DemonDave

Bull had been consistently in the best 3 the last few games, and Pedo had been quiet, the clubs website kept giving hints that Smith was close for a couple of weeks so it wasnt really a surprise for me. He'd be just about leading the Casey BnF Smith, so his elevation was justified and deserved. But it is good that the pressure will now be on him to perform given Pedo's performance today. Pedo had a ripper against Richmond but wasnt elevated so will be interesting selection for the NT next Thursday evening.

The setup at Punt Road was farcical yesterday, for the players to get onto the grounds they literally had to walk from the portable setup that is the away rooms, through the crowd and then down a stairway that's the only access point to the whole ground, and thus full of people. There was also from what I could see only one entrance to get in, a nondescript narrow doorway past an indoor area being reconstructed. And the wooden seats at the fence level were unbelievably uncomfortable, seemingly designed by some sadist who enjoys seeing spectators rub their backs in pain at irregular intervals.

Walk Out to Winter - DemonDave So the Indian Summer that was experienced at Pirahna Park last week was one of those early season abberations, and heading to Werribee was a stark reminder of that. Extreme winds and heavy thunderstorms punctuated the earlier parts of the day, it was only a late afternoon burst of sunshine that convinced me to make the trek down. Luckily in the end it was worth it! This game had special significance for the home side, their first home game of the season in their new standalone guise, and it was also the unveiling of their new multi-million dollar new facility. The stand itself looks fantastic, when leaving the social club area a peek in the window into the home changerooms revealed a very state of the art looking warmup area, and the social club itself with a huge screen showing the AFL game and full flowing bar in the welcoming warmth was most impressive. The stand was comfortable and offered a good vantage point of the game, albeit the dugouts are quite high and the bay behind them has clearly had the seats installed too low, the first two rows would not be able to see a thing! The floodlights are on a par with Caseys, ie. very poor, there were so many black pockets out there on the outer where if I didnt have binoculars would've had no idea who of our players had the ball. The home team lined up for a team photo, both teams lined up for the national anthem sung with the sort of gusto that suggested this was a final in September. Onto the onfield action, the home team were clearly wanting to keep the goodwill of the locals going, and were all over us in the opening stanza. Their desperation was evident, the ball was falling their way and so inevitably was the scoreboard after a bout of sustained forward pressure. Smothers, tackles, a massive but fair hit on Jayden Hunt and our poor delivery to a too tall forward line left the Tigers with a handy and deserved lead at the first break. Mitch White was a rock early on, providing spoiling nous and rebound run. Stretch on a wing was handy, and Jayden Hunt was absolutely running his headband off from a half back flank in this term. This is the kind of form I expected from him last week but I thought he was very underwhelming against Coburg. The 2nd quarter was more of the same, they looked more desperate and moved the ball quicker than us into their forward line. It wasnt high scoring, but they were clearly the better team. After half time, Tim Smith was moved onto the ball, Hunt moved up forward and halfway through the third quarter momentum shifted and we started swamping the packs, forcing the ball forward, all of a sudden a previouslydormant Pedo was influencing the game in all corners of the ground, setting up and giving off goals and we were flying. All it needed was for us to get our noses in front before the 3/4 time siren, and that was achieved thanks to a huge pack mark from Weideman who duly converted from 30 out. Momentum and the scoreboard were now tipped our way. The coach knew it too, his emphasis on singling out superb individual efforts lifted the huddle, lots of back slapping and encouragement. Goodwin prowled around the fringes intently, you could sense we were on. The last quarter was more of the same, albeit a lot more open, with both teams kicking long to more open forward lines, but we all of a sudden seemed stronger around the packs and quicker than them. Another long quarter finally eneded, and we were 2 from 2. Also a nod to Casey for allowing the fans into the rooms after the players to witness the singing of the song. Is this a regular occurence, or did we just luck out? Either way it left me buzzing as I left the ground. Without seeing the official best or stats, my best were: White, Hunt, Stretch, T Smith, King, Pederson White - As mentioned he rebounded well and spoiled well all day, the pick of our defenders. He also stood out with his white long sleeves. Hunt - Firmly back in the selection mix after that performance. A few passes still missed their targets, and one final quarter kick in dig land in an opponents lap 25 out dead in front, but he ran, chased, gained meterage and generally got back to something approximating the Hunt of old. On this he's close to selection for the Anzac Day Eve. Stretch - A fine four quarter performance on the wing, his ability to take a couple of quick steps, find space and look for a teammate in a better position was a standout tonight. He's always tidy, rather than damaging with his posessions but he's a very smart player. T Smith - His pressure when he was in the forward line was very good, and in the second half he moved into an onball role and was very influential. Not a typical Smith game because of that, but nonetheless it was a very good game. King - He doesnt seem to have a presence as a big man, but the longer this game went on the more he stood out as the best big man around the ground. Not for his ruckwork per se, but taking marks, puting his body in the middle of packs to put off opponents, little things like that tell me he may well make it as an AFL ruckman in a few years time. Pederson - Was almost invisible for mine in the first half, but he was the one that turned the momentum of the match our way with a purple patch in the 3rd qtr, 2 goals and an assist to Hunt got us back into it. From there he was great. Weideman- Like his other key forwards was very quiet early, but got more involved up the ground with long leads or when relieving King in the ruck. Took a nice mark in front of the grandstand wing, but instead of kicking along the line centred it to a 1 on 3, which was duly turned over for a Werribee score. But conversely he showed with that pack mark and a good last half what he can do. Maynard- Was busy in and under and niggling all night, gave away a needless 50 metre penalty for a goal too. Wasnt one of his better nights, but not a bad one. Balic- Was never going to beat his debut game of last week. Started the opening bounce in the centre this week and played a fair bit of time onball, given this weeks team was minus Brayshaw, Hannan and Spargo who all rotated through there last week. Looked ok at times, but other times I wondered if he was still on the ground, he's a bit of an anonymous workhorse type of midfielder like Maynard but did go forward to get a crucial goal in the final term. JKH- Another nothing game, his kicking lacks penetration, he's not quick he just seems to go ordinarily most times I see him. To be fair he was busy enough, just not damaging. Joel Smith-Took two hangers in the 3rd term on the opposite wing which were the highlights of his night, and was OK otherwise. Johnstone-Another who doesnt get involved enough in the game, forward pocket can be a feast or famine position, but he's not having enough impact when its in his area. May struggle to hold his spot with Spargo back next week. Keilty- Was again solid down back without being spectacular, his last quarter was good though Petty- Didnt notice him too much tonight, and he may have spent a chunk of the second half on the bench? Filipovic-Started in the ruck, but was quickly usurped by King, and for the sake of balance spent time on the pine rather than resting up forward in the 2nd half. Is some way behing King in terms of game craft. Baker-I like his football smarts, he started running to the right spots later in this game where he could use his evasiveness and footskills to advantage. Still some way off senior footy but promising signs. Special mention to Casey listed Gent, Wagner and Scott who were all very good, as was Munro. I just realised White is Casey listed now too, but his description can stay up there as he was BOG for me.

