 10 kgs. Of the unlisted players I thought Shepperd showed a bit, but didn't get enough of it.

All the better Key forwards have height around 200cm, so you need at least one backman around that height and we used to have it in Petty. Lever has a decent leap and makes up for that when he has space to launch but because we only have 2 talls in defence that is a rarity. We've tried with Thommo but he is more a bulk defender and that hasn't worked. It's a pity Kye Turner has been injured all year as he is a leaping type. J.Smith might have filled the roll but he's been put as a forward. To make it worse Salem never gets airborn. Verell might fill that role next year but you'd risk wrecking him this year as he hasn't got a mature body. With 4 small defenders it makes it tough. In the forward line it's the same problem. We miss Brown's height but he's on one leg. We have the ideal replacement next year with Jefferson but its the same as Verell above. We don't have a 200cm replacement so you need a leaping forward at least to negate the defensive intercept marking. There's only one but no one likes him.

I think its time to change the balance a bit. JVR is only young and Tmac is struggling a bit. This puts a lot of pressure on Fritta. At present we have 8 defenders in the side if you include Brayshaw. I think you can remove one of them and include another marking forward. Smith seems to be performing that role at Casey. If he was included if Bowey is injured, you would also have cover if a tall defender goes down (either he or Tmac could then cover that and still have marking strength up forward). Smith also has pace which creates room which has enabled Melks to kick goals at Casey. Perhaps he could do the same for JVR/Fritta.

He was holding the back of his head. So it wasn't the spoil that hurt him, it was when he hit his head on the ground.

JVR took 11 marks last week running around as 2nd Ruck to Bell. He is also a bit of a mobile midfielder in that role. Whereas as a KPF he only takes a few marks, but rarely allows defender to mark.

Number of marks by Hibberd, JVR and Joel Smith is telling

Thanks KC. Do Casey have a seconds side or the 30 odd players that miss out just go back to their other leagues. How did Ned Moodie go

Agree but would add Howes and K. Turner. Assuming Fritsch, Melks, Dunstan and J smith are still partly injured. AFW would be a roughie.

Positives from seconds game were Ferris White will be a gun . Can't teach height and he is up there wth Max. His first hit out with a flip ovr the back was a beauty. Runs well and can take a grab. The other was Verrell - more a key position player than a ruck and seems to have footy smarts. Give them both a couple of years to grow their bodies, but maybe earlier.

TMac and JVR are not 200cm KPF players. They're not much taller than Fritsch. They are the size of Cripps and a few other on ballers. They are very mobile and can attack the ball on the ground. Can't see why they can't all play.

probably as that was Burgoynes number

Does Casey have a reserve side or do the non selected players just go back to their local clubs

I think you've got it right. Tmac is more a mobile forward than a tall one and JVR is even shorter (similar size to some on ballers). From watching training JVR is a beast who hunts packs and stoppages. He will have a real defensive element that you normally give to small forwards. So you don't lose mobility by including all 3.

Caulfield grammarians football ground is adjacent to the race course at the back which could be developed for AFLW games and occasional Casey games with access for spectators. When I played there it was Glenhuntly football club with lots of memories running around the racecourse pre season.

7 players over 200cm, 5 over 195 and 6 over 190 (incudes Kye Turner). Nearly half the list. Is it the tallest team we've had? Includes 6 of the 8 we drafted.

Williams said they have fixed cameras and the drone at Casey. Do they have the same at Gosh's

Yes it's a good comparison. But Seston could be gold in that he kicks goals. Not many of our small/medium forwards kick goals consistently but watching him on Monday he can just turn and kick off a step knowing where they are. I don't know whether he can do that often enough, so will just have to wait and see how he goes at Casey.

Went with a friend to watch training this morning. They have 3 sets of temporary grandstands set up next to the rooms for spectators and get a good view of everything. Fritsch was the only absentee and J Smith was on the bike for the whole session. Everyone in their own numbers except JVR in 44, Kye Turner is 47 and Burgoyne 33. Started off with goal kicking which has been described before. Then an agility routine where where they ducked around ski poles whilst marking short kicks, receiving and giving handballs. Then a couple of other similar groups (of which there were 3 of 15 or 16 players). In one a ball was tossed in with 5 in white tabbards trying to intercept or tackle whilst other team handballed it around. At this stage one of the groups was all the tall players probably 194 or more and their skills below their knees were great. The had to at least bounce handball through the group a couple of times. When you saw 16 such tall players together you realised we are going to be a tall side, even if 6 are at Casey. May's anticipation and tackling stood out. Then whole ground long kicks one way, punch to defend and switch with handballs from defence then run and handball or short kicks to the other end. Very slick movement. It was in this that I saw Grundy on a few occasions just take off and try and get ahead of the play into the forward line. From that and previous reports,I think that is what he is going to do. They then did different versions of match practice which included free kicks, 50 metres etc. In this it stood out just how far the 1st and 2nd year players are behind the senior players Hibberd, May, Lever and Petty work really well together. Of the new players Hunter stood out - just kept hitting targets and got a bit of the ball. Grundy was very mobile but Max dominated. Schache took one good mark but that's all I saw him do. The 2 Turners were OK but a level below the others. Burgoyne was in the match practice but didn't seem to do much. Kozzie was quiet but looked good if that makes sense. Brown was very good, TMac and Bowie were OK JVR was impressive. Chandler and Spargo got involved. Trac, Oliver, Viney Langdon, Brayshaw, Harmes and Sparrow were a level above the rest. ANB was quiet and at one stage came off with maybe a groin issue, but came back on. Thommo did well - looks to have lost weight and moves a bit freer. Salem, Melksham, Jordan, Dunstan and Laurie were quiet. The young ones do well in the skills drills but just don't have the body or presence to impact in the match play. Seston has a body that could compete but a long way behind. Howes is probably the closest but will take him a while.