DemonDave

This is truly a barebones Casey team that has been thrown together with a bunch of locals from the new coaches league. Never have I spent so long at a game looking at the team list, whos that player wearing 60 something? whos that 70 something? Given these circumstances I thought the endeavour and team pressure was very impressive. They were never going to match it for experience and skills vs this Dogs side, and thought the coach gave good messages at both huddles I got to (I love this about attending VFL matches, you can get right up and amongst the quarter breaks, watching Campbell give Moose rucking advice etc).

From the Dees side of things, its concerning that our current lengthy injury list means that there will be very little selection pressure coming from the listed players from this game, as none of them stood out as 'ready for AFL'.

For mine, our best was AMW, he shows composure beyond his years, but I'm not sure there's a spot for him in our current backline, maybe move Lindsay higher up the ground? That would be his only logical spot.

Moose was also pretty good, his workrate is excellent, field kicking is questionable, but his enthusiasm and ability to hit contests means he's the most likely replacement we've had for Gawn for some time. He was also ably supported by Pippicelli who seems to have a good eye for goals too.

Adams was again fairly anonymous, if Turner is out injured, I cant see Jed getting the call up, baffling that they gave him an extension.

Taylor I had high hopes for, but he didnt get much chance to show the much vaunted dash off half back until later in the game. He'll certainly need a bit more time at Casey to find comfort with the pace and style of VFL before hes ready for AFL.

Matthews certainly bounced around a lot without threatening the statisticians ink early on, he needs to get the habit of trying to fling handballs over his head in traffic out of his system, but certainly shows promise.

Of the rest, we got very typical 'nothing' games from Laurie, Mentha and Henderson. And it was absurd that they left Melksham out there when he couldnt even kick on his right leg after half time. Cross, Onley and whoever I missed were fairly anonymous.

Its going to be a pretty long year for very slim rewards for Casey you'd think. The return from injury of 3 key forwards in Johnson, Jeffo and Luker will straighten up the attack, but there arent many re-inforcements due for the midfield.

Melksham just took that set shot for goal right in front of me with his left foot. Questionable that he should even be out on the field if he can't kick with his right.

Cant wait to see some of our new boys in the flesh for the first time, expect based on the selected sides that Dogs will be far too strong. But its pretty irrelevant the result given the way this league has been chopped up the last few years. Western Oval is only a ten minute walk, so I do like it when we play there!

Did anyone else hear Cameron Mooney waxing lyrical about the Geelong coaching staff on SEN this afternoon? After mentioning King, he then noted Nigel Lappin and said he was also off to Melbourne. Haven't seen this mentioned anywhere so not sure if he let that slip by mistake, but could be one of the first appointments to Kingsmen.

Does playing in that position have a bearing on the quality of your coaching?

Looking at the last two premiership teams,:

Brisbane Lions forward coach last year was someone called Murray Davis, who had previously coached their backline for a decade. 

Collingwood forwards coach the year before was Justin Leppitsch, who made his name in the Lions 3-peat as a centre half back.

It's been update/added in the article now it seems?

Matt Jefferson 48
The Dees are hoping their patience in key forward Jefferson finally comes to fruition. Came so close to making his AFL debut (an emergency on four occasions last year). Has kicked 52 goals from his 37 VFL games and was placed in Casey's B&F. Turns 21 in March, the one-time first round pick should get a look in at some stage in 2025.

Washington 1-6

Buffalo 1-6

Going for both upsets. 

Chiefs 13+

Lions 13+

Eagles 7-12

Bills 0-6

Thanks again Macca for running a fun comp! Keeps my interest in the other games higher, appreciate all the admin work you do each year!

Chargers 13+
Ravens 7-12
Bills 1-6
Eagles 7-12
Buccs 13+
Vikings 1-6

Bengals, Bills, Dolphins

5 hours ago, Dee Dee said:

The Robert Flower Terrace is a permanent fixture in the cricket club area of the ground and was an initiative of the cricket club. I went to the formal opening, as did Robbie’s brother Tom.

I actually took a snap of this plaque in the MCC area on Boxing Day, roughly located from memory at Q45 I guess?

It didnt actually say Robert Flower Terrace anywhere, but there were no other plaques like this around anywhere

Packers , Colts, Lions

The days of the NFC West as the power house are no longer, none of the teams this year would be happy with their performance!

All eyes are now on NFC North, 3 teams with double digit win tallies already

Lions, 49ers, Eagles

Chiefs, Ravens, Bills

Bills, Bear, Bengals

Seahawks, Texans, Eagles

Lions, Chiefs, Broncos

Packers , Vikings, Ravens

Saints,  lions,  rams

Ravens,  Bills, Chiefs 

Losing Mitch White and Roan Steele a year after losing Jimmy Munro and George Grey, and even Jack Hutchins before that, makes a huge difference to the experience and composure provided by the VFL listed players.

Who's going to even be captain next year? There are no ideal candidates that I can see.

For reference, here's our Grand Final winning side:

Texans, Lions,  Chargers

Some big splashes in the WR market...Amari Cooper is off to the Bills, and Davante Adams reunites with Aaron Rogers at the Jets! wow

Texans, Lions, Bengals