Smith played large chunks on the ball that qtr and Hunt moved forward. Jack Fitzpatrick is the runner for werribee

Stretch, White, Scott, Smith for mine over 3 qtrs. then in that qtr Pedo was instrumental in the comeback. The huddle that qtr was full of praise from the coach for individuals and acts they'd done to get us back into it namely gent, Pedo and munro

Look far too top heavy tonight and our forward line far too crowded and disorganised..

Quite a bit of few on the ground when I walked out to the qtr time huddle. New grandstand is quite impressive. Rawlings ripped into the forwards at the break. Hunt in everything, White our best player so far. Balic started on the ball this week

Mitch King gets the first for us

Rock solid. At the 3/4 time huddle Rawlings singled out Dec, Petty and White for their exceptional play in the 3rd quarter as setting the tone for the rest of them. Interestingly Rawlings at one stage deferred and let Mick Stinear to have a word to them. I've never seen a coach do that. One of the objectives in the huddle whiteboard was "money ball', no idea what that was referring to

Smith was back out there in the last qtr so no issue with him fitness wise

The biggest takeaway for mine from that game was Hunt is still severely lacking in confidence. There's no way he'll be picked on that effort, a game in which he could've racked up huge numbers running from defence giving the gulf in class between the two sides. After a slow start due to a heavy tag Brayshaw was the most influential mid out there after qtr time. His skills at hitting targets with both sides of the body were a standout, the longer the game went on the more pronounced his influence was. A lot of the niggling spotfires that were out there today, and there were quite a few, were as a result of our guys trying to protect Gus from his tagger. Balic played forward pretty much all game playing as has been mentioned the Melksham type role he was pretty impressive first time I've seen him play. Weeds was the standout forward for not only his goals but his relief ruckwork and general ability to work the length of the ground. It was interesting at times seeing him do the ruckwork in the fwd line despite King being in the vicinity standing in the goalsquare. It's clear they've got a plan to gradually bring weed in to play the Pederson role of fwd/pinch hit ruckman. Peso and Smith were both also pretty handy, it was interesting to see our starting fwd line at the first bounce was Weed, Smith, Pedo and King all talls along with Balic. Only a 5 man fwd line with an extra man running from the back of the square same as the demons employ. Of the others Hannan was good, stretch decent and jkh decent. Maynard racked them up in close but wasn't particularly damaging. Baker looked likely but needs to improve his awareness got caught too many times in possession. Special mention to the umpires who had to recall approximately 80 percent of their centre bounces which were skewing every which way but straight up. The ironical cheers were going up by the 3rd qtr with each recalled bounce. The team spirit was very evident in the 1st half, large groups of players getting over to congratulate the goal scorer, it was very much a 'team effort' performance against opposition that are clearly going to be one of the comps easybeats.

Corey is on the bench and not in the starting 18! Based on last years Casey form I'd expect Munro, Gent, Scott and White to get the bench spots. No Ed Morris on the bench from either?

Anyone know why Jack Hutchins our skipper isnt playing at the moment? Injured? First time in possibly ever I can remember the entire starting 18 being MFC listed players.

I saw one of these at Family Day, asked the guy where he got it from and ordered the next day! https://www.redbubble.com/people/4boat/works/10232747-robbie-flower-melbourne-for-dark-blue-shirts-only?p=t-shirt

Now that Petracca's ticked off this list, surely the next priority is Tommy Mac and Jetta, both are UFAs next year...

Mcstay is, ahem, Mcstaying at the Lions for another 2 years, signed a new deal less than a month ago.

Every time I've been down to Kardinia Park the last 5 or 6 years the price for a ticket for travelling fans has been at least $50 for lousy seats in a forward pocket. I assume it will only be more extortianate now they have the new works to pay off. (not to mention all of the Government money they somehow also received...) AFL Crowds average attendances for 2017 are: Team Games Total Average Richmond Tigers 13 665,480 51,191 Collingwood Magpies 13 640,351 49,258 Essendon Bombers 13 622,174 47,860 Carlton Blues 13 539,638 41,511 Melbourne Demons 13 536,315 41,255 Hawthorn Hawks 13 487,703 37,516 Adelaide Crows 13 482,369 37,105 Geelong Cats 13 460,108 35,393 Western Bulldogs 13 459,540 35,349 West Coast Eagles 13 444,637 34,203 Sydney Swans 13 444,035 34,157 Fremantle Dockers 13 417,125 32,087 Port Adelaide Power 13 404,155 31,089 St Kilda Saints 13 394,870 30,375 North Melbourne Kangaroos 13 341,379 26,260 Brisbane Lions 13 262,378 20,183 GWS Giants 13 247,404 19,031 Gold Coast Suns 13 183,943 14,149 Looking at those numbers, there's no way Aints or Norf could justify their inflated gate prices. North only in front of the two franchises and the struggling Lions.

Mitch White is still only a rookie anyway, so that needs to be factored in when discussing in/outs

Yep this is league wide, here's the whole table, Taylor Walker leads it and he's equal 2nd with Selwood, Gray and Fantasia: http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_rankings?year=2017&rt=LT&st=GA

His form this more has been at a consistently high level, all the more remarkable that he recovered from that hamstring injury in the JLT. Here's our leading goal assists stats for the year, for someone who asked: Rank Player Games Total 2 Christian Petracca 8 11 10 Clayton Oliver 8 8 58 Jeff Garlett 8 5 58 Nathan Jones 8 5 58 Mitchell Hannan 7 5 58 Alex Neal-Bullen 6 5

Absolutely wrapt with this pick! He's worked hard to improve his consistency this year, which was the only thing previously holding him back in years prior, really looking forward to see if they give him a crack in the NAB Challenge, as he's already big and strong enough to compete at that level.

On a non-related note, I'd also look at rookie-ing Oscar McInerney for our ruck depth, he certainly looks to have plenty of upside and has forced himself into the Casey seniors at the right time of year for the finals, which certainly puts him in the draft shop window.

Would think he's a very good chance for late round pick or rookie draft. The only thing that might hold him back is his lack of a position (or some may see that as a good attribute). He's spent various times this year up forward, pinch hitting in the ruck, and for the last few weeks has found himself playing as a defender. Has the size, skills are decent and plenty of upside still in fitness levels etc. Took a few big hits this year and gets back up more often than not, so loves the physical stuff too. Would definitely be an upgrade on Max King for our rookie list, but of course we don't get any first crack at him so will be at the mercy of other teams drafting intentions.

Even better was the analysis of that play on, I think, the Sunday Footy Show on Nine. First time I've watched that show in years such was my euphoria of the win. They highlighted that Stretch was playing on Mitchell on our half back line, ran really hard up the middle and was rewarded for his efforts whereas Mitchell half jogged and was left 50 metres behind where the ball was. A great highlight of his workrate and willingness to get to contests

Adelaide would have plenty of cap space now Dangerfield has gone wouldnt they? Although they do have Tex, Betts, Lynch in their forward line already on pretty good coin, and not many blue chip mids on megadosh apart from maybe Sloan.